Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Brian Brown, NOM pouts over Obama's inauguration speech

Obama's speech yesterday is something else for Brown to cry about.
The National Organization for Marriage and its president, Brian Brown, recently released what I call a whiny statement voicing its anger over President Obama's support of marriage equality in his inauguration speech:

"Gay and lesbian people are already treated equally under the law," Brian Brown responded. "They have the same civil rights as anyone else; they have the right to live as they wish and love whom they choose. What they don’t have is the right to redefine marriage for all of society. In fact, six federal courts have rejected the idea that there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court in a summary decision in 1972. Furthermore, that vast majority of states have codified the commonsense view held for thousands of years that marriage is the union of a man and a woman. The President is profoundly wrong to imply that those who have acted to protect marriage have denied anyone's rights by doing so."

"A presidential inauguration should be a time for the nation to come together; instead President Obama chose to voice his support for a radical agenda advanced by some of his biggest campaign contributors to redefine marriage for everyone. Marriage brings our nation together. The concept of gay ‘marriage’ would have been totally alien to our founding fathers, and the protection and advancement of marriage between one man and one woman will immeasurably serve the common good of this country and further strengthen our Union. 

NOM wants to seem to be forever the victims. At no time did President Obama attack those who do not support marriage equality. Just like Tony Perkins and the FRC did yesterday, Brown and NOM falsely spins his inauguration speech to make it seem that he has declared war on those who oppose marriage equality. How ironic is it that NOM is angry at President Obama, seeing that the organization did all it could to get his opponent Mitt Romney elected.


This even included attempts (pitifully sad attempts at that) to undermine President Obama's support in the black community by astroturfing a fake organization of black ministers who urged black voters to stay home on election day.

We all know how that turned out.

As it is, lgbts do not have the same civil rights as other Americans. We can still be fired in 29 states simply for being gay and our families are not protected with the benefits which come with marriage. It's ridiculous that Brown continues to use that nonsensical talking point that giving us the right to marry would alter marriage for everyone.

One more thing - Brown is right. The idea of marriage equality would be totally alien to our founding fathers. But so would the idea of an African-American sitting in the White House as president.

So maybe worrying about what our founding fathers would think isn't such a good idea.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"They have the same civil rights as anyone else; they have the right to live as they wish and love whom they choose."

This is what gets me; Brian, if he's true to his words, sounds as if he's fine with gay couples living together. Yet if said gay couples were to get a marriage licenses, and the government recognizes the marriages, then the country would go to hell.

Incidentally, note that Brian didn't mention gay families, let alone that gay couples have children.

Anonymous said...

This is the thing that makes me wonder. Brown and his crew of bigots think the law is forever frozen, a static thing that once a ruling is pronounced it is law forever. But it doesn't work that way.

Sure, law builds on itself but it also looks at questions in different ways over time. Justices change, times change, public attitudes definitely change and so to the court changes.

In the bigots view, they want to stop the change in opinion that is happening.

BJ Jackson Lincoln said...

There are many things our Founding Fathers could never have thought possible but that should not be an issue.
You would think they would be happy that they can keep their jobs for another 4 years.
Obama has made so much history in such a short time. To include our LGBT history along side of other hard fought civil rights battles and made it understood that non of these battles are over are a sign of a true leader. What leader does not want his people to be healthy, happy, and equal?
NOM and the like will always be here but their voices are being drown out by the call for equality and freedom for all.
As long as I can be turned down for housing or a job, asked to leave a public space, and my marriage is not recognized, I do not have the same rights. As long as we are chased, beaten, burned out of our homes, and killed, we are not free.

Anonymous said...

Im also pretty sure that AK-47's and rocket launchers would be "alien" to our founding fathers, along with cars, airplanes, and microwave ovens.