The Irish people's brilliant affirmation of marriage equality yesterday has naturally caused some gnashing of teeth among the ever-fewer Catholics who are devoted to their idea of "traditional marriage."
Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage fancies himself the leader of that crew of old Catholics in the States, and had urged his followers to support the Irish opponents of the marriage equality referendum.
From a May 1 email, emphases in the original:
Increasingly the battle to preserve marriage is becoming a global one. ... If they (Irish equality opponents) can manage to pull off a victory, it will be a tremendous boost to the cause of marriage worldwide. Please do what you can to bring awareness to their efforts. Brown also found encouragement in the several recent rejections of marriage equality in Northern Ireland (the most conservative part of the UK, and the only one that still discriminates).His post-vote email grasps for silver linings and whines about Ireland being less blindly obedient to its bishops than before.
Most people, in Ireland and here, would see that as progress beyond the near-medieval status of the church in Ireland for most of the 20th century.
The latest email in full, with some commentary, below.