A voice in the gay wilderness

Marc Ambinder:

...[W]hat really made me angry was the assumption by Bunning that the government best enforces marriage laws at the point of its gun... 

I find the government's conduct more offensive to my sense of justice than I do Davis' refusal to comply with the law. And I say this as a dude who had to wait years to marry another dude. 

A lust for vengeance deprived Kim Davis of her freedom rapidly and comprehensively. And no, her refusal to recognize gay marriage rights is not nearly as offensive as what was done to her. Her clerk issued the marriage licenses she refused to issue. The context matters, as does the actual harm done by her to gay people, which, really, isn't that much.

What made me steaming mad was the delight expressed by many of my own fellow travelers at her imprisonment. We bathed in the glory of her personal life, too. That's offensive. Her personal life has no relevance at all to the issue at hand. And no, she did not invite such scrutiny by taking a public stand against gay marriage. All that matters is her conduct in office. 

Those on the side of what's right should never revel in the pain of others. Gays and our allies are in the right. Now, let us set an example for how to treat those who are not.

Ambinder certainly understands that what was done to Davis was a crime. He regrets it because it was an affront to law and justice, not (he says) because it was a strategic catastrophe for the gaystapo.

He is in the minority in the gay-marriage supporting community: most of the gaystapo reveled in Davis' imprisonment. What Ambinder (and the other few gays and allies who don't support imprisoning Christians for living in accordance with their faith) don't yet understand is that destroying the livelihood and jailing Christians is the purpose of gay marriage. Gay marriage is a tool for excising Christianity from the public square. What is happening to Davis and to many Christian businessmen and women across the country is central to the strategy of gay marriage activists.

Only a tiny fraction of gays will ever 'marry', and all of the legal and social benefits are offered with civil unions. But Christians are being persecuted, so the gaystapo can rightfully celebrate the growing success of their cause.

The strategic outcome of Davis' jailing is that the true nature of the gay marriage movement is being revealed with stunning clarity.