Ed Whelan says that Judge Reinhardt must recuse himself from the case--not for showing overwhelming liberal bias, but because his wife consulted with the plaintiffs on whether or not they should bring the case. Details here.

Last week, a new group calling themselves “NOM World” began impersonating NOM on Twitter (be4marriage) and Facebook. They have mimicked the NOM logo (except with black and blue rings), have begun using the NOM twitter hashtag (#no4m) and claim: “We are working to get NOM’s message out to the world!”

Please understand that this group is not related to NOM, and is only attempting to confuse and mislead NOM’s followers and potential followers on Facebook and Twitter. They are openly in favor of same-sex marriage and accuse NOM of being a hate group.

It has come to our attention that NOM World has been sending misleading Twitter invitations to NOM followers. If you are contacted by this group, simply click the “Report for spam” button on the side of the page at Twitter or Facebook.

The fake “NOM World” logo is below. And if you have received spam communications from this group, or if you have doubts about the authenticity of any NOM communications, please leave a comment on this post.

WASHINGTON - The Southern Poverty Law Center (SLPC) today included NOM among “18 Anti-Gay Groups and Their Propaganda.”

Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage, reacts:

“This is an absurd distraction emanating from a once-great organization’s real mission---with all the actual hate groups out there, how can Southern Poverty Law Center stoop so low?” said Brown.  

While the current report stops short of labeling NOM a “hate group” at this time, many other social conservative groups are so-designated.  In a confusing move, the SLPC report lists 18 groups as “anti-gay” and suggests that  at least 13 will be designated hate groups this spring.

“This report is not an attack on NOM but on the majority of Americans who believe that to make a marriage you need a husband and wife," said Brown.  "It is also further proof of what NOM has been saying: today’s gay marriage movement is no longer about tolerance, live or let live—it’s about driving out dissenting voices from the public square.  Gay marriage now serves as the tip of the spear to a new campaign to demonize and generate hatred against those who adhere to traditional views of sex and marriage.”

“I’m very proud of the message that NOM has carried consistently and with great love and courage: which is that marriage matters because children need a mom and dad; Our battle is not with an orientation but a political movement that seeks to use the law to embed a new moral idea: there is no difference between same-sex and opposite sex couples and you’re a hater, bigot and quasi-racist if you disagree.   It’s very sad to see the deterioration of a once-great civil rights organization to this level,” said Maggie Gallagher, Chairman of the Board of NOM.  “They undercut their own credibility far more than NOM’s --which is doubly sad because we need great civil rights organizations now more than ever, just as we need more voices trying to rise above the hate to create a climate where we can argue, dispute and disagree as fellow citizens, not as enemies.”

“Regular readers of NOM’s work know how we characterize gay people: those who support our vision of marriage, we welcome to join our work. For gay marriage advocates (the majority of whom are not gay) we say: we think you are wrong, and we will fight for our right to vote for marriage in the public square,” added Brown.

From the SLPC report on the blog:

18 Anti-Gay Groups and Their PropagandaEven as some well-known anti-gay groups like Focus on the Family moderate their views, a hard core of smaller groups, most of them religiously motivated, have continued to pump out demonizing propaganda aimed at homosexuals and other sexual minorities. These groups’ influence reaches far beyond what their size would suggest, because the “facts” they disseminate about homosexuality are often amplified by certain politicians, other groups and even news organizations. Of the 18 groups profiled below, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) will be listing 13 next year as hate groups (eight were previously listed), reflecting further research into their views; those are each marked with an asterisk. Generally, the SPLC’s listings of these groups is based on their propagation of known falsehoods — claims about LGBT people that have been thoroughly discredited by scientific authorities — and repeated, groundless name-calling. Viewing homosexuality as unbiblical does not qualify organizations for listing as hate groups.

To schedule an interview with Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage, or Maggie Gallagher, Chairman of the Board, contact Elizabeth Ray (x.130) or Mary Beth Hutchins (x.105) at 703-683-5004.

Pacific Justice Institute is taking the lead:

A heated controversy in this Bay Area city over mandatory pro-gay curricula for all students has taken an unexpected twist that is leaving gay activists and the ACLU scrambling to explain why a film shown to elementary students portrays African-American families in a negative light.

At a school board meeting last week, the school board for the Vallejo City Unified School District heard from dozens of parents who were outraged that children as young as kindergarten were being subjected to pro-LGBT films and instruction, with no notice or opportunity to opt out. The parents who packed the board meeting, along with the board, viewed the film "That's a Family" which was mandatory viewing for kindergarten and elementary grades.

More from PJI here.

The National Catholic Register interviews NOM's Chairman Maggie Gallagher on her new center at Ave Maria Law School:

"To abandon the political fight will be viewed as a moral abdication as well. The only reason abortion is still a live moral issue is that people acted like they really believed it’s wrong to kill babies, which means you fight politically, as in other ways.

To concede “gay marriage” is to concede that the idea that children need a mom and a dad and that marriage is oriented towards this end is no longer a publicly defensible idea. Defending it privately won’t get easier, but it will get harder.

Truth is truth. If marriage is the union of a husband and wife, because children need a mother and father, we can’t abandon non-Catholic children. We have an obligation in justice, as well as love, to fight against an unjust civil order that redefines marriage and its purposes."

Read more.