National
NOM Facebook, blog hacked
Blog post, Facebook status update, and tweet could indicate change of policy, or a rogue employee
The initial NOM post appeared around 6:00 a.m. April 11, and was followed by several comments that seemed to confirm the change of course. (Screen shot courtesy Jeremy Hooper)
Around 7:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, several sources reported that both the NOM Facebook page and Twitter account posted strange tweets that seemed to indicate a change of heart, but instead it seems the messages were the result of a lapse in security.
According to the Advocate, Elizabeth Ray of CRC Public Relations, who handles media inquiries for the National Organization for Marriage, confirmed to the Advocate Magazine that NOM’s Facebook, Twitter and blog were indeed hacked and that the group was working this morning to restore its online content, however at this time, they seem to have lost complete control over their Twitter account, @Nomtweets.
It was not clear at first whether or not the National Organization for Marriage actually posted the comment on their Facebook wall that caught the attention of prominent National Organization for Marriage watchdog Jeremy Hooper of the GoodAsYou.org blog. The post was made outside of normal business hours, which immediately raised questions as to its authenticity, but as of 10:00 a.m. the post was still live, showing the extent to which NOM had lost control of their own digital presence.
The Facebook post read “We sincerely apologize to anyone we have banned from this page in the past. That is why anyone who was ever banned for simply exercising their right to free speech is now welcome to once again engage with this page. We vow to work on how we address our opponents in the future.”
“The details of NOM’s overtaken web properties are for the organization, its potential in-house detractors, and its web security team to have out,” Hooper told the Blade Wednesday morning, before the hacking was confirmed.. “Personally, I’m focusing on the fact that I, after several years of being banned for doing nothing more than disagreeing with the NOM view, can participate in a fair and free discourse on the NOM Facebook wall. Everyone, on both sides of this so-called culture war deserves that.”
“If this is a hack and NOM responds by again banning commenters who don’t deserve to be banned? To me, that will be lock-solid proof of the [organization’s] desire to host a monologue, not a conversation,” Hooper concluded.
The Facebook post, which has already generated over one hundred comments, most quite supportive of the move, was joined by a similar Twitter postings.
NOM's Twitter account showed similar activity, indicating an actual change of heart, or a rogue employee. (Screen shot courtesy Jeremy Hooper)
After posting additional tweets that confirmed the errant messages did not originate from the organization’s leadership, the Twitter account seemed to go completely offline. However, before 10:00 a.m. the Twitter account reappeared, wiped completely clean of NOM’s old content, and began tweeting pro-gay messages. Apparently the hackers deleted the account, and an industrious LGBT activist was able to secure control over the username before NOM could regain control.
"We were embarrassed by the truth of our racial wedge strategies being made public." (Screen shot courtesy Jeremy Hooper)
Though NOM is now blaming these actions on an industrious hacker, some have wondered aloud in the blogosphere whether they could be the result of another staff defector. In April 2011, Louis Marinelli, who guided NOM’s social media presence to that point, abruptly turned on the organization and deleted its Twitter and Facebook presence in the process. He later came forward to profess he’d lost faith in the organization and that — after meeting and having real conversations with real same-sex couples — had come to support same-sex marriage.
At just 7:51 a.m. A new post to the NOM blog was pushed live, attributed to Brian Brown, that implied NOM was showing contrition, and making a shift in the tenor of public discourse.
“Friends of marriage,
“In the last couple of weeks you’ve heard some pretty bad things about this organization. I must admit that we were angered when our in house documents were released but we’ve since had time to reflect on the strategies we’ve employed to divide Americans against each other on the issue of marriage. Truth be told, marriage is about bringing people together, not pushing them apart and that’s exactly what this organization has been about over the past few years.
“Aside from that on an unrelated matter, we’ve stifled free speech on our social media online properties. We’re rectifying that this morning by removing the bans on the hundreds and hundreds of our opponents our staff imposed. We want to encourage an open and fair discussion about marriage and that can only happen if we welcome our outspoken opponents back into the dialogue.
“We apologize for our transgressions. We’re turning over a new leaf with constitutional and civil rights as our primary focus going forward. We hope you will stand with us as we turn things around for the better.”
"We've banned so many, we're working on unbanning them all but it is a time-consuming process." (Screen Shot courtesy Jeremy Hooper)
NOM’S blog site was soon replaced with a message reading “down for maintenance” after the uncharacteristic post was discovered. This more clearly indicated the post was the result of a hacker or rogue employee, rather than a change is course, however, whether or not this was a defector or someone from outside of the organization still remains to be seen.
In addition to the Facebook post, the blog posting and the Tweet, the hackers of the Facebook page also left several comments on the original post that seemed to apologize for NOM’s race-baiting strategies discovered in the pages of court documents made public by the Human Rights Campaign last month.
“We were embarrassed by the truth of our racial wedge strategies being made public,” read one comment. “So this is a gesture of our good faith to turn things around.”
Jeremy Hooper's comment. (Screen shot courtesy Jeremy Hooper)
“We’ve banned so many, we’re working on unbanning them all but it is a time-consuming process,” read another post several minutes later.
After his Facebook commenting ability was restored on the NOM fan page, Jeremy Hooper was quick to add to the voices on the post, though he was skeptical that this would be a permanent change.
“I’ve never once left a disrespectful comment, yet have been banned for years now (with screen cap proof of the unreasonable banning),” Hooper wrote. “Nice to be back, however temporary.”
The @NOMtweets Twitter account seems to continue to be in the control of the hackers, and continues to push pro-gay messages. No word as to whether or not NOM has found a new home on Twitter.
Originally published 8:05 a.m. Wednesday, April 11, 2012.
National
Queen Jean is Tony’s first transgender winner
Designer/activist wins for work on ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’
It was a historic night at the 79th annual Tony Awards on Sunday as Queen Jean won the award for Best Costume Design of a Musical, making her the first out transgender person to win a Tony.
“This experience has been monumental. We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people,” she said. “We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space. We have to shift the paradigm. So I just want to say, thank you all so much for this incredible honor. The world right now is deeply, deeply combating so many ailments, and we know as a society that when we come together, we can make real, permanent change.”
She won the award for her work on “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” and was also nominated for best costume design of a play for “Liberation.”
In addition to her stage work, Queen Jean is the founder of Black Trans Liberation, an organization that supports trans and gender-nonconforming people in New York City.
National
Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor
Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance
Pop icon Madonna celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday to the delight of 50,000 fans.
She performed for about 15 minutes high above street level, including several songs from her new album “Confessions II” due on July 3, along with a trio of songs from the first “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”
In addition to the brand new “Love Sensation,” she performed “I Feel So Free” and “Bring Your Love,” plus “Hung Up,” “Get Together” and “I Love New York.” She wished the crowd a happy Pride season; the event was shared with audiences through Grindr’s first-ever livestream.
National
Gallup finds LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping
Marriage equality support lowest since 2016
Gallup, one of the leading organizations in public opinion polling, has found that LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping.
The poll, whose data was collected using Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, was conducted in May and was published on Wednesday. The data was collected through telephone interviews from a sample of more than 1,000 adults living in all 50 states and D.C. using random digit dialing.
It highlights declining attitudes surrounding LGBTQ issues in multiple areas — from support for same-sex marriage to views on gender identity and the morality of one’s sexuality.
One of the most striking findings was that support for marriage equality fell six points from its 2022-2023 high.
The survey also found that 62 percent of Americans view gay and lesbian relations as morally acceptable, the lowest level since 2016 just after same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide by the U.S. Supreme Court.
One newer question on the poll found that the perceived morality of changing one’s gender has dropped eight points since 2021, indicating the American public is less supportive of transgender people.
The data attributes much of the decline to shifting Republican views alongside the party itself. Conservative leaders have pushed back against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that were intended to foster greater acceptance of LGBTQ people and other historically disadvantaged groups.
President Donald Trump has been a guiding force behind waves of anti-LGBTQ sentiment, particularly when it comes to trans rights. The president has enacted multiple executive orders, including Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” which mandates that gender be defined by one’s sex assigned at birth. He also signed Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which barred qualified trans applicants from joining the military and led to the removal of trans service members already serving in the armed forces.
Additionally, he signed Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which prohibits trans female athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams.
In February, Gallup found that an estimated 9 percent of Americans identified as part of the LGBTQ community in some form.
The organization also found that 23 percent of adults under age 30 identify as LGBTQ, compared with 10 percent of those ages 30 to 49 and 3 percent or less among those ages 50 and older.
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