NOM's Anti-Gay Marriage Tour Ending As Prop 8 Struck Down
BY CARLOS SANTOSCOY
PUBLISHED: AUGUST 14, 2010
The National Organization for Marriage's (NOM) 23-city anti-gay marriage
tour will end on Sunday as gay marriages inch closer to resuming in
California.
tour will end on Sunday as gay marriages inch closer to resuming in
California.
While traveling on the bus over the past 30 days campaigning against the legalization of gay marriage, one of the two bans that NOM helped put in
place has come undone.
place has come undone.
Out of the gate, the Summer for Marriage Tour 2010 hit a major road block
in Rhode Island, where NOM clashed with counter demonstrators at an event staged on the Statehouse lawn. Advocates for gay marriage attempted to
shout down NOM's speakers by chanting, “Get your hate out of our state.”
in Rhode Island, where NOM clashed with counter demonstrators at an event staged on the Statehouse lawn. Advocates for gay marriage attempted to
shout down NOM's speakers by chanting, “Get your hate out of our state.”
But battles became fewer and farther between after the Human Rights
Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest gay rights advocate, said it believed
the tour was designed to incite loud protests, not promote heterosexual marriage.
Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest gay rights advocate, said it believed
the tour was designed to incite loud protests, not promote heterosexual marriage.
Fred Sainz, vice president of communications and marketing at HRC, said gay marriage foes were on the hunt for evidence of ill-behaved protesters to
boost its case against proponents of gay marriage. Such evidence could help several ongoing lawsuits that claim opponents of gay marriage face threats of violence and intimidation, and their identities need to be legally shielded.
boost its case against proponents of gay marriage. Such evidence could help several ongoing lawsuits that claim opponents of gay marriage face threats of violence and intimidation, and their identities need to be legally shielded.
In Iowa, the only Midwest state where the institution is legal and where the
debate is red hot, activists deliberately staged their counter demonstrations
miles away from NOM events.
debate is red hot, activists deliberately staged their counter demonstrations
miles away from NOM events.
A sign calling for violence against gay men and lesbians at an Indianapolis stop brought the tour some negative press.
The sign featured two nooses along with the caption “The Solution To Gay Marriage” in red.
“The Bible says the last days men's minds will get confused,”
Larry Adams, the owner of the sign, said in an interview posted
on the website Bilerico.com. “I'm trying to tell them the right thing
out here because I care for them and I don't want 'em to go to hell.”
Larry Adams, the owner of the sign, said in an interview posted
on the website Bilerico.com. “I'm trying to tell them the right thing
out here because I care for them and I don't want 'em to go to hell.”
Speakers on the tour spent much of their time trying to flip the script
on gay marriage advocates by attempting to hijack their civil right
argument.
on gay marriage advocates by attempting to hijack their civil right
argument.
“We've taken great pains to make clear what we are all about,”
NOM President Brian Brown said in St. Paul. “We view ourselves
as a new civil rights movement. … Committed to something that in
the 1960s was key: the right to vote.”
NOM President Brian Brown said in St. Paul. “We view ourselves
as a new civil rights movement. … Committed to something that in
the 1960s was key: the right to vote.”
NOM's board chair, Maggie Gallagher, at a stop in Charleston declared:
“Same-sex marriage is not a civil right – it is a civil wrong.”
“Same-sex marriage is not a civil right – it is a civil wrong.”
In the final days of the tour, NOM speakers turned to events
unfolding in California, where a federal judge had struck down
the state's gay marriage ban put in place with the help of NOM
and its supporters.
unfolding in California, where a federal judge had struck down
the state's gay marriage ban put in place with the help of NOM
and its supporters.
Gallagher blasted Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling
that declared Proposition 8 unconstitutional.
that declared Proposition 8 unconstitutional.
“Here we have an openly gay federal judge substituting his views for those
of the American people and of our Founding Fathers who I promise you would
be shocked by courts that imagine they have the right to put gay marriage in
our Constitution,” she said in a television appearance.
of the American people and of our Founding Fathers who I promise you would
be shocked by courts that imagine they have the right to put gay marriage in
our Constitution,” she said in a television appearance.
“Judge Walker's ruling is more evidence he is not a neutral referee, he's
an activist on this issue,” Brown said on the group's website, referring
to Walker's denial of a permanent stay on his ruling.
an activist on this issue,” Brown said on the group's website, referring
to Walker's denial of a permanent stay on his ruling.
The bus docks in Washington D.C. for its final rally on Sunday at the U.S.
Capitol
Capitol
http://www.ontopmag.com
Comments