John Eastman Named National Organization For Marriage Chairman

By DAVID CRARY, ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP) NEW YORK -- A law school professor from Southern California was named Thursday as the new chairman of the National Organization for Marriage, one of the most active groups opposed to the legalization of same-sex marriage.

John Eastman, a professor and former dean at Chapman University Law School in Orange, Calif., will replace NOM's co-founder, Maggie Gallagher, who will remain a member of the board while devoting some of her time to finishing a book about the same-sex marriage debate.

Eastman, a former clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, ran unsuccessfully last year for state attorney general in California, though he did garner support from some tea party activists.

Brian Brown, NOM's president, described Eastman as "a fierce advocate for families and religious liberty."

NOM has been a leading player in many of the recent electoral battles nationwide over same-sex marriage. It helped win passage of Proposition 8 in California, which overturned a court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, and it helped repeal a state law in Maine that would have legalized same-sex marriage there.

More battlegrounds lie ahead for NOM and its adversaries. Voters in North Carolina and Minnesota will be deciding next year on the fate of constitutional amendments banning gay marriage, while the Maryland legislature is expected to consider a bill that would legalize it.

In a telephone interview, Eastman challenged the view of gay-rights advocates that same-sex marriage – now legal in six states and Washington D.C. – will inevitably become the law of the land. He noted that opponents of same-sex marriage have prevailed repeatedly in statewide votes, and predicted that the issue would soon head to a potentially pivotal ruling in the Supreme Court.

Gallagher, who often testified at hearings and engaged in public debates on behalf of NOM, became a frequent target of wrath from the gay-rights movement.

In a statement, she said NOM "is now far more successful than even I dreamed."

"The addition of an eminent public intellectual like John Eastman to the NOM team is a great sign as we move forward to the battles ahead," she said.

NOM has been criticized for fighting against public disclosure of the names of some of its donors, a controversy mentioned by Kevin Nix of Human Rights Campaign, a leading gay-rights group, while reacting to Eastman's new post.

"Nothing is likely to change with an organization driven by such anti-gay animus," Nix said. "But it will be interesting to see if Eastman continues NOM's pattern of hiding its donors – or changes course to reflect more mainstream conservative legal thought favoring donor disclosure."

Comments

[truth be told again]

02:37 PM on 09/29/2011

"a fierce advocate for religious liberty"???

It is to laugh. What of the religious liberties of those in favor of same-gender marriage (the majority)?

[kskicks77]

01:08 AM on 09/28/2011

A bigot is a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.
It's interesting, it seems that as group the comments posted on this website would lead one to believe that you are all bigots. You all are utterly intolerant of another's belief.

[SoCalChris]

04:55 PM on 09/28/2011

False argument. If I hate racism, am I a bigot? No one is intolerant of another's belief; they are intolerant of another's presumption that they have the right to take away another's civil rights.

[kskicks77]

12:42 AM on 09/29/2011

The people on this site are not talking about racism. They are lodging personal attacks on an individual who holds a different belief. A belief that is held by the overwhelming majority of this country. Additionally, no one is trying take a away another's civil rights. If anything, someone is trying to protect the majority's civil rights, the right to vote.

[grayplace]

01:55 PM on 09/26/2011

It's ridiculous to me that these people even exist. To be so afraid of letting other people live their own lives must be such an incredible burden for them to bear. It's appalling.

[r henry]

12:52 PM on 09/26/2011

I love how they supposedly advocate for religious liberty while simultaneously advocating to strip homosexual Americans of their own religious liberties.

[Michaela19762]

06:27 PM on 09/25/2011

A national organization for marriage ?

zzzzzzzzzzzz

We have real problems. People marry who they love. That's my law.

[Valksy]

11:38 AM on 09/25/2011

NOM - seeks to deprive legally competent adults of equal rights based on a personal characteristic that most people in that group will say is innate and immutable. NOM? Meet the KKK, I think you guys will get along just fine.

As for Gallagher, she has made a packet of cash from promoting bigotry, and seen "charitable" donations used in lawsuits that are nothing more than a frivolous nuisance now. The vile sow has helped take money from the hands of the genuinely needy, the homeless, the suffering. And now she is going to front an organisation that laments how bigots are called out on their bigotry. Nothing but a hypocrite.

[Ioan Lightoller]

06:20 PM on 09/25/2011

Maggot Galligher is just sickening. There is no reason other than ignroance and arrogance, fueled by hatred and bigotry that is driving this campaign. The bible is the backup for their hatred.

[bradytnt]

05:46 PM on 09/26/2011

Vile Sow indeed!

[Wayne Peterson]

10:24 AM on 09/24/2011

It is not just coincidence that she resigned just 2 days after Wendy's brought out their new "Dave's Burger"!

[KAK1958]

01:08 AM on 09/24/2011

"Eastman challenged the view of gay-rights advocates that same-sex marriage – now legal in six states and Washington D.C. – will inevitably become the law of the land."

The reason for that inevitability has to do with the generational split. A poll just from August showed 60% of 18-29 year olds are fine with same sex marriage, and the percentages for civil unions and adoption by gays and lesbians even higher. The young folks are, at best, supportive of gays and gay rights issues and, at worst, aren't bothered by these matters.

But in the short-term, he is correct. It will continue to be an uphill battle for same sex marriage and other legal protections for gays and lesbians in most of America. NOM and similar groups are very good at "the sky is falling" campaigns, especially since they're also great fundraising tools. But every time another person finds out someone they know and love is gay, the resistance to extending rights and protections will become weaker and finally cease.

[bannorhill]

10:03 AM on 09/24/2011

Why not cite the most accurate polls that have ask over 60,000,000 how should marriage be defined?

What poll is that? The Poll booth.

Every stated that has voted to define marriage as "a man and a woman" has passed that definition.

[KAK1958]

01:44 PM on 09/24/2011

You apparently missed my point. I said that right now majorities still do oppose same sex marriage, though it varies by state.

My point had to do with the future. The figures I cited were from a PPP poll, but it's hard to find any poll in which SSM among younger respondents is not supported by a majority. In a May Gallup poll, 70% of those under age 35 favored same-sex marriage. Even people opposed to SSM admit that there is more support for it among younger Americans. What's more, some group called the Public Religion Research Institute found that 44% of young evangelicals between the ages of 18 to 29 favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry. While not a majority, that is certainly much higher than you'd expect among evangelicals of any age since opposition to SSM is by and large a religious position.

I personally think you're going to see a lot more civil unions laws before SSM since that clearly is a much easier position for people to accept. The hangup has always been the word "marriage."

[r henry]

12:55 PM on 09/26/2011

Voting on the civil liberties of other people is unconstitutional and all of those bans will eventually be overturned on those grounds. It simply doesn't matter what the majority of people want or think. This is about rights.

And why not allow gays the same religious liberties that NOM claims to want for itself?

[StevenKeirstead]

01:42 PM on 09/23/2011

Does NOM actually do anything that HELPS any families? Do they operate any actual charities? All I ever see about them in the news is the group attacking gay families (like mine). That only causes real harm and that doesn't actually help any families.

[Ioan Lightoller]

04:46 PM on 09/23/2011

Nope. They exist solely to block marriage equality.

[Valksy]

11:40 AM on 09/25/2011

Of course not. Their answer to the question WWJD? Is to drive past the homeless, the needy, the suffering so they can furnish their attorneys with enough cash to buy a new Bentley. They are the epitome of grotesque hypocrisy. Shame on everyone who ever gave them so much as a cent.

[Wayne Peterson]

01:35 PM on 09/23/2011

It is more than just coincidence that Gallagher resigned just 2 days after Wendy's introduced their new huge Dave's Burger !!!!

[James Darwin]

12:06 PM on 09/23/2011

Southern California? Hmmm... Nice to know they chose someone whose victory was based on lies and slander.

[Ioan Lightoller]

01:55 PM on 09/23/2011

Ironic and yet, somewhat fitting considering that lies and slaughter is all Nom's got.

[standish]

02:30 AM on 09/23/2011

"Eastman, a former clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas..." Need we read any farther?

[Vincent Gormley]

12:15 AM on 09/23/2011

Isn't that the unpublished name for the Church of the Latter Day Saints aka Mormon aka N.O.M.?

[Valksy]

11:49 AM on 09/25/2011

Not just Mormons, although they certainly have a deep involvement. Some catholic diocese have ties to NOM too.

[Salaciousbagger]

11:12 PM on 09/22/2011

Hosed .... thought they were going to announce that Maggie finally got a neck.

[StevenKeirstead]

01:44 PM on 09/23/2011

She has one but it's obscured by clouds of adipose.

[Erin Scott]

11:05 PM on 09/22/2011

It baffles my mind that any person with a law degree could support the agenda of this group, which tries to impose opinion and religious belief on the rights of others without any valid legal argument. Hey, this anti-gay business must still be pulling in the funds.

[Valksy]

11:42 AM on 09/25/2011

It's all about the money - a handful of bigots and a fair few lawyers are having a great time depriving law-abiding, tax-paying citizens equality.