The National Organization for Marriage does not stand on any set of principles, but is guided solely by what it thinks will help defeat marriage equality for same-sex couples. In Washington, for example, NOM’s Brian Brown came out swinging against Starbucks for supporting the same-sex marriage bill:
BROWN: Americans should be able to drink a peaceful cup of coffee without worrying that a portion of the company’s profits is going to be used to push gay marriage without a vote from the people. This is a gratuitous leap into a hot button culture war issue; respect for diversity touted by Starbucks ought to include respecting the diverse views of all its customers and employees.
For Brown, “diversity” counts when it’s limited to only his views on marriage. Besides that, it’s a farce for NOM to act like it wants businesses to stay out of LGBT issues when it engages with them all the time. As Jeremy Hooper pointed out yesterday, NOM has repeatedly defended Chick-Fil-A for opposing LGBT rights. In fact, NOM now has a “Corporate Fairness Project” that bullies companies into staying affiliated with any employee or contractor who speaks out against marriage — regardless of how offensive their comments might be. Keep in mind too that NOM was on the front lines of the Proposition 8 fight, standing hand-in-hand with ProtectMarriage.com as it threatened businesses that were opposed to the discriminatory amendment.
It’s unclear why NOM targeted a Starbucks cup of coffee rather than a Nike shoe or an Internet search on Google or Microsoft Bing, as it would have to similarly boycott them all for supporting marriage equality in Washington. NOM’s duplicity is by no means surprising, but given the organization continues to commit millions to fighting marriage equality or retaliating against its supporters, its role in fights like Washington’s cannot be discounted.