WATCH: NOM Says Antigay ESPN Analyst 'More Courageous' Than Jason Collins
ESPN analyst Chris Broussard said NBA center Jason Collins is
National Organization for Marriage: It's "Absurd" To Let The States Decide On Marriage Equality For Themselves (audio)
From the April 9 edition of Lutheran Public Radio’s Issues, Etc.
WATCH: Justice Lectures NOM on How the Legal System Works
Kaylan Phillips
The National Organization for Marriage is appealing to keep its donor list secret, but at least one of Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court justices is skeptical.
“You have said, trust us, we did not do anything,” observed Justice Leigh Saufley, challenging NOM’s lawyer Kaylan Phillips during a hearing on Thursday. Saufley said NOM is essentially telling the judiciary that “you’re simply going to have to rely on our word.” But, she lectured, “that’s not how litigation works in the United States.”
The exchange was recorded on video by the Kennebec Journal. The state wants to investigate allegations that NOM illegally funneled money — up to $1.9 million — into a campaign to stop Maine from legalizing same-sex marriage. But NOM continues to insist it has the right to keep its donor list a secret because of the way it solicited the donations. NOM concedes that much of its fundraising was handled in direct conversations, not merely through email. Phyllis Gardiner, assistant attorney general, said the state shouldn’t be restricted in its investigation to “one party’s version of the conversation.”
Although the U.S. Supreme Court had already denied NOM the chance to appeal once again at the federal level, it’s still working its way through the state appeals process. Read The Advocate’s recent investigation of NOM’s fundraising practices, “Dirty Money,” by reporter E.J. Graff.
Click the header link to watch the video.
NOM Comm. Director hangs up on gay caller; 'I'm just saying I'm hanging up if the question is more than 15 secs'
by Jeremy Hooper
I’ve done my share of media, be it friendly, hostile, or somewhere in between. When the callers and host are clearly on the other side, it can certainly be frustrating. However, you have to take a breath, but your tongue, or whatever you need to do in order to retain your composure. The first rule of politics is “do not harm,” and the surest way to do harm is to let the opposition ruffle you into a tizzy. That’s my advice to NOM’s Communications Director, Thomas Peters. Last night, Peters concluded his radio chat with Mark Levine about as poorly as a pundit could possibly end an on-air conversation. He refused to answer the question, he proceeded to talk over the host and guest, and he turned the perfectly calm and measured guest (with a strong personal stake in the matter) into some sort of hostile whose simple raising of points was somehow unfair. And then he just, um—hung up.
Listen in:
FULL INTERVIEW:Debating Marriage Equality [LM]
**By the way, Thomas has more than demonstrated his animus toward homosexuality in general. That’s the obvious reason why he didn’t want to answer the direct questions.
Why the National Organization For Marriage fails; well, one reason
by Jeremy Hooper
NOM Caught Lying About Support From Chicago Bears
Brian Urlacher told the Chicago Tribune that he’d never donated anything to an antigay cause. A division of the National Organization for Marriage had gleefully claimed that the Chicago Bears contributed memorabilia to an auction that would help it raise money. But today its leader admitted that’s not true. Jennifer Roback More is the president of NOM’s “Ruth Institute,” and in a newsletter reported on by Equality Matters, Dan Savage and others, she claimed the Bears were huge supporters. She listed an autographed jersey from former linebacker Brian Urlacher and an autographed photo from the late running back Walter Payton as her big gets.
“You should know that we have two fabulous raffle items from the Chicago Bears Organization (and a huge THANK YOU to the Bears for supporting our message),” she wrote.
But after activists contacted the Bears to check out the claim, the team condemned Roback More for spreading “false” remarks.
“The two items featured in The Ruth Institute gala invitation were personal donations to Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse,” the team said in a statement, according to the Chicago Tribune. “Neither was a club donation, nor do they represent the team’s view on any social issues. Any remarks stating otherwise are false.”
That was followed by a retraction from Roback Morse herself.
“The Ruth Institute is not working with the Chicago Bears organization or any of its players past or present to promote our upcoming auction,” she said, according to the Tribune. “The memorabilia we are auctioning off was acquired by me personally, not through the team or players. We understand that the Chicago Bears organization takes no position on social issues, and we regret any confusion we may have caused on this point.”
Dirty Money
Last November the National Organization for Marriage, the chief opponent of equality in the battle for marriage, finally suffered defeat. Five defeats, to be exact: Maine, Maryland, and Washington approved statutes that would enable same-sex couples to enter a civil marriage; in Minnesota, voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as between one man and one woman; and in Iowa, the Supreme Court justice whom NOM targeted in a recall election retained his seat. The cause has now been taken up by so many straight allies that the pro-equality side has, at times, out-fund-raised NOM by nearly $5 to $1. The tide appears to have turned: NOM loses, in the wallet and at the ballot box.
And yet NOM still matters. This tiny organization, “with a mission to protect marriage and the faith communities that sustain it,” has been the primary funder and central strategist for all the recent defeats in marriage battles. It has dumped millions of dollars into all state campaigns related to marriage equality and will continue to do so. Its consultant, Frank Schubert, has orchestrated every antimarriage state campaign, crafting nearly identical television ads and websites based on identical talking points for every race. Its president, Brian Brown, has defined the terms of those campaigns, appearing to serve as each campaign’s finance or fund-raising director, in fact if not in name. And NOM works to disseminate and coordinate the ideology and language behind much of the opposition to marriage equality. More than 30 states still have laws and constitutional amendments that prohibit same-sex couples from marrying, which will need to be repealed, and NOM is the opponent that will influence how those fights will go.Click the header link to read the full article.
NOM threatens GOP lawmakers in Minn. who vote for same-sex marriage
The National Organization for Marriage on Monday said it will spend $500,000 to defeat Republican lawmakers in Minnesota who vote to legalize gay marriage. The NOM previously contributed more than $2 million to last fall’s failed campaign to ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota’s constitution. Bills to legalize gay marriage are likely to be introduced at Minnesota’s Capitol this week.
One Republican senator, Branden Petersen, already says he’ll support it. But the National Organization of Marriage says that’s a “career-ending” vote for Republicans. NOM has previously helped fund conservative primary challengers to Republicans in other states who voted in favor same-sex marriage.
“Republicans like Branden Petersen don’t realize that not only is voting to redefine marriage a terrible policy, it is also a career-ending vote for a Republican,” said NOM President Brian Brown, in a statement.
NOM says it will also financially support Democrats who vote against legalizing gay marriage. Last year, the NOM spent upwards of $5.7 million to defeat marriage equality initiatives in Maine, Maryland, and Washington, in addition to the Minnesota marriage amendment; voters in all fours states soundly rejected NOM’s anti-gay messaging.
Ottawa comic shop pulls books of anti-gay writer
by Kristy Nease
A comic book shop franchise in Ottawa is taking a stand for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights by pulling the work of a writer who publicly opposes gay marriage off its shelves.
The Comic Book Shoppe on Bank Street, as well as another location in Nepean, are no longer stocking the work of a controversial American author. (Google Streetview)
Orson Scott Card, the American author who wrote the popular Ender’s Game science fiction novel, is set to write a story in the upcoming Adventures of Superman for DC Comics. It’s due out in May, but The Comic Book Shoppe has decided not to stock it. Instead, customers can place special orders for the print edition, as long as they do so before March 15. Both Comic Book Shoppe locations also decided last week to pull all of the writer’s other work off their shelves.
“This is a man who wants to criminalize homosexuality,” said Rob Spittall, the owner of The Comic Book Shoppe 2 location on Bank Street, not far from Ottawa’s gay village.
‘I’m in a world of superheroes. It’s the superhero’s job to stand up and fight for what we believe in.’
—Rob Spittall, owner of The Comic Book Shoppe 2
“Superman is a very iconic character to a lot of the gay community. He’s a character that stands for truth, justice and freedom for all, and to see and learn, like I had, about Orson Scott Card … I was astounded to find out that everything there was true,” Spittall said.
He made the decision to make Card’s work available by special order because some customers take collecting too seriously to stop because of someone’s personal beliefs.
“I’m telling my customers I want to boycott this book. You have the freedom of choice whether you want to buy it or not, but we’re saying, please don’t,” Spittall said.
When DC Comics announced Feb. 6 that it had hired Card to create a chapter of a new Superman anthology series, many LGBT groups in the U.S. protested and urged DC Comics to drop him. Card has become a vocal opponent of gay marriage. He’s a member the board of directors of the right-leaning National Organization for Marriage, which has been at the forefront of opposing same-sex marriage laws. He also wrote piece for the Mormon Times in 2009, in which he argued: “Marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down.” In another column in 2012, he called homosexuality a “reproductive dysfunction” born of choice.
Since pulling all of Card’s work last week, Spittall said the response has been overwhelming.
“There’s been a huge wave of support for us. I even got a message from a guy somewhere in the States, I believe North Carolina … saying congratulations and thanks so much for taking a stand on things,” Spittall said. “This story has been tweeted to George Takei, to Ellen DeGeneres and a bunch of others as well, so it’s gained a lot of attention as it’s gone on. We’re simply taking a stand and saying we don’t like this, and that we hope you people don’t as well.”
But the response hasn’t all been positive. Someone unfriended Spittall on Facebook, and he said he’s received emails from customers who disagree with the decision, saying it amounts to censorship. He said he isn’t going to change his mind, and that it’s not the first time The Comic Book Shoppe has taken a stand like this. Spittall said he hasn’t stocked anything by writer Dave Sim for years because of the author’s anti-feminist views.
“I am doing something right,” Spittall said. “I mean, I’m in a world of superheroes. It’s the superhero’s job to stand up and fight for what we believe in. And by me taking this standpoint, it’s sort of following through with my business practices and what I sell.”
Card has made public his opinions about homosexuality known for more than two decades. In a 1990 article for Sunstone Magazine, Card wrote an essay in which he said:
“Laws against homosexual behavior should remain on the books, not to be indiscriminately enforced against anyone who happens to be caught violating them, but to be used when necessary to send a clear message that those who flagrantly violate society’s regulation of sexual behavior cannot be permitted to remain as acceptable, equal citizens within that society.”
While he did urge people to treat those who engage in homosexual acts with kindness, he wrote that the “goal of the polity is not to put homosexuals in jail. The goal is to discourage people from engaging in homosexual practices in the first place, and, when they nevertheless proceed in their homosexual behavior, to encourage them to do so discreetly.”
NOM's Brian Brown: Condemning Antigay Superman Writer is Wrong
The president of the National Organization for Marriage said that it’s wrong for pro-gay advocates to condemn DC Comics for bringing Orson Scott Card to work on the Adventures of Superman series, and possibly by ruining his career. Orson Scott Card, a NOM board member who opposes marriage equality and believes the political “left is at war with the family,” will work on the next Superman series. Since then, a petition to drop Card from DC’s roster has started circulating, and some like comic book store owner Richard Neal says his shop, Zeus Comics, will not carry the comics.
“This is completely un-American and it needs to be stopped,” Brown told Fox News according toConservative HQ. “Simply because we stand up for traditional marriage, some people feel like it is OK to target us for intimidation and punishment.”
Brown later added, “We can disagree on core issues — but can we do so in such a way where we don’t try to hurt or intimidate each other?”
Gay Writer To DC Comics: 'Be Better,' Be Like Superman
Gay journalist and Superman aficionado Glen Weldon won’t be reading Orson Scott Card’s Superman story. It’s not only that Card’s an anti-gay activist who works with the National Organization for Marriage, it’s because of the character at hand, Superman. It would be a different story if Card were commissioned to helm a story starring a minor character — oft-mocked Matter-Eater Lad, the avowed geek suggests — but Superman’s different; ” he’s the superhero.”
“Superman is an ideal,” Weldon writes at NPR. “He represents our best self. That’s what he’s for. He’s not the hero we identify with — that’s what Spider-Man is for… In Superman, we see ourselves as we hope to be. It’s right there in the name — he’s not ‘Pretty Good Man’ or ‘Doesn’t Suck Man’; he’s Superman. He personifies our noblest ideals, ideals we believe in, and strive for…”
Weldom reminds readers that Superman was originally a “champion of the oppressed,” but has picked up some other fitting nicknames along the way, including “man of tomorrow.”
One of the other nicknames that accrued to Superman right away – that predates “Man of Steel” by a good amount – is “The Man of Tomorrow.” And much of his early iconography bears a distinctive Socio-Realist, Diego Rivera vibe: a lot of burnished golden sunrises, eyes raised to the horizon, gazing into the future.
Because that’s where he lives, Superman. And that’s what he says to us: We can do better. We can be better, to ourselves, and to each other.
Hey, DC Comics? Be better.
So far it seems DC is standing by their decision to hire Card for the two-part digital story. The company said in a statement, “As content creators we steadfastly support freedom of expression, however the personal views of individuals associated with DC Comics are just that — personal views — and not those of the company itself.”
Brian Brown, NOM President, Joins France's Anti-Gay Marriage Protests
The National Organization for Marriage’s (NOM) Brian Brown recently traveled to Paris, where he enthusiastically reported on the French anti-gay marriage demonstrations, which are said to have drawn thousands.
Calling his trip “a blessing,” Brown is seen in video footage visiting Parisian landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and the Arc Arc de Triomphe, where he observes, “People are very clear they do not support [French President Francois] Hollande’s move…to redefine marriage.”
Though France is considered to be generally tolerant towards its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) residents, same-sex marriage has nonetheless been a particularly hot topic throughout the nation in recent months. Hollande’s proposed legislation, which could be voted on as early as next month, would mark the biggest step forward for French LGBT rights advocates in more than a decade.
Click the header link above to read the full article and view the video.
NOM Caught Allying With Anti-Gay Hate Group’s Vitriolic Rhetoric
The National Organization for Marriage has always attempted to maintain distance between its efforts and the more candid anti-gay rhetoric of groups more publicly identified by their Christianity.
Plenty of exceptions have always been found, but NOM no longer seems to be trying to uphold such distinctions. In its efforts to fight marriage equality in Rhode Island, NOM has allied with MassResistance, an extremist group designated a “hate group” for its anti-gay rhetoric.
Click the header link above to read the full article and watch the disturbing videos - TW for religious right, anti-gay rhetoric and hate speech.
NOM RI posts shocking, must-be-seen videos; Says gays are ‘lethal’, not going to heaven, more
by Jeremy Hooper
Please read and share! This one is shocking, folks.
NOM RI posts shocking, must-be-seen videos; Says gays are ‘lethal’, not going to heaven, more [NOM Exposed]
**UPDATE: NOM has scrubbed the post/videos that I exposed above (don’t worry; I have backups).
Also, they really don’t want you seeing my NOM Exposed post. Click the header link to view everything.
National Organization for Marriage: Gays Are Worthy of Death
holygoddamnshitballs: (TW: religious right rhetoric)
At NOM Exposed today Jeremy Hooper directs us to a clip just posted by NOM on their anti-gay Rhode Island site in which Liberty Counsel spokesdouche Matt Barber says homosexuality a “sin that is self-destructive” before going on to declare that “the wages of sins is death.”
Click the header link above to read the full article.
Page 1 of 10
