Is the National Organization for Marriage a Front Group?
Is the National Organization for Marriage a front group for anonymous, deep-pocketed donors from conservative churches who are pouring money into fighting efforts by gays to attain marriage equality? More people are starting to ask if that's the case, since NOM runs political campaigns without disclosing its donors, and the group has staunchly refused to comply with disclosure laws. Instead, NOM prefers to sue in the courts to try and keep its donors secret as long as possible. Gay rights activists in California, where NOM was instrumental in passing Proposition 8 (a ballot measure that effectively bans gay marriage) have long speculated that the Mormon Church is one of NOM's biggest financial supporters. NOM denies the allegation, but gay rights activist Fred Karger used public records to show that Mormon families contributed a large portion of the $40 million raised to help pass Proposition 8. The Mormon church also failed to report anywhere close to the full extent of its efforts in California. The California Fair Political Practices Commission found the Mormon Church guilty of 13 counts of late reporting, and fined them accordingly. NOM also sued the state of Maine after it started an ethics investigation against the group. The Catholic fraternity, Knights of Columbus, donated $1.4 million to NOM, more than it spent on all of its charitable programs to help widows, orphans and poor children. The Knights of Columbus itself disclosed the donation, leaving NOM's wall of secrecy about its donors intact.
- 5517 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Add new comment
- permalink
Comments
Churches need to get their own houses in order first!
I'm neither for, or against gay marriage but I do find myself becoming enraged when religious groups start interfering in how people choose to live their lives.
I am not a member of any particular faith but that doesn't stop me from knowing what is right and wrong, but when churches, who should spend more time on getting their own houses in order, start going covert in a bid to enforce their beliefs it infuriates me.
I mean...why would the catholic church make such a donation to fight something their religion tells them is wrong when according to several recent news reports they have a major problem with paedophiles within their ranks!
As for NOM, they will be forced to disclose donors eventually, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were a number of well known individuals within those lists who would rather not be known to be contributors!