Gay foe Maggie Gallagher steps down as NOM Chair to document “hater and bigot” victimization
“Gay marriage advocates are seeking to create an America in which decent, loving, law-abiding Americans are afraid to stand up for the idea that marriage is the union of husband and wife, for fear of reprisals ranging from insults and invectives like ‘hater’ and ‘bigot,’ to practical consequences like the loss of a job.”
Maggie Gallagher as quoted by a National Organization for Marriage press release. She is promoting a new offshoot of NOM called the Anti-Marriage Defamation Alliance. Until yesterday, Gallagher served as the Chairman of the Board for NOM, but a separate press release says she will be replaced by John Eastman.
The Alliance, a “non-profit project,” has a website that claims to know of an “increasing number of reports” from people who have been threatened because they oppose gay marriage. There’s also a big green “donate” button in the top and bottom corners of the site’s pages. It goes on to call for submissions of alleged victimization:
“These incidents, we have come to suspect, are not neither isolated, nor mere thuggery, but are the fruit of a very bad idea relentlessly promoted by gay marriage elites…. If you have been threatened, harassed, or made to feel afraid because you believe in the great, foundational truth of Genesis –we are born male and female and called to come together in love to give children mothers and fathers—Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance is here to hlep you: you are not alone.”
Brian Brown, the President of NOM, regularly repeats the notion that people who oppose equal marriage rights are being victimized when people call them bigots. However, during marriage hearings in 2009, he proved that he was not above lashing out with the same term. He accused David Catania, a gay City Councilman in Washington, D.C., of “religious bigotry” when asked why NOM would not provide a list of donors.
Two nonprofit-tracking services, GuideStar and the Foundation Center, list two separate (but related) entries for NOM — The National Organization for Marriage. Inc and the National Organization for Marriage Education Fund.
The latest available Form 990 for NOM (from 2009) shows that the organization took in a total of $7,372,981 with compensation for:
- Chairman Gallagher = $92,500 (+ $17,892)
- President Brown = $154,167 (+ $17,892)
- Treasurer Neil Corkery = $48,000
- Other salaries and wages = $282,780
The separate Education Fund lists revenue of $1,080,916.
Donations from NOM included support for the campaigns of three controversial Virginia politicians — Ken Cuccinelli, Bob Marshall and Barbara Comstock. Also that year, NOM contributed nearly $2 million to “Stand for Marriage Maine,” an organization of Catholic and socially conservative groups that worked together to overturn same-sex marriages in that state. Another $100,000 went to the American Principles Project which lists Maggie Gallagher as being a member of the Board of Directors.
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
