Another reason to keep the faith (maybe)

Remember when civil unions were a threat to civilization?  When some politicians in Vermont lost their jobs because they supported civil unions -- even though they were required to recognize same-sex couples by the court?  Now, about ten years later, comes this poll from Texas.  John Wright from  The Dallas Voice writes the following about Texas, arguably one of the most socially conservative states in the union:

Sixty-three percent of Texans support some form of relationship recognition for same-sex couples, whether it be marriage or civil unions, according to the results of a University of Yexas/Texas Tribune poll released today. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they support same-sex marriages, while 35 percent said they support civil unions. Only 30 percent said they oppose both marriage and civil unions for same-sex couples, with an additional 7 percent saying, “Don’t know.” The poll of 800 registered voters has a margin of error of +/-3.46 percent. These new poll results show an increase in support for relationship recognition since a poll conducted by the Texas Lyceum Association last June. The Lyceum poll found that 57 percent of Texans favored some form of relationship recognition, with 32 percent backing civil unions and 25 percent favoring marriage. According to the new poll, the number of people supporting civil unions and same-sex marriage has increased 3 percent EACH over the last eight months. If this rate of increase were to continue, a majority of Texans would support same-sex marriage within five years.

And yet....why do I suspect that if civil unions went to the ballot in Texas, it would lose?  It's the extraordinary PR/Propaganda machine of the far right.  They are brilliant.  They are ruthless.  They are shameless.  And until we accept this and stop relying on the goodwill of people to vote the right way, we will continue to come up short.  Maybe it's time for us to not only run a campaign for us, but also a more calculated campaign against these tactics and what they stand for.