The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is an American non-profit political organization established to work against the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States. It was formed in 2007 specifically to pass California Proposition 8, a state prohibition of same-sex marriage. The group has opposed civil union legislation and gay adoption, and has fought against allowing transgender individuals to use bathrooms that accord with their gender identity. Brian S. Brown has served as the group's president since 2010.
Leadership
NOM's founding board of directors consisted of: Maggie Gallagher, president Brian S. Brown, executive director (former executive director of Family Institute of Connecticut) Robert P. George, chairman of the board Neil Corkery, treasurer Chuck Stetson (chairman of the board, Bible Literacy Project) Ken Von Kohorn (chairman of the board, Family Institute of Connecticut) Luis Tellez (president, Witherspoon Institute Board of Trustees) Matthew S. Holland (president, Utah Valley University)
In April 2009, Holland was replaced on the board by Orson Scott Card (science fiction novelist and faculty member, Southern Virginia University), who then resigned in July 2013 after calling the battle against legalization of same-sex marriage in the US "moot" following a Supreme Court decision.Josh Rottenberg, Entertainment Weekly, July 26, 2013 In September 2011, law professor John C. Eastman replaced Gallagher as the chairman of the board.
As of 2021, Brown remains the president and Eastman chairman of the board. As of 2011, law professor Robert P. George was chairman emeritus. As of 2011, Gallagher was still a board member and worked on specific projects for the group.
Nonprofit status and funding
Groups and projects The group operates two nonprofit arms: a 501(c)(4) political advocacy group called National Organization for Marriage Inc., established in January 2008, and a 501(c)(3) called NOM Education Fund established in July 2008. The latter arm is not entitled to influence legislation or political campaigns. The Firefighters' Defense Fund, which existed to fund a successful sexual harassment lawsuit by firemen who claim they were forced to participate in a gay pride parade, was a NOM Education Fund project.
The group also operates state-based political action committees such as National Organization for Marriage PAC New York founded in June 2009, and National Organization for Marriage California PAC founded in February 2009. The state PACs receive funding from the main 501(c)(4) NOM arm.
Funding
NOM claims it has a wide base of grassroots support, however the majority of its funding comes from a very few anonymous sources making large donations. In NOM's IRS filing for 2009, three donations of $2.4 million, $1.2 million and $1.1 million made up 68% of NOM's contributions and grants income of a little over $7.1 million, and just five donations made up 75%.
In 2010, Jesse Zwick, then a reporter for the Washington Independent, said he uncovered a 2009 donation to NOM—$1.43 million from the Knights of Columbus—that reporter Luke Johnson later said was apparently not reported to the IRS by NOM.
In 2010, two donors provided $6 million, two-thirds of the total donations for the year.
On its 2012 tax return, NOM reported a roughly $2 million deficit. Three donors contributed nearly two-thirds of the organization's $9.3 million in donations.
Mormon connection
Gay rights activist Fred Karger said in 2010 that NOM is connected to LDS Church, with large private donations coming from Mormon sources. Gallagher responded by denying any connection "except that a Mormon serves on NOM's board". Former board member Matthew S. Holland is a Mormon as is his replacement Orson Scott Card, and Catholic board member Robert P. George has served since August 2010 as an editorial advisor to the Deseret News, a newspaper owned by the LDS Church.
Activity
NOM has been involved in ballot measures, legislative elections, judicial elections, and issue advertising in various states. NOM was involved in the successful Proposition 8 campaign in California in 2008, as well as a similar successful campaign in Maine one year later. They were also involved in unsuccessful efforts to pass an amendment eliminating same-sex marriage in Massachusetts in 2007. NOM participated in efforts to block same-sex marriage in New Jersey, and has unsuccessfully attempted to block same-sex marriage legalization in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and the District of Columbia. On June 16, 2009, NOM announced the formation of NOM PAC New York, a political action committee with a goal of providing $500,000 to fund primary challenges against any Republican New York state senator who votes for gay marriage. NOM stated that they were "also looking to aid Democratic candidates who want to buck the establishment on the marriage issue, and to help in general election contests." In 2010, NOM was involved in successful efforts to oust three Iowa Supreme Court judges who had concurred in a decision that effectively legalized same-sex marriage there.
In 2009, Peter Montgomery of the progressive organization People for the American Way stated: "You have to take [NOM] seriously [...] They've raised a tremendous amount of money that they're funneling into various states."
2007 Massachusetts constitutional amendment
One of the group's first public acts was to campaign in support of a proposed 2007 Massachusetts constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage by restricting marriage to "the union of one man and one woman", in response to the Massachusetts court decision that legalized same-sex marriage in that state. The NOM-supported amendment failed to pass. The campaign included a billboard comparing representative Angelo Puppolo to Judas Iscariot and Benedict Arnold after he changed his position to oppose the amendment.
California Proposition 8 NOM was first formed to support the passage of California Proposition 8 in 2008, which amended the state Constitution to discontinue same-sex marriage ceremonies. The amendment defined marriage as the union between one man and one woman. NOM contributed $1.8 million to the Proposition 8 effort, and has been described as being "instrumental" in the success of the initiative. Proposition 8 was passed by voters 52% to 48%, and involved an estimated $83M by both sides of the issue. The amendment was in force until United States district court Judge Vaughn R. Walker overturned it in August 2010, in the case Perry v. Schwarzenegger, ruling that it violated both the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the United States Constitution. NOM chairman Maggie Gallagher expressed her disagreement with the ruling, targeting Walker's sexuality and accusing him of "substituting his views for those of the American people and of our Founding Fathers." NOM President, Brian Snow, also expressed dissatisfaction with the ruling, stating "With a stroke of his pen, Judge Walker has overruled the votes and values of 7 million Californians" Walker did however place a temporary injunction on same-sex marriages to allow the defendants to bring their case before the United States Supreme Court. On June 26, 2013, the United States Supreme Court ruled the defendants in the case lacked standing to appeal earlier rulings in Federal Court. As a consequence, Walker's opinion striking down the law as unconstitutional stands as the final decision in the case. NOM addressed the Supreme Court's ruling on its website, asking the nation "show its displeasure" with the ruling, adding that "the Supreme Court ripped the legs out from under the institution of marriage."
Stand for Marriage Maine In 2009, NOM was the primary contributor to Stand For Marriage Maine, the organization that led the successful campaign for Question 1 in Maine, a voter referendum that repealed the law passed by the legislature to allow same-sex marriages in the state. Voters passed the referendum 53%–47% out of 567,057 votes cast. Out of the initial $343,000 in contributions, NOM provided some $160,000.
NOM contributed over $1.6 million to Stand For Marriage Maine; by reports as of October 2009, NOM had contributed 63% of that group's funding.
NOM has brought a number of lawsuits to prevent being required to release the names of its donors funding Stand For Marriage Maine. In 2015, NOM released a campaign disclosure report after a state supreme court ruling on its release.
Advertising campaigns On April 8, 2009, NOM began a "2 Million for Marriage" (2M4M) initiative with the intention of organizing two million activists nationwide. When NOM used the abbreviation "2M4M" for their "2 Million for Marriage" campaign, the media noted that in personal ads, "2M4M" is code for two men seeking a third male sexual partner. NOM did not secure the domain name and other net resources that use the "2M4M" term. Christopher Ambler, a consultant in rapid web development who characterizes himself as a "happily married straight guy", purchased the domain "2M4M.org" and branded it as "Two Men For Marriage", running material counter to NOM's 2M4M aims.
Gathering Storm
The 2M4M campaign used an advertisement, "Gathering Storm", in which actors, primarily Mormons from Arizona, standing against a dramatic storm-cloud background, voiced opposition to same-sex marriage.
The Human Rights Campaign, a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) lobbying group and political action committee, described the ad saying that, in it, "actors make disproven claims about marriage for lesbian and gay couples".
New York Times columnist Frank Rich described the "Gathering Storm" advertisement as "an Internet camp classic", and it was parodied by Stephen Colbert, the website Funny or Die, and in the Futurama episode "Proposition Infinity".
Other advertisements On April 30, 2009, NOM and beauty pageant winner Carrie Prejean launched another ad campaign against gay marriage, called "No Offense". In the ad, they object to being characterized as "outright bigots" because of their stance. After semi-nude photos of Prejean were posted on the Internet, some accused NOM of hypocrisy, NOM issued a press release stating that Prejean had appeared with NOM as a private citizen and not as a spokesperson. In the wake of the revelation that Prejean had made masturbation videos, NOM removed reference to the video from the front page of their website.
On May 28, 2009, NOM rolled out an advertising campaign in New York, including a video spot. The Christian Science Monitor described the spot as listing a "litany of grievances" as an "ominous score" plays, with a potentially embarrassing error for a campaign based on education: misspelling marriage as .
During the 2016 North Carolina gubernatorial election, NOM released an ad criticizing Democratic candidate Roy Cooper for his support for allowing transgender individuals access to bathrooms that reflect their gender identity. The ad claimed that doing so would give sexual predators easy access to children and other potential victims.
New York Congressional phone campaign