Some more coverage and analysis from yesterday’s events in St. Paul, where despite the largest turnout of the tour for NOM, equality supporters still had greater numbers:
Video highlight: watch Arisha spar with Brian Brown over what he thinks of Larry Adam’s “lynching” sign, Brian’s attempts to change the topic to signs he finds “inappropriate”, and why he tried to get our NOMTourTracker.com videographer arrested in Annapolis:
Yesterday,
Yesterday, Brian Brown said:
“We’ve taken great pains to make clear what were all about. We view ourselves as a new civil rights movement … committed to something that in the 1960s was key: the right to vote.”
As I wrote on Tuesday, it’s a laughable, even appalling statement. Civil rights is all about extending rights, while Brown supports amendments like the 2004 Federal Marriage Amendment that would, for the first time in our nation’s history, amend the U.S. Constitution to restrict rights rather than extend them. And as Chris Geidner points out, civil rights leaders like Julian Bond pointed out at the National Equality March that he believes the spirit of the 1960s movement is with the side for equality, not Brown and his cohorts (and I would add Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, a civil rights hero in his own right, and many, many other leaders to that list, as well).
Craig Cady raises the question of whether it’s more strategic for equality supporters attending NOM events to remain silent and let NOM’s own twisted logic speak for itself, particularly given that NOM’s goal is to make themselves look like an oppressed minority. See Brian Brown’s e-mail from yesterday:
I thought I had heard and seen it all, but the radicals reached a new low yesterday in Madison, Wisconsin. NOM and its supporters gathered peacefully in Madison to pray for marriage and to stand in support of marriage remaining a sacred union between men and women.
We were honored to have Bishop Robert Morlino of the Diocese of Madison address the crowd. Bishop Morlino spoke of the need to love one another even as we disagree on the issue of same-sex marriage. Yet when he led the crowd in the Lord’s Prayer, the gay marriage radicals screamed and booed him.
I actually agree with Jack Craver’s response, which is that if the message and delivery are done well, it can be better than silence. I would point to the rally organized in the Minnesota State Capitol rotunda yesterday and the positive, calm chant the pro-equality supporters said. Here’s the video again:
Very powerful and a positive frame, as is the rest of the speaker’s address. I’ve been to other rallies where we’ve calmly sung “This Land Is Your Land” over homophobic speeches. There are ways besides silence to win the message of the day, and our side is finding them.
Earlier this year, Minnesota Pastor Brad Brandon told a group of “traditional marriage” supporters that gay activists are teaching kids how to flog their logs:
Brandon, a young pastor from the Hastings area, was among several dozen people who showed up for the rally on Thursday afternoon. He fired up the crowd by saying that homosexuals teach kids to masturbate.
…
He said he was at the Capitol a few weeks ago. “A group of homosexuals were here and they were teaching a group of high school students that masturbation was okay right here in this rotunda! This must stop!
Now today, this same Mr. Brandon is helping NOM get its own rocks off in St. Paul, joining in on the organization’s latest marriage tour stop:
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Summer for Marriage Tour Stop:
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 from 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Minnesota State Capitol
St. Paul, MN 55155
Speakers:
Brian Brown, President, National Organization for Marriage
Bishop Bob Battle, Senior Pastor of Berean Church of God in Christ
Chuck Darrell, Director of Communications, Minnesota Family Council
Father Mike Becker, Archdiocese of Minneapolis St. Paul Pastor Brad Brandon, KKMS Radio
Pastor Sam Crabtree, Bethlehem Baptist Church
But just in case their site gets scrubbed later (Hi Louis!), here’s a screen grab so Brandon’s NOM speech doesn’t go down the memory hole:
UPDATE BY EDEN: Andy Kelley, our New Media Organizer, just sent a tweet to retweet if you’ve got a Twitter handle. Just click here to auto-tweet it from your account:
UPDATE BY EDEN: A few folks in the comments have posted Rob Tisinai’s brilliant video that sets the record straight on the outrageous “pedophilia” comparisons spread by Pastors like Brad Brandon:
UPDATE BY EDEN: So, will NOM condemn the previous statements made by Pastor Brad Brandon? Or is NOM more than happy to provide a (prominent?) platform for this virulent strain of bigotry?
Today, NOM Tour Tracker is coming to you from the Twin Cities. Our team is on the ground in St. Paul, MN, the 11th stop on the NOM tour. And for once, NOM did a decent job of getting its supporters out.
In the largest NOM turnout to date, I hand-counted 163 NOM supporters before I stopped to file this blog post. And Brian Brown’s just giddy about it.
“They told us, you can’t protect [traditional] marriage in California,” he said, laughing. “We passed it [...] They said Maine is a [liberal] state, we beat them worse.”
Despite this, NOM supporters were still outnumbered by supporters of equality. A hand-count total of 217 equality supporters showed up to outnumber NOM supporters. The largest contingent of equality supporters stood behind the NOM rally before marching up the steps and inside the State House for a rally. 33 equality supporters have stayed behind, silently holding signs and rainbow flags. Brian acknowledged the local equality organizations’ commitment to have a “peaceful and respectful” counter-protest.
I videotaped one NOM supporter approach the young children of a lesbian counter-protestor with a magic trick. He held up a red and blue card.
“Which card is longer?”
The guardian of the children intervened.
“Don’t talk to my children.”
The man demonstrated the card trick for me. On the back are a copy of the Ten Commandments.
We’ll post that video later today. Below is a photo of the anti-equality rally:
UPDATE BY ADAM (10:51 PST): More photos are coming in. Here’s one of the rally inside the Minnesota State Capitol rotunda (which I recently learned has the 2nd-largest self-supporting marble dome in the world… you can guess the largest in the comments):
Equality supporters outside:
Here’s a photo of equality supporters remaining outside the NOM bus:
UPDATE BY ADAM (11:32 PST):Minnesota Public Radio reports that NOM is airing TV ads targeting candidates in the Minnesota gubernatorial race:
The question of whether to legalize same-sex marriage has come up in the governor’s race. The National Organization for Marriage began airing TV ads targeting the gubernatorial candidates in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, including Democrats Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Mark Dayton and Matt Entenza and Independent Tom Horner.
Same-sex marriage came up again as an issue on Tuesday after campaign finance reports showed Target Corp. gave money to an organization backing Republican Tom Emmer for governor. Emmer has opposed efforts to give same-sex couples equal rights, including letting them marry.
Target, which has supported the GLBT community, responded to complaints over the donation, saying its support of the community is ‘unwavering.’
Same-sex marriage isn’t likely to be on the minds of many primary voters, but once the slate of candidates is decided Aug. 10, it’s possible voters could hear more about it.
Advocates in favor of same-sex marriage believe it could become legal in Minnesota if voters elect a DFL governor and if the DFL Party is able to keep its majority in the state Legislature.
Meanwhile, a group of same-sex couples has filed a lawsuit to try to get the court’s to overturn Minnesota’s law against same-sex marriage. That effort could take several years to run its course.
This is why turning out to counter NOM’s message is so important. While NOM’s ads are on TV in Minnesota, real people are on the ground showing the strength of their support for the freedom to marry for same-sex couples.
UPDATE BY ADAM (11:41 PST): Elsewhere, the Minnesota Star-Tribune reports on Brian Brown’s comments (h/t to Lesbians Love Boies in the comments for the link):
NOM President Brian Brown praised Minnesota’s gay marriage advocates for avoiding a confrontation. “We need to have civil debate. This is an emotional issue,” Brown said. “In other cities, we have not seen this kind of civility.”
Brown said he wants to see Minnesota join the states that have passed a constitutional marriage protecting traditional marriage. “We want Minnesota to be number 32,” he said.
Editorial note: Minor typo in the Star-Tribune piece which I believe should read “constitutional amendment“
Two notes. First is that Brian is incorrect that 31 states have passed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Last fall, Maine voted to repeal a law which was enacted by the duly elected legislators and governor of the state, which is different than a constitutional amendment. Second, while many states have enacted such bans, other states like Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, enacted equality through the legislative process, while other jurisdictions like California, New York and the District of Columbia voted to legalize the freedom to marry in one or more houses of the legislature. The point is that people like Brown always complain about judicial activism and demand that legislators vote, and when the duly elected legislators of the state go against them, they complain about that and demand a people’s vote. One day, they will run out of that excuse, too.
UPDATE BY ARISHA (3:08 PST): OutFront Minnesota held a short press conference and rally inside the rotunda of the Capitol building. Speakers, including several OutFront organizers, an out lesbian minister, and a straight father, addressed the crowd. Inside, 184 equality activists gathered.
“The National Organization for Marriage has launched a nation-wide campaign attacking the notion of fairness and equality for same-sex couples,” Monica Meyer, Interim Executive Director of OutFront Minnesota said in a statement. “This backward-looking effort is increasingly out of step with the realities on the ground and the opinions of many Minnesotans. Supporters of marriage equality will be inside the Capitol, where we are at other times of the year, standing for equality and inclusion.”
“How do I explain to my grandchildren that when they cross a state line that this is grandma’s wife, but when [we] cross back over the state line, it’s like we’re invisible?” the minister asked the audience.
“I’m here today because I have a son and I don’t know if my son will be gay or straight, but whatever he chooses I want him to have the same rights as all as his friends do,” said the straight father.
An OutFront Minnesota organizer led a familiar and moving chant (one that we often to do with Courage Campaign members, and my personal favorite organizing chant of all time):
“It is our duty to fight. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and protect each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.”
At the conclusion of the equality event, activists went back outside, lined the NOM rally in a semi-circle and turned their backs to the speakers in a silent counter-protest.
Outside, Brian Brown was giddy and despite his insistence otherwise, even his speakers are becoming more fringe.
“America is becoming a nation of bastards,” one NOM speaker stated from the podium to applause from the crowd. “You can dress a pig in a tuxedo, but it’s still a pig,” he continued.
We also met with Father Michael Becker, a Catholic priest whose main argument against homosexuality was centered around the practice of anal and oral sex. According to Father Becker, anal and oral sex lack dignity because they abuse their partners as instrumentalities of pleasure for non-procreative potential.
He said it, not me.
We’ll upload this video and others, including Brown’s response to whether he endorsed lynching homosexuals (as suggested by a NOM supporter in Indianapolis).
UPDATE BY ADAM (3:47 PST): I’ve got to share a few videos with you, the first being possibly the most moving and powerful one, from an OutFront Minnesota organizer. Watch her lead the crowd in a chant and her speech about why we fight:
And
In the extended entry, you can find an interview with Monica Meyer, the interim executive director of OutFront Minnesota whom Arisha quotes above. Click on (more…):
Today, despite the largest turnout of the tour, NOM was yet again outnumbered by pro-equality supporters today in St. Paul, Minnesota. Amid this news and other problems NOM has encountered overall on the tour, NOM is radioing in- or should we say, phoning in- for help.
We learned today that NOM, in advance of their planned stop in Des Moines this upcoming Sunday, is running robocalls in Iowa asking for matching funds to a $2 million “challenge grant” they have received, according to the Newton Independent. The funds will be used to “oust state lawmakers and judges who do not oppose same-sex marriages.” We at NOMTourTracker.com have heard tell of the same calls being run in Wisconsin, as well, but no confirmation yet.
No doubt NOM chose, at least in part, these states to run calls in because it currently has some of the highest visibility among potential supporters in those places at this time. And no doubt NOM is using the tour and its publicity to help raise money for this challenge grant. Given the big dose of #FAIL that NOM has swallowed in stop after stop, it remains to be seen how effective that will be.
Folks in the comments, if you have received robocalls, or reports of them from family/friends/colleagues who have, please send details to NOMtour@couragecampaign.org (NOMtour AT couragecampaign DOT org). Audio files or transcriptions are particularly helpful.
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