Advocate: Little-known fact: Entering “NationalOrganizationForMarriage.com” into an Internet browser is an easy way to buy ceramic Ku Klux Klan figurines online.
The National Organization for Marriage’s actual website acts as an online fund-raising force and information center for opponents of marriage equality. But those looking to learn more without learning the real address first will be rerouted to KKK.com, where visitors are greeted by Pastor Thomas Robb’s warning of an alleged race war against Caucasians.
Theodore Trentman, the domain’s owner and a self-described Web advocate, said it’s no accident. Trentman bought the domain name on April 8, 2009, because he said the routing brought viewers to a closer representation of the certified 501(c)(4) nonprofit.
He said NOM’s $1.5 million “Religious Liberty” ad campaign was misleading but personally inspiring. Persons featured in it warned of a “gathering storm” of gay advocates who, according to the commercial, will negatively affect the lives of heterosexuals.
Trentman said his decision to associate the KKK with the NOM came down to a personal feeling that the organization was representing a philosophy similar to the Knights Party — something he felt obligated to call out.
“I think the National Organization for Marriage hosts a different message than they think they do,” Trentman said. “The true message is one of hate, division, and discrimination.”
Trentman owns around 16 other domain names for similar purposes. Trentman, whose domain was discovered Tuesday morning by blogger Jeremy Hooper, said he buys names that he feels members of the gay community should own. With his activism, the fight for equal marriage is not only for a consensus of public opinion but also for the most logical online hosting of one’s own.
A spokesperson from the Ku Klux Klan had no comment, and phone calls to the National Organization for Marriage were not returned.
9 Comments
I don’t understand why these people aren’t in Gitmo with the rest of the “terrorists”.
I don’t understand it either, Alan.
I noticed that link yesterday. Box Turtle Bulletin had a post on it, one that linked to the site. I clicked it — didn’t mean to, but did — here at work; it was blocked (hate site). I wonder how our filters would classify NOM’s site.
Your are a focking bitch!!!
What’ happen if I call the police.
kkk is stupid
hey this mite be gay and all but its up to the kkk wat they wanna think if they hate black ppl then thats fine but they must have are good reson but black ppl they are racist tho they can say shitt about us then when we say something about them they wanna kill us
this makes me sad
Admittedly somewhat of a bait-and-switch, but as long as the domain names are not “confusingly similar” to any live trademarks, no civil violations are being committed here. None of the above should be interpreted as any kind of endorsement of these hate sites (the owners of these sites ought to be committed to mental hospitals, but I guess even the mental hospitals have standards these jerks couldn’t pass). All in all, just another example of how sick society can be.
I think that the kkk has just as many rights as anybody else does and the group is not just about hating on sum blacks its about the white society staying pure and clean of all other races and most people want to take it as hate peace im out
Bob,
I agree with you that the KKK has the same freedom of speech as anyone else. But you are absolutely wrong when you say that the KKK isn’t about hate. They have a long, ugly history of murder and intimidation. While the group is relatively small now, in the past it had millions of members. While liberalization of society in regard to racial matters is no doubt responsible for part of the decline, I suspect other major factors include potential social embarrasement and legal liability (imputed conspiracy charges for acts committed by other members) from being a member.
While the kind of overt racism that permeated US society prior to the 1970’s has largely abated, there is still a tremendous amount of “under the covers” bigotry (things people think and do that are racist, but not spoken of in public).
The idea that the KKK is simply about preventing intermarriage between the races is simply wrong. Go to any of their web sites, and you’ll see things like advocation of race wars, idolization of Hitler, filthy jokes about non-whites, etc. Absent the severe crackdown by the US Justice Department begun many years ago, they would still be lynching people from tree limbs.