The National Organization for Marriage
(NOM) has suggested it favors the re-criminalization of gay sex.
The nation's most vociferous opponent
of gay marriage has previously said it is fighting to keep marriage
between a man and a woman but harbors no animus towards gay men and
lesbians, and has gone so far as to suggest that gay rights activists
are intolerant.
In fact, the group's anti-gay marriage
pledge – signed
by Republican presidential candidates Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, Rick
Santorum and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann – specifically
calls on candidates to investigate the “harassment of traditional
marriage supporters.”
In a blog entry posted Tuesday, the
group points out that the marriage equality movement began with the
legalization of gay sex.
“And it all goes back to Lawrence
v. Texas,” the
group wrote, referring to the landmark 2003 U.S. Supreme Court
case that overturned state sodomy laws.
Carlos Maza of Equality Matters notes
that the Christian conservative group Family Research Council (FRC),
a NOM ally, also objected to the court's decision, arguing that it
would pave the road to polygamous marriages.
“This anti-Lawrence sentiment
is cause for major concern, and raises serious questions about what
groups like NOM and FRC ultimately hope to accomplish in the fight
against marriage equality,” Maza
wrote. “[T]he final goal of groups like NOM and FRC seems to
be to pull the decision out by its roots: reversing Lawrence
and allowing for the re-criminalization of homosexuality.”