NOM President Brian Brown released the following statement yesterday:
“It is becoming clear that the national gay marriage network is attempting to coordinate a message they know to be false: that NOM tolerates or even encourages violence toward gay or lesbian Americans. These groups – including Freedom to Marry, Equality California and prominent gay bloggers – are attempting to use this false claim as a way to divert attention from organized harassment of supporters of marriage, and for raising money and building their lists. It’s unconscionable that they would deliberately misrepresent our views and scare their own followers just to raise money for themselves.
“The groups are showing a photo of a disturbing sign raised at a NOM rally by a single individual. This sign suggesting violence was immediately rebuked by NOM and we demanded that the individual take it down. NOM issued a nationwide email blast the following day saying, ‘We told the individual to take down his sign because it is wrong and not reflective of NOM’s aims, methods and message: we come together in love to support marriage as one man and one woman.’
“Gay marriage groups know that NOM does not advocate or condone violence and that we have already condemned the brief display of this sign. Despite this, they are sending emails to their supporters asking for money. Equality California went as far as titling their fundraising email, ‘NOM’s Solution to Gay Marriage: Kill Gay Couples.’ We hope that gay and lesbian Americans will see the lengths to which groups like Freedom to Marry and Equality California go to manipulate them so that they will give money. It’s truly shameful.
Read the whole thing.
32 Comments
It just goes to show others what animus is behind the anti-gay equality movement. Not all feel the animus, even more would not display it. This gentleman was the voice if a percentage of NOM supporters and this should be understood. His sign made it obvious what others hide under calls for peace. You do not want civil equality for gay couples under the law. That is what NOM is fighting- families similarly situated except that their sex is the same. There us no valid reason to exclude ss couples unless you first ban divorce, forbid marriage to those who do not want kids, annul those that cannot produce kids. If you do that you say that govt is only supporting marriage because of child rearing... If that's not the case then there I no valid argument.
Right to vote on others rights isn't constitutionally viable unless government has an interest in promoting this discrimination. Your "activist judge", whichever one that rules, will be ruling because of this. You cant vote to blatantly keep a group of people from equality because they are disfavored. So if you change rules of marriage to reflect that state interest you claim you can keep marriage the way it is... But even then it may be challenges by families with children due to equality in civil support. If kids are present a civil marriage license should be permitted.
I'm willing to bet that whoever held up that sign was a pro SSM plant attempting to make NOM look bad. I certainly wouldn't put that past gay activists given their recent antics.
Dear Timmah, thank you for being civil in your expression of dissent. It's a shame that the majority of SSM supporters who attended these rallies were not nearly as civil-minded.
@ConservativeNY: I saw an interview done with that man, Larry. He was obviously a concerned citizen, and was not a plant. He had a genuine concern for the people he saw as living in sin. Although I adamantly disagree with his ideas, both that of killing gay people and the notion that gay people and marriage equality are bad for the country, Larry was a civil demonstrator. His sign, however, was uncalled for and terrible. No gay person would think about doing such an offensive thing!
Even if he wasn't a plant, his sign hardly represents what NOM stands for. Saying that it is is misleading and decietful to say the least. And gay people not only have thought of doing offensive things, they have done offensive things at these protest rallies like storming the podium, shaking bottles with rocks in them, threatening to kidnap a child. Such antics only strengthens NOM's cause because the last thing most people want is that kind of hostility toward traditional family values being adopted by the government.
Let's just agree that both sides of the debate have their immature extremists among their supporters. The guy with the offensive sign represents a tiny fraction of anti-SSM enthusiasts; just as the guy who threatened to kidnap a child does not represent the majority of gay rights supporters.
conservaNY,
let's see if I use NOM's line things work out the way NOM intended:
"ConservativeNY, I come here in love to communicate you are a bigot and homophobe."
Does it work?
btw,
Why don't you ask Matthew Shepheard's mother what effect signs like these might have.
or, here's one better: name ONE person in history who was brutally murdered by a homosexual because they were str8.
The Shephard story goes both ways. Everyone has heard of Matthew Shepard, but what about the lesser ballyhooed, but equally human, Jason Shephard?
Any Google search on the name “Matthew Shepard” turns up hundreds of thousands of stories written in the ten years since Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered, reportedly, because he was gay. His murder brought national as well as international attention to the issue of hate crime legislation at the state and federal levels.
A story you may not have heard is the case of Jason Shephard, nearly identical in age to Matthew, but who was brutally murdered by a gay man after fighting off his sexual advances. This Shephard is a virtual unknown, having received little, if any coverage in the national media.
Jason was studying to be a teacher. He was also an athlete, a runner. Taking a semester off to earn money, he took a job interning for Daktronics Inc., a sound equipment company. His dad said he was excited about the new job and hoped to do well. He had good friends, had no interest in drugs, and as testified in court, had no interest in having sex with other men.
On a three day business trip to Philadelphia, his employer, William Smithson, slipped date rape drug GHB into Jason’s food during a dinner and tried to rape him. Prosecutors said during the trial that 43-year-old William Smithson, frequently had gay sex parties featuring methamphetamine and GHB, and had developed a fatal attraction to Jason.
When Jason, even in his drugged state, rebuffed the attempted rape, Smithson brutally strangled him. As testified in court, Smithson continued his strangulation hold for more than two minutes after Jason’s body quit struggling and lost consciousness to ensure his death. Tipped off by one of Smithson’s former lovers, police found Jason Shephard’s nude body, bound in belts and wrapped in sheets a few days later in Smithson’s basement which also contained a mirrored ceiling, couch and video equipment.
The 40-year-old Smithson was arrested and charged with first-, second- and third-degree murder, attempted rape, abuse of a corpse, aggravated assault, unauthorized administration of an intoxicant and tampering with evidence. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Both Matthew Shepard and Jason Shephard were brutally murdered. One was gay, murdered by straight men, the other was straight, murdered by a gay man. Both sets of murderers received life in prison, without parole, both got what they deserved, regardless of race, color or sexual orientation.
Violence is violence, and ought to be condemned wherever it's found. What I find interesting is the universal condemnation of violence of all sorts by NOM and other organizations in the pro-marriage movement, but when it came to the actual threats and violence--- the shake down of little old ladies, anthrax scares? arson?, intimidation, destruction of property etc, especially in the wake of proposition 8, the pro-lgbt groups were full of crickets.
Good point, TC. The murder of Matt Shepard gets more media coverage than the crimes of Jeffery Dahmer, Arthur Gary Bishop, or John Wayne Gacy - all homosexual serial killers.
@TC Matthews:
That's exactly how I feel about this whole mess. Vote the way we want you to or DIE!!!!!
It's ridiculous how obsessed people on both sides have become with clawing each others eyes out over this whole thing, when really, they should be working together to reach a solution.
But as long as these insane fanatics continue to harass peaceful NOM rallies, I will not support their cause in any way.
"Good point, TC. The murder of Matt Shepard gets more media coverage than the crimes of Jeffery Dahmer, Arthur Gary Bishop, or John Wayne Gacy - all homosexual serial killers."
True, but to be fair, there's a huge difference between attacking someone based on their sexual orientation, and a gay person committing assault, rape, and/or murder for another reason. The guys you mentioned weren't "straight bashers" or anything like that; they were just psychopathic serial murderers who just happened to be gay.
However, even that may not necessarily be true. There have been many claims that child molesters who favor boys are usually otherwise heterosexual, but I honestly have no idea whether that's true or not.
my grand-son lives in Sweden where he teaches english. the society there is very pro-gay, and it has the highest suicide rate in the world. the "men" there go out of their way to look pretty like the women. the socialist government there even gives tax breaks to gay married parents who would like to adopt. unless we support NOM and FIGHT BACK NOW this same fate could befall us. oh Lord, please help us!
This is only one example of what can happen to society If we don't put a stop to SSM. No, the homosexual agenda must stop when it attacks the sanctity of marriage.
All NOM members are "immature extremists." They are so selfish that they can't live and let live. No one has yet to prove how my gay marraige would directly harm their straight one. NOM is nothing but a bunch of hateful hypocrites. If NOM represents Christianity, I want no part of it.
Live and let live? Hateful hypocrites? They're not the ones bullying and intimidating people who disagree with them. They hold peaceful rallies, they've made it perfectly clear that they do NOT tolerate or support threats of violence against the LGBT community, and they have yet to break a single law in doing so. How does the so-called "Equal rights" movement respond? By threatening to kidnap someone's kid.
No Annie, we are not selfish, we want to protect a child's right to a mom and and dad. We believe in the sanctity of marriage and essential for responsible procreation. We believe in strengthening families and the institution of marriage. You see, marriage is much more than to used as a tool for financial gain.
Wait a minute. The comments about Matthew Shepard show how conservatives are clearly missing an understanding of "hate" crimes. The men who killed Matthew Shepard did so because of his sexual identity. All the other examples are psychopathic murders. There is a big difference.
Also, I would like you all to think carefully about how this protest stuff is going down:
If you follow the history of how religious ideologies have treated gay people, you would clearly see that there is a long trend of attacking us. We have been killed, jailed, falsely arrested, shamed, shunned, had our rights taken away, and are now being denied equal protection under the law. There is a reason for anger in the gay community. You all have brought on a battle. This battle goes back hundreds of years. You always throw the first stone.
We have just succeed in striking down a sodomy law that was still on the books - in 2010!!! And there are politicians in the US fighting to make being gay a crime. Isn't it bad enough that there are countries that will put you to death for being gay.
You do not behave in a godly fashion when you constantly condemn your brother. We are Christians too!!!
I'm against thought crimes. I think an action should be punished, not a thought.
I'm just going to say, that the GLBT community needs no use for lies and fear tactics. You guys are the ones who claim that we're trying to break apart the family structure and civilization. You guys are the ones who paint us as less than human. You may be fighting for your dinner, but we're fighting for our lives. This isn't a game for us, this is about our very rights and comforts.
All we want is to be able to live in peace with out people screaming at us that we're going to hell because of whom we love. All I want is to be able to marry my partner, have her gain citizenship, and live in a house together with out the risk of being evicted for being gay or denied a job for loving her. All I want is to raise a child with my gorgeous girlfriend, and teach that child the beauty that world has to offer. Push her on the swing in the back yard, build her a tree house, and play games with her. I want my future child to become a secure, well adjusted woman not having to worry about being discriminated against because her mothers are gay. But... you people are the people who are blocking me from that dream. You're trying to deny me from that happiness of seeing my future daughter walk up to the stage to get her diploma. Or seeing her laugh, or holding and comforting her when she cries. As I said, this isn't a game for us... this is about respect and the ability to live in peace as the Constitution has promised us. But so far we can't get married in most states, it would be hell to get my girlfriend into the country to live here long enough to gain citizenship, I run the risk of being fired for being who I am, and I run the risk EVERY single day for my mom to kick me out of the house for being gay. I can't introduce my girlfriend to either of my parents. My dad doesn't support me, and he stopped calling and sending gifts to me after he found out I was gay. He stopped offering to help me pay for college as well. My mom stopped helping me pay for it as well. The only things I don't pay for is electricity and water in my house. I'm only 18 and I earn only $8.50 and have to pay for all of my car expenses, tuition, books, food, clothes, and everything else I need to get by. From the stress my grades had dropped in my senior year from running two clubs on top of working 38 hours a week to be able to try to pay for college.
You think you're humane? Think of what your messages have been doing to the average GLBT... even today some of us wind up homeless, raped, beaten up, killed.... ect. But, you wouldn't care about that.... after all, we're just dirty little homos out to rape your children and destroy the sanctity of marriage.
"I'm only 18 and I earn only $8.50 and have to pay for all of my car expenses, tuition, books, food, clothes, and everything else I need to get by. From the stress my grades had dropped in my senior year from running two clubs on top of working 38 hours a week to be able to try to pay for college. "
I paid for my own college and I'm not rich or gay. That's not abuse, that's good parenting. It's called teaching your kids responsibility, and it has nothing to do with raping or murdering people. Let's not get whiny.
TC...
I really hope that you only read that section of her story because if you really think parents that essentially abandon their child because of their sexual orientation are showing "good parenting" then I hope to God that your kids are taken away from you or that you are sterile and never have any,
Maybe all parents should do the same thing? or how about when the child has downs syndrom or some physical disability, should we go back to abandoning or rather killing them too? You are aware that it was the devil in these people and religious groups who condoned the killing of them so they must have been right just like you eh?
NOM is a group the is entirely focused on witholding rights from another group of people as opposed to using your resources and time to create real helpful change in the world, God tells us not to judge others
Matthew 7:3 "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"
after all of you have dealt with the issues in your own lives you can start to concern yourself with others
Steven, I'm simply pointing out that the only evidence given that wasn't anecdotal is perfectly normal behavior for parents of an adult. Lee claims it's because she is gay, and obviously feels put upon by her parents, but there is nothing wrong with paying your way through school instead of waving around for a handout.
It's easy to see yourself as a victim. Just because some people do bad things doesn't mean all people do. This whole idea that you can imperiously look into the mind of another human being and judge what is there is ridiculous unless there are actions that show the suppositions to be correct. SSM supporters spout this "poor me" attitude and lay out condemnation of anyone who disagrees with them as bigots, intimating that all dissent is the cause of violence against fellow human beings, when there is no evidence that this is the case. You can cry hurt feelings all you want, but there is no monopoly on hurt feelings by the LGBT community. It's a blatant falsehood to claim that anyone who disagrees with you advocates violence against you.
Let your ideas stand on their own merit, without excuse or apology.
Well I think we can all agree there is nothing wrong (and actually rather commendable) with paying your own way through school to say that people who are gay/lesbian are not victimized and suffer undue hardship and discrimination would be hard to swallow. There are still currently laws on the books around the world that people who are gay (not if they act on these feelings) are to be put to death, in north America similar laws have been around until very recently, is any act against a gay person or hardship that they suffer because of discrimination? no, so some people cry wolf too often? yes, but is denying and trying to take away marriage rights discrimination? ABSOLUTELY
I watched a video of one of NOMs speakers at a rally talking about how tea partiers need to put down their tea and take action because God is clearly angry and punishing America and that is why the economy is bad and all the bad things going on in the US are caused by the breakdown of family (Im oversimplifying but that was essentially it) but that fails to take into account that the US although it wants to be, it is not the centre of the universe and other countries that have legalized SSM like Canada (where I live) are doing MUCH better than the US, we have lower unemployment, lower poverty, a thriving economy, and a pretty darn good all around country, in addition, the sky has not fallen, religious attendance has maintained (and increased in past couple years) so it would appear God is not smiting us for SSM, now do I think SSM has anything to do with any of those issues? not a bit!
But this leads me to my point, you say let your ideas stand on their own merit, without excuse or apology, but I have yet to hear a single argument against SSM aside from quoting the Bible. Any legitimate study shows benefits and the various countries including extreme Catholic nations like Italy and recently Argentina have shown us that SSM has no negative consequences on the nation. So beyond hate and bigotry I really dont know what argument is left? So for the sake of my curiosity.... why is it that you are against SSM???
"we can all agree there is nothing wrong (and actually rather commendable) with paying your own way through school to say that people who are gay/lesbian are not victimized and suffer undue hardship and discrimination would be hard to swallow. "
I have not said that life is not hard for people. Life is hard for everyone, for a variety of reasons. Some people are discriminated against, and wrongly so. Others are held down because of the color of their skin. Others are disadvantaged because of extreme poverty. I was not defending these wrongs as right. I am merely pointing out that Lee's description of personal suffering at the hands of bigotous parents is somewhat subjective. She's intimating that were her parents not bigots, they would treat her with an open purse. Perhaps that really is the case, however, I don't think you can take her story and say that her parents are acting in a way that is detrimental to her simply because of their beliefs. There are lots of reasons to cut apron strings from your children. The fact that she sees this as evidence that they've rejected her because of her lifestyle and that other SSM supporters don't even question their motivation only reinforces the point I made earlier that you can't look into the mind of an intelligent being and adequately see what is there in order to judge. Already in the minds of SSM supporters, Lee's poor parents have been tried, convicted and sentenced to a bigotous label, all on a supposition.
"is any act against a gay person or hardship that they suffer because of discrimination? no, so some people cry wolf too often? yes, but is denying and trying to take away marriage rights discrimination? ABSOLUTELY"
You are human, I am human. We are all humans. As members of the human family we all have the right to marry. Any man can marry any woman if they are of age and not close relatives, regardless of sexual orientation. What you are asking for is not because you were denied something. Let's be honest. You are asking for something no one has ever been given, the right to marry indiscriminately, without regard to gender. That is a fundamental change in marriage law. You argue that men and women are interchangeable and that there are no differences between men and women, yet there are entire libraries of self help books dedicated to helping one sex identify with members of the other. Men and women are different. We think differently, we act differently. Our bodies are different. Our chemical makeup is different. Our very chromosomes are fundamentally different from each other, yet your theory that men and women are exactly the same is something no one is allowed to disagree with or they are immediately labeled as murderous bigots and homophobes by SSM supporters. That is hardly an answer for the differences between the sexes. Point one: Men and women are different.
Point two: Marriage serves a purpose in society that SSM does not provide, namely the union of the sexes and the opportunity for responsible procreation.
Men and women, being different, parent differently, provide differently for their children in unique ways. Each sex provides a unique way of approaching parenthood, with unique mother and father relationships that are fundamentally irreplaceable.
There are many, many reasons to support the freedom of unique individuals to make free choices as they will, but there are also valid reasons to support and protect marriage as vital to raising healthy, well adjusted children, society's future. There will be no understanding of the real issues as long as supporters of SSM continue to blindly dismiss all dissent from their untested dogma as violent bigotry.
There is ample evidence showing what happens to society when debauchery and sin take the place of morality. The fall of Rome for starters. History has a way of repeating itself. America may be on the same trajectory, we must tell the homosexual movement, they have gone to far when they set out to attack marriage and families. That is why I support NOM and will continue to do so with every pay check.
There are 10 countries that have redefined marriage to mean any 2 people.
Italy isn't one of them. Italy doesn't recognize any same sex union.
Anna, apologies, you are correct I meant to write Spain when I was refering to predominately Catholic countries
I'm from Italy.
We correctly don't recognize any same sex union.
The people has an interest in not recognizing same sex unions.
The interest is clear: do not promote anti-family behavior.
Family is the union of a man and a woman.
It's the foundation of any civil society.
You want freedom? Equality? Civil rights? Do not put family at risk, under the power of the government.
Even more important, do not put the family under the power of governments who want to destroy it.
Women and men are different. So, the union of a man and a woman is different from the union of two people of the same sex, for a number of reason, the most important of all is that children have the right to be raised by a father and mother.
Kids without their father or their mother do suffer, and their ability to grow as happy citizens is hardly jeopardized.