Kevin Sessums writes up a few reactions in The Daily Beast from entertainment industry gay power brokers (he talks to Darren Star, Greg Berlanti, Dan Jinks, David Geffen, Max Mutchnick, Dustin Lance Black, and Simon Halls) over the passage of Proposition 8.
Brothers and Sisters creator Berlanti: “I was listening to all of these people on television say how they can finally tell their children that they can grow up and be anything,” says Berlanti. ”And I kept thinking—no you can't. Not if they're gay. If they're gay or lesbian—forget about becoming president—they still can't even become a husband or a wife.”
Milk producer Jinks: “One of the things that Prop 8 proved is that gays and lesbians did not have the political infrastructure to utilize against the infrastructure of organized religion, which really fought against us—especially the Mormon church. The churches and their allies were able to make this a national issue. It seems that only by losing this vote has it finally become a national issue for the gay and lesbian community.”
Geffen: “So many African Americans don't look at gay marriage as a civil rights issue,” he says of the community that voted 70 percent against same-sex marriage. “They look on it as a religious one. And we, for whatever reason…fear? Arrogance? Complacency? We did not do enough outreach to them. We need to begin a dialogue with them, because we should be putting this back on the ballot every election every year until we win.”
Milk writer Black: “Our commercials, for God's sakes, were mostly in the closet. That's one of the lessons of our film. We never win when we accept the strictures of the closet. Did we learn nothing from Harvey Milk? We must come out! It is the closet that defeats us.”
Much more at The Beast.
