The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is always looking for ways to disguise its animus towards LGBT people and justify its multi-million dollar campaigns against marriage equality. Over the past few months, the organization has become enamored with the “let the people vote” mantra, waxing poetic about the importance of allowing citizens to “decide the definition of marriage” through constitutional amendments and ballot initiatives.
The “let the people vote” message makes sense for NOM: it isn’t overtly homophobic and it allows NOM to depict its opponents as anti-democratic.
NOM has used this message extensively in state campaigns throughout 2011, including in Rhode Island, Minnesota, and North Carolina. After the New York legislature voted to legalize same-sex marriage earlier this, NOM held a “let the people vote” rally (with a website to match).
And for the past several weeks, it’s looked like NOM was preparing to use a similar strategy in New Hampshire, where the Republican-led legislature has been mulling over a potential constitutional amendment repealing the state’s marriage equality law. In an October 25 press release, NOM president Brian Brown invoked the importance of letting voters decide the marriage issue (emphasis added):
“The people of New Hampshire had their rights hijacked in 2009 when the Legislature and Governor John Lynch redefined marriage without giving the people a say,” said Brian Brown, NOM’s president. “Voters let the politicians know what they thought about that in 2010 when dozens of towns passed measures in favor of giving the people a say in defining marriage in New Hampshire, and they elected a strong pro-marriage majority in the Legislature. It’s time now to restore the people’s right to traditional marriage, and we are committed to working with allies to do just that.”
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