I was working on a blog post (unfinished yet) about the US 6th Circuit appeals case coming up this week, and as I was bumping around the interwebs for something I came across this post from 2012 detailing Maggie Gallagher, who as a co-founder of the National Organization of Marriage, has been one of the most vocal and dangerous anti-LGBT persons out there. The pice is really great and an example of why I follow Salon.com regularly.

Things will heat up in terms of battling over anything LGBTQ Rights related as same-sex marriage gets closer and closer to the US Supreme Court. If we think we have seen some vitriolic rhetoric to this point, my bet is on it getting far more atrocious over the next year. What prompts homophobes to be so vocally horrific and hateful? I think if we understand some of that, we can weather whatever hate they are throwing our way without freaking out so much. So I encourage you to read this old post because while deal old Maggie isn’t quite in the spot light as she used to be, her story is still telling.

The making of gay marriage’s top foe

The ability to be hateful and bullying isn’t however limited to homophobes. People on either side of the issue of LGBTQ Rights can get ugly and hateful. I name this tactic as linked to the notion of patriarchal power, where a “power over” mentality supports doing whatever you need to in order to win. While some on the side of LGBTQRights believe that because it has been used against them, they can use the same tactics against others, in a Justice-based movement, there is no place for these types of efforts. Justice can’t be based in a power-over model.

So, check out Mark Oppenheimer’s excellent profile of Maggie Gallagher.