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NOM: Republican Party Will Be ‘Done’ If It Stops Opposing Marriage Equality

The National Organization for Marriage’s Brian Brown sat down with USA Today to talk about their loss in Rhode Island, but despite the advance of equality, Brown continued to reiterate his false belief that a majority oppose same-sex marriage — they don’t. During the interview, Susan Page asked him about the Republican Party’s attempt to be more inclusive of people who support marriage equality, even if the party’s platform doesn’t change, but he was resolute that straying from this one position will be the demise of the entire party:

PAGE: Reince Priebus, the Republican National Chairman, said the party needed to be inclusive on this issue — needed to keep the party platform but welcome people who support same-sex marriage as good Republicans. Should the party be inclusive?

BROWN: 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’s done. The party is done if the Republican Party abandons traditional marriage. It would 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 the full interview at USA Today.

Despite the fact NOM is non-partisan, Brown has a significant investment in the Republican party. In addition to leading NOM, Brown heads up ActRight, an online fundraising tool for conservative candidates, including “all federal Republican candidates.” He has used ActRight’s tool to fundraise in the state same-sex marriage fights to prove its worth to Republican operatives. Thus, he likely wants the party staying committed to opposing same-sex marriage so they stay interested in using ActRight.

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Incidentally, NOM’s own vindictive campaigns against Republicans who support marriage equality have backfired against the party. Of the four Republican seats NOM challenged in the New York Senate, they only replaced one with an opponent of marriage equality, but lost two of them to Democrats. If all Republicans obeyed Brian Brown’s wishes, it would help his personal cause greatly, but it would continue to hurt the party in a country increasingly embracing equal marriage rights for all couples.