NOMblog: The Official Blog of the National Organization for Marriage

NOM BLOG

Monthly Archives: February 2013

House GOP to SCOTUS: Obama Administration Has No Right to Attack DOMA

February 25, 2013 – 12:30 pm

Lyle Denniston of the SCOTUS blog on the the House GOP pointing out to SCOTUS that the Obama administration is trying to strike down DOMA after refusing to defend it:

The Republican leaders of the House of Representatives urged the Supreme Court on Friday to cast aside the Obama administration’s appeal on the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, though that already has been granted review, and to then take on the dispute in the GOP chiefs’ own case in defense of the law.

In a brief answering jurisdictional questions raised by the Court when it took on the DOMA dispute, the House’s Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) argued that it has a right under the Constitution’s Article III to be in court in DOMA cases. It noted that the administration has stopped defending the law and instead is attacking it.

The new filing also contended that the New York woman who was at the center of the case the Court is reviewing does not have a right to appeal. Both the administration and Ms. Windsor won in lower courts, getting everything that they wanted out of the controversy, and thus have given up their right to pursue the case in the Supreme Court.

“Without the House’s participation,” the document said, “it is hard to see how there is any case or controversy here at all. Both Ms. Windsor and the executive agree that DOMA is unconstitutional and that Ms. Windsor was entitled to a refund [for an estate tax she paid]. And the lower courts granted them all the relief they requested. Only the House’s intervention provides the adverseness that Article III demands.”

By NOM Staff | Posted in DOMA, Law, Politics, President Obama, Supreme Court | Comments (20)

Politico: W.H. Urges Supreme Court to Strike Down DOMA

February 25, 2013 – 12:00 pm

It remains to be seen if the White House will also call on the Supreme Court to strike down Proposition 8:

The Obama administration on Friday urged the Supreme Court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act.

By forcing a federal definition of “spouse” and “marriage,” the administration argued in a brief, DOMA “violates the fundamental constitutional guarantee of equal protection. The law denies to tens of thousands of same-sex couples who are legally married under state law an array of important federal benefits that are available to legally married opposite-sex couples.”

The Obama administration has been urging courts to strike down DOMA for two years. Friday was the deadline to file briefs in the challenge to the 1996 law, scheduled to be heard March 27. (Politico)

By NOM Staff | Posted in DOMA, Marriage, President Obama, Same Sex Marriage, Supreme Court | Comments (1)

Philosoraptor Thinks About Gay Marriage

February 25, 2013 – 11:30 am

Hmm.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Humor | Comments (6)

Coalition of African-American Pastors and National Organization for Marriage Unite to Promote March for Marriage

February 25, 2013 – 11:25 am

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 25, 2013
Contact: Elizabeth Ray or Jen Campbell (703-683-5004)

National Organization for Marriage

Washington, D.C. — Reverend Bill Owens, founder and president of the Coalition of African American Pastors, USA (CAAP), an active member of the civil rights movement in Nashville, Tenn., in the 1950's and 1960's, and Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), have announced they will unite to lead the March for Marriage, to be held in Washington, D.C. on March 26, the same day the U.S. Supreme Court begins oral arguments in the Proposition 8 and Defense of Marriage Act cases.

"Gay activists are wrong to claim the mantle of the civil rights movement in their push to redefine marriage for all — the most important civil right related to marriage is the right of every child to a mother and father," said Rev. Owens. "We plan to rally at the National Mall and march to the Supreme Court to stand up for the true civil rights movement and against these new efforts to claim an unthinkable right — the 'right' to redefine marriage for everyone."

Brian Brown, president of NOM, added: "Our march will reflect the unity and diversity of the pro-marriage movement. Men and women of every walk of life, every color and creed have professed from time immemorial that to make a marriage, you need a man and a woman."

Rev. Owens continued: "I marched in the civil rights movement, and I did not walk a single step for gay marriage when I marched for civil rights. I will march again and the Coalition of African American pastors will march to honor the civil rights movement and to honor the sacred institution of marriage."

###

To schedule an interview with Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Elizabeth Ray (x130), [email protected], or Jen Campbell (x145), [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 March for Marriage, Press Releases | Comments (2)

LDS Professor: Gay Marriage Debate Should Focus on Children

February 25, 2013 – 11:00 am

Jenet Jacob Erickson teaches in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University at writes in Deseret News:

"...What is conspicuously absent from the "civil rights" argument for gay marriage is an appreciation for the rights of children. Marriage exists to ensure children's rights to be reared, as much as possible, by both their father and mother. We privilege marriage not, primarily, to nurture adults who love each other. We privilege marriage to nurture the children who come from the relationship of a mother and father. Thus, marriage is not merely about spousal rights. It is also, if not primarily, about parental and societal responsibilities to children. Marriage advocate Maggie Gallagher puts it simply. Why does marriage matter? To create a bond strong enough that "a child's heart can rely upon it."

... Proponents of gay marriage often call it the "civil rights issue of our day." Past civil rights' movements gave voice to those excluded from the public sphere. Until the debate over gay marriage includes genuine concern for the rights of children—the most vulnerable and voiceless in our society—the true civil rights issue of our day will remain undefended."

By NOM Staff | Posted in Children, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (21)

Australian Judge Tosses Out Claim that Marriage = Gender Discrimination

February 23, 2013 – 1:00 pm

Bloomberg:

An Australian judge threw out a challenge to the nation’s ban on same-sex marriage, ruling it doesn’t amount to gender discrimination.

Neither gay men nor lesbians are allowed to marry under the legislation and thus both sexes are treated equally, Federal Court of Australia Justice Jayne Jagot said in her ruling in Sydney yesterday.

“A man cannot enter into the state of marriage as defined with another man just as a woman cannot enter into the state of marriage with another woman,” the judge wrote. “The redress for these circumstances lies in the political and not the legal arena.”

By NOM Staff | Posted in Australia, Law, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (10)

Anthony Bradley: Black Marriage Matters

February 23, 2013 – 11:00 am

Anthony Bradley, professor of theology at the King's College in New York City, writes in PowerBlog:

Brittney C. Cooper, Assistant professor of Women’s and Gender studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University, writes at Ebony Magazine.com that President Obama is being unfair to the black community by pointing out that many of the violence-related pathologies in inner cities are a result of fatherlessness.

... It is certainly true that economic stress may tempt people to commit crimes. The Bible is clear about that possibility (Prov 30:8). However, Cooper closes out her objection to Obama by saying something that makes no sense: “The challenges facing Black folks in Chicago are myriad, but they have little to do with the decrease in marriage rates.”

What? The problem with Cooper’s objection to President Obama’s claim is that it has no basis in fact or reason. Black marriage rates have actually been associated with a host of social ills in the black community. Cooper could not be more incorrect about the facts. For example, in The Consequences of Marriage for African Americans by Lorraine Blackman of Indiana University, Obie Clayton of Morehouse College, Norval Glenn of the University of Texas at Austin, Linda Malone-Colon of Hampton University and the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center, and Alex Roberts of the Institute for American Values, all find that the data tells a different story: Black marriage matters.

... While it may be true that some unwed fathers are involved in the lives on their children, President Obama is right to point out the marriage effect. To say that the breakdown in the black community is not associated with the decline in marriage rates is to deny the facts and ignore the importance of one of the most important institutions in human society.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Children, Marriage, Politics | Comments (2)

Dr. Christensen in Journal of Public Policy: Mark Regnerus Gets it Right

February 23, 2013 – 9:00 am

Reprinted from The Family in America: A Journal of Public Policy:

Although the American Psychological Association (APA) boasts scholarly objectivity, the social-science guild has for years conducted studies that generate the results—from the alleged benefits of the “good” divorce to the virtues of homosexuality—that progressive activists’ itching ears want to hear. Consequently, it often falls to one brave solider to challenge the groupthink.

Indeed, Mark Regnerus of the University of Texas has done exactly that, conducting the first methodologically rigorous study of homosexual parenting, the latest cause of American elites. Exposing the discredited studies hailed by the APA, the sociologist establishes that children raised by homosexual parents—like all children raised by anything but a married mother and father—suffer risks that should not be overlooked or minimized.

Unique to Regnerus’s study is the data source: his New Family Structures Study, a new research instrument that yielded a data sample of 2,988 randomly selected Americans between the ages 18 to 39, including 175 adults with lesbian mothers and 73 with homosexual fathers. The cross-sectional study queried respondents about their social and economic behaviors, health behaviors, family of origin, and current relationships. Based upon their answers, the lone Texan quantified how the 248 adult children who reported parental homosexual behavior prior to age 18 differed from their peers from six other family-of-origin types.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Children, Parenting, Research/Study | Comments (40)

URGENT: Help Stop Dangerous Civil Unions Bill!

February 22, 2013 – 4:55 pm

Dear Marriage Supporter,

Colorado state senator Pat Steadman, author of the senate version of the civil unions bill, has a message for those who disagree with his views of tolerance and equality because they support marriage:

"[G]et thee to a nunnery, and live there. Go live a monastic life, away from modern society, away from people you can't see as equals to yourself'. . . . Go some place and be as judgmental as you like, go inside your church, establish separate water fountains if you like. But don't tell me that your free exercise of religion requires the state of Colorado to establish separate water fountains."

With Colorado's civil unions bill now headed to the Senate, we have one last chance to stop this dangerous measure.

Consider this:

In 2003, California adopted a civil unions law. Two years later, a California state court judge ruled California's marriage law unconstitutional. By 2008, the state Supreme Court echoed that ruling, finding that civil unions undercut any possible justification for laws recognizing marriage only between a husband and wife.
In 2005 Connecticut adopted a civil unions law. Three years later the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that because of civil unions, Connecticut's marriage laws were now unconstitutional.
In New Jersey, a civil unions law was used to deny tax exempt status to religious organizations that refused to allow use of their property for civil union ceremonies.

And the list goes on . . .

Wherever civil unions are adopted, there is immediate pressure to throw out the "discriminatory" civil unions bill in favor of same-sex marriage. Civil unions aren't a compromise . . . they're a Trojan horse that immediately attacks both marriage and religious liberty.

To make matters even worse, for Senator Steadman religious liberty isn't simply a regrettable casualty in the march for same-sex marriage . . . attacking religious liberty is part of the point!

Gay marriage strategists know that people of faith — people like you and me — are one of the biggest obstacles to a state-imposed same-sex marriage regime. And many of them would like nothing better than to muzzle, isolate, and ultimately silence religious believers — using intimidation and ostracism to closet Biblical views about marriage.

We must draw a line in the sand. I know you understand the stakes. Please take action today. Together we can protect marriage in Colorado, but only if you take action right now.

TAKE ACTION

Please help keep up the pressure with a phone call or email to your state representative today.

Click here to look up the phone number for your state representative.
Use this link to send a short email message to your state representative urging him or her to vote to defend religious liberty and defend marriage, our only civil institution that connects children with parents. Marriage and faith matter!
Finally, forward this email to friends and family throughout the state, or use the buttons below to share on Facebook and Twitter. It's going to take thousands of Coloradans like you working together to preserve marriage in Illinois. Help spread the word today!

Together we can keep up the pressure and save marriage in Colorado! Now is the moment — please join us!

By Brian Brown | Posted in Alerts, Colorado, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (54)

URGENT: Your Help Needed to Stop Same-Sex Marriage in Illinois!

February 22, 2013 – 1:00 pm

Dear Marriage Supporter,

A special thanks to the Illinois Family Institute, the Catholic Conference of Illinois, and the thousands of you who braved the cold in Springfield this week, standing with friends and neighbors from across the state for the Defend Marriage Lobby Day. Estimates suggest between 3,000 and 5,000 Illinoisans traveled to Springfield to be part of the event, making a powerful statement to wavering lawmakers.

That's exactly the type of commitment and dedication that it's going to take to stop same-sex marriage in Illinois this year.

And we can't let up now.

Yesterday's rally sent a strong message to lawmakers, many of whom are under intense pressure to ignore the wishes of their constituents and to toe the line with the Democratic Party leadership's attempt to redefine marriage. The bill has already passed the Senate and is supported by Governor Quinn.

With a vote in the House possible as early as next week, it is critical that we stop it here, where we are strongest!

TAKE ACTION!

Your state representative needs to hear from you right away — please call them and then email them immediately:

Click here to look up the phone number for your state representative.
Use this link to send a short email message to your state representative urging him or her to vote to defend religious liberty and defend marriage, our only civil institution that connects children with parents. Marriage and faith matter!
Finally, forward this email to friends and family throughout the state, or use the buttons below to share on Facebook and Twitter. It's going to take thousands of Illinoisans like you working together to preserve marriage in Illinois. Help spread the word today!

Together we can keep up the momentum and save marriage in Illinois! Now is the moment – please join us!

By Brian Brown | Posted in Alerts, Illinois, Same Sex Marriage | Comments Off

National Organization for Marriage Decries Latest Examples of Human Rights Campaign Misleading on Marriage

February 22, 2013 – 12:45 pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 22, 2013

Contact: Elizabeth Ray or Jen Campbell (703-683-5004)

"Instead of spending millions of dollars on bogus claims featuring purloined logo designs, our coalition is reaching out to the millions of Americans who have already voted to protect marriage as the sacred union of husband and wife." — Brian Brown, NOM president —

National Organization for Marriage

Washington, D.C. — Brian Brown, after the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) was forced to remove images and a quotation from first lady Laura Bush after she demanded they do so, reacted to the news by saying: “The HRC's television ad falsely implies that former First Lady Laura Bush supports their radical agenda, and she was right to demand that they remove it. This is just the latest example of how same-sex marriage advocates misstate and misappropriate the truth. They can't even come up with an original logo design for their new ad campaign. Instead, they have misappropriated a logo I personally designed for NOM half a decade ago to represent the unique status of marriage as the union of one man and one woman."

The HRC together with others in a coalition called “Respect for Marriage" is airing a television ad featuring Republicans expressing support for gays and lesbians, implying that they all want the law changed to redefine marriage. Mrs. Bush was featured in the ad. Immediately upon becoming aware of the ad, she demanded that it be pulled and that she be removed from the advertisement.

The NOM logo is made up of a conjoined blue and red ring. The HRC-led "Coalition for Marriage" logo also contains a conjoined blue and red ring. Brown said that the attempt to mimic NOM's logo is designed to trade on NOM's positive image among Republican leaders and the GOP rank-and-file in an attempt to fool Republican voters into thinking that there is a groundswell among Republicans for redefining marriage, when the opposite is true: “The HRC knows that NOM is viewed positively by Republican leaders and voters, so they're trying to capitalize on our image and trick voters into thinking that there is a growing contingent of republicans who want to redefine marriage. In fact, Republican voters are solidly pro-marriage and repeatedly have defeated those few GOP legislators who have opposed the party position on marriage. In fact, as the Associated Press recently reported, three of the four Republican Senators in New York who voted to redefine marriage wound up ending their political career over that vote. Republican leaders and voters are solidly pro-marriage. It's laughable for the HRC to attempt to pretend otherwise."

Brown concluded: “There is only one coalition that truly respects marriage, and that is the NOM-led coalition that is working to preserve it, not the gay marriage groups like HRC who wish to redefine marriage. To show our commitment to true marriage, NOM is leading the March for Marriage (http://marriagemarch.org/) on March 26th. We expect thousands of people to join us to march from the National Mall to the US Supreme Court on the day of oral arguments in the Proposition 8 case. Our broad coalition reflects the diversity of the pro-marriage movement. Instead of spending millions of dollars on bogus claims featuring purloined logo designs, our coalition is reaching out to the millions of Americans who have already voted to protect marriage as the sacred union of husband and wife. These Americans know the difference between a fake group and one that legitimately respects marriage."

###

By NOM Staff | Posted in Human Rights Campaign, Press Releases | Comments (17)

Our Time Is Now! NOM Marriage News

February 21, 2013 – 4:20 pm

NOM National Newsletter

Dear Marriage Supporter,

In just a few weeks, the Supreme Court will consider whether or not to impose gay marriage on the entire country. That's right — marriage in all 50 states hangs in the balance!

Nine Justices will soon rule on whether or not our core civil right to vote for God's vision of marriage will be upheld — and, in California, restored.

On March 26, the nine Justices meet to consider oral arguments in the Prop 8 case, as well as the Federal DOMA law. The bottom line issue for the Court is: do the voters of California (or nationwide) have the right to define marriage as the union of husband and wife? Or, will we be stripped of that right, and this time-tested, cross-cultural, common-sense and — yes, also Biblical — vision of marriage be redefined as just rank and ugly discrimination?

No Surprise: HRC Playing Dirty Tricks

This week, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) launched a multi-million dollar push, taking out full-page print media ads and buying up television time, trying to persuade Republicans (and the Republican-appointed Justices on the Court) that gay marriage is the new bi-partisan normal, featuring some Republican figures supposedly supporting same-sex marriage, including Laura Bush.

Her spokeswoman, however, just announced that Laura Bush "did not approve of her inclusion in this advertisement nor is she associated with the group that made the ad in any way. When [Mrs. Bush] became aware of the advertisement last night, we requested that the group remove her from it."

So, if you look up HRC's ads online now, you'll notice that the former First Lady's image has been removed. But they are still using another image you'll recognize: NOM's logo! — well, sort of — they have created a logo to look like NOM's well-recognized conjoined blue and red rings.

Because I designed NOM's logo personally, I find this to be an insulting mockery, as well as very ironic: you see, I created this image to reflect the difference between men and women symbolically. The red ring represents men and the blue represents, women. The intertwining of the rings is meant to show that marriage is the unique union of both a woman and a man coming together in committed love.

As for what it means for HRC, though, I can't imagine. Maybe, as with the former First Lady's views on marriage, HRC simply didn't bother looking into the background and meaning of an image before appropriating it as part of their latest misinformation campaign.

Isn't it amazing how images and and beauty often reveal the truth of things better than we can represent with our words alone?

Colorado Senator To Marriage Supporters: "Get Out Of Society"

Meanwhile in Colorado, Sen. Pat Steadman has done us a favor: he's ripped off the mask of tolerance and revealed the profound hatred for traditional religious believers that motivates too many in the gay marriage movement.

Watch this video. Hear in his voice how much tolerance you and your kids and grandkids can expect, if we fall silent and let gay marriage advocates reign unopposed:

"You can have all the free exercise there that you want. Exercise it as you see fit. But, don't let your free exercise run my life. Don't claim religion as a reason the law should discriminate," Steadman says.

His rant goes on: "So, what to say to those who claim that religion requires them to discriminate? I'll tell you what I'd say: ‘Get thee to a nunnery!' And live there then. Go live a monastic life away from modern society, away from people you can't see as equals to yourself."

Marriage Is On The March!

Steadman's rant is chilling to watch, but I'm happy this week to announce good news: Marriage supporters are not taking this lying down. Marriage is on the march!

More and more people and organizations are recognizing: now is the time to speak or be forever forced to hold your peace!

My profound gratitude goes towards the new members of the March for Marriage coalition: Family Research Council; Human Life International; the 500,000 strong Manhattan Declaration; CatholicVote; the American Principles Project; ActRight; Concerned Women for America; C-FAM; as well as The Ruth Institute and NOM-Rhode Island.

Just last week in Puerto Rico, ordinary citizens came together to stand together and strong for marriage:

Next month, it's our time to march, in our nation's capital.

No one has ever organized a national march for marriage before in this country.

The first March for Life was founded by Nellie Gray and held on January 22, 1974, on the steps of the Capitol, after the Supreme Court overturned the law protecting unborn life, stripped voters of their rights to pass such laws, and unilaterally imposed abortion on all 50 states.

Nellie Grey began small, with an estimated 20,000 supporters in attendance — but the March for Life has grown to hundreds of thousands of people each year, for every year that it is necessary to stand for life.

We are especially grateful to Human Life International for recognizing that pro-marriage is prolife. A government whose courts trample on the rights of citizens to stand up for the institution of marriage and the family is trampling on our most sacred rights.

This year, you have a chance to be part of history — because we are not waiting for the Supreme Court to trample on marriage or our rights to vote for marriage before taking action!

Now is our time to make history happen!

The March For Marriage

On March 26th, the March for Marriage day will begin at 8:30am, when you and I will gather on the National Mall, together with thousands of other decent, loving, law-abiding citizens who care about marriage.

At 9:30am, together we will link arms and march to the Supreme Court before returning to the National Mall for our program.

From 11:00am — 1:00pm, the March for Marriage Rally will be held at our gathering space on the Mall.

Confirmed speakers so far (besides me!) include: Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, Bishop George McKinney of the Church of God in Christ, Jennifer Roback Morse, Rev. Bill Owens Sr. — but more great pro-marriage voices will be coming on board. It will be a great program!

We are constantly updating the exciting turns of this new March for Marriage. The best way you can follow these updates as they unfold is on our March Facebook page!


Talking Points	Flier	Map and Schedule

Please consider downloading and sharing this route map and updated schedule of events for the day; our talking points which you can share with fellow marchers, as well as with state and local pro-family organizations; and our our one-page flier explaining the urgency of the March for Marriage and highlighting our cosponsors, which you can download, print out, and share with friends, family, your pastor or other clergy, and other congregants and parishioners.

Also, If you'd like to learn more about the march, become a leader or a group of fellow pro-marriage citizens to come to D.C. for the day's events, or volunteer to help out in any way you can, please contact our March team right away at: [email protected].

I can't wait to hear from you!

The Marriage Pledge

Finally, I am pleased to announce that, through a generous pro-marriage donor, we have a $500K matching challenge to help prepare for the March for Marriage and our various other efforts to protect marriage.

If you cannot be at the March for Marriage this March 26th — or if you can, you want to do even more for marriage — you can help by financing a fellow-marcher in the March for Marriage (along with NOM's other work):

$10 today could make a difference for the rest of U.S. history! Through the magic of matching, your $10 will become $20 for marriage. If God has blessed you and in your prayers you've become persuaded that He wants you to do more at this crucial moment in history, $100 becomes $200, and $500 becomes $1000 for marriage!

That's not really my final request, of course. Because there is one crucial thing you can do right now, regardless of your means: you can pray for me, personally, and for my family. You can pray for Tony Perkins and other leaders of the marriage movement. You can pray that God will un-harden the hearts of the Supreme Court this March 26th and 27th as they listen to the argument on marriage.

You can pray for all the brave people — black, white, Asian and Hispanic, young and old, male and female — coming to D.C. this March to change history and March for Marriage!

And please, please pray for Prof. Robert Lopez, who just travelled to the Minnesota legislature to testify to his own experience of what it was like to grow up fatherless, after his father left and his mother partnered with another lesbian.

He loved both his mothers: "I considered my mother's partner a true mother to me. She was kind and forgiving to me. . . .there's a tension because one of the parents is the biological parent and the other is the legal parent, it's confusing for the child, and it's not a small confusion, it's actually very difficult. . . . . I'm grateful for what I got from being raised in such a colorful home. But I could not be true to myself. . . if I did anything to encourage other children to be placed in such homes. . . our house was full of unclosed scars. I had no father and this crushed my soul."

You can watch his testimony here.

Bless you for all the amazing things you've made possible. Together, let's pray that this country, under God, will have a new birth in freedom, a re-dedication to the American principles that made this the greatest and most God-blessed country on this earth.

By Brian Brown | Posted in NOM Marriage News, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (21)

Amazing Video: Hundreds of Thousands Rally for Marriage in Puerto Rico!

February 21, 2013 – 11:30 am

Our earlier post containing one photo from this week's rally to protect marriage in Puerto Rico did not do the crowds justice. This panorama video taken during the rally shows the massive numbers and energy in the crowd!

We are part of something big! Learn more about our March 26 march to protect marriage at MarriageMarch.org.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Events, March for Marriage, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments Off

Video: CO Civil Union Author Sen. Steadman Claims that Christians "Want Separate Water Fountains" for Gays

February 21, 2013 – 9:00 am

State Senator Pat Steadman (D-Denver), co-sponsor of the Colorado same-sex civil union bill SB11, went to the floor of the Colorado Senate this week and lashed out at people of faith, claiming they want to "establish separate water fountains" for gay people and straight people in their churches and believe "My religion says I can't help [gays]. God told me to hate [gays]."

At another point he says people of faith "don't want gay people sitting on the bus next to them, they'd rather the gays stayed far to the back of the bus, far far away."

Steadman also argues that any person of faith with pro-marriage views should be forced to violate their conscience if they choose to continue operating their business (flower shops, bakeries, restaurants, photographers, banquet halls, etc) after the passage of same-sex civil unions. (He's right about one thing -- this civil unions bill poses a grave threat to religious freedom!)

Here is the transcript -- it is interesting to note how in the first paragraph Steadman claims his bill protects religious liberty (we see this claim made time and time again) and yet it is clear by the end how much he holds religion in contempt (and completely misunderstands it):

"We've written Senate Bill 11 to make sure this separation between religious belief and what's happening here in our state code, in our statutes, in our civil laws are kept separate. For Senate Bill 11 respects religious freedom, this bill does not reach into anyone's church or mosque or synagogue, you can have all the free exercise there that you want. Exercise it as you see fit. But don't let your free exercise run my life. Don't claim religion as a reason the law should discriminate. We have laws against discrimination. Discrimination is banned in employment, and housing, and public accommodations, and so bakeries that serve the public, aren't supposed to look down their noses and one particular class of persons and say "we don't sell cakes to you." It's troubling, this discrimination. And it's already illegal.

So, what to say to those who claim that religion requires them to discriminate? I'll tell you what I'd say: "Get thee to a nunnery!" And live there then. Go live a monastic life away from modern society, away from people you can't see as equals to yourself. Away from the stream of commerce where you may have to serve them or employ them or rent banquet halls to them. Go some place and be as judgmental as you like. Go inside your church, establish separate water fountains in there if you want, but don't claim that free exercise of religion requires the state of Colorado to establish separate water fountains for her citizens. That's not what we're doing here."

Watch the video for yourself:

Please continue to take action and urge your state representatives to oppose same-sex civil unions by opposing SB11!

By NOM Staff | Posted in Civil Unions, Colorado, Law | Comments (26)

More than 3,000 Lobby to Protect Marriage in Illinois!

February 21, 2013 – 8:00 am

Thank you to all of our supporters who joined the Defend Marriage Lobby Day in Springfield!

The Journal Star:

"...“Defend Marriage Lobby Day,” the event that bought the Grace Presbyterian contingent to Springfield, attracted more than 3,000 people, according to David E. Smith, executive director of Illinois Family Institute, based in Carol Stream, the event’s main organizer.

About five busloads from the Peoria area, including two organized by the Catholic Diocese of Peoria, attended.

... Brian Elsasser of Princeville, a Peoria County Board member who rode on one of the buses organized by the Peoria diocese, said, “I pray and I love all humankind, no matter what they do. But that doesn’t give us the right to take an institution, which was ordained by God, and change it in Illinois.”

... Bethany Baptist Church, Germantown Hills Baptist Church and Dayton Avenue Baptist Church also were among the local churches that organized trips to the lobby day.