Let the Money Laundering Begin

The organization trying to overturn Maine's same-sex marriage law, Stand for Marriage PAC recently turned in 100,000 signatures to place the question on the November ballot. These gay marriage opponents hope to repeal LD 1020 -- the law passed by the State Legislature and signed by the Governor allowing same-sex marriage in Maine.

Of the $343,689.50 raised to pay the Brighton, Michigan based National Petition Management, Inc. to collect the signatures, only $400, or a mere .001 of that total came from individuals. The remaining $343,289.50 was given by various religious organizations and James Dobson's Focus on the Family. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) gave nearly half of that total, $160,000. The remainder came from Catholic organizations ($150,000) and James Dobson's Focus on the Family ($31,000).

It sure looks like they are trying to hide the donors in their latest effort to strip away marriage equality. There is no way these organizations like NOM and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland had all this money sitting in their treasuries (except for possibly Focus on the Family). They went out and raised it expressly for this campaign. It's very expensive to hire these signature gathering firms to collect 100,000 signatures in a short period of time."

National Organization for Marriage is a Mormon Front Group

There is an ongoing investigation into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) by the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC Case #08/735). The FPPC is looking into both the Church's lack of reporting its non-monetary contributions to Prop 8, and also whether NOM was, in fact, established as a front group by the Salt Lake City based Mormon Church. The Mormon Church has used this tactic in several states beginning in Hawaii in 1996.

I sent a letter yesterday to Jonathan Wayne, Executive Director of the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Elections Practices (link to letter copy and release on our Blog) and warned of suspected money laundering by the major donors to Stand for Marriage PAC.

It begs the question; are they directing all contributions to their existing organizations, who in turn then give the money to Stand for Marriage PAC? We are very familiar with how this coalition operates, and we want to warn the political leadership and the residents of Maine to beware.

The coalition has also hired the highly regarded Schubert, Flint Campaign Management firm of Sacramento, California who ran their successful Yes on Proposition 8 campaign in California last year.

Who are the Victims Here?

These major backers of Stand for Marriage PAC will do their best to play the poor victim. They like to say that their contributors are being targeted simply because they give money to "preserve marriage." That's what they did in California after running a very nasty campaign and spending $40 million to take away marriage equality from millions of Californians.

Let's be clear. They are not the victims here. The Mormon Church and its coalition have qualified and passed Constitutional Amendments in 30 states to yank away civil rights from gay and lesbian Americans.

The Mormon Church began this fight in 1988. They have been destroying lives, intimidating people and demonizing an entire class to solidify their base and raise millions and millions of dollars.

After two decades of assaulting the LGBT Community, we are now fighting back with our talent, our numbers, our friends, our money and our purchasing power. They are not the victims in this equation, and even the best PR by all of their consultants cannot rewrite history.

Our hope is that as young people discover that they are LGB or T, they do not feel any less of a person because Maggie Gallagher (NOM $160,000 to the Maine campaign), Bishop Richard Malone (Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, ME $100,000 to the Maine campaign) Knights of Columbus (Catholic Church's Political Arm $50,000 to the Maine campaign) or James Dobson (Focus on the Family $31,000 to the Maine campaign) gave so much money to bully them and take away their rights.

Comments

[Brian Fellow]

What I find interesting is the lack of any mention of the thousands of “fake” signatures on the Maine petitions. The examiners had to throw out at least 20% of them. The organizations collecting these signatures didn’t throw them out, the state had to do it. When ACORN examined their own voter registration lists and found irregularities they reported it and the right wing nuts started shouting voter fraud. The fraud in this case was MUCH higher than that found in Chicago.

[CornetMustich]

Oh jeez...come on Maine. Support marriage equality like CT & MA and they rest of New England.

And to the marriage foes and sexually phobic, please find something else to do with your time, because life's too short. Find love..

And remember, marriage is firstly a civil matter, as marriage licenses are issued by and recorded in town halls not church halls, or mosques, or temples, in America.

Joe Mustich, Justice of the Peace,
Washington, Connecticut, USA

Couples have been coming to CT this summer to wed from all around the country, and they are bringing their families and friends along to celebrate. Congrats to all.

And some of these couples have been together for 38, 45 and 46 years......and some folks want to vote on whether or not they can get married ? Can I vote on your marriage?

Kudos to New England (sans RI) and Iowa for supporting (civil) marriage.
And to the Episcopal Church too...

[lstephenson]

Great article Fred! There is no mention of the Empowering Spirits Foundation's lawsuit against the Portland Catholic Church over this very issue, and I'm curious as to where that suit stands. Anyone know?

Thanks,
Lori

[kclady53]

Hmmm....Hateful Mormons huh? As I recall, they didn't run slanderous ads on TV. They didn’t take down the names of those opposed and put them on a hate website. They didn’t go into establishments and get people fired. They didn’t post hateful signs against their neighbors. Neither did they vandalize chapels or participate in unruly protests. In fact, I never heard them say anything nasty or ugly about a gays or lesbians, even though all of these things were done to them by the opposition. In fact, all they did was support their belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman so they could honor God’s commandments and retain the right not to be forced to perform gay marriages in their churches. So who’s really being hateful here? I’m confused.

[MrVinegar]

Yes, yes you are confused.

[warrensalem]

Really, you didn't see slanderous TV ads? You must not live in Calif or AZ. I saw them running all the time along with tons of hateful signs in their front yards.

[MormonsRock]

All the ads are on youtube. We must have a different definition of hate. The yes on 8 side did not use the words gay or homosexual, once. They only pointed out the merits of leaving marriage as it has always been between a man and a woman.

Hate is much different than that.

[lstephenson]

kclady, the majority of the ads by the Yes on 8 campaign were false and or slanderous. This is why Prop. 8 passed. The LGBT community didn't combat them effectively.

[cminca]

They did in fact attempt to extort money from businesses supporting no-on-8 .

There was never anything that would have required them to perform gay marriages in their churches.

[mercury613]

..."retain the right not to be forced to perform gay marriages in their churches."

You lost any credibility with that statement. Churches can already refuse to marry anyone, for any reason. If you 're going to make a post on a subject, do so based in reality, not in religious delusions.

[martinfrosa]

Fred, you are obviously a "Mormon Hater" since you use your soapbox almost exclusively to spew venom at the church and its members. But you must also be an "American Hater" since 54% of all americans oppose gay marriage and an "Obama Hater" since our current president also opposes gay marriage. Why don't you spread the "hate" around a little. To date, the legislatures of 44 states have passed laws specifying that marriage is between a man and a woman. Do you also hate them?

Contrary to almost every article you have penned, Mormons don't "hate" gays in any way, shape, or form. They are concerned about strengthening and maintaining the traditional family against the progressive forces of society. Accordingly, Mormons oppose pre-marital sex, co-habitation, adultery, divorce, and yes, gay marriage as well. To members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, traditional marriage is sacrosanct, as it is to may other religions.

Certain individuals are now proposing that "civil unions" be allowed in the state of Utah and the Church has gone on record as saying they will not oppose such legislation. Recently, the church also indicated that it did not oppose a civil unions law under discussion in the State of Illinois.

[Ben René]

Then why isn't aren't the Mormons funding campaigns to make co-habitation and pre-marital sex illegal? Just asking!

[martinfrosa]

Because, like it or not, our society generally accepts pre-marital sex and co-habitation and both are legal in all 50 states. Gay marriage - not so much.

[jalowe1957]

Given the disproportionate power they potentially wield over other peoples' lives and that they are abusing their tax-exempt status to unduly influence statutory law through the initiative process, is it plausible that the Mormon church (and even the Roman Catholic church, given its complicity in shielding sexually abusive priests from the long arm of the law) could be classified as a RICO enterprise-in-fact under the Racketeer-­Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act?

Just an intriguing legal question I thought i throw out at everyone here.

[Wiseguym]

Not likely since the LDS chuch has never committed any crimes, let alone committed two of them, let alone in a 10 year period, let alone been convicted of them.

[cminca]

"There is an ongoing investigation into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) by the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC Case #08/735). The FPPC is looking into both the Church's lack of reporting its non-monetary contributions to Prop 8, and also whether NOM was, in fact, established as a front group by the Salt Lake City based Mormon Church."

We shall see.......

[outnow]

Marriage is bewteen a man and several underage girls? Some guy found some tablets in the backyard? Mitt Romney pulled his car to the side of the road and wept when the church accepted blacks?

I would tax all churches as the businesses and political action committes that they are (without following the rules).

The shaman props up the chief and visa versa. The Pope props up the King and visa versa. Fear and superstition are used to cement political power.

A virgins were defrocked by the priest in the Zigarat pyramids. The killing of the first born was a custom because that first born was likely the priest's child.

Hypocrisy is not limited to any one religion or sect. Why can't people attempt to be moral and ethical with some God illusion? Money and power are the answer.

[Wiseguym]

Churches are tax exempt because it would be unconstitutional to tax them. Good luck repealing the first amendment.

[cminca]

Please indicate where in the constitution it specifically states that churches are tax exempt.

It may be in the tax code, it is not a constitutional amendment.

Since CA can vote away peoples rights, it is entirely feasible for CA to vote away tax exemption from churches acting like political pacs.

[Zack W]

Instead of all the fighting that goes on between Religious groups and LGBT groups, why dont they sit down together and work out their issues. My solution would be to eliminate Government involvement in marriage altogether. Make it so any couple that lives together, no matter if they are gay or heterosexual have a civil union. Then if people want to be "married" they go to the religious body they are a part of and get "married" there and its recognized by the religion. Then the mormons can get "married" in the mormon church, the catholics can get "married" in the catholic church. And I am sure there are thousands of churches willing to perform "marriages" for LGBT people. Does my idea sound like a fair compromise? What do you guys think?

[PatricefromNH]

A few years back, when I still lived in my home state, a few Mainers decided it would be environmentally advantageous to recycle bottles, so they put a proposition out for public debate and a vote. Corporate spending far exceeded the grassroots Mainers budget....yet the new law passed. That is only one small example of the many little David vs corporate Goliath voting battles that have been waged in Maine . Need a couple reminders of what Mainers are like? Just look at Olympia Snow and Susan Collins, these two Republicans get voted in year after year by Democrats as well as Republicans because they think for themselves and can't be pushed around. Ha, once everyone realizes that all that slick advertising money is coming from out-a-staters .. my guess is Mainers will tell 'em they can't get there from here.

[because8we8care]

Of course, the traditional marriage organization is completely uninterested in meddling in others' private affairs. It is when you insist, with uncivilized rage, that the government (an implicitly all of its citizens) endorse it. The government allows us to behave as we wish, in most cases. They only endorse something (e.g. via tax status) that has a clear benefit to society. The jury is still out on same sex couples, but millennia of research and experience clearly demonstrate the benefit of heterosexual marriage.

And the case against the Mormon church is still open because they can't find anything and there is nothing to find. If they had found ANYTHING, it would have been leaked to the media in a NY minute.

[StevenKeirstead]

The American Psychological Association has many studies that show two women can do just as good a job or better of raising normal healthy well adjusted kids as heterosexual couples. The jury really not out. Then there are myriad ways gay or lesbian couples contribute to society, through the economy, the arts and sciences. If society were to treat us equally, many of us would be in a position to contribute even more to society. The impulse to marry in the LGBT communities of the US is actually a very conservative one. We want to join with you, not fight you.

[Marbur]

As long as any Church promotes discrimination, I will not be part of that Church.
Put your money to a better cause like feeding the hungry children and paying some hospital bills for the less fortunate. If you believe GOD made us all then treat us all with dignity and the right to live our lives as you live yours, my gay friends derserve the same rights as as you . Shame on all of you !.
Hypocrasy is a sin !

[mamalisa38]

Time to take away the tax exempt status of these churches. The Catholic church, especially, has absolutely no moral standing on anything.

[hardcorelib]

I am an ex-Mormon gay who was raised in Salt lake. These fascist Mormon thugs need to have their tax exempt status pulled. I am so sick of the Mormon church leading the charge against gay people. They are a pox upon the land. Amazing that former polygamists who believe the most outlandish stories make it their job to deny other Americans equal rights.

[pdog]

The problem with these so called religious organizations is they always want to force they're religion on you. God doesn't believe in forcing you to worship him. Maine made a democratic decision to allow same sex marriage and now a bunch of out of state religious groups want to undo that choice. Who needs big government when you have big religion knocking on your door telling you what to do or not do.

[ntrepid]

Here we go again. First, as a qualifier, my husband and I are one of the 18k Gay couples that were LEGALLY married in California last year. We were both raised and rejected the catholic religion. Both native Californians, neither of us were surprised at the passage of Prop. H8. Now, to address the issue at hand, first, the term "marriage" should be removed from the laws entirely. Civil Unions for all, right across the board. Second, churches that engage in this type of political meddling should have their tax-exempt status revoked. Third, these small-minded, hateful bigots should be paying a little more attention to their own lives. My husband and I have been together 13 years.
These people are part of a dying breed. They will never be appeased, never accept Gays or anyone that isn't white, "christian" and obviously smarter than them. They are scared to death by things like Gay Marriage and pretty much anything they find unpleasant. I also have no respect for Obama, as he threw the LGBT community under the bus before he was even sworn in. Having Rick Warren speak at the Inaugural was a slap in the face that stings to this day.
I am a liberal in many senses. My old school republican parents (whom attended our wedding and adore my husband) have had an influence on my thinking. I don't want gov't meddling in my life, but as a taxpaying citizen, I demand equal civil rights.

[Kiri sute gomen]

I wish you had equal rights, I hope someday you do. I find it very hypocritical that a country founded on equal rights chooses to deny people basic rights.

Sincerely,

[damyanky]

ntrepid, your comment is great. I am very straight and very liberal and I wholeheartedly support Pres. Obama. Also, I was appalled at his choice of Rick Warren. I'm sure he wanted to be inclusive, but that was not good. I feel that marraige is, first and foremost, a legal contract. It includes children, property, inheritance, no court testimony, and many other entwinements which, in a divorce, must be acted upon in court. If a couple, being religious, wish to add more sanctity, they are always free to be married by their choice of clergyman, in addition to a J.P. You and I and many others have repeatedly tried to understand why the RIGHTEOUS involve themselves in other people's bedrooms, and are still waiting for a rational answer.