I stood outside the polls yesterday with my signs and propaganda to encourage voters to vote against Amendment 2, “the marriage amendment” which defines marriage as being only between one man and one woman, but which also bans civil unions and probably will invalidate some wills, medical powers of attorney, etc. It is worth noting I was outside the “electioneering line” and my position was approved by the Election Judge. It wasn’t particularly fun but something I felt I should do. Below are some of the choice comments from random voters during the day:
- Me: “Thanks for voting!” Woman (after looking around to see if anyone is near): “I’M GAY!!!”
- Voter: “I don’t think it’s right any of you guys can be out here before people go in to vote.”
- Voter, in response to a long wait, despite 2 weeks of early voting with no lines: “I’m going to call the County about this!”
- Voter who voted “For” the amendment: “Well I hope it doesn’t invalidate your will.”
- Voter pointing to my sign that says “Families Matter”: “How could you possibly believe that?!?”
- Another voter pointing to my sign that says “Families Matter”: “That’s misleading!”
- Voter, who said he is a Christian: “Ken Paxton’s newsletter was all I needed to read to know to vote against all of them [the amendments].”
- Voter while talking to two supporters: “Oh, you’re with the sodomites.”
- Most surprising thing that I didn’t hear: that I was spreading AIDS.
- Biggest lie I told all day: that I didn’t know if we would win or not.
I realized that people’s prejudices worked against them. They read my mass-produced signs that read, “Families Matter, Vote Against Amendment 2″ and were literally confused by them. Some accused me of deliberately trying to confuse them (nevermind the fact I didn’t design the signs). Some people came out after voting and ran up to my table in a panic to ask what my signs meant. They wanted to make sure they have voted “correctly.” Some came up before they went in to vote. I told each of them I was biased but would be honest with them, and I was, but I told them why I wanted them to vote against. I was trying to explain it to one voter who was so unable to comprehend it, it was clear to me he wanted to “protect marriage” but he said he was going to vote against. I actually felt a little bit badly that I didn’t correct him.
My thanks to the 530,000 or so Texans who voted against Amendment 2, most of whom are heterosexual. My sincere thanks to the heterosexuals I met in Collin County who stood up for what is right. Just because the majority of voters approved the measure doesn’t make it right. There will come a day when most Texans are embarrassed by this vote and it is repealed by a similar vote.
