Sharg Our Way toward Equaly: Social Media and Gay Rights - Non Prof News | Nonprof Quarterly

Contents:

• GAY MARRIAGE SOCIAL MEDIA MPAIGN FEATUR 'THE BOSS,' GAGA
• EQUALY BY THE DATASCE THE TENT OF THE MPAIGN WAS TO GET ERS TO UPDATE THEIR PROFILE PHOTOS, FACEBOOK PARED PROFILE-PHOTO UPDAT ON TUDAY, MARCH 26, WHEN THE MPAIGN WENT VIRAL, TO THE PREV TUDAY AND FOUND A 120 PERCENT CREASE (ROUGHLY 2.7 LN ERS). IT ALSO ED A TIME-SERI MOL TO SHOW THE DRASTIC CREASE. FACEBOOK UNVERED DATA SUGGTG THAT THE VAST MAJORY OF ERS TAKG PART THE VIRAL MPAIGN WERE BETWEEN THE AG OF 20 AND 40, AND THAT THE HIGHT PARTICIPATN WAS BY 30-YEAR-OLDS (ROUGHLY 3.5 PERCENT OF 30-YEAR-OLDS UPDATED THEIR PROFILE PICTUR). THE HIGHT PARTICIPATN RAT BY GEOGRAPHIL LOTN WERE (NOT SURPRISGLY) THE NORTHEAST AND PACIFIC PARTS OF THE UNED STAT AS WELL AS THE GREAT LAK REGN.ONE TERTG OBSERVATN WAS OF THE HIGH RATE OF PARTICIPATN UNTI WH LLEG AND UNIVERSI. THIS MOGRAPHIC SEEMS TO BE A JUMPG-OFF POT FOR VIRAL MEDIA-THE PERFECT DIENCE THAT HAS TIME TO NSUME NTENT AND WORKS OF IENDS TO SHARE WH. THE FIRST HARLEM SHAKE VIO [LK] IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN FILMED A LLEGE DORM ROOM.ACTIVISM OR SLACKTIVISM?THE EFFECTIVENS OF VIRAL, E-BASED EFFORTS NOT ROOTED SOLELY FUND-RAISG IS OFTEN QUTNED. WILL 2.7 LN PEOPLE'S CHANGG THEIR PROFILE PHOTOS ACTUALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE? IF SO, WHAT WAY? THE SAME QUTNS PLAGUED INVISIBLE CHILDREN'S KONY 2012 MPAIGN. MANY TEENS AND LENNIALS SHARED THE VIO THAT EXPOSED JOSEPH KONY'S ATROCI, BUT WERE THOSE LOW-ST EFFORTS A SUBSTUTE FOR MORE-SUBSTANTIVE ACTNS? THE ANSWERS TO THOSE QUTNS PEND ON WHOM YOU ASK. FACEBOOK'S DATA SCIENCE REARCHER EYTAN BAKSHY IS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE MPAIGN'S EFFECTIVENS, ACRDG TO VENTURE BEAT; HE NOT THAT "FOR A LONG TIME, WHEN PEOPLE STOOD UP FOR A E AND WEREN'T ALL PHYSILLY STANDG SHOULR TO SHOULR, THE SIZE OF THEIR IMPACT WASN'T IMMEDIATELY APPARENT. BUT TODAY WE N SEE THE SPREAD OF AN IA ONLE GREATER TAIL THAN EVER BEFORE. THAT'S DATA WELL WORTH FDG."PART OF WHAT'S BEHD THE ACHIEVG OF A E'S ULTIMATE GOALS, WHICH ARE OFTEN LOFTY AND LONG-TERM (CURG NCER, ENDG POVERTY, PTURG KONY, EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL), IS MASS AWARENS, AND AN EFFECTIVE VIRAL SOCIAL-MEDIA MPAIGN N HELP ACHIEVE THAT A SHORTER TIME. WHILE THIRTY-SOMETHGS ON FACEBOOK'S ALL AT ONCE UPDATG THEIR PROFILE PICTUR MAY NOT SWAY THE SUPREME COURT ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, DO MAKE UNRMED DIENC AWARE THAT THE DISCSN IS BEG HAD, AS WELL AS OF WHAT'S AT STAKE AND OF WHAT N BE DONE TO SUPPORT GAY RIGHTS. THE BRAND BANDWAGONWH VIRAL SUCCS IMATN (AND PARODY), AND THE EQUALY MEME WAS NO DIFFERENT. ALONG WH ORIGAL ER-GENERATED REMIX, UNTLS BRANDS THREW THEIR HATS THE RG. THE HRC LOVED THE SUPPORT, AND ALL THE PROMOTN THAT BRANDS ADD WAS (FOR THE MOST PART) GOOD FOR THE HRC'S AWARENS PH.BUT THE ISSUE ED A HOT-BUTTON BATE THE STORY OFFIC. AFTER BUD LIGHT POSTED THIS PHOTO OF THE EQUALY SIGN POSED OF TWO BUD LIGHT NS, WE BEGAN TO WONR WHETHER THE BRAND SP-OFFS WERE FACT PUBLIC SUPPORT OF MARRIAGE EQUALY OR JT AN ATTEMPT BY A BRAND TO SERT SELF TO A POPULAR MEME.BEFORE BUD LIGHT POSTED S SP-OFF, WE APPLD TE BLOOD'S VERSN OF THE EQUALY PHOTO. THE ADDN OF FANGS ALIGNED THE BRAND WH THE HRC WHOUT SERTG OVERT BRANDG, AND THE SHOW SELF HAS AN THORY TO PUBLISH BEE HAS EXPLORED THE TOPIC OF DISCRIMATN (AS REGARDS GAY RIGHTS) PREV EPISOS.THOUGH I APPLD BUD LIGHT'S EFFORT TO TAKE A SI (ONE THAT I HAPPEN TO AGREE WH), SOMETHG ABOUT THE SUBSTUTN OF TWO BEER NS FOR THE EQUAL SIGN DIDN'T FEEL RIGHT. BUD LIGHT DIDN'T EMBRACE THE SPIR OF THE MEME, WHICH WAS TO E THE PHOTO AS ONE'S PROFILE PICTURE. IT WAS WILLG TO POUNCE ON THE OPPORTUNY TO EMBRACE AN ALREADY PROVEN MEME (VERS THOSE BRANDS THAT EMBRACED EARLY ON, UNSURE OF PUBLIC REACTN) BUT UNWILLG TO GO AS FAR AS G FOR S PROFILE PHOTO, EVEN THOUGH S VERSN CLUD BUD LIGHT BRANDG. FALLY, 'S UNCLEAR IF BUD LIGHT HAS THE THORY TO PUBLISH ON THE TOPIC. DO ACTUALLY DO ANYTHG TO SUPPORT GAY RIGHTS? BUD LIGHT DO HAVE A HISTORY OF SUPPORTG THE LGBT MUNY ACRDG TO BS INSIR, BUT THAT HARDLY SEEMS TO BE PART OF THE BRAND'S RE NARRATIVE. REACTN TO BUD LIGHT'S VERSN WAS OVERWHELMGLY POSIVE, ACRDG TO THE TOP MENTS (THIS ULD BE TERMED THANKS TO FACEBOOK'S NEW, THREAD REPLY SYSTEM) AND THE POST GARNERED MORE THAN 11,000 SHAR, 55,000 LIK AND 2,000 MENTS. SO 'S FAIR TO SAY THAT THE BUD LIGHT DIENCE APPRECIATED THE BRAND'S ALIGNMENT WH THE E, AND BUD LIGHT'S DIENCE IS WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT. BUT 'S NOT AN EFFORT THAT N BE HELD THE SAME HIGH TEEM AS THAT OF OREO, WHICH CREATED S MULTI-TIERED, RABOW-LORED OREO OKIE AS A STAND-ALONE EXPRSN OF EQUALY WHOUT THE FORT OF KNOWG HOW DIENC WOULD REACT.BILLONS AND BILLNS SERVED
• THE SOCIAL-NETWORK EFFECT THAT IS HELPG LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE
• BCE SPRGSTEEN STARS IN GAY MARRIAGE SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN (PHOTO)
• GAY MARRIAGE EQUALY BOX SPREADS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
• SHARG OUR WAY TOWARD EQUALY: SOCIAL MEDIA AND GAY RIGHTS
• GAY RIGHTS

GAY MARRIAGE SOCIAL MEDIA MPAIGN FEATUR 'THE BOSS,' GAGA

On Twter and blogs last week, statements backg the right of gay upl to marry outnumbered those opposed by more than 2-to-1-ntug a trend that has surfaced before social media.

EQUALY BY THE DATASCE THE TENT OF THE MPAIGN WAS TO GET ERS TO UPDATE THEIR PROFILE PHOTOS, FACEBOOK PARED PROFILE-PHOTO UPDAT ON TUDAY, MARCH 26, WHEN THE MPAIGN WENT VIRAL, TO THE PREV TUDAY AND FOUND A 120 PERCENT CREASE (ROUGHLY 2.7 LN ERS). IT ALSO ED A TIME-SERI MOL TO SHOW THE DRASTIC CREASE. FACEBOOK UNVERED DATA SUGGTG THAT THE VAST MAJORY OF ERS TAKG PART THE VIRAL MPAIGN WERE BETWEEN THE AG OF 20 AND 40, AND THAT THE HIGHT PARTICIPATN WAS BY 30-YEAR-OLDS (ROUGHLY 3.5 PERCENT OF 30-YEAR-OLDS UPDATED THEIR PROFILE PICTUR). THE HIGHT PARTICIPATN RAT BY GEOGRAPHIL LOTN WERE (NOT SURPRISGLY) THE NORTHEAST AND PACIFIC PARTS OF THE UNED STAT AS WELL AS THE GREAT LAK REGN.ONE TERTG OBSERVATN WAS OF THE HIGH RATE OF PARTICIPATN UNTI WH LLEG AND UNIVERSI. THIS MOGRAPHIC SEEMS TO BE A JUMPG-OFF POT FOR VIRAL MEDIA-THE PERFECT DIENCE THAT HAS TIME TO NSUME NTENT AND WORKS OF IENDS TO SHARE WH. THE FIRST HARLEM SHAKE VIO [LK] IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN FILMED A LLEGE DORM ROOM.ACTIVISM OR SLACKTIVISM?THE EFFECTIVENS OF VIRAL, E-BASED EFFORTS NOT ROOTED SOLELY FUND-RAISG IS OFTEN QUTNED. WILL 2.7 LN PEOPLE'S CHANGG THEIR PROFILE PHOTOS ACTUALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE? IF SO, WHAT WAY? THE SAME QUTNS PLAGUED INVISIBLE CHILDREN'S KONY 2012 MPAIGN. MANY TEENS AND LENNIALS SHARED THE VIO THAT EXPOSED JOSEPH KONY'S ATROCI, BUT WERE THOSE LOW-ST EFFORTS A SUBSTUTE FOR MORE-SUBSTANTIVE ACTNS? THE ANSWERS TO THOSE QUTNS PEND ON WHOM YOU ASK. FACEBOOK'S DATA SCIENCE REARCHER EYTAN BAKSHY IS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE MPAIGN'S EFFECTIVENS, ACRDG TO VENTURE BEAT; HE NOT THAT "FOR A LONG TIME, WHEN PEOPLE STOOD UP FOR A E AND WEREN'T ALL PHYSILLY STANDG SHOULR TO SHOULR, THE SIZE OF THEIR IMPACT WASN'T IMMEDIATELY APPARENT. BUT TODAY WE N SEE THE SPREAD OF AN IA ONLE GREATER TAIL THAN EVER BEFORE. THAT'S DATA WELL WORTH FDG."PART OF WHAT'S BEHD THE ACHIEVG OF A E'S ULTIMATE GOALS, WHICH ARE OFTEN LOFTY AND LONG-TERM (CURG NCER, ENDG POVERTY, PTURG KONY, EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL), IS MASS AWARENS, AND AN EFFECTIVE VIRAL SOCIAL-MEDIA MPAIGN N HELP ACHIEVE THAT A SHORTER TIME. WHILE THIRTY-SOMETHGS ON FACEBOOK'S ALL AT ONCE UPDATG THEIR PROFILE PICTUR MAY NOT SWAY THE SUPREME COURT ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, DO MAKE UNRMED DIENC AWARE THAT THE DISCSN IS BEG HAD, AS WELL AS OF WHAT'S AT STAKE AND OF WHAT N BE DONE TO SUPPORT GAY RIGHTS. THE BRAND BANDWAGONWH VIRAL SUCCS IMATN (AND PARODY), AND THE EQUALY MEME WAS NO DIFFERENT. ALONG WH ORIGAL ER-GENERATED REMIX, UNTLS BRANDS THREW THEIR HATS THE RG. THE HRC LOVED THE SUPPORT, AND ALL THE PROMOTN THAT BRANDS ADD WAS (FOR THE MOST PART) GOOD FOR THE HRC'S AWARENS PH.BUT THE ISSUE ED A HOT-BUTTON BATE THE STORY OFFIC. AFTER BUD LIGHT POSTED THIS PHOTO OF THE EQUALY SIGN POSED OF TWO BUD LIGHT NS, WE BEGAN TO WONR WHETHER THE BRAND SP-OFFS WERE FACT PUBLIC SUPPORT OF MARRIAGE EQUALY OR JT AN ATTEMPT BY A BRAND TO SERT SELF TO A POPULAR MEME.BEFORE BUD LIGHT POSTED S SP-OFF, WE APPLD TE BLOOD'S VERSN OF THE EQUALY PHOTO. THE ADDN OF FANGS ALIGNED THE BRAND WH THE HRC WHOUT SERTG OVERT BRANDG, AND THE SHOW SELF HAS AN THORY TO PUBLISH BEE HAS EXPLORED THE TOPIC OF DISCRIMATN (AS REGARDS GAY RIGHTS) PREV EPISOS.THOUGH I APPLD BUD LIGHT'S EFFORT TO TAKE A SI (ONE THAT I HAPPEN TO AGREE WH), SOMETHG ABOUT THE SUBSTUTN OF TWO BEER NS FOR THE EQUAL SIGN DIDN'T FEEL RIGHT. BUD LIGHT DIDN'T EMBRACE THE SPIR OF THE MEME, WHICH WAS TO E THE PHOTO AS ONE'S PROFILE PICTURE. IT WAS WILLG TO POUNCE ON THE OPPORTUNY TO EMBRACE AN ALREADY PROVEN MEME (VERS THOSE BRANDS THAT EMBRACED EARLY ON, UNSURE OF PUBLIC REACTN) BUT UNWILLG TO GO AS FAR AS G FOR S PROFILE PHOTO, EVEN THOUGH S VERSN CLUD BUD LIGHT BRANDG. FALLY, 'S UNCLEAR IF BUD LIGHT HAS THE THORY TO PUBLISH ON THE TOPIC. DO ACTUALLY DO ANYTHG TO SUPPORT GAY RIGHTS? BUD LIGHT DO HAVE A HISTORY OF SUPPORTG THE LGBT MUNY ACRDG TO BS INSIR, BUT THAT HARDLY SEEMS TO BE PART OF THE BRAND'S RE NARRATIVE. REACTN TO BUD LIGHT'S VERSN WAS OVERWHELMGLY POSIVE, ACRDG TO THE TOP MENTS (THIS ULD BE TERMED THANKS TO FACEBOOK'S NEW, THREAD REPLY SYSTEM) AND THE POST GARNERED MORE THAN 11,000 SHAR, 55,000 LIK AND 2,000 MENTS. SO 'S FAIR TO SAY THAT THE BUD LIGHT DIENCE APPRECIATED THE BRAND'S ALIGNMENT WH THE E, AND BUD LIGHT'S DIENCE IS WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT. BUT 'S NOT AN EFFORT THAT N BE HELD THE SAME HIGH TEEM AS THAT OF OREO, WHICH CREATED S MULTI-TIERED, RABOW-LORED OREO OKIE AS A STAND-ALONE EXPRSN OF EQUALY WHOUT THE FORT OF KNOWG HOW DIENC WOULD REACT.BILLONS AND BILLNS SERVED

The examatn clud the perd om May 6-the day that Vice Print Joseph Bin voiced his support on Meet the Prs-to May 13, five days after North Carola voted down gay marriage and four days after Obama’s statement. “And if one 60+ year old woman, brought up a nservative small town, a tradnal marriage for 40+ years, n e to the ncln that gay marriage pos no threat to her or to any other straight people who are married, or want to get married… then n some still be foamg at the mouth?

A group of marketg and veteran gay rights activists is hopg to rally the youth vote the four stat where gay marriage will be on the ballot this November through a social media mpaign.

Mae, Mnota, Maryland, and Washgton all addrs the legaly of gay marriage through ballot Four 2012 mpaign hop to be the updated versn of "Rock the Vote, " by offerg shareable, pro-gay-marriage ntent the form of imag, vios, and other graphics via social works, such as Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, and 2012 -founr Brian Ellner, who also oversaw the Campaign for New York Marriage, said the goal is to "engage and exce youths and make sure they e and vote, " as well as raise "natnal dollars for the effort. " The anizatn's webse clus lks to donate to each state's pro-gay-marriage mpaign: Maers Uned for Marriage, Marylanrs for Marriage Equaly, Mnotans Uned for All Fai, and Washgton Uned for Marriage. The imag of other pro-gay-marriage celebri such as Lady Gaga and Pk have also featured prev 2012 is also producg s own social ntent, cludg a seri of state-specific vios about gay upl, such as the one released Tuday on Mae.

THE SOCIAL-NETWORK EFFECT THAT IS HELPG LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE

"Although gay marriage has never won before at the votg booth (stat where is legal, such as Massachetts and New York, passed via the legislature or urts), anizers are hopeful this year will be different. The Obama admistratn, cludg the print, has e out support of gay marriage and natnal pollg shows that half the untry believ same-sex marriage should be valid unr the anizatn, which received ial fundg of $200, 000 om shoppg se founr Jason Goldberg, has also taken out some paid advertisg on anizers for The Four 2012 clu Ryan Davis of Blue State Digal, the polics-md digal marketg firm that worked on Print Obama's 2008 onle mpaign; Andre Banks of, and Jeremy Heimans of social media nsultancy Purpose.

The mpaign was timed to ci wh the oral arguments the Supreme Court over Proposn 8, California's gay-marriage ban, and DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, a law that ni feral benefs to same-sex 're big fans of viral ntent here at PostAd, bee more often than not stems om havg created ntent so funny, entertag or eful that had to be shared.

BCE SPRGSTEEN STARS IN GAY MARRIAGE SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN (PHOTO)

While thirty-somethgs on Facebook's all at once updatg their profile pictur may not sway the Supreme Court one way or another, do make unrmed dienc aware that the discsn is beg had, as well as of what's at stake and of what n be done to support gay rights. The addn of fangs aligned the brand wh the HRC whout sertg overt brandg, and the show self has an thory to publish bee has explored the topic of discrimatn (as regards gay rights) prev I appld Bud Light's effort to take a si (one that I happen to agree wh), somethg about the substutn of two beer ns for the equal sign didn't feel right.

A subsequent ad, all text wh voice-over narratn, mentns marriage only once (“Regardls of how you feel about marriage, ’s wrong to treat people differently unr the law”) and never the phrase “gay marriage” or even the word “gay. Asked about the absence of gay upl, a senr “No on 8” official told KPIX-TV San Francis that “om all the knowledge that we have and rearch that we have, [those] are not the bt imag to move people. ” Another ad attacks overweeng judg, mocks San Francis Mayor Gav Newsom for sayg, “It’s gog to happen whether you like or not, ” and go on to claim that gay marriage uld e people to be sued for their beliefs and church to lose their tax exemptn.

Chief among those expectatns is that spo will do whatever is necsary to re for each other — which is valuable, bee cens data show that almost a third of California’s gay upl have only one wage-earner, and almost a fifth have at least one disabled partner (about the same, by the way, as for straight married upl). The breakthrough effect of same-sex marriage is not on the mature gay upl who n fally get marriage licens, important though that is; is the effect on generatns of gay kids who will no longer grow up assumg that their love mt separate them om life’s most sential stutn.

GAY MARRIAGE EQUALY BOX SPREADS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Durg our nversatn, which has been eded for length and clary, we discsed what ma the stggle for gay marriage distct om other civil-rights movements, how Tmp’s electn shifted the foc of social nservatism away om sexual polics, and what this fight n tell about future civil-rights is the stggle for gay marriage Ameri different om other stggl for civil rights Amerin history? And one sential element is that, unlike race and genr, people generally have the abily to ntrol the circumstanc unr which they acknowledge and disclose the fact that they are gay or lbian. And so the procs of g out, which is the unrlyg social enge of a lot of the opn change that leads to polil and legal victori, is somethg that’s available to members of the gay and lbian muny that is not available to Ain-Amerins or to women, their I still n’t ci whether this is a profound observatn or a banal one, but most gay people are born to straight people—which means that they are, one prum, evenly distributed across the populatn, which is to say that they’re not geographilly ncentrated, that the likelihood of anybody the untry g to know somebody as a neighbor or a fay member or a classmate who’s gay or lbian is probably more or ls equally distributed.

And we’ve seen across gay-rights issu, not jt marriage, that the bt predictor of liberal attus has always been how somebody answers the qutn “Do you have a iend, fay member, or -worker who’s gay or lbian? There was a much longer perd of the broar qut for equal rights for gays and lbians, when activists were operatg whout much acknowledgment om, reactn om, and teractn wh the polil class or stutns.

So, the mid-neteen-neti, anti-gay activists on the maland who rpond to this urt cisn Hawaii end up unifyg a gay-rights movement that had been unvted marriage as a e and actured iologilly over as a strategic proposn—over the tra-offs, terms of cremental gas that would have to be put asi the qut for marriage rights. And, all of a sudn, some gay-rights activists who had been prcipled opponents of seekg marriage ci that, bee their opponents want to ny them that right, they feel basilly obliged to fight for ’s not a bad argument, right? And gays and lbians and bisexuals and transgenr people were a aln, and their opponents cid that what was wh that aln had been a niche issue but was now gog to be the primary area which they were gog to fight.

SHARG OUR WAY TOWARD EQUALY: SOCIAL MEDIA AND GAY RIGHTS

"Read More Marchg wh pri for gay-marriage cisn Absolut Tweet The vodka brand has been promotg s Exprs Your Pri mpaign, which clud a rabow-lored bottle that has sce been clud permanently the lp. Bce Sprgsteen has been an outspoken advote for lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) rights for some time, but now "The Boss" has gone a step further by starrg a social media ph for marriage equaly. After quotg former New Jersey Governor Jon Corze's earlier scriptn of marriage equaly as "a civil rights issue that mt be approved to assure that every cizen is treated equally unr the law, " Sprgsteen not the ad, "I uldn't agree more wh that statement and urge those who support equal treatment for our gay and lbian brothers and sisters to let their voic be heard now.

GAY RIGHTS

Human Rights Campaign resigned logo appearg on Bud Light ns%2C Martha Stewart red velvet kWh two days%2C the logo has been shared on social media by tens of lns of peopleSome social media ers say viral mpaigns are beg ovesedNEW YORK (AP) — Bud Light said wh beer ns and Martha Stewart wh red velvet ke as pani and celebri om Beyonce to Gee Takei joed lns of social media ers postg and tweakg a simple red logo support of gay marriage. The goal of wng equaly for LGBT people unr the law pend first and foremost on the eraditn of sodomy laws, which crimalized private nsensual relatns at the very re of gay1 inty — the pretext for many other forms of discrimatn.

Hardwick cisn, the Supreme Court rejected a challenge to Geia’s sodomy statute, clarg wh thly ncealed ntempt that the claim that “homosexual sodomy” was protected unr the Constutn was “at bt, facet. ” When prsed to nsir whether was legimate to base the laws on “majory sentiments about the moraly of homosexualy, ” the Court replied that the law is “nstantly based on notns of moraly. ” In a separate opn, Chief Jtice Warren Burger felt the need to “unrsre” this pot: “To hold that the act of homosexual sodomy is protected as a fundamental right would be to st asi lennia of moral teachg.

Eventually, opponents of LGBT rights — often allied wh an emergg Relig Right reprented by the lik of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson — saw the value gog on offense: By advancg ballot measur that blocked protectns for gay people, anti-gay activists forced the LGBT muny to engage (and often lose) expensive fensive efforts.