Anti-gay leader compares himself to Jesus in bizarre Easter message
Brian Brown, the head of the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage, has literally compared himself to Jesus in an Easter message.
Mr Brown heads the US campaign group NOM, which is attempting to gather support for a movement to roll back same-sex marriage.
In a message posted to the group’s blog this week to mark Easter, Mr Brown appeared to liken himself to Christ prior to the resurrection.
He wrote: “I can’t help but feel the parallels between what happened during Christ’s time on earth and some of our own experiences in recent times, including in the struggle to preserve, protect and promote marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”
Reflecting on the betrayal of Jesus by his disciples, Mr Brown added that he “can imagine how Jesus must have felt, having experienced on a far lesser scale a seeming seismic shift in public opinion… in the object of much of my work, the preservation of marriage.”
He added: “We’ve seen marriage be considered invincible one day, and then in a blink of an eye seen it redefined and defiled.
“We’ve seen the principle of traditional marriage be betrayed by people who swore to voters they would protect it. We’ve seen some people abandon the fight, whether out of fear or seeing many who remained vigilant punished and persecuted.
“And we’ve seen constitutionally-guaranteed rights such as the right to religious liberty be superseded by invented concepts that not only are not rights, they also are not right.”
Mr Brown continued: “I know that true marriage will rise again. I think it will happen fairly soon, because it’s impossible to maintain the lie of same-sex ‘marriage’ forever.
“But whether it takes two years or two decades, NOM is determined to fight every day for the truth of marriage and for the good that it provides for families and children.
“We are grateful to count you as a true friend, and a trusted ally.
“Like the Apostles during the early church, your faithfulness to the truth of marriage sends a powerful message to the world that this timeless relationship reserved for a man and a woman will triumph.”
The group’s former head Maggie Gallagher previously admitted defeat on the issue, conceding in 2015 that “only God” could reverse the tide on same-sex marriage.
God did not appear interested in taking up the position, leaving it to Mr Brown to continue NOM’s campaign.
NOM’s support and funding has dwindled significantly over the years – though a number of anonymous donors are apparently keeping the group on life support.
The struggling group was humiliated last year when it invested heavily in promoting its annual Washington DC rally – only to have fewer than 50 supporters turn up.
Journalists and passers-by outnumbered supporters at the event, but NOM leader Brian Brown claimed: “We had a great event, albeit a smaller crowd than in past years due to insufficient time to promote the event caused by delays in the issuance of local permits.
“Nonetheless, we enjoyed the presence of many great leaders in the marriage and life movements and committed supporters who came from as far away as California.
“This year’s March for Marriage was co-sponsored by Freedom’s Journal Institute, and we enjoyed the presence of several of their top officials, all leaders in the African American community.
“We are grateful for the energy and commitment of those who attended and look forward to an even larger event next year.”
The group sent dozens of mailouts to supporters encouraging them to attend the event, the date of which was confirmed months in advance
A Facebook invitation for the event attracted an impressive zero confirmed attendees.
In 2016 Mr Brown claimed people didn’t turn up to the rally because they were at home ‘grieving’ for marriage.
He insisted then: “We expected that the crowd would be smaller than past marches because people are still grieving from the US Supreme Court’s illegitimate decision redefining marriage.
“But continuing the March for Marriage gives supporters of marriage an important event to rally around and come to realize that they are not alone in supporting marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
“So like the annual March for Life, we are very confident that as word spreads, the size of the march will continue to grow every year going forward.”
The 2018 date has not yet been confirmed.