Tag Archives: Group: National Organization for Marriage (NOM)

The Hill: “Not only has the IRS retaliated against conservative, small-government and tea party groups as they apply for recognition of tax exemption AND lied about it, but it has criminally released our confidential tax return including the identity of dozens of major donors to a political enemy,” said Brian Brown, NOM’s president.

John Zmirak at Aleteia: Marriage is under assault, and in just the last month, we have seen some surprising, depressing concessions: Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi opined to the press that Christians could accept “civil unions” of same-sex couples. Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan told a town hall meeting in Wisconsin that while he still opposed homosexual “marriage,” he supported the “right” of same-sex couples to adopt children. Evangelical Christian pastors, afraid of alienating younger members of their churches, have begun to back away from this issue. Even Catholic and Evangelical leaders whose views are orthodox have become reluctant to “pick this hill to die on.” A gifted writer and Catholic priest confessed to me, “I have held off on commenting on the marriage issue. I’m just too frightened of the backlash.”

But that would have meant the organization would have to be a political committee under New York law, just as candidate committees and political parties are. The organization would then have to register with the state board of elections, comply with recordkeeping requirements, and comply with extensive, periodic reporting requirements.

Boston Globe (AP): Phone banks, an army of volunteers and alliances with organized labor, business leaders and religious clergy propelled gay marriage to victory in Rhode Island this week, a savvy and coordinated strategy that relied on growing public support and old-fashioned bare-knuckle politics.

Illinois Review: As for evangelicals, a failure on Saturday won’t push them to leave the ILGOP. Instead, it will likely confirm to evangelicals that the Illinois Republican Party has left them.

American Independent via Huffington Post: In addition to NOM, the brochure’s listed sponsors included the Alliance Defending Freedom, the Family Research Council, and the Heritage Foundation, all social conservative groups based in Washington, D.C. The first “consequence[] of redefining marriage” listed in the brochure is that, “Redefining marriage would hurt children. Decades of social science – including very recent and robust studies – show that children do better when raised by a married mom and dad.” The endnotes cited Regnerus’ New Family Structures Study findings to support this claim.

Washington Post: When asked about such research, a NOM rep cited a NOM poll, conducted by the Polling Company Inc., showing that 60 percent of respondents “agree” that marriage “is between one man and one woman.” Those results, noted the NOM rep, are consistent with the results collected by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is an “alliance-building legal ministry that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.”

Turtle Bay and Beyond: The following is a Statement to the Congressional Record made by Congressman Daniel Webster (R-FL) in support of the March for Marriage to be held next Tuesday, March 26 in Washington DC. The March is being organized by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and is joined by a large coalition of pro-family organizations, state partners, African-American, Latino, Catholic and Protestant leaders.

NY Times: As gay couples fight for the right to wed, a little-known but determined force is working to stop them: Brian S. Brown, a 39-year-old father of eight who has raised millions of dollars from religious conservatives — especially his fellow Roman Catholics — to become the nation’s leading opponent of same-sex marriage.

Reuters: In Kentucky, a Bible Belt state where voters have passed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, the movement to promote gay rights has two factions. One seeks to overturn discrimination through a legislative path, admitting it faces long odds. The other wants to break down barriers to gay marriage with demonstrations and civil disobedience.

LifeSiteNews: After the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) denied a featured role to a homosexual “marriage” advocacy organization, one of CPAC’s sponsors has decided to hold a panel promoting the acceptance of homosexuality at the annual gathering.

CBC.ca: 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.

Brian Brown at CNSNews: Sadly, the President squandered this opportunity when he chose to proclaim that our journey as a people would not be complete until gay and lesbian people are “treated like anyone under the law,” a not-so-veiled reference to his politically-motivated decision to endorse the radical movement to redefine marriage, one of our most sacred institutions. First of all, gay and lesbian people are already treated equally under the law. They have the same civil rights as everyone else. They’re free to live as they choose and love whom they wish. What they don’t have is the right to redefine marriage for society.

San Francisco Chronicle: Facing a tidal shift among voters embracing same-sex marriage, gay Republicans are offering their party a graceful retreat. But religious conservatives warn that retreat will doom the GOP.

Minn. Public Radio: Groups on both sides of the marriage amendment debate are getting a last minute infusion of cash from groups outside of Minnesota.

Washington Post: In the headquarters of Washington United for Marriage, a large collage displays a list of the high-powered sponsors backing the ballot-measure campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in the state. They include such iconic businesses as Amazon, Google and Nike, as well as most of the state’s unions and a long list of religious, ethnic and civil rights group. Staffers shuttle in and out of a conference room as they figure out how to deploy 4,000 volunteers and an $8.9 million campaign fund.

NY Times: In the roiling state-by-state war over same-sex marriage, the campaign against marriage rights has been masterminded largely by one man. Frank Schubert, a former corporate public relations executive, ran the $40 million, come-from-behind push for Proposition 8 in California in 2008.

KVAL.com (video embedded): At the invitation of sex advice columnist Dan Savage, Brian Brown – the president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) – flew to Seattle and debated marriage with Savage in Savage’s dining room in Seattle . . . The debate took place last week, and the video of the hour-long debate has been posted on YouTube since.

The American Prospect: Iowa Republicans aren’t ready to cast aside their anger over the state Supreme Court’s 2009 decision legalizing same-sex marriage. After successfully unseating three of the justices who joined the unanimous decision in 2010, they’re going after Justice David Wiggins, who is up for a retention vote this year. The new conservative campaign won’t change Iowa’s same-sex marriage law, but it further politicizes the state’s once-independent judiciary and may boost turnout for Mitt Romney in a key swing state.

Christian Post: In response to the success of the Aug. 1 observance, the National Organization for Marriage began having weekly “Chick-fil-A Wednesdays” beginning Aug. 15. Jonathan Baker, spokesman for NOM, told The Christian Post that having weekly observances of “Chick-fil-A Wednesday” is meant to “help people to realize they are not alone in their support for marriage.”

Des Moines Register: A socially conservative political rally at a Waukee church Saturday served as the kickoff for a renewed effort to throw out the Iowa Supreme Court justices who made same-sex marriage legal. The activist group Iowans for Freedom will run a campaign this fall against the retention of Justice David Wiggins . . .

MLive.com: “As private citizens, the DeVos family supports causes and organizations that advocate for policies aligned to their personal beliefs,” said an Amway spokeswoman in a statement.

Christian Post: Conservative groups including the National Organization for Marriage, Focus on the Family, and the Family Research Council have all come out against Freedom to Marry’s new campaign, insisting that while Freedom to Marry might talk of supporting conservative principals, in practice they fall woefully short.

Maggie Gallagher writes at National Review.

Huffington Post (RNS): Still, social conservatives saw the decision as an ominous sign. “Under this rationale, if just one state decided to accept polygamy, the federal government and perhaps other states would be forced to accept it, too,” said Dale Schowengerdt, legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. “The federal government had the authority to step in against polygamy at one time in our nation’s history, and it has the authority to step in against this attempt at marriage redefinition as well.”

Maggie Gallagher at Townhall: Just how bad a blunder was President Obama’s forced gay marriage endorsement?

Maggie Gallagher at National Review: But yesterday, Fox’s big news host Shepard Smith made it clear he’s pro–gay marriage, actually endorsing President Obama’s gay-marriage flip while reporting on it.

Julie Pace One News Now (AP): Jim Campbell, litigation staff counsel with Alliance Defense Fund, sees obvious contradiction in the president’s announcement today. “This shows that the Obama administration doesn’t understand the public purpose of marriage. Marriage — the lifelong, faithful union of one man and one woman — is the building block of a thriving society. It’s not something that politicians should attempt to redefine for political purposes. “The president has spoken eloquently about how fatherless homes often hurt children and society. Today’s statement is a tragic contradiction that promotes the creation of even more fatherless and motherless homes.

CNN’s Responses to Obama’s marriage announcement includes this: Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus: “Because our children’s future is best preserved within the traditional understanding of marriage, we call for a constitutional amendment that fully protects marriage as a union …

Fox News: Both the gay advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign and the Huffington Post posted the documents — the National Organization for Marriage has claimed it appears someone in the IRS fed the documents to the Human Rights Campaign.

MetroWeekly: Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) plans to introduce an amendment on Wednesday to the National Defense Authorization Act in a mark-up of the bill before the House Armed Services Committee that is aimed at creating “a conscience protection clause” for military chaplains in the wake of the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” . . . Among the advocates included in the planning for the amendments being offered and from whom Johnson was seeking input were Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness; Brian Duggan, a lobbyist for the National Organization for Marriage; Austin Nimocks and Daniel Blomberg, lawyers with the Alliance Defense Fund . . .

Christian Civic League: The Christian Civic League of Maine and the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) announced on April 23rd they have joined forces to form Protect Marriage Maine, and will lead the campaign against the proposed initiative redefining marriage in Maine. The initiative is expected to be on the November 2012 ballot.

Michael Brown at Townhall: It read like a chapter out of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, instead this time, the evil protagonists were not Jews (for the most part) but rather rightwing anti-gay zealots whose secret Facebook group was infiltrated by undercover moles who then spread the word to gay activists who then trumpeted the news across the airways and throughout cyberspace. In reality, the sensationalistic reports were totally false and what was true is hardly sensational. The Facebook group in question is called Truth4Tim

Sen. Ruben Diaz: Brian Brown and NOM have done something, that no one has been able to do before: they have helped Black and Hispanic people throughout the nation to find our voice when everyone else rejected us and excluded us from the debate . . . No New York Times editorial, nor anyone else will be able to sow seeds of dissension between us and NOM in this great effort to protect marriage.

Huffington Post (includes video): “I think if President Obama came out as gay he wouldn’t — President Obama is not going to lose the black vote no matter what he does,” Jones quipped Monday on MSNBC, responding to a question from host Alex Wagner about a potential loss of support among African Americans if Obama came out in favor of marriage equality

Politico: The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is launching a new effort today to target 36 commentators who speak out against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people.

Maggie Gallagher at Townhall: Why is gay marriage emerging as a big issue in the campaign? Obviously economic issues dominate this year, as they do every bad economic year. But thanks to President Obama, the culture war is heating up as well.

NPR: “I will do anything financially permissible and legally permissible to make socially liberal Republican legislators accountable,” says Ted Maravelias, chairman of a New Hampshire political action committee that’s raising money to oppose members of the GOP who vote to support same-sex marriage . . . The National Organization for Marriage has already set aside $250,000 for the same purpose . . .

God Discussion (includes video): Austin R. Nimocks, a lawyer who argues against same-sex marriage for the Alliance Defense Fund, noted that while some polls showed increasing support for gay marriage, voters had never approved it at the polls.”

NJ.com: Steven Goldstein, chairman of the gay rights group Garden State Equality, said a public vote on the issue would not really reflect the will of the people.
“A referendum reflects which side can corrupt the political system with more money,” he said.

Austin R. Nimocks of the Alliance Defense Fund, Christopher Plante of the National Organization for Marriage, and Jennifer Roback Morse of the Ruth Institute testify before a Washington State Senate Panel on the purpose of marriage. (January 23, 2012)

Austin R. Nimocks of the Alliance Defense Fund, Christopher Plante of the National Organization for Marriage, and Jennifer Roback Morse of the Ruth Institute testify before the Washington House Judiciary on the purpose of marriage. (January 23, 2012)

NYTimes.com: Gay rights advocates from Wall Street to Hollywood poured donations into the coffers of four little-known Republican state senators after the lawmakers provided the decisive votes for same-sex marriage in New York last June, according to new campaign finance filings released on Tuesday.

NOM Blog: The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) today pledged an all-out effort to prevent same-sex marriage from becoming law in New Jersey, and said it would spend upward of $500,000 to support legislators who stood to preserve traditional marriage and hold those accountable who impose same-sex marriage in the state.

The Advocate: New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, with support from the Alliance Defense Fund, also launched the Courage Fund this summer to offer assistance to the handful of town clerks who have refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, most notably Rose Marie Belforti of Ledyard in upstate New York. The National Organization for Marriage also has supported the clerks.

LifeSiteNews.com: In a rare successful pushback against the pro-gay rights corporate culture, customers of Bank of America and the Cisco Corporation have won a promise from the two companies not to discriminate against employees or vendors who publicly oppose same-sex “marriage.”

CBN.com: Efforts are underway in nation’s capital to wipe out the Defense of Marriage Act — the federal law that defines marriage the traditional way.

NOM Blog: Reports out of Washington are now indicating that – just a week after forcing a bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) through the Judiciary Committee on a party line vote – Senator Diane Feinstein, Senate Judiciary Chair Pat Leahy (D-VT) and Majority Leader Harry Reid may now attach the DOMA repeal bill to the 2012 Defense Authorization bill, a bill that must be passed in order to fund our servicemen and women through the next year.

San Francisco Chronicle: Supporters of the 2008 ballot measure that outlawed same-sex marriage in California have lost a lawsuit that sought to block their past and future campaign finance records from public view.

Des Moines Register: The National Organization for Marriage is getting involved in Iowa’s special Senate election.

KansasCity.com: Eastman, 51, has been appointed chairman of the National Organization for Marriage, the main organization advocating at the ballot box and in courts for traditional marriage, and against any effort to legalize same-sex marriage.

NYTimes.com: This week, the four Republican state senators who provided the decisive votes to pass the marriage bill are to get a big financial boost from those donors, including Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. A fund-raiser planned for Thursday night in Manhattan is expected to raise about $1.25 million to help finance their re-election bids next year.

The Empire: The group, the National Organization for Marriage, is targeting Alesi with billboards that mention his name and then warn, ominously, “you’re next.”

“The state board that regulates political spending in Minnesota finalized new reporting guidelines Tuesday for private donations to ballot measure campaigns, a decision with implications for next year’s statewide vote on a gay marriage amendment.”

Politics in Minnesota: Supporters of marriage ban amendment hope to continue an unbroken string of victories nationwide

NCRegister.com: The National Organization for Marriage has launched the Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance to support the freedom to express one’s belief that marriage should be the union of a man and woman without fear of harassment or punishment.

National Organization for Marriage: The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) announced today that John Eastman, a distinguished Constitutional law scholar, is taking on the role of Chairman of the Board for NOM.

Catholic News Agency (CNA): Legalizing “gay marriage” is having major repercussions for religious freedom, according to observers of the latest developments.

NashuaTelegraph.com: Elsewhere on the Web, we find that Cornerstone has been most active in opposing the marriage equality law in New Hampshire. It has close ties with other conservative groups such as the Alliance Defense Fund, the Family Research Council and the National Organization for Marriage.

The New Civil Rights Movement: Which means, Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization For Marriage (NOM), Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (FRC), the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), ProtectMarriage​.com, and all the other “family” anti-​gay groups can band together and file a motion to appeal this appealed ruling, all the way to the Supreme Court if they like.

Tom Hambruger and Matea Gold at Tribune Washington Bureau via Kansas City Star (also in Sacramento Bee): As pastors speak out on political matters, they’ve drawn admonitions from groups such as Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which warns that such activism could jeopardize their churches’ nonprofit status. But the religious leaders are bolstered by well-funded Christian legal organizations supporting their cause. The most prominent – the Alliance Defense Fund, a group based in Scottsdale, Ariz., that spent $32 million in 2010 – is challenging a 1954 tax code amendment that prohibits pastors, as leaders of tax-exempt organizations, from supporting or opposing candidates from the pulpit. The fund sponsors Pulpit Freedom Sunday, in which it offers free legal representation to churches whose pastors preach about political candidates and are then audited by the Internal Revenue Service. (So far, no IRS investigations have been triggered.)

New York Daily News: The National Organization for Marriage plans to place billboards in the districts of four GOP senators who broke ranks and voted to legalize gay marriage in June.

John Stossel at Townhall: ix states and the District of Columbia have legalized gay marriage. Most so-called liberals are happy about that. Most conservatives are not. As a libertarian, I think all consenting adults who want to commit to a life partner ought to be treated the same way.

Gallagher had at her disposal a quite different set of survey results, obtained in the same month by the firm Public Opinion Strategies (commissioned by the Alliance Defense Fund). That poll found only 35% who seemed to accept same-sex marriage, with 62% opposed (I’ll explain that “seemed to” in a moment.) That’s quite a significant difference . . .

LifeSiteNews.com: President Obama’s position on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is “an impeachable offense,” according to Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.

Times Union: Time Warner Cable gave advocates of same-sex marriage $70,846 of free airtime this spring, lobbying records show.

LifeSiteNews.com: This past Sunday, an estimated nearly 10,000 people participated in a New York City rally and march in support of the traditional definition of marriage. The rally, which was organized by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), took place on the same day as the first homosexual “marriages” were legally performed in New York State.

James Taranto at the Wall Street Journal: This column is not unsympathetic to the idea of a plebiscite on the matter, although opponents should be careful what they wish for. True, ballot measures against same-sex marriage have passed in every state where they’ve been put to a vote. But in left-leaning states, the votes have been close, especially of late: 57% in favor in Oregon in 2004, 52% in California in 2008, 53% inMaine in 2009. A win is a win, but a win would be far from a sure thing in liberal New York.

“Americans have unanimously voted that marriage should be one man and one woman,” said Austin Nimocks, senior legal counsel for Alliance Defense Fund. “That should be a resounding statement to Congress that the American people, the experts on marriage, believe that marriage is one man, one woman, and that should be preserved in federal law,” he told lawmakers.

Sen. Chuck Grassley’s remarkable opening statement in today’s Senate hearing on a bill to repeal DOMA called attention to a very serious and growing intolerance directed at Americans who believe marriage is the union of husband and wife . . .

Dakota Voice: “I applaud the Alliance Defense Fund’s effort to step forward and provide a legal resource for municipal clerks and other employees in New York who may face a dilemma when Governor Cuomo’s Same-Sex Marriage Bill goes into effect on July 24th. No one should have to resign from his or her job if issuing marriage licenses to gay couples violates his or her conscience.

Christian Post (6/26): While a Gallup poll last month found that 53 percent of Americans believe gay marriage should be legalized, a poll by Alliance Defense Fund around the same time showed that 62 percent of Americans say marriage should be defined “only as a union between one man and one woman.”

ThinkProgress (6/22): Cornerstone — which has been instrumental to opposing same-sex marriage in New Hampshire and leading the charge to repeal it — is closely linked to anti-gay groups like The Alliance Defense Fund, the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, and the National Organization for Marriage and has “endorsed the discredited ‘ex-gay’ therapy groups such as Exodus International, Love Won Out, PFOX, and the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH).”

Dallas Voice (6/22): However, Cornerstone is affiliated with at least one national organization that is considered a hate group by the SPLC — the Family Research Council. From Right Wing Watch: Cornerstone is an ultraconservative organization that flaunts its close relationship with national groups like the Alliance Defense Fund, the Family Research Council, CitizenLink, and the National Organization for Marriage.

David Tyree: Gay Marriage Will Lead To ‘Anarchy’: Asked what he thought would happen if gay marriage was legalized across the US, Tyree said, “This will be the beginning of our country sliding toward, it’s a strong word, but anarchy.