Thomas Peters of the National
Organization for Marriage (NOM) has criticized President Barack Obama
for filing a Supreme Court brief in support of gay marriage.
In addition to urging the Supreme Court
to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the administration
weighed in on a second case related to marriage equality. In a
last-minute amicus brief filed in the case challenging the
constitutionality of Proposition 8, California's amendment excluding
gay couples from marriage, the administration argued that the
amendment violates equal protection.
Appearing on the Christian Broadcasting
Network, Peters said the brief would backfire on the administration.
(Related: Obama
says he felt he had to act in urging Supreme Court to strike down
Prop 8.)
“I think if [the brief] has any
impact, it will actually have a negative one in terms of getting the
result that the president wants,” Peters said. “I think he's
politicized the issue. And frankly has no credibility on it either,
because as that montage you just showed points out he's flipped his
position several times now. … The question at the Supreme Court is
whether we're going to respect the right of the 7 million Californian
voters who voted to protect marriage or if the Supreme Court is going
to by fiat erase their democratic vote.”
Peters also dismissed the more than 100
prominent Republicans who have also filed a legal brief urging the
high court to strike down California's gay ban, saying marriage
equality supporters are “trying to confuse the issue.”
“If you look at this list of
Republican signers, the one thing they almost all have in common is
that they are not in office anymore. They don't have to face the
voters with their new marriage views. … [W]hen Republicans switch
their views on marriage, they lose elections. … The Republican
Party, I think, is strongly pro-marriage. It's our opponents who are
trying to confuse the issue.” (The video is embedded on this page.
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