A Christian Liberal is NOT an oxymoron.

Posted by XT on January 26th, 2009 in US News

I was asked to participate in a boycott of New Orleans. While I appreciate the intent – and I agree with the statement that GLBT people should not be asked to accept second-class treatment – I simply can’t participate.

First of all, I wasn’t going to New Orleans anyway. I think it is pretty much impossible to boycott something in which you were never going to participate.

But more importantly, I think it’s an example of a social action that is poorly aimed. Moving a meeting out of New Orleans isn’t going to pressure the state legislature at all. Nor will it impact the city enough to teach them a lesson and make them pressure the state legislature. No, the most likely impact is that a few maids and doormen, waiters and barbacks, will have a bit less money to spend. Not enough to cause any sort of hardship, of course. Just enough to make things difficult.

The idea of a boycott is to hurt the people responsible for a decision. I really don’t think the hoteliers and restaraunteurs in New Orleans really pushed the anti-gay agenda. But they’ll be hit. And the people that work for them will be hit. But nothing is going to change.

And there is the overblown comparison:

Comparable Discrimination Against Other Groups Would Be Intolerable. If the Louisiana Constitution in effect said, “People of color may not marry or enter into marriage-like unions,” or “Jews may not marry or enter into marriage-like unions,” or “Disabled people may not marry or enter into marriage-like unions,” the American Political Science Association wouldn’t be mired in the present debate. The organization would never regard the Crescent City as a viable conference site under those circumstances.

That’s true. But the problem is that the majority of Americans don’t see marriage equality as being on par with discrimination against blacks or Jews or disabled people. And boycotting New Orleans just isn’t going to change that.

The group most directly responsible for the ban is the Louisiana Family Forum. This won’t touch them. A better effort would be to work to repeal the Amendment – perhaps in an election when more than 22% off voters participate. In the meantime, advocates would be well advised to try convincing people about the civil rights connections rather than simply trying to force them to agree.

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