NOM's Antigay Efforts in Iowa Have Them in Hot Water

Ever since Iowa's Supreme Court threw out the state's ban on marriage equality in 2009, the antigay National Organization for Marriage worked overtime to get the elected justices tossed from their jobs. NOM's partially-successful efforts have been aided by their anonymous donors up until now, but the Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board is currently investigating the group for hiding the identities of the people who give them money.

The board is looking into actions of NOM during 2010 and 2012, when justices fought to keep their jobs (three of seven were removed in 2010 by voters; Justice David Wiggins kept his job last year; three others face elections in 2016). Specifically, NOM sent an email out in 2012 pleading with its supporters to send them money to boot Wiggins. NOM says they don't have to reveal who responded to their plea, but the disclosure board appears to disagree.

"This is just the latest example of how NOM doesn't believe laws apply to them," Human Rights Campaign vice president of communications Fred Sainz said in a release. "NOM has a penchant for portraying themselves as a grassroots organization, but their own tax returns tell a different story. Brian Brown and his antigay cohorts went into Iowa with the goal of intimidating justices all across the country." Click here to read the interesting impetus of the Iowa investigation.

NOM already got into trouble for trying to hide the identities of antigay donors in Maine.