Right-wing opponents to civil rights for gay/lesbian people use similar arguments and rhetoric
around the country, whether they're in Corvallis Oregon; Albany, New York; or Lebanon, Tennessee.
This document is a tool for action. It includes responses, ideas, and themes you may use when responding.
Each topic begins with the rhetoric used by the right-wing, followed by some ideas on how to respond.
1."Gay men and lesbians are already covered under the Constitution just like the rest of us.
What they want are SPECIAL RIGHTS. We oppose SPECIAL RIGHTS for gay people."
RESPONSE: The right wing rhetoric of "SPECIAL RIGHTS" skews the issue. The right to
get and keep a job based on merit is not a special right. The right to have housing is not a special
right. The right to be served food in a restaurant or stay in a hotel are not special rights. The right
to have and raise children without the state seizing them is not a special right. Gay and Lesbian people
want the same rights guaranteed to all American citizens. However, without civil rights laws,
which specifically ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, gay people can lose their jobs, their
homes, and their families and be refused service at public accomodations simply because they are gay --
with no legal recourse. Right wing zealots who speak of special rights want the very special right to
discriminate against those they hate.
2."Local ordinances for gay men and lesbians force the rest of us to live against our religious beliefs.
We're entitled to our rights too."
RESPONSE: Most civil rights ordinances provide exemptions for religious institutions. And extending
civil rights to one sector of society does not withdraw rights from another. In addition, many gay
and lesbian members of various religious denominations are organizing their faith so that religious
institutions may become more accepting of the diversity of their following.
3."They want to be treated like a minority, like an ethnic minority. The Supreme Court says they're not.
And we know they're not because they never rode in the back of the bus and they are not economically deprived."
RESPONSE:Like other minorities, gay men and lesbians face job loss, eviction, non-service at public accommodations,
and the loss of our children simply because of who we are. And like other minorities, gay people face
harassment, physical assault, and murder based on an assailant's hatred against us as a group. According to
a national study, anti-gay violence and victimization rose 31 percent in 1991, and a Department of Justice
study reported that "homosexuals are probably the most frequent victim" of hate crime. Our constitution says
that all citizens are created equal-- that must include gay and lesbian Americans.
"4. Homosexuals lead an abominable lifestyle. People who care about traditional family values must not encourage the open
expression of this sexual depravity."
RESPONSE: Discrimination is the abomination, not gay and lesbian people. The family values we uphold are support, love,
understanding, and respect between family members. Discrimination and bigotry are not traditional family values.
5."Gay people want to force their lifestlye on us and take away our rights."
RESPONSE: Civil rights laws that include gay and lesbian people do not limit the rights of others.
Instead they extend to gay and lesbian people the same rights already enjoyed by most Americans -- the right to obtain and
keep employment based on ability to do the job; the right to acquire housing; the right to raise their children; and the right to
live free of violence. Gay people are not interested in forcing anything on anyone -- just the opposite. Most gay people would
prefer to live in privacy, without intrusion by Far Right bigots.
6."You can't let gays be near childern -- since they can't reproduce, they recruit. And they are all pedophiles."
RESPONSE: Statistucs show that the vast majority of sexual abuse is committed by men against women, usually within the same family.
One 1992 study of the Children's Hospital in Denver showed that children are 100 times more likely to be molested by a family member
than by a gay person. Sexual abuse therapists denounced statements by the Oregon and Idaho Citizens Alliances that claimed to link homosexuality
with pedophilia -- the therapists said they were offended and appalled the attempt to link homosexuality and pedophelia in order to
achieve their extreme political agenda. Lies perpetuate stereotypes that are then used to deny gay people our rights.
It is wrong to deny us our rights based on these myths.
7."What this is really leading to is marriage licenses for gay men and lesbians, joint benefits, formalized
domestic relationships, child adoptions, the destruction of the American family. This is wrong."
RESPONSE: Civil rights laws that include gay and lesbian people do not grant gay people the right to marry. While society
perpetuates the stereotype of all gay people as sexually promiscuous individuals, it denies us the recognition of our committed
unions. However, gay people are struggling for legal recognition of our loving relationships, as well as acquiring employment benefits
for spouses which are equivalent to our heterosexual co-workers.
8."Its within our First Amendment rights to say what we think of homosexuals."
RESPONSE: Right wing organizations hide their homophobia behind the First Amendment. While the right wing demands the right
to speak out against homosexuality, they are simultaneously running well financed campaigns to censor and squelch positive images
of gay and lesbian people on television, in schools, and in the arts. The hatred and lies that right wing organizations spew create
a hostile environment for gay and lesbian people. Their rhetoric bolsters the hatred expressed by the bigots who
physically attack gay men and lesbians. A national study conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy
Institute documented 1,822 anti-gay incidents in just five U.S. cities in 1991, a 31 percent increase of the number of incidents in 1990.
