Dear Friends of Marriage,

As I write it's Holy Thursday. Tomorrow is the darkest day of the year for Christians like me: the day when our sins crucified our Lord.

And yet in the midst of that darkness is the greatest ray of Light ever to flash across our human horizons: God Himself died for our sins, for my sins.

And in three days He will rise to give us new life.

I'm not going to write you a long letter, or ask you for money. It's been a very busy week for those of us committed to defending God's truths in this fallen world.

(You can see some of the media coverage below. Thank you for helping us get out the word.)

Those of you who share my Christian faith: Have a blessed and happy Easter. 

For all of you who've joined this merry band of brothers (and sisters!) on our quixotic mission to protect marriage: Thank you.

And may God richly bless you for your caring and your courage,

Brian S. Brown
Executive Director
National Organization for Marriage
20 Nassau Street, Suite 242
Princeton, NJ 08542
bbrown@nationformarriage.org

NOM in the News: MSNBC Hosts Debate on Gay Marriage -- Joe Solmonese vs. Maggie Gallagher
Hardball -- MSNBC
April 8, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM2MNdIGT7g

Video:

Same-Sex Marriage: For Some a Beginning, for Others an End
The Takeaway
Maggie Gallagher interviewed
http://www.thetakeaway.org/stories/2009/apr/09/same-sex-marriage-some-beginning-others-end/

"Takeaway" interview quoted on National Public Radio's Morning Edition
http://www.criticalmention.com/components/url_gen/play_flash.php?clip_info=877788567|0|60^877773406|0|60^877774267|0|60&autoplay=1

Brian Brown on CNN -- Anderson Cooper 360
April 8, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwr7T_dmVM0

Gay Marriage in the Midwest
Maggie Gallagher on CBS Early Show
April 9, 2009
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4931097n

PrintA Push Is On for Same-Sex Marriage Rights Across New England
New York Times 
April 4, 2009
"Activists have targeted these states because they think it's going to be easier to convince legislators than the populace," said Brian Brown, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, a group established to fight same-sex marriage. "They're doing everything they can to keep the public from having a part in this process."

Advocates on Both Sides Seek Momentum on Same-Sex Marriage
New York Times 
April 8, 2009
"This is just the beginning," said Brian Brown, executive director of the organization, who insisted that the momentum was building in favor of those who oppose same-sex marriage. "We just won in California. We won in the state where everybody else said we couldn't win, and we were told that this was inevitable there. Well, that was wrong. It was wrong there, and it's wrong when you apply it to Vermont."

Iowa, Vermont gay marriages spark debate in Calif.
The Associated Press 
April 9, 2009
If the court overturns Proposition 8, "it would be devastating to the democratic process and any future initiative or referendum," said Bryan Brown, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes gay marriage. He noted that when the California Supreme Court overturned the death penalty, the voters amended the state constitution in 1978 to uphold it.

Same-Sex Marriage: Opposing Views
Washington Post 
April 7, 2009
David Catania, a D.C. City Councilmember who voted for the amendment to recognize gay marriage, and Brian Brown, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, who opposes legislation allowing gay marriage, were online together Tuesday, April 7, at 3:45 p.m. ET to discuss today's votes, their significance and national reaction.

Vermont, DC Gay Marriage Decisions Give Conservatives Reason for ...
U.S. News & World Report 
April 8, 2009
Of course, as I suggested last week, the gay marriage wars will have big political implications. Mike Huckabee especially is working to capitalize on it, regardless of whether it was a legislature or courts. An activist group called the National Organization for Marriage is plunking down $1.5 million to run ads opposing gay marriage in other states currently considering similar measures.

$1.5 Million Spent On Anti-Gay Marriage Ad
CBS News Hot Sheet
April 8, 2009
A group called the National Organization for Marriage, which worked to overturn gay marriage in California, is out with a controversial new ad that suggests opponents of same-sex marriage are now being victimized for their beliefs.

"What Vermont Gave Gay Marriage Foes"
Maggie Gallagher column
New York Post
April 9, 2009
But the Vermont bill was a breakthrough in another way: For the very first time, a Legislature has formally acknowledged that gay marriage poses a serious threat to the religious liberties of Vermonters who disagree with the government's new definition of marriage. And the gay-marriage movement has permitted that Legislature to enact some imperfect yet substantive religious-liberty protections, instead of the fake protections generally offered.  

Preliminary vote backs same-sex marriages in DC
St. Louis Post-Dispatch 
April 9, 2009
"It's a bad day for the country," said Brian Brown, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, a group established to fight same-sex marriage. "There is a palpable sense that something has changed and people need to get active."

Iowa Court Voids Gay Marriage Ban
Gainesville Sun
April 4, 2009
"The gay marriage movement has once again used the power of the courts to push an untruth on unwilling Iowans," said Brian S. Brown, the executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, a group formed in 2007 to preserve traditional marriage. "Same-sex unions are not marriages, and Iowans should not be forced by law to treat them as such." 

Unanimous ruling: Iowa marriage no longer limited to one man, one ...
DesMoinesRegister.com 
April 3, 2009
Maggie Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage, a New Jersey group, said, "Once again, the most undemocratic branch of government is being used to advance an agenda the majority of Americans reject."

Steve Rothaus
MiamiHerald.com 
April 8, 2009
GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, has launched a campaign against the National Organization for Marriage's new video,which will begin airing on television tonight.

Caucus: Hitting the Airwaves
Hartford Courant
April 9, 2009
Following setbacks in Iowa and Vermont, opponents of same-sex marriage are taking to the airwaves.

The National Organization for Marriage is launching a $1.5 million television ad campaign "highlighting the threat that same-sex marriage poses to the core civil rights of all Americans who believe in marriage as the union of a husband and wife," the group said.

New campaign fights same-sex marriage   
Politico 
April 8, 2009
"The biggest argument -- and the biggest lie -- put forward by those who want to redefine marriage is that it's not going to have any affect on you. 'Why should you care? It's not going to have any effect on your marriage," said NOM executive director Brian Brown. "In state after state we've seen same-sex marriage directly conflict with people's religious beliefs."

Group Speaks Out for Traditional Marriage
Christian Broadcasting Network 
April 9, 2009
The National Organization for Marriage kicked off the two-year campaign, Wednesday, with a budget of $1.5 million. NOM president Maggie Gallagher says the ads are a clear representation that "the American people oppose same-sex marriage."

"Every time they have had an opportunity to vote on it, they have rejected it in favor of upholding traditional marriage," she said. "Two recent national surveys state that 55 percent of Americans oppose same-sex marriage. Traditional marriage has served our country well since its founding."

Do Our New Marriage Rights Have Conservatives Energized? Or Terrified?
Queerty
April 8, 2009
"Several groups that oppose same-sex marriage suggested Tuesday that the successive victories for gay rights advocates would give the opposition movement new energy," reports the New York Times. "[Brian Brown, executive director] of the National Organization for Marriage, said the developments in Iowa and Vermont had prompted his group to start running advertisements against same-sex marriage in several states now, instead of in late spring, as originally planned. In particular, he said, the ruling in Iowa caught opponents off guard and invigorated them because they had not expected it so soon."

Anti-Gay Group Launches Nationwide Campaign Against Same-Sex Marriages
AHN 
April 8, 2009
The National Organization for Marriage on Wednesday began its Religious Liberty Ad Campaign with a one-minute ad that features ordinary people speaking about their fears and experiences about gay marriage legislation. The various statements, "My freedom will be taken away... Those advocates want to change the way I live," do not make detailed arguments about the legislation, and focus primarily on warning people about losing their religious freedom.

Pro-Family Leaders Warn Battle Over Marriage Will Reach Federal Level  
Christian Post 
April 8, 2009
"To the millions of Americans who care about marriage, we say get ready: President Obama and Democrats will use Vermont as an excuse to overturn the bipartisan federal Defense of Marriage Act," said Brian Brown, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), according to The Associated Press.

"The next step is to ask the Supreme Court to impose gay marriage on all 50 states."

VermontVermont joins 3 states in allowing gay marriage
Philadelphia Inquirer
April 8, 2009
"Today is a truly sad day for Vermont and this nation," said Brian Brown, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage.

Brown said he hoped the ad campaign, which he said would eventually include more than $1.5 million worth of air time, would "highlight how same-sex marriage undermines the core civil rights of those who believe in the simple truth that marriage is the union of one man and one woman." 

Vermont lifts drive for gay marriage
Seattle Times
April 8, 2009

"To the millions of Americans who care about marriage, we say get ready: President Obama and Democrats will use Vermont as an excuse to overturn the bipartisan federal Defense of Marriage Act," said Brian Brown, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, which waged a radio campaign against the Vermont measure. "The next step is to ask the Supreme Court to impose gay marriage on all 50 states."

Vermont's Gay Marriage Decision Reignites Right
Women on the Web
April 8, 2009
Those celebrations, however, may be curtailed by news that the lawmakers' decision -- and a Supreme Court ruling in Iowa -- have only reinvigorated opponents of gay nuptials. The National Organization for Marriage, which believes marriage should remain between a man and a woman, vowed yesterday to take a tougher stand in other states.

The group's executive director, Brian Brown, told the New York Times that he and his allies planned to start airing commercials across the country that stress the importance of maintaining traditional definitions of marriage.  

Rhode Island

Lawmaker's hopes are dim for RI gay marriage bill - Boston.com
Apr 8, 2009
The state chapter of the National Organization for Marriage unveiled a television ad to be rolled out first in Rhode Island, later in other battleground states.

In the commercial, dark clouds and lightning rumble in the background as speakers warn that advocates for same-sex marriage are threatening their rights and beliefs.

"We're not naive about the momentum that is being gained," Chris Plante, the group's executive director.

RI Gov. Don Carcieri backs traditional marriage campaign
Boston Herald 
April 8, 2009
The Republican governor will appear Wednesday at a news conference with members of the state chapter of the National Organization for Marriage. The group plans to unveil an ad campaign that will run in states viewed as battlegrounds in the debate over same-sex unions. 

Carcieri to attend anti-gay marriage press conference
Providence Journal
April 8, 2009
With a high-profile bill to allow same-sex couples, married elsewhere, to divorce in Rhode Island scheduled for a hearing Wednesday, the Rhode Island chapter of the National Organization for Marriage has called a State House press conference for 9:45 a.m. Wednesday to announce the "launch of its latest media campaign to protect marriage and the religious liberties of Rhode Island's families."

Carcieris speak at anti-gay marriage event
Providence Journal 
April 8, 2009
The press conference centered on a new TV ad that the National Organization for Marriage intends to air in Rhode Island and other battleground states.

Titled "Gathering Storm,'' it features actors -- standing against an ominous, grey-sky backdrop -- saying things like: "'There is a storm gathering and I am afraid...I am a parent helplessly watching public schools teach my son that gay marriage is okay...I am a church charity punished because we cannot treat two men just like a husband and wife...But we have hope a rainbow coalition of peoples of every creed and color are coming together, in love, to protect marriage.'' At the bottom of the screen is a disclaimer: "The stories these actors are telling are based on real life incidents.''

Gov. joins anti-gay marriage campaign
Providence Eyewitness News
April 8, 2009
A group against gay marriage has a very prominent politician in its corner. Gov. Donald Carcieri and his wife, Sue, joined the Rhode Island Chapter of the National Organization for Marriage Wednesday morning at the State House as it launched its new media campaign.

Rhode Island Governor joins anti-gay organization citing needs of ...
Metro Weekly 
April 8, 2009
Republican Governor of Rhode Island, Donald Carcieri, as reported by the Providence Journal. He appeared at a press conference where he was joined by his wife, Sue, and a spokesman for the National Organization for Marriage, an anti-gay group helmed by Maggie Gallager, which is releasing a scare-the-public commercial called "The Coming Storm." Christopher Plante from N.O.M. was questioned aggressively when he also tried to state that gay marriage is an attack on the needs of children. 

Carcieri denounces gay marriage
NECN
April 8, 2009
"We are not naive about the momentum that is being gained we are not conceding anything," says Christopher Plante of National Organization for Marriage.

Rhode Island Governor Joins Anti-Gay Group
On Top Magazine 
April 8, 2009
As Rhode Island prepares to become one of the next battlegrounds in the gay marriage debate, Governor Donald Carcieri has announced he and his wife, Sue, have joined the Rhode Island Chapter of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), a group that opposes gay marriage.

New JerseyNational group targets state with anti-gay marriage ads
NorthJersey.com 
April 8, 2009
The effort by the National Organization for Marriage was in the works before recent decisions in Iowa and Vermont allowed same-sex marriage, but those events make it more timely, said Brian Brown, the organization's executive director.

The goal of the campaign is "activating those millions of Americans who already agree with us," Brown said this morning during a news conference in the State House in Trenton.