NOM BLOG

Monthly Archives: September 2012

Video: Recapping the Arguments for Minnesota Marriage Amendment

Kalley Yanta reviews some of the key issues related to the Minnesota Marriage Amendment:

"This debate is about two competing views of marriage. Those who oppose the marriage protection amendment believe that marriage is fundamentally about what adults want for themselves. They see marriage as essentially a private matter and argue that society should let any two eligible adults regardless of gender form a relationship and have it legally recognized as a marriage. Now we believe that marriage was created by God as the union of one man and one woman for a very specific purpose. Not only does marriage unite the couple to each other but it was created to care for the next generation. We believe marriage is not merely a private matter but serves a very public purpose of providing the ideal environment for fathers and mothers to raise any children born of their union. These two views of marriage cannot co-exist because there can only be one definition of marriage in society. Which view of marriage prevails in Minnesota is what is at stake in this campaign."

Democrat Delegate Will Oppose Party's Stance on Same-Sex Marriage

World Mag:

On the eve of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at Charlotte's Time Warner Cable Arena, visiting pastor Fernando Cabrera preached a fiery Sunday morning sermon at the conservative First Baptist Church in the heart of downtown.

The Liberty University graduate and New York City minister decried President Barack Obama's support for "gay marriage," and the Democratic Party's plan to add same-sex "marriage" to its platform.

Cabrera spoke of the erosion of traditional marriage and warned that "darkness has come upon our land."

He congratulated the Southern Baptist congregation on its success in helping to pass a North Carolina constitutional amendment prohibiting gay "marriage" in the state.

Cabrera also talked about what he'll be doing this week in Charlotte: serving as a Democratic delegate to the DNC.

The New York City councilman and pastor of New Life Church in the Bronx said that being a social conservative in a party that supports legalized abortion and gay "marriage" isn't easy. His goal at the DNC this week: "To make as much noise as possible - New York-style."

[Updated with Video] NFL Star Burgess Owens Tells Blacks Not to Vote for Obama Over Same-Sex Marriage

WorldNetDaily:

Retired National Football League star Burgess Owens, a Super Bowl champion with the Oakland Raiders, has urged African-Americans not to vote for Barack Obama simply on the basis of race.

Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty

In his newly published e-book, “It’s All About Team: Exposing the Black Talented Tenth,” Owens recounts how he grew up as a liberal Democrat and supported Jimmy Carter.

...“We are going to have to have black ministers stand up once again,” he said. “Unfortunately, I have been a little disappointed that we have issues out there like traditional marriage, abortion, school education, and we have so much silence from the black community, from black preachers, because they understand first hand the impact of all that. We can no longer support those who are against the faith.”

... “There is still a desire, by most within the black community, to recapture for their children the ideals of a traditional family where moms and dads commit to each other and to their children through the lifelong bonds of marriage,” Owens concludes. “We can be the kind of example as the black middle class was for decades to give encouragement to others who follow.”

UK Daily Mail: Regnerus "Cleared in School Inquiry"

The UK Daily Mail reports on the exoneration of the Regnerus study:

"A professor who came under attack over a critical research paper about children of gay-marriages will not be fired after being backed up by his school.

The University of Texas-Austin came to the defense of Professor Mark Regnerus after his controversial journal article was published, claiming children of same-sex parents are more likely to be on welfare or depressed than the offspring of heterosexual couples.

His work featured in the July issue of Social Science Research and prompted public outcry after gay rights advocates criticized it as being one-sided and biased.

‘The university expects the scholarly community will continue to evaluate and report on the findings of the Regnerus article and supports such discussion.’

...Rose now plans to pursue his claims with the American Sociological Association, not happy with the findings of a four-member advisory panel who trawled through Regnerus' computers and 42,000 emails before deciding to back his methodology.

'Since it's a sensitive subject that offers quite different conclusions from previous studies, it's not surprising that it has drawn critics,' he told FoxNews.com.

Regnerus’ New Family Structures Study sampled 3,000 people ages 18-39, of whom 248 said their mothers or fathers had a same-sex relationship while they were growing up.

He claimed his study was unique because of its large sample size and that previous studies 'seemed designed to conclude there are no differences between children of the two groups'."

HuffPo: Dad Wears Skirt In Solidarity With His 5-Year-Old Son

The Huffington Post:

When it comes to supporting his son's unconventional wardrobe, Nils Pickert talks the talk and walks the walk.

The German dad explains in Emma magazine that he wears women's clothes (including nail polish) to help his 5-year-old son feel good about going out in dresses and skirts.

... Pickert is not the only parent to speak up for a child whose dress preferences stand out from the norm. American mom Cheryl Kilodavis, who wrote a picture book called "My Princess Boy" about her son Dyson, went on The Today Show in January 2011 to discuss the importance of accepting children for who they are -- no matter what they wear. "Sooner or later my hope is that the world will embrace the uniqueness that is really within all of us," she told Meredith Vieira.

Rev. Owens: "No One, Including Barack Obama, Has a Moral or Civil Right to Redefine Marriage"

Rev. Bill Owens in The Blaze:

"...to use the civil rights as a cover for such a cause is a hijacking of the movement, and we who were a part of that movement reject it. We who marched with Rev. King did not march one inch or one mile to promote same-sex marriage, and the NAACP has abandoned its historical responsibility to protect the civil rights movement.

In the same way, by embracing gay marriage, President Obama, our beloved son, has begun to lead the country down an immoral path.

As black pastors who must always adhere to the teachings of the Bible and our own consciences, we cannot approve of same-sex marriage and its normalcy in law or society, nor lead our congregations down that path.

Those in the gay community are rightly to be protected from violence and harassment, and to be able to vote, to hold jobs and enjoy the general rights of citizens. But no one, including Barack Obama, has a moral or civil right to redefine marriage."

Democrats Raise the Stakes on Marriage, NOM Marriage News

NOM National Newsletter

Dear Marriage Supporter,

You and I know that marriage is not a partisan issue.

We are Democrats, Republicans and Independents, coming together to support something bigger than party: God's own truth about marriage.

Sadly, though, the Democrat party this week officially and formally became the party of gay marriage.

Yet, apparently still fearing public backlash over some issues, Democrat party leaders reversed the effort to strip the word "God" from the platform, and they put the word "Jerusalem" back in the party platform, to widely spread boos and catcalls from their delegates and audience during a questionable voice vote.

Still, they nevertheless unhesitatingly adopted gay marriage as core to their party platform:

Freedom to Marry. We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples. We also support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference.

We oppose discriminatory federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples who seek the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples. We support the full repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.

Michelle Obama gave a beautiful speech about her husband at the convention this week.

But the First Lady also endorsed gay marriage--as a core civil right--as a major part of the American struggle:

… if a young preacher could lift us to the mountaintop with his righteous dream, and if proud Americans can be who they are and boldly stand at the altar with who they love, then surely, surely we can give everyone in this country a fair chance at that great American Dream.

Not every Democrat is on board with the President and First Lady's program. I know from your letters and emails.

I also know because Rev. Bill Owens was at Charlotte as the conscience of the party and the nation.

Major religious leaders from the heart of the black church gathered with Rev. Owens to tell the delegates: You do not represent the whole party… and you do not represent the conscience of the nation.

 

We will not let any politician, or any party, suppress our voice!

We will stand up for marriage as the union of one man and one woman, oriented (if we want to speak of orientation!) towards the good of children.

Only marriage can give children a mom and dad united in one family!

No other union can do that — and another kind of union masquerading as marriage, but denying this essential part of its definition, is no marriage at all!

What's at stake? Well, consider Brazil: there, courts imposed gay marriage. Now, registrars are shocking the conscience of the nation by imposing polygamous unions.

The BBC is reporting that a union between three people, two women and a man, in Sao Paulo is causing major outrage.

The publication says that public notary Claudia do Nascimento Domingues, based in the city of Tupa, feels the couple is entitled to the same family rights that traditional couples have.

And, after all, why not? The principle articulated by the beautiful Michelle Obama from the Democratic party platform—'you can marry anyone you love'—has no stopping point, no core, and no rootedness in truth, especially God's truth.

God created marriage. He gave us that gift—not government.

Respecting His will and His design is what you, and I, and NOM and its allies stand for.

The fights these days grow intense. Absurd campaign finance laws prevent me from going into detail with you about the national fight for marriage now taking place deep in blue states, but in November the people of Washington, Minnesota, Maryland—and that one other blue state I can't mention legally—will decide the future of marriage in decisions that will reverberate to the Supreme Court.

Ted Olsen, who led the legal efforts challenging California's Proposition 8, is now desperately backpedalling, trying to keep the Court from reviewing his handiwork in that case. Why? Because he's afraid he will lose.

The case challenging the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 is "an attractive vehicle" for determining "whether the States may discriminate against gay men and lesbians in the provision of marriage licenses" — but the Supreme Court should pass on the case, lawyers challenging the law say, and let stand an appeals court ruling that strikes down the 2008 amendment on narrow grounds.

But we know Who wins in the end, don't we?

Thank you for giving NOM the privilege—the absolute privilege—of being your voice for marriage.

We fight and we win because of what you have made possible.

I'm humbled and grateful for the opportunity to speak for the values we all hold dear—even more importantly, for the value God holds dear.

We will not stop. We will fight. And we will win!

Video: Coalition of African American Pastors Stands Up For Marriage at the Democratic Convention

Prop. 8 Backers Urge U.S. Supreme Court to Take Up Case

The Mercury News:

Proposition 8 backers on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to jump into the gay marriage fray and restore California's voter-approved ban on same-sex nuptials.

In a widely expected legal move, ProtectMarriage.com urged the high court to review a federal appeals court's decision earlier this year invalidating Proposition 8. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared the law unconstitutional because it stripped away the previous right of same-sex couples to marry in California.

Gay rights advocates last month asked the Supreme Court to decline the case, saying the justices should leave the 9th Circuit's ruling intact. In that brief, lawyers for same-sex couples called the 9th Circuit's ruling "straightforward" and confined to California's unique circumstances, arguing there is no need for the Supreme Court to address the broader legal questions surrounding gay marriage.

But in Wednesday's reply to that argument, Proposition 8 lawyers say same-sex marriage supporters are backing away from previous vows to win gay marriage rights in the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Plaintiffs are now contradicting themselves by urging the Supreme Court to stay out of the case and deny us all a definitive answer to the question whether the U.S. Constitution requires the legalization of same-sex marriage in California," said Andrew Pugno, Proposition 8's general counsel.

The Daily Kos adds:

The Supreme Court docket page for Hollingsworth v. Perry, the Prop 8 case, has a new notice that the case has been "DISTRIBUTED for Conference of September 24, 2012." The September 24 conference is the first time this term that the Justices will meet privately and look at petitions for certiorari to decide which cases they will accept for review. Usually, the Court announces its orders from conferences on the Monday following the conferences, however if they do take up the Prop 8 case on September 24, they could announce as early as the next day whether the full Court will review the case. It takes four votes to grant review.

If the Court denies the petition, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision stands, and Proposition 8 will be invalidated, though the case won't set a nationwide precedent. If they decide to review the case, they'll reach a final decision on the merits at the end of June 2013.

Video: Michelle Obama: Same-Sex Marriage is the New American Dream

Twice in her speech to the Democratic National Convention Michelle Obama referenced recognizing same-sex marriage as part of the American Dream:

"...[Obama] wants everyone in this country, everyone to have the same opportunity [to live the American dream] no matter who we are or where we're from or what we look like or who we love."

"...and if proud Americans can be who they are, and boldly stand at the altar with who they love, then surely surely we can give everyone in this country a fair chance at that great American dream."

Video: Minnesota Woman Unafraid to Speak Up for Marriage

Colleen Simpson is confident, likeable and unafraid to speak up for marriage in Minnesota. Listen in:

Politicker: Pro-Romney Super PAC Launches Anti-Gay Marriage Ad to Snag Southern Swing State Votes

PolitickerNY:

...The “Campaign for American Values” has launched a pro-Mitt Romney television campaign with an ad warning viewers that ”Obama trying to force gay marriage on this country.”

In the commercial, which is entitled “New Morning,” a couple wakes up to coffee and the threat of legalized same sex marriage as they peruse the morning paper.

“Obama is trying to force gay marriage on this country. That’s not the change I voted for. Marriage is between a man and a woman. That’s not the change I voted for,” one of them says,

“That’s not the change I voted for either,” the other agrees.

... Opponents of President Obama may see encouraging signs they can gain votes in North Carolina by emphasizing President’s support for gay marriage. In 2008, President Obama won the Tarheel State by a slim 28,000 vote margin, becoming the first Democrat to win North Carolina since 1976. However, back in May, the day before President Obama decided to express his support for gay marriage, 61 percent of North Carolina voters backed an amendment to their state constitution banning gay marriage and civil unions. Since then, Mr. Romney has managed to claw out a thin lead in the North Carolina polls.

Doug Mainwaring on The Myth of the Same Sex Marriage Mandate

Via the Potomac Tea Party report:

... The author, Doug Mainwaring, is a principled conservative residing in Montgomery County, MD who is gay...

When did it become controversial not to support same sex marriage? And why is there now such an enormous push across our nation toward its normalization?

The national conversation about the issue of same sex marriage has been aggressively fused with the issue of gay rights. Many media commentators, politicians, and lobbyists easily conflate the two issues, promoting the notion among the general public that those who oppose same sex marriage are unsophisticated, bigoted and homophobic. This is a disingenuous impugnment: One can be completely supportive of gays while being opposed to gay marriage.

The issue of same sex marriage has been hijacked by politicians and ideologues in the interest of pursuing broader political gain.

[Continue reading here]

[Read part two here]

Prof. Robert George: Cardinal Dolan's DNC Invite Contradicts Myth that Marriage Defenders are Bigots

Prof. Robert George writes in the Wall Street Journal that the Democratic National Committee's choice to invite Cardinal Timothy Dolan to give a benediction at their convention this week makes an important point, namely:

"...Since no minimally decent political party would let a bigot or misogynist take the podium at its convention—much less bless the proceedings—accepting the cardinal's offer to appear amounts to an implicit but unmistakable concession that there's no bigotry in opposing the redefinition of civil marriage, nor any misogyny in fighting for the unborn. 

...the Democrats are, whether they like it or not, sending an implicit signal of their own. The cardinal's presence confounds efforts by the abortion-rights and gay-marriage movements to stigmatize and marginalize those who refuse to fall into line.

Some on the left fear that Cardinal Dolan will use the platform that the Democrats are providing to preach about the right to life of unborn children and the importance of preserving traditional marriage. He doesn't have to do that. He will make his point and achieve his goal just by showing up."

Zogby: "Voters Disagree With Obama's Marriage Plans"

Pollster John Zogby explains the results of his latest poll (PDF):

The poll, provided to Secrets Tuesday, is a vivid display of how American voters are split not just politically but on individual issues, making it difficult for either presidential candidate to carve out a clear path to victory. 

Take Obama's position backing same-sex marriage. Pollster John Zogby found that 51.4 percent of voters back the GOP's traditional marriage position that the "ideal family is built around a stable marriage between a man and a woman." Some 40.3 percent said "a family can still be the stable unit of a good society if it is headed by a single adult, a same-sex relationship,or grandparents."