Bishop Harry Jackson, the man behind the effort to prevent gay marriage from coming to Washington DC, has long attempted to present himself as moderate and fair-minded while he battled the “satanic” gay agenda.
But every once in a while the mask slips and we get a glimpse of Jackson the holy warrior – that is when we find him doing things like telling Dan Gilgoff that marriage equality in DC is going to lead to a “bloodletting” and right-wing activism like we have never seen before:
We’re going to have to start earlier and take straw polls earlier. Our opposition had been working with these [council members] for five years. They’d invested time and money, and, to their credit, my opposition applied extreme political pressure on 30 or 40 people in the city, in the mayor’s office and the city council.
But they have not changed ordinary people’s opinions. It’s a faux change. For instance, they created a gay organization of clergy. Our side has done the opposite, mobilizing a grass-roots effort with 1,200 churches in D.C.
In future races, religious people are going to start going after people’s political careers. In D.C., some very vulnerable black councilmen went along with the city council, and some of these guys will not be sitting in those chairs in 2010 elections. Many in our coalition are wising up, looking for candidates. Political action committees are going to be formed. You’re going to see a bloodletting that is going to mark a new style of engagement for people who are against same-sex marriage.
