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CitizenLink: Illinois School Board Chooses Parents Over GLSEN School Curriculum

June 15, 2012 at 10:30 am

Kudos to the school board for standing up for the rights of parents to determine the time and method that sensitive issues are taught to their kids:

A school board in Erie, Ill., is sending ripple effects nationwide after daring to listen to local parents rather than yielding to pressure from national gay activist groups.

Responding to parental concerns, the board of Erie Community Unit School District 1 voted 5-2 not to use materials from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in its elementary school, which goes from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade.

Now GLSEN and liberal media outlets are trying to pressure the school board to reverse course.

“[We asked the School Board to reconsider,” GLSEN said on its website. “Unfortunately, the school board won’t budge. So now we need your help.”

But local parents have a different perspective. -- CitizenLink

And kudos to the school board for resisting the ridiculous notion that there is a "gay-friendly" way to teach math:

The controversy began when a news flyer unveiled plans to introduce GLSEN’s new elementary-level “toolkit” called “Ready, Set, Respect!” The kit encourages teachers to “invite students” as young as kindergarten to “draw pictures of favorite TV or storybook characters and dress them in clothes that are different … from what they would typically wear,” such as “Cinderella in a knight’s armor” or “Spiderman wearing a magic tiara.”

It also suggests teachers incorporate examples of homosexual relationships into classroom activities, such as writing math problems including “a variety of family structures and gender-expressions. For example, ‘Rosa and her dads were at the store and wanted to buy three boxes of pasta…’ ”

The kit encourages educators to use storybooks that familiarize young children with same-sex marriage and transgender or cross-dressing behaviors. Suggested books include Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, which features two male guinea pigs who get married.

When parents objected, the school board voted to remove the materials.

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Children, Education, Illinois, Parenting | Comments (29)

Kiplinger: Top 8 U.S. Cities Poised for Job Growth Exist in Marriage Amendment States!

June 15, 2012 at 10:00 am

Yahoo! just posted a report from Kiplinger that lists the top 8 U.S. cities for future job growth.

Kiplinger says these cities are "poised to become job-creating machines in the years ahead."

Those who continue to push the false meme "gay marriage = economic stimulus" or that protecting marriage somehow impedes job growth should take note that all of these cities are in states that have passed marriage amendments:

1. Nashville, TN
2. San Antonio, TX
3. Orlando, FL
4. Raleigh, NC
5. Portland, OR
6. Oklahoma City, OK
7. Phoenix, AZ
8. Atlanta, GA

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Debating Marriage, Economics, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (12)

Christian Group Demands Ontario Use Bill 13 to Protect Students from Christophobia

June 15, 2012 at 9:30 am

Turning the tables:

In the wake the passage of Ontario’s “anti-bullying” Bill 13, Christian parents and leaders in the Hamilton area are demanding that their school board address what they say are instances of Christian children being bullied for their beliefs in public schools.

“There is a sincere need for anti-Christophobia efforts in the public schools of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB),” said Jim Enos, president of the Hamilton-Wentworth Family Action Council to LifeSiteNews. “Children from traditional biblically moral homes need to be offered a safe environment at public school.”

The issue of Christian children being bullied was brought to the attention of board members during a meeting Monday evening. Father Geoffrey Korz, Dean of Ontario for the Orthodox Church in America, and General Secretary of the Pan-Orthodox Association of Greater Hamilton, told an HWDSB committee that according to Statistics Canada, hate-motivated attacks against traditional religious groups increased by 55% over the past two years.

... He said that Christian parents can “only imagine” what it would be like to see their children’s values and beliefs being affirmed and promoted in public schools in the same way that the LGBT community’s values and beliefs are currently being affirmed and promoted.

“You’d see things like Christian Celebration week and Christian heroes specifically identified in school curriculum. You’d see Christian celebration posters in the hallways and Christian-safe classrooms with the cross posted on the classroom doors as an identifier. Finally, you’d see things like mandatory attendance of students and staff to anti-Christophobic assemblies where everyone would be able to listen to Christian speakers and to gain understanding of the biblically moral Christian community.”

“And this is just the short list,” Enos said. -- LifeSiteNews

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Canada, Children, Education, Free Speech, Law, Religious Liberty | Comments (9)

Giant Turtles Divorce After 115 Years Together

June 15, 2012 at 9:00 am

A little humor to wrap up the week with:

You can't say they didn't try.

After an impressive 115 years together, two giant turtles at an Austrian zoo are refusing to share their cage anymore, the Austrian Times reported Friday.

"We get the feeling they can't stand the sight of each other anymore," said Helga Happ, director of the Klagenfurt-based zoo, where the turtles -- Bibi, the female and Poldi, the male -- have lived for the last 36 years. Before that, they called Basel Zoo in Switzerland home.

According to the paper, zoo staff realized something was amiss when Bibi bit off a chunk of her partner's shell. When the attacks continued, Poldi was moved to another cage.

Animal experts even attempted couples' counseling -- feeding the turtles aphrodisiacs and encouraging them to play games together. But so far, efforts have failed to bring the shelled lovers back together. -- HuffPo

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Divorce, Humor, Marriage | Comments (2)

NRO's Tuttle on the New Mexico Photography Case's "Shocking Precedent"

June 15, 2012 at 8:00 am

We've reported on the case of the New Mexico photographer before. Ian Tuttle at National Review Online charts the dangerous precedent it sets for religious liberty and free speech:

In its desire to prop up the same-sex-marriage agenda, though, the court has rejected that distinction and, in doing so, established a shocking precedent: Not only photographers but writers, videographers, graphic designers, and a host of others who market their services can now be legitimately forced by the government to work on behalf of causes with which they disagree.

... Elane Photography plans to appeal its case to the New Mexico Supreme Court and, if necessary, to the U.S. Supreme Court. But it’s not merely a matter of overturning an unfavorable ruling. The implications of the decision are staggering. “It needs to be reversed,” Lorence argues, “as a matter of ordered liberty.” The decision could be used to effectively bar those opposed to same-sex marriage (or any other liberal cause) from the marketplace.

... And while it is certainly not clear that as goes New Mexico, so goes the nation, if liberal activists and their judicial backers can chip away at conscience protections in cities and states, they will eventually succeed at the federal level.

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Free Speech, Law, New Mexico, Religious Liberty | Comments (13)

Gay Activists Threaten to Challenge Catholic Doctrine in Court If Schools Don't Obey Bill 13

June 14, 2012 at 4:00 pm

Here in the U.S. it is mostly prominent individual gay rights activists like Dan Savage who are telling other people's teenagers and kids they should get over "that Bullsh*t in the Bible".

In Canada gay marriage activists are threatening to go into schools to get that "crap" --i.e. Catholic teachings about sexuality and family-- out of them, at least when it comes to anti-bullying clubs:

"As Catholic bishops in Ontario scramble to figure out how to square McGuinty’s new law mandating Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) with Catholic teaching on sexual morality, homosexual activist groups say that they are prepared to challenge Catholic doctrine in court come September.

After Catholic Bishop Fred Colli of Thunder Bay made statements last week that GSA clubs in Catholic schools would be “true to the teachings of our Church”, Ontario Gay-Straight Alliances Coalition lawyer Doug Elliott told the omosexual news service Xtra! that if Catholics “driven by the position of the Vatican” think they have found a loophole in the legislation, then they will be hauled before the courts.

“If the schools try to play games with kids …. the law is clear. We won’t put up with any of that crap come September,” Elliott said. “If you’re not complying with the law, then we’re going to take you to court. It’s that simple.” -- LifeSiteNews

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Canada, Catholic Church, Children, Education, Marriage, Religious Liberty, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (34)

General Mills Declares War on Marriage with Its Own Customers

June 14, 2012 at 3:30 pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 14, 2012

Contact: Anath Hartmann or Elizabeth Ray (703-683-5004)

"This will go down as one of the dumbest corporate PR stunts of all time."—Brian Brown, NOM president—

National Organization for Marriage

Washington, D.C.—The National Organization for Marriage today blasted the General Mills Corporation for effectively declaring a "war on marriage" with its own customers. Speaking at a Gay Pride event today, CEO Ken Powell said General Mills opposes an effort to preserve marriage as the union of one man and one woman in Minnesota, where the corporation is headquartered.

"Marriage as the union of one man and one woman is profoundly in the common good, and it is especially important for children," said Brian Brown, NOM's president. "General Mills makes billions marketing cereal to parents of young children. It has now effectively declared a war on marriage with its own customers when it tells the country that it is opposed to preserving traditional marriage, which is what the Minnesota Marriage Protection Amendment does."

A national survey conducted by the Alliance Defense Fund last year showed that 63% of people with children living in their home, 'believe marriage should be defined ONLY as a union between one man and one woman." Just thirty-five percent of people with children at home disagreed with the statement. Overall, the ADF survey found that 62% of adults believe marriage is only the union of a man and a woman.

"This will go down as one of the dumbest corporate PR stunts of all time," said Brian Brown. "It's ludicrous for a big corporation to intentionally inject themselves into a divisive social issue like gay marriage. It's particularly dumb for a corporation that makes billions selling cereal to the very people they just opposed."

According to the US Census Bureau, there are only 111,033 same-sex households in America with children under age 18 who are living in the household. By contrast, there are over 35 million households with children under age 18.

###

To schedule an interview with Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Elizabeth Ray (x130), [email protected], or Anath Hartmann, [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).

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Corporate Ethics, Minnesota, Press Releases | Comments (49)

150 Christian Leaders Send Protest Letter to Obama Over Religious Liberty Issues

June 14, 2012 at 3:00 pm

Billy Hallowell of The Blaze:

Christians leaders aren’t backing down on their pleas for the Obama administration to further expand religious exemptions surrounding the controversial contraceptive mandate.

The ongoing debate about religious freedom has been raging since the mandate was first announced in January, causing a massive rift between Obama and a plethora of religious leaders and congregants. In a June 11 letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, 149 faith leaders made their views on the matter known.

The letter, which can be read in full here, was assembled by Stanley Carlson-Thies who helped setup George W. Bush’s faith-based office. While numerous protestants were included in the pool of individuals signing on, no Catholic bishops joined in. As stated, the Catholic Church is pursuing its own lawsuits to help rectify the wrongs it sees inherent in the mandate. The National Catholic Register has more about the signatories.

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in President Obama, Religious Liberty | Comments (1)

Atlanta Black Star: NAACP Stance On Gay Marriage Leads to National Board Member Resignations

June 14, 2012 at 2:00 pm

Atlanta Black Star:

The decision by the National Board of the NAACP to endorse same sex marriage has caused several local officers as well as members of the National Board to resign.

The board approved the resolution on May 21—on the heels of President Obama’s endorsement of same sex marriage—despite the fact that the issue wasn’t even on the NAACP’s formal agenda.

“Clearly it’s an evolving conversation,” said Chairwoman Roslyn Brock. It may not have been on a formal agenda, but she believed that it was certainly a relevant issue of civil rights. “Some may never be able to come to terms with the resolution, and that’s fine,” she added.

The NAACP decided to support same sex marriage on the grounds that marriage equality is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

Head of the Indiana NAACP Barbara Bolling said that the resolution created debate right away in her state. It even forced one of her branch’s presidents to quit. “It’s an emotional thing, it really is,” Bolling said.

A minister who led the NAACP chapter in Schenectady, N.Y. also resigned, as did National Board member Rev. Keith Ratliff Sr., who has always been the organization’s most prominent and outspoken member when it came to opposing same sex marriage.

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, President Obama, Same Sex Marriage, United for Marriage | Comments (9)

Video: Newly-Married Couple Deliver 500,000 Pro-Marriage Petitions to David Cameron

June 14, 2012 at 1:00 pm

From the organizers:

"12 June 2012, a petition of 500,000 names against the redefinition of marriage is handed in to Downing Street and the Home Office. A newly married couple hand the petition in at Number 10, alongside MPs and campaigners."

The UK Christian Institute reports:

A mass petition calling for the traditional definition of marriage to remain unchanged has been presented to 10 Downing Street.

The 500,000-name petition, which was organised by the Coalition for Marriage (C4M), was officially handed over on Tuesday afternoon.

The petition will be kept open by C4M because they say more people are signing it every day.

Dr Sharon James, a spokeswoman for C4M, said: “We’ve got over half a million people who are saying they believe in marriage, and this isn’t just religious people but people of no faith, gay people and straight people.

“We believe passionately in marriage. It’s much bigger than the church and the state and it goes back to the beginning of human history.”

The handover comes before the close of the Government’s consultation on redefining marriage tomorrow.

Dr James added: “The most outrageous thing today is that Mr Cameron said they are a Government who are going to prevail and they are going to introduce same-sex marriage. The consultation hasn’t even closed yet.

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, Same Sex Marriage, United Kingdom | Comments (4)

Flow Chart on SSM Debate

June 14, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Hat tip to Tim Hsaio, who created this (full-size version here):

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Debating Marriage, Youth | Comments (22)

10 Senators Come to the Defense of DOMA

June 14, 2012 at 11:00 am

William C. Duncan in National Review Online:

"...A very important part of the brief [filed by the 10 senators in defense of DOMA] is its response to “a fundamental misunderstanding of the judicial role in passing on the constitutionality of a federal statute.” The brief explains that nothing in constitutional law “authorizes a court to strike down an otherwise constitutional law based on the belief that legislators individually, or the Congress as a whole, were motivated by ‘animus.’ Adopting any such doctrine would be highly dangerous to the separation-of-powers and the proper functioning of our constitutional system.”

In fact, they explain, the accusation of animus “is little more than an attempt to win an argument by disparaging the motives of the other side.” The senators characterize what the trial court did in this case: “The District Court’s approach cherry-picks statements made by individual members, construes them as reflective of improper motivation, and then imputes these improper motives to the Congress as a whole.” Among other problems with this approach, the brief points out: “Scouring the congressional record for ‘sound-bites’ to divine and disparage the motives of individual legislators also chills the freedom of legislative speech that is the hallmark of robust democratic debate.”

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Congress, DOMA, Law, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (15)

Montana Democrats Endorse SSM

June 14, 2012 at 10:00 am

The Helena Independent Record:

Delegates to the Montana Democratic Party platform convention went on record unanimously Saturday for repealing Montana’s constitutional ban on gay marriages.

Without any debate, they supported striking existing platform language advocating legal protection for same-sex civil unions and offering those couples the same legal benefits and responsibilities granted to other individuals “united by civil contracts under Montana laws.”

Instead, the Democrats adopted this new language:

“We support repealing Section 7, Article 13 of the Montana Constitution. All adults should have the right to legally marry another adult of their choice, regardless of sex or gender. We believe same-sex spouses should have the same legal benefits, protections and responsibilities granted to all those who marry.”

Platforms are a statement of a political party’s philosophy. Any changes in the Montana Constitution would have to be endorsed by the Legislature and approved by voters, or proposed and passed as a constitutional initiative or changed by a court.

In 2004, Montanans, by a 2-to-1 margin, voted for a constitutional initiative to ban same-sex marriages. The provision says: “Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.”

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (12)

Shareholder Takes Target to Task Over Corporate Effort to Redefine Marriage

June 14, 2012 at 9:15 am

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 14, 2012
Contact: Anath Hartmann or Elizabeth Ray (703-683-5004)

"[T]he Target Corporation is donating $120,000 to same-sex marriage advocates who are official participants in the campaign, is saying that the debate will be bad for the Minnesota business community, and still has the nerve to say they are not taking a position on the marriage amendment itself."—Jonathan Baker, Director of the Corporate Fairness Project, NOM—

National Organization for Marriage

WASHINGTON, D.C.—At the Target 2012 annual shareholder meeting yesterday in Chicago, Illinois, a Target shareholder took corporate leadership to task for Target's ill-advised donation to the Family Equality Council, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that is actively opposing the marriage amendment in Minnesota.

"In the midst of the campaign over the definition of marriage in Minnesota, the Target Corporation is donating $120,000 to same-sex marriage advocates who are official participants in the campaign, is saying that the debate will be bad for the Minnesota business community, and still has the nerve to say they are not taking a position on the marriage amendment itself," said Jonathan Baker, Director of the Corporate Fairness Project for the National Organization for Marriage. "This is a patronizing and incoherent stance for a corporation to adopt, particularly when the funds in question are supposed to be a charitable donation that creates good will toward the corporation. It's good to know that expressing concern over corporate support for a radical social agenda is now just taking an "unfair shot" at corporate leadership.

A long-time Target shareholder who attended the annual meeting roundly criticized Target for their donation to the Family Equality Council. Not only was the shareholder upset that the donation had drawn Target into the cultural war over marriage in which they have no business interest, but he was also concerned with how the donation would affect Target as a national retailer. Protests and boycotts have already been started, and Target does not seem to take the shareholder's best interests to heart, argued the shareholder.

Target corporate leadership responded by ignoring the questions about the recipient of the funds raised through the sale of the PRIDE t-shirts and simply said the question was an "unfair shot" at the team that works very hard to deliver shareholder value.

###

To schedule an interview with Jonathan Baker, Director of the Corporate Fairness Project at the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Elizabeth Ray (x130), [email protected], or Anath Hartmann (x166) [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).

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Corporate Ethics, Minnesota, Press Releases | Comments (18)

GOP Senators Weigh in on DOMA Fight Before the 9th Circuit

June 14, 2012 at 9:00 am

Law.com:

"Nothing in Supreme Court jurisprudence, the senators contend, "authorizes a court to strike down an otherwise constitutional law based on the belief that legislators individually, or the Congress as a whole, were motivated by 'animus,'" states the brief, which is signed by Michael Stern of Fairfax, Va.

"Judicial 'psychoanalysis' of legislative motives, to use Justice Cardozo's phrase, is a highly subjective exercise, which threatens needless friction between the branches," the brief continues. "Scouring the congressional record for 'sound-bites' to divine and disparage the motives of individual legislators also chills the freedom of legislative speech that is the hallmark of robust democratic debate."

In a footnote, the senators added that they didn't appreciate White's comparison of the arguments for DOMA with historical arguments against interracial marriage, either.

Hatch, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee when DOMA was passed, received written assurances from the Clinton Justice Department that the legislation was constitutional, the brief states."

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Congress, DOMA, Law, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (6)
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