Brian Brown, president of the National
Organization for Marriage (NOM), reacted to passage of a gay marriage
referendum in Ireland, claiming that unprincipled political parties
and the “intense harassment” of opponents were to blame for the
loss.
(Related: Irish
voters resoundingly approve gay marriage.)
“We are disappointed but not
surprised with the apparent passage of a referendum in Ireland
providing for the redefinition of marriage in that country,” Brown
said in a blog post. “This is a reflection on the increasingly
secularized nature of Ireland, together with the utter abandonment of
principle by every political party in the nation, all of whom
endorsed the referendum. This, combined with intense harassment of
any group or individual who spoke out in opposition to the
referendum, made it difficult for opponents. Despite this, millions
of Irish citizens stood to vote to uphold the truth of marriage as
the union of one man and one woman.”
With passage of the referendum, gay and
lesbian couples can marry in all nations in western Europe with the
exception of Northern Ireland.
“Even with this decision in Ireland,
the idea of same-sex marriage has been widely rejected by the
community of nations around the world, where only 18 nations
recognize same-sex 'marriage', almost all of them in the west, which
represents less than 10% of the nations in the world,” Brown said.
Brown also called on the Supreme Court
– which is expected to rule next month on a case challenging
restrictive marriage bans in four states next month – to take note
of the vote.
“If there is any relevance to the
Irish vote for people here in the United States, it is that the US
Supreme Court should take note that the people of Ireland at least
had the opportunity to vote. This is what we demand of our justices
– respect the right of people to define marriage in the law for
themselves. If that occurs, we are confident that the American
people will continue to support marriage in the law as it exists in
reality – the union of one man and one woman in order to provide
the ideal environment for any children born of their union.”