For the National Organization for
Marriage (NOM) 2012 proved to be a rocky year.
While the nation's most vociferous
opponent of gay marriage was successful in getting a constitutional
amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples approved in North
Carolina, little else went the group's way.
In an end-of-the-year blog post at
EqualityMatters.org,
Carlos Maza highlighted some of NOM's biggest missteps in 2012.
An important story which went largely
unnoticed was NOM's shrinking support from donors. The Human Rights
Campaign (HRC) revealed that “just two donors were responsible for
funding 75 percent of the anti-gay group.” Federal tax documents
from 2011 also showed that NOM's budget had declined from the
previous year – from $9.1 million to $6.2 million.
(Related: Funding
for anti-gay marriage group NOM plummets 30 percent.)
In New York and New Hampshire, NOM has
been unable to follow through on its pledge to reverse marriage
equality gains. In New Hampshire, NOM backed legislative efforts to
repeal the state's marriage law. But a Republican controlled House
stunned NOM by rejecting the plan, with more than 100 GOP lawmakers
voting against the effort. Democrats regained control of the House
on November 6, dashing NOM's hopes for another try. In New York,
NOM's campaign to “elect pro-marriage majorities” resulted in
just two seats flipping in their favor.
(Related: Gay
marriage repeal bill defeated in New Hampshire House.)
NOM's boycott efforts also largely
failed. NOM pursued efforts to hit Starbucks and General Mills in
their pocketbooks after each company sided with marriage equality
supporters. Seattle-based Starbucks endorsed an effort to legalize
gay nuptials in Washington state, while Minneapolis-based General
Mills opposed a measure to ban it in Minnesota. A Starbucks
representative said the coffee giant was “not seeing any impact”
as a result of the boycott. And praise for their stands outpaced
opposition.
(Related: Starbucks
thanked for gay marriage support with giant card.)
NOM's largest defeats came on November
6, when marriage equality supporters won referendums in four states
and President Barack Obama won reelection. Voters in three states –
Maine, Maryland and Washington state – were the first to approve
marriage rights for gay couples at the ballot box. And Iowa voters
decided to keep state Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins, for whose
ouster NOM had campaigned over his participation in a 2009 ruling
legalizing gay nuptials in the state.
(Related: Effort
to oust Iowa judge David Wiggins over gay marriage fails.)