The National Organization for Marriage
(NOM) will once again ask presidential candidates to sign a pledge to
work against marriage equality.
“We'll have an announcement soon
about our new presidential pledge that we will ask every candidate to
sign,” NOM President Brian Brown said in a blog post. “It could
be a game-changer in the presidential contest, because it is going to
put candidates' feet to the fire.”
At least five candidates vying for the
2012 GOP nomination signed NOM's 5-point pledge, including former
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick
Santorum, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Minnesota Rep.
Michele Bachmann and former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.
Those candidates promised to support a
federal constitutional amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual
unions, defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court, appoint
judges and an attorney general who will “respect the original
meaning of the Constitution,” appoint a presidential commission to
investigate the “harassment of traditional marriage supporters,”
and back legislation that would allow a ballot question on the issue
for voters of the District of Columbia.
NOM's pledge came on the heels of a
similar effort by the Iowa-based Christian conservative group The
Family Leader.
Candidates who signed its pledge vowed
not only to “vigorously” oppose marriage equality but to be
faithful to their spouses. It also ironically asked candidates to
have “respect for the marital bonds of others.”