LGBTQ news and entertainment
Before the ruling is even handed down, the National Organization for Marriage filed an emergency request for stay in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Before you could even blink, the Ninth Circuit refused the stay with a one sentence decision. See below.
“And stay out!!!”
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| Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum |
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum has filed a brief urging U.S. District Judge Michael McShane to reject the National Organization for Marriage’s attempts to intervene in a case challenging the state’s ban on gay marriage.
Seen as some kind of delaying tactic, although NOM had months to file it’s intentions, the folks at NOM didn’t file papers until a week before the initial hearings when it realized there were no parties defending the anti-gay law.
The Oregonian reports:
NOM filed a motion to intervene in the case less than 48 hours before McShane held oral arguments on April 23 on why the parties in the case believe that Oregon’s prohibition on same-sex marriage violates federal constitutional protections.
At the time, John Eastman, NOM’s chairman and attorney, said his group wanted to intervene to to represent voters who approved the 2004 state constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman. He said the intervention request came as late as it did because the extent of Rosenblum’s legal reasoning wasn’t made clear until mid-March and it took his group time to round up Oregon NOM members who could serve as parties in the case.
Rosenblum scoffed at that reasoning, noting that she held a Feb. 20 press conference announcing that she would not defend Oregon’s ban on gay marriage. She noted that NOM also knew of her decision since it issued a press release condemning her.
[snip]
Rosenblum also said that “NOM and its members have no right to substitute their voice or their judgment for that of the Attorney General simply because they disagree with the chief law officer’s conclusions.”
NOM has until Friday to respond to Rosenblum. Judge McShane set a date of May 14 to hear oral arguments regarding NOM’s motion.
You can read Rosenblum’s brief below.
In an interview with Huffington Post, rabid anti-gay crusader (and co-founder of the National Organization for Marriage) Maggie Gallagher says she feels “more freedom” having stepped away from fighting against marriage equality:
I went into this fight, in good conscience, because I believed it mattered and that I had something to contribute. I did not promise myself I would win. I promised myself I would do everything I could see, to do this good, to fight for marriage as a universal human institution with certain goods and goals. I feel a great deal of contentment about that.
I can see some things I might have done differently, but basically I was at post. One cannot do anything better with one’s life than stand up for what you deeply believe in, i.e, to speak truth, whether in power or to power.
I have a lot more freedom now to figure out what I want to do with the next 20 years of my life.
Gallagher also acknowledges the fight over marriage equality is all but over at this point saying, “We are now in the ‘gay marriage in all 50 states’ phase whether we like it or not.”
Brian Brown, NOM president, crying as he watches his very reason for being (and earning a living) slip away.
Via press release :
“In the end, this is simply an act of cowardice, with these officials bending to the false narrative of ‘inevitability’ projected by the radicals determined to impose marriage redefinition nationwide.”
Today’s whine is due to the state of Nevada deciding, due to a recent ruling in the Ninth Circuit of Appeals, to not defend the state’s ban on marriage equality.
Forward, kids. Forward.
Brian Brown, of the hate group National Organization for Marriage, becomes almost belligerent when he jumps in to defend anti-gay marriage law on UP with Steve Kornacki this weekend.
After the rest of the panel speak calmly and cite current poll numbers, note Brian’s clear shift in energy as he tries to beat back the facts he’s been presented with. Also, his use of poll tested “catch phrases” like “redefine traditional marriage” instead of same-sex marriage or gay marriage. How many buzz words can you count here?
The rest of the panel do a great job of presenting the facts as they are regarding the forward trend of marriage equality.
It was interesting to see Brian in such unfamiliar territory. I’m betting we won’t see him again on MSNBC any time soon. BUT I think this is important to watch because his tone and demeanor are very telling in how he addresses the issue.
On a side note – and I’m not being snarky here – but I can’t help but note how bloated and heavy Brian Brown seems compared to the rest of the panel. And note his physicality – shoulders hunched up, downward tilt of his mouth… I’m not calling him “fat” – but he appears unhealthy. When you couple his angst and belligerence with his weight and fitness, I wonder if having such negative messaging to deliver is a factor?
Just thinking out loud.
Note this anti-gay meme by the National Organization for Marriage’s “think tank” releases anti-gay meme.
As my Facebook friend Scott Wooledge points out, it has 5 words and 2 of them are misspelled.
#HeckuvaJobNOM
Due on November 15th, NOM released their requested financial documents, per court order, late last night. Federal law requires organizations to publicly release their 990s the same day an in-person request is made, which the Human Rights Campaign had done on two previous occasions.
The HRC has issued a statement on the financial documents that show the vast bulk of funding comes from only 3 donors.
Just three donors accounted for roughly two thirds of the organization’s funding – further evidence that everyday Americans have little interest in furthering NOM’s extremist agenda.
According to the 990 form supplied by the National Organization for Marriage Education Fund, NOM’s 501(c)(3) charitable education arm, the Education Fund loaned NOM nearly $1.7 million. This calls into question whether the Education Fund’s loans allowed NOM to engage in electoral or excessive lobbying activity that violates the Education Fund’s tax exempt status.
“It’s becoming increasingly difficult to look at the so-called National Organization for Marriage as a viable entity,” said Fred Sainz, HRC Vice President of Communications. “The organization draws its funds from just a few mega-donors, and it boasts a losing electoral track record over the past few years that reflects how increasingly out-of-step NOM’s anti-LGBT agenda is with the values of the average American voter.”
Three mega-donors make up the huge majority of money raised?
“Grass roots organization” my butt…
The anti-gay, anti-equal rights National Organization for Marriage and its affiliated “Education Fund” combined to spend more than $16.5 million in 2012, according to the groups’ newly released tax filings. More than $6 million of this money went to fight against same-sex marriage in seven states — six of which now have marriage equality — as well as numerous other failed political efforts.
While the NOM Education Fund (its 501(c)(3) arm) ended the year with about $1.6 million in the bank, NOM’s main 501(c)(4) account ended 2012 more than $2.7 million in debt.
A large portion of the money went to fund the failed campaigns in Minnnesota, Washington, Maine, and Maryland. NOM also gave $425K to fund the successful constitutional ban in North Carolina.
Despite the seven-figure deficit, NOM increased the salaries of its key employees from 2011 to 2012.
More at Talking Points Memo
The virulently anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is yet again illegally withholding key financial tax documents from the public, HRC reports:
Federal law requires organizations to publicly release their 990s the same day an in-person request is made. As a result, HRC has filed a complaint with the IRS in order to compel NOM to abide by the law.
“NOM’s inability to meet one of the most basic accounting standards for any organization makes you wonder what exactly is going on – are they simply demonstrating the same flagrant disregard they have for numerous state campaign finance laws, or is there something in these documents that reflects even more poorly on the organization and their failed work?” said Fred Sainz, HRC Vice President of Communications. “Brian Brown apparently had enough time on Friday to pull together a fundraising email feigning outrage at the marriage equality victory in Hawaii, but didn’t have time to ensure his organization was running in accordance with the law. NOM should do the right thing and immediately release these financial documents that the public has a right to see.”
[snip]
According to NOM’s 2011 990s, obtained by HRC last year, the anti-LGBT organization raised only $6.2 million, a precipitous drop from the $9.1 million it raised in 2010. The documents also revealed that nearly 75 percent of NOM’s fundraising came from just two deep-pocketed donors.
What are they hiding this year?
(via Towleroad)
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| NOM’s Brian Brown is RILLY RILLY mad about ENDA |
Writing on the National Organization for Marriage (which always strikes me as ironic since they are mainly AGAINST certain people getting married), Brian Brown writes about his deep disappointment that the US Senate passed ENDA this week trying to protect the gays from discrimination at work:
“We are very disappointed by the Senate’s passage of this bill. While protecting people against discrimination is a very important goal, this legislation is problematic because of its broad and unclear definitions. Concepts like ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ are too vague to be a basis for such a law which could lead to individuals facing reprisals or even criminal action simply for expressing their values in the workplace.
“We are grateful for Speaker Boehner’s leadership in the House on this issue. He understands the kinds of frivolous lawsuits and bullying through litigation that could come about as the result of such a measure.”
“Frivolous lawsuits?” I guess, if keeping your job is considered “frivolous.”
Speaking of keeping your job, Brian – it looks like yours may be coming to an end with all these states passing marriage equality all over the place…