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End of Summer Marriage Challenge! And it won't cost you a dime...

August 17, 2011 at 9:08 pm

$100,000 Challenge

Dear Marriage Supporter,

As summer draws to a close, I know how busy everyone is. Last-minute vacations, first day of school, and everything else that makes this a time of transition and change. Even for those who don't have school-age children, there's something about the end of summer that marks a season of renewed productivity and busyness.

And for organizations like NOM that rely on donations for our support, it can also be a very lean season financially, as supporters focus on their other priorities and demands of everyday life.

That's why we were so pleased to receive our August Marriage Challenge!

A generous supporter has promised to donate $1 for every new Facebook like, Twitter follower and text message signup during the month of August, up to $100,000. With just two weeks left until the September 1 deadline, we need your help today!

100K CHALLENGE

Between now and September 1st, NOM will receive $1 for every Facebook like, Twitter follower, or SMS Text Message Signup. It's simple and easy!

  • Step 1. Like NOM on Facebook! Click here and earn NOM $1.
  • Step 2. Follow NOM on Twitter! Click here to get started!
  • Step 3. Sign up for NOM's SMS Text Alerts, becoming a part of our instant action army! Just text "1M1W" to 96362.
  • Step 4.Tell your friends! By sharing this email with just 10 friends, you can help raise up to $30 to protect marriage across the nation.

    share on facebook   |   tweet this   |   email friends

Thank you for helping to protect marriage today!

Semper Fi,

Brian Brown

Brian Brown

Brian S. Brown
President
National Organization for Marriage

Contribute

Brian Brown
By Brian Brown | Posted in Same Sex Marriage | Comments Off on End of Summer Marriage Challenge! And it won't cost you a dime...

NOM Wins Victories Before Minnesota Campaign Finance Board

August 17, 2011 at 5:18 pm

NOM wins two big cases in Minnesota today:

In a ruling issued Wednesday, the Campaign Finance board dismissed the complaints brought by nonprofit Common Cause Minnesota, which alleged that the Minnesota Family Council (MFC) and the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) teamed up on an ad buy last fall to push for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and both failed to properly report their activities.

... A second complaint targeted NOM, alleging that the ad buys were [intended] to “influence legislation,” and thus the organization should have registered as a lobbyist in the state. But the board ruled that unless the group is fighting a particular candidate, its ad buys do not constitute lobbying. -- Politics in Minnesota

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Law, Minnesota | Comments (4)

Maggie's Column -- The Divorce Paradox

August 17, 2011 at 4:17 pm

NOM Chairman Maggie Gallagher's latest column:

The kids are not doing just fine.

The Institute for American Values’ new updated report, “Why Marriage Matters: 30 Conclusions From the Social Sciences,” is signed by an impressive list of family scholars ranging from professor John Gottman to professor Brad Wilcox. It concludes:

“The intact, biological, married family remains the gold standard for family life in the United States, insofar as children are most likely to thrive—economically, socially and psychologically —in this family form.”

The good news is that divorce involving children is down. The bad news is that children today are less likely to live with both parents. Thirty years ago, 66 percent of 16-years-olds lived with their mom and dad. By 2004, only 55 percent did so.

Divorce is down; family instability is up. How can that be?

More and more young men and women are choosing to have children in cohabiting rather than marital unions.

And cohabitation turns out to be a poor substitute for marriage. Sixty-five percent of children born to a cohabiting mother will experience a family breakup, compared to 24 percent of children born to a married mother.

Continue reading at The Manila Times.

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Children, Divorce, Marriage, Parenting | Comments (11)

Virginia SSM Advocates Try, Try, Again to Outlaw Religious Adoption Agencies for Failing to Do Gay Adoptions

August 17, 2011 at 3:30 pm

The Family Foundation of Virginia:

Today, the Virginia Board of Social Services is scheduled to consider a request by several homosexual activist groups to reopen its decision to protect the rights of private, faith-based adoption agencies.

...Oddly, groups like Equality Virginia and the ACLU that today are advocating for more public comment were silent for nearly two years as the regulations, stealthily proposed by former Governor Tim Kaine, went through the process. After losing the vote (7-2) in April, they suddenly are very interested in more time and another vote. Now they are threatening a costly, frivolous lawsuit if they don’t get their way...

During the earlier comment period, only an approximate 30 of the 1,000-plus public comments were favorable toward adding restrictions on faith-based charities (see Washington Times). In 2002, the last year for which data is available, nearly 80 percent of adoptions in Virginia were facilitated by private organizations, nearly half of which are faith-based.

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Adoption, Children, Religious Liberty, Virginia | Comments (11)

Can You Normalize Pedophilia?

August 17, 2011 at 3:08 pm

Some mental health professionals are, apparently, going to try, according to The Daily Caller (yes, we know many --probably most-- in the gay community would be as outraged as anyone else by the idea):

The August 17 Baltimore conference is sponsored by B4U-ACT, a group of pro-pedophile mental health professionals and sympathetic activists.  According to the conference brochure, the event will examine “ways in which minor-attracted persons [pedophiles] can be involved in the DSM 5 revision process” and how the popular perceptions of pedophiles can be reframed to encourage tolerance.

Researchers from Harvard University, the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Louisville, and the University of Illinois will be among the panelists at the conference.

B4U-ACT has been active attacking the APA’s definition of pedophilia in the run up to the conference, denouncing its description of “minor-attracted persons” as “inaccurate” and “misleading” because the current DSM links pedophilia with criminality.

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Culture, Law, Pedophilia | Comments (48)

SSM Advocates in Maine Claim They Will Try, Try Again

August 17, 2011 at 2:45 pm

The Kennebec Journal reports:

Proponents of a citizens' initiative to allow same-sex marriage in Maine said today the language for the legislation they drafted was recently approved by the Secretary of State.

This allows supporters to begin printing petitions and gathering signatures to reach their goal of placing the issue before Mainers on the November 2012 ballot. They need at least 57,277 signatures from registered Maine voters and will have until January to turn in their petitions to Secretary of State Charlie Summers.

Voters in Maine overturned same-sex marriage 53%-47% in 2009.

A self-identified gay republican activist in Maine wrote in the Portland Herald Press last week that this new attempt to pass same-sex marriage was bound for defeat.

NOM President Maggie Gallagher recently told the Associated Press we're optimistic that the people of Maine will vote to preserve the common sense definition of marriage if asked to vote on it again.

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Election Watch 2012, Maine, Marriage Election Watch, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (12)

Scholars Reveal: Tea Partiers ARE Religious Conservatives!

August 17, 2011 at 2:30 pm

This is not news to anyone on the right, but the New York Times just discovered:

Next to being a Republican, the strongest predictor of being a Tea Party supporter today was a desire, back in 2006, to see religion play a prominent role in politics. And Tea Partiers continue to hold these views: they seek “deeply religious” elected officials, approve of religious leaders’ engaging in politics and want religion brought into political debates. The Tea Party’s generals may say their overriding concern is a smaller government, but not their rank and file, who are more concerned about putting God in government.

This inclination among the Tea Party faithful to mix religion and politics explains their support for Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas. Their appeal to Tea Partiers lies less in what they say about the budget or taxes, and more in their overt use of religious language and imagery, including Mrs. Bachmann’s lengthy prayers at campaign stops and Mr. Perry’s prayer rally in Houston.

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Culture, News, Religious Liberty | Comments (7)

MN NPR Commentator Dismayed by Incivility Shown Her After NOM Blog Quotes Her

August 17, 2011 at 1:56 pm

A couple weeks ago we quoted excerpts of Minnesota Public Radio Commentator Carrie Daklin calling for more civility in the debate over same-sex marriage.

Today she reveals that simply because we picked up some of her points, she has been inundated by hateful attacks in response.

We of course had no intention of exposing her to such treatment, but hope that the experience may have served to confirm for her how much we need brave voices to continue calling for civility in this debate.

Here's some of what Carrie wrote today:

There must be a group of advocates who watch that website for anything that might conflict with their point of view. Within days, my words, taken completely out of context, and my message -- better manners -- had been used as the basis for a rallying cry: Carrie Daklin of Minnesota is a homophobe.

I am not sure how my message got so skewed. I have become the object of hate mail and really vicious comments, all in the name of etiquette. Go figure.

I found this all rather unsettling.

... What has happened in our culture, that so many of us are completely unable to accept someone who doesn't share our views? I don't agree with all that my conservative Christian friends espouse, but I support their right to their beliefs. I don't agree with a very liberal friend who said certain members of the religious right should be shot. Actually, he used the word murdered. Sadly, I think he meant it.

In retrospect, the original infraction I wrote about is positively innocuous compared to the resulting uproar. To be blunt: My article was not about gay rights, it was not about the Defense of Marriage Act, and it most certainly was not a promotion for the National Organization for Marriage.

My article was on civility, it was on manners and respect for other people, it was on public decency even toward those you might not agree with. It was about creating a conduit in our society that allows for the paradigms and values of others, so that we can get to a place of compromise. It was about working to replace anger with a tolerance that allows us to thrive.

In the last few weeks I have been a poster child for extremism -- the left vilifying me, the right holding me up as some sort of hero. Both make me equally uncomfortable. Both are unwanted. If I am a poster child for anyone, it is Emily Post.

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Civility, Culture | Comments (14)

Tomorrow: Brian Brown on FOX Business at 10PM ET

August 17, 2011 at 10:39 am

NOM President Brian Brown will be debating gay marriage with columnist David Harsanyi on John Stossel's FOX Business show, tomorrow night at 10PM ET.

Tune in if you can!

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

PPP Poll: Michigan Voters Oppose SSM 53%-33%

August 17, 2011 at 9:00 am

In 2004 Michiganders approved a constitutional marriage amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman, 58%-41%.

Today, as reported by Democrat-leaning Public Policy Polling, even less support legalizing same-sex marriage: 33% (with 53% opposed).

When given the option for civil unions, there is even less support for redefining marriage (full cross-tabs here):

"Which of the following best describes your opinion on gay marriage: gay couples should be allowed to legally marry, or gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not legally marry, or there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple's relationship?"

Gay couples should be allowed to legally marry: 29%
Gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not marry: 33%
There should be no legal recognition of a gay couple's relationship: 35%
Not sure: 3%

The poll respondents self-identified as 40% Democrat, 30% Republican and 30% Independent/Other.

Democrats support SSM 48%-36%. Independents oppose SSM 50%-36% and Republicans overwhelmingly oppose SSM 78%-10%.

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Michigan, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (48)

Double Standard? Sen. Grisanti Wants to Grant New Yorkers More Time to Review New Rules

August 17, 2011 at 8:00 am

New York Senator Mark Grisanti had no problem voting on SSM before his constituents had a chance to read the law:

Dozens of groups across New York want more time to review the state's proposed "fracking" rules.

... "The public itself doesn't have time to review it," Grisanti told WNED News.

The DEC's draft regulations for the controversial natural gas drilling process weigh in at more than a thousand pages and the public, right now, will get 60 days to review the complex document and respond. --WNED

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in New York, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (3)

New Video: Presidential Hopefuls Promise Iowans to Protect Marriage!

August 16, 2011 at 7:00 pm

Iowa Bus Tour Header

Thanks to all those who contributed to making the Values Voter Bus Tour through Iowa such a success last week! Co-sponsored by FRC Action and the Susan B. Anthony List, the tour covered 22 cities and more than 1300 miles in just 5 days.

From judicial appointments to abandoning DOMA, and in dozens of behind-the-scenes maneuvers designed to undermine marriage in our society, President Obama is quietly pushing our nation toward same-sex marriage. It's time to say “enough is enough,” and put the brakes on President Obama's pro-SSM agenda.

And the GOP presidential candidates seem to be getting the message. On Saturday afternoon we were thrilled to see the NOM Marriage Pledge signers take three of the top four spots in the Ames Straw Poll. And throughout the week, GOP hopefuls Michele Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum and Thaddeus McCotter all joined us at various points on the tour, sharing their commitment to marriage directly with the people of Iowa.

We've just finished a short recap video with highlights from last week's bus tour. I hope you'll take a few minutes to watch, and then share it with a friend.

We have much more to come in the days ahead, but would you take a moment right now to make a donation to help protect marriage? Perhaps you haven't donated at all yet in 2011. Your gift of $20, $35 or even $50 or more would send a strong message of support during these summer months. Perhaps you would consider becoming a monthly donor – even just $5 or $10 a month would help to sustain NOM and our work all through the year.

Thanks for all you do to support marriage. I hope you'll stand with us again today!

Faithfully,

Brian Brown

Brian Brown

Brian S. Brown
President
National Organization for Marriage

Contribute

Brian Brown
By Brian Brown | Posted in Election Watch 2012, Iowa, Marriage Election Watch, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (7)

Video: Why Rick Santorum Suddenly Moved Up in Iowa: Marriage and Life

August 16, 2011 at 2:19 pm

Rick was nowhere in the polling but fourth in the Ames Straw poll. It wasn't money or organization--it was the message: stand strong for life and marriage.

Michelle Bachmann, winner of the Ames Straw poll also signed NOM's Marriage Pledge.

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Election Watch 2012, Iowa, Marriage Election Watch, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (11)

Sen. Diaz and NOM Demand Equal Air Time for Marriage

August 16, 2011 at 1:57 pm

From the office of New York Senator Ruben Diaz (as published by the Albany Times Union):

In response to the news we broke yesterday that Time Warner Cable gave over $70,000 of free airtime to advocates of same-sex marriage, proponents of traditional marriage are demanding equal time.

“Many New Yorkers have been wondering why their cable bills continue to escalate. A portion of every subscriber’s bill is going to support liberal causes like gay ‘marriage.’ When families subscribe to a cable and internet provider, they are looking for service not to have their values sold out,” said the Rev. Jason McGuire, a lobbyist for New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms. “It is shocking to think that Time Warner would say ads promoting the most controversial issue to come before the State Legislature in decades were merely a public service announcement. I would hope that Time Warner would offer New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms a similar opportunity to freely promote the fact that kids deserve a mom and a dad,” McGuire concluded.

Time Warner officials told us they mistakenly thought the ads, produced by the Human Rights Campaign, were public service announcements.

Maggie Gallagher, co-founder of the National Organization for Marriage — which spent $300,000 on television advertisements lobbying against the same-sex marriage bill — agreed, and said Time Warner’s actions were “disturbing to say the least.”

“Time Warner clearly ought to give equal time to the millions of New Yorkers who believe it’s important to sustain marriage as the union of husband and wife, and to the New Yorkers now being asked to choose between their conscience and their jobs because of same-sex marriage,” Gallagher said. “The coverage by the news media on this issue is not remotely balanced–not a surprise just a fact — and the fact that a major corporation decided to weigh in on only one side of a controversial question about which its customers have many different views is disturbing to say the least.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the same-sex marriage law on June 24; it took effect several weeks ago.

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Free Speech, Media, New York, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (17)

Albany Times Union: Time Warner Gave Free Time to HRC Before NY SSM Vote

August 16, 2011 at 1:53 pm

The Albany Times-Union's Capital Confidential blog:

Time Warner Cable gave advocates of same-sex marriage $70,846 of free airtime this spring, a disclosure form shows.

The television giant aired advertisements produced by the Human Rights Campaign as part of its “New Yorkers for Marriage Equality” series during March and May, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushed for same-sex marriage in a statewide tour.

... initially, Time Warner considered the ads to be public service announcements, according to Susan Leepson, a regional vice president for communications at the company.

Leepson and Amirshahi also said TWC initially sought money from HRC to cover the fair market value of the airtime, but HRC was disinclined to pay.

NOM
By NOM Staff | Posted in Free Speech, Media, New York, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (10)
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