National Organization for Marriage co-founder Maggie Gallagher was the featured speaker at the Women's Republican Club of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff first "Republican Women Think for Themselves Luncheon and Lecture Series" April 5. She spoke about "Gay Marriage: What Happens Now and Why it Matters."
Although the media was barred from covering the event, Gallagher answered questions via email about the event, her thoughts on the current state of marriage equality and her future plans.
Windy City Times: Share a little bit about the luncheon itself as well as a summary of your remarks.
Maggie Gallagher: I spoke to about 60 people. It was very timely because of Mozilla's decision to pressure Brendan Eich to resign when he decline to endorse same-sex marriage. If you've read my Oxford University Press book Debating Same-Sex Marriage, which I co-authored with Prof. John Corvino, you would recognize the bulk of the speech! I spoke about what the classic understanding of marriage is and why it matters.
Most people are rather shocked to find out that a talented man like Eich could be forced out of a CEO position because he donated to Prop 8. I am not because I have now seen many people threatened with punishments of various kinds for donating to Prop 8 or opposing gay marriage.
This is what gay-marriage advocates mean when they say opposing gay marriage is like opposing interracial marriage. You will get treated like a racist in law and public policy.
As I told the Lake Forest Women's Club, the first struggle is internal or spiritual: Will traditional believers or marriage supporters accept this view of ourselves? Or not? That's one of the big questions we face, as the kind of open hatred directed at Brendan Eich is directed at many people.
Blessings to those gay-marriage advocates ( like Andrew Sullivan, among others ) who criticized the attacks on Eich's job.
WCT: What projects and/or initiatives are you working on now?
Maggie Gallagher: Right now I'm mostly working on connecting Republicans to the core economic concerns of middle-class voters. The pro-life party is not going to thrive unless it gets the economic message right.
WCT: What do you think of the tide shifting so quickly in favor of marriage equality?
Maggie Gallagher: Well, it's not my favorite thing, obviously!
WCT: What do you see as your future work?
Maggie Gallagher: Figuring out if there are ways I can make most of the things I predicted would happen as result of gay marriage, not come true. Prove Maggie wrong! I would love to be mistaken. How do we strengthen marriage so that more children are raised by their mom and dad in one loving family? How do we protect religious diversity in this country? I don't have a 12 point plan, not yet anyway but it's something I think about: where I can make a contribution.
I'd like to do more writing, not necessarily political in nature, and I am talking to some folks about several potential new organizations/projects. Oh, and I am raising bunny rabbits!
