Advertisement

NOM Attempts To Fundraise Off Satirical Video, Missing Its Point

Last week, Funny or Die released a video featuring George Takei, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Brad Goreski that makes fun of opponents of marriage equality. Called “Gays Beware,” the video parodies a 1950’s black-and-white PSA and suggests that the character Dale is “sick” because he opposes allowing same-sex couples to marry. The National Organization for Marriage did not take kindly to this satire, and is now trying to fundraise off it:

In other words, Dale is a sick, bigoted, ignorant, drunken, hypocritical, fill-in-the-blank.

But you see, the producers of this video want your friends, family and the rest of society to believe that you are Dale.

This video is unbridled hatred and bigotry towards people like you and me who believe in marriage. Some gay marriage activists clearly believe their own propaganda that gay marriage is inevitable, and now they are no longer attempting to hide their loathing and hatred of good people like you and me who simply believe marriage is the unique and special union of husband and wife.

NOM clearly misses the point of this video. It doesn’t just mock any 1950’s PSA — it specifically mocks Boys Beware, a 1961 propaganda film about predatory “homosexuals.” Boys Beware specifically described gay men as “sick” and “mentally ill,” painting them as child molesters and pedophiles intent on luring young boys into their grasp. One boy in the film is even killed, “having traded his life for a newspaper headline.”

Advertisement

The portrayal of Dale also serves as commentary for the tactics of groups like NOM. For example, just because they use flowery language like “pro-family” doesn’t mean they aren’t anti-gay. Also, Dale has been divorced twice (not unlike Newt Gingrich), a reminder that there are many aspects of marriage that groups like NOM completely ignore, focusing entirely on opposing the rights of same-sex couples. The suggestion that Dale is secretly gay is also a fair jab, as multiple studies have actually found that homophobia can result, at least partly, from a desire to suppress one’s own same-sex orientation.

NOM is so busy trying to portray itself and its supporters as victims that it cannot see the loaded — and valid — critiques of opponents of LGBT equality in the video. Watch it:

Unknown iFrame situation