NY's special election: NOM further connects itself to anti-gay animus

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03/21/2012

by Jeremy Hooper

The election is still undecided, with many thinking that Democrat Lew Fidler will prove victorious once the absentee ballots are counted. But that's neither here nor there when it comes to our biggest takeaway from last night's special state senate election in New York. For those of us who cover the National Organization For Marriage, this has always been about the eye-opening alliance the supposedly "protect marriage"-focused group forged in order to score political points.

Believe it or not, in NOM's (non)-victory press release, the org. manages to exacerbate the situation:

Okay, so first we get a stronger connection to Joseph Hayon. Hayon is the man from whom we first learned…

…of that unbelievably offensive letter that NOM's rabbinical collation signed. I'm of course referring to the letter where NOM's allies painted gays as filthy, degrading, disgusting, and in need of being stopped so that they don't destroy societies. NOM has just firmed up that connection. So thanks for that, Brian Brown!

But then they give us, for the first time, the name of Rabbi Eliyahu Brog. That would be the same rabbi who -- along with Rabbi Belsky, the man pictured in NOM's direct mailers -- signed on to something called "The Torah Declaration," which tells gays they must be "healed" so that they can overcome "the emotional wounds that led to its disorientation and weakening." Again: THIS. IS. THE. TEAM. THAT. NOM. USED. FOR. OUTREACH. AND. IS. NOW. THANKING. IN. PRESS. RELEASE! How can NOM pretend like it doesn't cater to expressed hostilities towards LGBT people and their orientations?!

Look, I don't know who will ultimately come out on top in this race. Plus the reality that NOM isn't telling you is that this seat actually goes away at the end of the year anyway, due to redistricting. But what I do know is that NOM handed us a steaming pile of insight in this very small election that is now on record for all time. That will prove immensely useful as we move forward in NY and elsewhere. And unlike this one seat, this now-documented truth about the organization's willing to cater to undeniable animus, cannot and will not be redistricted away!!