SALON

Wednesday, Nov 7, 2012 7:11 PM UTC

NOM: Americans still oppose gay marriage

Despite last night's ample evidence to the contrary

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Topics: 2012 Elections, Maine, Washington, Minnesota, National Organization for Marriage, Gay Marriage, Maryland, , ,

NOM: Americans still oppose gay marriage (Credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com)

Gay rights groups had unprecedented victories at the ballot box with Minnesota, Maryland, Washington and Maine all voting in favor of gay marriage in one way or another. Last night marked the first time that any one measure in favor of gay marriage was successful at the ballot box, let alone four.

But if you ask the National Organization for Marriage, which poured millions of dollars into the races, this doesn’t mean much.

Brian Brown, president of NOM, put out a statement today saying that they are “disappointed” about losing, but they knew it would be tough because “the four marriage battles [were] occurring in four of the deepest-blue states in America.”

“Our opponents and some in the media will attempt to portray the election results as a changing point in how Americans view gay marriage, but that is not the case,” Brown said. “Americans remain strongly in favor of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The election results reflect the political and funding advantages our opponents enjoyed in these very liberal states.”

Minnesota for Marriage, which was pushing the state’s ballot measure that would add a ban on same-sex marriages to the state’s constitution, had a similar sentiment. ”We know that God has defined marriage as between one man and one woman, regardless of the efforts of some to overthrow His design,” John Helmberger, chairman of MFM, said in a statement.

Derek McCoy, president of the Maryland Family Alliance, had another explanation, the Washington Post reports: “Today, it’s becoming more politically correct to be in favor of same-sex marriage than marriage that has been around since the beginning of civilization.”

Jillian Rayfield

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

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