The National Organization for Marriage
(NOM) has equated opposing gay marriage to opposing slavery.
In a fundraising campaign highlighting
Brendan Eich's decision to step down as CEO of Mozilla over his 2008
donation in support of Proposition 8, an amendment to the California
Constitution which for over 4 years excluded gay couples from
marriage, NOM asserts that abolitionists faced similar attacks for
their beliefs.
(Related: Brendan
Eich steps down as Mozilla CEO over past support for Proposition 8.)
“Scholars, public figures, and
average citizens who publically defend the institution of marriage as
the conjugal union of one man and one woman often face character
assassination and occasionally threats of physical violence. Facing
similarly vicious attacks in the decades leading up to the Civil War,
America's abolitionists recalled the timeless insight that 'Eternal
vigilance is the price of liberty.' The wisdom of these words
applies as much today as then. If the calculated use of fear and
intimidation is permitted to dominate this important public debate,
America will lose not just the time-tested institution of marriage
but also endanger our form of government which depends on the free
and open exchange of ideas.”
Leaked documents in 2012 revealed a NOM
strategy to “drive a wedge between gays and blacks.”
Writing at ThinkProgress.com,
Zack Ford noted that the campaign, titled Keep
The Republic & Marriage, is the “latest use of an explicit
tactic to portray LGBT advocates as anti-conservative oppressors.”