Brian Brown reveals NOM's anti-gay game of divide and conquer

Several of my blogging compadres were on the scene as the National Organization for Marriage teamed up with NY legislator Ruben Diaz in a march to supposedly "save marriage" from us "evil lgbts."

But based on what NOM president, Brian Brown, said at the rally, folks need to ask just who is evil - Lgbts wanting to be able to declare love for each other legally and protect the interest of said loved ones by marriage or someone (Brian Brown) who will tell lies in the name of God, like in the video clip below:




Starting at 2:55, he said the following:

" . . . kids as young as kindergarten are taught in Massachusetts that their parents are bigots because they believe marriage is the union of a man and a woman."

Brown is referring to NOM's lie, which has been refuted time and time again (most completely by Politifact), that "learning about gay marriage" is a part of kindergarten school curriculum in Massachusetts - a state that legalized gay marriage.

But with his statement, Brian took the lie to a level lower than the belly of a snake. 

Brown's statement is not only a lie but a blatantly ugly lie. But this lie perfectly captures NOM's game plan - intentionally playing a nasty zero sum game by creating a fictional competition between same-sex households and heterosexual households.

I have to wonder why an organization who is supposedly standing up for a "moral issue" such as marriage does so by pitting people against one another.

In Maryland, NOM played the African-American and lgbt communities against one another.

At this rally in New York, it played the Hispanic and lgbt community against one another.

Generally, it's playing every other state against Massachusetts as it seeks to paint that state as an example of the so-called "rabid gay agenda" taking over.

And now we see NOM playing same-sex couples against heterosexual couples.

Is setting people against one another a tenet of morality?

Is the exploitation of ethnic, cultural, and religious differences a tenet of being "pro-family?" 

Is repeating ludicrously outrageous lies designed to scare people about the well-being of their children a way to properly preserve tradition?

Whatever the case may be, Brown has proven something that I have always known:


In the history of the world, more harm has been done by people claiming to act in God's best interest than any supposed "homosexual agenda" conjured up from the most fevered of imaginations.


Don't like what Brown said? Complain to Politifact at truthometer@politifact.com

Hat tip to Joe.My.God. 

NOM knows that it lied in the New York ad and does not care

As far as I know, NOM has YET to respond to the charges that it made inaccurate claims with its commercial against marriage equality in New York.

Instead NOM is attempting a cynical ploy of shifting the argument.

A columnist from the site Queerty made a good point in a piece (although the title raises eyebrows and the piece itself is a bit more graphic I would have liked) when he called out NOM for lying about Massachusetts school curriculum but brought up the fact that children should know about being lgbt:

I for one certainly want tons of school children to learn that it’s OK to be gay, that people of the same sex should be allowed to legally marry each other, and that anyone can kiss a person of the same sex without feeling like a freak.

As I said before, the Queerty piece got graphic on several occasions. And this caught the eye of NOM's blog:

NOM’s TV ad in New York on the consequences of gay marriage produced this response from a well-known Queerty.com blogger, who boasts openly that the NOM ad’s claim that gay marriage will be taught in public schools is clearly true.

“In response [to NOM’s ad] we say, 'NOOO! We’re not gonna make kids learn about homosexuality, we swear! It’s not like we’re trying to recruit your children or anything.' But let’s face it—that’s a lie.”

He goes on to say “We want educators to teach future generations of children to accept queer sexuality. In fact, our very future depends on it.”

His very future?

The NOM blog goes on to highlight some of the most graphic parts of the Queerty piece as a way to incite its supporters.

This sort of thing is typical of the entire organization. Allow me to break it down:

1. NOM puts out an ad which feature an already debunked claim about gay marriage and school curriculum in Massachusetts, amongst other lies

2. Several people point these lies out in various manners.

3. Rather than address the accusations that it lied in the ad, NOM instead highlights the most graphic thing written about the ad as a way to generalize about marriage equality and by extension, those support marriage equality.

While the Queerty piece made good points, I don't necessarily share its need to get graphic nor do I share the outright way the piece seems to go appeal to the jugular rather than to sound judgement. Furthermore, those things the piece criticizes, i.e. breaking down the argument of marriage equality to that of simple love and fairness, are some of the very things marriage equality is about.

But having said my piece about that,  NOM's ad is still a distortion. And the organization has still yet to respond to these charges - which has not only been brought out by me, but various other sources.

And furthermore, the way NOM responded - choosing to highlight one not necessarily polite response to the ad, rather than address the accusations that the ad itself is wrong -  proves that not only NOM knows that the ad is a lie, but also it doesn't care.

As long as the ad scares enough people to be against marriage equality, then the ends justify the means.