The Anti-Gay "March For Marriage" Backfired

News flash: it's 2014, and most Americans support gay marriage. This was well-evidenced by Thursday's absolute failure of a gay marriage protest, D.C.'s March for Marriage by the National Organization for Marriage, which put on an excellent display of how out of touch the group and its cause is. More than anything, the obvious lack of power behind NOM's March for Marriage reminds us once and for all that love always wins out over hate.

While New York state senator Ruben Diaz — a surprisingly anti-gay Democrat — promised "over 5,000 people" to attend Thursday's March for Marriage, photographic evidence and estimates from those present, including the Washington Blade, suggest a mere 2,000 individuals turned up to protest marriage equality. The Washington Times, however, the official media sponsor of the event, only reported "hundreds" in attendance. Not much for making a statement.

And even these people didn't seem to be that jazzed to be there. As NOM president Brian Brown pointed out during his speech: "I think we need a chant. You guys are getting a little down." Practically pleading with the meager crowd, Brown made a sad, sad attempt at rallying his troops, crying "ONE MAN, ONE WOMAN," to which the voices of about five people responded, "One man... man... woman..."

The crowd's general apathy supports a study conducted by a Republican polling firm earlier this year that determined, “62 percent of voters say America wouldn’t be all that different if gays and lesbians were allowed to marry, while 74 percent say their life wouldn’t change.” This makes a lot of sense, seeing as the 19 states that have legalized gay marriage have not yet faced an apocalypse, nor have the 17 countries that recognize same-sex unions imploded.

Other speakers at the event made increasingly ludicrous claims, from Rev. Bill Owens, the founder and president of the Coalition of African-American Pastors, who called the gay rights movement a "bully movement," to Rick Santorum, who shocked the rising number of unmarried parents in the world, including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, by saying that marriage is the only union that allows people to "have and raise children." Uhh, OK, Rick.

Then there was also this gem from Ruben Diaz, whose translator relayed his message as, "The Bible says that the kingdom of heaven makes violence but the violent take it by force—you are the violent ones, you are!" Not entirely sure what the point of that statement was, but it certainly lends itself to the idiocy of the whole movement.

Of course, if these speakers weren't convincing enough, there were also the bizarre and strangely amusing signs carried by some of the protestors, like these:

Lady on the right is as confused as we are.

Though NOM tried desperately to showcase "public support" for its movement with some strategically set cameras, its turnout was nothing short of pathetic. Here are some of the photos protestors posted in their attempts to display the strength of their movement...

And here's how it actually looked to the people who were not in the midst of the madness.

Seriously guys, tens of people!

They actually needed more people to carry the banner.

And now, just for fun, let's compare this "march" to some real protests, like the ones for gay marriage.

I think we've made our point.