This week, after the Missouri House of Representatives failed to pass Senate Joint Resolution 39, which would have provided protections for Christians who object to participating in same-sex “weddings.”
As a result, the National Organization for Marriage has vowed to unseat three House Republicans who refused to support SJR 39. NOM President Brian Brown called the actions of state Reps. Anne Zerr, Jim Hansen and Caleb Rowden “cowardly” and a “betrayal” to Missouri voters.
“These lawmakers have sided with LGBT extremists and voted against the right of Missouri voters to consider needed religious liberty provisions protecting people of faith from being forced to participate in a same-sex ‘wedding’ despite their deeply held religious objections,” he said. “As we have done elsewhere, we will do everything in our power to end the political careers of these gutless politicians. Whether it takes us a few months or several years, we will not rest until all three of these turncoat Republicans are out of office. The people of Missouri are tired of politicians who betray them, running for office as conservatives but failing to support conservative policies once in office. We’re going to make sure that voters in each of these districts know that they were betrayed, and we’ll be working to unseat them at the first opportunity.”
Zerr and Rowden are currently seeking election to the state Senate. Hansen is running unopposed for re-election to the House. NOM has a history of involvement in legislative elections against Republicans who vote to redefine marriage or fail to protect the right of people to refuse involvement in a gay “wedding” that violates their religious beliefs.
It was instrumental in unseating all four Republican state Senators in New York who voted with Democrats to redefine marriage. In 2014, it also helped defeat two Republican U.S. House candidates in Massachusetts and California, and defeated a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Oregon who supported same-sex “marriage.”
The group also funded independent expenditure efforts and ran ads supporting two successful U.S. Senate candidates in Arkansas and North Carolina.
“LGBT extremists are intent on harnessing the power of government to target anyone who opposes their desire to redefine marriage,” Brown said. “They have successfully gone after florists, bakers, photographers, innkeepers and others seeking to force them to participate in a gay ‘wedding’ that many people consider to be sinful.
“People have been sued, fined, fired and punished, their reputations ruined and their livelihood destroyed. SJR 39 would have given Missouri voters an opportunity to prevent this type of discrimination against people of faith, but the three Republican legislators instead made sure that the extremists will be able to continue to harass and punish anyone in Missouri who disagrees with their dangerous and divisive agenda.”
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