Calling on Andrew Sullivan to Boycott the Maggie Gallagher Debate

Let us declare  Maggie Gallagher –  ‘marriage equality irrelevant’-
By Melanie Nathan, March 29, 2012

I received an invitation to attend what is touted by organizers as the “media debate of the year ”  to be held at  Lee Chapel, at Washington & Lee University, Lexington, VA – a debate on marriage equality between Maggie Gallagher and Andrew Sullivan.

I was horrified that Andrew Sullivan would give any credence to Maggie Gallagher as a legitimate debater! Certainly not after this week’s revelation of the strategy and tactics of  Maggie Gallagher when she headed the now super-exposed NOM! (See the Invitation below)

Mr. Sullivan is a well known TV commentator  blogger, who writes for his Blog at The Daily Beast. who also wrote this week about the new exposed revelations about NOM’s anti-gay strategy and tactics against marriage equality. http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/03/what-nom-is-really-thinking.html

I wrote a piece before I received the debate invitation (below) suggesting that we as the media, especially the LGBT BLOGGERS  should no longer deliver Maggie Gallagher a pulpit.

I noted: The National organization for Marriage (NOM,) is currently being investigated by the State of Maine with regards to possible campaign finance violations, resulting in the revelation of documents they attempted to keep from the public eye. But now they have been exposed!

The documents, made public … reveal the startling strategies, outlined in detail, by the anti-gay group.

Their plan was to “fan hostilities” between African Americans and LGBT people in the U.S. and to recruit “glamorous, non-cognitive celebrities” to advocate against same-sex marriage.

On Tuesday night’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, the Human Rights Campaign’s legal director Brian Moulton was on hand to discuss the revelations about the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and its willingness to embrace racially divisive tactics to achieve its goal of denying marriage equality to same-sex couples.

The level to which these people have stooped is unconscionable. I now feel more of right than ever, to call Brian Brown, Maggie Gallagher, Christopher Plante, Jennifer Roback Morse, Robert George UN-AMERICAN!

From this moment on, we should all refuse to report on their anti-gay rantings, thereby doing our piece to silence them. We should not fuel their illegitimacy with our reporting. From this point on we should only report what we may further uncover and also only the results of legal actions and investigations against them.

There cannot be an organization less worthy of our time other than to prosecute and sue to the fullest extent of the law!

I feel very strongly that Sullivan should refuse to debate Gallagher. If he still considers her a player in the debate after what was revealed this week I say SHAME ON YOU!

To add insult to injury the organizers of the debate are using the recent exposure to boost the interest at the event by stating on the invitation email “Gallagher is huge news right now, and doors open 45 minutes in advance, so I recommend being in line by 4:00 p.m.”

Not that her fringe hate group ever was that credible to start with;  and they (NOM) have been given way too much exposure for their argument by LGBT Press itself – and we have all but provided it on a silver platter! But now after the content of these documents have been revealed, it is especially implausible, bordering outrageous, to validate her disingenuous voice at any debate on our marriage equality.

I hope Andrew Sullivan will cancel the event and in doing so makes the statement that Maggie Gallagher no longer has her voice. 

Let us declare  Maggie Gallagher –  ‘marriage equality irrelevant!’

THIS IS THE INVITE which I received from Ned Flaherty  via [email protected]

You’re invited to attend the media debate of the year next Wednesday:

debate topic:  Same-gender marriage

debaters:
Opposed:  Maggie Gallagher (NOM co-founder, board member, spokesperson, and chief debater)

In Favor:  Andrew Sullivan (British author, editor, conservative commentator, Daily Beast blogger)

doors open:                                           5:15 p.m., 4 April

show time:                               6:00-7:00 p.m., 4 April

where:                                      Lee Chapel, at Washington & Lee University, Lexington, VA

student group hosts:             (1) Outlaw; (2) The Federalist Society

copyright:                                Broadcasting and recording are prohibited.

admission:                               Open to the public.  No ticket needed.  Maximum capacity is 600 persons.

READ MORE –  http://gayusathemovie.com/2012/03/national-black-justice-coalition-condemns-nom/

Wikipedia:- Andrew Michael Sullivan (born August 10, 1963) is a British author, editor, political commentator and blogger. He describes himself as a political conservative.He has focused on American political life. Sullivan is a speaker at universities, colleges, and civic organizations in the United States. He has been a guest on national news and political commentary television shows in the United States and Europe. Born and raised in England, he has lived in the United States since 1984 and currently resides in Washington, D.C. and Provincetown, Massachusetts. He is gay and a Catholic.

Between starting his blog and ending his New Republic editorship, Sullivan wrote two works on homosexuality, arguing for its social acceptance on libertarian grounds. His writing appears in a number of widely-read publications. He currently serves as a columnist for The Sunday Timesof London.

The core principles of Sullivan’s blog have been the style of conservatism he views as traditional. This includes fiscal conservatism, limited government, and classic libertarianism on social issues. Sullivan opposes government involvement with respect to sexual and consensual matters between adults, such as the use of marijuana and prostitution. Sullivan believes recognition of same-sex marriage is a civil-rights issue but is willing to promote it on a state-by-state legislative federalism basis, rather than trying to judicially impose the change. Most of Sullivan’s disputes with other conservatives have been over social issues, such as these, and the handling of postwar Iraq.