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Monthly Archives: January 2012

Post-NH Poll: Romney, Gingrich Neck-and-Neck in South Carolina, Santorum Third

January 12, 2012 – 1:30 pm

In the InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research poll of South Carolina primary voters [PDF] taken on January 11th (the day after the New Hampshire primary), Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are within 2 points of each other with Santorum in 3rd:

By NOM Staff | Posted in Election Watch 2012, Poll, South Carolina | Comments (1)

Canadian Policy Establishes: Same-Sex Couples From Abroad Not Actually Married

January 12, 2012 – 1:00 pm

The Canadian Globe and Mail:

The Harper government has served notice that thousands of same-sex couples who flocked to Canada from abroad since 2004 to get married are not legally wed.

... speaking in Halifax Thursday, the Prime Minister said the issue was not on the agenda for his majority Conservatives. “We have no intention of further re-opening or opening this issue,” Stephen Harper told reporters when asked about The Globe and Mail’s report.

The reversal of federal policy is revealed in a document filed in a Toronto test case launched recently by a lesbian couple seeking a divorce. Wed in Toronto in 2005, the couple have been told they cannot divorce because they were never really married – a Department of Justice lawyer says their marriage is not legal in Canada since they could not have lawfully wed in Florida or England, where the two partners reside.

... Same-sex marriage was effectively legalized by the courts in 2004. A year later, the Liberal government of then-prime-minister Paul Martin passed a bill enshrining it in law. More than 5,000 of the approximately 15,000 same-sex marriages that have taken place since then involved couples from the United States or other countries.

In a response to Ms. McCarthy’s court application, federal lawyer Sean Gaudet tied the federal position to two central propositions. First, he said, couples who came to Canada to be married must live in the country for at least a year before they can obtain a divorce. Second, same-sex marriages are legal in Canada only if they are also legal in the home country or state of the couple.

“In this case, neither party had the legal capacity to marry a person of the same sex under the laws of their respective domiciles – Florida and the United Kingdom,” Mr. Gaudet stated. “As a result, their marriage is not legally valid under Canadian law.”

By NOM Staff | Posted in Canada, Law, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (9)

Australia's Greatest Women's Tennis Player Stands for Marriage Despite Gay Campaign

January 12, 2012 – 12:00 pm

The Australian News:

Margaret Court has vowed to maintain her opposition to homosexuality and same-sex marriage, undeterred by gay activists planning to use next week's Australian Open tennis championships to protest against her views.

Court, Australia's greatest women's tennis player and a senior pastor at Perth's Victory Life Centre church, said she had never "run from anything" and expected Australian Open organisers to prevent next week's tournament from being hijacked by the gay rights agenda.

"Are they not wanting me to come to the Australian Open? Is that what they are trying to do? I don't run from anything," Court told The Australian yesterday.

"I have always been a champion and always loved what I do and love tennis. I think it is very sad they can bring it into that. It is hard that they can voice their opinions but I am not allowed to voice my opinion. There is something wrong somewhere.

"We live in a free society and I stand up for families between a husband and a wife. I won't ever back down on that."

Court's views on homosexuality, which she has publicly held for more than 20 years, have prompted gay activists to launch a "Rainbow Flags Over Margaret Court Arena" Facebook site urging people to display gay pride colours at the stadium court named after her.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Australia, Marriage, Religious Liberty, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (6)

Democrat Senate President Urges: Vote No on SSM or People Will Defeat It

January 12, 2012 – 11:30 am

The Democrat President of the Maryland Senate, Mike Miller, says in a radio interview that he sees gay marriage as "an attack on the family", and that he is confident, should Maryland vote to legalize it, the people -- "a coalition of evangelicals, catholics, African Americans" - will come together and defeat it at the polls:

By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, Maryland, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (6)

New CA Bill Allows Boys and Girls to Share "Facilities" Based on "Gender Identity"

January 12, 2012 – 11:00 am

The Pacific Justice Institute:

Less than a week after California’s gay history mandate went into effect, a new pro-LGBT bill introduced last week promises to stir even more controversy.

AB 266, sponsored by Assemblyman and comedian Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), would require schools to allow students to participate on sports teams according to their “gender identity,” not their biological sex. This is no joke. That means that a boy who claims that he identifies as female would have the right to try out for the girls’ basketball team, potentially taking away an opportunity from a girl who might otherwise make the team. “This bill will potentially turn long established federal law that provides equal opportunities for boys and girls to participate in school athletics on its head,” said chief counsel Kevin Snider. But that’s not all. The bill also mandates access to opposite-sex “facilities,” apparently including locker rooms.

By NOM Staff | Posted in California, Children, Education | Comments (21)

Gallup: New Hampshire 2nd Least Religious State, South Carolina 3rd Most Religious

January 12, 2012 – 10:00 am

Gallup looks at the significant cultural contrasts between New Hampshire and South Carolina:

An analysis of more than 350,000 interviews conducted by Gallup in 2008 finds Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas to be the most religious states in the nation. Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts are the least religious states.

... The United States is generally a religious nation, although the degree of this religiosity varies across states and regions of the country. A robust 65% of all Americans (across the entire U.S. population) reported in 2008 that religion was important in their daily lives.

... Additionally, at least half of the residents of all but four states (Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts) say religion is important in their daily lives.

This hasn't stopped some groups in New England, such as the Freedom From Religion Foundation, from taking out ads in Rhode Island which read: "Keep Religion Out of Politics."

By NOM Staff | Posted in Culture, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Carolina | Comments (1)

Cumberland, MD Delegation Agrees: Protect Marriage!

January 12, 2012 – 9:00 am

The Cumberland Times-News in Maryland:

While the local legislative delegation may not agree on everything, members agree that marriage rights shouldn’t be given to same-sex partners in Maryland.

Sen. George Edwards and delegates Wendell Beitzel, Kevin Kelly and LeRoy Myers Jr. all went on the record opposing same-sex marriage at their prelegislative public meeting Wednesday.

The legislators were responding to a question by Joe Shipley, who is active in the Maryland Family Alliance. Shipley asked each of the legislators to go on the record with his opinion.

“This is not an issue I look at as a political issue,” Shipley said.

Marriage should be limited to a union between one man and one woman, Shipley said.

... Beitzel agreed. “I’m very much opposed to legislation allowing same-sex marriage,” Beitzel said.

Edwards said the Senate took a vote on a same-sex marriage proposal in 2011, “and I opposed it.”

“We are for stronger families and a stronger Maryland,” McBride said. The defense of traditional marriage isn’t just a Baptist issue, but involves all sorts of denominations and religious viewpoints, he said. The Maryland Marriage Alliance is a companion group, McBride said.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, Maryland, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (3)

Reminder: NOM Has Pledged $1 Million to Protect Marriage in Maryland

January 11, 2012 – 3:45 pm

A reminder, as the Maryland legislative session opens, that NOM is fully committed to protecting marriage and standing with Democrats and Republicans who join us in this good cause.

This from our March 9 press release from last year:

The National Organization of Marriage today announced that it will form the "NOM PAC Maryland" in the state. NOM pledges to spend at least $1 million in Maryland to support Democratic State Legislators who cast their votes to defend the traditional marriage and oppose any Republican Legislators who vote to redefine marriage.

"It's become quite clear in recent days in Maryland that the Democratic leadership and the same-sex 'marriage' lobby will resort to any tactic, including threats and intimidation, to coerce Democratic legislators to support their agenda," said Brian Brown, President of NOM. "We want to be sure those courageous Democrats who cast their vote of conscience in favor of marriage will have a strong supporter if the radical gay activists come after them in their next primary election."

By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, Maryland, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (26)

PPP: In North Carolina, Santorum Is Tied with Obama; Romney Trails by 1

January 11, 2012 – 2:30 pm

The Weekly Standard on democrat-leaning PPP's latest poll of North Carolina:

The latest PPP polling in North Carolina, the swing-state where the Democrats are holding their 2012 convention, shows Rick Santorum faring slightly better than Mitt Romney versus President Obama. The poll shows Santorum and Obama tied at 46 percent apiece in a hypothetical general election matchup, while Romney trails Obama by one percentage point — 46 to 45 percent.

... In truth, North Carolina is a state that the Republican nominee would likely have to win — and perhaps relatively handily — in order to win the presidency. Obama won nationwide by 7.3 points last time, but his winning margin in North Carolina was only 0.3. Evidence that Romney is trailing there doesn’t help strengthen his electability argument heading into the crucial GOP primary in neighboring South Carolina.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Election Watch 2012, North Carolina, South Carolina | Comments (11)

Actual Republicans Represented Less than 50% of New Hampshire Primary Voters

January 11, 2012 – 2:00 pm

Philip Klein of The Washington Examiner:

Over at Townhall, Guy Benson has defended the strength of Mitt Romney's victory in New Hampshire, and I don't think there's any disputing that it was a solid win. But I think there's one important point worth clarifying. Though overall turnout in the primary is projected to set a record, eclipsing the 2008 tally, turnout among Republican voters is on track to be down by roughly 16 percent.

The reason for the discrepancy is that because there was no competitive Democratic primary this time around (as well as several GOP candidates aggressively chasing their votes), there was a huge spike in the number of independents and Democrats who were voting in the Republican race, something Granite Staters can do in the open primary system.

When you eliminate independents and Democrats from the 2008 equation, actual registered Republicans made up 61 percent of the roughly 239,000 votes cast in the GOP primary, putting the turnout among Republicans at around 145,790. But last night, actual Republicans only comprised 49 percent of the electorate, according toexits. Even if we round up the final 2012 turnout number to 250,000, which would be slightly higher than current projections, that would only leave actual Republican turnout at 122,500, which would represent a 16 percent drop.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Election Watch 2012, New Hampshire | Comments (6)

Supreme Court Slaps Down Obama's Anti-Religion Attack!

January 11, 2012 – 1:30 pm

It was unanimous, as legal Scholar Ed Whelan points out on NRO's Bench Memos blog:

In its unanimous ruling today in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church v. EEOC, the Supreme Court held that the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause bar ministers from invoking the employment-discrimination laws against the religious organizations that employ them.

Chief Justice Roberts’s opinion on behalf of the entire Court affirms that the so-called “ministerial exception” to employment-discrimination laws is firmly rooted in the First Amendment’s Religion Clauses, including the Court’s decisions establishing that “it is impermissible for the government to contradict a church’s determination of who can act as its ministers.” The opinion thus rejects the remarkably hostile contentions of the Obama administration that there is no general ministerial exception and that religious organizations are limited to the right to freedom of association that labor unions and social clubs enjoy.

By NOM Staff | Posted in President Obama, Religious Liberty, Supreme Court | Comments (5)

New Hampshire Resident: We Never Asked for Gay Marriage in the First Place

January 11, 2012 – 12:15 pm

A New Hampshire resident writes the Nashua Telegraph calling them out for editorial bias:

I was saddened to read your Dec. 28 editorial (“Gay-marriage law assault perplexing”). Rarely have I seen an editorial go so far out of its way to ignore the facts about New Hampshire’s gay-marriage law.

The notion that efforts to restore traditional marriage exist only because “conservative Republicans were emboldened by their landslide victory in 2010” completely ignores the fact that voters never asked for gay marriage in the first place.

I’d bet I’m not alone in wondering where your rant against this “distraction” and “social engineering” was when gay marriage activists and liberal legislators put gay marriage ahead of the economy in 2009?

Editorial elites at The Telegraph didn’t call the 2009 push to enact gay marriage a distraction when New Hampshire’s economy was in shambles, so why now?

By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, New Hampshire, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (26)

David Storobin to Challenge Lew Fidler for Disgraced Sen. Kruger's Seat

January 11, 2012 – 11:45 am

The New York Daily News:

Republicans emboldened by a recent Congressional victory are eager to grab the state senate seat vacated by disgraced Sen. Carl Kruger - but they’re facing a popular Democrat who’s flush with cash.

The race is likely to pit Democratic City Councilman Lew Fidler against David Storobin, a lawyer and vice-chairman of the Brooklyn GOP.

The district is dominated by registered Democrats - but Republicans plan to mount an all-out push to repeat the upset scored by Rep. Bob Turner, who defeated Democrat David Weprin in a special election to replace disgraced pol Anthony Weiner.

“This is not a traditional Brooklyn district,” said Storobin, who immigrated from the Soviet Union when he was 12, got his start in politics volunteering for Rudy Giuliani, and hosted one of Brooklyn’s first Tea Party meetings. “Even the Democrats tend to be conservative Democrats.

... Fidler is viewed as well-liked in his Council district, where term limits prevent him from running again, and has already amassed a $332,000 war chest and taken out ads in Orthodox Jewish newspapers touting his accomplishments.

... Gov. Cuomo has called a special election for March 20 to replace Kruger, who resigned and pled guilty to a massive bribery scheme. The district covers parts of Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach, Mill Basin, and Canarsie - much of the same turf as the Congressional seat.

By NOM Staff | Posted in New York, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (2)

National Organization for Marriage Commends Mitt Romney on Impressive Victory in New Hampshire

January 10, 2012 – 10:21 pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 10, 2012
Contact: Anath Hartmann or Elizabeth Ray (703-683-5004)

"Mr. Romney has signed NOM's pledge to take specific actions as president to defend traditional marriage." —Brian Brown, NOM president—

The following statement may be attributed to Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM):

"We commend Mitt Romney on his impressive victory tonight in New Hampshire, adding to his delegate total following his victory in Iowa. Mr. Romney has signed NOM's pledge to take specific actions as president to defend traditional marriage. He has also called for the repeal of same-sex marriage in New Hampshire. Voters rewarded him and we congratulate Mr. Romney on his well-earned victory."

To schedule an interview with Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Elizabeth Ray (x130), [email protected], or Anath Hartmann, [email protected], at 703-683-5004.

###

Paid for by The National Organization for Marriage, Brian Brown, president. 2029 K Street NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006, not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. New § 68A.405(1)(f) & (h).

By NOM Staff | Posted in Election Watch 2012, Marriage Election Watch, New Hampshire, Press Releases | Comments (12)

Law Professor Alleges U. of Iowa Discriminated Against Her For Her ProLife Views

January 10, 2012 – 3:30 pm

In a groundbreaking lawsuit, Teresa Wagner is alleging a public university law school discriminated against her for exercising her First Amendment rights on life and marriage, as the New York Times reports:

Teresa R. Wagner is a conservative Republican who wants to teach law. Her politics may have hurt her career.

An official of the University of Iowa College of Law, where Ms. Wagner applied for a job in 2006, certainly seemed to think so.

“Frankly, one thing that worries me is that some people may be opposed to Teresa serving in any role, in part at least because they so despise her politics (and especially her activism about it),” Associate Dean Jonathan C. Carlson wrote in 2007 to the law school’s dean, Carolyn Jones.

... Walter Olson, a fellow at the Cato Institute, the libertarian group, and the author of “Schools for Misrule: Legal Academia and an Overlawyered America,” said there was nothing unusual about the number of Republicans on Iowa’s law faculty.

“What would count as freakish would be to find two dozen registered Republicans on a big law faculty,” Mr. Olson said. “Law schools are always setting up committees and task forces to promote diversity on their faculty, which can serve to conceal an absence of diversity in how people actually think.”

... The percentages of professors contributing to Democrats were even more lopsided at some of the most prestigious schools: 91 percent at Harvard, 92 at Yale, 94 at Stanford. At the University of Iowa, it was 78 percent. Political affiliations and contributions are, of course, an imperfect proxy for ideology, and political beliefs may in any event have no effect on scholarship and classroom teaching.