It’s not earth-shattering news to the LGBT community that the so-called National Organization for Marriage is anti-gay. It’s obvious to us that the group eats, sleeps, and breathes homophobia.
But it’s not so obvious to lawmakers, media, and straight America. NOM does a pretty good job of *sounding* reasonable, even (sort of) tolerant. That’s where you come in.
Help us–HRC and the Courage Campaign–expose what this group is all about. Sign-up to be a NOM Watcher in your community. Expose NOM’s inflammatory rhetoric, hardball tactics, and secretive funding–all of which they use to stop committed LGBT couples from getting married. (And to stop civil unions.)
As we head into 2011, your participation is more important than ever given the number of states where NOM has indicated it’s going to stop or repeal marriage equality. You can see NOM’s battle plan here. Even if they’re not planning on coming to your state, you can still tell your friends who live in those states.
NOM’s president, Maggie Gallagher, has called being gay a sexual disability. Louis Marinelli, a strategist aligned with the organization, has tweeted things like “#nevertrust activists of the homosexual agenda – they are deceitful people who care only about themselves and not what’s best for society.” And Pastor Bob Emrich, who participated in NOM’s 2010 Summer for Marriage Tour, supported the legislation in Uganda that would have made being gay a crime punishable by death in some cases.
In the next few weeks, we’ll have more specifics on what you can do locally. (Here in DC we just demanded and received NOM’s previously undisclosed 2009 tax returns).
Our goal this week is to create a network of folks across the country who can help us fight back against one of the obstacles to marriage equality. Thanks for any help you could offer.
It’s going to be a good year.
