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Monthly Archives: April 2012

Daily Caller: IRS Responds to NOM, is Taking Alleged Leak "Very Seriously"

April 18, 2012 – 10:30 am

Alexis Levinson of The Daily Caller with an exclusive follow-up to this developing story:

In response to allegations that the Internal Revenue Service improperly leaked financial information about the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the IRS told The Daily Caller that it takes the laws requiring it to protect the confidentiality of documents submitted to it seriously.

... Reached by the TheDC, the IRS did not directly deny the allegations, but said that they take confidentiality requirements very seriously.

“Federal law, Internal Revenue Code 6103, protects the confidentiality of taxpayer return information,” IRS spokesman Dean Patterson emailed. “IRS takes this confidentiality of return information very seriously. Any allegations of improper disclosures of taxpayer information are investigated by the Treasury Inspector General.”

The IRS declined to address the issue of the “Official Use” seal, or to say whether the Department of the Treasury inspector general was indeed beginning an investigation.

“We are very confident that the IRS is taking this seriously, that the administration is taking this seriously,” NOM President Brian Brown told TheDC. “This is a felony to do this, and we trust that the admin will investigate.”

... “I have no doubt that we will have an investigation,” Brown told TheDC, and he said that he is equally certain that the investigation will end in “prosecution.”

“It is a felony,” he told TheDC, both to leak the information and for the Huffington Post and Human Rights Council (HRC) to post the information online. HRC has since removed the documents.

“We are working with our lawyers to make sure justice is done,” he said.

“The public deserves to know,” he concluded, that regardless of ones politics, “the IRS is not going to get your personal information and give it to your political opponents to punish you.”

By NOM Staff | Posted in Ethics, Human Rights Campaign, IRS, Law, News, Politics, President Obama | Comments (23)

Video: CBNNews on the Illegal Leak of NOM's Tax Form Connected to Obama campaign

April 18, 2012 – 10:00 am

The Christian Broadcasting Network:

The National Organization for Marriage is demanding a criminal investigation after The Huffington Post published a copy of the group's 1099 private tax form, listing confidential donor information.

The news organization, which published the 2008 form on March 30, claims it obtained the tax return from one of NOM's political opponents, the Human Rights Campaign.

The Human Rights Campaign finally removed all posted references to the un-redacted tax forms after NOM attorneys contacted the group with released proof that the Internal Revenue Service had leaked the information.

... Thomas Peters, with the National Organization of Marriage, spoke with CBN News about the illegal leak and its potential connection to President Obama's re-election campaign, on CBN Newswatch, Tuesday, April 17.


 

By NOM Staff | Posted in Election Watch 2012, Human Rights Campaign, IRS, Law, Marriage Election Watch, News, Politics, President Obama | Comments (1)

"Anti-Christian Bigotry Okay to Preserve Diversity"?

April 18, 2012 – 9:00 am

The American Freedom Law Center is working on this case in conjunction with the Thomas More Law Center:

Arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court has determined that “no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion,” a legal team has appealed the dismissal of an administrator from the University of Toledo in Ohio for her opinion of homosexuality.

The appeal to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes on behalf of Crystal Dixon, who was fired by the university in 2008 after expressing her “personal, Christian viewpoint on homosexuality” in an op-ed published in a local newspaper.

“In direct contravention,” the appeal states, “defendants seek to prescribe what ‘shall be orthodox’ in matters of opinion by permitting University of Toledo employees to express personal messages that promote certain favored viewpoints on controversial political and social issues, while censoring certain disfavored viewpoints, such as plaintiff’s Christian viewpoint on the issue of homosexuality.” -- Vision to America

By NOM Staff | Posted in Corporate Ethics, Free Speech, Law, Ohio, Religious Liberty, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (15)

Please...we cannot give up...together we can and we will win!

April 17, 2012 – 1:36 pm

United for Marriage

Dear Marriage Supporter,

NOM is fighting with everything we have to give voice to what societies throughout history have believed: that marriage is between a man and a woman because children need a mother and a father.

But we need your help today! Today is our last chance to take advantage of this matching grant opportunity.

Will you make one URGENT gift to help protect marriage before midnight tonight?

NOM stands for that belief—your belief—in today's public and political discourse, when it is under extreme pressure from same-sex marriage extremists' relentless attacks, aimed at imposing their radical agenda on the entire country and silencing opposition at any cost.

The attacks against NOM and our right to speak for your belief in marriage moved a generous donor to offer to match each and every dollar we could raise before midnight tomorrow, up to $200,000.

We must stand up to these pernicious attacks and send a message: Americans of every race, creed and political affiliation stand together—United for Marriage!

Please make one, generous, emergency donation today to help NOM stand up to these extremist bullies!

Donate now

My friend, 2012 may well go down as the most important year ever in the fight to defend marriage. Look at what we're facing: a presidential election, a Congress up for grabs, federal litigation headed to the US Supreme Court, and fights to defend or promote marriage in a dozen states—five of which will be having state-wide votes on marriage!

We need the funds to engage on all of these fronts...because when I say that 2012 may be the most important ever for marriage—I mean it in a positive way. We have battles on so many fronts...but each of those fights is an opportunity to win another major victory for marriage!

We cannot back down or shy away from these fights!

Thanks to faithful Americans all over the country, we've raised almost $50,000! But we have a ways to go to reach our goal. Right now, we have an incredible opportunity to secure the funds we need to make sure MARRIAGE WINS in this critical election year!

My friend, will you help us close this final gap?

***Can you make a gift right now to NOM to ensure we have the resources we need to stand up for what you and I know is the truth about marriage?***

Donate now

Thank you so much for standing up for marriage!

By Brian Brown | Posted in Same Sex Marriage, United for Marriage | Comments (35)

Chinese Blog Covers the "Storm in an LGBT Coffee Cup"

April 17, 2012 – 1:00 pm

Beijing Shots, which covers Chinese news from a liberal perspective, mentions NOM's Mandarin-language DumpStarbucks.com campaign:

The NOM is a faith-based organization calling for marriage to be solely between a man and a woman. The organization started a campaign called “Dump Starbucks” to protest the company’s support of a bill that legalized same-sex marriage in Washington State, where Starbucks first started.

...NOM wants a referendum to overturn the bill, which will take effect on June 7, and called for supporters to sign a pledge saying they supported the anti-Starbucks campaign. The pledge states that signatories are “deeply offended by the corporate position to support same-sex marriage” which is against “moral views of half of US customers and the majority of international customers.”

Brian Brown, NOM president, announced on April 10 Dump Starbucks will expand “into Mandarin, Arabic, Turkish, Spanish, and Bahasa,” and online ads will run in areas including Beijing, Hong Kong and Yunnan Province.

The petition’s English version states: “In many areas of the world where Starbucks does business, the concept of ‘gay marriage’ is unheard of and deeply offensive to cultural, moral and religious values.”

By NOM Staff | Posted in Dump Starbucks | Comments (6)

Bishop Harry Jackson: Black Bigotry? Or Hijacking Terms

April 17, 2012 – 12:00 pm

Bishop Harry R. Jackson in The Blaze:

The largest roadblock to the nationwide redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples is the group of people perhaps least ashamed to voice their convictions in the matter: black Christians. In a pathetic effort to eradicate this roadblock, lesbian, gay, transgendered and bisexual (LGBT) activists have accused traditional marriage advocates of “creating” a division between minority Christian leaders and the homosexual community. If we are to believe same-sex marriage advocates, racial and ethnic minorities are naturally sympathetic to the LGBT cause. But anyone who has spoken to blacks who lived through the Civil Rights movement without going in the LGBT payroll knows nothing could be further from the truth.

The truth is, few issues in American history have brought together more people from vastly different political and racial backgrounds than the fight to preserve traditional marriage. African-Americans have joined with people of all races and creeds to resist the radical effort of activists to redefine marriage and family. As a result new heroes are emerging with the courage of the Freedom Riders of the 1960s.

Just look at New York, where Democratic Sen. Rev. Ruben Diaz bravely spoke out in opposition to gay marriage. In my own state of Maryland, black churches are helping lead the fight to put the marriage issue on the ballot, while in D.C. Civil Rights legend Walter Fauntroy endorsed a federal marriage amendment. Meanwhile, in North Carolina, voters will decide the fate of the Marriage Amendment on May 8. All across the country, minority Americans are emerging as leaders in a fight which is bringing together Orthodox Christians, Orthodox Jews, blacks, whites, Hispanics and Asians, Democrats, Republicans and Independents.

In the midst of this fight, LGBT activists have created a mythology to try to explain the fierce minority opposition to their agenda. Primary among these myths is the idea that the National Organization for Marriage, with whom I and many African Americans have been proud to stand, is responsible for dividing racial minorities against the gay community. Nothing could be further from the truth. NOM has instead provided a national platform for racial minorities to voice their heartfelt outrage at an agenda that is trying to hijack the moral authority of the Civil Rights struggle.

The overwhelming majority of African-Americans, like the majority of Americans generally, do not believe same-sex marriage is a civil right, or that sexual behavior is akin to race.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, Same Sex Marriage, United for Marriage | Comments (5)

Alabama Bill Would Make it Tougher to Get Divorced

April 17, 2012 – 11:00 am

The Times-Daily:

A Republican bill in the Alabama Senate would create a new twist to marriage in the state, one that would require pre-marital counseling and make it more difficult for a couple to divorce.

Sen. Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City, said his bill to create a covenant marriage is designed to decrease Alabama's high divorce rate.

... Williams' bill is modeled after Louisiana's covenant marriage law, which went into effect in 1997

... Williams, who blames no-fault divorces for making it easy for couples to split up, said covenant marriages are a choice for couples.

"It is hard to figure overreaching when all you are doing is providing an option," Williams said.

... The bill states for a couple to enter into a covenant marriage they must provide an affidavit stating they've received premarital counseling from a religious leader or a marriage counselor. That counseling must include a discussion of the obligation to seek more counseling in times of marital difficulties and a discussion of the exclusive grounds for terminating a covenant marriage.

A spouse could ask a judge to grant a divorce without first seeking counseling if there is proof the other spouse had committed adultery, abused the filing spouse or their children, committed a felony or had left the family home for more than a year and refused to return.

Otherwise, counseling is a mandatory step in the process.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Divorce, Marriage | Comments (6)

NOM-NH Runs Ad Slamming GOP Legislators for Gay Marriage Vote

April 17, 2012 – 10:00 am

The New Hampshire Journal:

The New Hampshire chapter of National Organization for Marriage launched a brutal ad campaign on Friday, targeting 87 Republican state representatives who voted against the recent bill to repeal the state’s law allowing same-sex marriage.

The ad accuses the legislators of misrepresenting their support for traditional marriage to voters when running for office, points out that every Republican presidential candidate opposes same-sex marriage, and singles out Manchester Rep. Michael Ball for a statement he made that the ad says “mocked the very institution of marriage that God himself authored.”

View the ad here.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, New Hampshire, News, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (23)

Same-Sex Marriage Going Nowhere in Illinois

April 17, 2012 – 9:00 am

The Chicago Sun-Times:

Despite a push by gay lawmakers, the effort to legalize gay marriage in Illinois is unlikely to get off the ground this year, the chief sponsor of a marriage proposal said.

State Rep. Greg Harris (D–Chicago) told the Chicago Sun-Times that reeling in Medicaid and pensions programs as well as approving an overall budget would take precedence during the homestretch of the General Assembly’s spring session.

“I never say never,” Harris quipped. “[But] I don’t think there will be a push before the end of this session.”

His bill, HB 5170, would delete a provision outlawing marriage between individuals of the same sex.

It was first introduced on Feb. 8 and, perhaps unsurprisingly during an election year in which fiscal issues have been front-and-center, remains pent up in the House Rules Committee.
... Recent poll numbers in Illinois outline the political difficulty of moving from civil unions to marriage in the Land of Lincoln.

The last statewide poll on the topic conducted by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University was during the fall of 2010, when a third of registered voters said they supported gay marriage. Back then, the civil unions measure passed with only one vote to spare in the Illinois House.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Civil Unions, Illinois, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (21)

NOM's Peters: Gay-Rights Activists Creating a "Legal Mess" on Income Taxes to "Push an Agenda"

April 16, 2012 – 3:00 pm

Tomorrow is Tax Day, and NOM's Thomas Peters was interviewed by the Iowa Gazette over how some gay marriage activists are using the tax code to attack DOMA:

"...The 2010 census counted more than 131,000 same-sex married couple households in the United States. The gay-rights organization One Iowa puts this state’s figure at about 4,500 marriages since same-sex marriage became legal in April 2009.

“Tax time brings into clear focus the additional burdens that one set of married couples, gay couples, have to face that other couples don’t,” Cole-Schwartz said.

Thomas Peters, cultural director for the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriage, said what is unfair is Iowa residents not getting a chance to vote on same-sex marriage. The tax issue is part of that larger debate, he said.

“If we want to simplify the tax code, let’s allow the democratic process to work out over the underlying debate about what marriage is,” he said.

The Iowa House last year passed legislation calling for a statewide vote on constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, but Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said he will not bring the measure to a vote and believes passing such an amendment would put discrimination in the Iowa Constitution.

The Internal Revenue Service says it is bound by the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman in federal law.

... Some couples have defied the law and filed joint federal returns. The “Refuse to Lie” campaign offers advice such as filing two individual returns and adding a joint return or including an attachment saying they’re married.

... The National Organization for Marriage’s Peters said gay-rights activists are trying to create a “legal mess” to “push an agenda to offer a false solution.”

The IRS said all taxpayers are expected to file complete and accurate returns, and one element for determining a penalty is whether an error was intentional."

By NOM Staff | Posted in Iowa, Law, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (27)

A Special Message from Bishop Harry Jackson

April 16, 2012 – 2:36 pm

United for Marriage

Dear Marriage Supporter,

For three years, I have stood shoulder to shoulder with Brian Brown and the National Organization for Marriage, fighting to protect marriage in Maryland and in our nation's capital.

Together—for the first time in Maryland—we have built a true rainbow coalition of Blacks, Latinos and whites, Republicans and Democrats, Catholics, evangelicals, Mormons and Jews, all working together to protect and preserve marriage. It's a new phase in the battle for marriage—and critical as we head toward a referendum this fall.

The National Organization for Marriage has done so much to protect marriage, not only in Maryland, but in similar battles all across the country.

It's no wonder groups like the Human Rights Campaign and The New York Times are trying to tear our coalition apart.

My answer? Not a chance!

The ugly insinuations and outright lies I have seen over the past two weeks are nothing short of reprehensible. They're trying to create the impression that NOM is exploiting racial division—using Blacks and Hispanics to further its political agenda.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Same-sex marriage isn't about civil rights. It's about our civil responsibilities. As Americans and as people of faith, we have a duty to stand up, engage, and speak the truth about marriage. And when we all stand in unity, no one can stop us.

Same-sex marriage supporters have it all backward. It is the Democratic Party elites and gay marriage leaders that are pushing an agenda of division.

In the weeks following California's vote on Proposition 8, I witnessed some of the most vile and disgusting attacks on African-Americans that I have seen in the past 20 years. Why? Because gay marriage activists thought they owned the black vote—but 70% of African-Americans voted in favor of Prop 8. So gay marriage supporters engaged in a campaign to silence, bully and intimidate Black voters.

NOM is doing a new work in the battle for marriage. They are building a national grassroots coalition. They are supporting state groups like ours in Maryland working to preserve marriage at the state level.

And now NOM is fighting back with a campaign to build our coalition even stronger. A donor has offered to match every gift up to $200,000. And every dollar of that gift will help to identify new leaders, organizers and grassroots activists who can stand up and speak the truth about marriage.

NOM is standing for marriage, and to make our voices heard. I hope you will join me in standing with NOM today.

Sincerely,

Bishop Harry Jackson
High Impact Leadership Coalition

By Brian Brown | Posted in Maryland, Same Sex Marriage, United for Marriage | Comments (26)

Maggie Gallagher on NOM's Tax Info: "IRS Released It for Political Reasons"

April 16, 2012 – 2:00 pm

NOM co-founder Maggie Gallagher was interviewed by Bruce DePuyt on NewsTalk recently, discussing what's at stake when the IRS releases private information illegally:

By NOM Staff | Posted in Election Watch 2012, IRS, Law, Marriage, Marriage Election Watch, News, Politics, President Obama, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (11)

DumpStarbucks.com: Bob Vander Plaats Drinks His Last Cup of Starbucks

April 16, 2012 – 1:00 pm

From a recent update by the head of the Iowa Family Leader, Bob Vander Plaats:

Our friends at the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) are urging customers across the globe to "Dump Starbucks" because the company has taken a corporate-wide position that the definition of marriage between one man and one woman should be eliminated and that so-called same-sex marriage should become equally normal.

On January 24th, 2012, Starbucks issued a memorandum declaring that a bill in the state of Washington to legalize so called same-s*x marriage is "core to who we are and what we value as a company".

A portion of every cup of coffee purchased at a Starbucks goes to fund this corporate attack on marriage. If you would like more information about why NOM wants you to "dump Starbucks" or would like to sign the petition, click here.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Dump Starbucks, Iowa, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (13)

Audio: Rush Limbaugh on Obama & His DOJ's Hypocrisy on DOMA

April 16, 2012 – 12:00 pm

Rush Limbaugh on his radio show last week:

"This administration said not long ago they're going to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act. Now, the day after Obama goes out and says 'it's unprecedented, the Supreme Court's never overturned a law' ... his own Department of Justice is asking the First Circuit to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act!"

By NOM Staff | Posted in Same Sex Marriage | Comments (5)

Smith: Alesi Has "Done Himself In" by Betraying His "Old Friends" on Marriage

April 16, 2012 – 11:15 am

Curt Smith argues that Sen. Alesi more than deserves all the ridicule and rebuke he has received from his constituents, and explains how the Senator's betrayal on marriage has sealed his fate:

"... In 2010, [Sen. Alesi] was reelected vowing to support traditional marriage. In spring 2011, neither apologizing nor explaining, Alesi helped the Republican-controlled Senate make New York only the sixth state to let gay and lesbian couples wed, changing the historical definition of marriage between one men and one woman.

A 2009 photo shows him, head in hands, voting against same-sex wedlock, saying “I live in a political world. It’s not about courage.” Deeming his district increasingly liberal, Alesi changed his vote — cravenly, not courageously. The National Organization for Marriage scored his “tearing up the … contract with voters who trusted” him. In response, Alesi mocked old friends, saying “I have new friends now.” Incredibly, he never considered that the old friends might laugh last.

Besieged, Alesi now blames “a small handful of people who are vengeful (against gay marriage) and just have hatred in their hearts.” Such rhetoric shows delusion in his mind. In fact, the “handful” are his constituents: less “vengeful” than kinder, gentler: hating not Alesi but how, in their view, he lied.

Alesi’s “old friends” were the laborer, school teacher, and retiree in Gates, Greece, and Henrietta: so superior to the “new.” His current pals are socialites, gaudy fund raisers, double latte snobs, and religion-bashers from Manhattan to San Francisco. Why would Alesi even want them, let alone trade old friends for new?

In 1974, succeeding Richard Nixon as President, Gerald Ford said, “Ours is a nation of laws, not men. Here the people rule.” Too bad Jim Alesi didn’t listen. It might have spared him the political suicide ahead. -- The Messenger Post

By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, New York, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (2)
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