By BEN SMITH & BYRON TAU-
The nation’s largest gay rights group is going to war with the leading opponents of same-sex marriage, as gay activists work to quiet tensions within their movement and with their Democratic allies and redirect their energies toward their actual opposition.
Human Rights Campaign and the Courage Campaign, a large California grass-roots group, have filed an IRS complaint against an affiliate of the National Organization for Marriage and are diving into the California Senate race with a new online ad campaign.
The National Organization for Marriage, founded in 2007, was a key player in a wave of referendums that beat back the spread of same-sex marriage from California to Maine. “NOM has emerged as the No. 1 anti-gay force in the country. They are heavily involved in defeating pro-equality candidates this cycle as a tax-exempt social welfare organization, without disclosing their donors. This is why HRC has launched a campaign around outing who NOM is,” said HRC spokesman Kevin Nix.
The offensive comes amid a season of finger-pointing and recrimination among gay rights groups and their presumed friends in Congress and at the White House. Some leading gay organizations are directing their ire at Democrats for failing to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act or "don’t ask, don’t tell," two Obama campaign promises. Other gay groups are also turning their guns inward at HRC, which they accuse of being too conciliatory toward the White House.
With the midterm elections approaching, gays and lesbians are among the core Democratic groups whose enthusiasm level is in doubt — and the groups' attempt to energize their grass roots could have a bearing in the tight California gubernatorial and Senate races, said Ange-Marie Hancock, who studies sexual and gender politics at the University of Southern California.
“The LGBT community here has been very up and down,” said Hancock, who described the anti-NOM campaign as an effort to energize voters for Barbara Boxer and Jerry Brown. “It’s going to come down to turnout.”
As part of their anti-NOM effort, HRC and the Courage Campaign have launched the Web portal nomexposed.com, hammering the conservative organization as extreme, rife with religious influence and flush with anonymous cash. The site also includes a page calling for California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina to renounce NOM and its support for her campaign. The groups have also launched a California online ad campaign against NOM and Fiorina.
The groups declined to say how much they’re spending — but NOM President Brian Brown said he welcomed the attention.
“I think the website is a hoot. We’re encouraging all of our supporters to go to look at it,” said Brown, who added that his group has raised $237,000 in the week since HRC launched its attack.
HRC and the Courage Campaign are also hammering away at what they say is a violation of tax law. In an Oct. 13 complaint to the IRS, the groups contended that NOM’s sister organization, the Ruth Institute, has violated its tax-exempt status by engaging in political activity. NOM is a registered 501(c)(4), meaning that it can spend freely on political activity, but Ruth Institute is organized as a 501(c)(3), a status that grants tax deductibility to contributions but bars the organization from political activity.
Human Rights Campaign and the Courage Campaign, a large California grass-roots group, have filed an IRS complaint against an affiliate of the National Organization for Marriage and are diving into the California Senate race with a new online ad campaign.
The National Organization for Marriage, founded in 2007, was a key player in a wave of referendums that beat back the spread of same-sex marriage from California to Maine. “NOM has emerged as the No. 1 anti-gay force in the country. They are heavily involved in defeating pro-equality candidates this cycle as a tax-exempt social welfare organization, without disclosing their donors. This is why HRC has launched a campaign around outing who NOM is,” said HRC spokesman Kevin Nix.
The offensive comes amid a season of finger-pointing and recrimination among gay rights groups and their presumed friends in Congress and at the White House. Some leading gay organizations are directing their ire at Democrats for failing to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act or "don’t ask, don’t tell," two Obama campaign promises. Other gay groups are also turning their guns inward at HRC, which they accuse of being too conciliatory toward the White House.
With the midterm elections approaching, gays and lesbians are among the core Democratic groups whose enthusiasm level is in doubt — and the groups' attempt to energize their grass roots could have a bearing in the tight California gubernatorial and Senate races, said Ange-Marie Hancock, who studies sexual and gender politics at the University of Southern California.
“The LGBT community here has been very up and down,” said Hancock, who described the anti-NOM campaign as an effort to energize voters for Barbara Boxer and Jerry Brown. “It’s going to come down to turnout.”
As part of their anti-NOM effort, HRC and the Courage Campaign have launched the Web portal nomexposed.com, hammering the conservative organization as extreme, rife with religious influence and flush with anonymous cash. The site also includes a page calling for California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina to renounce NOM and its support for her campaign. The groups have also launched a California online ad campaign against NOM and Fiorina.
The groups declined to say how much they’re spending — but NOM President Brian Brown said he welcomed the attention.
“I think the website is a hoot. We’re encouraging all of our supporters to go to look at it,” said Brown, who added that his group has raised $237,000 in the week since HRC launched its attack.
HRC and the Courage Campaign are also hammering away at what they say is a violation of tax law. In an Oct. 13 complaint to the IRS, the groups contended that NOM’s sister organization, the Ruth Institute, has violated its tax-exempt status by engaging in political activity. NOM is a registered 501(c)(4), meaning that it can spend freely on political activity, but Ruth Institute is organized as a 501(c)(3), a status that grants tax deductibility to contributions but bars the organization from political activity.
The gay rights groups write in their complaint that Ruth “has on multiple occasions violated the legal prohibition on directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, a political campaign on behalf (or in opposition to) a candidate for elective public office.” They point to Ruth Institute and NOM’s joint involvement in a pro-Fiorina bus tour and Ruth president Jennifer Roback Morse’s strident support for the California Republican, sometimes in her official capacity.
HRC and its allies are asking for Ruth’s tax-exempt status to be revoked and are seeking an injunction against the Ruth Institute’s continued involvement in political activity. NOM’s spending, of course, would remain unaffected either way.
“The fact is, NOM is uncomfortable with who they are,” said Courage Campaign spokesman Todd Stenhouse. “This is about an organization that has shadowy finances, an organization that has deep ties to the anti-gay fringe.”
Action against NOM may be difficult to achieve, however, as Kenneth Gross, a lawyer who represents Democrats and Republicans, said he would be surprised if the IRS took HRC’s case.
“It usually takes a compelling pattern of facts in order for them to initiate an investigation,” said Gross. “Isolated incidents that appear to be marginal would probably not be enough to initiate an investigation.”
And NOM’s Brown argued that HRC’s campaign against his group is aimed at distracting from the gay rights movement's internal rifts.
“I imagine what they’re doing is deflecting criticism,” he said. “I think HRC’s failures speak for themselves.”
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Roback Morse herself may have “inadvertently blurred the lines” between personal political activity and her professional role but insisted that she had no intention to violate the institute’s tax-exempt status.
“The fact is, NOM is uncomfortable with who they are,” said Courage Campaign spokesman Todd Stenhouse. “This is about an organization that has shadowy finances, an organization that has deep ties to the anti-gay fringe.”
Action against NOM may be difficult to achieve, however, as Kenneth Gross, a lawyer who represents Democrats and Republicans, said he would be surprised if the IRS took HRC’s case.
“It usually takes a compelling pattern of facts in order for them to initiate an investigation,” said Gross. “Isolated incidents that appear to be marginal would probably not be enough to initiate an investigation.”
And NOM’s Brown argued that HRC’s campaign against his group is aimed at distracting from the gay rights movement's internal rifts.
“I imagine what they’re doing is deflecting criticism,” he said. “I think HRC’s failures speak for themselves.”
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