Dear Marriage Supporter,

A massive rebellion against gay marriage is brewing in France. I'm here now, and I'll report to you first hand from the rally planned for Sunday.

To read the news accounts in the U.S., you would think gay marriage is inevitable here. Like everywhere.

That's what they always say, right? Recognize that argument for what it is: a tactic to make you feel helpless and impotent and therefore submissive. To get you to give up and just submit to whatever they have planned.

There are only two things we know for sure about the future: it hasn't happened yet. And for those of us who are people of faith—we know that God is in charge.

But to be here is to recognize something extraordinary is happening, something totally unpredicted when French President Francois Hollande set out to pass gay marriage: a massive popular rebellion.

The Sights To Be Seen

I just witnessed something I never expected to happen: a Communist party member (yes!?) here in France who is going to vote "no" on gay marriage. (Stay tuned for more!)

I witnessed something I expected but still never hoped to see: government officials threatening Catholics schools if they try to teach against gay marriage.

The new elected ruler of France has no plans to marry his current partner. After all, he never married, in thirty years, the mother of his four children, with whom he split up recently. His current partner is legally married to another man.

Perhaps you can't expect a man with those views and values to understand that marriage is, for so many, a sacred value (even for many without explicit religious belief); to understand that marriage is society's way of expressing not just a personal relationship but an intergenerational compact: the need to bring together male and female so that children can know the love of their mother and father.

But these truths, written on the human heart by Nature and Nature's God, are not so easily obliterated from the face of this Earth.

The Voices To Be Heard

The New York Times likes to portray this as a purely religious debate; France, though secular, is still Catholic, the New York Times headline brays.

I wish.

The truth is more complicated and interesting. Yes, Christian and Catholic leaders have taken strong stands opposing the legal deconstruction of marriage. Yes, Muslims leaders—a fairly large minority in France—are raising their voices. Yes, the Chief Rabbi of France has written eloquently (as Pope Benedict himself noticed) about the moral issues raised by gay marriage in France and elsewhere.

But some of the most fascinating and powerful critiques of gay marriage are coming from French gay men.

The French website is homovox.com. We first noticed them from unofficial translation published by a Professor Robert Oscar Lopez at the American Thinker.

We are now in the process of bringing translations of these videos to you. Keep checking the NOM blog!

Here, for example, is Jean Pier: a 49-year-old self-described homosexual filmmaker, explaining why he opposes gay marriage in France:

I am a documentary author for TV and I'm homosexual.

I have to wonder, "who's this law for?" I say to myself, "Is it made for homosexuals?" I live in Provence and I work in Paris. I know very few homosexuals who wish to marry beyond the PACS (civil unions) they already have. In fact, the number of people in PACS unions in France, couples of the same sex, is minimal. Therefore, who's this law for? If it's for the 5,000 people who live in the district of Le Marrais, then it's just a militant act. But behind it all, it must be a question of the child.

I've had this business of freedom and equality. Then I pose this question: What of the freedom and equality of the child? The child won't have its equality vis-a-vis its friends in school. Its peers may have divorced and blended families, but they have, at least, a father and mother.

He concludes, "Finally, when I look at this proposed law, I conclude that it's a law for gays, but not for homosexuals. I do not want to support it."

Here is the voice of another gay man sticking up for French marriage, Phillipe Arino.

Phillipe has some interesting insights on gay marriage and how it relates to issues of 'equality': "There are bad/wrong equalities. We call that conformism, uniformity. A lack of recognition to the realities of people. The gay activists who treat equality as sacred do not differentiate between equal rights and the equality of identity. Equality of the law, and equality of self-respect or dignity."

Meanwhile, Stateside

In Illinois, where gay marriage advocates tried and failed to quickly shove through a gay marriage bill in the lame duck session, a rebellion of another kind is brewing: against GOP turncoat Pat Brady, head of the Illinois Republican party, who unilaterally gave cover to liberal Democrats by endorsing gay marriage and accusing his own party of bigotry and discrimination!

NOM took the leadership on holding him accountable for his betrayal, calling for his resignation, and promising a quarter of a million dollar against any Republican who votes for gay marriage.

Brady is doubling down now with ever more hateful rhetoric directed against his voters:

"If people want to throw me out because I took a stand on an issue of discrimination [as] the chairman of the Republican Party, the party founded by Abraham Lincoln, then that's — that's up to them and they're free to do it," Brady said. "But I'm not backing down."

Thanks to your support of NOM, we're keeping up the pressure — and Brady's betrayal is not passing unnoticed.

WBEZ reports, "Facing Rebellion, state Chair rejects calls to resign over gay marriage support":

State GOP Chairman Pat Brady faces growing calls for his resignation… Conservative groups and activists pounced on Brady shortly after he released a statement last week offering his "full support" of a bill before the General Assembly that would legalize same-sex marriage. But now the public demands for his ouster are coming from party leaders themselves.

"Pat Brady is a total disgrace," said Bobbie Peterson, a Republican state central committeewoman from Beecher, Ill.

"He's a pretty face for TV. He can speak well. Period," Peterson said. "But what's coming out of his mouth is not what the Illinois Republican party is about."

Four committeemen told the news organization they have asked Brady to resign, representing nearly half of the votes needed to boot him out.

State Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, who sits on the Republican State Central Committee, criticized Brady for dividing the party just when it was trying to focus on resolving the state's serious fiscal issues: "His role as chairman should be to concentrate on uniting the party, and not dividing the party," Syverson said.

A party official that decides he hates the party's most loyal supporters, and is willing to stand with those who drive Christian charities out of the public square and excludes Christian views from public respect… such a public official won't be long with his party.

America's Church?

Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., more evidence of that exclusion of Christians looms. Washington National Cathedral is a private church and they are free to do gay marriages if they want. But as this historic cathedral in our nation's Capital repudiates historic Christianity, the full reach and impact of gay marriage is becoming increasingly clear.

President Obama accepted the withdrawal of Pastor Louie Giglio from Obama's inauguration ceremonies, after the gay lobby insisted he either repudiate a sermon he preached in the 1990s or withdraw.

They called on him to repudiate, according to leftist Think Progress, particularly this statement in the sermon: homosexuality "is sin in the eyes of God, and it is sin in the word of God."

Now, I know many good people who oppose gay marriage who do not believe this. (I doubt Phillipe Arino does!) If you oppose gay marriage for nonreligious reasons—welcome to our coalition! Whether you are homosexual or straight, you are not alone!

Of course, we must never forget the basic dignity of all human beings, including gay people, even as we fight against wrongs such as same-sex marriage.

Nonetheless, Pastor Giglio's view is the standard view of sexual morality in orthodox Christianity (and Judaism, and Hinduism, and Islam, and Buddhism) for thousands of years.

His withdrawal under political pressure demonstrates the New World Order at the White House: traditional Christianity must be excluded; the wrath of gay advocates is more important than national unity or the principle of tolerance and inclusiveness.

The White House announcement was made quietly. The mainstream news is not going to let you know this stuff.

But—thanks to your help and all you've done—we're able to get the word out!

And thank you as well for another, tremendous victory—also totally unreported by the news media!

The Center for Military Readiness reports Congress took steps on significant new religious liberty protections for military chaplains. (President Obama also opposed these new protections incidentally, saying they were not necessary. And we know this fight isn't over—not by a long shot.)

Still, we've won a victory for now. We let you know about these proposed protections, and you stepped up to the plate—in a big way! After we asked you, on Dec. 6, to write to Congress and insist on religious liberty protection for chaplains in the National Defense Authorization Act, you sent than 12,500 letters as a response to this call! And guess what? Congress noticed!

Power to the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from this earth! Not if you and I have anything to say about it—and this proves once again that we do!

The hour is late. The battles are tough—you and I both know this.

Now is the time for the tough to stand tall and proud and fearless for the good of marriage.

I am personally so grateful to you for the fellowship we share.

Please pray for the Center for Military Readiness, which took great leadership in this victory, for the Family Research Council—and for all those at the front lines of this marriage fight.

United we stand with justice on our side, for the deepest and most important truths about human nature.