NOM to N.Y. GOP: Vote No on Marriage

By Julie Bolcer

The antigay National Organization for Marriage released a statement Tuesday threatening to oust any Republican state senator who votes for marriage equality. NOM issued the threat before senate Democratic leadership promised to bring the bill to the floor for a long-awaited vote in 2009.

NOM executive director Brian Brown announced the group would raise $500,000 to fund a primary challenge against any Republican senator who votes for the marriage equality bill. He claimed that support for marriage equality was a key reason that support collapsed for a socially moderate Republican in last week’s upstate congressional race in New York.

"There is no Republican senate district in New York where the majority of people support gay marriage. Maine has made that very clear,” said Brown. "The GOP should learn from Dede Scozzafava's experience: Voting for gay marriage does not pay."

Gov. David Paterson put the marriage equality bill on the special session agenda for Tuesday, but the senate took no action on the measure. Democratic senate leaders later promised to hold a vote sometime in 2009. The bill is expected to require bipartisan support to pass the chamber, where Democrats hold just a 32-30 majority.

Republican senate minority leader Dean Skelos last year released his members to vote their conscience on the bill.

Click here to follow The Advocate on Twitter. Page 1 of 1

POST COMMENT(13) MORE News EMAIL PRINT

RECOMMEND

‹‹Previous Article in Category | Next Article in Category››

Reader Comments

Back to top Post a Comment
Name: Chung Fang
Date posted: 11/12/2009 2:21:27 AM
Hometown: Los Angeles

Comment:
No, we need to stop wasting time on state gay marriage, and work on repeal of DOMA
Back to top Post a Comment
Name: Jerry
Date posted: 11/11/2009 6:11:33 PM
Hometown: Dallas

Comment:
We need to boycott all Mormon owned businesses. We are funding our own defeat.
Back to top Post a Comment
Name: Joseph
Date posted: 11/11/2009 3:34:59 PM
Hometown: Montgomery, AL

Comment:
Brown said, "The GOP should learn from Dede Scozzafava's experience: Voting for gay marriage does not pay." That's odd, as I recall it was GOP leaders in NEW YORK who put Scozzafava in the race before a bunch of OUT-OF-STATE radical right conservatives who chased her out. I may be mistaken, but I thought Scozzafava was quite popular with those who elected her to the New York State Assembly for the past decade. Maybe Brown needs to learn that the only reason his bunch wins is because they resort to scare tactics--one might even describe it as a form of TERRORISM. (Honestly, how much difference is there between al-Qaeda and its call for jihad against non-Muslims and those it feels aren't sufficiently Muslim and the right-wing "Christian" groups in this country?)
Back to top Post a Comment
Name: Ted Hayes
Date posted: 11/11/2009 2:41:08 PM
Hometown: Stone Ridge, NY

Comment:
I read that Brian Brown and his wife have six children. His opposition must be because he is either a Catholic or an oversexed Baptist.
Back to top Post a Comment
Name: Alex
Date posted: 11/11/2009 2:24:51 PM
Hometown: Albany

Comment:
How foolish of them to think that they will have any success here. New York may not be perfect, but I have faith that if NOM comes here, we will break them. Who cares what the republicans think in New York anyway? They don't have any real power. What we really need to work on is waking up the rest of our stupid, lazy, corrupt politicians.
Back to top Post a Comment
Name: Bob Smullen
Date posted: 11/11/2009 2:16:10 PM
Hometown: Hackensack, NJ

Comment:
Okay, so lets credit NOM with helping to oust moderate republican Dede Scozzafava from the special election in New York’s 23rd congressional district. Guess what my Republican friends? For the first time in over 120 years, a Democrat won the district. If Scozzafava had the guts to stay in the race, she would have likely won. The voters of New York are not going to stand for a religious based hate group telling them who to vote for.
Back to top Post a Comment
Name: Patricia
Date posted: 11/11/2009 2:08:34 PM
Hometown: Austin, TX

Comment:
Two-bit thugs...
Back to top Post a Comment
Name: rich
Date posted: 11/11/2009 1:36:56 PM
Hometown: falls church, va

Comment:
I love Donna's comment and idea! 'Ya know...we're talking about civil marriage and not the church's sacrament which is matrimony. I just love how certain groups try to intertwine both...
Back to top Post a Comment
Name: dieter
Date posted: 11/11/2009 12:24:40 PM
Hometown: sacramento

Comment:
Please explain to me how courts ruled in favor of NOM hiding their donors and petition signers under the guise that they feared retaliation by us gays in their jobs, and such, and then allows them to threaten THEM with the exact same thing they claim is being used on them?.....OK fine....lets keep the senators VOTES secret from NOM. fair is fair..if gays cannot see their results, then they cannot see ours. same with Carrie precum prejean saying "gays are immoral"..of course she says this while fingering herself on video..... (she claims she was only 17 and made a mistake)...yeah...17 is ILLEGAL> I want her arrested for making child porn! they ARREST men who have or make videos with under 18 kids. WHO wants to help me SUE this witch for posessing and making, and distributing child porn?
Back to top Post a Comment
Name: Jeffrey
Date posted: 11/11/2009 10:20:00 AM
Hometown: Albany

Comment:
Donna that is the most sensible thing I have read on here in a while. Why are we not threatening to finance campaigns against politicians that do not support us? The New York State Senate is one of the most corrupt political institutions in the country. Imagine the US Senate on steroids and you begin to get a sense of how pathetic these fools are. Many have been in office for decades and their sole purpose in life is to continue to be re-elected. Threatening their re-elections with a well funded campaign would definately upset the apple cart since all these pigs understand is campaign financing!!

PREVIOUS 1 2 NEXT

More Online Only

Film Teen Spirit

While Native American cultures have long honored people of integrated genders, a new documentary looks at a shocking hate crime against a two-gendered Colorado teenager.

Politicians L.A. Confidential

What's it like to be 33, gay, and one of the most powerful people in America's second-largest city? Stressful, says Matt Szabo, the new deputy chief of staff to Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Commentary Love Bites for Twilight's Gay Fans

Gay fanpires are sure to flock to New Moon, but with questions lingering about author Stephanie Meyer and the cash she gives to the Mormon Church, Mike Albo wonders if we'd be better off tying a clove of garlic around our necks.

Youth Church Opens Doors for Homeless Gay Teens

A church-turned-shelter for homeless youth in Queens, New York is a far cry from sleeping on the streets after a $200,000 renovation and a partnership with the Ali Forney Center for LGBT youth.

Music France's Latest Export

He's opened for Britney and Katy Perry, kept Dita Von Teese company in the front row at Paris Fashion Week, and gets name-checked on Twitter by Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, and Sarah Silverman. So who the hell is Sliimy, anyway?

Prevention New Breast Health Rules Leave Out Lesbians

Now that new government guidelines are out on how to best care for your breasts, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender women are left with a lot of questions.

Marriage Equality Triumph in the Tar Heel State

The loss of marriage equality in Maine was a major blow on Election Night, but down the coast in North Carolina there was an LGBT victory. Pam Spaulding talks to Chapel Hill's mayor-elect, Mark Kleinschmidt.

Theater Puppet Masters

When performance-art drag diva Joey Arias combines forces with master puppeteer Basil Twist, anything — no, seriously, anything — can happen.

News Softball With Oprah and Palin

Dave White recaps as Oprah plays nice with Palin in her exclusive, personality-rehabbing interview. Topics include Katie Couric ("badgering"), Levi Johnston ("Ricky Hollywood"), and step class ("gee, it's fun").

News View From Washington: Frank Tells

This week Congressman Barney Frank laid out a plan and a timetable for repealing "don't ask, don't tell..." and a reminder that he's been saying it would happen in 2010 from the beginning.

News Features Where's Mitrice?

Mitrice Richardson is a 4.0 student, a former beauty pageant contestant, and a lesbian. She’s also been missing since September, and her family and girlfriend want answers.

Theater Seat Filler

The Advocate’s queen on the New York theater scene meets bisexual conjoined twins, pits Sienna Miller against Jude Law, tastes Cheyenne Jackson’s Rainbow, and saves up for a rainy day with Hugh Jackman.

Art Fairey Good

Controversial artist Shepard Fairey spends his creative capital to bring marriage equality back to California.

Books Hot Sheet: Brüno, Ms. Jackson, and 2012

We'll let you decide whether 2012 is spectacular, Armageddon-tinged eye candy or a hot mess. Plus: A new take on gay romance with Dare.

Television Driving Miss Wanda

Love her or loathe her, drag queen Porsche sidekicks The Wanda Sykes Show into shape.

Film Crazy Like a Fox

Hipster actor Jason Schwartzman gets schooled on his gay fans and the Hollywood closet and reveals why he’s never played a gay role.

Television Viki Victorious?

Soap icon and six-time Emmy Award winner Erika Slezak talks about the trials and tribulation of playing Victoria Lord and her run for mayor, gay rights, and the sudden death that rocks Llanview.

Commentary Called to Serve

The military continues to operate under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which even the Pentagon says is unsubstantiated. As General McChrystal asks for more troops in Afghanistan, one gay Navy vet offers his service to his country in spite of the policy that would deny him.

News Features Marriage Foe Tied to Pro-Gay Companies
Ford Motor Co. and Reynolds American, two companies that receive consistently high marks from the HRC, have ties with Schubert Flint Public Affairs, the firm that was instrumental in defeating marriage equality in California and Maine.

News Features A Few Good Men

In honor of Veteran's Day, two of the most famous gay vets -- Frank Kameny and Dan Choi -- share their letters from Uncle Sam.