...will other gay marriage activists renounce their mantra that "civil rights should never be voted on by the people"?
They've been saying that, oh, in every state where NOM has been working to allow the people to vote to decide the issue.
Or was that argument of theirs just a canard?
Dear Marriage Supporter,
As you know, the NOM Education Fund fights to protect marriage in all 50 states.
But California is one of the states on the front lines and of critical importance—more so than most others.
The same-sex marriage lobbyists have been focusing on the Golden State for a long time, pouring millions of dollars into their campaigns: first to permanently legalize gay marriage, and second (when their original plans failed) to reverse a vote of the people through the courts!
That is why California is such a key part of NOM's 2012 strategic battle plan to protect marriage, and why I am writing you today.
Our fight to uphold Prop 8—which Governor Brown and Attorney General Harris refuse to defend—is going all the way to the Supreme Court in 2012.
NOM has already contributed almost half a million dollars to the legal defense of Prop 8, but more is urgently needed for this all-important battle.
Will you help fund the legal defense of Prop 8 by making one special gift to NOM right now?
Your financial help is critical, because on the other side, Lambda Legal, the ACLU, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights are spending a ton of money to overturn the will of over 7 million Californians and force gay marriage down your throat (in the words of Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom) "whether you like it or not!"
Anything you can afford to donate is important, because with so many fights all over America, our resources will be stretched thin all year.
Marriage and religious liberty are under immediate and urgent threat in over a dozen states. Several large, new, urgent and very expensive fights have arisen in just the past few weeks.
The bottom line: 2012 will either be the year when traditional marriage makes a comeback...
...or it will be the year when the same-sex marriage lobbyists knock the doors down and begin their assault on marriage in all 50 states.
As always, our success depends on you, marriage supporter.
So please, to protect marriage in California, and to support our ability to fight against same-sex marriage throughout 2012, make one urgent financial gift today.
Thank you in advance and God bless you.
Sincerely
Brian S. Brown
Executive Director
NOM Education Fund
P.S. We know the anti-marriage bullies will outspend us in California. They will also use much nastier tactics. But, as Prop 8 showed, the people are on our side. So as long as we have the resources necessary to spread the truth and fight back against the smear campaigns, we will win. So please make the most generous financial gift you can afford at this time. Thanks again.
The seven Catholic bishops of New Jersey (including the Byzantine Catholic bishop) have issued a very strong statement in defense of marriage. It begins:
Marriage as a union of a man and a woman has its roots in natural law. Throughout all of human history marriage has been held to be a union of man and woman. Marriage as a union of man and woman existed long before any nation, religion or law was established. Marriage which unites mothers and fathers in the work of childrearing is the foundation of the family, and the family is the basic unit of society.
Sadly, the institution of marriage is being challenged by a society so concerned with individual freedom that some view marriage as a temporary or disposable convenience. Now, there is even an attempt in the New Jersey Legislature to pass a law that would change the very definition of marriage as a union of one man and one woman.
As citizens, we must protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Same-sex unions may represent a new and a different type of institution, but it is not marriage and should not be treated as marriage.
What can you do to help protect marriage? Today, we ask all people of good will to do three simple things. First, pray for all married couples and all families. Second, reflect on this important question, “How can I help my family and the families I touch to grow in hope, love, peace and joy.” Third, we ask everyone to reach out to your neighbors, your legislators and the governor with a simple message: “Preserve the definition of marriage as a union of one man and one woman.”
Why should citizens care about the state’s definition of marriage?
Citizens must care about the government’s treatment of marriage because civil authorities are charged with protecting children and the common good, and marriage is indispensable to both purposes. Citizens have the right and the responsibility to hold civil authorities accountable for their stewardship of the institution of marriage. Citizens also have the responsibility to oppose laws and policies that unjustly target people as bigots or that subject people to charges of unlawful discrimination simply because they believe and teach that marriage is the union of man and a woman.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 26, 2012
Contact: Elizabeth Ray or Anath Hartmann at (703-683-5004)
"What part of ‘no' don't gay marriage advocates understand?"—Brian Brown, NOM President
Augusta—The National Organization for Marriage (NOM), America's leading pro-marriage group, today pledged an all-out battle in Maine to defeat a proposed amendment imposing same-sex marriage in the sate. Voters previously rejected gay marriage in 2009.
"NOM intends to vigorously fight this attempt by same-sex marriage advocates to impose gay marriage in Maine," said Brian Brown, NOM's president. "Maine voters rejected gay marriage barely more than two years ago. What part of ‘no' don't gay marriage advocates understand?"
In 2009, voters passed Question One, a "People's Veto" overturning legislation that attempted to legalize gay marriage. NOM spent nearly $2 million on the Question One campaign.
"The people of Maine are not in favor of redefining marriage, as we showed in 2009," Brown said. "Gay advocates are fooling themselves when they say things have changed. Voters still understand that marriage is about more than the desires of adults. They still understand that children need both a mother and father. They understand that same-sex marriage has real consequences for people of faith, small businesses, churches and religious organizations. And they understand that marriage is too important a social institution to be kicked to the curb to satisfy the political demands of a small but powerful and vocal special interest group. We are completely confident that Mainers will oppose this attempt, just as they rejected gay marriage in 2009."
To schedule an interview with Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Elizabeth Ray, [email protected], (x130) or Anath Hartmann, [email protected], (x105) at 703-683-5004.
###
Neal Broverman of The Advocate on the awkward situation (for gay marriage activists) that a Minnesota lawsuit may help prove to the public why the constitutional amendment is needed to protect marriage:
An appeals court ruled on Monday that three same-sex couples suing for the right to marry in Minnesota have the right to a trial—a decision that complicates a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in the state.
... a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in the state—going to voters in November—could get a shot in the arm thanks to the case. Especially, with conservatives already lining up to exploit it.
“[This is] exactly the type of case that's resulting in same-sex marriage being imposed in other states, and it completely highlights the need for a marriage amendment in Minnesota,” Chuck Darrell, spokesman for Minnesota For Marriage, a coalition of groups against gay marriage, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
...Monmouth University pollster and political scientist Patrick Murray said [Governor] Christie's proposal indicates that "politically, he doesn't want his fingerprints anywhere near this."
Murray said Democrats will first force Christie to veto their bill. Then, they will look at the political tea leaves to see if a ballot initiative can pass in November.
Even though a recent Quinnipiac University poll showed that 52 percent of New Jerseyans support gay marriage, the California ballot question in 2008 offers a lesson for Democrats.
Gay marriage there was banned, Murray said, in part because it was opposed by socially conservative African Americans who turned out in large numbers to vote for Barack Obama.
Obama is again on the ballot in November, presenting a similar potential pitfall.
Christie on Tuesday said the ballot measure should be posted for this November exactly because it's a presidential year and will bring the most voters out to the polls.
Even after a veto, Democrats still might not ask for a referendum.
Democrats "don't want to put it on the ballot and have it fail because that would probably end the debate over this for quite some time," Murray said. "It really is a very complex calculation that supporters of gay marriage would have to do before deciding to put this on the ballot."
... why didn't the President endorse it in his State of the Union address?
More than that, he didn't even mention his ongoing efforts to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
Gay marriage activists want to tell us that gay marriage is popular, and that DOMA is unpopular.
What does the President know that gay marriage activists don't want to admit?
Dear Marriage Supporter,
Good news from Governor Christie speaking in Bridgewater Tuesday morning!
Asked about the same-sex marriage bill that he had promised two years ago to give "a big red veto," Governor Christie told reporters his answer had not changed:
This issue that our state is exploring—whether or not to redefine hundreds of years of societal and religious traditions—should not be decided by 121 people in the State House in Trenton.
The fact is we're discussing huge change and I believe we need to approach this not only in a thoughtful way, not in a rushed way, but also in a way where we're able to get the most input that we can from the public.
So, if New Jersey is seriously looking to overturn hundreds of years of societal, legal and religious tradition, we need to give the issue the weight that it merits.
So, I think that this is not an issue that should rest solely in my hands, in the hands of the Senate President, or in the hands of the Speaker or the other 118 members of the Legislature.
Let's let the people of New Jersey decide what is right for the state.
Let's put the question of same-sex marriage on the ballot this fall, in the hands of the people, at the time where the most people will be voting, in the presidential election year...
So, my message to the Legislature—and this is simple—and I'm doing it today because today is the first day they're beginning to consider it. Let's stop treating this like a political football and let's let the people of New Jersey decide.
That way those who are in favor, those who are opposed, will have the opportunity to make their case over the next nine months to the people of New Jersey. And then, in the year when the most people will be voting, we get a decision. And the people decide whether or not they believe same-sex marriage should exist in this State or not.
I would certainly be willing to be governed by the decision of the people this State, especially in a year that the most people will be voting in the State.
And I would hope that the legislature would be willing to trust the people, the way I'm willing to trust the people.
This issue is too big and too consequential not to trust the people who will be governed ultimately by any change in law or maintenance of the current law.
Governor Christie got it exactly right: "the institution of marriage is too serious to be treated like a political football."
It's time to let the people of New Jersey have a VOTE to decide the future of marriage, and NOM applauds Governor Christie for his principled stance and commitment to veto same-sex marriage legislation pending in the legislature should it reach his desk.
But the threat isn't over.
Senate Democrats yesterday passed the same-sex marriage bill out of committee on a 8-4 party line vote, vowing to press on and send the bill to the governor's desk. Senate President Steve Sweeney accused Governor Christie of trying to squelch the legislative debate: "His announcement today was to try to put a damper on what we're trying to do. It's not happening. We're not backing down. We're not giving up."
And we can't let up, either!
Please click here to thank Governor Christie for being a man of his word and standing firm on marriage—and at the same time, send your legislators a message urging them to let the people of New Jersey vote on this important issue.
Then forward this email to three friends, asking them to join you in contacting your legislators.
Together we can stop this bill in its tracks. But only if we all work together.
Faithfully,
With a flurry of coast-to-coast developments this week, same-sex marriage is back in the political spotlight and likely to remain there through Election Day as a half-dozen states face potentially wrenching votes on the issue.
... In all the showdown states, national advocacy groups are expected to be active on both sides. The Human Rights Campaign, for example, has promised to provide funding, strategic advice and field staff for the various campaigns supporting same-sex marriage.
On the other side, the National Organization for Marriage is vowing a multistate effort, including promises of financial support in the primaries to defeat any Republican lawmakers who support gay marriage in Washington.
Though several major national polls now show that a slight majority of Americans support same-sex marriage, National Organization for Marriage president Brian Brown predicts his side will continue its winning streak and prevail in any state referendums that are held this fall.
"There's a myth that history is on a trajectory moving toward same-sex marriage," Brown said. "There is no such momentum."
Dear Marriage Supporter,
As you know, the National Organization for Marriage fights to protect marriage in all 50 states.
But you also know that New York is critically important—more so than most others.
The same-sex marriage lobbyists have been focusing on the Empire State for a long time, pouring millions of dollars into their campaigns to permanently legalize gay marriage. Now they are focused on convincing you and your fellow citizens of the LIE that the fight is over.
That is why we have a special battle plan to protect marriage in New York in 2012, and why I am writing you today.
Our fight to repeal New York's same-sex marriage law will escalate in 2012. NOM has pledged $2 million to oppose pro-gay marriage legislators who betrayed us on marriage. We must send an emphatic message to the "business-as-usual" crowd in Albany: sell out your constituents at your own risk!
Over the years, NOM has defeated every pro-gay marriage Republican we have ever targeted. With your help, we will continue that trend in New York. We will win for New Yorkers their right to vote on a statewide referendum to uphold marriage and, I've no doubt, restore the definition of true marriage in the Empire State.
Will you help fund our 2012 campaign in New York by making one special gift to the NOM NY PAC right now?
The bottom line: 2012 will either be the year when traditional marriage makes a comeback...
...or it will be the year when the same-sex marriage lobbyists knock the doors down and begin their assault on marriage in all 50 states.
As always, the success of our campaign depends on you, Marriage Supporter.
So please, to protect marriage in New York, make one urgent financial gift today.
Thank you in advance, and God bless you.
Sincerely
Brian S. Brown
Treasurer
NOM PAC New York
P.S. We know the anti-marriage bullies will outspend us in New York. Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Cuomo and their Wall Street buddies have already raised MILLIONS of dollars for the re-election campaigns of the senators who betrayed us. They will also use much nastier tactics. But the people are on our side, so as long as we have the resources necessary to spread the truth and fight back against the smear campaigns, we will win. So please make the most generous financial gift you can afford at this time. Thanks again.
Pastor Joe Fuiten writes about Washington State's gay marriage bill and its misleading religious liberty protections:
A Gay Marriage Equality bill (read SB 6239) has been introduced this month in Washington State. The measure is deceptive and exceedingly dangerous. It represents a radical shift in the definition of marriage, and it would pose a serious threat to religious freedom.
…
The bill’s introduction says it would not force clergy or churches to marry gays. However, it adds to state marriage law a section dealing with discrimination. To date, there have never been discrimination provisions in the Washington Marriage Code.... A bill which describes the conditions under which a church can be sued for discrimination against gays is not about marriage equality, and it certainly does not protect religious freedom. The Gay Marriage Equality bill is a serious threat to religious freedom in Washington State. It takes aim at the heart of religious freedom.
Churches and ministers who participate in the newly defined “discrimination” against gays would be subject to lawsuits and legal penalties. If they have their way we will be bludgeoned into acceptance and submission. They want the church to accept and approve of gay marriage whether we like it or not.
Episode 3 in Minnesota for Marriage's ongoing series in support of the November marriage amendment.
"Traditional marriage has been under assault in the state legislature and courts for several years. In the 2009-2010 legislative session, there were five bills presented to redefine marriage ... Still other legislation proposed in 2011 sought to eliminate marriage altogether."
Yet another reason why this November's marriage amendment in Minnesota is necessary and timely:
A lawsuit challenging the state's law against gay marriage was revived Monday by the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
A three-judge panel ruled that a Hennepin County district judge didn't sufficiently consider claims that the law violated the plaintiffs' due process, equal protection and freedom of association rights, and sent the case back to the district court for review.
The 2010 lawsuit challenged the Defense of Marriage Act passed in 1997, known as DOMA. The district judge's ruling relied heavily on a 1971 Minnesota Supreme Court decision that said gay marriage was prohibited by state statute.
But the appellate court said the district judge didn't properly analyze the couples' claims that their due process, equal protection and freedom of association rights were violated. -- The Associated Pres
The Wall Street Journal's Metropolis blog:
Opponents of a gay marriage in New Jersey are mobilizing their supporters with a round of “robo-calls” against legislation that is set to get its first vetting Tuesday before a state senate committee.
“There’s an attempt by wealthy activists to force same sex marriage on New Jersey without a public vote. It’s urgent that you call your state senator and urge him to vote no on same sex legislation,” the call states.
Recipients are then directed to call their specific representatives in Trenton. The calls started going out about two weeks ago to about half a million people who have expressed opposition to same sex marriage in the past, according to Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, a group lobbying against the bill.
Legislators have received more than 10,000 calls from those opposed since the same-sex marriage legislation was first announced by Democrats two weeks ago, Brown said. Many supporters are in the southern reaches of the state, along with areas with large number of African-Americans, he said.
“It’s extensive,” Brown said of the “robo-call” effort.
Automatic calls were used by both proponents and opponents of same-sex marriage when the bill was first considered in New Jersey 2009. Democrats re-introduced gay marriage legislation two weeks ago.
UPDATE -- here is video:
Here is a transcript of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's comments on Democrats pushing to redefine marriage through the legislature:
This issue that our state is exploring – whether or not to redefine hundreds of years of societal and religious traditions – should not be decided by 121 people in the State House in Trenton.
The fact is we’re discussing huge change and I believe we need to approach this not only in a thoughtful way, not in a rushed way, but also in a way where we’re able to get the most input that we can from the public.
So, if New Jersey is seriously looking to overturn hundreds of years of societal, legal and religious tradition, we need to give the issue the weight that it merits.
So, I think that this is not an issue that should rest solely in my hands, in the hands of the Senate President, or in the hands of the Speaker or the other 118 members of the Legislature.
Let’s let the people of New Jersey decide what is right for the state.
Let’s put the question of same-sex marriage on the ballot this fall, in the hands of the people, at the time where the most people will be voting, in the presidential election year.
I support giving New Jerseyans the ability to give voice to their support or their opposition to this issue.
... I would hope that the legislature would be willing to trust the people, the way I’m willing to trust the people.
This issue is too big and too consequential not to trust the people who will be governed ultimately by any change in law or maintenance of the current law.
