Candidate Attacked in Robo-calls About Gay Sex

In a special state Senate race in Iowa, the National Organization for Marriage is in the rare position of denouncing an antigay advertisement.

Someone is robo-calling Iowa voters warning that the Democrat running in a special election favors gay sex -- and it encourages voters to call and ask Liz Mathis "which homosexual sex acts she endorses." Mathis is running against Republican Cindy Golding, who has denied any affiliation with the group making the calls.

There is no record of the group, which calls itself the Citizens for Honesty and Sound Marriage. Both NOM and Family Leader (both known for their presidential candidates' pledge to oppose marriage equality) deny they're behind the ad. NOM issued a statement calling the ads "offensive" and claimed they are designed to backfire against NOM and Family Leader.

Marriage has been injected into the race for District 18 state Senate by those very groups. The balance of power in favor of Democrats that had kept Iowa from even considering a repeal of marriage equality in the state is in jeopardy should Mathis lose to a Republican.

A recording of the calls was made by KCRG, a Cedar Rapids TV station, and a woman can be heard saying that Mathis "endorses homosexual marriage. But Iowa just threw out three Supreme Court judges who also did."

Then the woman makes a strange observation.

"Homosexual marriage obviously involves homosexual sex," she says. "So before you support Liz Mathis, call her ... and ask her which homosexual sex acts she endorses."

Mathis issued a statement to the media calling the attack "hurtful and false." She has said she supports upholding the judges' decision that made same-sex marriage legal in Iowa.

"I am proud that we have run a positive, issue-oriented campaign," she said in a statement to news outlets including KCRG. "That's why it is so disappointing that my opponents have launched a last-minute, anonymous attack that is hurtful and false."

NOM says the real victim of the attack is the Republican.

"A phony group claiming to support marriage launched robo-calls that were so offensive they clearly were designed to turn voters away from Cindy Golding because she supports marriage between one man and one woman," said Brian Brown, president of NOM. "Neither NOM nor Family Leader had anything to do with these calls, and we decry them. We call on the attorney general to launch an investigation into this dirty trick."

(Audio recording below via Think Progress)