It’s not just Vermont residents on the receiving end of robo-calls, but folks all over New England, where marriage equality is finally moving forward. Who’s behind the calls? The National Organization for Marriage, branded a “front group” for the Mormon Church. None of this is illegal; obnoxious, maybe, but even the robo-calls fooling with loaded question into polling a certain way aren’t violating the law. But likely, funneling money through NOM allows out-of-state cash to flow into the region with ease. And they’re reaching people in high places: In Rhode Island, Gov. Donald Carcieri and his wife Sue just joined the state chapter.
The Carcieris are taking part in NOM’s ad campaign aimed at scaring folks into thinking same-sex marriage will be the death of society. But rather than admit to being a homophobe, the governor says he’s a “traditionalist,” prefers children to be raised in mom-and-dad homes, and wants the issue of gay marriage to be decided by voters, not the courts or elected officials. “In Massachusetts it was the court. In Vermont it was the legislature. I believe it should be done with citizens. Let them decide,” Carcieri says. (Who bets Carcieri would opt to let the courts decide things if a voter-approved pro-same-sex marriage effort proved successful in Rhode Island?)
So what type of tactics is NOM engaging in? Besides the robo-calls, there’s fear mongering, half-truths, and our favorite: outright lies.
In this 60-second spot (above) from the organization, you’ll hear the same rhetoric fed to California voters that helped push Prop 8 through. The Human Rights Campaign says NOM’s spot “is set to run eight times per day in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and California.”
Amusingly, they also found a series of audition videos for actors hoping to get paid to push NOM’s lies. They’re pretty painful — just like NOM’s official marriage: that equal rights for gay men and women negatively impact anyone.
Kudos to HRC for fronting EndtheLies.org, the homepage for battling misleading “truthiness” from anti-marriage equality zealots.
JPinWeHo
I find it particularly offensive that they describe their efforts as a “rainbow” coalition!
burger king
this thing is totally ridiculous
I don’t need or want to “get married”
I need my boyfriend and I to have the same rights as a married couple, call it whatever you want.
I think we’ll lose this fight because it has been decided somewhere along the way that it’s MARRIAGE or nothing.
patrick
I read an article that the National Organization for Marriage is a Mormon Church funded operation. Yet another reason to strip the tax exempt status of the Mormon “church”. They need to decide whether to be a religion or a political organization. Funny how they don’t attack the real threat to marriage, A 57% divorce rate among straight married couples.
Alec
I have little doubt that the governor is not a “homophone.” But I’ll not wade into those waters until I’ve properly weighed your post. 🙂
That being said, now I understand: What they want is direct democracy! For everything! All the time! No? Oh, just on gay rights. The legislature is fine for everything else, but you know….can’t trust courts or elected officials with gays.
John K.
Burger King, we’ve already won, so please spare us. You don’t have to get married if you don’t want to, but I want to.
strumpetwindsock
I think they should have let that doctor talk a bit more.
What did she mean? Does she think she should have the right to break her oath and refuse treatment or let people die?
They should have the guts to be honest and have them all say “I hate fags”.
I wanted to reach through my monitor and smack the lot of them.
osocubano
I noticed they use “I’m a California doctor” in the auditions…
does this mean that lady is not a doctor, but plays one on TV?
Alex
@Alec: Plus, we can’t have the legislator wasting time on something as silly as civil rights legislation when there is a terrible economic situation. Of course, many of the same folks oppose everything the legislature does do, but d
@osocubano: You didn’t see the tiny disclaimer that said “Stories actors are telling based on real incidents.”
“Some who advocate same-sex marriage want to take the issue far beyond same sex couples.”
Does that mean they’re okay with just marriage. If we promise to stop suing their churches, will they let us have marriage. Somehow I doubt that.
Seriously though, are American really going to buy this low-budget CGI lightning bit. “There’s a storm gathering.” Yawn. That said, there should be counter programming, not just in New England, but also in Iowa. This will come back up and this fight will very likely still be going on, even if it’s pushed back to 2014. We can’t rule out the possibility that the “surprise” victory in Vermont was due in part to the supreme court decision in Iowa. Every victory there (legislative, judicial, or popular) will give momentum to the movement.
Wade
Why do the straight people say they must “protect marriage”. Webster defines the word PROTECT as “to cover or shield from exposure, injury, or destruction”. I not sure gay marriage falls into any of those three categories. What are they so afraid of?
anon
patrick, you just said what THIS hetero female has been saying for YEARS.
the biggest threat to the institution of marriage is NOT gay marriage, it’s DIVORCE!
so many of our elected officials who oppose gay marriage have been married two or three times! they have mistresses! they have kids outside of their marriages! such moral hypocrites…
TANK
The closest that beast ever came to medical school was asking an intern for directions to chick-fil-a.
orpheus_lost
Twenty years ago it was ‘let those fag die from their disease’.
Ten years ago it was ‘no special rights for homosexuals’.
Five years ago it was ‘no civil unions for the gays’.
Now they’re saying that they just don’t want US to interfere with THEM?
Why the fuck should we care what the dirty homophobes want now that they’re on the run? They’ve rubbed our noses in the piss stain of their legal superiority for a generation and now I enjoy watching the stunned look of bewilderment wash over their normally smug faces as more and more people realize they’ve been lied to by these hate mongers.
I know that sounds harsh, and it is, but when you’ve seen loved ones die because these people didn’t want us to have ‘special rights’ you get like that.
Jennifer
Beasts make a horrible noise when they’re about to do. We have front row tickets to watch this PIG in its death throes. REJOICE!
BradK
Does seem a bit desperate, doesn’t it? LOL at those auditions though. “OK, rolling. Now smile, and look concerned but pious.”
I kept waiting for some cheesy Noah’s Ark reference to show up with pairs of obviously heterosexual animals trying to escape the coming “storm” of equality. And for a final shot, those gay penguins from the China zoo being thrown overboard for sodomy…
Michael
Nom nom nom.
Please tell me somebody has remixed this with It’s Raining Men!
greybat
I guess Show Business is full. These are the Showless. I’m only surprised the cast of “Sock Puppet Community Theater” didn’t audition!
CMYK
Oh, god, those auditions.
This is why they usually only let gay actors appear on television.
Aaron
The man in the commercial who claims his church has been unfairly punished by the government is telling YOU a lie.
In Ocean City, New Jersey a local Methodist church who owned a beach pavilion, lost their tax exemptions due to discrimination. The facility was NOT a church but a PUBLIC space used for dances, concerts, craft fairs and many other NON-RELIGIOUS uses. The church chose to discriminate and lost its tax exemptions but ONLY on that PUBLIC building.
Half-Lying = Lying
Nice try NOM 😉
tony the tiger
They should have included a goat limping along the background for added effect.
Danielle
@patrick:
actually Patrick the mormon church RARELY gets involved in potical matters. the church only got involved with this particular prop. because legally if a gay couple asked a church leader to marry them and the leader refused they could sue the church, this is just one of the many reasons why the church got involved. i’m not aware of any other times that the mormon church has gotten involved in political matters. just so ya know. 🙂
Chitown Kev
@Danielle:
the Mormon church also got involved in the marriage equality situation in Hawaii in the mid-90’s.
vernonvanderbilt
@Danielle: “legally if a gay couple asked a church leader to marry them and the leader refused they could sue the church”
What have you been smoking, and could you please share?
Chitown Kev
@vernonvanderbilt:
You want some of that shit? I sure don’t, that’s too whack for me.
vernonvanderbilt
@Chitown Kev: Never hurts to see how the other half lives (or thinks) on occasion. It helps one be secure in one’s own righteousness.
jason
I wonder how many of those “concerned” men have a stash of magazines with lesbian pictures under their beds. LOL.
Alec
@Danielle: hahahahhahaahahahha. You’re not aware of any other times the Mormon Church got involved in political matters?????
Good lord, what are you on? They take positions on everything. The state of Utah is an apparatus to serve the interests of the LDS. Which is why I can’t wait for the non-Mormon population to grow to the point where they’re a majority. Utah’s such a beautiful state; it is a shame it is wasted on Mormons. If the politics of Salt Lake City are any indication, they’re in for a rude awakening.
As for the nonsense about lawsuits against pastors, what are you smoking? An LDS pamphlet?
notice
@jason: hahahahah so true
Joe
Those damn Mormons! Lets make it legal to kill them! Wait, Missouri already did that? Really? That has never happened to us. Weird…
So, the LDS Church is a “front group” for NOM? Got evidence? Seriously, do you just like to blindly throw out accusations, or what? Oh yeah, … queerty.com. Never mind.
Joe
Hey queerty, maybe you should take your headline to heart and think about it for a little bit.
Nancy
I thought this article was insightful and then i scroll down to see soft porn at the bottom of the screen. Have some class people. Being gay does not mean you have to flaunt the porn. It just makes others that need to hear the real message of truth lose respect.