Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyPosts Tagged As: Summer Marriage Tour
July 29th, 2010
Louis Marinelli is back with a new blogsite, and it’s as bizarre as the first. This time he’s making a big deal over someone who wrote “bullsh!t” on the ground with chalk (foul language!) and absolutely obsessed about how the Trial Trackers didn’t want him taking pictures of their press passes.
You know, from reading his stuff earlier, I pictured Marinelli as being a crotchety senior – the kind that rants about “kids these days.” But he’s actually a young guy.
Weird!
It’s like he’s in some strange time bubble where people don’t use “foul language” or show the middle finger. I’ll admit to thinking “kids these days” some times, but even I know that we don’t live in Leave it to Beaver world.
July 29th, 2010
Brian Brown has struck up the orchestra and started in on his song and dance routine. You know the one.
(hands on chest) Oh woe is me, I’m so bullied, so abused.
(arms outstreched) Oh can’t you see how badly I’ve been used?
(hands up to God) I treat those vile maggots with love and with care.
(hands clutched) And just cuz I want to take away their rights, they say that I’m not fair.
Really. Me!! It’s truuuuuue.
(all together on the chorus)
Send money.
Send money.
You know that they’re evil, so full of sin
and if you don’t send me cash, then they’re gunna win!
So send money, more mu-uh-ney.
Cuz if you send money I can keep my job.
His latest letter out to his supporters is, frankly, disgusting. But if follows the pattern that the National Organization for Marriage has used since Brian became its face:
* Claim to be a victim
* Use offensive language to demonize gay folk
* Claim gay folk are intolerant
* Lie about his support (double the crowd)
* Use more demeaning and offensive language to demean gay folk
* Suggest that gay folk are all in a conspiracy
* Beg for money
(disclaimer – the money you send to support this event will be used for other purposes)
Brown’s best over-the-top – and least honest – paragraphs are:
I thought I had heard and seen it all, but the radicals reached a new low yesterday in Madison, Wisconsin. NOM and its supporters gathered peacefully in Madison to pray for marriage and to stand in support of marriage remaining a sacred union between men and women.
We were honored to have Bishop Robert Morlino of the Diocese of Madison address the crowd. Bishop Morlino spoke of the need to love one another even as we disagree on the issue of same-sex marriage. Yet when he led the crowd in the Lord’s Prayer, the gay marriage radicals screamed and booed him.
I’ve now watched two videos of that segment of the rally – both the unedited and NOM’s edited version – and the truth is that the counter protesters closest to the rally didn’t scream and those who were further away and couldn’t hear what was going on chanted “hey, hey, ho, ho, homophobia’s got to go.”
Personally, as readers know, I prefer the silent treatment. It is effective in making our presence known without giving them video. And most know that I consider myself a Christian. But guess what: I am not obligated to honor or respect the prayers of those who are calling out on God to miraculouosly take away my rights. Those are not holy prayers or worthy of respect.
Entire fundraising letter after the break
July 27th, 2010
On Thursday, the National Organization for Marriage will be holding a Summer for Marriage rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota. However, unlike most stops, this time they will be at a church, the Granite City Baptist Church. (Chicago Tribune)
Granite City Baptist Church Pastor Dennis Campbell tells WJON radio that the organization contacted him about bringing the rally to St. Cloud and he agreed to host because it has a message he supports.
Campbell is an interesting fellow. And the messages that he supports are unique. For example, back in March, probably about the time that NOM was putting together their tour, Campbell took out an ad in the St. Cloud Times to answer the question, Does the Islamic Religion Represent a Threat to America?
Christians are being driven from their homes, murdered, and enslaved in Islamic nations according to William J. Murray, Chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition. Islam is extending its influence over Europe and the United States. Statistics claim there are 9 million, but with illegal immigrants, it is probably closer to 15 million, according to a missionary that grew up in Central Asia. He said Uzbekistan, where he grew up, was 88% Islam. It is projected that in 30 years there will be 50 million Moslems in the USA.
How do Moslems seek to take control of a nation? Moslems seek to influence a nation by immigration, reproduction, education, the government, illegal drugs, and by supporting the gay agenda.
Oh yes, folks, gays are tools of the “Moslems” who seek to overthrow America and force everyone to be Moslems. And when NOM’s Big Bus of Animus pulls up at Granite City Baptist, not only will it be protecting America from gay people, but from Moslems as well.
And Campbell not only knows these amazing things, but he is passing them on to the next generation. At the Granite City Baptist Academy, they teach that secular “students are being brainwashed into a contemporary blend of all religions through classroom myths, rituals, symbols, and multicultural experiences” and that
Secular textbooks are inappropriate for Christian children. Secular publishers are more concerned about being politically correct than historically and scientifically accurate. Publishers are pressured to portray feminists, homosexuals, and Muslims in a positive light.
What a bunch of wackadoodles; NOM should feel right at home. Though, perhaps Maggie Gallagher shouldn’t mention her Hindu husband while she’s in St. Cloud. I doubt Pastor Dennis is all that fond of Hindus either.
July 26th, 2010
The National Organization for Marriage rolled into Indianapolis on their Summer for Marriage Tour and the welcome was decidedly underwhelming. As has been the case in most of the stops on their Tour of Mostly-Empty City Plazas, the crowd was sparse and the counterprotest had more size, creativity, and energy.
The Courage Campaign’s Tour Tracker posted tentative preliminary attendance at the start of about 29 (though this picture shows more) and the protest at about 95. If we see updates, we’ll let you know.
It seems that equality supporters stayed back in their designated area and chanted. In one of the strangest comments so far, NOM’s Maggie Gallagher said “… not even the noisiest protests could drown out the voice and values of Indiana’s majority.” Because having no one show up means that you speak for the majority, I guess.
Maggie spent much of her time in town speaking to politicians. I hope they glanced out the window and saw how truly ineffective and uninspiring that she and NOM really are.
I believe at some point today we will have first hand comments and pictures from a regular BTB reader.
July 24th, 2010
It’s getting harder for the National Organization for Marriage to spin their Summer for Marriage tour into a success. No one is showing up.
Today they went to Lima, Ohio, a metropolitan area of about 100,000. Lima is heavily Republican and Jim Jordan, their Congressman who they sent back to Congress in 2008 by a 65% vote, is one of the most dedicated anti-marriage legislators in Washington. It’s Saturday.
And today’s turnout was pathetic. As NOM’s Maggie Gallagher tweeted
MG: Met 25 or so new friends at Lima rally,thks!! Tiny,well behaved counter protest. See u Monday in Indianapolis!
NOMtastic!
The Courage Campaign’s tour trackers had a different count
In our most rural tour stop to date, the NOM bus tour has taken us to a parking lot, in front of a closed-down grocery store in Lima, Ohio.
A hand-count of 22 NOM supporters (many of whom were staff) gathered into a cavernous parking lot while 19 equality supporters stood quietly to the right of the rally holding handmade signs in silent, but powerful, protest.
I guess 22-25 is, in Maggie’s terms, “successful” but 19 is “tiny”.
Monday they will be heading to Indianapolis and I wonder if anyone will show up to stand in the heat and humidity. If the attendance trend continues, soon they’ll be able to hold their rallies inside the bus.
UPDATE: One of the counter protesters lists his count of the NOMbies at 32, including the organizers.
July 23rd, 2010
Continuing to demonstrate itself to be the NOM Tour of Mostly-Empty City Plazas, the National Organization for Marriage’s tour stop in Columbus, Ohio, was surprisingly poorly attended.
As they moved out of the northeast and into more conservative Ohio, it was assumed that NOM’s rallies would begin to pick up attendance. They even brought out Maggie Gallagher, their big media star, to speak to the crowd at the State House south lawn. But the crowd didn’t show up.
The Tour Tracker reports that the NOMbies at the peak were about 30 and that protesters numbered about 120. Of course, NOM will report 60 supporters because it appears that their counting method is to simply multiply by two (the 19 or so in Annapolis became “about 50 supporters in attendance”).
In Columbus, police set up barricades behind which protesters were required to stand. The protesters chanted and blew whistles. While that is annoying to the speakers, I’m not sure exactly what it accomplished. There’s nothing really wrong with the “hey hey ho ho” chants, but I think it would be more effective to sing We Shall Overcome. Or really annoy NOM and get a few powerful tenors to belt out Ave Maria.
But for the most part they didn’t engage in Shocking! and Outlandish! behavior that would frighten the horses (and yes, there were horses; the police were mounted.) One young lady crossed the line and was reportedly confrontational towards the people attending the NOM rally before being arrested. That was unfortunate and if NOM got any pictures or video of her, she will undoubtedly be the star of their next “I’m a victim” video.
The protest was by far the most interesting part of NOM’s event – even to NOM. Their website has no pictures of their own crowd, deciding instead to post one of the marriage supporters.
One odd thing: Brian Brown was missing from the festivities, and rumor is that he flew to California. No one seems to know why. Maybe he was too bored and depressed from no one showing up to hear him speak.
UPDATE: Here are the two sides of the story about the young lady who was arrested:
NOM’s version:
One woman, before she was escorted out of the rally by police, went through the crowd offering her hand to NOM supporters before ripping it away and cursing in their faces.
Maggie Gallagher’s version:
The protestors seemed a pretty angry lot, but mostly respected the line. (The Ohio cops were going to make sure of that!) One woman tried to incite folks to storm the podium again, but the police made that seem like a pretty bad idea.
I love cops.
Holly Hahn’s version:
This is what happened. I accidentally wandered into the NOM side of the protest. Seeing some opportunity for amusement, I wandered around inside the barricades shaking hands and introducing my self as a homosexual. One older man got upset and grabbed me and tried to wrestle me away, the cops told me to go behind the barricade and i did. Then the cops told me to leave and I refused. They dragged me away, cuffed and charged me with disorderly conduct and obstructing. I cooperated once arrested. I need ANY AND ALL pics and videos, to prove I was shaking hands, not “grabbing arms” please repost!
To clarify” I parked in the parking garage and was unsure which side of the statehouse I need to be. There were NO barricades the way I entered. I didn’t actually realize I was in NOM territory until I noticed the logo on the podium.
p.s absolutely nothing happened to the old man who grappled with me, but i think they recorded me cussing at him to GTFO me, unfortunately. I am truly sorry if my um..unrestrained comments while being assaulted are used in a way that is detrimental to the cause. The fact is I am woman, 5’0 and there was a man grabbing and grappling with me and police yelling at me. I was scared and angry.
p.p.sYes, It wasn’t premeditated. I have done many many protests and actions over the years, but really this time I just wandered into the wrong side and decided to run with it. I can’t let anyone go through their life saying they haven’t met a queer. It’s kind of my policy. So I started shaking hands.
Putting myself in the public eye doesn’t scare me a bit. I am who I am.
I refuse to be afraid and unlike the anonymous donors to Prop 8 and other hate legislation, I am true enough to my beliefs to put my real name on them.
My name is Holly Hahn. I am a lesbian. I am not scared of police, social disapproval or bigots stalking me.
I believe that the time for Mr/s Nice Gay is over. I’m tired of endless attacks against our lives. I don’t want them to feel safe behind the barricade- why should they get the privilege of feeling safe when their words or hate make our brothers and sisters UNsafe?
I will cross barricades again, and I am hoping to organize a courthouse sit in on my court date
UPDATE TWO
I bring you two messages from the National Organization for Marriage. The first is from Maggie Gallagher:
My message to the protestors: Hate is not a family value. The 62 percent of Ohioans who came together across lines of race, creed and color to vote for marriage are not haters, and it’s wrong to portray them, or the American people that way.
The second I bring from NOM’s Facebook page. The site is heavily edited by NOM’s associates and only the messages that the administrators want there remain. What follows is the comments to this post. (I left nothing out so as not to appear to be cherry picking the worst)
Daniel Rowinski: ugh i find out my city of Cleveland will host the gay games of 2014.
Theresa Preece: The Gay Games?
John Ozanich: Gay Olympics
Theresa Preece: Yes, I know. SO many comments….
Danielle Burke: That is extremely disappointing :(John Ozanich: all about money
Tara J Later: Oh, now that is beyond funny. The thing that comes to mind is the javelin throw on the movie ” Revenge of the Nerds”. Let’s get the aerodinamics right. I’m rotfl, big time.
Minister Dixon: “The Gay Games?” Yeah, now I’ve heard everything. How are Gay Games different from other games?
John Acker: Do the males (they are anything but men) compete in accessorizing and lisping?
John Ozanich: you ever see Jesse Owens do a 500 yard sprint wearing a feathered pink boa ?
Tara J Later: @ Min. Dixon….I think I have the answer to that question. The uniforms are tighter and shorter, to make sure they show every part of the body as much as possible. That’s the difference. And the uniforms will be flaming loud.
Minister Dixon: John do you want my turkey sandwich to come back up? LOL
Minister Dixon: @ Tara, if it’s anything like their parades, you may have a point there :)
Tara J Later: I do have to admit, that everyone of my homosexual friends have great taste in style… Only one is on the loud side, but none of them want marriage. It’s quite interesting that they aren’t on the band wagon.
Nick Jones: Do these games consist of slapping fights, sex in public and who can say ‘hey’ the gayest?
Nick Jones: Do these games consist of slapping fights, sex in public and seeing who can say ‘hay’ the gayest?
John Ozanich: no, that’s Congress, Nick…
Minister Dixon: LOL, hey John, you’re not well, hahaha
And now my message to the Maggie: Hate is not a family value. It is true that not all of the 62 percent of Ohioans who voted to deny equality to their gay neighbors are haters, but many of the people who support the National Organization for Marriage and who participate at your Facebook page are.
July 22nd, 2010
I’m not sure how this slipped my attention, but Freedom to Marry is doing a Summer for Marriage tour that mirrors the locations selected by NOM. Except, of course, Freedom to Marry’s tour actual is for marriage, not for marriage restriction.
And it seems that Freedom to Marry events actually have people show up. Unlike NOM’s event in the empty plaza in Annapolis (you have to see the video: there was literally no one standing in the plaza in the sun when the event started), there were about a hundred people at 7 different events across the city. More ministers showed up for Equality Maryland’s Pride in Faith program than did total people attending NOM’s plaza event.
For more info, check out their site.
July 22nd, 2010
There are pictures and video from the National Organization for Marriage’s tour stop in Trenton, New Jersey. I took the broadest photograph, compared it to the others and to the video, and counted 63 people. Including the half-dozen Knights of Columbus that stood behind the speakers, it would be safe to say that at no point at NOM’s rally were there over 80 people present.
Here’s what Brian Brown claimed:
Thanks to all of you who came out for the Summer for Marriage rally at the State House in Trenton. We had about 120 people take time off work and give up their lunch break to come stand for marriage in New Jersey.
At some point, doesn’t he get embarressed?
Oh, but it gets worse. In his Trenton recap video he claims,
Literally, thousands of Americans have stood up in the past few days to say we know what marriage is, marriage is the union of a man and a woman.
Thousands? Literally?
Not even by Brian’s wildly exaggerated, totally false, counts. So far he has claimed inflated numbers of: Augusta 200; Manchester 150-200; Albany 100; Providence 200-250; and Trenton 120; for a complete tour audience of 770 to 890 for their first five stops. Not exactly “thousands”, literally or otherwise.
Not only can the tourists on NOM’s Tour of Mostly-Empty City Plazas not count, they can’t add either. Or they simply have no integrity at all.
July 21st, 2010
The Parents and Friends of Gays and Ex-gays (PFOX) is tiny, but interesting, anti-gay group. They are mostly disapproving parents of happily gay people who, along with an ex-gay or two, somewhat pathetically fight against the rights and freedoms of their gay children. I’m sure it must make for interesting table conversation at Thanksgiving.
Their current ex-gay is Greg Quinlan, a rather colorful fellow, who serves as their President. Quinlan’s shtick is going about claiming to be abused, mistreated, and discriminated against because he’s ex-gay. His latest amusing – but decidedly wackadoodle – effort was a disastrously unsuccessful attempt to get Pepsi to change it’s non-discrimination policy to specifically include ex-gays.
Well PFOX doesn’t do much and can’t be too time consuming. And Greg has had plenty of time on his hands since his ex-lesbian wife divorced him three years ago after a short marriage. So he thought he’d go do a little companion shopping at the National Organization for Marriage’s grand tour of empty city plazas, where Courage Campaign’s video camera caught up with him.
Quinlan shows up at the 4:39 point.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=36vfV2JNYF8%26hl%3Den_US%26fs%3D1%22%3E%3CMy name is Gregory Quinlan, and I’m uh.. this is PFOX, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays. We advocate for the rights of former homosexuals.
If you can change from straight to gay, why can’t you change from gay to straight. That’s what I did nearly 19 years ago.
It’s a matter of choice. Now choices can be hard, choices can take a lot of effort. It did for me. But, it’s still a choice.
[videographer: Are you married?]
No.
[videographer: Why did you make that choice?]
Well, uh the choice?
[videographer: of not being married?]
Of not being… oh, it’s not that I’ve made that choice. It’s just that if you know of anybody, send them my way. I live right here in Roxbury Township, up in North Jersey. I’ll give you my name and number afterwords, if you know of anybody who’s available.
[videographer: What does that person look like?]
Female. And breathing.
Yeah… good luck with that, Greg.
July 17th, 2010
Ya know that National Organization for Marriage Facebook page that that spews pure nastiness and contempt? The one that NOM’s PR firm claims is run by “a private party”?
The Facebook account on which these statements were reportedly made is not NOM’s Facebook page and neither NOM nor anyone representing NOM made these statements. The Facebook account in question is operated by a private party and NOM does not control what is allowed to be posted on the account…
Yeah, well guess who was doing using the site’s administration today.
Protect Marriage: One Man, One Woman Brian: Fun rally today in Albany. Protestors came out with colored balloons and umbrellas. I posted the whole account over at the Marriage Tour blog, complete with pictures.
That “Brian” would be NOM’s president, Brian Brown.
(p.s. My favorite comment was this one… and she wrote it without irony:
Dawn Benjamin: in the end times people will call evil good and good evil. They will be lovers of themselves and lovers of money. Pray for these people and ask God for their spiritual eyes and ears to be opened. It is a spiritual warfare but God has won the Battle!)
July 17th, 2010
Today NOM’s Big Bus of Animus came to Albany, NY. And the rhetoric and spin from the National Organization for Marriage is reaching comical proportions.
NOM: “Local supporters were happy with the turnout, explaining that downtown Albany is a “ghost town” on weekends.”
More NOM: “We started off in Augusta with close to 200 people on Wednesday, had roughly 150-200 in Manchester on Thursday, and around 100 in Albany today.”
Courage Campaign: “It’s fair to say that Albany turned into yet another NOM FAIL, due to the beauty of creative counter-protest and the paltry NOM attendance (Danny hand-counted 57 attendees).”
Yes, it looks like NOM continues to have problems with simple mathematics. Or perhaps they suffer from Honesty Deficiency Syndrome.
In Albany, local supporters of equality came up with a very creative way of countering NOM’s message. Inspired by their warnings of gathering storms, the community showed up with colorful umbrellas and surrounded the rally.
And NOM & crew are not happy. NOM’s Louis Marinelli is getting increasingly bitter as each day goes by.
Today he continued his pattern of putting the names and pictures of gay people on his blogsite, this time a young activist named Danny. While this is a common tactic for the some of the crazier of the anti-gay loons, I’m not sure what Marinelli is hoping to accomplish. I guess he thinks that this is still 1972 and that gay people are living in the shadows hoping no one finds out that we are gay.
He also waved his martyr flag with a little story about how some woman wasn’t able to dictate to the “rude interlopers” where they should stand or which way they should face.
Poor NOM, things aren’t going so well for them in the North East. Tiny crowds, “rude interlopers”, and unflattering photos of NOM’s Brian Brown scowling, glaring, and snarling. We’ll see how things for for them tomorrow in Rhode Island.
UPDATE:
Marinelly has lost it. He’s really completely lost it.
He has now dedicated an entire blog post to the fact that some counter-protester brought his dogs. Seriously.
July 16th, 2010
Anti-gay activists love to call same-sex relationships “artificial.” But those brightly smiling happy families beaming from the side of the National Organization for Marriage’s tour RV and van truly are fake.
As Jeremy at GoodAsYou.org shows, they are stock photos of models posing as families.
Oh, but when has NOM ever cared about honest representation?
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