HRC & Courage Campaign To File Joint IRS Complaint Against NOM's Ruth Institute

The Human Rights Campaign and the Courage Campaign announced today that they intend to file an IRS complaint against the Ruth Institute, which is an arm of the National Organization for Marriage. The complaint demands that the IRS "revoke the Ruth Institute’s tax-exempt status and seek an injunction to prevent future violations by either the Ruth Institute or the NOM Education Fund." View the complaint here (PDF). Via press release:

The complaint makes clear the Ruth Institute “has repeatedly and flagrantly violated the political campaign activity prohibition of section 501(c) (3) by intervening and participating in multiple candidate campaigns. In the past year Ruth Institute resources have illegally been used to advocate for a U.S. Senate candidate as well as local and statewide judicial candidates.” HRC and the Courage Campaign cite the repeated involvement of the Ruth Institute in Carly Fiorina’s Senate race and in judicial elections in California and Iowa as clear violations of federal law. “The evidence that the Ruth Institute and the NOM Education Fund repeatedly stepped over the line into illegal activity is indisputable,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “Even fringe groups like NOM, its associates, and its affiliate groups must abide by federal law. Is the Ruth Institute nothing more than a front and funnel for NOM's political activities? We trust the IRS can unveil the truth."

“Time and again, NOM has shown itself as a radical extremist group bent on attacking families and undermining election laws,” said Courage Campaign Chairman and Founder Rick Jacobs. “By openly flouting IRS regulations governing charities, NOM is effectively forcing taxpayers to subsidize its political activities. This is not just the height of arrogance, it’s against the law.” Pursuant to the federal tax code, as a charitable organization, the Ruth Institute may not participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates. Violation of this prohibition can result in stiff penalties against the organization and its officials as well as potential revocation of its tax exempt status by IRS.

Quote Of The Day - Pastor Cary Gordon

"We're tired of the hypocrisy of these people because they desire to ensconce, and frankly they're doing it, secular humanism as the new state religion of the United States of America in violation of the original intent of the First Amendment. I have never, nor will I ever, get a message from the Holy Spirit and then go check with the IRS tax code first to see if it's okay to preach it. I'm tired of pastors submitting to this tyranny and I'm expecting to try to get the IRS to sue us so that we can take it all the way to the Supreme Court and restore freedom in America's pulpits." - Pastor Cary Gordon.

Americans United For Separation of Church and State filed an IRS complaint after Gordon mailed letters to Iowa's pastors demanding they support his "Biblical campaign" to remove his state's Supreme Court justices for legalizing same-sex marriage. IRS rules stipulate that tax-exempt churches may not engage in political campaigns.

Evangelicals Defy The IRS

Christianist Groups To Gather To Defy IRS Rules On Political Activism

The anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund is organizing a meeting of about 100 pastors who will preach "biblical perspectives on the positions of electoral candidates or current government officials" in defiance of IRS rules against such activism by tax-exempt religious organizations.

Pulpit Freedom Sunday is an event associated with the ADF Pulpit Initiative, a legal effort designed to secure the First Amendment rights of pastors in the pulpit. The Pulpit Initiative is part of the larger ADF Church Project. Participating pastors preaching on Pulpit Freedom Sunday will address the subject of current candidates for office, including the positions held by those candidates, in light of Scripture. “Pastors and churches shouldn’t live in fear of being punished or penalized by the government—in this case, the IRS,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “ADF is not trying to get politics into the pulpit; we want to get government out of the pulpit. Churches should be allowed to decide for themselves what they want to talk about. The IRS should not be the one making the decision by threatening to revoke a church’s tax-exempt status.”

The ADF is hoping to force the courts to address the constitutionality of the 1954 law.

IRS Recognizes Community Property Law For California's Gay Couples

In a major reversal, the Internal Revenue Service has recognized California's community property law for registered domestic partners.

The decision, which was issued in a private-letter ruling on Friday, reverses a position the IRS took in 2006, when it said California's registered domestic partners should each report on their own federal tax return only the income they personally earned, not one-half of their community income. The new decision does not require or even allow California's registered domestic partners to file their federal tax return as married filing jointly or married filing separately, as they must do with their state tax returns. They must each still file a single federal return, but each should now report one-half of their community income. Suppose one partner earns $100,000 and the other earns $60,000. In the past, each reported only the income he or she earned. In the future, each would report $80,000, which is half their combined income. Each would also be entitled to half of the combined income tax withheld from their paychecks.

The ruling, which was welcomed by Lambda Legal, could raise or lower a couple's taxes, depending on their financial status.

Fear Of The Tax Man: Gainesville Church Drops "Mayor" From Its "No Homo" Sign

After the Americans For Separation of Church and State filed a complaint with the IRS, Dove World Outreach in Gainesville, Florida has dropped the word "mayor" from their infamous "NO HOMO MAYOR" sign.

The Dove World Outreach Center, the Gainesville church that has gotten national attention for its incendiary stance against Islam, has backed off its anti-gay message — at least as far as the mayoral race is concerned. After church officials posted a “No homo Mayor” sign last month, I reported how that political statement could jeopardize their tax-exempt status. To make it clear that the church is still against homosexuality, the sign has since been covered up with a hand-written sign that reads, “No homo.” “No homo,” of course, is a common refrain among young people theses days. According to the Urban Dictionary, “no homo” is “used after one inadvertently says something that sounds gay.” The church’s sign was referring to mayoral candidate Craig Lowe, a city commissioner who is gay.

Openly gay mayoral candidate Craig Lowe finished first in last month's election. Gainesville residents are voting all this week in the runoff.

RELATED: After one of their anti-gay YouTube clips got pulled for TOS violations, Dove World Pastor Luke Jones submitted an unintentionally hilarious response titled "Homosexuality Hates Free Speech."