WATCH: Justice Lectures NOM on How the Legal System Works

The National Organization for Marriage is trying to fend off an investigated in Maine for possibly funneling money illegally.

BY LUCAS GRINDLEY

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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.

NOM Caught Lying About Support From Chicago Bears

As many LGBT activists suspected, the Chicago Bears never donated anything to help the National Organization for Marriage raise money.

BY LUCAS GRINDLEY

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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

riley-ferretboy-konor:

Though roundly defeated in the last election, the National Organization for Marriage is still committed to blocking marriage equality. Some evidence suggests that it’s turning to harsher speech, hiding donations, and rolling back campaign disclosure laws to accomplish its goals.

BY E.J. GRAFF

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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.

NOM's Brian Brown: Condemning Antigay Superman Writer is Wrong

NOM’s Brian Brown says gay activists are wrong in wanting Orson Scott Card fired from his post at DC Comics for his personal beliefs on marriage equality.

BY MICHELLE GARCIA

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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

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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

By Zack Ford 

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.

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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.

Busted! French Antigay Website Created by NOM

A new website demanding the right to vote on marriage equality wasn’t created by antigay agitators in France. It was created by the National Organization for Marriage.

BY DIANE ANDERSON-MINSHALL

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Is NOM’s Brian Brown stirring up anti-gay hatred in France? As protests swelled in Paris this weekend, in response to President Francois Hollande’s plan to legalize same-sex marriage, a new French website, Laissez-Nous Voter,which translates to Let Us Vote,showed up urging that France’s citizens be allowed to vote on same-sex marriage rights, presumably because they believe they can block marriage equality from happening.

Good as You writer Jeremy Hooper, though, uncovered the folks behind the French opposition site: the National Organization for Marriage. The site was created by “none other than Texan Colton Brugger, the OPUSFidelis tech guy who does all of the National Organization For Marriage’s web work.”

Hooper added that NOM president Brian Brown is actually in France, presumably to help agitate local Catholics who were the largest number of participants in this weekend’s protests. Back2Stonewall’s Will Kohler dubbed the weekend “Colton Brugger, Brian Brown, and the National Organization for Marriage starring in Les Doucherables!”

READ: Maggie Gallagher's Last Syndicated Column

BY NEAL BROVERMAN

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The founder of the antigay National Organization for Marriage, Maggie Gallagher, wrote her last syndicated advice column on Wednesday and announced she was giving up optimism. Gallager’s column has run in various publications for 17 years, where she espoused her conservative, and often antigay, beliefs. Gallagher has long been the face of the anti-marriage equality movement, appearing on talk shows and news programs.

In her final column, Gallagher admits much of her work has proved fruitless.

“On every key measure, marriage is weaker,” she writes. “The consequences are more obviously unsustainable, yet culturally powerful voices are less willing to engage, and the power of porn and Hollywood to create our norms for family life is more triumphant than ever.”

Gallagher believes men must lead all households, which must consist of a husband, a wife, and children.

“Without a powerful ideal of masculinity that points men toward marriage and fatherhood, more and more young men are deciding the hard work of becoming marriageable is not worth it: Porn, beer, video games with the guys, freedom and fleeting sexual encounters are good enough.

The most urgent overlooked need is the deep need of boys for masculine ideals. If civilization refuses to provide any, porn and video-game makers will step in to fill the gap. Why should young men work hard to become protectors and defenders of women and children when American culture — and women — tells them they are not needed in either role?”

Gallagher seems to believe marriage is not pleasant — for straights or gays — but must be endured:

“Men and women are different. A society that pretends otherwise is not going to raise boys to be loving, reliable family men. Marriage is about settling for less but raising up an ideal much bigger and more important even than the most urgent whispered promises of romantic love.”

Gallagher closes her column by saying she’s giving up on optimism, but remaining hopeful that her life’s mission is taken up by others. Read the column here.