NOM launches New Jersey anti-gay marriage radio ad

by Susan Marie Kovalinsky | November 25, 2009 at 08:18 am

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" The nation's most vocal opponent of gay marriage has launched an anti-gay marriage radio ad in the state of New Jersey Monday.

In a press release NOM says the new campaign brings the group's total expenditure in New Jersey to fight against gay marriage to $1 million. The group has donated $1.5 million in both California and Maine to reverse gay marriage laws. " nj.com November 25 , 2009

“NOM's voter outreach will include telephone calling, direct mailers, and online advertising to let voters know that Democrats are considering following Jon Corzine over a political cliff by pushing gay marriage in the lame-duck [session],” said Brian Brown, executive director of NOM. ~ NJ.com

The Washington DC based advocacy group, NOM (National Organization for Marriage) has launched its 30-second radio ad spot titled Give Me a Break , arguing against "lame duck legislature" of gay marriage in the state of New Jersey.

This comes as NJ gays are scrambling to get a bill passed under the outgoing pro-gay marriage Governor Jon Corzine, and before anti-gay marriage bill Governor Chris Christie's inauguration . Christie has vowed to veto any gay marriage bill, and has said he would like to see a Federal amendment against same sex marriage.

In the NOM radio spot, as a woman and a man discuss the gay push for the same sex marriage bill to be set forth for debate during Corzine's " lame-duck" session of the New Jersey Legislature, it becomes clear to them that the economy should come first.

“With all our problems, they want to legalize gay marriage,” the woman says, then adds, “Gay couples ought to be able to live as they choose, but they shouldn't get lame-duck legislators to redefine marriage for all of society.”
The radio spot hit the airways Monday, the first day of the lame-duck session, which did not include the gay marriage bill on its agenda.

That wasn't stopping either camp; proponents rallied at the Statehouse to urge lawmakers to approve the bill before Governor Jon Corzine leaves office in mid-January and is replaced by Republican Chris Christie, a gay marriage opponent who supports a gay marriage ban.

Several hundred protesters cheered on as Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, warned Democratic leaders that the New Jersey gay community would respond appropriately if the bill was not put up for a vote.

“The time is now. Put up or shut up,” he said as the crowd chanted, “Now, now, now.”

Goldstein introduced State Senator Loretta Weinberg, the bill's primary sponsor and Governor Corzine's former running mate, as our “guardian angel.”

Weinberg told the crowd: “I'm not guaranteeing anything here, but I think this is winnable.”

While polls indicate a slight majority of voters approve of giving gay men and lesbians the right to marry, several Democratic lawmakers appear to have shifted from the affirmative to the undecided column. Senator Stephen M. Sweeney, who will become Senate president in January, told the New York Times that several lawmakers view Governor Corzine's loss as a referendum against gay marriage.