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Focus on the Family Leader Sees Likely Loss on Marriage


JIM DALY FOCUS ON THE FAMILY X390 (FAIR USE) | ADVOCATE.COM

Jim Daly, the president and CEO of Focus on the Family, which funds attacks against marriage equality across the country, concedes in a new interview that his side has “probably lost” on the issue.

Good As You reports on the comments from Daly in an interview for the June 4 issue of World Magazine. He attributes the losing battle to changing attitudes among young people.

“We're losing on that one, especially among the 20- and 30-somethings: 65 to 70 percent of them favor same-sex marriage,” says Daly in the interview. “I don't know if that's going to change with a little more age—demographers would say probably not. We've probably lost that.”

Despite his acknowledgment of a losing battle, Focus on the Family continues to join groups like the National Organization for Marriage to fund antigay campaigns and constitutional amendments, such as the most recent effort to ban marriage equality in Minnesota in 2012.

"Focus on the Family finally got something right—the American people are rejecting their antigay toxic rhetoric and punitive politics, and are siding with loving and committed couples seeking the freedom to marry,” said Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry, in a statement issued in response to the Daly interview. “With six national polls now confirming that a majority of Americans support the freedom to marry, it’s time for Focus on the Family and other anti-gay industry activists to move on and, ideally, redirect their resources toward tackling the real problems gay and non-gay Americans could be confronting together in these tough economic times.”

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Reader Comments
  • Name: OneMoreOpinion
    Date posted: 5/25/2011 12:10:04 PM
    Hometown: New York City

    Comment:

    Love the tolerance of varying belief systems(both ways)...This issue will always be debated in societies...though it makes it soo much easier to have the conversation when both sides constantly lob bombs...silly.

  • Name: Endora
    Date posted: 5/25/2011 10:27:54 AM
    Hometown: Sacramento, CA

    Comment:

    @Kelly "I agree Frank, but its still 10-15 years out. The courts are slow and although I believe human rights should never be left to a popular vote, it will be 10-15 years before enough senior citizens die out of the voting block before today's youth outnumber them." Actually, I think the 2012 General Election is VERY IMPORTANT because these rightwing SCOTUS judges can't live forever, try as they may. Vote like our lives depend on it! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

  • Name: Sam Molloy
    Date posted: 5/24/2011 12:58:08 AM
    Hometown: Louisville

    Comment:

    We are winning, but this is an old ploy to fire up supporters. An example is the NRA and the Brady Campaign both constantly say their side is "losing". (Me and most people lean somewhat towards the NRA)

  • Name: Peter
    Date posted: 5/23/2011 10:49:35 PM
    Hometown: Tampa

    Comment:

    I'm surprised by this homophobic jerk's honesty on this issue. Usually such fools will claim they are winning even when they know they're not, much like the Vietman War. Amazing.

  • Name: Michael
    Date posted: 5/23/2011 9:56:21 PM
    Hometown: Atlanta

    Comment:

    Acceptance is genuinely moving faster than I ever expected. What we've seen in the sports world over the past couple of weeks is something I would never, ever have imagined in my lifetime. This is all a very different situation from what happened with racial issues decades ago. "Other" races were always in "other" families, interracial marriage was rare, and so people had reason to change their attitudes. It's not quite the same with gay people. Every single family in this country has a gay member--parent or sibling sometimes, but certainly cousins, aunts, and uncles, and such. It really makes a difference.

  • Name: Rej
    Date posted: 5/23/2011 9:30:38 PM
    Hometown: Denver

    Comment:

    As usual, actual interaction with gays and lesbians has proven to be critical to swaying attitudes. Most 20 and 30somethings have or have had gay friends, co-workers, classmates et cetera. So, they have their real-life experiences to compare against the lies and vitrol being put forth by groups like FotF. And, guess what, they don't match. And the younger people are saying things like, "Well, I know Phil from work and he's nothing like that." or "Sue and her partner are my next-door neighbors and two nicer people you couldn't hope to meet. Explain to me again why they shouldn't be able to get a legal marriage? Because what I'm hearing (from the opposition) doesn't make sense." The single most powerful weapon we have is to come out and talk about our lives. (Note: I said "our lives", NOT "our sex lives". I mean how many people want to hear about other people's sex lives -- ANY other people.)

  • Name: Advocate Reader
    Date posted: 5/23/2011 9:19:59 PM
    Hometown: Anytown

    Comment:

    We get the focus on the family magazine where I work and before it even hits the magazine rack I throw it in the trash where it belongs!

  • Name: Scott
    Date posted: 5/23/2011 5:30:30 PM
    Hometown: Houston

    Comment:

    But gay marriage will raise your gasoline prices. When the Kitty Mouse gets angry she raises your gasoline prices. And if you have forgotten the Kitty Mouse, go reread Louisa May Alcott's 'Little Men.'

  • Name: Gary
    Date posted: 5/23/2011 4:31:11 PM
    Hometown: Tallahassee

    Comment:

    Oh my blind glbt brothers and sisters. I only HOPE that you are right and I am wrong. The CHURCH needs an EVIL (and guess who that is...glbt) The church has to have SOMETHING to fight against in order for them to ask for MONEY to fight against the "evil". Why would we need the church then? The church is "saving us from hell". "SIN" is what sends us to hell...the failure to "accept JC as lord and savior. Do you think that the christians are going to just stop fighting? Hell no they won't. That would be giving in to the devil. What? All of a sudden "god" changed his/her mind about homosexuality? The "christians" will die for this cause, just watch. Most wars have been over religions. Religion has destroyed past EMPIRES. Look in the bible and see how many stories where "god" has allowed people to be killed in "his name". Sorry to be so negative, I really do hope that I am wrong, but believe me I spent yearssssssss under this brain washing EVIL. The real key will be the supreme ct.

  • Name: Henry Juhala
    Date posted: 5/23/2011 3:58:05 PM
    Hometown: O'Fallon, IL

    Comment:

    Kelly -- I disagree. The demographic shift towards gay marriage approval is happening much faster than imagined. I believe by the election of 2012 the Supreme Court will have made at least one positive ruling on Prop 8 or DOMA and we will have at least one watershed vote in a state like Minnesota where they will likely vote down the state’s proposed anti-gay marriage amendment. Then the rest of the house of cards will come tumbling down in a very short time. The writing is now on the wall in permanent ink. Just look at the internal data from the poll a couple months ago by ABC/Wash Post. The biggest increases in percent of those favoring gay marriage come from groups of seniors, Catholics and non-evangelical Protestants. Evangelicals are the most opposed. Still, their support for gay marriage is up by double-digits from 14 to 25% (a huge increase of 78%) in just about 5 years.

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