The National Organization for Marriage
(NOM) on Monday released an ad suggesting that allowing gay couples
to marry would harm society in the same way incest and pedophilia do.
In the 5-minute video posted on the
group's website and YouTube channel, a female narrator says the
government has 3 options to influence the behavior of its citizens.
In one example, the narrator says the
government promotes police work, permits most occupations but
prohibits drug dealing.
A second example includes the
government promoting “natural marriage,” permitting most
relationships, and prohibiting incest and pedophilia.
The government prohibits incest and
pedophilia because they “harm our communities, while natural
marriage benefits our communities.”
“Natural marriage,” the narrator
adds, “perpetuates and stabilizes society. Everyone benefits from
that, even those who don't get married. … Same-sex marriage offers
no benefit for society as a whole. In fact, it hurts us.” (The
video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
NOM, the nation's most vociferous
opponent of marriage equality, first appeared in 2007 and played a
pivotal role in passage of California's gay marriage ban, Proposition
8.
The conservative group has previously
called for a “civil debate” on the issue.
“We need to have a civil debate over
issues like redefining marriage,” Brian Brown, president of NOM,
said
in a recent CNN interview in which he criticized the Southern
Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for labeling the Family Research Council
(FRC) a “hate group” over its anti-gay rhetoric.