As our media alert explains, NOM co-founder Maggie Gallagher and Jonathan Baker, head of NOM's Corporate Fairness Project are attending the Starbucks annual shareholder meeting in Seattle, WA today. Here are some photos from inside the meeting:
Maggie Gallagher, Co-Founder of the National Organization for Marriage, to Attend Starbucks Annual Shareholder Meeting Today
March 21, 2012 at 12:15 pm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 21, 2012
Contact: Anath Hartmann or Elizabeth Ray (703-683-5004)
What: Starbucks Coffee Company recently came out in support of new policies promoting same-sex marriage. The National Organization for Marriage, the nation's largest group dedicated to preserving marriage between one man and one woman, and the faith communities that sustain it, will question the Starbucks board on the corporation's announcement (in endorsing gay marriage in the state of Washington) that same-sex marriage is now one of the Starbucks corporation's "core values." Does it make sense for an international consumer company to equate its brand with a hot-button moral/culture war issue, when so many of its customers, employees and vendors around the world disagree? Depending on the answers the board gives, NOM may make a major announcement immediately following the board meeting.
Where: Marion Oliver McCaw Hall at Seattle Center
321 Mercer St.
Seattle, WA 98109
When: Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Shareholder meeting begins at 10 AM (PST)
Who: Maggie Gallagher, co-founder, National Organization for Marriage
Jonathan Baker, head, National Organization for Marriage's Corporate Fairness Project (Both available for interview following the meeting)
###
NYTimes: "Orthodox Community...Did Not Favor Mr. Fidler's Support of Same-Sex Marriage"
March 21, 2012 at 12:00 pm
"...With all precincts reporting, according to unofficial results received by the New York City Board of Elections, the Republican upstart candidate, David Storobin, 33, held a tenuous 120-vote lead over Lewis A. Fidler, 55, the Democratic city councilman, for the 27th District seat. But there were still at least 757 paper ballots outstanding, and those would not be counted until next Tuesday, said Valerie Vazquez, a spokeswoman for the board of elections. The entire legal process, which also will include a random audit and the counting of emergency ballots, could take at least 10 days.
...“We fought all the way from the start with everyone saying we were the underdogs,” Mr. Storobin said after midnight on Wednesday. “We are confident that we will keep our lead and increase it.”
Mr. Storobin, who was born in the Soviet Union and emigrated to the United States with his mother when he was 12, surprised the Democratic establishment with an aggressive campaign that drew on support from Orthodox communities.
...He generated support from the staunchly Orthodox communities who did not favor Mr. Fidler’s support of same-sex marriage.
NOM Congratulates David Storobin on Likely Special Election Victory
March 21, 2012 at 11:30 am
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 21, 2012
Contact: Anath Hartmann or Elizabeth Ray (703-683-5004)
"This election marks the second consecutive one where a supporter of same-sex marriage was defeated. Mark Grisanti, Roy McDonald and James Alesi will be next."—Brian Brown, NOM president—
Washington, D.C. — The National Organization for Marriage today congratulated attorney David Storobin on his likely win last night in the New York state Senate special election for the 27th District seat.
"One thing is certain—supporting same-sex marriage is a loser," NOM President Brian Brown said today, referring to Councilman Lew Fidler's support for redefining traditional marriage. "This election marks the second consecutive one where a supporter of same-sex marriage was defeated. We have avenged Carl Kruger's despicable vote for same-sex marriage. Mark Grisanti, Roy McDonald and James Alesi will be next."
In a historic partnership, NOM teamed with the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn in support of Storobin. The organization spent more than $25,000 on independent expenditures and ads, which ran in major Orthodox Jewish publications in the area, an automated call within the district from Rabbi Eliyahu Brog of Mirrer Yeshiva and a direct-mail piece.
Brown expressed particular appreciation to Joseph Hayon, president of the Brooklyn Tea Party, for Hayon's outstanding grassroots leadership during Storobin's campaign.
###
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).
Pro-Marriage Challenger Upsets Pro-SSM Democrat in NY Assembly Race Overlapping Sen. Grisanti's District
March 21, 2012 at 11:15 am
The Buffalo News on a surprise victory last night of a pro-marriage independent Democrat who took on a pro-SSM establishment Democrat and won!
Michael P. Kearns, a Democrat running on the Republican line, scored a stunning upset of landslide proportions over endorsed Democrat Christopher J. Fahey in a Tuesday special election for the 145th Assembly District.
The Common Council member from the South District rode his name recognition in South Buffalo to an overwhelming victory, scoring a 57 percent to 43 percent win -- 7,106 for Kearns and 5,357 for Fahey -- with all the votes counted.
...It also represents a win -- of sorts -- for Erie County Republican Chairman Nicholas A. Langworthy, who supported Democrat Kearns in the face of some criticism from party purists.
...[Langworthy] added he feels confident that the new assemblyman is philosophically in sync with Republicans, especially in the "clear contrast" Kearns demonstrated on issues like his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage.
Michael Brown Exposes the Hypocrisy of GLAAD
March 21, 2012 at 11:00 am
Michael Brown in TownHall:
It is time to expose the hypocrisy and intolerance of GLAAD, which is really the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Disagreement (not Defamation), as I have pointed out many times before. Not only does GLAAD seek to silence or discredit opposing voices, but it also praises those who attack those voices, even in the most vulgar and crass ways.
This sums up the duplicity of GLAAD: It urges the media to beware of conservative Christian leaders like Chuck Colson, Maggie Gallagher, and Tony Perkins, even calling on CNN to ban some of them from appearing on their shows, and then gives its first Outstanding Blog award to the JoeMyGod website, famous for entries like this one (from March 5, 2012), which mockingly tells readers that if they follow the directions of a particular, outspoken Christian leader “and squint and clench and pray SUPER hard for Super Tuesday, then maybe He'll make sure that a true earthly spokesmodel for the Holy Dead Zombie gets into office. But please be brief. God is SUPER busy killing babies and giving people cancer.” And this earns praise from GLAAD.
...in the upside-down world of GLAAD, blogs like this are praiseworthy while men like Chuck Colson and Robert George are not worthy to share their views on the air. This is nothing less than a hypocritical witch hunting campaign by GLAAD, and a poorly executed one at that.
... This must be labeled for what it is, namely, bigotry, intolerance, and attempted censorship, which is why – to repeat yet again – I say that we recognize GLAAD for what it is: the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Disagreement.
UK MP: Gay Marriage Law Means There Could be Two Queens on the Throne?
March 21, 2012 at 10:00 am
The UK Sun's associate political editor David Wooding reports:
Britain could end up with two Queens on the throne if gay marriage becomes law, an MP warned last night.
Tory Peter Bone claimed the new legislation would throw the monarchy into crisis.
He said it would mean a lesbian Queen having a Queen consort or a gay King having a King consort.
Mr Bone has demanded an emergency summit of Commonwealth leaders to discuss the planned changes.
He said: "They seem to be rushing this through without thinking of the broader implications."
...Mr Bone believes this would make it impossible for the monarch to continue as supreme governor of the Church of England.
And a gay monarch who conceived a child either by sperm donor or surrogate would raise wider questions, he warns.
The donor would have a right to a peerage and could gain regal rights.
Bishop Harry Jackson: Maryland Marriage Alliance a "Melting Pot of Diversity"
March 21, 2012 at 9:00 am
Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr. in TownHall:
For the last several weeks, I have been discussing the current battle over the definition of marriage with friends and parishioners. I have been amazed by a new collaboration between former political rivals in all of our urban, minority communities. The largely white religious right is literally becoming a melting pot of diversity as far as this marriage issue is concerned. Huge numbers of blacks and Hispanics of faith are starting to feel that there is a “not so subtle” media attack on the nation’s most fundamental institutions. They realize that many movies and TV sitcoms have gone out of their way to express support of “so called” gay rights.
...There is a huge amendment campaign going on in Maryland right now – to develop their version of proposition 8. As I have already stated the national media campaign is now coming to roost in Maryland. Liberal talking heads project that blacks like me should identify with gay people because they are fighting the same battle for Civil Rights that we did. The overwhelming majority of black Americans find this argument both offensive and ridiculous.
... The five states that will pursue constitutional amendments, defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman, will likely influence the fate of the institution of marriage nationally. [...] I also pray that you will support the cause with your dollars and volunteer service.
European Court of Human Rights: Same-Sex Marriage Not a Right
March 21, 2012 at 8:00 am
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled [...] homosexual “marriage” is not a right under the European Convention on Human Rights.
...The decision effectively confirms the liceity under the same Convention of French law, which does not award the status of “marriage” to homosexual couples, and does not permit non-married couples to adopt children.
... The Court also ruled that that there is no “indirect discrimination founded (...) on the impossibility of marriage,” because article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights “does not impose on the governments of the state parties the obligation to open marriage to a homosexual couple,” adding that governments “enjoy a certain leeway in determining the exact nature” of legal recognitions of homosexual unions.
The ruling was announced yesterday in a suit by a French lesbian couple, Valérie Gas and Nathalie Dubois, who have been in a Pact of Civil Solidarity (PACS) since 2002. A PACS is a loose contractual arrangement made available to both heterosexual and homosexual couples in France, in contrast with stronger “civil union” arrangements and homosexual “marriages” available in some other countries.
NOM's Corporate Fairness Director on Ensuring Pro-Marriage Employees Treated Fairly
March 21, 2012 at 7:00 am
Jonathan Baker, director of NOM's Corporate Fairness Project, is interviewed in this Stateline article about Washington State companies injecting themselves in the marriage debate:
"... according to the [SSM] bill’s sponsor, Democratic state Senator Ed Murray, there was nothing more crucial to the legalization of gay marriage than support from high-profile businesses such as Nike and Microsoft. "It's how we got moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats to vote for this,” he says.
... gay rights activists have built aggressively from their original base of industry support. Some gay rights groups have hired lobbyists whose sole focus is reaching out to business leaders.
Those efforts culminated in more than 100 businesses publicly supporting gay marriage in Washington State before the bill’s passage in February, from heavy-hitting corporations such as Starbucks, Google and Alcoa to mom and pop shops scattered around the state. Small business support was key to turning individual legislators, who “know their local businesses,” Murray says.
... the National Organization for Marriage [has] taken notice of this trend. In response they have launched their own effort, called the Corporate Fairness Project, to pressure businesses to stay neutral in the debate. “I don’t believe that you can work for a company that has taken a position on this and feel that both sides are well represented,” says Jonathan Baker, director of the Corporate Fairness Project. “Both sides should be able to go to work and feel comfortable. By a company taking a corporate position on the matter, they are automatically going to make one side or the other feel a little less comfortable about it.”
Baker’s group is also working to ensure that companies don’t discriminate against employees because they oppose gay marriage, which Baker insists is happening with some regularity. Bank of America and Cisco came under fire from the National Organization for Marriage for terminating their relationships with leadership consultant Frank Turek because of his vocal opposition to gay marriage. They both subsequently reinstated him as an eligible vendor in good standing. "As we see more and more companies jumping into the marriage debate,” Baker says, “we think it's certainly a risk that could grow."
PolitickerNY: "It's Special Election Day In New York"
March 20, 2012 at 5:15 pm
NOM's efforts on behalf of David Storobin are mentioned:
In various parts of New York State stretching from Brooklyn to Buffalo, voters in vacant legislative districts will elect new representatives to Albany today.
The marquee race is the special election to replace former State Senator Carl Kruger. Mr. Kruger, Democrat who represented southeastern Brooklyn, resigned when he pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges last December.
Advertisements supporting and opposing Democratic Lew Fidler and Republican David Storobin have been flooding out in a last ditch effort to affect the vote.
Most of the latest advertisements appear to mirror previously reported ones. However, some eagle-eyed readers pointed The Politicker to several new ads, including an email blast from the National Organization for Marriage supporting Mr. Storobin and an ad from the same organization calling out former Mayor Ed Koch for his support of Mr. Fidler while touting Mr. Storobin’s rabbincal support. Another ad from a group called “Torah Defense Values, INC.”, was sent out in an email blast with a similar message against Councilman David Greenfield.
Mr. Fidler also has an ad in the Orthodox Jewish newspaper Hamodia, showing off his own rabbinical support.
Hundreds of Marriage Supporters Join Together for Let Us Vote Rally in Iowa!
March 20, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Hundreds of conservative Christians crowded the Iowa Capitol this morning in favor of advancing a proposed state constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage.
The rally and lobbying effort, organized by the conservative advocacy group the Iowa Family Leader and two national groups opposing same-sex marriage, was aimed at the Democrat-controlled Senate, where a proposed amendment has stalled after passage in the Republican House last year.
Organizers instructed rally attendees from across the state to lobby their own state senators, but also to target a handful of Democrats who might be supportive of the amendment and Sen. Michael Gronstal, who as majority leader has its blocked consideration
... Dozens of attendees wore red t-shirts bearing a “Let Us Vote” logo and the web address luvIowa.com. (The site redirects to the Family Leader’s website.)
... Referring to Senate Democrats’ refusal to advance the amendment and clear the way for a statewide vote, National Organization for Marriage President Brian Brown invoked Martin Luther King, Jr., to suggest that it was the opponents of same-sex marriage whose civil rights were threatened.
“We hear that this is about civil rights, and that those of us who oppose the redefinition of marriage are somehow bigots,” Brown said. “And yet, what Dr. Martin Luther King called the most important civil right – the right to vote – these very same folks are trying to deprive us of this right.”
Then and at other points in the rally, the crowd broke into chants of “Let us vote!” that echoed throughout the Capitol.
New Hampshire GOP Senator Breaks It Down: Democrats Who Voted for SSM Lost in 2010
March 20, 2012 at 4:00 pm
New Hampshire Republican State Senator Fenton Groen in the Concord Monitor argues that Democratic supporters of gay marriage were "turned out of office" in 2010 after voting to redefine marriage the year before:
In the next few weeks the New Hampshire House and Senate will debate and vote on HB 437, the bill that will restore the traditional definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman.
...Now is the time to keep our promise to restore traditional marriage. I believe that is what citizens expect from those they elect to represent them - to keep the promises they made in their campaigns.
Let's talk about what the people of New Hampshire said about marriage with their votes in the 2010 election.
The House passed gay marriage by a thin 186-179 margin. So what happened to those 186 representatives who voted for same-sex marriage? Nearly two-thirds of them, 122 of the 186, were not re-elected...
... Twenty-five Democrats voted against gay marriage in 2008. Nearly 60 percent of them won re-election, compared to only 34 percent of those who voted in favor of gay marriage. It is distinctly possible that the outcome of the 2010 election would have been substantially different if more of Democrats had voted against same sex-marriage!
And how did the voters treat the 23 Democrats who were conspicuously absent for the vote on same-sex marriage? Not very well! Fourteen of them, more than 60 percent, were not re-elected.
What happened in the Senate? Same-sex marriage was passed on a 13-11 vote. Thirteen Democrats voted for same-sex marriage. Nine of them, a whopping 69 percent, were not re-elected! One Democrat senator voted against gay marriage. He was re-elected. In fact, every senator who voted against gay marriage and ran for re-election was re-elected!
My opponent and I both took principled stands on opposite sides of the marriage issue. The citizens of my district sent me to Concord to do what I said I would do. I will do all I can to keep my word to the voters of Senate District 6 and passionately support the restoration of traditional marriage.
I believe the 2010 election results made it pretty clear that is what the majority of voters want us to do.
RNC Committeewoman: "Restore Traditional Marriage; Strengthen New Hampshire Families"
March 20, 2012 at 3:00 pm
Phyllis Woods, Republican National Commiteewoman for New Hampshire (Dover) writes in Foster's Daily Democrat:
In 2009, however, the Democratic-controlled legislature followed well-funded social activists from New York and Washington, D.C. down the rabbit hole of a radical agenda aimed at making gay marriage the law of the land in as many states as possible.
Despite an economic crisis that crippled New Hampshire like no other since the Great Depression, these social activists successfully persuaded lawmakers to take up a gay marriage law for which there was little appetite — outside a small cadre of liberal democrats — before even bothering to pass a state budget.
Three years later, the same gay marriage lobby that ignored the state's economic needs to enact a gay marriage law it bought and paid for is now using the economy as an excuse to protect it.
... These outside social activists, and wealthy activist donors prompted democrats to fast track gay marriage in the House and Senate when their party took control of the legislature.
In response, a host of bright, strong conservatives campaigned in 2010 for the office of State Representative on a promise to respect the true will of the people by fighting to restore traditional marriage. Now is the time for New Hampshire voters to support these courageous representatives, who are doing exactly as they promised.
It is time for conservatives to undo the damage caused by a radical wing of liberal social activists, and by lawmakers who put activist gay marriage donors before the people they serve.
Republicans in the legislature have one, last opportunity to stand up for the people of New Hampshire against the powerful gay marriage lobby. They must not let down the families of New Hampshire.
Widow of Top UK Liberal-Democrat Quits Party Over SSM
March 20, 2012 at 2:00 pm
The widow of a former deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats has resigned from the party after almost 50 years because of its plans to redefine marriage.
In a letter printed in a Scottish national newspaper last week, Lady Joan Johnston said gay marriage was the ‘straw that has finally broken the camel’s back’. She had been a Lib Dem member since 1964.
She made the decision following a recent email from Nick Clegg, in which he claimed one of the party’s achievements will be the first homosexual marriage before 2015.
... Lady Johnston said: “I also take strong exception to the fact that if the Party advocates the redefining of “marriage” in this way, it follows that this will be promoted in schools as being on the same footing as traditional marriage between a man and a woman.”
She argued that one of the purposes of marriage as the union between a man and a woman is the procreation of children.
-
Categories
- Adoption
- Ads
- Africa
- Alerts
- Australia
- Canada
- Catholic Church
- Chick-fil-A
- Children
- Civil Unions
- Civility
- Cohabitation
- Congress
- Corporate Ethics
- Culture
- Debating Marriage
- Divorce
- DOMA
- Dump General Mills
- Dump Starbucks
- Economics
- Education
- Election 2010
- Election Watch 2012
- ENDA
- Ethics
- Europe
- Events
- Featured
- Federal
- France
- Free Speech
- Gay Voices
- GOProud
- Human Rights Campaign
- Humor
- IRS
- Law
- Let The People Vote
- Manhattan Declaration
- March for Marriage
- Marriage
- Marriage Election Watch
- Marriage Moment
- Marriage Update
- Marriage Victory
- MarriageADA
- Media
- Mexico
- Military
- Mitt Romney
- New Zealand
- News
- NOM Marriage News
- NOM on Facebook
- Offbeat
- Parenting
- Pedophilia
- Politics
- Poll
- Polling
- Polygamy
- President Obama
- Press Releases
- Pro-Life
- Prop 8
- Religious Liberty
- Research/Study
- Ruth Institute
- Same Sex Marriage
- Science
- Scotland
- SFMA
- Social Media
- South America
- SPLC
- States
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- Washington DC
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Statistics
- Supreme Court
- United for Marriage
- United Kingdom
- Women
- Youth
-
Archives
- June 2021
- April 2021
- December 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- July 2020
- May 2020
- August 2017
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
