Shifting Discourse

The reform societies' campaigns against "prostitution" and other "social evils," in other words, actually constituted much broader campaigns to reconstruct the moral world by narrowing the boundaries of acceptable sociability and public discourse.

-Gay New York, p. 139

Firstly, look! Voluntary associations affecting the public discourse! That sounds familiar!

Secondly, I think sometimes we underestimate the ability of fringe groups to alter public opinion on any given public issue. Now granted, any group still needs a platform before it can do much to change the public perspective, but that is where the media comes in. Look at these Wall Street "occupiers" for example. Obviously, it's not like anything close to a majority of the American people wants to "occupy" Wall Street (whatever that even means), but by staging this protest and gaining national attention, the protesters are subtly shifting public opinion against Wall Street. Very subtly, I might add. The same could be said of the Tea Party. Democrats didn't lose the House in 2010 because all these voters joined the Tea Party; they lost* because the Tea Party shifted public discourse on topics like taxes, government intervention, and the like.

*And plenty of other reasons as well.