The Bogus Claims of Victimization Made By NOM & Co.

With the U.S. Supreme Court about to hear argument later this month in Doe. v. Reed, the concerted effort by the Referendum 71 groups to block Washington’s longstanding disclosure rules on ballot-measures, the facts regarding the diversion strategy are now at last squarely in the public eye. Last week, the nation’s leading gay legal organizations filed a powerful brief methodically refuting the bogus and “cynical” claims of victimhood and intimidation. The brief filed by Lambda Legal, GLAD, and others notes that, “When subjecting a minority group to political attack, a common tactic is to claim that the minority itself is the aggressor from whom protection is required.” The real harms in this latest human rights struggle are the injuries, indignities, and inequality inflicted on committed same-sex couples denied the freedom to marry and the protections, responsibilities, and rich meaning marriage brings to families.