Dear Friends of Marriage,

On March 24 the Sacramento Bee carried on its front page a story on threats against lawmakers in both parties in the aftermath of the contentious health care reform vote.

"A fax bearing the image of a noose. Profane voice mails. Bricks thrown, a gas line cut. White powder sent to an office. Democrats and a few Republicans revealed mounting numbers and unsettling details of threats against them Thursday in the emotional aftermath of the passage of the health care overhaul."

Of course, it's terrible that any elected official would feel threatened. But I can't help but note that not a single one of the Democratic politicians now coming forward to complain about hate mail, threats, vandalism, and white powder directed at them said a word about what thousands of ordinary Californians experienced when they stood up for marriage and Prop 8.

The Heritage Foundation documented it, but I don't have to tell you--who lived through it--what it was like: property vandalized, white powder sent to churches, police advising pastors that they needed bodyguards, livelihoods attacked, hateful mail and threats, and even a few open outbreaks of violence.

Yes, it is wrong to post the personal addresses of Members of Congress (or in this case, mistakenly the address of a brother of a Congressman) on the internet to encourage harassment.

But how much worse it is to have thousands of ordinary citizens' home addresses posted on the internet with virtual instructions to go and harass them for donating for Prop 8? To this day these maps remain. One woman I know in her sixties reports she is afraid to walk out her front door after receiving a flood of threatening mail directed to her home. Democracy is not supposed to work like that.

We have sympathy for what they are going through, but these politicians should come forward to denounce the continued intimidation and harassment of ordinary citizens for participating in the basics of democracy--and demand those eight maps be taken down.

More news you won't read in the mainstream media: This week, the Senate voted for the first time on whether or not to permit the citizens of D.C. to vote for marriage. Thirty-six of 40 GOP senators voted "yes," including John McCain and Scott Brown. Unfortunately the Democrats voted en bloc "no."  It is a sad day to watch the erstwhile party of civil rights vote to deny to a predominantly African-American city its charter-given right to vote.

Kudos and thanks to Utah Sen. Robert Bennett for insisting on and winning a vote that puts these politicians on the record. There's an election this fall, in case they haven't noticed!

NOM's "Two Peas in a Pod" ad continues to get noticed. The ad points out that Tom Campbell (who is running for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate in California), like Barbara Boxer, favors gay marriage and opposed Prop 8. The Campbell campaign tried to downplay the ad's message, claiming that everyone knew Tom is pro-gay-marriage.

So this week we released a poll of likely GOP primary voters taken March 12-15, before the ad campaign's initial launch. Tom is dead wrong. Just 2 percent of his own supporters know that he is pro-gay-marriage. In fact, Campbell voters were seven times more likely to believe Tom opposed gay marriage rather than favored gay marriage.

When asked whether Tom's support for gay marriage made them more likely or less likely to vote for him, by a nearly 3-1 margin voters said "less likely."

Marriage matters. But it is also a symbol to a lot of voters, and an answer to the question: Whose voices and values do you care about? During the epic battle in California for marriage, in which decent, loving, law-abiding citizens found themselves under attack for participating in democracy, Tom Campbell was nowhere to be found. Or rather, he was standing with Barbara Boxer, Jerry Brown, and Mayor Gavin Newsom for San Francisco values.

Together we can stand against the hate, and stand up for truth. Together we can make a difference.

Thank you and until next week, keep fighting the good fight!

Faithfully, 

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

P.S. When you contribute to NOM, you help us fight for you and all those who share your beliefs. Whether you can give $10, $50, or even, if God has given you the means, $200, every dollar makes a difference. Even a small monthly donation of $5 helps NOM be your voice for your values. Thank you so much for all you do!

NOM in the News
"What You Don't Know About Tom Campbell"
Maggie Gallagher
March 25, 2010
Tom Campbell is running (against Carly Fiorina and Chuck DeVore) for the GOP nomination for the California senate race against Barbara Boxer. Last week the National Organization for Marriage (of which I am founder and president) launched the "Two Peas in a Pod" ad pointing out that Campbell, like Boxer, is pro-taxes and pro-gay marriage. His campaign responded by saying that everyone knows Tom is for gay marriage. But before we launched that ad, we polled. NBC Bay Area reports on that poll (here), as does Capitol Weekly.

"Poll Says GOP Voters Don't Know Campbell Favors Gay Marriage"
Capitol Weekly
March 24, 2010
The vast majority of Tom Campbell's supporters in his bid for the GOP nomination to take on U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer don't know that he supports gay marriage, according to a new poll by a national anti-gay marriage group.

"Tom Campbell Takes a Hit from the Right"
NBC Bay Area
March 15, 2010

A group that promotes traditional marriage is funding a ad campaign against republican U.S. Senate candidate Tom Campbell.  The anti-Campbell ad is a direct result of Campbell's support of gay marriage.

"Cooley, Kelly Lead A.G. Candidates in 2010 Fundraising"
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
March 25, 2010
Eastman's financing came largely from Orange County and from out-of-state sources, including a $6,500 donation from The Judicial Confirmation Network, a Virginia-based organization that backed judicial nominees of President Bush and opposed President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

He also received a $6,500 donation from another Virginia-based group, the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriage.

"Gay Marriage Debate"
WDUQ
March 25, 2010
A State Senator pushing for legalized same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania took on a staunch opponent of the issue in a Harrisburg debate last night.

Democrat Daylin Leach, who represents parts of Delaware and Montgomery Counties, wants Pennsylvania to join states like Connecticut and New Hampshire in legalizing same-sex marriage.

He discussed the issue with Maggie Gallagher, who heads the National Organization for Marriage.

"Conferral of Parenthood Does Not a First-Class Citizen Make"
Jennifer Roback Morse
National Catholic Register
March 22, 2010
"Domestic partnerships make us second-class citizens. We want marriage, just like everyone else."

This is the constant refrain of the marriage-redefinition advocates. Drawing a legal distinction, any legal distinction, between same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples is unfair and amounts to ill treatment of the same-sex couples. But does this argument really hold up?

"Making Marriage Cool"
National Catholic Register
March 22, 2010
When it comes to curing the ills of society's misconceptions and attacks on traditional marriage, Jennifer Roback Morse has the antidote: the Ruth Institute.

"In Support of Traditional Marriage"
World Magazine
March 19, 2010
Americans are confused about the true nature of marriage "because we live in an era of big government," said Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, an economist who studies love and marriage and the founder of The Ruth Institute.
"Did The Post 'Celebrate' Gay Marriage in D.C.?"
Andrew Alexander
Washington Post
March 21, 2010
In mid-November, the Style section featured a 2,200-word profile of Bishop Harry Jackson of Beltsville's Hope Christian Church, a national figure and local leader in the movement against same-sex marriage. Earlier, Style ran a lengthy profile of Brian Brown, executive director of the anti-gay-marriage National Organization for Marriage. The Brown and Jackson profiles drew protests from gay readers who felt their side wasn't given equal exposure.

"Senate Defeats Anti-Marriage Amendment Offered by Utah's Bennett"
AmericaBlog
March 25, 2010
On the Senate floor, according to the Senate transcript, Bennett said his amendment (the transcript came in caps):"THIS BILL DOES NOT TAKE ANY POSITION WITH RESPECT TO GAY MARRIAGE, SIMPLY ALLOWS THE DISTRICT TO HOLD A REFERENDUM." Well then, what a coincidence that it's the exact position of the National Organization for Marriage and Bishop Harry Jackson, the leading opponents of marriage in DC.

"Brian Brown"
Emily Rutherford
CampusProgress.org
March 23, 2010
Brian Brown isn't exactly a household name. His career on the national political scene is only in the middle of its second year, and so far he doesn't even have a Wikipedia page. As executive director of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), however, Brown has quickly become one of the most influential individuals in "family values" conservatism.