Brian S. Brown (born c. 1974) is an American activist who is a co-founder of the

National Organization for Marriage The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is an American non-profit political organization established to work against the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States. It was formed in 2007 specifically to pass California Proposit ...

(NOM), and has served as its president since 2010, having previously served as executive director. NOM is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

political organization established in 2007 to work against legalization of

same-sex marriage in the United States The availability of legally recognized same-sex marriage in the United States expanded from one state (Massachusetts) in 2004 to all fifty states in 2015 through various court rulings, state legislation, and direct popular votes. States each ...

. NOM's mission is "protecting marriage and the faith communities that sustain it". Brown is also president of the

World Congress of Families The World Congress of Families (WCF) is a United States coalition that promotes Christian right values internationally. It opposes same-sex marriage, pornography, and abortion, while supporting a society built on "the voluntary union of a man and ...

Career

In 2001, Brown became the executive director of the

Family Institute of Connecticut The Family Institute of Connecticut is an interdenominational, conservative 501(c)(3) non-profit advocacy organization founded in 1989. Its stated goal is to encourage and strengthen the family as the foundation of society and to promote Judeo-Ch ...

, a socially conservative organization. On February 10, 2002 Brown presented a testimony in front of the Connecticut House Judiciary Committee on HB 5002 and HB 5001. Since its founding in 2007, Brown has been

's executive director and was additionally named president in 2010, succeeding

Maggie Gallagher Margaret Gallagher (born September 14, 1960) is an American writer, socially conservative commentator, and activist. She wrote a syndicated column for Universal Press Syndicate from 1995 to 2013 and has written several books. Gallagher founde ...

. NOM led the initiative to pass California's Proposition 8 in 2008, which intended to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage in the state. In 2012, he announced that NOM would launch a global "Dump Starbucks" campaign in response to that company's support for same-sex marriage. In October 2013, Brown announced that The National Organization for Marriage filed a lawsuit in federal court against the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

for releasing confidential tax documents; the lawsuit was settled for $50,000. In 2016, Brown announced the foundation of the International Organization for the Family (IOF), so that NOM could "focus on efforts in America," As of August 2018, Brown was the president of the

Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society The Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society is a socially conservative U.S. think-tank and advocacy group that opposes abortion, divorce, and homosexuality, promoting instead the "child-rich, married parent" family. History The Howard Cente ...

, an anti-abortion advocacy group which is part of the

(WCF) network supporting far right groups in Europe and other continents. He is on the Foundation Board of Trustees of

CitizenGo CitizenGO is an ultra-conservative advocacy group founded in Madrid, Spain, in 2013 by the ultra-Catholic and far-right HazteOir organization. The foundation aims to be "a community of active citizens that seeks to promote the participation of ...

, a Spanish anti-abortion advocacy group founded in 2013. In late 2019, NOM filed a brief related to the cases about LGBTQ rights—''

Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia ''Bostock v. Clayton County'', , is a landmark United States Supreme Court civil rights case in which the Court held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees against discrimination because they are gay or transgender. T ...

''; ''Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC''; and ''Altitude Express v. Zarda''—pending before the Supreme Court. On October 29, 2019, two Supreme Court justices,

Brett Kavanaugh Brett Michael Kavanaugh ( ; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since Oc ...

and

Samuel Alito Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. ( ; born April 1, 1950) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on October 31, 2005, and has served ...

, posed for a photograph with Brown inside the Court. The reason for the meeting was unclear. The other two people who posed in the photo were

Gloria, Princess of Thurn and Taxis Gloria of Thurn and Taxis (''Mariae Gloria Ferdinanda Joachima Josephine Wilhelmine Huberta''; born Countess Gloria von Schönburg-Glauchau, 23 February 1960) is a German socialite, businesswoman, Catholic activist, and artist. Through her marria ...

and Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller.

Personal life

Brown was raised in Whittier,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. At age 25 he converted from

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

ism to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

. He has a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from Whittier College, where he was student body president, and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in modern history from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and is a C.Phil. at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. The C.Phil. is an interim status for students who intend to complete their PhD within a given time period.

References

External links

National Organization for Marriage websiteBrian S. Brown biography on National Organization for Marriage websitehttps://actright.com/
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Brian S. Living people American anti-abortion activists American social activists American Roman Catholics Whittier College alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Same-sex marriage in the United States National Organization for Marriage people American anti-same-sex-marriage activists Year of birth missing (living people) Converts to Roman Catholicism from Quakerism