November 10, 2011 – 8:00 am
Phyllis Schlafly of Eagle Forum:
The number one reason people are below the poverty line is what a group in St. Louis labels "marriage absence," and so has created a new organization called the Center for Marriage Policy to make Missouri a model to deal with this problem. At a conference this October to launch its proposals, its founder David Usher said, "Marriage absence is driving America's greatest problems, including out-of-control spending, much of the home-loan foreclosure crisis, poverty, children who fail in school, lack of health care coverage, and personal bankruptcy."
... Government's definition of marriage is society's way of establishing the clear responsibility of the father as well as the mother for caring for those little bundles of helpless infants who appear when men and women do what comes naturally. That purpose was ignored by Lyndon Johnson's Great Society.
Beginning with LBJ's War on Poverty and its vast expansion of welfare, the system channeled all welfare money through mothers, making the husband and father irrelevant to the family's economic well-being. It should come as no surprise that this encouraged marriage absence and illegitimacy because, as Ronald Reagan said, if you subsidize something you get more of it.
November 10, 2011 – 7:00 am
Another large gay marriage group sees the writing on the wall:
After a three-year campaign to build support for legalizing same-sex marriage, Oregon's largest gay rights group has decided against putting the issue up for a vote in 2012.
Feedback from an online survey of over 1,000 people, door-to-door canvassing, community meetings and two statewide television advertising campaigns overwhelmingly say, "we must allow our education work to continue," Basic Rights Oregon announced Wednesday. -- Oregon Live
November 9, 2011 – 3:30 pm
Mark Monford's sophomoric rant in the San Francisco Chronicle does one thing well: it proves our point that many who are intent on redefining marriage are also deeply committed to marginalizing, stigmatizing and demonizing people who believe in marriage.
Witness how he crows about the news that 70 companies that have filed an amicus brief to overturn DOMA:
Woe to you, oh modern card-carrying homophobe. For it can't be easy to be you right now, what with all the terrifying changes taking place, all the dramatic sexual upheavals and flagrant displays of "unnatural" love being hurled like exotic sushi in your plain hamburger face these days. Oh, you poor dear.
... Behold, dear homophobe, the upwards of 70 major U.S. companies who have just signed an amicus brief -- basically a formal f-you complaint to the federal government and its odious Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) -- saying the damn thing is bad for business, forces discrimination and inequality in company practices, was written by/for angry encephalitic right-wing thugs who don't know their God from a hole in the seminary wall. I might be making up that last part. But only barely.
... I mean, you can't really call yourself a true American, a real Christian and still openly wear Nikes or Levi's, use Microsoft or Google, or watch Warner Brothers movies, can you? If you really walk your anti-gay talk, well, every one of these companies should be banned from your life, right?
... Don't worry, homophobic American. No one really expects you to boycott all these companies, or even any of them. No one expects you to actually walk your hateful talk. It's not really possible anyway.
November 9, 2011 – 2:44 pm
The Minnesota for Marriage campaign releases a new poll showing majority support for the marriage amendment:
The Minnesota for Marriage campaign today released the results of a survey showing that the proposed constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman enjoys a solid lead among voters. The survey found that 51% of voters would vote for the amendment, while 40% would vote against it. Further, 56% of Minnesotans agree that marriage should be between only a man and a woman.
“This data shows there is very strong voter support for the marriage amendment in Minnesota,” said John Helmberger, Chairman of Minnesota for Marriage. “Our surveys for the past 15 months have shown steady support for traditional marriage, with a strong majority of Minnesotans saying they plan to vote for the amendment.”
November 9, 2011 – 11:00 am
Add another resume to the growing list....
The executive director of the driving force behind New Hampshire’s same-sex marriage law announced Wednesday, Nov. 2 she is resigning due to insufficient funding drawn partly through the group’s national organization.
Mo Baxley led New Hampshire Freedom to Marry for nearly six years, including through the state’s adoption in 2007 of a civil unions law recognizing gay and lesbian couples and then its passage two years later of a law legalizing same-sex marriage. She has been the face for the group in its fight to kill an effort next year to repeal the law. -- Associated Press
November 9, 2011 – 10:25 am
Last night New York town clerk Rose Belforti (profiled by marriageADA here) won re-election after Ed Easter launched a challenge against her over the issue of issuing same-sex licenses.
Belforti won handily, 305 votes to Easter's 186 votes.
New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms congratulates her:
"...the people of Ledyard have spoken and rejected religious discrimination. For the last ten years, Rose Belforti has stood up for the people of Ledyard and tonight they stood up for her," [Rev. Jason J. McGuire, Executive Director] concluded.
"New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms congratulates Rose Belforti, the people of Ledyard and all New Yorkers who understand that protecting religious freedoms is a part of who we are as freedom-loving Americans."
November 9, 2011 – 10:00 am
In the wake of New York redefining marriage, Archbishop Dolan of New York issues a decree to Catholics in his archdiocese:
For millennia, civil authority recognized the true nature of marriage. The marital union between one man and one woman was universally accepted by civil law as a constitutive element of human society, which is vital to the human family and to the continuation of the human race. In a reversal of this tradition, the New York State Legislature recently enacted a law that recognizes same-sex unions as marriages in the State of New York. This law is irreconcilable with the nature and the definition of marriage as established by Divine Law.
He goes on to explain what Catholic policy is vis-a-vis these same-sex ceremonies (our paraphrasing):
a) no priests, deacons or laypeople employed by the archdiocese may participate in or help facilitate a same-sex ceremony
b) no Catholic property can be used to help facilitate a same-sex ceremony
c) no Catholic liturgical items may be used to help facilitate a same-sex ceremony
d) failure to follow this policy may result in church law penalties
November 9, 2011 – 9:00 am
A reversal of an earlier decision in the same case, as reported by MercatorNet:
In the last year to 18 months the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR, pictured) had handed down several excellent decisions. The most famous is the Lautsi judgment in which it ruled that Italy could place crucifixes on the walls of state classrooms.
In another, it ruled that a prohibition on same-sex marriage did not violate the European Convention on Human Rights, and this week it ruled that a ban on the use of donor sperm or eggs does not violate the Convention.
November 8, 2011 – 12:30 pm
USAToday on the try, try, try again efforts to justify redefining marriage by using new message points:
A group of high-profile Democrats and Republicans who back legalizing gay marriage are calling on advocates to shift the focus on the issue from an argument about equal rights to promoting the value of commitment.
The "Commitment Campaign," which is spearheaded by the centrist Democrat group Third Way and will be publicly launched today, has won support from Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat; Rhode Island Gov.Lincoln Chafee, an independent and former Republican; former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman, a Republican; and Ken Mehlman, former chairman of theRepublican National Committee.
... Charles Moran, chairman of the California Log Cabin Republicans, said there has been a "fundamental flaw" in the way that the lesbian, gay and transgender community has framed the issue in the past and has led to 31 straight defeats in ballot initiatives across the country. "This is a real radical way of changing the approach in communicating why gay marriage equality is important," said Moran, who supports the commitment campaign.
November 8, 2011 – 12:00 pm
Details magazine gives a glowing account of polyandrous (one woman living with multiple men) relationships, and interviews people in such relationships who hope marriage will eventually be redefined to match their lifestyle choices:
...Plural love is having a moment right now. That's thanks in no small part to the increasing acceptance of gay marriage: If two men or two women can get married, why can't two men get married to one woman? In Canada, where same-sex marriage has been legal for six years, a case that's expected to go to the Supreme Court could make our neighbor to the north the first Western country that doesn't outlaw polygamy. Here in the U.S., Republican leaders like Mike Huckabee and Michelle Bachmann have made ominous suggestions that legalizing gay marriage will lead to group marriage...
... indeed, some in plural relationships are adopting an activist mind-set. "We're going through right now what homosexuals went through 30 or 40 years ago," says Matt Bullen, a 42-year-old writer and married dad in Seattle who is part of a polyamorist cluster that encompasses five people and two legal marriages. "We need to start putting photos on the desk of ourselves and our partners together. When I'm out in public with my wife and my girlfriend, I need to say, 'These are my partners.'"
... Matt Bullen is cautious about exposing his 9-year-old to the family's lifestyle. "It gives me nightmares that our family is from some awful seventies adult movie where my son comes down a swirling staircase and sees all kinds of shenanigans going on," he says. He and his wife, Vee, have sought to be "age-appropriately honest" with their son. When the boy saw his father kissing Terisa and asked about it, Matt explained to him, "There are ways of loving that you just can't understand yet."
November 8, 2011 – 11:47 am
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 8, 2011
Contact: Mary Beth Hutchins (703-683-5004 x105)
Groups call for Criminal Investigation of Vile Calls Claiming to be From Marriage Supporters
Des Moines, IA — The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and the Family Leader today decried bogus calls to voters in the 18th Senate District special election from a fake marriage organization and called on the Attorney General to launch an investigation into their source.
"Yesterday a phony group claiming to support marriage launched robo calls that were so offensive they clearly were designed to turn voters away from Cindy Golding because she supports marriage between one man and one woman," said Brian Brown, president of NOM. "Neither NOM nor Family Leader had anything to do with these calls and we decry them. We call on the Attorney General to launch an investigation into this dirty trick to determine who is behind the calls, which are designed to steal the election from Ms. Golding."
According to news reports, the calls came from a group calling itself "Citizens for Honesty and Sound Marriage in Iowa" and speak to voters about homosexual sex.
"NOM and the Family Leader have been out front advocates for Cindy Golding’s election for weeks, because she will help ensure that the voters of Iowa have the opportunity to vote on the definition of marriage in our state," said Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of Family Leader. "Our involvement in the race is well known and well documented. We would never use some phony group to deliver messages that are not only vile, they are bound to backfire."
Continued Brown: "This is a dirty trick that is being played on Ms. Golding, NOM, Family Leader and all legitimate supporters of traditional marriage. We demand that the Attorney General find out who is trying to steal this election by the use of dirty tricks like this."
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November 8, 2011 – 11:15 am
The Star Tribune polls Minnesotans one year before they go to vote on the marriage amendment:
Would you favor or oppose amending the Minnesota constitution to allow marriage only between a man and a woman?
Favor 48%
Oppose 43%
Don't know/Refused 8%
This contradicts earlier polls which suggested the amendment enjoyed less support, as the Tribune also reports:
The poll may reflect some shifting opinions among Minnesota voters. In May of this year, just before the constitutional question was approved by the Legislature, 55 percent of respondents in a Minnesota Poll said they opposed the amendment while 39 percent favored a constitutional ban on gay marriage. That survey, like the one conducted last week, also reflected sharp demographic and partisan splits.
Amendment supporter Chuck Darrell, communications director for Minnesota for Marriage, said the early signs of support reflected in the recent Minnesota Poll was good news for his side. He said even though the lead in favor of the amendment is slim, it may reflect even more support.
Darrell said in other states, notably California and Maine, early polling showed marriage amendments failing. But when voters are in the secrecy of their voting booths, he said, they supported the amendments.
"People tend to give the politically correctly answer" on marriage amendment polls, he said.
November 8, 2011 – 11:00 am
Via ShowTracker, a Los Angeles Times TV blog:
On Thursday night O'Brien's longtime costume designer Scott Cronick married his partner David Gorshein. While Gorshein waited underneath the chuppah, Cronick walked down the aisle accompanied by his favorite celebrity, Andy Cohen of Bravo.
Onstage, the couple exchanged heartfelt vows. "Anyone in the world would be happy to wear one of your designs, but no one is possibly happier than I am to wear your ring," Gorshein said.
... After the men stepped on two glasses (one for each groom), O'Brien declared, "By the power invested in me by the state of New York and the Universal Life Church, I now pronounce you husband and husband. You can kiss the groom."
[You can watch the segment here.]
