Unhinged NOM Chair John Eastman Says Donors Were Victimized During Prop. 8 Campaign: VIDEO

Testifying before the GOP-led House Ways and Means Committee today over the IRS Tea Party 'scandal', NOM Chair John Eastman said "traditional marriage" supporters were "harassed, assaulted on the streets, vandalized on their property" during the Prop. 8 campaign to the point where they were fearful of giving money to the organization.

Eastman also received a round of applause from the room after accusing Rep. Earl Blumenauer of "scurrilous" remarks for saying that the groups before the committee were political and shouldn't be called 'social welfare' organizations.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

More on Eastman's testimony from McClatchy here.

UPDATE: Blumenauer responds to this nonsense in the HuffPost.

Let's get real and stop the charade about what a 'social welfare' organization is.

Last year, internal National Organization for Marriage (NOM) strategy documents were leaked, stating that the organization seeks "to drive a wedge between gays and blacks" by promoting "African American spokespeople for marriage," thus provoking same-sex marriage supporters into "denouncing these spokesmen and women as bigots," and "to interrupt the assimilation" of Latinos into "dominant Anglo culture" by making the stance against same-sex marriage "a key badge of Latino identity."

Does this sound like social welfare to you? Social welfare organizations should work in the public interest -- not to divide, exploit, and conquer.

NOM Chair to Testify Before House Panel Over Alleged IRS Leak

Last month Towleroad reported that NOM's Brian Brown was demanding an investigation over a 990-B tax form it claims was leaked by the IRS to the Human Rights Campaign, following uproar over reports that the IRS targeted conservative groups.

The Hill reports that six groups have been "scheduled to give first-person accounts of the IRS’s targeting of conservative organizations" before the House Ways and Means Committee tomorrow:

John Eastman, the president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) – a prominent group opposing same-sex marriage – is among those scheduled to appear, after NOM announced plans last month to sue the IRS.

...Four of the other groups that have representatives scheduled to testify – the Laurens County Tea Party, the Wetumpka Tea Party, the San Fernando Valley Patriots and the Linchpins of Liberty – are all among the roughly 25 groups taking part in a lawsuit against the IRS filed by the American Center for Law and Justice.

NOM President Brian Brown Condemns Murder of Gay Man in NYC

Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage, released the following statement yesterday:

"We condemn in the strongest possible way the murder of a gay man in New York by a killer who apparently hurled anti-gay insults at him moments before the killing. This senseless act cannot be condoned in America or anywhere, and we urge that the perpetrator be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Our heart goes out to the family of the victim, and we hold them in our prayers. While this killing appears to have no connection to the current debate about redefining marriage, there is no room for violence toward any American — whether they support traditional marriage or not. No person should be subjected to violence because they are gay or lesbian or because they believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. There is no place for violence, period."

As IRS Activity Makes Headlines, NOM Wants Investigation into Who Slipped HRC its Tax Form

You may recall a story we were posting about in March and April 2012.

The National Organization for Marriage said "criminal activity" had occurred regarding the publication of its 2008 990-B tax form on March 30, 2012 by the Human Rights Campaign, which sought to reveal how Mitt Romney tried to shuffle his anti-gay financial activities in support of NOM and Proposition 8 through an obscure Alabama PAC.

The document, which contains the names of dozens of donors, is still available at the Huffington Post. NOM is currently the subject of lawsuits in several states for trying to hide its donors.

In light of the recent reports about the IRS targeting specific conservative groups, NOM's Brian Brown is freaking out and calling for an investigation:

"There is little question that one or more employees at the IRS stole our confidential tax return and leaked it to our political enemies, in violation of federal law," said Brian Brown, NOM's president. "The only questions are who did it, and whether there was any knowledge or coordination between people in the White House, the Obama reelection campaign and the Human Rights Campaign. We and the American people deserve answers."

NOM Fundraises Off George Takei PSA Mocking Anti-Gay Bigots: VIDEO

Last week I posted an amazing new PSA for 'Funny or Die' from George Takei warning of the dangerous individuals who oppose marriage equality. The video, which features Takei, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Brad Goreski.

NOM's Brian Brown is freaking out about the video, telling his flock, "the producers of this video want your friends, family and the rest of society to believe" that you are a "sick, bigoted, ignorant, drunken, hypocritical, fill-in-the-blank."

Shrieks Brown, as he holds out his donation cup:

This video is unbridled hatred and bigotry towards people like you and me who believe in marriage. Some gay marriage activists clearly believe their own propaganda that gay marriage is inevitable, and now they are no longer attempting to hide their loathing and hatred of good people like you and me who simply believe marriage is the unique and special union of husband and wife.

If you are outraged as I am over this video please help counteract its desired effect by taking a stand for marriage by donating $35, $50, $100 or $500 to NOM today to support our efforts to protect marriage and good people like you who believe in marriage....We can't afford to let this kind of overt prejudice and bigotry against good people who believe in marriage become mainstream!

Unfortunately for Brown, according to polls, support for marriage equality is already mainstream.

Watch Takei's video again (and it deserves a second watch), AFTER THE JUMP...

NOM's Brian Brown Remains in Utter Denial That His Side is Losing on Gay Marriage: VIDEO

NOM President Brian Brown gives an interview to USA Today about the U.S. march toward marriage equality, the states in which has recently passed and the states where it is pending.

He is also asked about Reince Priebus and statements he made that the party needs to be inclusive.

"Does inclusive mean that you get rid of your founding principles? Are party platforms supposed to mean anything? If the party does that, the party is DONE! The  party is DONE if the Republican party abandons traditional marriage! It will mean that it has turned its back again on not only its base but on the overwhelming majority of folks who identify as Republicans."

Watch (warning: autoplay), AFTER THE JUMP...