National Organization for Marriage
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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 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 ...
. It was formed in 2007 specifically to pass California Proposition 8, a state prohibition of same-sex marriage. The group has opposed civil union legislation and
gay adoption Same-sex adoption is the adoption of children by same-sex couples. It may take the form of a joint adoption by the couple, or of the adoption by one partner of the other's biological child ( stepchild adoption). Joint adoption by same-sex co ...
, and has fought against allowing transgender individuals to use bathrooms that accord with their gender identity.
Brian S. Brown Brian S. Brown (born c. 1974) is an American activist who is a co-founder of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), and has served as its president since 2010, having previously served as executive director. NOM is a non-profit political or ...
has served as the group's president since 2010.


Leadership

NOM's founding board of directors consisted of: *
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 ...
, president *
Brian S. Brown Brian S. Brown (born c. 1974) is an American activist who is a co-founder of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), and has served as its president since 2010, having previously served as executive director. NOM is a non-profit political or ...
, executive director (former executive director of Family Institute of Connecticut) *
Robert P. George Robert Peter George (born July 10, 1955) is an American legal scholar, political philosopher, and public intellectual who serves as the sixth McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and ...
, chairman of the board * Neil Corkery, treasurer * Chuck Stetson (chairman of the board, Bible Literacy Project) * Ken Von Kohorn (chairman of the board,
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 ...
) * Luis Tellez (president,
Witherspoon Institute The Witherspoon Institute is a conservative think tank in Princeton, New Jersey. The Institute was founded in 2003 by Princeton University professor and conservative Robert P. George, Luis Tellez, and others involved with the James Madison Progr ...
Board of Trustees) *
Matthew S. Holland Matthew Scott Holland (born June 7, 1966) has been a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since April 2020. He previously served as the 6th president of Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem, Utah, a ...
(president,
Utah Valley University Utah Valley University (UVU) is a public university in Orem, Utah. UVU offers master's, bachelor's, associate degrees, and certificates. Previously called Utah Valley State College, the school attained university status in July 2008. History ...
) In April 2009, Holland was replaced on the board by Orson Scott Card (science fiction novelist and faculty member,
Southern Virginia University Southern Virginia University (SVU) is a private liberal arts college in Buena Vista, Virginia. The college, though not officially affiliated with a particular faith, embraces the values of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Ch ...
), who then resigned in July 2013 after calling the battle against legalization of same-sex marriage in the US "moot" following a Supreme Court decision. In September 2011, law professor
John C. Eastman John Charles Eastman (born 1960) is an American lawyer who is the founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public interest law firm affiliated with the conservative think tank, conservative think tank Claremont Instit ...
replaced Gallagher as the chairman of the board. As of 2021, Brown remains the president and Eastman chairman of the board. As of 2011, law professor Robert P. George was chairman emeritus. As of 2011, Gallagher was still a board member and worked on specific projects for the group.


Nonprofit status and funding


Groups and projects

The group operates two nonprofit arms: a
501(c)(4) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exe ...
political advocacy group called National Organization for Marriage Inc., established in January 2008, and a
501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
called NOM Education Fund established in July 2008. The latter arm is not entitled to influence legislation or political campaigns. The Firefighters' Defense Fund, which existed to fund a successful sexual harassment lawsuit by firemen who claim they were forced to participate in a gay pride parade, was a NOM Education Fund project. The group also operates state-based political action committees such as National Organization for Marriage PAC New York founded in June 2009, and National Organization for Marriage California PAC founded in February 2009. The state PACs receive funding from the main 501(c)(4) NOM arm.


Funding

NOM claims it has a wide base of
grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
support, however the majority of its funding comes from a very few anonymous sources making large donations. In NOM's IRS filing for 2009, three donations of $2.4 million, $1.2 million and $1.1 million made up 68% of NOM's contributions and grants income of a little over $7.1 million, and just five donations made up 75%. In 2010, Jesse Zwick, then a reporter for the ''
Washington Independent The American Independent Institute is a nonprofit organization which funds liberal investigative journalism efforts. According to the organization, its aim is to support journalism which exposes "the nexus of conservative power in Washington." The ...
'', said he uncovered a 2009 donation to NOM—$1.43 million from the Knights of Columbus—that reporter Luke Johnson later said was apparently not reported to the IRS by NOM. In 2010, two donors provided $6 million, two-thirds of the total donations for the year. On its 2012 tax return, NOM reported a roughly $2 million deficit. Three donors contributed nearly two-thirds of the organization's $9.3 million in donations.


Mormon connection

Gay rights activist
Fred Karger Fred S. Karger (born January 31, 1950) is an American political consultant, gay rights activist and watchdog, and former actor. His unsuccessful candidacy for the Republican nomination for the 2012 US presidential election made him the first o ...
said in 2010 that NOM is connected to LDS Church, with large private donations coming from Mormon sources. Gallagher responded by denying any connection "except that a Mormon serves on NOM's board." Former board member
Matthew S. Holland Matthew Scott Holland (born June 7, 1966) has been a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since April 2020. He previously served as the 6th president of Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem, Utah, a ...
is a Mormon as is his replacement Orson Scott Card, and Catholic board member Robert P. George has served since August 2010 as an editorial advisor to the ''
Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...
'', a newspaper owned by the LDS Church.


Activity

NOM has been involved in ballot measures, legislative elections, judicial elections, and issue advertising in various states. NOM was involved in the successful Proposition 8 campaign in California in 2008, as well as a similar successful campaign in Maine one year later. They were also involved in unsuccessful efforts to pass an amendment eliminating same-sex marriage in Massachusetts in 2007. NOM participated in efforts to block same-sex marriage in New Jersey, and has unsuccessfully attempted to block same-sex marriage legalization in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and the District of Columbia. On June 16, 2009, NOM announced the formation of NOM PAC New York, a political action committee with a goal of providing $500,000 to fund primary challenges against any Republican New York state senator who votes for gay marriage. NOM stated that they were "also looking to aid Democratic candidates who want to buck the establishment on the marriage issue, and to help in general election contests." In 2010, NOM was involved in successful efforts to oust three Iowa Supreme Court judges who had concurred in a decision that effectively legalized same-sex marriage there. In 2009, Peter Montgomery of the progressive organization People for the American Way stated: "You have to take OMseriously ..They've raised a tremendous amount of money that they're funneling into various states."


2007 Massachusetts constitutional amendment

One of the group's first public acts was to campaign in support of a proposed 2007 Massachusetts constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage by restricting marriage to "the union of one man and one woman", in response to the Massachusetts court decision that legalized same-sex marriage in that state. The NOM-supported amendment failed to pass. The campaign included a billboard comparing representative
Angelo Puppolo Angelo J. Puppolo Jr. is a politician from Springfield, Massachusetts. A Democrat, he currently serves as the 12th Hampden District representative in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He was elected to his first term in office in Novem ...
to Judas Iscariot and
Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold ( Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defect ...
after he changed his position to oppose the amendment.


California Proposition 8

NOM was first formed to support the passage of California Proposition 8 in 2008, which amended the state Constitution to discontinue same-sex marriage ceremonies. The amendment defined marriage as the union between one man and one woman. NOM contributed $1.8 million to the Proposition 8 effort, and has been described as being "instrumental" in the success of the initiative. Proposition 8 was passed by voters 52% to 48%, and involved an estimated $83M by both sides of the issue. The amendment was in force until United States district court Judge
Vaughn R. Walker Vaughn Richard Walker (born 1944) is an American lawyer who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from 1989 to 2011. Walker presided over the original trial in '' Hol ...
overturned it in August 2010, in the case ''
Perry v. Schwarzenegger Perry, also known as pear cider, is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally the perry pear. It has been common for centuries in England, particularly in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. It is also mad ...
'', ruling that it violated both the
Due Process Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pers ...
and Equal Protection clauses of the
United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
. NOM chairman Maggie Gallagher expressed her disagreement with the ruling, targeting Walker's sexuality and accusing him of "substituting his views for those of the American people and of our Founding Fathers." NOM President, Brian Snow, also expressed dissatisfaction with the ruling, stating "With a stroke of his pen, Judge Walker has overruled the votes and values of 7 million Californians" Walker did however place a temporary injunction on same-sex marriages to allow the defendants to bring their case before the United States Supreme Court. On June 26, 2013, the United States Supreme Court ruled the defendants in the case lacked standing to appeal earlier rulings in Federal Court. As a consequence, Walker's opinion striking down the law as unconstitutional stands as the final decision in the case. NOM addressed the Supreme Court's ruling on its website, asking the nation "show its displeasure" with the ruling, adding that "the Supreme Court ripped the legs out from under the institution of marriage."


Stand for Marriage Maine

In 2009, NOM was the primary contributor to Stand For Marriage Maine, the organization that led the successful campaign for Question 1 in Maine, a voter referendum that repealed the law passed by the legislature to allow same-sex marriages in the state. Voters passed the referendum 53%–47% out of 567,057 votes cast. Out of the initial $343,000 in contributions, NOM provided some $160,000. NOM contributed over $1.6 million to Stand For Marriage Maine; by reports as of October 2009, NOM had contributed 63% of that group's funding. NOM has brought a number of lawsuits to prevent being required to release the names of its donors funding Stand For Marriage Maine.


Advertising campaigns

On April 8, 2009, NOM began a "2 Million for Marriage" (2M4M) initiative with the intention of organizing two million activists nationwide. When NOM used the abbreviation "2M4M" for their "2 Million for Marriage" campaign, the media noted that in personal ads, "2M4M" is code for two men seeking a third male sexual partner. NOM did not secure the domain name and other net resources that use the "2M4M" term. Christopher Ambler, a consultant in rapid web development who characterizes himself as a "happily married straight guy", purchased the domain "2M4M.org" and branded it as "Two Men For Marriage," running material counter to NOM's 2M4M aims.


Gathering Storm

The 2M4M campaign used an advertisement, "Gathering Storm", in which actors, primarily Mormons from Arizona, standing against a dramatic storm-cloud background, voiced opposition to same-sex marriage. The
Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...
, a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) lobbying group and political action committee, described the ad saying that, in it, "actors make disproven claims about marriage for lesbian and gay couples." ''New York Times'' columnist Frank Rich described the "Gathering Storm" advertisement as "an Internet camp classic", and it was parodied by Stephen Colbert, the website Funny or Die, and in the ''
Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...
'' episode "
Proposition Infinity "Proposition Infinity" ("Proposition ∞") is the fourth episode of the Futurama (season 6), sixth season of the American animated television sitcom ''Futurama''. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on July 8, 2010. In the ep ...
".


Other advertisements

On April 30, 2009, NOM and beauty pageant winner
Carrie Prejean Caroline Michelle "Carrie" Prejean Boller (; born 1987) is an American model, former Miss California USA 2009, and Miss USA 2009 first runner-up. Prejean was stripped of her Miss California USA crown for alleged breaches of contract. Litigation ...
launched another ad campaign against gay marriage, called "No Offense". In the ad, they object to being characterized as "outright bigots" because of their stance. After semi-nude photos of Prejean were posted on the Internet, causing some to accuse NOM of hypocrisy, NOM issued a press release stating that Prejean had appeared with NOM as a private citizen and not as a spokesperson. In the wake of the revelation that Prejean had made masturbation videos, NOM removed reference to the video from the front page of their website. On May 28, 2009, NOM rolled out an advertising campaign in New York, including a video spot. ''The Christian Science Monitor'' described the spot as listing a "litany of grievances" as an "ominous score" plays, with a potentially embarrassing error for a campaign based on education: misspelling ''marriage'' as '. During the
2016 North Carolina gubernatorial election The 2016 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives ...
, NOM released an ad criticizing Democratic candidate Roy Cooper for his support for allowing transgender individuals access to bathrooms that reflect their gender identity. The ad claimed that doing so would give sexual predators easy access to children and other potential victims.


New York Congressional phone campaign

NOM spent over $112,000 on a
get-out-the-vote "Get out the vote" or "getting out the vote" (GOTV) describes efforts aimed at increasing the voter turnout in elections. In countries that do not have or enforce compulsory voting, voter turnout can be low, sometimes even below a third of the ...
phone campaign for
Conservative Party of New York The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party founded in 1962 following conservative dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in New York. Running on the Conservative Party line, James L. Buckley won election to the U ...
candidate Douglas Hoffman in the contentious 2009 House of Representatives campaign for New York's 23rd District. After pro-same-sex-marriage Republican candidate
Dede Scozzafava Dierdre Kathryn "Dede" Scozzafava ( ; born April 28, 1960) is an American politician in New York. She represented District 122 in the New York State Assembly from 1999 to 2010. Scozzafava held office as a member of the Republican Party, but la ...
withdrew from the race, Hoffman lost to Democrat Bill Owens, who also opposed gay marriage, by a 2.3% margin. State senators said that this congressional race affected the New York State Senate's December 2, 2009 vote against same-sex marriage legislation; all 30 Republican state senators voted "no". Following her unsuccessful campaign, Scozzafava acknowledged that her name had begun being used as a verb: "scozzafavaed". When the gay Republican organization GOProud had a booth at the 2010 Conservative Political Action Conference, Brown commented, " have a message for GOProud on marriage: If you try to elect pro-gay-marriage Republicans, we will Dede Scozzafava them." In addition,
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 ...
has used the phrase "the Dede effect" to describe Republican lawmakers' fear of alienating their constituents by voting for same-sex marriage legislation.


Summer for Marriage Tour

In 2010, NOM staged a 23-city tour holding rallies against same-sex marriage. The rallies attracted supporters and pro-gay marriage protesters. At many stops along the tour, NOM supporters were outnumbered by counter-protesters supporting same-sex marriage; in Atlanta, LGBT rights supporters outnumbered opponents of same-sex marriage by a ratio of ten to one.




The tour ended with a rally at the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., while pro-gay marriage activists held a simultaneous event at the Freedom Plaza. After Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey, the surviving members of Peter, Paul and Mary, discovered that NOM had been using their recording of " This Land is Your Land" rallies in this tour, they sent a letter to Brown requesting that NOM cease using their recording, stating that NOM's philosophy was "directly contrary to the advocacy position" held by the group. Similarly, after John Mellencamp was informed that NOM had used his song " Pink Houses" at one of their events, his publicist wrote a letter (at his instruction) stating Mellencamp's support for same-sex marriage and asking that NOM stop using his music.


Campaign finance lawsuit

NOM filed a lawsuit in US district court, on free speech grounds, seeking the right to run ads in the Rhode Island governor's race without complying with that state's campaign finance laws, including both campaign financing contribution limits and reporting requirements. In October 2010 the suit was dismissed; the court called the filing "disorganized, vague and poorly constructed" and gave the group one week to refile the lawsuit. NOM appealed to federal court, who ruled against them.


Civil union opposition

NOM has opposed civil union recognition, calling it "a direct threat to marriage and the religious liberties" and stating that "civil union statutes across the country have been used to sue business owners and professionals who run their practices by their deeply held religious beliefs." It has campaigned against the passage of Illinois's Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act, SB 1716.


Iowa judge retention vote campaign

On November 2, 2010, NOM ran a bus tour through Iowa campaigning for removal of three Iowa Supreme Court justices then up for a retention vote, following the court's unanimous decision in ''
Varnum v. Brien ''Varnum v. Brien'', 763 N.W.2d 862 (Iowa 2009), was an Iowa Supreme Court case in which the Court unanimously held that the state's limitation of marriage to opposite-sex couples violated the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution. The ...
''; the retention vote was "the most controversial...and one of the closest" races on the ballot. All three justices lost the retention vote, the first time any judge had lost that vote since Iowa initiated the retention system in 1962.


New York same-sex marriage opposition

NOM actively opposed legalization of same-sex marriage in New York in 2011. The group sponsored a rally in the Bronx in May 2011 with state Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., a Democrat. After same-sex marriage was legalized in the state by the legislature in June 2011, NOM pledged to spend $2 million to defeat the four Republicans who voted for the bill to legalize it, and erected signs in the districts of those senators, warning "You're Next". Wealthy same-sex marriage supporters vowed to finance the targeted senators. NOM supported four "Let the People Vote" rallies later in July of the same year, with the stated purpose of having the voters decide the issue versus the bill passed by the state's legislature.


North Carolina Amendment 1

NOM provided more than $300,000 to the committee supporting North Carolina's Amendment 1, a 2012 referendum which would alter the state's constitution to forbid marriage and all other recognition for same-sex couples.


2012 presidential pledge

On August 3, 2011, NOM unveiled a pledge for 2012 Republican presidential candidates. Signers pledged that they would support a federal marriage amendment, appoint federal judges who are
originalists In the context of United States law, originalism is a theory of constitutional interpretation that asserts that all statements in the Constitution must be interpreted based on the original understanding "at the time it was adopted". This conce ...
and thus "reject the idea our Founding Fathers inserted a right to gay marriage in our Constitution", defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court, "establish a presidential commission on religious liberty to investigate and document reports of Americans who have been harassed or threatened for exercising key civil rights to organize, to speak, to donate or to vote for marriage", and "advance legalization to return to the people of the District of Columbia their right to vote on marriage." This pledge was signed by candidates
Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republica ...
,
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...
, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, and
Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...
(who initially declined), along with Tim Pawlenty;
Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as well ...
and
Herman Cain Herman Cain (December 13, 1945July 30, 2020) was an American businessman and Tea Party movement activist within the Republican Party. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Cain grew up in Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor's d ...
chose not to sign. During the Iowa primary campaign, NOM aired a TV ad targeting Paul, contrasting his failure to pledge with the activities of "the major presidential candidates", thus implying that Paul was not truly in contention in the primary campaign.


Oregon intercession

NOM attempted repeatedly to intercede in the legalization of same-sex marriage in Oregon. The group requested to be allowed to act as defendants in the state court case that ultimately found the ban on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional, but were denied by the judge as lacking standing, a ruling that was confirmed by the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. After the ruling that started same-sex marriage in the state, NOM filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking that the state court's ruling be stayed, to allow NOM to further pursue its case for being an intercessor, and that the matter be reviewed by the Supreme Court. The request was denied.


March For Marriage

NOM organized protest marches against same-sex marriage in Washington, DC, in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. The 2015 March For Marriage took place on April 25, the Saturday before the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a set of cases related to same-sex marriage. About 100 people attended the 2016 event, including counterprotestors. About 50 attended in 2017.


IRS release of donor information

In October 2013, NOM filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the IRS had intentionally leaked its 2008 tax return—including donor lists—in violation of federal law.Kevin Robillard
National Organization for Marriage to sue IRS
''Politico'' (July 19, 2013).
David McAfee
Marriage Group Sues IRS Over Leaked Tax Return
''Law360'' (October 8, 2013).
The lawsuit arose from the March 2012 disclosure of NOM's 2008 IRS Form 990, Schedule B (which contained donor data) to an LGBT rights advocacy group and to the media. Under U.S. federal law, "the IRS is required to provide the public with certain tax information for 501(c)(4) organizations upon request—but personal identifying information of donors must be redacted by the agency."Mackenzie Weinger
IRS pays $50K in confidentiality suit
''Politico'' (June 24, 2014).
In a June 2014 ruling, Judge
James Cacheris James Chris Cacheris (born March 30, 1933) is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Education and career Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Cacheris was educated at Univer ...
of the
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (in case citations, E.D. Va.) is one of two United States district courts serving the Commonwealth of Virginia. It has jurisdiction over the Northern Virginia, Hampton Ro ...
dismissed most of NOM's claims. While the IRS acknowledged that it had improperly made an unredacted copy of NOM's tax information public, the court found that NOM provided "no evidence that the information was willfully disclosed or the result of gross negligence." In June 2014, the IRS agreed to settle NOM's remaining claims of improper disclosure of confidential tax information by paying $50,000 to NOM.


Transgender students

On September 20, 2013, NOM announced that they would gather signatures aimed at putting a proposition on the November 2014 California ballot to repeal a law addressing the rights of transgender students. The law, AB 1266, allows students to play on school sports teams and to use school bathrooms that accord with their gender identity. Brown said that "Opening our most vulnerable areas at school including showers, bathrooms and changing rooms to members of the opposite sex is politically-correct madness that risks the privacy and security of our children and grandchildren." On February 24, 2014, the California secretary of state's office reported that the proposition had failed to gather enough valid signatures to qualify for the November election.


International activities

NOM president Brown has spoken in Russia calling for the illegalization of adoption by LGBT people. He spoke to the Duma committees on international affairs and the family, telling them that persecution of religious people would arise from permitting equal rights in any form.


Free Speech Bus

NOM worked with Spain-based advocacy group
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 ...
and the International Organization for the Family to attack the concept of
transgenderism A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
by having activists tour the United States, mainly on the East Coast, in the "Free Speech Bus", an orange bus with an anti-transgender message. The bus has the slogan: "It's Biology: Boys are boys... and always will be. Girls are Girls... and always will be. You can't change sex. Respect all." At one stop in Boston, people tried to block the bus, and at another stop, it was vandalized.


IRS filings

In 2009, Californians Against Hate (CAH) filed a formal complaint with the IRS against NOM, saying that NOM had refused to make its IRS 990 forms public, as required by law. CAH representatives went to "the Princeton, New Jersey, offices of the National Organization for Marriage twice to get copies of their IRS 990 reports, to no avail," said CAH's president,
Fred Karger Fred S. Karger (born January 31, 1950) is an American political consultant, gay rights activist and watchdog, and former actor. His unsuccessful candidacy for the Republican nomination for the 2012 US presidential election made him the first o ...
. "Then our representative, Ben Katzenberg, sent two certified letters to the NOM office on March 18, 2009, requesting its two 990 forms. Federal law requires NOM to furnish copies of these IRS filings within 30 days after the request has been received. And 40 days later, still no 990s." NOM has since posted 990 forms for 2007 and 2008 on their website.


Campaign finance issues

In March 2009, Fred Karger filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission alleging that the National Organization for Marriage was established by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in order to direct church funds toward the passage of Proposition 8. A church spokesman and NOM's then-president Maggie Gallagher both denied the allegations. In 2009, the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices voted, 3–2, to investigate NOM for campaign finance violations; the Commission overrode the recommendation of their staff. Maine law required organizations soliciting more than $5,000 for ballot question campaigns to file disclosure reports. NOM had contributed $1.6 million to Stand For Marriage Maine without filing any disclosure reports. NOM filed suit, claiming that the state's election laws violate the Constitution. NOM, arguing that their lawsuit was likely to succeed, sought a federal restraining order to avoid having to provide donor names before the date of the balloting, which U.S. District Court Judge David Brock Hornby denied.Setback for Group Fighting Gay Marriage in Maine
''The New York Times'', October 29, 2009
In February 2011, Hornby issued a summary judgment ruling that Maine's disclosure law was valid, a decision NOM appealed and lost in August 2011. NOM's efforts to appeal in the federal courts failed when the Supreme Court declined to hear one appeal in February 2012 and another in October 2012. In 2014, the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices fined NOM over $50,000 and demanded that the group file a campaign finance report; the report was required to include the identities of donors who supported NOM's efforts in connection with the 2009 Maine referendum. NOM filed a complaint against two groups that support gay marriage: The
Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...
and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Foundation, saying that they had engaged in the same actions as NOM. On August 24, 2015, the ''Sun Journal'' reported that NOM had paid the State of Maine a fine of over $50,000, that it had disclosed the names of its donors, and that NOM had stated that it would not continue to contest the matter in court. In Iowa, NOM was investigated by the Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board over whether it failed to properly disclose the names of donors towards its campaign to unseat judges who had ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in the state. Previously, it had faced accusations from the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa Action Fund and
One Iowa One Iowa is a statewide LGBTQ equality organization. The organization works to preserve and advance equality for LGBTQ individuals in Iowa through advocacy, grassroots efforts, and education. Background The organization was founded in November 200 ...
that it has failed to properly disclose its contributors. NOM's efforts in that state included spending $86,060 on the failed state House of Representatives campaign of Stephen Burgmeier. NOM executive director Brown has stated that the group keeps the identities of its donors private to prevent donor intimidation by proponents of same-sex marriage. The group used that argument in an unsuccessful lawsuit seeking to exempt them from California's disclosure laws.


Criticism and opposition


"NOM Exposed"

In September 2010, the
Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...
(HRC) and the
Courage Campaign Courage California (formerly Courage Campaign) is a state-based 501(c)(4) progressive grassroots advocacy organization founded in 2005 and based in California. The organization claims an online grassroots activism network of over 1 million member ...
launched "NOM Exposed", a website which says it documents "Truth, Lies, and Connections about the So-Called National Organization for Marriage." The site contained profiles of NOM leaders and prominent supporters; details of NOM's links to Latter-Day Saints, the Catholic Church and conservative Christian organizations such as
Opus Dei Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work an ...
, the Knights of Columbus and
Focus on the Family Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is a fundamentalist Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations ...
; information about NOM's budget; and an interactive map with information on NOM activities in specific states. HRC spokesperson Michael Cole characterized NOM as "a secretive player in antigay politics, which is posing as an offshore company for antigay religious money"; NOM president Brown countered that NOM is "not out to hoodwink voters... ut istalking openly about same-sex marriage" and predicted that the "NOM Exposed" website would backfire. Brown also said that HRC's "heavy-handed attacks on NOM only prove that we are the key national organization fighting for marriage as one man and one woman."


Southern Poverty Law Center

The Southern Poverty Law Center included NOM on its Winter 2010 list of "anti-gay groups" that "have continued to pump out demonizing propaganda aimed at homosexuals." NOM president Brown took issue with the inclusion, stating that NOM "isn't about being anti-anyone."


Resignation of Louis Marinelli

On April 8, 2011, Louis Marinelli, a 25-year-old NOM activist and online strategist who describes himself as "the one behind the 2010 Summer for Marriage Tour", had driven the bus during that tour, and had moderated many of NOM's web properties (including its Facebook page, its Twitter account, and the Tour blog), resigned from his affiliation with the organization, announced his support for same-sex marriage, and categorically apologized for and repudiated his past actions on behalf of the organization. He also shut down the Facebook page he had built up for NOM, which had 290,000 followers. The next day, NOM created a new official Facebook page (to replace Marinelli's), and released this statement: "Louis Marinelli worked in a volunteer capacity as a bus driver during our summer marriage tour. Around this time, NOM began to pay him as a part-time consultant for helping us expand our internet reach. He has since chosen a different focus. We wish him well." NOM president Brown publicly downplayed Marinelli's role with the organization, however, after Marinelli published several articles critical of NOM on his website, Brown contacted him and said that if the articles were not removed, NOM would pursue legal action against Marinelli for violation of a
confidentiality agreement A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish ...
he had signed as a contractor with access to specialized information.


Photo manipulation

In October 2011, the blog ''Good As You'' showed that NOM used uncredited photographs of 2008 rallies for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama on its website to make it appear that the crowds supporting Obama were actually NOM supporters. The story was subsequently picked up by media including '' The Rachel Maddow Show'' and ''Instinct Magazine''. Brown dismissed the photo controversy as a misdirection effort by "Rachel Maddow and her friends on the left". NOM removed the photos in the collage, referring to one of them as "a common use photo in the public domain". The images included one Reuters photo and two that were copyrighted under a
Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...
license requiring that the photographer be credited.


Wedge tactics

In March 2012, NOM memos dated to 2009 advocating strategies of pitting the African-American and homosexual communities against each other, of discouraging Latino assimilation into a culture accepting of same-sex marriage, and of painting President Obama as a "social radical" were released by a federal judge in Maine and published by the Human Rights Campaign. The internal NOM documents state that they seek "to drive a wedge between gays and blacks" by promoting "African American spokespeople for marriage", thus provoking same-sex marriage supporters into "denouncing these spokesmen and women as bigots", and to interrupt the assimilation of Latinos into "dominant Anglo culture" by making the stance against same-sex marriage "a key badge of Latino identity". The documents also showed a goal to "sideswipe" US President Barack Obama by depicting him as a "social radical" via issues including child protection and pornography. The revealed tactics were described as "one of the most cynical things I've ever heard" and "scary" by Julian Bond, chairman emeritus of the
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
. The National Black Justice Coalition said that the "documents expose N.O.M. for what it really is – a hate group determined to use African American faith leaders as pawns to push their damaging agenda." In response to the controversy, NOM stated that the organization has a diverse base of support which includes people of "every color, creed and background" and that it has "worked with prominent African-American and Hispanic leaders, including Dr. Alveda C. King, Bishop George McKinney of the COGIC Church, Bishop Harry Jackson and the New York State Senator Reverend Rubén Díaz Sr." Gallagher, who was president of the organization at the time of the documents, said that their language "makes us sound way too big for our britches", while Brown, president at the time the controversy arose, wrote that the language was "inapt", stating that "it would be enormously arrogant for anyone at NOM to believe that we can make or provoke African-American or Latino leaders do anything".


See also

*
Jennifer Roback Morse Jennifer Roback Morse (born 1953) is an economist, a writer and a Catholic social conservative. She is the president and founder of the Ruth Institute, a global interfaith organization advocating against the repercussions of the sexual revolution. ...
* Family Research Council


Notes


Southern Poverty Law Center: 10 Anti-gay Myths Debunked


References


External links

* *
National Organization for Marriage
– official site
NOM Exposed
– a critical website sponsored by the
Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...
and the
Courage Campaign Courage California (formerly Courage Campaign) is a state-based 501(c)(4) progressive grassroots advocacy organization founded in 2005 and based in California. The organization claims an online grassroots activism network of over 1 million member ...

Maggie Gallagher debates Gavin Newsom on gay marriage
in a May 2009 interactive debate from NOW on PBS Online {{DEFAULTSORT:National Organization For Marriage Political organizations based in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Princeton, New Jersey Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C. Organizations established in 2007 2007 establishments in the United States Same-sex marriage in the United States Lobbying organizations in the United States 2008 California Proposition 8 Conservative organizations in the United States