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Even though they've blocked me from their blog, their YouTube channel, and their Twitter feed, NOM still reads JMG.
Rather than simply post my video of Brian Brown speaking at yesterday's Bronx hate rally, NOM has ripped the clip, retitled it, and posted it without attribution to their official YouTube channel. Nice Christian values, NOMbies. (Good As You's Jeremy Hooper had to tip me on this, as NOM blocked me from subscribing to their channel long ago.)
With his lies being interpreted into Spanish by a screaming pastor, NOM president Brian Brown warned the crowd that "kids as young as kindergarten are taught in Massachusetts that their parents are bigots because they believe marriage is the union of a man and a woman." Brown then exhorted the crowd to believe that there is no actual separation of church and state. The irony of being told to "stand up for civil rights" was completely lost on the Bible-waving thousands.
NOTE: My apologies for the occasional shakiness of this clip, it was starting to rain a bit harder and the other guys in the press pit were jostling me while they covered their equipment.
Thanks to the rain, attendance at NY Sen. Ruben Diaz' anti-gay hate rally was far, far below the 20,000 evangelicals who crowded the streets of midtown Manhattan in 2009. Still, this year's event was much more of an ecumenical hate scene, with the red-caped Catholic loons leading the parade, followed closely by a contingent of Ultra-Orthodox Jews. NOM president Brian Brown arrived arm-in-arm with his BFF in bigotry, Ruben Diaz himself. Here's a few photos, I'll post a big slideshow and some video shortly.
"Sponsored by Senator and Reverend Ruben Diaz—a true hero in the fight to protect marriage in New York—the rally will bring together marriage supporters from across the state as we join together across racial, ethnic and religious lines to affirm the truth of marriage. I am excited to be there, and to have the opportunity to share a few thoughts about the importance of this moment in the fight to protect marriage. Be sure to stop and say hello if you can!" - NOM president Brian Brown.
Just posted to NOM's blog:
“It’s become quite clear in recent days in New York that Governor Cuomo and same-sex marriage advocates are targeting a select number of Democrat state Senators, as well as some Republicans in their desperate attempt to coerce legislators to support their agenda,” said Brian Brown, President of NOM. “We want to be sure those courageous Democrats and Republicans who cast their vote of conscience in favor of traditional marriage will have a strong supporter if the radical gay activists come after them in their next election.”Brian Brown vows: "NOM has defeated every pro-gay marriage Republican we’ve ever targeted, and we’re quite confident we will do so in New York, should that become necessary."
“We spent over half a million dollars in New York” in 2009, he said, “and we’re ready to spend that and more this time. We are willing to spend a million against any Republican senator who votes for gay marriage.” The group would not say which lawmakers were singled out. But State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo Jr., a Democrat from Queens who has voted against the bill in the past but said he was undecided this time, said, “We’ve gotten about 400 calls and e-mails from voters in the last two weeks, the vast majority of them opposed to the bill.” Mr. Addabbo said he kept count because he planned to cast a vote on the bill that “reflects the will of my constituents.”Call Sen. Addabbo: (518) 455-2322. Email: Addabbo@senate.state.ny.us.
On May 15, Rev Díaz called for a rally in the Bronx and I will be there! Talk about fighting for marriage in the deep blue country! But marriage is an extraordinary issue which gathers together people of all races, creeds and colors in defense of an idea: Marriage is the way we bring together the two great halves of humanity, male and female, in part so that children can know the love of their mom and dad. We're gearing up with Rev. Díaz and thousands of New Yorkers to fight for marriage. Pray for Rev. Díaz and for all on the front lines of this fight, will you? And following Rev. Díaz's lead, pray for those who wish to redefine marriage—for their safety, for a new spirit of civility and decency—and for the conversion of their hearts to support for marriage. - Brian Brown.As in 2009, I will among the likely few counter-protesters at the Diaz rally. If you plan on attending, you might consider including respectful messages in Spanish on your signage. The odds are high that your image will end up in the other side's materials.
In his latest blog post, NOM defector Louis Marinelli reveals how Brian Brown told him to make sure that his photos made gay counter-protesters look "crazy." According to Marinelli, that tactic backfired.
What you don’t know is that in an e-mail I received from Brian Brown, he essentially instructed me to specifically take ‘crazy’ photos of gays and lesbians. His short and to the point e-mail dated July 19, 2010 wrote: "I need crazy pictures of our opponents." What is particularly necessary to point out is that his call for ‘crazy photos’ of NOM’s opponents was in response to an e-mail I sent to him six minutes earlier that simply wrote: “Here is a picture of our supporters before the protesters arrived.” The photo I took showing the size and location of our supporters wasn’t enough. Mr. Brown was dedicated to painting the LGBT community and their supporters as crazy. They used that word themselves in public on their blog! To this day, I still don’t condone the actions that some of the counter-protesters took to stand against us. They were wrong when I opposed marriage equality and still believe so today. From that point forward my job was, among other things, to take those ‘crazy’ photos that would be used as propaganda against the LGBT community. At least until the propaganda backfired, anyway. Many people who would have otherwise came out to support us, let us know that they were scared of what the counter-protesters might do and decided to stay home the day we were coming to town.You may recall that at the protest shown in the above photo, NOM claimed that the man with the two elderly dogs brought them to intimidate attendees.
"I’ve received a message or two from Brian [Brown], who basically has – he’s trying to intimidate me to stop talking. He’s saying that if I don’t remove the posts I’ve posted on my site and I don’t stop telling the truth about who they are he may pursue legal action. I considered it an intimidation tactic. On two occasions he wrote me a message saying if I don’t comply with his wish that I remove certain posts from the site…that he would have no option but to pass it on to his attorneys and pursue legal action." - NOM defector Louis Marinelli, speaking to Michelangelo Signorile. Hit the link for an audio file.
"The gay movement’s tactics smell more and more like Joe McCarthy than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Hounding people and going after their livelihoods, because they express a view held by numerous mainstream Christians is mean, intolerant, and unacceptable to most Americans. We call on Joe Solomonese, Evan Wolfson and other mainstream gay marriage groups to call off their dogs, renounce these tactics of intimidation and religious bigotry, and restore the face of their movement into something more resembling tolerance and fair play for all Americans." - NOM president Brian Brown, in a press release denouncing Equality Michigan, who is pressuring a local city to fire recently hired human resources executive Crystal Dixon based on her anti-gay past.
In 2008 Dixon lost her job as vice president of human resources with the University of Toledo after penning a viciously anti-gay opinion piece for a local newspaper. Dixon claimed that she was writing as a private citizen, even though she referenced the university in her column. Her case remains among the small handful continuously cited by anti-gay groups as evidence of escalating "homo-fascism."
Equality Michigan: "Jackson residents deserve someone who is qualified to serve as their human resources director. The job in question places Crystal Dixon as lead negotiator for contract agreements and will make her an influential voice in searches for department heads. She needs to be capable of providing equal opportunity and advocating for the interests of all Jackson residents. Her job history simply makes her unqualified to serve the entire Jackson community."
According to a national poll issued today by the Washington Post/ABC News, a slim majority of Americans now support marriage equality. NOM's Brian Brown is denouncing the wording of the poll's question.
Five years ago, at 36 percent, support for gay marriage barely topped a third of all Americans. Now, 53 percent say gay marriage should be legal, marking the first time in Post-ABC polling that a majority has said so. “This is very consistent with a lot of other polling data we’ve seen and the general momentum we’ve seen over the past year and a half,” said Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, a leading pro-gay-marriage group. “As people have come to understand this is about loving, committed families dealing, like everyone, with tough times, they understand how unfair it is to treat them differently.” Opponents of same-sex marriage took issue with the poll, which asks respondents: “Do you think it should be legal or illegal for gay and lesbian couples to get married?” Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, argued that the term “illegal” could be inferred to mean that violators could be imprisoned, which most Americans would consider harsh.WaPo notes that it has used the same "legal/illegal" wording in every poll on marriage equality since 2003. So Brian Brown can suck it.
NOM has just announced a $1M fund to support the reelection campaigns of Maryland Democrats that vote against same-sex marriage. That same fund will be used to oppose the reelection of any Republican that votes in favor of equality.
“It’s become quite clear in recent days in Maryland that the Democratic leadership and the same-sex ‘marriage’ lobby will resort to any tactic, including threats and intimidation, to coerce Democratic legislators to support their agenda,” said Brian Brown, President of NOM. “We want to be sure those courageous Democrats who cast their vote of conscience in favor of marriage will have a strong supporter if the radical gay activists come after them in their next primary election.”NY Sen. Ruben Diaz was never in the remotest danger of losing, so it's kind of funny that he's the guy NOM is using as their example of their power.
The NOM PAC Maryland is similar to a PAC formed in New York by NOM, which successfully defended Democrats who supported marriage, despite a major effort by pro-gay marriage advocates to defeat several Democrats in their primaries who had stood up for marriage. In fact, NOM supported candidates like state senator Ruben Diaz, won by larger margins than before their votes against same-sex marriage. NOM PAC Maryland will also oppose in their primaries any Republicans who support gay marriage. The PAC announced that it will target for defeat State Senator Allan Kittleman in his expected race for Howard County Executive.
"NOM's position on GOProud and CPAC is being misstated by many in the media and particularly even the conservative media. We want to clear the record. We went to CPAC last year in good faith, knowing that GOProud was also attending. It was at CPAC we learned from repeated interviews they gave that GOProud leaders favor gay marriage. It's not who people are, it's the positions they take that concern us.
"Now Erick Erickson points out that some key GOProud leaders also used to work for Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, which may be of concern to many in the pro-life community as well. At NOM, we've repeatedly invited all people, including gay people, who support marriage as the union of husband and wife to join us in this great fight. There probably aren't a large number of gay folks who want to defend marriage, but they do exist and we welcome their participation at NOM, CPAC, or anywhere else." - NOM president Brian Brown, saying they don't mind gays at CPAC, as long as it's gay that think like them.
Brown is apparently unaware that GOProud is actually anti-choice and believes marriage should left to the voters of the states, both of which are NOM's positions.
Maine is back in court again in their now years-long battle to get NOM to comply with state campaign finance law and release the names of their donors.
The National Organization for Marriage says that identifying donors would violate their First Amendment rights and deter future donors. Lawyers for each side presented arguments Wednesday in Kennebec County Superior Court to a judge who said she will provide a ruling in writing. Assistant Attorney General Phyllis Gardiner told the judge that the ethics commission wants to question donors. "What did they understand they were asked to contribute money for?" Gardiner said. The answers would help the commission determine whether the National Organization for Marriage should have registered with the state as a ballot question committee. State law says groups that raise or spend more than $5,000 to attempt to influence the outcome of any Maine election must register and disclose their donors.NOM has offered the provide the amounts, but not the names of the donors. Why isn't Brian Brown in jail for contempt of court?
"The DOJ brief amounts to collusive litigation, failing to even offer to the court, much less vigorously defend, the reasons Congress laid out in the statute when it passed DOMA, especially responsible procreation. This is an attack not only on marriage, but on the prerogatives of Congress. The Executive branch should not attempt to exercise this kind of retroactive line-item veto over a bill passed by Congress.
"All the parties to this litigation want the court to strike down DOMA; this is clear from their behavior, no matter what President Obama and his politicized DOJ pretend to convey to the public. If Obama’s DOJ had merely honestly refused to defend the law, the court would likely have permitted another party to intervene to defend the law. Obama’s DOJ is trying to retain control so it can lose this case." - NOM president Brian Brown.
