Politics: Can the Anti-Gay Marriage Movement Bounce Back?

Now playing: Slate V, a video-only site from the world's leading online magazine. Visit Slate V at www.slatev.com.
Politics Can the Anti-Gay Marriage Movement Bounce Back? If so, in many states it will depend on black churches and their voters. By David Weigel Posted Wednesday, May 16, 2012, at 10:22 PM ET BALTIMORE—Leslie Lopes-Ruffin turned on the projector and pointed it high on the classroom wall. "We pointed it at a sheet last time," she explained, "and people couldn't see it." The slideshow began, right next to a poster of President Obama, listing his accomplishments and famous quotes. There's not a liberal America and a conservative America—there's the United States of America. Ruffin started clicking through her slides, and trained us—myself and a local minister, Monte Harris, Sr.—on how to overturn Maryland's nascent gay marriage law. The governor signed it into law in March, but implementation was delayed until 2013, to give its enemies time to try and stop it. Rising Sun First Baptist Church is one of the full-time petition drop-off and training centers for the activists who want to put the law on the November ballot, and give voters a chance to overturn it. The success of the repeal campaign will depend on black voters. This isn't a secret. Proponents prefer not to talk about it. In March, an anonymous leaker published internal memos from the National Organization for Marriage that revealed a blunt, successful plan to "drive a wedge between gays and blacks." Black support for California's gay marriage ban was at least 58 percent, maybe as high as 70 percent. It was called the "Not a Civil Rights" project: Giving the traditional marriage fight an African-American face. If this can still work, it will work in Maryland. Petitioners ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Why Spending $10 Million on Jeremiah Wright Attack Ads Makes Perfect Sense The Dictator: The Movie That Will Sour You on Sacha Baron Cohen Never Lose at Battleship Again: A Game Analyst's Foolproof Strategy	Advertisement
Manage your newsletters subscription: Unsubscribe | Forward to a Friend | Advertising Information
Ideas on how to make something better? Send an e-mail to slatenewsletter@nl.slate.com. Copyright 2011 The Slate Group | Privacy Policy The Slate Group | c/o E-mail Customer Care | 1350 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 410 | Washington, D.C. 20036