NOM Paid Bishop Harry Jackson $20,000

Documents uncovered by Mother Jones reveal that NOM has made (at least) a $20,000 payment to notorious carpetbagger Bishop Harry Jackson, whom you may recall tried to oppose DC's marriage law as a city resident even though he actually lives in Maryland. From Mother Jones reporter Adam Serwer:

As internal documents released during Maine's investigation into the group's finances asserted, "The strategic goal is to drive a wedge between gays and blacks—two key Democratic constituencies. Find, equip, energize and connect African American spokespeople for marriage; develop a media campaign around their objections to gay marriage as a civil right; provoke the gay marriage base into responding by denouncing these spokesmen and women as bigots." Jackson is exactly the kind of African American spokesperson the NOM memo envisions. "There's been a hijacking of the civil rights movement by the radical gay movement," he said on CNN after backing California's Proposition 8 in 2008. "You can't equate your sin with my skin." He has received $20,000 from NOM's education fund and has rallied support for same-sex marriage bans in Florida and Washington, DC, where he joined Councilmember Marion Barry to oppose a marriage equality bill in 2009.

Mother Jones notes that Jackson is apparently illegally soliciting tax-deductible donations.

Details on the funding for Jackson's personal organization, the High Impact Leadership Coalition, are also murky. The group, which shares an address with Jackson's church, spent $40,700 trying to defeat marriage equality in DC. It describes itself as a nonprofit and solicits tax-deductible donations on its website. However, it is not listed in current IRS or charity databases, and its trade name registered with the state of Maryland lapsed in 2011. HILC's name was originally registered by an organization headed by Jackson's wife that lost its tax-exempt status after failing to file federal tax forms. (Mother Jones sought comment from Jackson but received no response.)

Let's hope this has some legs. Holy Bullies blogger Alvin McEwen observes:

Don't be nonchalant about this, folks because it fills a missing piece of the puzzle. I have long suspected black ministers who are teaming up with NOM aren't doing it solely for their religious beliefs. This revelation about Jackson begs the question just what other black ministers does NOM have on it's payroll. And I would also be remiss if I didn't state the obvious - these ministers are betraying their own people.

Read the full Mother Jones article.