39 GOP Congress Members Join Fight Against DC Marriage Equality

This time with the support of 39 GOP Congress members, Stand For Marriage DC has once again filed a petition to force putting marriage equality to a vote in Washington.

Same-sex marriage supporters and opponents faced off in D.C. Superior Court for a hearing Wednesday on whether the city should be required to allow a ballot initiative that would define marriage as being between a man and a woman. Thirty-nine GOP legislators, including 37 members of the House and two senators, James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), have filed an amicus brief supporting a public vote on the issue. The House members include Minority Leader John A. Boehner (Ohio) and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (Va.). The filing asserts that the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics exceeded its authority by ruling twice that a public vote would discriminate against gay men and lesbians.

Local DC GOP leaders had requested that nationally elected Republicans stay out of this fight.

DC Gays & ACLU: Anti-Marriage Bus Ad Campaign Should Stay

An anti-gay marriage ad campaign on DC's buses should be allowed to remain, says the ACLU and a gay rights group.

It all started with a tweet on Twitter, as so many things do. Someone from a little-known gay rights group called "Full Equality Now DC" sent a Tweet demanding Metro take down ads the group considered offensive. The ads, which read "Let the people vote on marriage," were bought by a Christian coalition called "Stand For Marriage DC." The group opposes gay marriage and wants to hold a city referendum on the issue. "If it's not lewd, pornographic or obscene then the ad will go up," says Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel. "Advertising on the Metro system is covered by the same First Amendment rights that cover other such communications in our society today."

The ACLU agreed -- as did a major gay rights group in D.C. called the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, or GLAA. They put together a coalition of civil liberties groups and sent a letter to Metro telling it to keep the ads. "We are defending our own liberties," GLAA spokesman Rick Rosendall said. "We're defending our own rights. To start carving away at America's Bill of Rights is the absolute opposite of what we should be doing."

The campaign is scheduled to end today. It's not clear if Stand For Marriage will renew their contract.

Stand For Marriage DC Launches Anti-Gay Ad Campaign On City's Buses

Full Equality Now DC wants the city to force the removal of Stand For Marriage DC's anti-gay bus ads.

''The bus is a particularly painful place for these advertisements to be located, as they cannot be avoided. Because of these advertisements, countless LGBT citizens are forced to stare down discrimination as they board the bus to go somewhere or are even passed by an advertisement on the street. The irony is that public buses were the birthplace of another struggle for equality under law not too long ago. For LGBT citizens to have to experience discriminatory messages as they go about their daily life is unacceptable and must be stopped. For this reason, we demand that WMATA remove all advertisements posted by Stand for Marriage DC as soon as is possible.''

(Via - Metro Weekly)

Over $9M Spent On Maine's Question 1

The National Institute on Money in State Politics has sent us the above breakdown of the groups and amounts funding both sides of Maine's Question 1. The losing No On 1 side outspent the bigots by 68%, but to no avail.

Proponents

The committees that supported Question 1 got their funding almost entirely from churches and conservative Christian organizations and their employees, who gave $3 million, which is 89 percent of the proponents' total. Almost half of proponents' contributions came from the National Organization for Marriage, a conservative Christian group based in New Jersey, which gave $1.6 million. Focus on the Family gave $179,500. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, another large donor, gave $285,988—all to its own ballot committee. In total, dioceses and churches provided $578,904. Out-of-state churches sent in $269,650. Out-of state donors from 45 other states gave $2.1 million to support the measure. New Jersey topped the list at $1.6 million. In a distant second place, Colorado donors gave $143,070, and those from the District of Columbia gave $75,275.

Opponents

The committees that opposed Question 1 relied less on the support of a few major organizations. Opponents of the measure raised money from over 10,000 donors—12 times more than proponents reported. Gay-rights groups and their employees gave $1.8 million, or 31 percent of the total raised by opponents. The Human Rights Campaign topped the list, giving $367,067. The Gill Foundation contributed $275,000. Freedom to Marry gave $200,000 and another $30,000 came from the Vermont affiliate. The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force gave $159,056, and EqualityMaine gave $152,151. Out-of-state donors contributed $3.3 million to oppose to the measure. Donations came from all 50 states; the top locations were New York ($761,498), Massachusetts ($653,889), and the District of Columbia ($619,566).

We still don't know where that $1.6M from NOM came from (an number that neatly matches the entire donation amount from their home state of New Jersey) because they have refused to comply with Maine's financial disclosure law.

Dan Savage On Maine Vote

Archdiocese of Portland employee and Stand For Marriage spokesdouche Marc Mutty says the vote in Maine "had nothing to do with hate." Dan Savage: "It definitely had everything to do with hate. The Yes On One campaign trafficked in vicious anti-gay stereotypes throughout the entire campaign. Their whole campaign was premised upon the notion that allowing same-sex couples to legally marry meant teaching gay sex to children in schools at some sort of mandatory anal sex assemblies for third graders." He adds that Obama was "AWOL" in the battle and that the president "is a fierce advocate on gay rights the same way I'm a ladies man."

Photo Of The Day - "God Did This For Us"

ABOVE: Yes On 1 supporters explode in joy and thank Jeebus for protecting them from the blood-thirsty homosexuals. They should also thank NOM for its illegal refusal to comply with Maine's financial disclosure laws. And they should thank Stand For Marriage for consistently lying about "teaching gay marriage." And they should thank the Archbishop of Maine for passing the collection plate during Ma$$. Yes, thank the bloody Jeebus for enabling lying, law breaking, deception, and hatred. Praise His Name!

More Hysteria From Stand For Marriage

I've still never figured out what they mean by "teach gay marriage." I don't recall opposite marriage ever being taught to me.

Porno Pete LaBarbera Too Hateful Even For Maine's Anti-Gay Haters

Peter LaBarbera held a press conference yesterday in Maine's state house yesterday, which was not only virtually unattended except by the press, but was denounced by Stand For Marriage themselves.

Opponents of same-sex marriage on Wednesday warned that “radical homosexual” groups concealing their true agendas were behind efforts to keep Maine’s gay marriage law on the books. Those charges were denounced as “hate-filled speech” by the campaign defending gay marriage in Maine, however. And leaders from Stand for Marriage Maine, the organization behind the Nov. 3 ballot initiative to overturn Maine’s same-sex marriage law, quickly distanced themselves from the event. “We disavow anything said today as being in any way connected to the Stand for Marriage Maine campaign,” said spokesman Scott Fish. “Whatever was said today was simply the words of the people speaking at the press conference.”

Congratulations, Petey - you're the new Fred Phelps! Even your fellow Christianists won't be seen in the same room with you. In the brief clip below, LaBarbera call homosexuality "the elephant in the room."

Stand For Marriage Maine "Wants To Be Tolerant" (But Still Hates You)

More Scare Tactics From Stand For Marriage Maine

Stand For Marriage Maine released this bit of spookery on Friday.

Maddow On Maine Marriage Fight

More Lies From Stand For Marriage

Despite repeated editorials and stories from Maine's newspapers, including this one about Attorney General Janet Mills, the good Christians at Stand For Marriage continue their brazen campaign of lies, as witnessed by their new ad below.

The state's same-sex marriage law has no bearing on what can be taught in public schools, Attorney General Janet Mills said Thursday. Mills examined the issue at the request of Education Commissioner Susan Gendron, who had been fielding questions from school officials and the news media. The issue has been a central part of the Yes on 1 campaign, which is seeking to repeal the state law that allows gay and lesbian people to marry. "I have scoured Maine laws relating to the education of its children for any references to marriage in the public school curricula," Mills wrote in her opinion. "I have found none."

SF-Based Marketing Company Making $600K To Fight Gay Marriage In Maine

The San Francisco Appeal reports that a local marketing company is being paid over $600,000 by Stand For Marriage Maine, according to just-released financial records.

The most recent email sent by Marc Mutty, Chairman of Stand For Marriage Mainehere). (so we're clear, the only marriages he's standing for are the male-female kind, not the rest of 'em), complains that the opposition to the marriage ban now on the ballot in Maine comes from "mostly from the gay activist political elite from all corners of the nation, including Hollywood, Colorado, New York, Massachusetts." Mutty's group displays a different attitude when it comes to sending money out of state. In the filings, released yesterday, from Stand For Marriage Maine, the "Expenditures to support or oppose" section contains this entry: Payment To Support 2009 Question 1: People's Veto Of Same Sex Marriage Law: $113,196.00.

This company is listed 4 more times in that section, and has been paid nearly $360K. They're also listed 12 more times in the "unpaid debts" section, billing about $240K more. So, so far they stand to make at least $600,000 off the deal. Coincidentally, this is just slightly higher than the extra tax burden shouldered by many gay couples due to discriminatory tax penalties. So, what's this company at 58 Maiden Lane, Second Floor? (In researching this piece, one employee of a PR agency told the Appeal "They better move their offices, you can't get much faggier than Maiden Lane") It's been reported that the company in question is Criswell Associates, listen on Linkedin as "a small, fully independent integrated marketing communications company."

Reporters from the SF Appeal called Criswell Associates, who said no one was available to comment.

Maine Marriage Money War Heats Up

Hot on the heels of last week's news that Maine's Ethics Commission is looking into the fundraising practices of Stand For Marriage, today we learned that the pro-gay No on 1 campaign has raised $2.7M from 12,000 donors, almost half of which came from Mainers themselves. But that may not be enough as polls show the issue still too close to call. The team at AmericaBlog has set up a dedicated donation page on Act Blue where you can help with a last-minute push.

Meanwhile, Stand For Marriage has the gall to complain about "outside interference" in Maine. This from an organization whose entire existence is based on outside interference. From their Fuckweasel-In-Chief, Marc Mutty.

"Today's financial reports reveal a disturbing, but unsurprising reality. Our opponents, while claiming to be the home-grown, locally supported campaign, have amassed from virtually every state in the nation a campaign fortune of more than $2 million to destroy traditional marriage in Maine.

"They don't want to defend the teaching of homosexual marriage to young children in public schools, so they are spending millions to try to deny and deny. They don't want to talk about individuals, small businesses and religious groups being sued for refusing to support homosexual marriage, so they are spending millions to calls us liars. And they don't want to explain to voters why the law they sponsored and advocated strips from Maine's marriage statutes the interests of nurturing children, so they are spending millions making the oxymoronic claim that we are trying to 'harm children.'

"We have been outspent approximately $2.6 million to $1.1 million, yet the fate of Question 1 is too close to call. That goes to show that even with millions of dollars pouring in from well-heeled political elite, gay activists in Hollywood, New York, Massachusetts, or the democratic political machine, Act Blue, our messages of truthful consequences of erasing the definition of traditional marriage is resonating with Mainers."

New From Maine's No On 1

This one effectively hits on Mainers' notorious distrust of outsiders.

More Scare Tactics From Yes On 1

Good As You has lots of background on Stand For Marriage Maine's newest spokesdouche, Donald Mendell, a guidance counselor who says that same-sex marriage "strikes at the heart of the Sacraments."

Maine Ethics Commission Recommends No Investigation Of Stand For Marriage

Saying that Fred Karger of Californians Against Hate did not present enough evidence, the staff of the Maine Ethics Commission has recommended there be no investigation into the fundraising activities of Stand For Marriage Maine. The full commission will vote today on the recommendation, but don't hold your breath. Somebody got to somebody, I'm betting on it.

UPDATE: Whee! I spoke too soon - the commission just voted 3-2 to ignore the recommendation and WILL conduct an investigation of Stand For Marriage's fundraising tactics. Link and more info as it comes in.

Maine: New From No On 1

Protect Maine Equality has just issued a much stronger ad condemning the lies of the opposition.

The Maine Echo Chamber

UPDATE: Good As You's Jeremy Hopper digs further into Stand For Marriage's new liar icon.

More Lies: Maine's New Anti-Gay Ad

Stand For Marriage Maine has released its latest anti-gay ad. Commenter Maine4Marriage via YouTube:

More lies. All they did was redo an ad from California. And this Charla Bansley? She's a member of the Stand For Marriage Maine team. She works for the Concerned Women For America of Maine, and has spoken at several SFMM rallies. And she teaches at a CHRISTIAN school, not a public one!