THE MONEY MAN

Gay-Marriage Foes Face Money Woes, But NOM’s Brian Brown Is Sitting Pretty With $500,000-Plus Salary

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nom_logo_brian_brownFar be it from us to relish the financial woes of our enemies, but it appears the campaign to stop same-sex marriage is running out of money, even as one of it’s main proponents takes in a cushy mid-six-figure salary.

Oh who are we kidding–we eat this stuff up!

Reuters reports that ProtectMarriage.com, which is defending Prop 8 in the Supreme Court, reported a $2 million shortfall in 2011, the third year in a row it was in the red. The group claims it’s made up its 2011 deficit and that donations in 2012 were down only 3%.

…But it is still $700,000 short in fundraising for its Supreme Court costs, according to a ProtectMarriage.com attorney, Andrew Pugno. That message has gone out to donors, with some urgency, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments in March in its first thorough review of same-sex marriage.

“Unless the pace of donations starts to pick up right away, we could soon be forced over a financial cliff,” ProtectMarriage.com said in an email to donors earlier this month.

ProtectMarriage.com’s lead outside counsel, Charles Cooper, has not stopped work on the Supreme Court case, although he declined to comment on financial arrangements with clients.

Diminishing donations also means the anti-equality crowd has less to spend on state battles—like the ones they lost in Maryland, Minnesota, Maine and Washington State.

In Washington state, for instance, gay marriage opponents raised $2.8 million, compared with $12.6 million for gay marriage supporters. That’s a dramatic shift from the 2008 electoral battle over California’s Proposition 8, the state’s ban on gay marriage, when ProtectMarriage.com took in $40 million to nearly match its opponents, and went on to win.

With the coffers at Inequality ‘R’ Us dwindling, it’s a little surprising to discover that Brian Brown, the grand poobah over at the National Organization for Marriage, is making more than $500,000 a year—even as NOM reports a 25% drop in fundraising.

After considerable effort, former presidential candidate Fred Karger got a copy of NOM’s 2011 501(c)3 tax return and discovered that Brown made serious bank in 2011.

He was paid $230,000 by NOM’s political operation where he claimed to work a minimum of 40 hours per week, and another whopping $230,000 from NOM’s Educational Fund where he claimed to work another 40 hours per week. Add $47,000 in benefits and you have the “Half-Million Dollar Man.”

Hey, go nuts, Brian—give yourself a big fat raise. Hell, bankrupt the place! You deserve the best things in life.

To view NOM’s 2011 Educational Fund 501(c)3 Federal Tax Return, click here

To view NOM’s 2011 Political Organization 501(c)4 Federal Tax Return, click here


“When I went to the NOM Office a few days ago, the NOM staff literally ran away from me when I asked for a copy of their 501(c)3 tax return, which must be made available to the public,” said Fred Karger, founder of Rights Equal Rights and longtime NOM watchdog.
“One staffer leaving the office immediately ducked into the waiting elevator and wouldn’t respond to my request for the tax return. I then rang the office doorbell (their door is locked tight); another staffer came to the door, wouldn’t open it and yelled out, ‘it’s on our web site!’
While standing there in disbelief, a minute later another NOM staff member, probably coming back from lunch, saw me and ran into the NOM office slamming the door behind him.”
NOM is on the losing end of its battle to stop gay marriage and Brian Brown and Maggie Gallagher are just working now for all the money they’re pulling in. “It’s pure greed, plain and simple,” added Karger. “They are living the good life of the ‘One Percent’ while claiming to work 80 hours a week to destroy the lives of others.”