National Organization for Marriage
(NOM) President Brian Brown said Friday that his group is working to
alter the makeup of the Supreme Court to reverse marriage equality.
The group has in the past criticized
LGBT activists for turning to the courts to achieve their goals,
especially on the issue of equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian
couples. Prior to the Supreme Court's groundbreaking 2015 Obergefell
ruling, Brown would often frown on rulings striking down state bans,
describing them as “judicial activism.”
In a fundraising email to supporters,
Brown said that it needed money to maintain its monitoring of the
high court.
“Senator Charles Grassley, chairman
of the US Senate Judiciary Committee, said yesterday that he expects
there will be another vacancy on the Supreme Court as soon as this
summer,” Brown
wrote. “Other sources have said the same thing in recent
weeks. That means that we need to be ready at a moment’s notice to
spring into action to urge the appointment of a strong
constitutionalist to the Court, someone who will have the courage to
vote to reverse the illegitimate, anti-constitutional Obergefell
ruling that redefined marriage.”
Brown added that without a cash
infusion it would be unable to fight for “legislation to protect
the religious liberty rights of people of faith,” forced to cut
back on its “public education and grassroots mobilization efforts”
and pushed to “take a pass on participating in critical court cases
on key issues including gender and religious liberty.”
When President Donald Trump nominated
Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, Brown said that his confirmation
would be “the first step on the path” to transforming the court
and reversing Obergefell.