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Category Archives: Connecticut

Connecticut Republican Senate Candidate Loses Conservative Endorsement After Abandoning DOMA

October 10, 2012 – 9:00 am

Drop the defense of DOMA and you will lose conservative support -- support which can prove critical, come election day:

Peter Wolfgang, director of the conservative Family Institute of Connecticut, has taken back his endorsement of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon, although he is still voting for her “because her victory could mean the end of Roe v. Wade.”

The announcement, first reported by the Hartford Courant, was on the institute’s Facebook page Monday.

Wolfgang had endorsed McMahon in September, but pulled back when she said after a political debate Sunday that she now backs repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.

“I’m still voting for Linda because her victory could mean the end of Roe v. Wade. But because Linda McMahon flip-flopped and now supports a repeal of DOMA — the one federal law that stops Connecticut’s judicially imposed re-definition of marriage from being imposed on the rest of the nation — my September 18th endorsement of her is no longer accurate,” he wrote on Facebook. -- New Haven Register

By NOM Staff | Posted in Connecticut, DOMA, Marriage, Politics, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (6)

LSN: Gay Activist Admits to Sending 300 Threatening Messages to Pro-Marriage Activist

August 27, 2012 – 1:00 pm

We are sure the majority of gay men are appalled by this kind of behavior. How can it be stopped?

A Connecticut homosexual pled guilty on Tuesday to sending 300 threatening messages, including death threats, to the leader of a state pro-life, pro-marriage organization.

53-year-old Daniel Sarno of Enfield, Connecticut, admitted intimidating Peter Wolfgang, the executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut, over a six-month period from last November until May.

One message read: “No mercy for homophobes. I suggest you make your funeral arrangements real soon, Mr. Wolfgang.”

Another said, “I sure hope somebody blows you away. Yer dead.”

Sarno once asked, “Are ‘family values’ worth dying for, Mr. Wolfgang?”

Wolfgang said Sarno identified himself as a homosexual in the letters, which came addressed “Attention: Peter Wolfgang.”

“Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident,” Wolfgang said in a statement e-mailed to LifeSiteNews.com. “In fact it is part of a growing and disturbing intimidation campaign among some proponents of same-sex ‘marriage.’ It is clear that their pretense of ‘tolerance’ is over.” -- LifeSiteNews

By NOM Staff | Posted in Civility, Connecticut, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (9)

Connecticut Man Pleads Guilty to Threatening Family Institute Over Marriage Stance

August 27, 2012 – 9:00 am

The Hartford Current:

An Enfield man admitted in court Tuesday that he sent hundreds of threatening letters to the director of the socially conservative Family Institute of Connecticut, which is at the forefront of political opposition in Hartford to gay marriage.

The guilty plea in U.S. District Court by Daniel Sarno comes a week after an apparently similarly motivated event in which an armed man espousing opposition to social conservatism shot a security guard while trying to enter the offices of the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 15.

The Family Institute and the Family Research Council are affiliated organizations created to press agendas that include opposition to abortion and to marriage other than that between a man and a woman.

Sarno, 53, admitted orchestrating a letter-writing campaign that began in November and ended in May when U.S. postal inspectors tracked the letters to his house, an official familiar with the matter said. All the letters were addressed to Family Institute Executive Director Peter Wolfgang.

"No mercy for homophobes," said one letter, obtained by The Courant. "I suggest you make your funeral arrangements real soon, Mr. Wolfgang. (Trust me. I know.)"

Sarno pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of mailing threatening communications.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Durham said, "Some of the letters contained threats separate and apart from the generally obnoxious nature of the letters."

Sarno, in many of the letters, referred to people who shared the beliefs of the Family Institute as "Bible thumping," "fear mongering" and "sanctimonious," Durham said.

... Wolfgang, who was in court, issued a statement through his organization thanking authorities for protecting him, his family and his professional colleagues.

"Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident," Wolfgang said. "In fact, it is part of a growing and disturbing intimidation campaign among some proponents of same-sex 'marriage.' It is clear that their pretense of 'tolerance' is over.

"Using death threats to stifle debate is un-American. These types of tactics won't work. The Family Institute of Connecticut will continue its work to strengthen and protect marriage, life and religious freedom."

The statement from the Family Institute said that in the letters, Sarno "identified himself as homosexual and made it clear that he was threatening Peter's life because of Peter's beliefs and public advocacy."

By NOM Staff | Posted in Civility, Connecticut, Culture, Law, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (3)

Principal Refuses to Alert Parents to School Play Featuring Gay Kiss

October 20, 2011 – 8:00 am

LifeSiteNews:

Several students at a Hartford high school expressed horror and left the auditorium when two male members of a city-funded school play shared a passionate kiss onstage on Friday. School officials said they opted against informing parents about the event ahead of time, saying that the students needed exposure to homosexuality, and hailed the “chaotic” reaction as a victory for raising the gay issue.

... School officials had told students that homosexual displays of affection would be featured in the play, and many asked to be excused. One school official cited by The Courant, nursing academy principal David Chambers, said that he had considered sending an opt-out letter to parents before changing his mind. The school reportedly received a number of phone calls from parents following the incident.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Connecticut, Education, Parenting, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (27)

Using Civil Unions as a Legal Weapon Against Marriage

December 21, 2010 – 2:46 pm

The European Court of Human Rights has rejected a basic human right to same sex marriage. But U.K. gay rights activists are now seeking to use Great Britain's civil union law to strike down its marriage laws.

This is clearly a coordinated strategy now. We've seen it in Connecticticut, California, and now Great Britain.

It is not impossible to provide practical benefits for same-sex couples without endangering your state's marriage laws, but the laws have to be drawn carefully if the goal is to provide some compassionate help for those ineligible for marriage, while retaining your marriage laws.

But it's much harder:

"Peter Tatchell, who is fronting the 'Equal Love' campaign, . . . .said: "Since there is no difference in the rights and responsibilities involved in gay civil marriages and heterosexual civil partnerships, there is no justification for having two mutually exclusive and discriminatory systems.

"Banning black couples from getting married would provoke uproar. The prohibition on gay marriages should arouse similar outrage.

"The ban on same-sex civil marriages and opposite-sex civil partnerships is a form of legal sexual apartheid - one law for gay couples and another law for heterosexual partners. Two wrongs don't make a right."

The campaign's legal advisor, Robert Wintemute, expressed confidence that the court would strike down the ban.

He said of the current laws: "It's discriminatory and obnoxious, like having separate drinking fountains or beaches for different racial groups, even though the water is the same.

"The only function of the twin bans is to mark lesbian and gay people as socially and legally inferior to heterosexual people.

"I am confident that we have a good chance of persuading the European Court of Human Rights that the UK's system of segregating couples into two 'separate but equal' legal institutions violates the European Convention. I predict that same-sex couples will be granted access to marriage in the UK."

The application to the ECHR will be filed by all eight couples simultaneously today. Should the court find that the law contradicts European conventions, then the UK will be obliged to make changes."

By Maggie Gallagher | Posted in California, Connecticut, Prop 8, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (5)

New Religious Liberty Threat in Connecticut

April 7, 2009 – 12:50 pm

The Lawlor-and-McDonald-controlled Judiciary Committee in Connecticut just passed a same-sex marriage bill -- without religious liberty protections! For the second time in a month, Lawlor and McDonald have used their Judiciary Committee roles to attack religious liberty and people of faith in Connecticut.

Last month, they failed in their efforts to involve the state in matters of internal church governance -- but only after an historic uprising from the people of Connecticut. But now they're back at it again with a bill to enshrine last year's CT Supreme Court ruling into statute, without any substantive protections for churches, religious organizations or people of faith. In the process, they fought off amendments that would have given conscience protections to Justices of the Peace, limited teaching on homosexuality in the schools, and protected religious liberty rights of churches and religious organizations (like Catholic Charities!).

SB899 was approved by the Judiciary Committee this past Monday evening, and now goes to the full Senate, where there will be efforts to add a religious liberty amendment to the bill. NOM has just launched a radio ad campaign in Connecticut focused on protecting our religious liberties. (

Click here to listen.

)

1. If you live in Connecticut, please use this link to send an email to your state senator and representative, urging them to support a religious liberty amendment to SB899.

2. Then make plans to attend the Rally for Religious Liberty in Hartford at 10:00am next Tuesday, April 7th. The rally is being sponsored by the Family Institute of Connecticut, and will meet on the North Steps of the Capitol (overlooking Bushnell Park). Help us have a great turnout on Tuesday!