In a new radio spot, opponents of gay
marriage in New York characterize a push to legalize such unions in
the state as an impending attack.
“Mayday! Mayday!,” a male voice
says in the ad as bombs and sirens can be heard in the background.
“The stability of New York has been threatened!”
“We read you Eagle One,” a second
male voice says.
“Traditional marriage has taken a
hit. Elected officials can't get a clear reading on the divinely
ordained plan for the family.”
“Standby,” the second voice adds.
“Launching major defense initiative.” (The audio is embedded in
the right panel of this page.)
The ad is part of the New Yorker's
Family Research Foundation's Mayday for Marriage! tour, a statewide
bus tour modeled after last year's nationwide Summer for Marriage
Tour 2010 sponsored by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM).
The campaign to douse Governor Andrew
Cuomo's plan to make New York the sixth state in the nation to
legalize the institution made its inaugural stop in downtown Elmira
last Sunday.
Louis Marinelli, a
former NOM strategist who recently announced his support for marriage
equality, questioned the campaign's message.
“Are they under the impression that
when marriage equality becomes a reality in the Empire State that
Wall Street is going to go a muck?” he
wrote at his website. “Perhaps a barbaric invasion from
neighboring marriage equality states Vermont, Massachusetts and
Connecticut is at hand.”
New York state Senator Ruben Diaz Sr.
will lead a rally against the proposed legislation on Sunday.