Michele Bachmann today literally signed her name to a marriage pledge from the National Organization For Marriage (NOM) that makes five promises of anti-gay hated and discrimination, including, support of a federal amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning same-sex marriage, promises a federal defense in courts of DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, and a “presidential commission on religious liberty,” that would, among other items, propose protections for those opposed to same-sex marriage equality.
READ:Â Santorum Follows Bachmann, Signs Anti-Gay, Anti-Porn, Pro-Slavery Vow
Lagging and almost out-of-the-race so-called “values” candidate Rick Santorum also signed the pledge today, and in a surprise turn of events, so did front-runner Mitt Romney — who had abstained from signing a similar pledge that made headlines last month for being pro-slavery, anti-porn, anti-gay, and anti-Islam.
“The signature of the frontrunner, Romney, is a bit of a coup for the group, as he’s been careful about committing to other pledges, including a broad promise to a socially conservative Iowa group that caused trouble for other candidates,” writes Ben Smith of Politico today, adding, “The pledge is less meaningful for its direct consequences than for the fact that it commits the three candidates fully to the hottest front in the culture wars.”
For their part, NOM issued a statement saying, “Many candidates say they support traditional marriage (like President Obama!) but three GOP presidential candidates today stand head and shoulders above the crowd as marriage champions, for their willingness to go beyond words to commit to concrete actions,” said Brian Brown, president of NOM, speaking on the eve of the launch of the Values Voter Bus Tour through 22 Iowa cities, which NOM is co-sponsoring. “We are grateful to MichelleBachmann [sic], Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum for their courage and their leadership in standing up for marriage, and so are millions of Americans who care about protecting marriage.”
The full text of the pledge (image, top) includes these concepts:
- Support and send to the states a federal marriage amendment defining marriage as one man and one woman,
- Defend DOMA in court,
- Appoint judges and an attorney general who will respect the original meaning of the Constitution,
- Appoint a presidential commission to investigate harassment of traditional marriage supporters,
- Support legislation that would return to the people of D.C. their right to vote for marriage.
Troubling is not only the promise to write more discrimination directly into our founding documents, but a promise to create protections for those motivated by animus, hatred and bigotry — religious or otherwise.