The National Organization for Marriage
(NOM) this week suggested gay marriage backers in New York bought six
needed votes for a gay marriage law, then pledged to raise $20
million.
New York legalized gay marriage last
month after four Republican senators and all but one Democrat, Ruben
Diaz Sr. of the Bronx, voted in favor of a marriage bill heavily
lobbied for by Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Brian Brown, the president of NOM, the
nation's most vociferous opponent of giving gay and lesbian couples
the right to marry, suggested GOP senators were bribed into
supporting the legislation.
“[A] number of pro-gay marriage
Republicans, including [former RNC chief] Ken Mehlman, and others
that raised a significant amount of money – over about $2.5
million,” Brown said last week on AFA radio. “And the way Albany
works – there's a lot of corruption there – and basically these
Republicans sold their vote to the highest bidder.”
Despite the group's outrage, The New
York Times reported on Sunday that the legislation has energized
NOM's socially conservative base, and that the group says it expects
to raise $20 million this year from religious groups and individual
donors. And
it has already pledged $2 million to repeal the law in New York.
Carlos Maza at the Equality Matters
blog commented: “If Brown is really concerned about politicians
selling their votes, maybe he should work on closing his own wallet.”