NOM testimony against Maryland marriage equality has unintended effect

By Eric Ethington

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland’s Senate Judicial Proceedings committee heard 7 hours of testimony on Tuesday on whether or not to legalize same-sex marriage, and testimony from at least one marriage equality opponent has had an unintended consequence.

Sen. James Brochin (D-Baltimore), one of the few Senate Democrats who opposed same-sex marriage, is reconsidering changing his position after listening to testimony from Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization For Marriage (NOM)

The Baltimore Sun reports:

Baltimore County Sen. James Brochin found the testimony Tuesday by opponents of gay marriage “troubling,” and said this morning that he may support the bill. The Baltimore County Democrat had previously said he was against same-sex marriage.

“The demonization of gay families really bothered me,” Brochin said. “Are these families going to continue to be treated by the law as second class citizens?”

On Tuesday, Gallagher testified before the Committee that 99% of the population is heterosexual, instead of the more accurate (and conservative) estimate of 90%, and that “more than 99% of the people who create children” do so “through acts of sexual passion.”

Watch here, courtesy of Metro Weekly:



source

Clever Cartoonist Crashes NOM Site with LGBT Pride Flag

by SheWired Editors

This past week, the website of the National Organization for Marriage linked to a comic that resulted in the antigay group showcasing the gay pride flag, thanks to some creativity from the cartoonist and his brother.

Daily Kos reports on the work of Zach Weiner from Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.

On Wednesday, some Twitter followers alerted Weiner that NOM had posted one of his comics under the mistaken interpretation that it reflected their antigay positions. He learned that NOM had “hotlinked” the image, meaning that the image they displayed was accessed directly from his database.

So Weiner decided to change the image to a gay pride flag with a quotation from Thomas Jefferson about equality.

“I messaged my brother/webguru Marty Weiner, who sprung into action,” he said. “He worked on figuring out how to change the image without affecting the SMBC main page while I worked on finding an image. My initial idea was to post some dirty pictures, but I figured I could get more traction if I went the classy route.”

According to Weiner, he urged his readers to grab screenshots before the image was removed, which had the effect of crashing the NOM site immediately.

source

Presidential hopeful Fred Karger takes on NOM’s anti-gay marriage campaign

By Eric Ethington

Gay activist and Presidential hopeful Fred Karger has released a 60 second TV spot that has already started running in New Hampshire, aimed at the National Organization For Marriage (NOM) and their efforts to repeal the state’s same-sex marriage law.

Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown of the NOM have already successfully lobbied to strip same-sex couples of their right to marry in both California and Maine.

Now, the NOM is targeting New Hampshire and a number of other states.

Karger calls the NOM a “hate group” and says they are “here to demonize gay people.” Watch here:



LGBT advocates have considered New Hampshire — with a new, veto-proof Republican majority — one of this year’s most serious gay marriage battlegrounds.

House Majority Leader Rep. D.J. Bettencourt (R-Salem) said January 13 that repealing the state’s year-old marriage equality law is not a Republican priority in 2011, but refused to say if he would discourage the introduction of repeal bills.

Karger, who would be the first openly gay presidential candidate of either party, is running for the 2012 Republican nomination for President.

He has successfully lobbied to have the Mormon Church investigated and fined over their involvement in California’s Proposition 8, the 2008 voter-approved ban on gay marriage.

In 2009, Karger filed an ethics complaint with the state of Maine against the NOM for contributing $1.6 million to “Stand For Marriage Maine” without revealing its donor’s names.

source

NOM Targets Rhode Island

By Advocate.com Editors

The National Organization for Marriage's Rhode Island chapter has launched a six-figure media campaign to fight a new and promising legislative push for marriage equality in the state.

A new ad attacking pro–marriage equality governor Lincoln Chafee was scheduled to air Tuesday as part of a $100,000 television campaign, The Providence Journal reports. Last week lawmakers reintroduced bills that would extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

"Lincoln Chaffee [sic] got just 36% of the vote in the recent election," NOM-Rhode Island executive director Christopher Plante said in a statement. "Our message is that getting 36% of the vote is no mandate to redefine the institution of marriage for all of Rhode Island society.

"If legislators in Rhode Island wish to redefine marriage, they should put this issue on the ballot where the people themselves can decide if they wish to abandon one of the most fundamental institutions of society,'' Plante said.

The first ad, posted to YouTube, has since been removed, however.

source

BREAKING: NOM produces (part of) its long-awaited 2009 tax returns

By kevin.nix

Following our trip to the National Organization for Marriage office yesterday asking for their 2009 tax returns, we can report this afternoon that the organization was compelled to hand over a hard-copy of its  c (4) Form 990.  My colleague Dan Rafter went asking for it. And got it here.

The Form 990 is the tax return NOM is required to submit to the IRS.  NOM dated its 990 November 14, 2010, yet did not disclose it publicly until today when it gave an HRC representative a hard-copy of the tax return.

We haven’t had a chance yet to cull through it with a fine-tooth comb but here’s an observation regarding the group’s donors. Most of the $7.1 million in revenue in ’09 came from a few very large donors.  These donors could be individuals or corporations. Here is how NOM’s top donations break down.

1.   $2,475,000

2.   $1,230,000

3.   $1,100,000

4.   $400,000

5.   $150,000

Running the numbers, this means that 3 wealthy donors contributed 68% of their total donations; 4 donors gave 73% and 5 donors gave 75%.

These figures reinforce what we and others (Fred Karger) have been saying: the National Organization for Marriage does not represent some sizeable (or even small) grassroots constituency. The only “constituency” they represent is that of a few anti-gay folks who have a lot of money. NOM’s reluctance to make their tax returns available publicly is par for the course in their pattern of secrecy and shadowy dealings.

On Monday, January 3, HRC went to the Washington, D.C. NOM office and asked for a copy of its 2009 990 for both its (c) 3 and (c) 4 organizations. Video of the exchange is here. On Tuesday, January 4, HRC went back to the office and obtained a hard-copy of the (c) 4 990. It appears NOM did not provide us with a complete return.

source

BREAKING VIDEO: National Organization for Marriage has to produce tax returns by midnight tonight

By kevin.nix

Building on Fred Karger’s work on the National Organization for Marriage, we went over to NOM’s office this morning to ask for their 2009 tax returns for both their (c) 3 and (c) 4. I asked the individual who answered the door (video below) if I could get a copy of their returns for 2009. He said they were posted on the NOM web site. We did not see them on that site. They have posted their 2008 and 2007 returns; nothing for ’09.

According to IRS regulations, any non-profit organization (which NOM is) has to produce its returns if asked for in-person on the same day of the request. This means the National Organization for Marriage has until the end of the day to give them up.

If they don’t make public their Form 990: (a) the organization is subject to a $20 per-day penalty for every day it fails to respond, with a maximum penalty of $10,000; and (b) public disclosure noncompliance can be filed with the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division.

If NOM doesn’t produce their ’09 returns by midnight tonight, they will be violation of IRS regulations that govern every other nonprofit organization.  NOM is no exception. We’ll see what happens, but withholding tax returns from public view indicates, yet again, a strange need operate secretively and cover up who their donors are.

We’ll be updating as the story develops. Video of this morning’s exchange:



source