There is now The National Organization For Marriage in the mix to further muddy the waters in order to achieve the goal of preventing same-sex marriages.
Part of its avowed purpose is the following:
The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to protect marriage and the faith communities that sustain it.
Founded in 2007 in response to the growing need for an organized opposition to same-sex marriage in state legislatures, NOM serves as a national resource for marriage-related initiatives at the state and local level. For decades, pro-family organizations have educated the public about the importance of marriage and the family, but have lacked the organized, national presence needed to impact state and local politics in a coordinated and sustained fashion. NOM seeks to fill that void, organizing as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, giving it the flexibility to lobby and support marriage initiatives across the nation.
Consistent with its 501(c)(4) nonprofit status, NOM works to develop political messaging, build its national grassroots email database of voters, and provide political intelligence and donor infrastructure on the state level, with a focus on developing new strategies for increasing influence in the Northeast and West Coast, where marriage is most under threat.
Their smarmy, distorted, discriminatory, fear-mongering and sanctimonious advertising can be seen in the following brief video.
In case one's eyes start tearing up over the above video, please see the following video which shows that the above video was undoubtedly rehearsed and made by actors who can be seen rehearsing their scripted lines in the following video.
If the rehearsals are real --- we assume they are --- it sort of takes the thunder (literally) out of the argument that same-sex couples are forcing their agenda on religious institutions, because it begs the question, why couldn't they just find non actors to say it? That's particularly evident when you watch different performers speak the same lines.
In a statement, HRC spokesman Brad Luna says, “What’s next for the National Organization for Marriage? Will they hire legendary infomercial pitchman Ron Popeil to hawk their phony agenda? This ad is full of outrageous falsehoods—and they don’t even come out of the mouths of real people.”
[For the full article, see here.]
We should make no mistake: even though the video for the National Organization For Marriage is undoubtedly contrived, many people have neither the necessary critical thinking skills nor the sensitivity to distinguish truth from fiction. As Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, said: No matter how big the lie, if it's repeated often enough people will come to believe it. Unfortunately, he was correct in this assessment!
My guess is that's what groups like the National Organization For Marriage is counting on to have its exclusionary agenda become institutionalized in the United States.
Every person in the United States must decide whether some people will be treated like second class citizens or will be treated equally under the law! Each of us must decide whether or not the Bill of Rights applies to each and every United States citizen or not!
To deny Gay people (or any minority group for that matter) full equality plays right into the hands of such groups as the National Organization For Marriage, and all other religious and secular groups that seek to deny dignity and equal rights to Gay people.
As GLAAD stated in reference to the National Organization For Marriage video:
"The distorted, misleading claims of the National Organization for Marriage do one thing and one thing only – perpetuate a climate of hostility and fear that will put committed couples in harm's way," said GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano. "We stand in support of One Iowa and our partners on the ground and urge our community to speak out against these divisive attacks."
GLAAD is working with and calling on national and local media in states where the ad is schedule to run including New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire to expose the misinformation in these ads in order to bring attention to the real intent of the National Organization for Marriage – to exclude same-sex couples and their families from the responsibilities and protections of marriage.
[See here.]
We can't afford to ignore the animus that lies behind such groups as The National Organization For Marriage, and others that eagerly support it or adhere to their discriminatory values, and their single-minded attempts to deny equal civil rights to Gay people.
If anything should catalyze and motivate meaningful activism against those groups that would deny dignity and equal rights to Gay people, the denial of dignity and equality to Gay couples as seen in the video of the National Organization For Marriage should be that catalyst and motivator!
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