Minnesota For Marriage, the anti-gay marriage group which is currently losing the race to write discrimination into their state constitution, stands accused of using paid National Organization For Marriage (NOM), employees as just average folks, man-on-the-street “volunteers” and “supporters” in photos and videos, by none other than former NOM social media strategist Louis Marinelli.
Marinelli, on his website, writes yesterday he was “amused by the captions to Minnesota For Marriage’s photo album images which has paid staffers from the National Organization for Marriage donning volunteer t-shirts. The captions go on to describe those in the photos as marriage supporters and casual fair-goers.”
Regular readers will remember that last spring, in a devastating blow to NOM and anti-gay conservatives, Marinelli defected to the pro-marriage equality side. “I now support full marriage equality,†he first announced via Twitter, and, in an exclusive interview with Good As You’s Jeremy Hooper, said, “I agree that what the gay community are fighting for are their civil rights.â€
In a series of six photos in his article, “Minnesota anti-gay marriage group portrayed paid National Organization for Marriage staffers as its supporters, volunteers,” Marinelli proves that NOM in fact is masquerading their paid staff and executives as ordinary folks unaffiliated with Minnesota for Marriage or NOM.
“So what’s the point of all this?,” Marinelli writes. “It just reiterates a point I made last year about how small the anti-gay movement is. Here, Minnesota for Marriage is portraying people in their official public albums as marriage supporters and fair-goers but leaving out the fact that those people are paid staffers of the National Organization for Marriage and they are the same staffers you will find state to state at various anti-gay rallies over the past few years.”
Minnesota for Marriage, which has a mere 4275 “likes” on Facebook, claims to be “supported by a broad range of organizations and individuals, including faith leaders from virtually every denomination in Minnesota – and those who subscribe to no faith at all,” but it’s comprised of only three groups:
Minnesota Family Council
Minnesota Catholic Conference
National Organization for Marriage
Hardly “faith leaders from virtually every denomination in Minnesota.”
The organization weekly publishes wildly misleading if not outright fictitious videos, hosted by a local former Minnesota TV journalist, Kelly Yanta.
“Certainly marriage should only be entered but loving and committed couples,†Yanta announces in one video, adding, “marriage is primarily about channeling the sexual passion of men and women with its inherent potential for creating children.â€
Apparently, there aren’t many in Minnesota who agree. At least, not without getting a paycheck for it.