NOM for Romney: Anti-gay group announces endorsement

The anti-gay National Organization for Marriage announced its endorsement of Republican Mitt Romney for president on April 11, a day after ultra-conservative Rick Santorum suspended his campaign for the GOP nomination.

NOM, in a news release, said “it was making the endorsement to help focus social conservatives on the need to defeat President Obama in November.”

“We are proud to endorse Mitt Romney for president,” said NOM president Brian Brown. “Gov. Romney was an early signer of NOM’s presidential pledge which represents his commitment to the nation to take specific actions as president to preserve and protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”

Brown claimed Obama “has declared our nation’s marriage laws to be unconstitutional and not only has refused to defend them, his administration is actively working to repeal them in the courts. He’s come out against state constitutional amendments defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. And he has appointed leaders of the same-sex ‘marriage’ movement as national co-chairs of his reelection campaign.

“Incredibly, Obama still apparently claims to personally support traditional marriage. With friends like President Obama, the institution of marriage doesn’t need enemies.”

NOM said that when Romney signed its marriage pledge, the candidate committed to supporting an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage, to nominating Supreme Court justices and an attorney general who oppose gay marriage, to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, to creating a presidential commission on religious liberty and to repealing marriage equality in the District of Columbia.

Responding, the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT group, called on Romney to reject NOM’s endorsement. However, that seems unlikely. Four years ago, a Romney PAC gave $10,000 to NOM, according to a document released by HRC earlier this month.

“One of the most hate-filled groups in American politics is embracing Gov. Romney today,” HRC president Joe Solmonese said. “NOM has said unconscionable things about LGBT people and staunchly opposes any sort of relationship recognition for committed, loving LGBT couples – not to mention the group’s race-baiting.”

NOM released its endorsement announcement as the organization was recovering from a hijacking of its social media tools, including its Twitter account that this morning was promoting marriage equality. As a result of the hijacking, numerous sites erroneously reported that NOM was apologizing for its tactics of the past.

Related story: Santorum suspends campaign.

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