The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and the FAMiLY LEADER have announced an independent expenditure in support Cindy Golding, the Republican in Iowa’s special Senate election in District 18. The seat could change the balance of power in the state Senate — Democrats have a 25-24 advantage, and Gloding’s victory would tie the chamber at 25 — and potentially allow conservatives to push through a constitutional amendment outlawing the state’s marriage equality. The groups’ flyer:

The Leader came under intense criticism earlier this year for asking the presidential candidates to sign a controversial 14-point marriage fidelity pledge. The document caused a rift within the Republican party and led several GOP insiders and 2012 presidential candidates to raise concerns about the group’s extreme conservative ideology and social beliefs. Aside from asking the party to affirm that homosexuality is a choice and that African American children enjoyed stronger families during the period of slavery, the group’s president — three-time failed gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats — has also been caught suggesting that President Obama was born in Kenya and breaking out in laughter at an offensive anti-gay joke.

Golding herself has not yet endorsed a constitutional ban against same-sex marriage and is instead focusing on jobs and the economy.

Though a number of Ivy League universities have reopened their campuses to the military’s ROTC program upon the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Brown University is not convinced it’s the right step. Though the campus is divided, Brown President Ruth Simmons has recommended only that students be allowed to participate in ROTC on other campuses, citing the military’s continued discrimination against people who are transgender:

SIMMONS: Consistent with its stated policy of anti-discrimination, Brown should take a stand against discrimination against transgender individuals by the military. It should do so in all the long-tested and well-recognized forms available in matters of advocacy. In that regard, it is appropriate and necessary to advance the University’s position on this issue as soon as possible. [...]

We must do all in our power as an institution to carry the message to Congress, the executive branch, and the military establishment that the policy barring transgender individuals from military service must be changed. We have the capacity to mount the arguments, to influence others to assist in bringing the case forward, and to persist with this struggle until the proper ends are achieved. To do this would be entirely consistent with the tradition of the University, a tradition that saw students at Brown calling for the abolition of slavery in the earliest days of the University.

The military prohibits the service of transgender people under both its medical regulations and conduct regulations. Campuses that previously banned ROTC argued that DADT conflicted with their non-discrimination policies protecting gay, lesbian, and bisexual students. Repeal of DADT, however, does not rectify conflicts with their non-discrimination policies based on gender identity.

Yesterday, a Republican-led Michigan Senate committee “approved legislation aimed at blocking the offering of taxpayer-paid health insurance to domestic partners living with public employees,” the Associated Press is reporting. The Michigan state House passed the measure last month.

Democrats opposed the legislation, however, claiming that public universities have the constitutional authority to determine their own policies. Earlier this year, the Michigan Civil Service Commission voted “to allow state employees to share health care benefits with an ‘other eligible adult’” and several public entities, “representing tens of thousands of workers” are already providing “benefits for domestic partners of employees, including the State of Michigan, at least 10 public universities, at least 5 city and county governments, and at least 3 public school districts,” LGBTQ Nation notes.

In 2008, Michigan residents defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and the Michigan Supreme Court ruled “that same-sex partner benefits should not be allowed.” However, the court “also made clear that the ruling does not prohibit employers from offering coverage to another person — that person just couldn’t be called a ‘domestic partner.’”

The Condordia Group — an Iowa-based consulting firm — has released a YouTube ad supporting Republican Cynthia Golding in her race against Democrat Liz Mathis for the state’s special senate election in District 18. The seat could change the balance of power in senate — Democrats have a 25-24 advantage and Gloding’s victory would tie the chamber at 25 — and potentially allow conservatives to push through an amendment outlawing marriage equality.

The ad targets Democrats for protecting “rogue” and “unaccountable” judges — who struck down the state’s anti-gay marriage law — and failing to defund Planned Parenthood. Watch it:

The founder of the group, Nick Ryan, and his associate, Jill Latham, “are consultants to Rick Santorum’s presidential campaign,” Enzo of the Aksarbent blog notes. Ryan is also behind American Future Fund — a secretive political group that has been accused of violating robocalling laws. The group has been tied to the 1988 “Willie Horton” ad and the 2004 “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” ads, but made as significant impact on the 2010 midterm elections, winning 76 percent of races in which it participated. AFF is “registered as a 501(c)(4)” and can receive unlimited donations without disclosing its donors.

Latham, meanwhile, served as Mitt Romney’s Iowa organizational director in 2008.

Both Golding and Mathis have thus far avoided the marriage issue, with Golding arguing, “We have so many issues in this state that are much more important for our economy, for the families, for business.”

Republican presidential frontrunner Herman Cain has repeatedly said he believes being gay is a choice, suggesting he’s seen no science that says otherwise. In an interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan that aired last night, he reiterated this faulty belief, and when Morgan pushed him that race and sexual orientation were comparable, Cain explained that race is different because it “doesn’t wash off”:

CAIN: I respect their right to make that choice. You don’t see me bashing them or anything like that. I respect their right to make that choice. I don’t have to agree with it. That’s all I’m saying.

MORGAN: It would be like a gay person saying, Herman, you made a choice to be black.

CAIN: We know that’s not the case. I was born black.

MORGAN: Yes, maybe if they said that, you would find it offensive.

CAIN: Piers, this doesn’t wash off. I hate to burst your bubble.

Watch it:

Of course, not only is there science that shows being gay is not a choice and doesn’t “wash off,” there is scientific consensus about the enduring nature of any sexual orientation. Homosexuality is no more likely to “wash off” than heterosexuality. As Harvey Milk said decades ago defending gay teachers, “If it were true that children emulate their teachers, we’d have a lot more nuns running around.” Cain’s comments continue the religious right’s harmful spread of misinformation and the demonization of gay people for political gain.