Maggie Gallagher of the National
Organization for Marriage (NOM) on Friday defended memos which reveal
that the group pursued a strategy to pit minorities against gay
marriage supporters.
Appearing on MSNBC, Gallagher said, “I
don't apologize for any of them,” in reference to roughly 15
projects the group outlined in 2009.
One project titled Not a Civil Right
sought to “drive a wedge between gays and blacks – two key
Democratic constituencies” and establish opposition to marriage
equality as “a key badge of the Latino identity – a symbol of
resistance to inappropriate assimilation.” Another sought to
“recruit glamorous but unintelligent celebrities” to their cause.
Gallagher denied her group used race in
its efforts against marriage equality.
“It's insulting to suggest that these
African-American or Latino leaders are standing up because NOM is
manipulating them,” she said. “We didn't cause or create this,
and frankly if we could get together with the gay community and take
the idea that it's bigoted or discriminatory to stand up for marriage
off the table for black people or white people, we'd be happy to do
it.”
“I don't like the suggestion that
somehow we have the power to make gay marriage advocates call other
people bigots and haters,” she added. “We don't. We wish they
would stop. Or that we have the power to make African-American or
Latino Democrats do anything. We're really grateful and respect the
leadership that they've shown for the values that they hold dear and
that we share.” (The video is embedded in the right panel of this
page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
(Related: Antonio
Villaraigosa, Vincent Gray speak out against gay marriage foe NOM's
race-baiting.)