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Maggie Gallagher Returns To NOM Rallies In Ohio Protest That Garnered 20 Protesters

07/24/10-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
The National Organization for Marriage was in Columbus, Ohio in a poorly attended stop trying to raise awareness for their belief that they are victimized by the legalization of same-sex marriage. This time, they were absent their president, Brian Brown, but not to fear, Maggie Gallagher was there to ramp up the attempts to push back against those who have been denouncing her group and trying to get them to stop spewing hate and vitriol across the nation.

Gallagher told the group of twenty individuals “I have a message for our good friends who don’t agree with us – a few of them are gathered out there on the other side – hate is not a family value.” Of course, if she actually believed in that, and believed that truly, then she would give up this stupid campaign which has fueled more violence towards lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transpeople than it has against people like her. After all, no one has been reported being beaten to a pulp or raped for being anti-marriage equality, but hate crimes are on the rise against individuals within the LGBT Community across the board because of people like Gallagher.

The seventy counter protesters gathered there chanted “2,4,6,8 time for you to leave the state” in an attempt to drown out NOM’s speakers. This particular rally marked the return of Gallagher who stepped aside as NOM’s president in April amid accusations of problematic accounting and possible illegal campaign contributions. NOM has been trying to play the victim a lot, and have tried to turn many of the statements used by the LGBT Community against the Community.

Of course, having Damon Owens, the founder of New Jersey’s Natural Family Planning Association come on and state “Martin Luther King said that every argument for a legitimate civil right must find support in the civil law or the natural law. Same sex marriage has found support in neither” does not look like NOM is trying to distance itself from the hate that it has spewed, nor from the inaccurate and illogical beliefs that it has held since there is quite a lot of proof that homosexuality is natural. The same ideology, incidentally, was once used to deny African-Americans their civil rights, something that Owens apparently misses, and to enforce bans on interracial marriages which were said to be unnatural.

Bishop Harry Jackson joined the tour in Annapolis, Maryland. Bishop Jackson has been trying to force a referendum on same-sex marriage in DC, but so far, he has been shot down at every turn. Bishop Jackson said “The major civil right, for those of us who went through the civil rights movement, is the right to vote.” Of course, had the US voted on the Civil Rights Acts or on overturning miscegenation laws, African-Americans would not have equality today at all since the majority of Americans in both the North and the South were opposed to equality.

Police kept the two groups separated. The bus headed to Lima, Ohio, but it is doubtful that they were going to get many people there either. Local news stations, even on a quiet news day, were more worried about covering the lack of oyster supplies in stores.

Brian Brown was notably absent from the rally yesterday.