Life's Answer, Volume 8, Number 6, September 1980 Page: 6
31 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Homosexuals stage "gay pride" march in Dallas.
A t a so-called
" congression-
al briefing on
gay rights" early this
j $ year in Washington,
D.C., a parade of
speakers presented a
common message:
Jim Cox Homosexuals are or-
ganizing into a potent political force, and
any smart politician would support their
cause.
The briefing was staged by U.S. Reps.
Henry Waxman( D-Calif.) and Ted Weiss
(D-N. Y.). Its sole purpose was to provide a
platform for supporters of H.R 2074,
popularly known as the Gay Rights Bill.
To back up their claims about the polit-
ical potency of the gay movement, speakers
alleged that 20 million homosexuals plus
20 million sympathetic parents present a
formidable and committed force of active
voters. They held that in races where homo-
sexual rights were an issue, proponents
prevailed more often than opponents. And,
they said, the reason many opponents to
homosexual rights are elected is simply that
the issue is not raised in their races.
These contentions draw considerable
support from the record of events in a
number of states. Texas, for example, has
had the image of a macho state in which
men are men and women are women. But
diligent political involvement is producing
a disproportionate amount of clout for the
state's homosexual minority.
Texas gays have chalked up their most
impressive political track record in
Houston. The Houston Gay Political Cau-
cus uses a simple strategy: Work through
the system. First, it zeroed in on the most
basic, grassroots level of political activity,
the state primaries. In the 1978 stateDemocratic primaries, well-organized gays
swamped local precinct conventions. Since
these meetings were, as usual, largely
ignored by most voters, they had a field day.
They elected 120 gay delegates to the state
senatorial district convention. That cleared
the way for election of one gay national
delegate.
Gays also block-voted in the 1978 elec-
tion to fill the congressional seat vacated
by Rep. Barbara Jordan's resignation. Their
candidate, liberal State Representative
Mickey Leland, got a 2-to- 1 majority in the
20 precincts dominated by the homosexual
vote. In the 1979 city council election,
gays gave a favorable candidate a thou-
sand volunteer workers and enough contri-
butions and votes to oust a strong political
conservative incumbent who had welcomed
opposition from "oddwards and queers."
Dallas Gay Political Caucus president
Don Baker pointed out after this year's
state Democratic convention that homo-
sexual clout is growing enormously at the
state level, too. Two years ago, a resolution
urging appeal of a state law making homo-
sexual acts between consenting adults a
criminal offense got only 200 votes. At this
year's convention, it lost by only 300 votes
out of the total of 3,800 cast.
Reporters noted that this year's Demo-cratic state conven-
tion seemed dominat-
ed by younger dele-
gates, many conser-
vative older Demo-
crats having either left
the party or lost out at
the precinct level to
young activists-
many of whom,
apparently, are ei-
ther homosexuals orsympathetic to homosexual political aims.
When conservative Christians think of
homosexual political activity, what often
comes to mind is the mass demonstration,
featuring obnoxious antics and the flaunt-
ing of obscene, insulting placards. Such
"confrontation politics" has its place in the
psychological warfare of the gay move-
ment.
But the real battle goes on within the
system. The victory strategy is simply to
out-organize and out-vote the opposition.
The homosexuals are proving themselves
quite adept at the art. As a group, they are
an intelligent and well-heeled adversary. A
Los Angeles-based marketing firm found
the average gay household's income to be
50 percent above the national average, that
70 percent of gays surveyed were college
graduates and, what is most pertinent, that
84 percent were regular voters.
To combat homosexual pollution of the
nation's morals through politics, the course
for Christians and others who adhere to
biblical morals seems obvious: Get in-
formed, get organized and get involved.
Any time a godless minority gets its way at
the polls in America's free system, it can
mean only one thing: The godly have failed
to exercise their God-given responsibil-
ity. OFor More
HOMOSEXUALITY Information
GOD'S
PATTERN For a more thorough presentation of
MAN'S James Robison's views on homosexuality
and the GayRightsMovement send forhis
byJames Robison booklet "Homosexuality God's Pattern
or Man's Perversion " To order see insert
in center of magazine
Life's Answer September 1980
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James Robinson Association. Life's Answer, Volume 8, Number 6, September 1980, periodical, September 1980; Hurst, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc304769/m1/6/: accessed June 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.