Iowa Decides Complaint Against NOM: Gay Marriage
I’m on the Rights Equal Rights mailing list, and this came earlier today. This is being spearheaded by Fred Karger (above right), former Presidential candidate, first openly gay man to run for President of the US in US history, and gay rights activist Republican. I’ve posted about him many times. You can do a search above. Although gay marriage is legal in Iowa, NOM worked hard to block this. And, more important, there are still millions of gay couples in the US (me) who are not legally allowed to marry, and NOM would like to block that, too, if possible.
From my inbox:
DES MOINES, IOWA — Our request for an investigation by the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board is moving forward. On Thursday, August 8th at 12:00 noon, the full Board will be voting on whether it will act on my complaint that the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has once again broken the law by refusing to report its donor’s names in two Iowa statewide elections. The Des Moines Register had a big story on Friday by Jennifer Jacobs (full story below, or CLICK HERE).
NOM funded and ran both Iowa Supreme Court Judicial Confirmation Elections in 2010 and 2012. In 2010 NOM spent $635,000 and in 2012 NOM spent upwards of $100,000. NOM never reported its donor’s names as required by state election law. We are working with the prestigious Davis Brown Law Firm in Des Moines, and are optimistic that the August 8th hearing will open the door to a third state ethics investigation of NOM. I will be going to Des Moines to testify before the Commission.
The complaints that I filed in Maine and California against NOM have led to long and fruitful ongoing investigations by both state ethics’ offices.
For more, here’s a full article on what Karger has been doing. Karger has been fighting to expose NOM by asking for investigations. He goes about this by filing complaints against NOM based on alleged state violations with respect to full disclosure of who contributed money toward the fight against gay marriage. I know all this gets complicated, but it really is important from a legal (and ethical) standpoint, and Karger has been relentless in going after NOM in what seems to be one of their weakest links, so to speak.
The National Organization for Marriage opposes same-sex marriage and worked to persuade Iowans not to retain justices who authored a 2009 ruling that made gay marriage legal here. Karger, who is openly gay, supports same-sex marriage. He intends to be in Iowa for the ethics board meeting.
The board will decide whether Karger’s complaint is “legally sufficient,” said Megan Tooker, the board’s executive director. If the answer is yes, it will order an investigation. If the answer is no, the board will dismiss the complaint.
How this turns out is anyone’s guess, however, it’s nice to see someone…anyone…going after NOM this way just to let them know we’re not going to take it. This isn’t something you will hear in the LGBT community, or on Fox News. It’s a new brand of politics I think might just catch on with younger people who have been so highly disappointed in the past decade with all politicians.
