Dear Marriage Supporter,
Kamala Harris may not yet be a household name across the nation, but she's the uber-liberal state Attorney General of California. She hails from San Francisco and she doesn't much care for people who believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, as God created it.
In fact, she pretty much disdains us.
In a press conference called to celebrate the US Supreme Court's dismissal of the appeal of Prop 8 on standing grounds, Harris said of those of us who support true marriage, "The United States Supreme Court in essence declared today: they are bystanders; they are sitting in [sic] the sidelines." She also declared happily, "The United States Supreme Court today made clear that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional."
Please help us stop manipulative politicians like Kamala Harris who would silence our voice in the public square and treat us like pariahs simply for believing in the age-old, God-ordained conjugal view of marriage.
I've included a link to the video of Harris's comments so you can see them for yourself. But first I want to explain why what she said is so deeply wrong.
Of course, the US Supreme Court said nothing close to what Harris claimed, and issued no such ruling that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional. In fact, the Court specifically decided nothing about Proposition 8 other than the proponents of the initiative did not have the legal standing to bring an appeal to the Court. Only state officials responsible for defending the laws could bring an appeal, the Court's majority said. That's Harris, as Attorney General, and Governor Jerry Brown, and both refused to defend the votes of the 7 million people who passed Proposition 8.
Marriage in California has now died for lack of a defense.
Most of us would consider such actions cynical, shameful and despicable. Clearly, they undermine public confidence in the legitimacy of the legal system. Yet Kamala Harris tells us that, "it's a great day" because, "it means those people who want to deny same-sex couples the benefits of equal protection and due process under the United States constitution cannot do so simply because they don't like the notion."
In other words, the more than 7 million Californians who exercised their sovereign right to amend their state constitution — an act that the California Supreme Court ruled overwhelmingly was a proper and legal use of the constitutional amendment process — don't matter because she, Kamala Harris, has determined that it was the wrong thing to do and she was not going to let them get away with this "notion." In the world of Kamala Harris, we are banished to the sidelines, not even fit to participate in civil discourse.
Harris ignored her oath of office and lied about what the Supreme Court has said about Proposition 8. Worse, her hubris and arrogance is revealed with the statement that, "I know that all Californians — as evidenced by the most recent polling that was done, 61% — support same-sex marriage and the right of these couples to marry, as equals under the law."
Memo to Kamala: even if it were true that 61% of Californians now support same-sex marriage (which is undoubtedly not true), since when does that equate to "all Californians?" And since when does some biased poll entitle the Attorney General of California to ignore duly enacted laws adopted by the voters of California (twice)?
We've got to stop politicians like Kamala Harris who are determined to force us to the sidelines, ignoring our votes and subjecting our views to second-class status. Please make a contribution today to help us fight back against Harris and her ilk.
Why does any of this matter to you? Because Kamala Harris is on the political fast-track and some Washington insiders speculate that she could be the next US Attorney General, or even a member of the US Supreme Court!
Harris was elected state Attorney General in 2010. Two years earlier, as the District of Attorney of San Francisco, she chaired Barack Obama's then underdog California campaign to win the Democratic nomination for president at a time when most of the Democratic elite were backing Hilary Clinton. President Obama owes her, and he's made it clear that he's a big admirer. (In one shockingly embarrassing moment, the president remarked that she was the "hottest" Attorney General in the country, something he had to later apologize for — and probably not just to Harris!)
If you think that things couldn't get much worse out of Washington, imagine what it would be like with Kamala Harris as US Attorney General or, God forbid, a member of the US Supreme Court. What would she do with the power of those two offices when we've already seen her utterly abandon her sworn oath of office, willingly manipulate the legal system to get a result she wants, and then lie about what the Supreme Court has decided in a major case?
I shudder to think about it.
We need your help to stop Kamala Harris and people like her. Please give generously so that NOM can fight back against any politician who suggests that our place — and that of the vast majority of Americans who believe marriage means one man/one woman — is on the sidelines.
These are tough times — we all know that. Our call is to speak, and advocate, the truth about marriage no matter what the popular culture, and ambitious politicians like Kamala Harris, have to say. Please stand with us for the truth of marriage.
But it is his ruling that denies dignity to those who don’t think a same-sex relationship is a marriage. His ruling denies dignity to the millions of Americans and their elected officials who have voted to pass laws that tell the truth about marriage.
"In our study, the wives thought father involvement with the kids and participation in household work are all inter-related and worked together to improve marital quality," said Adam Galovan, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Missouri, in Columbia. "They think being a good father involves more than just doing things involved in the care of children."
The ruling on standing, while seemingly technical, has alarmed critics on both ends of the political spectrum, who worry that the decision effectively gives state officials the unchecked power to nullify ballot initiatives they dislike by refusing to enforce them or defend them in court.
The [gay marriage] law does not exempt individuals, businesses, nonprofits, or the secular business activities of religious entities from non-discrimination laws based on religious beliefs regarding same-sex marriage.
The U.S. Supreme Court finished its term with big decisions on voting rights, affirmative action and same-sex marriage. Following those rulings, public approval of the court has fallen to the lowest level ever recorded in more than nine years of polling.
Just as Lincoln rejected the Supreme Court's reasoning in the Dred Scott decision, so too conservative leaders need to reject the Court's faulty reasoning about DOMA. Anti-democratic judicial activism has become habitual only because our elected leaders have declined to respond to it with Lincoln's clarity and firmness.
