A former rural Iowa court official pleaded guilty Monday to forgery for filing false documents to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple from central Florida, in the first case of its kind in Iowa.
... The resolution drew criticism from Joab Penney of Williston, Fla., who says Van Nice's actions duped him out of $150 and gave him an unending legal headache. Penney said he was outraged when court officials advised him Monday he should hire an attorney to petition to void his marriage license - which he said should have never been issued in the first place.
...The Florida men discovered the fraud months later, when Penney contacted an attorney to seek a divorce. The attorney was suspicious because the men had never been to Iowa and Van Nice mailed the application materials from her home, not the courthouse. The attorney contacted authorities asking for an investigation.Penney said he now wants to marry a woman in Florida, but officials there say that he's legally married to Parker and needs to obtain a divorce first.
...Penney said he has been frustrated by the lack of answers from officials in Iowa and the legal limbo he's in.
"I want to get married here to a woman, and I can't," he said. "It's a major headache. I've changed my lifestyle because of all of this. It has offended me that much."
Monthly Archives: May 2013
Iowa Gay Marriage Fraud Prevents At Least One Man From Taking a Bride
Ryan Anderson in NY Daily News: The Big Same-Sex Marriage Lie
It's time for proponents of redefining marriage to tell the truth:
Same-sex marriage will never be widely accepted in America for a simple reason: It’s based on a lie. But don’t take my word on this; leading LGBT scholars and activists say as much.
Take Masha Gessen, acclaimed author and former Russian director of Radio Liberty. “Fighting for gay marriage generally involves lying about what we are going to do with marriage when we get there — because we lie that the institution of marriage is not going to change,” Gessen said last year.
Last month, I was part of a debate at the NYU School of Law at which Judith Stacey, a sociology professor at the university, declared: “Children certainly do not need both a mother and a father.”
...Same-sex marriage rejects the anthropological truth that men and women are different and complementary, the biological fact that reproduction depends on a man and a woman and the social reality that children need both a mother and a father.
In the end, the truth about marriage will win out. (New York Daily News)
New Zealand Government Moves Against Family Group After Redefining Marriage
More consequences of same-sex marriage immediately harming religious institutions:
Family First New Zealand has received notification that government's Charities Commission intends to deregister the charity. Why? Family First has a traditional view of marriage being one man and one woman. The commission's investigation began just after NZ’s gay marriage debate started last year.
The decision means that the organisation will no longer be exempt from income tax and, more importantly for a non-profit, donations to it will no longer be tax-deductible.
“This is a highly politicised decision which is grim evidence that groups that think differently to the prevailing politically correct view will be targeted in an attempt to shut them up,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ. (MercatorNet)
Photos: Hundreds Rally to Protect Marriage in Illinois!
Here are some photos of the large pro-marriage rallies that took place in Illinois over the weekend at the offices of wavering Illinois Representatives:
Please contact your Representatives in Illinois and continue to help spreading the word!
National Organization for Marriage - Rhode Island Condemns the Redefinition of Marriage in the Ocean State
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 3, 2013
Contact: Christopher Plante (401-228-7602)
"Besides advocating a flawed marriage policy, the so-called "marriage equality act" contains a shocking lack of religious liberty protections, potentially ghettoizing people of faith unless they compromise and remain silent in the public square." —Christopher Plante, Regional Director for NOM-RI—
Providence, RI — The National Organization for Marriage Rhode Island today condemned the redefinition of marriage signed into law by Governor Lincoln Chafee. Criticizing the new law as short-sighted and potentially dangerous to people of faith, NOM Rhode Island reiterated its commitment to protecting marriage and the faith communities that support it.
"Redefining marriage into a genderless institution to satisfy the demands of a small but politically powerful group is short-sighted policy that fails to take into account the rights and needs of the generations to come," said Christopher Plante, regional director of NOM Rhode Island. "Children deserve to know and be cared for by a mom and dad. This law will intentionally deny children one or the other. The full impact may not be seen next week or next year, but our children will be the ones who pay the price for this decision."
"When marriage is redefined into a genderless institution, it presents a range of legal conflicts for people of faith and the small businesses and charitable organizations they operate to serve the public," Plante said. "Without robust legal protections to allow these faithful people and groups to maintain fidelity in the public square to their religious beliefs, we’re likely to see a raft of lawsuits and governmental action such as license revocations, fines and denial of governmental contracts to these faith-based groups and individuals."
In other states that have recently redefined marriage such as New York, Maine, Vermont and Washington, people of faith have faced consequences for refusing to accommodate genderless marriage in violation of their deeply-held faith. A Christian couple in Vermont was sued for not hosting a same-sex ceremony in their inn, and was forced to pay a fine and agree to no longer accommodate any weddings in their facility. Recently the Washington State Attorney General has taken legal action against a Christian florist for declining to utilize her artistic talents in celebration of a same-sex wedding, which she opposes on religious grounds. The florist has also been sued by a lesbian couple and the ACLU. Notary Publics in Maine have been warned that they must surrender their certifications if they refuse to solemnize a same-sex marriage even if it conflicts with their religious beliefs. Town Clerks in New York faced similar threats.
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To schedule an interview with Christopher Plante, Regional Director of the National Organization for Marriage, contact him at 401-228-7602 or [email protected]
WE MUST ACT NOW! Tell Dover: Do NOT Redefine Marriage!
Dear Marriage Supporter,
On Wednesday, the Delaware Senate executive committee cleared consideration of House Bill 75 to be voted upon on the Senate floor as early as next week.
This bill would redefine marriage in Delaware in a radical way: it would re-create parenting as a genderless institution, and deny kids their fundamental right to both a mom and a dad.
Click here to send an URGENT message to your state senator urging him or her to REJECT House Bill 75 and to say "NO" to redefining marriage in the First State.
Supporter, I need your help if we are going to preserve and uphold marriage in Delaware!
Take action today to tell the Senate to vote against this radical legislation which would spell disaster for people and communities of faith in Delaware, and for the future of all Delaware families!
We need to stop this radical legislation in the Senate because the State Constitution does not give citizens recourse to overrule legislators through a ballot initiative down the line; and Governor Markell has thrown all of his support behind this bill.
I need you to do two things for me right away:
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Send your state senator a strong, clear message that marriage should NOT be redefined in Delaware.
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Forward this email to your friends and family all across the First State. For your convenience, you can use the buttons below:
We MUST get the word out far and wide. House Bill 75 will have devastating effects for families, children and people of faith. I'm counting on you to take action right away and to get at least three or four of your family and friends to do the same.
Brian Brown on USA Today's "Capital Download"
Brian Brown spoke with Susan Page of USA Today yesterday and debunked the notion that there is a definite trend toward wider marriage redefinition. Check it out here.
Pointing to the fight in Illinois, Brian said that the notion "that somehow same-sex marriage is inevitable is just a myth. If you're having this strong a fight in a place where you have super-majority Democratic representation, that tells you that there's still strong opposition to redefining marriage in this country."
Why We Fight, NOM Marriage News
Dear Marriage Supporter,
"Why do you fight so hard?" a gay activist asked me.
They expected us to fold up our tent and go home by now. But instead, thanks to your help, NOM is fighting hard for marriage in difficult territory: Illinois, Delaware, and Minnesota—where one very rich billionaire announced he's putting more money into a coalition to get Republicans to vote for gay marriage.
(Great Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron tried that; remaking the Tories the pro-gay marriage party. He's paying for it by losing local elections, even as I write this, with a new poll showing gay marriage is a big part of the reason.)
They certainly aren't giving up in France. Despite the government's best efforts to tamp down resistance, opposition to gay marriage keeps growing in an amazing grassroots, creative way.
Here's the teaser video for the next big rally in Paris planned in May. Watch it for a lift, so many young people standing up for marriage.
So Why Do We Fight?
As to why we fight these tough blue state battles for marriage, this is a good opportunity for me to answer that question. Why do I fight so hard? Because fighting for the truth about marriage is right. It's real, and it is good.
And because I'm constantly reminded of how grave the loss will be if we permit ourselves to stand down, to meekly acquiesce in the face of this abuse of government power.
Their True Intentions
Two gay marriage advocates, both well-credentialed professional women, came forward to say what you and I know in our hearts: the gay marriage movement is based on lies.
The really Big Lie is that government can change reality: two men are not the same as a husband and wife. No government decree can make it so.
The smaller, endlessly repeated lie is that gay marriage will have no consequences.
Two women who advocate for gay marriage have come forward to at last admit what we know: the gay marriage movement doesn't tell the truth about its own intentions.
I told you about Masha Gessen a few weeks ago, the New York Times blogger Obama appointed to run Radio Liberty in Russia.
It's a no-brainer that (homosexual activists) should have the right to marry, but I also think equally that it's a no-brainer that the institution of marriage should not exist. … (F)ighting for gay marriage generally involves lying about what we are going to do with marriage when we get there — because we lie that the institution of marriage is not going to change, and that is a lie.
An audio of her speech surfaced recently and I wanted to give you the chance to hear it from the source:
Judith Stacey is also not an outlier. She's a well-known sociologist at NYU, who is much sought-after as an expert witness in same-sex marriage and parenting litigation because she has long argued that children don't need mothers or fathers.
The Heritage Foundation's Ryan Anderson went into the lioness' den, debating Prof. Stacey, and she was very frank about her own views.
Gay marriage is just the beginning for her: there's no reason to think fatherlessness is any big deal, no reason to reserve marriage to only two people, no reason marriage should be monogamous, and no reason it should be a sexual union at all!
Fighting Back In Minnesota
In Minnesota, while the billionaires fund Republican betrayal, many DFLers (as the Democratic party is called in Minnesota) are facing surprisingly powerful objections from their own constituents.
In Brainerd, MN, one such fence-sitter, Rep. John Ward was planning on quietly meeting with 5 or 6 of his constituents who oppose gay marriage. But the venue had to be changed to St. Andrews church when news of the meeting had spread by Facebook and it looked like 65 people wanted to show up. The actual turnout? According to the Brainerd Dispatch, 170 people turned up to make their views known—good, ordinary men and women taking time out from farm and family to stand up for marriage:
"We are moving away from family values," meeting organizer Donna Larson of Merrifield said, noting that about 58 percent of the voters in House District 10A voted yes to change the Minnesota Constitution so it would ban gay marriage. "God has truly blessed me and I stand for one man and one woman (in marriage)."
God bless you Donna, I'm so proud to stand with you and millions of other like you across this great land. This is why we fight. We fight together to make sure what God has created is not redefined by government, without the consent of the people.
If you haven't done so already, you can participate in the fight right now by going to sign our Citizen's Marriage Petition to the Supreme Court. And if you have signed it, please forward it to family and friends to sign.
Stay strong, keep fighting the good fight, and thank you once again for helping us make sure the voices of people like Donna get heard!
Tories Paying at the Polls for SSM
The Christian Institute reports that the Conservative Party in the UK is potentially facing huge losses in tomorrow's elections due to the Prime Minister's policies pushing same-sex marriage:
The ComRes poll, commissioned by the Coalition for Marriage, reveals that one in four of those who voted Conservative in 2010 say the policy is putting them off voting for the Party again.
Asked, “Does the Coalition Government’s plans to legalise same sex marriage make you more or less likely to vote for each of these parties in next week’s local elections?” 26 per cent of Conservative 2010 voters say less likely.
Fewer than one in ten (nine per cent) say they are more likely to vote Tory again because of gay marriage.
And 22 per cent of those polled said they were planning to vote for UKIP, which opposes gay marriage.
Read more here.
National Organization for Marriage — Rhode Island Urges Rhode Island House to Reject Same-Sex Marriage Legislation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 1, 2013
Contact: Christopher Plante (401-228-7602)
"Besides advocating a flawed policy, HB 5015 and SB 38 contain a shocking lack of religious liberty protections, potentially ghettoizing people of faith unless they compromise and remain silent in the public square." — Christopher Plante, Regional Director for the National Organization for Marriage
Providence, RI — The National Organization for Marriage Rhode Island today urged the Rhode Island House to defeat HB 5015 and SB 38 redefining marriage, citing their flawed understanding of marriage and absence of any real religious liberties protections.
"Redefining marriage into a genderless institution to satisfy the demands of a small but politically powerful group is bad enough, but besides advocating a flawed policy HB 5015 and SB 38 contain a shocking lack of religious liberty protections," said Christopher Plante, executive director of NOM Rhode Island. "If anything, experience since the civil union bill was passed shows that the need for robust religious liberty protections has only increased; yet HB 5015 and SB 38 fail to address the serious consequences that will befall people of faith and the organizations they operate to serve the public."
The only true remedy to the coming conflict between religious liberties and sexual liberties in Rhode Island is to not redefine marriage in the first place. Barring that, HB 5015 and SB 38 ought to contain real and enforceable protections for people of faith from having to violate their consciences.
"We urge the Rhode Island House to reject HB 5015 and SB 38 because redefining marriage into a genderless institution that intentionally denies children the love of both a mother and a father is a fundamentally flawed policy," Plante said. "However, at a bare minimum, the legislation should be amended to provide all the provisions of the Corvese amendment to our civil union law and to ensure that individuals, small businesses and religious-based charitable and educational groups are not targeted by government or others with lawsuits, fines, denials of contracts and other forms of punishment for refusing to accept this radical redefinition of marriage."
In other states that have recently redefined marriage such as New York, Maine, Vermont and Washington, people of faith have faced consequences for refusing to accommodate genderless marriage in violation of their deeply-held faith. A Christian couple in Vermont was sued for not hosting a same-sex ceremony in their inn, and was forced to pay a fine and agree to no longer accommodate any weddings in their facility. Recently the Washington State Attorney General has taken legal action against a Christian florist for declining to utilize her artistic talents in celebration of a same-sex wedding, which she opposes on religious grounds. The florist has also been sued by a lesbian couple and the ACLU. Notary Publics in Maine have been warned that they must surrender their certifications if they refuse to solemnize a same-sex marriage even if it conflicts with their religious beliefs. Town Clerks in New York faced similar threats.
"When marriage is redefined into a genderless institution, it presents a range of legal conflicts for people of faith and the small businesses and charitable organizations they operate to serve the public," Plante said. "Without robust legal protections to allow these faithful people and groups to maintain fidelity in the public square to their religious beliefs, we’re likely to see a raft of lawsuits and governmental action such as license revocations, fines and denial of governmental contracts to these faith-based groups and individuals. If the House of Representatives pass HB 5015 or SB 38 without substantial religious liberty protections, it will be putting their constituents with deeply held faith beliefs about marriage directly in the cross-hairs for punishment by political groups and ambitious politicians."
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To schedule an interview with Christopher Plante, Regional Director of the National Organization for Marriage, contact him at 401-228-7602 or [email protected]
SSM Advocates Brazenly Jeopardize Immigration Reform
POLITICO reports on a proposed amendment to the bi-partisan immigration reform bill so long in the making which could end up killing the bill altogether:
The most serious threat to bipartisan immigration reform doesn't involve border security or guest workers or even the path to citizenship.
It’s about gay rights.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), an outspoken defender of traditional marriage, warned that " if that issue is injected into this bill, the bill will fail and the coalition that helped put it together will fall apart."
Faith groups that have been involved in crafting the legislation are also worried about the negative impacts of this cavalier move which, if viewed unvarnished, is nothing but another attempt to surreptitiously undermine the Defense of Marriage Act:
"We strongly would oppose the provision and it could could force us to reconsider our support for the bill," said Kevin Appleby, director of the Catholic Bishops’ Office of Migration Policy and Public Affairs. "It immediately makes the bill a partisan bill and the bipartisan effort could begin to unravel."
And Alfonso Aguilar, executive director of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, issued a statement against the proposed amendment saying, in part: "We hope that President Obama and Democrats in Congress are not willing to sacrifice the legalization of millions of undocumented immigrants for the sake of appeasing the gay lobby."
PM David Cameron's Constituents Turn Out to Protest Plans to Redefine Marriage
A video produced by the UK Coalition for Marriage shows the many protesters that came out to stand against Prime Minister David Cameron's plans to redefine marriage:
In addition to this great show of support, a petition being run by the Coalition for Marriage has already gleaned over half a million signatures!
NYU Professor and SSM 'Expert Witness': "Why Should There Be Marriage At All?"
In a recent debate with Ryan Anderson of the Heritage Foundation, NYU Professor and frequently-sought-after "expert witness" in court cases to redefine marriage, made some very telling remarks revealing the underlying agenda of many of those who say that same-sex marriage "won't affect the rest of us." Hear what she has to say in this excerpt put together by Heritage:
Stacey asks about marriage: "What should limit it to two, and why should it be monogamous? Nothing, in my view."
This is a video everyone must see!
Tell the Legislature to Defend Marriage in Minnesota!
Dear Marriage Supporter,
As you know, advocates of same-sex marriage often make false promises to the public in order to achieve a political victory. (The latest is the admission by a prominent gay marriage advocate, Judith Stacey, that the entire movement is a lie.)
This is what they did in Minnesota, telling voters during the recent campaign on the Minnesota Marriage Amendment that the amendment wasn't needed because state law already defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Once they achieved a narrow political victory on the proposed Marriage Amendment, they immediately launched a legislative effort to redefine marriage.
We need your urgent help to defeat this effort.
Right now marriage is hanging by a thread in Minnesota. Legislative committees are bringing forward bills to redefine marriage (HF 1054/SF 952) and a fierce lobbying effort is underway at the state Capitol in St. Paul.
Back in October of last year, Kathleen Blatz—a former Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court—penned an editorial in the Pioneer Press arguing against the Minnesota marriage amendment on the grounds that, "a no vote preserves the status-quo."
Well, if voting "no" on the amendment was about preserving the status quo—defining marriage as one man and one woman—then it is profoundly wrong for the Legislature to pass legislation now to redefine marriage in Minnesota.
Please make it clear to legislators that voters in Minnesota did not vote FOR same-sex marriage. They narrowly voted against putting the definition of marriage in the state constitution, in large part because they wanted to leave the status quo in place. We cannot let same-sex marriage advocates get away with hijacking the vote of Minnesotans to redefine our core institution of society.
Stand with me today for the rights of the voters of Minnesota, the rights of children to benefit from the love of both a mom and a dad, and the rights of future generations to experience the same institution of marriage that has fostered society's well-being for countless ages!
Stand for marriage, Minnesota!
8 weeks...
Dear Marriage Supporter,
Last week, the Rhode Island state legislature voted to redefine marriage. And the Delaware legislature has a similar vote pending in their state Senate.
This isn't good news...and the media loves to trumpet it far and wide.
But I'm writing to you today, not to discourage, but to remind you that we are standing on the verge of a tremendous victory for marriage in America! And how we respond in this moment may shape marriage for decades to come.
In the next eight weeks — and perhaps even sooner — the Supreme Court will issue its rulings in the Prop 8 and DOMA cases... and we are poised to win our greatest victory for marriage ever!
Thanks to a generous benefactor, every dollar you give will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $500,000.
There has never been a better time to give—your gift of $50 will instantly become $100; $100 will become $200; and $500 will become an incredible $1,000 in defense of marriage!
Same-sex marriage activists brought these cases to the Supreme Court for a single purpose: to redefine marriage for the entire country!
Typically, the Supreme Court doesn't quickly revisit fundamental legal issues once they have ruled on them. That is why NOM is doing everything we can to demonstrate—right now, while the Supreme Court is deliberating on these cases—that the American people stand for marriage!
We organized a coalition of over 40 groups and led over ten thousand supporters in a March for Marriage to the Supreme Court. We have issued a Citizen's Marriage Petition to the Supreme Court and are actively engaged in fighting off efforts to redefine marriage in Delaware, Illinois and Minnesota. Already this year, we have helped to successfully derail efforts to redefine marriage in Wyoming and Hawaii.
The Prop 8 legal defense team has done a tremendous job arguing the case, and I am optimistic that the fight to defend marriage will receive an incredible boost when the Supreme Court rules in just a few short weeks.
The truth is that there is nothing inevitable about the future of marriage. It's an issue that is very much up for grabs, and its future will depend on how hard people work to win the battle.
A victory before the Supreme Court will allow us to engage this issue over the long term by working with churches, young people, ethnic groups and others to show the importance of preserving marriage for society, for future generations and, especially, for children.
Are you prepared for the hard work that lies ahead?
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