Dear Friends of Marriage,

Seven days from today it will be Christmas.

NOM will shut down, barring emergencies, between Christmas and New Year, so this will be my last chance in 2009 to share with you, my dear friends and comrades in this great battle.

Christmas is such a miracle: The Word became flesh. God became man. Infinite Love transformed into a small, helpless baby--and so transforming the whole world. 

How can we ever be afraid again?

The dignity of the human  body--that's one of the great gifts God gave us in giving us Christmas. Not flesh, not mere flesh, but a temple fit to house the holiest of spirits.

It's one of the reasons I entered this marriage fight, and my will to fight--always with love, with decency and civility as well as with courage and steadfastness--is intensified each time I look at my sleeping children in their innocence, and think about what so much of the world wants them to think about the meaning and purpose of the human body.

The great truths of Genesis we received from our Jewish elder brothers--"male and female he created them"--are also truths about our own incarnation. From clay--mere matter, flesh--the spirit of God Himself was blown into our hearts. Inscribed in this great act of creation are certain great and enduring truths that no human power can erase: Men and women were made for each other, made to give ourselves in love to each other. Our bodies were not made just for the personal satisfaction of a senseless appetite--no.  Even our physical desires have spiritual meaning: They call us forth from the confines of our own bodies in an urgent imperative to give ourselves to each other and to the future, to the great calling of creating the next generation in love.

Children have a right to be born. Yes, but we owe them even more: Children have the right to be conceived and born in love, which is to say, in the context of the outward and inward union of the man and woman who have pledged to care for each other, and for any children they have together. Children have a right to the love and care of their mother and father in the only context which makes that joint love real and reliable: Children have a right to their parents' marriage.
  
This is what John Paul II called "the nuptial meaning of the human body."

Every child is a child of God, regardless of the marital status of his or her parents, and we owe each precious life our care and concern. But one of the things we owe them, each one of them, is the truth:  Same-sex unions are not marriages; basing law on a lie about human nature is doomed to fail.

2009 has been a great and historic year in this ongoing marriage battle. Now is a good time to reflect on what we have done, together.

Make no mistake: gay marriage advocates had big plans for 2009. This was supposed to be the year the gay marriage debate was over, that gay marriage definitively won. 
 
Here's what 2009 was supposed to look like, from their point of view:

"After the loss in California in November of 2008, gay marriage bills sailed through the legislatures in the Northeast: in Vermont, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New York and New Jersey.  In Iowa, opposition to gay marriage dissipated after a historic supreme court decision bringing gay marriage to the heartland. In Maine, voters affirmed their legislatures vote by approving a gay marriage bill at the ballot box for the first time in U.S. history.

"A handful of religious zealots objected, but even some Republicans joined with Democrats in recognizing that gay marriage is a civil right whose time has come. In Congress, Republicans conceded they lacked the votes to block a full or partial repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Activists in California, Oregon, Wisconsin and Michigan pledged to repeal state marriage amendments on the ballot. Legal experts said the gains at the ballot box and in state legislatures were likely to encourage the Supreme Court to overturn state marriage amendments in all 50 states and make gay marriage the law of the land."

That's what they hoped the year 2009 would mean: the year opposition to gay marriage crumbled.

What happened instead was very different, thanks to your prayers, your sacrifices, your letters, emails, calls, and financial support: 2009 was the year the politicians learned that they cannot ignore the people's voices and values. They cannot ignore truth, decency, common sense, or the will of the majority of Americans.

In Maine, a secular blue state with a history of approving pro-gay legislation, the people once again decisively rejected gay marriage--by an even bigger margin than in California. In New York, gay-marriage advocates were stunned when on the very day they announced they  had the votes to pass gay marriage, the New York Senate instead lopsidedly rejected gay marriage by 38 no to 24 yes votes. In New Jersey, gay-marriage advocates had to pull a bill unexpectedly just days before the scheduled votes to avoid another lopsided loss. The defeat of Dede Scozzafava in New York's 23rd district demonstrated in a big, public, visible way at least one core political truth: It's a very bad idea for a Republican to vote for gay marriage. The defection of 8 Democratic senators under the brave leadership of State Sen. Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx) proved the rejection of gay marriage was a bipartisan endeavor.

In New Hampshire, voter outrage over the gay marriage bill damaged the governor badly, and has helped pave the way for a voter rebellion in 2010.  Even in Connecticut, a people's rebellion forced the leadership to accept some substantial religious liberty protection they never wanted to even consider (why accommodate bigotry?).

NOM, of course, does not work alone. Key leadership by the Catholic bishops in Maine, New York and New Jersey, the tireless efforts of groups like the New Jersey Family Policy Council and New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, and the sweat, blood and tears of many others went into these great victories.

2009 was the year we proved that together, with God's help, we can win this fight for marriage.

Thank you.

I'm grateful for all the many blessings God has given me, but especially the honor of your friendship.

Please keep me and my family in your prayers, as you are in mine.

A blessed and merry Christmas, and a very very happy New Year.

See you in 2010!

Faithfully,
Brian S. Brown
Executive Director
National Organization for Marriage
20 Nassau Street, Suite 242
Princeton, NJ 08542
[email protected]

P.S. If your means permit a Christmas gift to NOM, please consider becoming one of our monthly donors for 2010. Just $5 a month, pledged on your credit card, will help us reach out to 100 of your fellow Americans each month (1200 over the course of the year!), swelling our army of marriage defenders, our chorus of Americans of all creeds and colors willing to speak truth to power for God's own vision of marriage. $50 a month means we can reach out to 1000 new marriage voters each month, or more than 10,000 new friends and comrades in a year. Our goal in 2010 is two million Americans willing to stand together for marriage. Please pray for our success, and if God has given you the means, help us reach more people with the truth about marriage.

NOM Featured Video
"D.C. Gay Marriage Bill Passes Council Vote"
CBN News
December 16, 2009
CBN News spoke with Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage for more on how D.C.'s gay marriage law could affect the rest of country. Click play for his comments following Paul Strand's report.

NOM in the News
"California Companies Fight Same-Sex Marriage Nationwide"
New York Times
December 12, 2009
Maggie Gallagher, the president of the National Organization for Marriage, a group opposed to same-sex marriage, hired Schubert Flint to develop radio advertisements in New Jersey and New York and put together an advertisement featuring Carrie Prejean, the former Miss California USA, who has voiced her opposition to same-sex marriage.

"D.C. Gay Marriage Bill Expected to Pass Council Vote"
National Public Radio
December 14, 2009
President Maggie Gallagher says the advocacy group is planning a battle against the legislation in Washington. It's a battle the group has already fought in other states this year.

"Anti-Gay Marriage Group Vows to Stay Involved in Maine Politics"
Maine Public Broadcasting Network
December 16, 2009
Reports filed with the state Ethics Commission show that the National Organization for Marriage provided the brunt of the financial muscle for the Stand for Marriage Maine campaign that successfully repealed the state's gay marriage law at the ballot box last month. Of the $3 million dollars raised, $1.7 million came directly from NOM.

"D.C. Mayor to Sign Same-Sex Marriage Bill"
CNN Political Ticker
December 18, 2009
The nation's capital city is expected to take a major step Friday towards legalizing same-sex marriage.

"Law School Discusses Gay Marriage"
Boston College Observer
December 17, 2009
Boston College students packed a lecture hall in the basement of the law school to hear Margaret Gallagher give a speech on why she disagrees with gay marriage. Gallagher was invited to speak at Boston College by the BC chapter of the Federalist Society, in keeping with the society's mission to promote a sense that the "judiciary should say what the law is, and not what it should be." Gallagher has previously testified before the United States Senate, written for The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and founded an organization to promote traditional marriage, the National Organization For Marriage.

"Sundance to Premiere Film Documenting Mormon Push to Defeat Gay Marriage"
Colorado Independent
December 11, 2009
The Mormon church poured money and effort into the campaign to pass Proposition 8 in California, the initiative that outlawed gay marriage there. Director Reed Cowan's documentary about the effort was accepted into the Sundance film festival and will make its debut in Park City next month.

"'Anti-Religious Bigotry in Nation's Capital"
OneNewsNow
December 12, 2009
During proceedings before the initial vote in favor of it, some members of the DC Council displayed "anti-religious bigotry" toward black clergy -- that's according to the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), which also described the treatment as shocking and appalling.

"D.C. Council Legalizes Gay Marriage"
Charisma
December 15, 2009

Maggie Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage, said her group would join Stand4Marriage in seeking a referendum on the definition of marriage.