A federal judge in Manhattan joined a growing chorus of judges across the country Wednesday by striking down a key component of a federal law denying benefits to partners in a gay marriage.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones said the federal Defense of Marriage Act's efforts to define marriage "intrude upon the states' business of regulating domestic relations."
She said, "That incursion skirts important principles of federalism and therefore cannot be legitimate, in this court's view."
Liberal Manhattan Judge Misapplies Federalism to Strike Down DOMA
Maggie's New Book: Debating Same-Sex Marriage, NOM Marriage News
Dear Marriage Supporter,
The guys at Oxford University Press are no dummies. When they needed someone to make the case against same-sex marriage as part of a Point/Counterpoint series, edited by James Sterba of Notre Dame, they went straight to the top: to one of the best, the brightest and most articulate spokespeople for marriage in America.
They asked NOM's own co-founder, Maggie Gallagher, to spar with Prof. John Corvino (who co-authored the book and writes the pro-gay marriage arguments).
The resulting book, Debating Same-Sex Marriage was released this week, and today I'm heading up to Manhattan to watch the book launch. Live from New York: It's Maggie Gallagher and John Corvino "Debating Same-Sex Marriage." The two of them will be "Conversing" (with a capital C) with David Blankenhorn on the marriage debate: what it means, why it is hard, and why it matters.
You can watch it with me live-streamed here at 6 p.m.
If you go to Amazon you can read for yourself the extraordinary praise for Debating Same-Sex Marriage, and for our own Maggie Gallagher, from some of the smartest people in America: Mary Ann Glendon, Prof. Robby George, John Eastman.
Fair warning: You will also hear from Dan Savage who doesn't like Maggie very much. He actually awards Prof. Corvino "A Gay Medal of Honor" for so patiently responding to Maggie's "bad and sometimes infuriatingly insulting arguments."
This is probably the only book in the history of civilization to be endorsed by both Dan Savage and Sen. Rick Santorum.
Go to Amazon if you want to read the full praise, but here's a taste of what Sen. Santorum has to say.
"Maggie Gallagher is a hero to many of us who care about life, marriage and religious liberty. She is lucid, honest, compassionate, fearless and above all relentlessly reasonable in making the case for marriage..."
I say Amen to that!
Every time I read what Maggie writes, I learn something new, something I didn't know—and I emerge feeling stronger, better equipped and more hopeful, with renewed energy for the fight. I know you will too!
A few highlights that may help you:
Fidelity, she establishes, is a key marital norm. She then lays out the detailed evidence that sexual fidelity is not very common in gay male unions, and then she does something I've never seen anyone do before. It's vintage Maggie.
She asks a question nobody else asks: "Does sexual fidelity play the same role in same-sex unions?" The same, in other words, as it does for marriages?
For husbands and wives, sexual fidelity points to all the goods of marriage: it protects our children, it protects the unity of the family, it points to marital satisfaction and it is a key ingredient in marital permanence. The norm of fidelity makes sense. Adultery is a violation of the essence of marriage, and tears at the fabric that holds it, and civilization, together.
"The radical challenge to marriage from gay marriage is not that gay men are by nature promiscuous, as some have argued. ...The more fundamental and radical challenge is that for gay men, sexual fidelity may not point to or support permanence or relationship satisfaction in the same way it does for opposite-sex relationships," Maggie writes.
She then lays out, point by point, the devastating evidence that "marriage equality" is based on a myth; same-sex unions are not just like opposite-sex ones, and not only in terms of their ability to create new life and connect those children to their mom and dad.
"Sexual infidelity doesn't work very well for opposite-sex unions because male sexual jealousy is a powerful disruptive force, because women tend to fall in love with ongoing sex partners, and of course because children regularly result," Maggie writes. "Men in same-sex relationships, by contrast, frequently find sexual novelty with outside partners helps them sustain their core domestic affection."
Men cannot tolerate the idea of another man being with their wife. Gay men do not have this same problem. "This alone," Maggie writes, "is a powerful signal that in fact same-sex and opposite-sex relationships are dramatically different kinds of sexual unions."
Marriage and its norms grow out of the experience of sustaining long term unions of men and women that give rise to children.
"Marriage equality," she writes, "institutionalized in law and culture will exert continuous ongoing pressure to sideline marital norms that do not work for both kinds of couples equally."
They will cease to become "norms" in other words and become mere preferences, things individuals work out on their own.
We've seen how badly children and society fare as we progressively "de-norm" sex and marriage.
The most fundamental reason to oppose same-sex marriage, she argues, is not that gay marriage will have consequence. Yes it will, and she tells us how and how much!
If the law endorses the idea that same-sex unions are marriages on the grounds that equality requires it, then people who continue to believe that marriage is a union between a husband and wife that can give children a mother and father will be treated the same way we would treat someone who believes that only a marriage between people of the same race is a marriage. That's what "marriage equality" means.
For the record: I am not complaining that Corvino or anyone else has [said] something mean or uncivil about me....I am asking gay marriage advocates to own up to the truth that this is in fact what "marriage equality" means.
This is important, but it is not the most important reason to fight gay marriage. The most important reason is because it is not true. Gay unions are not marriages.
"Marriage equality" is based on a lie about human beings, and commits our government to supporting and enforcing this lie, to propping up a political ideology against human nature.
"John Corvino," she writes "makes a claim that is truly astonishing, the claim that really goes to the heart of our disagreement." Corvino writes of a "wedding" between two men, "Were it not for the absence of a bride, you'd have a hard time distinguishing the scene from any other wedding."
Maggie says, "My jaw drops when I read and reread this sentence." (Mine too!)
You cannot simply take the woman out of the wedding and proceed as if nothing significant has been removed. Take the woman out of the wedding, and you take out the link between the generations, the sense that in the moment we stand at the crossroads of history, that we are in this couples' act of marriage recreating that moment from which we come, while forging a link to the future. Marriage is the key link in the great chain of being. That is what you lose when you take the woman out of the wedding.
The truth of marriage is that it is not a mere plaything of politics, created of, by and for the politicians. It has a reality that government is obligated to respect and protect, not violate and redefine.
"When a man vows to take his masculinity, his sexuality, and put it at the service of a woman and her children, to channel his sexual nature to make it pleasing in a woman's eyes, to make his manhood good for a woman and her children—he becomes a husband," she says.
"Take the woman out of the wedding and marriage is no longer a universal human institution, necessary to the future of the whole society, indeed of all humanity. Cut off from its deep roots in human natures, marriage loses its past, and quite possibly, its future."
Wow. If you want to read more—and I urge you to do so—you can get a copy here or ask for it at your local book store.
The truth: Marriage doesn't go away and it cannot merely be redefined by power alone. Too many gay marriage advocates want to shut down this debate, punish dissent, and get on with the business of using the power of our government, the beloved United States of America, to impose this strange new public morality called gay marriage.
We've seen it this week when the full 9th Circuit Court of Appeals contemptuously refused even to listen to the arguments of supporters of Prop 8, letting stand the ruling of a divided three judge panel that struck down Prop 8.
The fierce and scathing dissent of Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain is bracing to read, especially for those of us who spent our time and our treasure fighting to put Prop 8 on the ballot and persuading our fellow citizens to exercise their core civil right to vote for it:
Today our court has silenced any such respectful conversation. Based on a two-judge majority's gross misapplication of Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996), we have now declared that animus must have been the only conceivable motivation for a sovereign State to have remained committed to a definition of marriage that has existed for millennia, Perry v. Brown, 671 F.3d 1052, 1082 (9th Cir. 2012). Even worse, we have overruled the will of seven million California Proposition 8 voters based on a reading of Romer that would be unrecognizable to the Justices who joined it, to those who dissented from it, and to the judges from sister circuits who have since interpreted it. We should not have so roundly trumped California's democratic process without at least discussing this unparalleled decision as an en banc court.
We've won so many amazing victories only because Truth matters. It has a power beyond the reach of bureaucrats or lawyers or angry activists. In the privacy of the voting booth, Americans have again and again demonstrated that they know the truth about what marriage is, and what it is not.
This week in the state of Washington we had another amazing demonstration of the power of marriage. Preserve Marriage Washington just turned in 241,000 signatures to put gay marriage to the trial of the ballot box. This is historic. This is sweeping. Washington is a state where the referendum is frequently used, but the number of signatures that were collected broke all records.
Truth matters. People care about marriage.
You and I know this. And we know that in the end we will be accountable to a loving and just God for how we fought, or failed to fight, to protect His creation.
Thank you for all you've done to make the good fight possible.
Please pray for Maggie and for everyone at the front lines of this marriage fight.
Until next week, keep up the fight!
FoxNews Video: NOM's Brian Brown on Obama's Massive Marriage Mistake
Our president Brian Brown was interviewed for FoxNews Special Report with Bret Baier:
Brian Brown to US News & WR: Gay Marriage Endorsement Will Be Obama's Downfall
Gay marriage opponents predict President Barack Obama's public endorsement of same-sex marriage will hurt his re-election chances and pledge to push the issue in key swing states. Officials at the National Organization for Marriage, a political group that helps fund state-based campaigns against gay marriage, had already denounced the president's position and said Tuesday they are confident their efforts will help ensure a victory for Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
"I believe that this will lead to President Obama being a one-term president," said NOM president Brian Brown, during a call with reporters. "If you look at key swing states—Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Iowa—those are all states where you had overwhelming majorities vote to protect marriage, and I think that we are going to focus on making very clear that this is a key distinction obviously."
Ohio, Florida and most recently, North Carolina have all passed constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage. While it's legal in Iowa via a court ruling, NOM counts votes to recall justices who supported its legalization as a sign from voters that they oppose it.
Brown pushed back against recent polling that shows Americans' views shifting rapidly in favor of same-sex marriage, claiming they often used 'biased' polling questions. He also pointed to the fact that despite any polling, each of the states that have had popular votes on same-sex marriage have seen voters come out against it. Gay marriage is legal in six states, either through court rulings or by legislation.
SanFran Chronicle: NOM to Make Marriage an Issue in Critical Swing States
Leaders of the National Organization for Marriage, one of the main groups that backed Proposition 8 in California to ban same-sex marriage, promised Tuesday to make such marriages an issue in seven swing states critical to the outcome of this year's presidential election.
Gay and lesbian marriages have been prohibited in 38 states by ballot initiative or by legislatures, including North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Nevada and Colorado. In Iowa, same-sex marriage is legal as a result of a state Supreme Court ruling. Those seven states are considered swing states in the November election.
National Organization for Marriage Political Director Frank Schubert accused President Obama of "orchestrating the demise" of traditional marriage.
Photo: Preserve Marriage Washington Hands in 241,000 Signatures!
From the Preserve Marriage Washington official blog:
Olympia, WA – Preserve Marriage Washington (PMW) today will submit over 241,000 signatures in support of Referendum 74, more than two times the number necessary to qualify a referendum putting the definition of marriage on the November ballot.
“The response to our petition drive has been incredible throughout every corner of the state,” said Joseph Backholm, Chairman of Preserve Marriage Washington. “We will submit a record number of signatures, over 100,000 signatures more than were secured in the 2010 R-71 effort, and more than twice the number necessary for qualification. Support for Referendum 74 was strong from the beginning, and has grown as the signature drive has advanced. Our coalition is excited and committed to preserving marriage this November.”
Gay Activist Allegedly Sues Colombian Bishop for Defending Marriage
Bishop Juan Vicente Cordoba, secretary for the Colombian bishops' conference, has allegedly been sued by columnist and gay activist Felipe Zuleta over his support of marriage as between one man and one woman.
“For now this is all media hype, and very few media outlets have reported on this,” said Father Elver Rojas, spokesman for the bishops' conference, telling CNA that they have yet to receive any official notice of a lawsuit.
Colombian radio reported on May 29 that Zuleta said he is suing Bishop Cordoba for violating the country’s anti-discrimination laws. He argues the bishop’s statements were criminal in nature and punishable by up to twelve years in prison.
He also said local soccer coach Alvaro Gonzalez has also been sued for supposed discrimination against homosexuals.
“We want to see one of these two go to prison so that the country understands that intolerant speech is not acceptable,” he said.
The lawsuit comes one month after Bishop Cordoba called on Colombia’s Constitutional Court to respect the constitution and the concept of the traditional family which it enshrines.
NOM Commends Preserve Marriage Washington for Gathering Record Number of Signatures in Support of Traditional Marriage Referendum
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 6, 2012
Contact: Anath Hartmann or Elizabeth Ray (703-683-5004)
"This shows the broad and deep support that traditional marriage enjoys, and sets the stage for a tremendous victory for marriage this November."—Brian Brown, NOM president—
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) today commended the volunteer leadership of Preserve Marriage Washington on its incredible effort in collecting a record number of signatures to qualify Referendum 74, which gives voters the ability to preserve traditional marriage in the state. The committee turned in more than 240,000 voter signatures, more than twice the number of signatures it needed to qualify the measure to the November ballot.
"We are so pleased and proud to have supported the Preserve Marriage Washington effort to qualify R-74, and we commend them for the historic signature gathering campaign they have mounted," said Brian Brown, NOM’s president and a member of the Executive Committee of Preserve Marriage Washington. "The signature gathering effort produced more signatures than have ever been collected by any referendum committee in the history of the state. This shows the broad and deep support that traditional marriage enjoys, and sets the stage for a tremendous victory for marriage this November."
Preserve Marriage Washington is a diverse coalition of people of faith and no faith alike. In addition to NOM, the group includes the Washington Catholic Conference and the Family Policy Institute of Washington. Over 5,000 individuals and 2,000 churches circulated petitions to qualify R-74.
"We are excited to support Preserve Marriage Washington in the R-74 campaign and are confident of victory," Brown said. "Thirty-two states in America have voted on marriage and every one has stood for traditional marriage, and rejected redefining marriage. We have no doubt that Washington state will do the same."
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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 Co-Founder Maggie Gallagher Discusses New Book Tomorrow at 6pm ET!
Dear Marriage Supporter,
NOM Co-Founder Maggie Gallagher has just released a new book from Oxford University Press entitled Debating Same-Sex Marriage, co-authored with Wayne State Professor John Corvino. The book offers a point/counterpoint discussion of fundamental questions like, "What is marriage," and "What are the implications of same-sex marriage for children's welfare, religious freedom, and our understanding of marriage itself?"
As Rick Santorum said recently: "Maggie Gallagher is a hero to many of us who care about life, marriage and religious liberty. She is lucid, honest, compassionate, fearless and above all relentlessly reasonable in making the case for marriage as the union of husband and wife. Read this book to learn more about marriage, and about the views of millions of Americans who understand this is one fight we cannot duck."
Click here if you'd like to buy a copy from Amazon or leave a customer review.
Tomorrow evening at 6pm, Maggie and John will be at the Institute for American Values in New York for a discussion entitled "Can We Talk Instead of Shout About Gay Marriage?" Although the event itself is already filled to capacity, their discussion will also be streamed live online at www.conversationcenter.org/debate.
I hope you'll join me in tuning in at 6pm ET tomorrow!
Click here to tune in at 6pm Thursday!
Congratulations, Maggie, on the release of your latest book, and for this important new contribution to a civil and thoughtful discussion about marriage.
TAKE ACTION: Tell Sen. McCaskill to Support Conscience Protections for Chaplains
Dear Marriage Supporter,
Lately Sen. Claire McCaskill has been on national TV like Charlie Rose and Chris Matthews calling herself one of the lone Senate "moderates" who is working every day for veterans and our men and women in uniform, while fighting against special interests' control in Washington.
Since she raised it, it's time for Sen. McCaskill to explain why she refuses to protect the conscience rights of military chaplains and the men and women in uniform they have promised to serve.
The challenges for faithful military chaplains continue to mount. A year ago, the Navy issued new "sensitivity training" guidelines that required Navy chaplains to perform same-sex marriages. Last September, the Department of Defense issued two more memos, requiring all military facilities to be available for same-sex weddings and allowing chaplains to participate in same-sex ceremonies. Thanks to leadership from Congressmen Tim Huelskamp and Todd Akin, the Navy backed down and rescinded the guidelines, but the threats to the liberty of our military chaplains continue to mount.
And now, anti-marriage interest groups in Washington have convinced Sen. McCaskill not only to seek repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, but also to refuse needed conscience protections for military chaplains to preach and teach in support marriage (and our service men and women to listen!) during religious services and counseling sessions.
Only pressure from special interest groups could explain why now for Sen. McCaskill, speaking in favor of same sex relationships in the US Armed Forces is protected speech, but for military chaplains and their congregants to speak in favor of marriage is forbidden and subject to punishment as disruptive to good order and discipline. Chaplains and service men and women can—and have—faced punishment for expressing their views. Faced with this situation, Sen. McCaskill offers no sympathy or support.
We respect the work that Senator McCaskill and all members of the Senate have done to support America's warriors and veterans. But when she has to make a choice between anti-marriage special interests and our warriors and their chaplains, she has sided with the special interests.
That is not moderate, not pro-warrior and pro-veteran and certainly not free of special interest influence.
If you live in the eastern half of the state call Sen. McCaskill's office in St. Louis at 314.367.1364. If you live in the western half of the state call Sen. McCaskill at her office in Kansas City at 816.421.1639. And, to make sure she gets the message, call Sen. McCaskill's office in Washington DC as well at 202.224.6154.
Tell Sen. McCaskill you are watching her votes carefully:
No chaplain or warrior should be penalized for the respectful or prayerful expression of their moral convictions and support for marriage.
We were told explicitly that the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell would NOT lead to a gag order on Military Chaplains and their congregants, but that is exactly what has happened.
If the special interests want to say support for marriage is bad for good order and discipline, they need to prove it. They cannot.
Sen. McCaskill, we are looking to you to stand up against the special interests creating a problem where one does not exist. Tell the special interests to stop handing our Chaplains and warriors the choice between keeping quiet or facing the consequences—or come back to Missouri and explain to us why you will not.
Fox News Olympia: R-74 Proponents Gather Two Times the Needed Signatures to Qualify Referendum
Opponents of gay marriage in Washington say they have collected almost two times the number of signatures needed to get Referendum 74 put on the ballot in November.
While only 120,577 signatures are needed to send the decision to voters, the group said they have gathered over 225,000.
If voters approve R-74, the law passed early this year would be upheld and marriage laws in Washington would not take into account the gender of the couple.
If you have not yet please like Preserve Marriage Washington on Facebook!
Local WA Radio: R-74 Official Says Washington State Will Follow 32 Other States and Protect Marriage
Opponents of the marriage equality law approved by the legislature will turn in more than 200,000 signatures Wednesday blocking the law from taking effect Thursday.
Opponents say they have enough signatures to qualify Referendum 74 for the November ballot.
This will be the thirty-third time voters in the US will be asked to legalize same sex marriage. It has been rejected the previous 32 times.
Joseph Backholm, with Preserve Marriage Washington, the group that drove the signature gathering campaign, thinks the Washington decision will fall in line with previous votes.
"This is not about fairness or equality, this is about what is the definition of marriage and we expect Washington state will agree with the other states that marriage is between a man and a woman."
To learn more check out www.PreserveMarriageWashington.com.
Local News Source: Proponents of R-74 Force Vote
Washington news site KATU:
Opponents of same-sex marriage are set to turn in hundreds of thousands of signatures that will force a new vote on the issue in November.
The new state law legalizing gay marriage was set to go into effect Thursday, but it appears that will not happen. Those against gay marriage plan to unload a heap of signatures at 10 a.m. in Olympia that will place R-74 on the ballot.
... R-74 needs to have 120,577 valid voter signatures to qualify for the ballot, but the Secretary of State's Office recommends at least 150,000 signatures to have a buffer for invalid signatures.
The campaign against gay marriage says it will turn in more than 225,000 signatures. With enough valid ones, the new law, set to go into effect Thursday, will have to wait for an Election Day decision.
Find out how you can get involved at www.PreserveMarriageWashington.com
AP: R-74 Proponents File Over 200,000 Signatures to Overturn SSM
The Associated Press on an important landmark being reached (and surpassed!) by our allies in Washington State!
Opponents of gay marriage say they have enough signatures to qualify a referendum for the November ballot.
Preserve Marriage Washington plans to submit more than 200,000 signatures Wednesday, blocking the law from taking effect on Thursday. State officials will review the filings over the next week to determine whether the referendum will qualify for a public vote.
The referendum seeks to overturn the measure allowing same-sex marriage in the state. That law was passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire earlier this year.
The Washington secretary of state's office recommends that campaigns submit about 150,000 signatures in order to provide a cushion for invalid or duplicate signatures. -- AP
Preserve Marriage Washington is now looking for 100,000 volunteers for marriage!
ADF Will Appeal New Mexico Court’s Decision Against Photographer
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund will appeal a New Mexico Court of Appeals decision that upheld a ruling by the New Mexico Civil Rights Commission against an Albuquerque photography company. The commission ruled that the company, run by a young Christian husband and wife, was guilty of “sexual orientation” discrimination under state antidiscrimination laws for declining to photograph a same-sex “commitment ceremony.”
“Americans in the marketplace should not be subjected to legal attacks for simply abiding by their beliefs,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence. “Should the government force a videographer who is an animal rights activist to create a video promoting hunting and taxidermy? Of course not, and neither should the government force this photographer to promote a message that violates her conscience. Because the Constitution prohibits the state from forcing unwilling artists to promote a message they disagree with, we will certainly appeal this decision to the New Mexico Supreme Court.”