California Supreme Court: Prop 8 Backers Can Challenge Court Ruling

On Thursday the California Supreme Court ruled that ProtectMarriage.com, the official proponent of Proposition 8, has legal standing to challenge the 2010 decision by District Judge Vaughn Walker which overturned the ban on same-sex marriage. Now that the issue of standing has been settled, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will be able to decide the case on its merits and determine whether or not Prop 8 is unconstitutional. Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage, a key Prop 8 contributor, stated that while he fully expects the Ninth Circuit to invalidate Prop 8 and find "some phony right to same-sex marriage in the U.S. Constitution", he nevertheless expects victory "once this case gets out of San Francisco" and reaches the U.S. Supreme Court.

John Eastman Replaces Maggie Gallagher as NOM Board Chair

Maggie Gallagher has officially stepped down as the board chair of the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM). She has officially been replaced by John C. Eastman whose credentials are listed in NOM's official press release on the matter:

"Dr. John Eastman is the former Dean of Chapman University Law School in California and is the Founding Director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public interest law firm associated with the Claremont Institute. He has participated in over 50 cases in our nation’s highest courts, including such landmark cases as the Pledge of Allegiance case, the Boy Scouts of America case, the Ohio school vouchers case, the Kelo case involving property takings, and the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act case. Dr. Eastman is a former clerk to United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He received his J.D. from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in government and political philosophy from Claremont Graduate School.

…John Eastman stated, 'Marriage has quite correctly been described as a bedrock of civilization. Protecting the institution of marriage is a critically important issue, and I’m honored to join such distinguished company on the Board of such a phenomenally effective organization as the National Organization for Marriage.'"

As an article for Advocate.com states, Eastman is hardly a better choice than Gallagher, who will ultimately remain on the board but devote her time to writing an anti-gay book entitled Debating Same-Sex Marriage.

NOM Targets Orthodox Jews in NY Special Election

Following the passage of same-sex marriage in New York, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) vowed to make examples of the politicians who supported the bill. On September 13th there will be a special election to fill the seat left by former Congressman Anthony Weiner, and the race is between NOM-backed Bob Turner and marriage equality supporter David Weprin. So far, NOM pledged to spend up to $75,000 in an effort to defeat Weprin and has begun targeting members of the Orthodox Jewish community with ads and postcards such as the one above. Weprin, of course, is merely the first of several politicians NOM is targeting in the Empire State.

More of NOM's mailers can be viewed here.

NOM Blog hotlinks to Pride Flag & Crashes

NOM (National Organization for Marriage) hotlinked to a comic that the bloggers assumed had an anti-gay undertone. When the creator discovered that NOM had used his comic, he changed the image to make his point. Read the whole story from The Advocate.

Debate TODAY: Same-Sex Marriage and Proposition 8

Professor Taylor Flynn

On Wednesday, September 22 at Noon in the Law School Commons, OUTlaw, the Family Law Association, and the Federalist Society are co-sponsoring a debate about same-sex marriage and Proposition 8. Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization for Marriage will be debating WNEC Law's own Professor Taylor Flynn. WNEC Law Professor Leora Harpaz will be the moderator.

Please join us for this exciting event (And lunch too!)



Maggie Gallagher



NOM investigation in Maine

Neil Broverman of The Advocate reports on the NOM investigation taking place in Maine. NOM would like to delay the investigation until a pending lawsuit is decided. You can read Neil's article HERE.

NOM is the National Organization for Marriage. It was active in both the Yes on 8 campaign in California as well as the Yes on 1 campaign in Maine. It has produced ads such as "The Gathering Storm" intended to intimidate voters by suggesting that same-sex marriage would be dangerous to children, heterosexual marriages, and to families in general. You can view the outrageous video on YouTube. There are responses to the video that can also be seen on YouTube... here is one of them called Weathering the Storm.