Investigative reporting can pull back the curtain on truths that are kept hidden. When Carlos Maza went “under cover” to a NOM (National Organization for Marriage) weekend event for college students, he listened, observed, and took notes on all the anti-gay rhetoric that was paraded out.

Toward the end of the event — and the end of his rope — Carlos took his place in the group photo. He wanted proof that he had made it to the end as a fly in the ointment. As he stood there, the photographer realigned everyone and warmed up the crowd with jokes. How about this one? “Two gay men walked into a mosque… They were never heard from again!” The group laughed, and Carlos flinched.

NOM has been campaigning against equality since the Prop 8 campaign in California. They are a conduit for Evangelical, Catholic, Mormon, and hardline conservative money from throughout the United States. As five states — Washington, Maryland, Minnesota, Iowa, and Maine — face ballot measures on marriage equality, NOM is telling loving couples that they should not exist.

They will spend millions and produce slick ads, but the words of Michelle Obama and dozens of other voices in Charlotte remind us that supporting full equality is not only the right thing to do but the smart thing to do. The tide has turned. Whether the ballot measures go for us or against us, no matter how many millions NOM spends, you cannot turn back the clock.

Read the whole story at Huffington Post

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