NOM's Anti-Gay Marriage, Race-Dividing Plans Revealed In Secret Documents Obtained By HRC

Supporters of Proposition 8, California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, demonstrate at a 2012 rally.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has gone public with a series of confidential documents which outline the National
Organization for Marriage's (NOM) multi-year plan to thwart the national campaign for marriage equality.

The documents reportedly emerged as part of an ongoing investigation by the state of Maine into NOM's illegal campaign finance practices, and reveal some of the group's racially-driven strategies:

"The strategic goal…is to drive a wedge between gays and blacks—two key Democratic constituencies. Find, equip, energize and connect African American spokespeople for marriage; develop a media campaign around their objections to gay marriage as a civil right; provoke the gay marriage base into responding by denouncing these spokesmen and women as bigots…"

Another passage reads:

"The Latino vote in America is a key swing vote, and will be so even more so in the future, both because of demographic growth and inherent uncertainty: Will the process of assimilation to the dominant Anglo culture lead Hispanics to abandon traditional family values? We must interrupt this process of assimilation by making support for marriage a key badge of Latino identity -- a symbol of resistance to inappropriate assimilation."

"We have learned much about how to win the marriage battle," one document concludes. "What we need now is to find the resources to prosecute and expand this strategy to win marriage in the U.S., and expand it into a global movement."

The revelations were quickly condemned as "callous and extremist" by HRC President Joe Solmonese. "Such brutal honesty is a game changer, and this time NOM can’t spin and twist its way out of creating an imagined rift between LGBT people and African Americans or Hispanics," he said in a statement.

Echoing those sentiments was Jeremy Hooper, editor and publisher of Good As You and NOM Exposed partner: "It's hard to find joy in such divisive political games, but I'm certainly glad we know NOM's hurtful plans now before more folks are hurt."

UPDATE: NOM President Brian Brown has responded to the controversy in a statement, pointing out that his group has "worked extensively with supporters of traditional marriage from every color, creed and background." He continues:

"Gay marriage advocates have attempted to portray same-sex marriage as a civil right, but the voices of these and many other leaders have provided powerful witness that this claim is patently false. Gay marriage is not a civil right, and we will continue to point this out in written materials such as those released in Maine. We proudly bring together people of different races, creeds and colors to fight for our most fundamental institution: marriage."

Still, ThinkProgress pointed out: "Everything in this statement confirms the strategy of using people of color as spokespeople and using the language of 'civil rights' as a catalyst for division."

You can read more on the documents here.

Take a look at businesses which support same-sex marriage below:

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• Starbucks

  Kalen Holmes, Executive Vice President of the Seattle-based coffee megabrand, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/25/starbucks-same-sex-marriage-washington-_n_1231047.html" target="_hplink">released a statement late last month</a> which reads in part: <blockquote>Starbucks is proud to join other leading Northwest employers in support of Washington State legislation recognizing marriage equality for same-sex couples ... This important legislation is aligned with Starbucks business practices and upholds our belief in the equal treatment of partners. It is core to who we are and what we value as a company. We are deeply dedicated to embracing diversity and treating one another with respect and dignity, and remain committed to providing an inclusive, supportive and safe work environment for all of our partners. We look forward to seeing this legislation enacted into law.</blockquote>

• Microsoft

  A statement on The Official Microsoft Blog titled "Marriage Equality in Washington State Would Be Good for Business" <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/21/microsoft-gay-marriage_n_1220800.html" target="_hplink">reads in part</a>: Marriage equality in Washington would put employers here on an equal footing with employers in the six other states that already recognize the committed relationships of same-sex couples - Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. This in turn will help us continue to compete for talent.

• Nike

  In late January Nike was among the 6 companies -- including Microsoft -- <a href="http://la.gopride.com/news/article.cfm/articleid/25521849/microsoft-nike-endorse-gay-marriage-in-washington" target="_hplink">who endorsed an effort to make Washington the seventh state to legalize gay marriage</a>. In a letter to Governor Chris Gregoire, the companies wrote: "We write you today to show the support of our respective companies for SB 6239 and HB 2516 recognizing marriage equality for same-sex couples." Washington state-based Vulcan, RealNetworks, Group Health Cooperative and Concur also signed the letter.

• Amazon.com

  "Amazon is joining other Pacific Northwest companies, including Microsoft, Starbucks and Nike, in support of Washington state's marriage equality bills," <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2017392956_amazon02.html" target="_hplink">Amazon said in a statement released</a> in early February by spokeswoman Mary Osako. "The spirit of these bills is consistent with our longstanding employment practices."

• Levi's

  In 2008 Levi Strauss & Company filed an amicus brief with the California Supreme Court explaining the economic advantages of gay marriage. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/business/media/27adco.html" target="_hplink">The New York Times notes</a> that the label "also signed on to sponsor a programming block on Logo, the gay cable channel owned by MTV Networks, and developed a marketing partnership with "Milk," the Focus Features movie about Harvey Milk, the gay civil rights leader."

• American Apparel

  <a href="http://www.americanapparel.net/legalizegay/" target="_hplink">From the company's website</a>: <blockquote>American Apparel believes that sexuality should be celebrated, not condemned. When California voters passed Prop 8 in 2008, we let our community know we would support whatever stand they wanted to take. American Apparel believes in freedom, expression and equality, things that are inherently condemned in the prohibition of gay marriage. After printing a few hundred Legalize Gay t-shirts for a rally near our factory in downtown Los Angeles, the company received thousands of requests from people all over the world who asked for us to expand it. With many of our employees and customers identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered, we are a company that is vocal about our support for the protection of gay rights. Scores of our employees were on the frontlines of protests in cities across America, handing out hundreds of Legalize Gay t-shirts to supporters, and putting them in our store windows in protest of violence against gays and discriminatory court decisions. We also had a lot of fun at PRIDE rallies and celebrations. We've since given away over 50,000 of these shirts, run protest advertisements nationwide and even partnered with HRC for their enormous march on Washington.</blockquote>

• Apple

  In 2008 the company donated $100,000 in an effort to help defeat California's Proposition 8. <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10074793-37.html" target="_hplink">A message on Apple's "Hot News" site read in part:</a> <blockquote>"Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees' same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person's fundamental rights -- including the right to marry -- should not be affected by their sexual orientation. Apple views this as a civil rights issue, rather than just a political issue, and is therefore speaking out publicly against Proposition 8."</blockquote>

• Google

  In 2008 Google <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/our-position-on-californias-no-on-8.html" target="_hplink">came out against Prop 8</a> with the following statement on their official blog: <blockquote>"As an Internet company, Google is an active participant in policy debates surrounding information access, technology and energy. Because our company has a great diversity of people and opinions -- Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, all religions and no religion, straight and gay -- we do not generally take a position on issues outside of our field, especially not social issues. So when Proposition 8 appeared on the California ballot, it was an unlikely question for Google to take an official company position on. However, while there are many objections to this proposition -- further government encroachment on personal lives, ambiguously written text -- it is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of our employees that brings Google to publicly oppose Proposition 8. While we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We hope that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8 -- we should not eliminate anyone's fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry the person they love."</blockquote>

• Home Depot

  The home improvement super store drew the ire of anti-gay activists when it came out in support of gay rights -- including gay marriage. <a href="http://action.afa.net/item.aspx?id=2147496231" target="_hplink">The American Family Association called for a boycott</a> of the company in June, but Home Depot has remained committed to the cause. In October Home Depot spokesman Steve Holmes released a statement regarding the AFA boycott <a href="http://srph.it/noJrgo" target="_hplink">which read in part</a>, "Our response on this has been and continues to be that we respect the diversity of all people and maintain an inclusive culture."

• Macy's

  The department store recently came under fire from The American Family Association for releasing a catalog featuring an image of two grooms perched atop a wedding cake. Macy's <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/02/01/416297/macys-under-attack-for-catalogue-cover-featuring-same-sex-couple-atop-wedding-cake/" target="_hplink">responded to the AFA saying</a>: "Macy's proudly serves a large and diverse marketplace, including customers with a wide range of needs and preferences. We strive to embrace customers of all ethnic backgrounds, ages, races, faith traditions, genders and lifestyles through the products we sell and the content of our marketing."