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Peter, Paul, & Mary's Warning to NOM


Paul Stookey and Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary X390 (GETTY) | ADVOCATE.COM
Paul Stookey and Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary

The surviving members of the folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary have sent a cease and desist letter to the National Organization for Marriage, which has been using one if their most iconic songs during its antigay "Summer for Marriage" tour.

Kathleen Perrin of the Courage Campaign notified Peter Yarrow that the organization was using the group's recording of the Woody Guthrie song "This Land Is Your Land" during its rallies without permission. Yarrow said NOM's use of the song was "heartbreaking" and that he would contact the organization.

The July 27 letter to NOM executive director Brian Brown, displayed on the Courage Campaign's website, asks the group to stop using the song.

"We respect your right to hold and advocate for any  position you wish, but the philosophy of the 'National Organization for Marriage' is directly contrary to the advocacy position Peter, Paul & Mary have held for decades, and so we do not want our recording of this song played at your rallies," the letter reads. Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey (Mary Travers died in 2009) wrote that if NOM continues to use the song, "we will certainly do our best to make it clear to those who are aware of your rallies that we strenuously object because of our very strong opposition to the philosophy of your organization as noted above. Further, we will see if there is any legal action that we might be able to take to restrain you from playing it."

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Reader Comments
  • Name: shawn
    Date posted: 9/1/2010 8:42:19 PM
    Hometown: shawn's peak

    Comment:

    Way to go guys!! Sue that fat ass cow ghallager right back to the bigoted shithole of new jersey where the fat republicu*t waddled out of!! She can go back and perform for her good buddy buddy governor Porky McFatass!! LMAO!!! Can anyone else join in this lawsuit??

  • Name: Reed
    Date posted: 9/1/2010 5:42:02 PM
    Hometown: West Hollywood

    Comment:

    Thanks P,P and M...Just bought your 2005 Best of album...Appreciate the support!!!

  • Name: droughtquake
    Date posted: 9/1/2010 4:06:48 PM
    Hometown: Oakland, CA

    Comment:

    It's always nice to know who our friends are! (And it's great to see all these East Bay hometowns!)

  • Name: Joseph
    Date posted: 9/1/2010 2:44:45 PM
    Hometown: Montgomery, AL

    Comment:

    Perhaps NOM needs to look into the history of Guthrie's song. Guthrie was a “fellow traveler” and wrote for the American Communist paper, “The Daily Worker.” He wrote “This Land” as a protest to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” (popularized by Kate Smith). Then, too, there’s the fact that Guthrie was married three times (hardly a role model for marriage); then again, that doesn’t seem to be a problem given NOM’s hypocrisy on “saving marriage” (“we don’t want to ban divorce, we just want to keep the queers from getting married”). OTOH, this does seem to be SOP for the right-wing—steal someone’s popular performance of a song without asking for permission.

  • Name: Tom
    Date posted: 9/1/2010 2:21:00 PM
    Hometown: Cocoa Beach

    Comment:

    What was NOM thinking trying to use the music of some old 60s, hippy, pinko, fags anyway? I say, go to Rupert Murdoch and see if you can't license some Fox music that the NOM crowd can dance to, like "The Time Warp"! I wanna see the NOM crowd do he pelvic thrust, until it drives them insane. (Oops, too late.)

  • Name: Rob
    Date posted: 9/1/2010 1:53:27 PM
    Hometown: Washington, DC

    Comment:

    Check out a song on Peter, Paul and Mary's 1995 albumn "LifeLines" entitled "Home is Where the Heart Is". These singers know what family's about.

  • Name: CountryBoy
    Date posted: 9/1/2010 12:02:10 PM
    Hometown: MO

    Comment:

    I have always LOVED the music of Peter, Paul and Mary; and still do! I appreciate their support for marriage equality and applaud their actions in stopping NOM from using their music. If all else fails; SUE THE BIGOTED BASTARDS at NOM!!

  • Name: bruno kravitz
    Date posted: 9/1/2010 11:44:20 AM
    Hometown: east bay, california

    Comment:

    I Dig Peter Paul and Mary . . . !

  • Name: Raven
    Date posted: 9/1/2010 4:41:23 AM
    Hometown: Castro Valley, CA

    Comment:

    I do believe my music collection is missing some Peter, Paul and Mary. Guess I'll go fix that.

  • Name: Fred Stanley
    Date posted: 9/1/2010 12:05:46 AM
    Hometown: Palm Springs, CA

    Comment:

    NOM is just a bunch of nut cases!!! They are just all in the closet!!!



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