Viewers give massive thumbs-down to video, with slogan ‘You are not alone’, which shows people coming out to admit they are against same-sex marriages

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

An anti-gay marriage video has provoked a massive backlash after it was viewed more than a million times on YouTube in just 10 days.

In the two-and-a-half minute film, six people “come out” by admitting they are against gay marriage. “We’re here because we have something to say and we’re no longer afraid to say it,” the video’s description reads.

Anchored around the slogan “You’re not alone”, the video attempts to appropriate the nerves some people may feel coming out as gay. Critics accuse its makers, CatholicVote, a US pressure group, of playing the victim card.

Negative responses to the video outnumber positive ones more than 12 to one. Parodies have already begun to appear, with one goading: “Nobody’s views should be suppressed. Especially if they oppress marginalised groups of people.”

CatholicVote’s video, shot in earnest black and white, begins with men and women sitting down and coyly looking into the camera. It appears staged to mimic videos encouraging gays and lesbians to come out.

They are seeking to change the narrative around issues of sexuality so they become issues of religious liberty Jonathan Bartley

Over a soundtrack of soft ambient music, the first woman to speak says: “I am a little bit nervous about people, kind of, hearing that I am this way and then thinking, well, she’s not welcome here.”

“I have tried to change this before,” begins another woman, who is close to tears. “But it’s too important to me.”

“I believe marriage is between a man and a woman,” continues the first, her view repeated by the rest.

Some speakers emphasise that they have gay friends, and insist their position is based on their religious conviction rather than bigotry. “I have gay friends. I don’t fear them,” one young man says. But he goes on to suggest that, as gay marriage grows in acceptance, his conviction is beginning to attract the stigma once attached to gay men and lesbians.

“What I do feel insecure about, is speaking from the heart and being really open and honest about what I believe,” he stammers.

Viewers have almost universally panned the clip, which was published a day before the Supreme court decision to legalise same-sex marriage across the US. It already has more than 29,000 thumbs-down on YouTube, while just over 2,300 have indicated they like the video.

Spoofs of the clip have sprung up, pointing out the irony of people with discriminatory views complaining that they are being marginalised. One self-described “alternate version” features a man saying: “I happen to think the races should be segregated. Maybe like Asian City or Blackland!”

In the UK, Jonathan Bartley, a Green party politician and co-director of Christian thinktank Ekklesia, said the video was an example of a growing trend for conservative Christian groups to present themselves as victims. He warned the tactic was crossing the Atlantic.

“The video is part of a wider movement by conservative Christian groups in the US and increasingly in the UK to present themselves as victims rather than oppressors,” Bartley said.

“They are seeking to change the narrative around issues of sexuality so they become issues of religious liberty rather than issues of equality. This needs to be exposed and resisted.”

