Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS

The “scorched earth” policy of same-sex marriage supporters who drove Mozilla co-founder Brendan Eich out of his job last week has even prominent gay leaders condemning these tactics.

It all started a few weeks ago when Mozilla named Eich to the position of CEO. Within a week, gay activists began pushing for his resignation because of a campaign contribution he made six years ago in support of California’s Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

At first, Eich stood firm, saying he had no intention of resigning. But pressure began to build as some Mozilla employees, pressure from software developers, outrage on Twitter and a boycott spearheaded by OKCupid eventually drove him to resign his new post.

His capitulation was cheered by some, booed by others, but left most people on both sides of this divisive issue questioning whether the people who launched the anti-bullying campaign in America have now become the very bullies they say they detest.

Gay activist Andrew Sullivan was the first to condemn the tactics on his blog.

“Will he now be forced to walk through the streets in shame? Why not the stocks?” Sullivan wrote. “The whole episode disgusts me – as it should disgust anyone interested in a tolerant and diverse society. If this is the gay rights movement today – hounding our opponents with a fanaticism more like the religious right than anyone else – then count me out. If we are about intimidating the free speech of others, we are no better than the anti-gay bullies who came before us.”

The pundits also condemned the glaring intolerance of the nation’s self-appointed “thought police”.

“In addition to being evidence, redundant evidence, that progressives are for diversity in everything but thought, it’s an illustration of a new phenomenon. No one likes sore losers, but now we have sore winners,” said columnist George Will. “The gay rights movement is winning, particularly with regard to same-sex marriage, with a speed and breadth that simply takes your breath away. In Oklahoma and Utah and elsewhere. Yet unsatisfied with victory, they want to stamp out and punish people for their previous views.”

Even some famous liberals such as the God-bashing, Catholic-hating Bill Maher could see the hypocrisy in the way gay activists are handling those whose opinions differ from their own.

” I think there is a gay mafia,” he acknowledged on his show. “I think if you cross them, you do get whacked.”

A shift in the conversation has been evolving over the past year with the public becoming more and more fed-up with these tactics since the attacks on Chick-fil-A, Barilla Pasta and, most recently, Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty who refused to cave and got away with it.

Is this really the best way to ensure “equality” in the U.S.?

” . . .(Is) characterizing political disagreement on this issue—no matter how thoughtfully expressed—as hate speech really the way to find common ground and peaceful co-existence?” asks Ryan T. Anderson of The Heritage Foundation.

“Unwilling to acknowledge this as a significant question on which reasonable people of goodwill can disagree, some advocates of redefining marriage increasingly characterize those with whom they disagree as ‘enemies of the human race.’ They’ve sent a clear message: If you stand up for marriage, we will demonize and marginalize you. . . .This kind of grotesque incivility is toxic for any democratic community. We can—we must—do better.”

Marriage is too important an issue not to be debated intelligently, Anderson reminds, because it is the fundamental institution concerned with child welfare. Too many Christian adoption agencies were forced out of business because of their belief that children need a mother and a father, beliefs that are founded on sound scientific evidence. As Ryan points out, forcing those agencies out of business didn’t help the children, and it doesn’t help our society.

Nor does penalizing other legitimate and healthy businesses such as photographers, bakers, florists and other organizations that will not service same-sex weddings due to their religious beliefs even though there are plenty of other establishments that are more than willing to do so. This kind of intolerance costs jobs and shutters otherwise healthy businesses that are vital to this nation’s economic security.

What should be done? Anderson suggests steps be taken by members of the gay community to put a stop to these reckless tactics.

“Those in favor of redefining marriage should refuse to participate in campaigns of intimidation. Reject the strategy of demonizing opponents. Call out friends when they bully those who stand up for the historic understanding of marriage.”

On the other side of the issue, citizens need to stand up for those who are being so unfairly attacked and insist on civil discourse and peaceful resolutions to these differences of opinion long before people are forced out of their jobs or made to watch their businesses be boycotted out of existence.

We must continue the debate about the meaning and purpose of marriage but this must be done in a civilized manner.

“Bullies may win for a while, but theirs is a scorched-earth policy,” Anderson states. “They poison democratic discourse and fray the bonds on which democracy itself ultimately depends.”

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