We'll have a full report up tomorrow, but in the meantime, the Associated Pressreports on the thousands upon thousands of you who joined us in New York City and across the state to stand up for marriage and the right of the people to vote (find out more at the official LTPV website)!
Thousands of opponents of gay marriage took to the streets in loud and sometimes tense protests Sunday, the first day that legal same-sex weddings were performed.
The National Organization for Marriage held rallies in New York City, Albany, Rochester and Buffalo, saying Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers redefined marriage without giving voters a chance to weigh-in, as they have in other states. Protesters chanted "Let the People Vote!" at rallies across the state.
A rally in New York City that started with several hundred people crowding the street across from Cuomo's Manhattan office quickly swelled to thousands of people out in loud opposition to the new law.
... Around 3:30, the protesters started marching uptown toward the United Nations. By the time they reached the UN, the crowd numbered in the many thousands, filling up 47th Street. They were joined by a brass band as a stage was set up for speakers. -- Associated Press
Check back tomorrow for more from us! A huge thank you to everyone who joined with us and supported us today in the Empire State!
A press release from his office issued yesterday about today's Let The People Voterally:
“No one is welcome to bring any message of hatred to our “Let the People Vote Rally” tomorrow.
Tomorrow Christians will stand together to prayerfully and peacefully demand a public referendum on the question of same-sex marriage laws in New York State.
... Should ANY member of any group express any message of hatred toward homosexuals at our rally it will be publicly denounced by me and by my fellow ministers."
The Poughkeepsie Journal reports, gay marriage is legal in N.Y. today, but local clerks are getting few license requests:
More than 35 same sex couples in the city and town of Poughkeepsie, City of Beacon and Village of New Paltz have expressed interest in getting married now that it is legal in New York.
Several definitely plan to do so. But there has been minimal interest expressed in most local towns.
"We have gotten none and not even any inquiries," said Pleasant Valley Town Clerk Deborah Bjorkman on Thursday. "I'm kind of surprised."
...Clerks in local town and city halls have been provided with new marriage forms by the state Department of Health. Hyde Park Town Clerk Donna McGrogan said she was sent about 50, but her office has received no calls, or had any residents coming in, asking about obtaining a same-sex marriage license.
We're all getting excited about this Sunday's Let The People Vote!rallies across New York.
The Christian Post caught up with Brian Brown and asked him how the final preparations are going:
The [rallies] will take place at 633 3rd Ave in front of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office at 3 p.m. on July 24, the same day the law legalizing gay marriage will officially come into effect.
“It’s hard to tell but the response has been amazing,” said Brian S. Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, to The Christian Post. “I think they’ll be 5,000 or possibly more at all of the rallies.”
Along with the Manhattan rally, other simultaneous [rallies] are slated to take place in cities such as Albany, Buffalo and Rochester, according to Brown.
The goal of the [rallies], he said, is to organize a movement that will give the people of New York the right to vote on the issue of gay-marriage, which New York politicians took upon themselves to legalize without hearing the people.
Will you join us this Sunday and become one of the 5,000 for marriage?
In just two days, New Yorkers from across the state will come together in Manhattan, Albany, Buffalo and Rochester, declaring publicly that, even as same-sex couples begin marrying under the new same-sex marriage regime, the marriage debate is far from over, and cannot be until politicians finally agree to let all New Yorkers vote.
I hope you'll join us at 3pm this Sunday afternoon as we gather in simultaneous rallies across New York to reaffirm the truth about marriage, democracy and religious liberty. Together, we will call upon Governor Cuomo and the politicians in Albany to "Let the People Vote!"
Can't make it to one of "Let the People Vote" rallies? No problem. You can join us online and become a virtual marcher. We will be broadcasting live video simultaneously on Sunday from all four event locations at LetThePeopleVote.com.
City clerks are being threatened with jail if they refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Innkeepers and banquet halls face litigation if they refuse to celebrate a same-sex wedding reception. Intimidation is fast becoming the hallmark of the gay marriage agenda.
I hope you'll join us as together we tell the world that the truth will not be silenced! We will stand and fight for marriage until this civil wrong has been righted, and the people of New York are given their right to vote.
WHO: You and thousands of other marriage supporters!
WHAT: Let the People Vote! Simultaneous rallies in Manhattan, Albany, Rochester and Buffalo Plus an online simulcast from all four locations
WHEN: This Sunday afternoon (July 24th) @ 3:00pm ET
WHERE:
Albany – West Capitol Park (South Swan and State Streets)
Manhattan – 633 Third Avenue
Rochester – Liberty Pole (East Avenue and East Main Street)
Buffalo – Buffalo City Hall (65 Niagara Square #201.)
WHY: We are standing up to tell the world that the truth will not be silenced. New York politicians will be held accountable for their votes, and the people of New York demand the right to vote on marriage, just as voters in 31 other states have already done.
Marriage has survived for thousands of years, and it will survive this latest challenge as well. This Sunday is a powerful moment to remind everyone watching that our setbacks are only temporary, and that marriage will emerge victorious and intact in the end.
Proud to be standing with you,
Brian S. Brown President National Organization for Marriage
PS: Can you give $20 or $30 to help offset the costs of weekend's rallies? Your gift right now would be very much appreciated to help cover the costs of Sunday's events and prepare for future efforts in defense of marriage! Click here to make your secure online gift right now.
Members of the Rockville Centre Tea Party held a protest outside State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos’s district office on Front Street on July 15, prompting a spontaneous counterprotest by some patrons of the Vibe Lounge next door, during which the two groups of demonstrators traded verbal barbs.
The Tea Party protesters voiced opposition to Skelos’s decision to allow the same-sex marriage bill to be put to a vote on the floor of the Senate on June 24. They carried signs calling for voters to “dump” Skelos, and decried marriage between anyone other than a man and a woman.
Although Skelos voted against the bill, the Tea Party members said that his actions were not representative of the interests of his constituents.
William Jeynes continues his argument about family structure and wellbeing, offering five suggestions on how our nation can regain a healthy marriage culture-and the economic prosperity and personal flourishing that comes with it.
The five suggestions are as follows (in shortened form, click here to read the full article):
[First] Although we should always show compassion toward individuals who suffer from problems unique to non-traditional family structures, divorce, and pre-marital intercourse, none of these should be regarded from a morally neutral standpoint.
Second, in the name of compassion, people should acknowledge the unique challenges faced by children from non-traditional family structures.
Third, American society should stop devaluing fathers and recognize that they are a crucial pillar of the family.
Fourth, American society and particularly certain facets of society, such as Hollywood and the academic world, need to be more responsible in communicating to youth the importance of acting not only with integrity and sensitivity, but also with a prudent view of the long-term consequences of their actions.
Fifth, American society needs to encourage institutions that serve to strengthen the family, including the church and other groups that promote loyalty and justice.
The New York Times interviewed dozens of people in recent days to get their perspective on the topic. With more teenagers coming out in high school, many said that homosexuality and bisexuality was more mainstream than it was a generation ago. Nevertheless, their gay peers, relatives and siblings still faced challenges. “You’d be surprised at how many young people do not agree with a man-and-man relationship,” said Tara Mercado, 20, whose best friend is bisexual.
... “The institution of marriage as a whole is just a legal state now. There’s no prestige for it,” said Harrison Troyano, 20, a classics major at Hunter College in Manhattan, who said his generation was “jaded.” “People argue about the sanctity of marriage in a religious situation, but we live in a country in which destroys that in more ways than one,” he said...
... But for those who consider themselves religious, Muslims and Roman Catholics in particular, the idea of same-sex marriage was still problematic. “If you want to live together, live together, but getting married, that’s pushing it too far,” said Wilson Valencia, 19, who was raised Catholic in the Bronx.
Legal scholar Hadley Arkes predicts where the fight over marriage is headed:
What hasn’t quite dawned yet, even on good liberal citizens, open to novelties in the law, is that same-sex marriage is not the ultimate, culminating end for gay-lesbian activists. It is only an intermediate end, on the way to the state of things even more devoutly to be wished.
... surely even these companies [which require ss employees to be married to receive benefits] must know that the laws on marriage have been challenged by those seeking, not only polygamy, but a right to cohabit in “polyamorous,” sexual relations with an ensemble of persons professing their love. Some companies, like Google and Microsoft, got themselves into this situation with liberal conviction. Other companies simply sought to buy peace.
But they will have now neither peace nor stability. They will either have to open their treasuries to benefits and novelties ever enlarging, or come at last to this recognition: that even they must cast a judgment on the meaning of marriage and the rightful boundaries of the sexual life.
“Well, I am concerned that a lot of people are going to get married because of the emotions of the day and they’re going to make mistakes,” says Hyer. “Of course, with the rewards of a contract, there’s also duties and obligations.”
He says couples need to think long and hard about getting married, and even consider a prenuptial agreement.
“Prenuptial agreements are used to, essentially, shield future spouses’ assets from the other in the event that there is a dissolution of the marriage,” Hyer tells WCBS 880 reporter Catherine Cioffi. “I think when you look at marriage, you also have to think about the exit plan. Over 50 percent of marriages end in divorce, unfortunately, in our society today. I suspect that with same sex couples, it will be the same, or who knows, even more.”
With Senate hearings on the repeal of DOMA yesterday, President Obama and the hard-left core of the Democratic Party in Washington declared war on marriage, on federalism, on democracy and on religious liberty.
Do you think I exaggerate?
As Maggie said in National Review yesterday, the chilling of our First Amendment rights has commenced, in the name of a faux equality:
The First Amendment is more than a legal guarantee. It is a key American value—which holds that in a free society, decent, law-abiding citizens should not be afraid to speak up with civility for the moral good as they see it.
Sen. Chuck Grassley's remarkable opening statement in Wednesday's Senate DOMA hearing on a bill to repeal DOMA called attention to a very serious and growing intolerance directed at Americans who believe marriage is the union of husband and wife:
"The minority very much hoped to call a witness today at this hearing to testify in support of DOMA. I am sure she would have done an excellent job," said Sen. Grassley (R-Iowa). "She declined, however, citing as one reason the threats and intimidation that have been leveled against not only her but her family as a result of her public support for DOMA. She will continue to write on this subject, but will no longer speak publicly about it. This chilling of First Amendment rights is unacceptable."
When Chris Johnson, a reporter from the Washington Blade, called and asked if that woman was our own Maggie Gallagher, Maggie tells me she was at first amused. No, of course not. Maggie would never back down from standing up for the truth about marriage, no matter the threats, abuse, or scorn gay marriage advocates attempt to heap upon her head.
But she and I could both sympathize.
The death threats and hateful mail New York state senator Rev. Rubén Díaz says he has received are not unusual, as anyone who speaks with civility and common sense for our marriage tradition discovers. Marriage as the union of husband and wife is not bigotry, it's common sense. Nevertheless, whole professions are in the process of being closed to anyone who espouses—and acts on—the view that marriage is the union of husband and wife.
We told you last week about a Toronto sportscaster who was fired for tweeting that he believes in the "true and authentic meaning of marriage." Nothing in the First Amendment will prevent similar injustices in this country if the government adopts the view that our traditional understanding of marriage is like racial bigotry, and needs to be suppressed in the name of "equality."
Next week, NOM is flying to North Carolina to interview Frank Turek, who also had his contract with CISCO terminated, after a human resources official googled and found out he had written against same-sex marriage.
Take a moment and look into the eyes of Ruth Sheldon, a 65-year-old town clerk in the little town of Granby, New York, who resigned a job with a $32,000 a year salary plus health insurance, because New York politicians have threatened to criminally prosecute any clerk who cannot, in good conscience, sign a gay wedding license. "I'm standing on the word of God," she says. Indeed she is, with honor.
According to the Syracuse Post-Standard, Ruth lives with her husband, Robert, a retired dairy farmer, and they will celebrate their 38th wedding anniversary next month. "I know how to live on a little and I know how to live in abundance, and if I have to live on a little then that will be it," she said.
Look into the eyes of this decent, hardworking, conscientious woman, who lost her job and was threatened with criminal prosecution if she didn't license gay weddings, and ask yourself: What kind of a political movement wants to deprive a woman like this of her job and the town of Granby of her skills? What kind of government would put her in jail?
If it makes your blood boil the way it makes mine, fight back! Step one: Go to DefendDOMA.com and sign our petition! Get your friends to sign on. Gentleman may cry "peace! peace!" but there is no peace—the war on marriage has begun. Speak now, by signing NOM's DOMA petition, or face the possibility of forever after holding your peace, submitting to the political forces that seek to strip you of your right to stand for God's truth over man's.
Instead of protecting marriage and people like Ruth, the hard left—which now controls marriage law in New York and wants to control it nationwide by repealing DOMA—wants to use this law to suppress, marginalize, stigmatize and punish good, decent, law-abiding people like her.
We cannot stand by and let this happen. DefendDOMA.com is the first step, but not the last.
Maggie writes, "The underlying truth that so-called 'pro-equality' Republicans need to understand is this: They are aiding and abetting a political movement that, at this point in history, seeks to make traditional Christian views on sex and marriage unacceptable in the public square—just as racist views on interracial marriage are unacceptable—by heaping scorn and hatred on any American who does something to support marriage as one man and one woman."
Advocates of gay marriage now seek to redefine not only marriage, but the relationship between Judeo-Christian values and the American tradition. Deface our Bibles by ripping Genesis out as "bigoted" and remake an America where those who espouse Biblical views on sex and marriage are treated like racists? Just what will be left to "conserve" of the American tradition?
Do not believe the lies, or submit to the hatred.
You and I can fight back against the flood of Tim Gill's and Ken Mehlman's money which is seeking to overturn DOMA, to intimidate Bible-believing Americans, and to turn the Republican Party away from its support for marriage so that it can remake America without opposition. This cannot happen while you and I have the strength to stand up for truth, with love, for common sense and common decency.
I have faith that with your help and God's we can and will win this fight for marriage itself and for the place of Biblical values in America.
We don't have to match the zillionaires dollar for dollar, because we have three great assets on our side. We have truth, including, most crucially, God's truth about marriage. We have justice, because the ugly side of this so-called "equality" movement to redefine marriage and America is becoming more visible and harsher every day.
And we have 3,000 years of human experience, and the common sense of the majority of the American people. That common sense has been demonstrated time and time again when politicians and courts have trusted the American people—the experts on marriage—with the decision about what marriage is and should remain: a union of husband and wife, who give themselves to each other in the only kind of union that can ever make new life and connect those children to that precious gift, a mom and a dad.
This week, we at NOM announced the first step of an intense, multi-year $2 million campaign to take back New York—and give all the Ruth Sheldons of America back their God-given right to participate as full and equal citizens, their views and values respected in the public square.
We spent $150,000 sending "Benedict Arnold" mailers into the districts of the seven senators who flip-flopped on marriage (including four key Republicans senators).
This is the crucial first step to fulfilling our pledge to spend $2 million against the politicians who imposed same-sex marriage without a vote of the people. The politicians and the media are sitting up and taking notice!
"This is the first step in what will be a sustained, determined effort to make sure the constituents of these cowardly Senators know what they have done," I told the Daily News. "They decided to ignore principle and their constituents in a calculated political flip-flop only after Governor Cuomo raised $1 million from Wall Street billionaires and hedge fund managers to support the legislation. Now, some of these same Senators are raising tens of thousands of dollars in campaign cash from gay marriage activists all around the country. It's despicable."
The mailings target Republican Senators Mark Grisanti, Roy McDonald, James Alesi and Stephen Saland; and Democratic Senators Shirley Huntley, Joseph Addabbo and Carl Kruger. Why? Well, for instance:
Grisanti ran for office on a traditional marriage platform and solicited and accepted a $4,000 campaign contribution from NOM.
Alesi said "It's not our job to be moral."
Kruger, who has been indicted for allegedly taking $1 million in bribes in exchange for political favors, declared the Senate vote would "redefine what the American family is."
On Sunday, July 24 at 3 p.m. Maggie and I will join Sen. Rev. Rubén Díaz (D-Bronx), New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedom, and thousands of New Yorkers across the state at rallies to protest the way the New York senate hijacked marriage and ignored the will of the people. Simultaneous 3 p.m. rallies (which your donations to NOM help pay for!) in Manhattan, Albany, Rochester and Buffalo. The new coalition is called Let the People Vote!
As Sen Díaz said in his latest press release:
"In a city where teachers and public employees are being laid off, and fire houses are being closed for lack of funds, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has decided to spend city funds to have government offices open on a Sunday to perform same-sex weddings.
"Having had this bad law passed, we should not retreat in fear the way the Apostles did in the days after the crucifixion and before the resurrected Christ came to reveal himself. Instead, we need to maintain the same drive that the Apostles had after the resurrected Lord filled them with the Spirit."
Join us! 3 p.m. this Sunday, July 24, is the first step to taking back marriage in New York from corrupt Albany Republicans who sold our birthright in exchange for Ken Mehlman's and Mayor Bloomberg's cash.
Whatever your faith tradition, if you believe in limited government, in the truth about marriage, and in respect for the people's wishes, join us!
Go to LetthePeopleVote.com for more information on how to attend the New York rally.
While Pres. Obama is fighting to overturn DOMA, I don't want to forget to say thank you to Speaker John Boehner, who condemned that act as "another effort by the White House to take attention away from jobs and the president's economic policies, which have been a failure. The Defense of Marriage Act is the law of the land, and the House will continue with its effort to ensure the constitutionality of the law is determined by the courts rather than by a unilateral action by the Obama Administration."
Good men and women of every race, creed and color will join together and rise above the hate, in the true rainbow coalition, to speak truth, with love, about the purpose and meaning of marriage.
As the new Archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles Chaput, said in his very first press conference in his new position this week, "this is the issue of our time."
God bless and keep you. Remember me and all the fighters on the front lines for marriage in your prayers.
Brian S. Brown President National Organization for Marriage
We're always working to make our websites more accessible, and to that end we've re-done how you can search the NOM blog archive (in the upper-right corner above).
If you've ever tried to use the search feature and been frustrated, it might be more responsive now. It certainly should be better than scrolling through the over 2,000 posts in our archives!
Please consider this comment thread also a good place to mention features/options you'd like to see us integrate in the future! Thanks, everyone! Happy searching.
Andrea Peyser at The New York Post comes to the defense of NY clerks in danger of losing their job over same-sex marriage:
Rosemary Centi has per formed marriage ceremonies in upstate Guilderland for the past 10 years, hitching hundreds of satisfied men and women. For good, she hopes. This morning, Centi is doing her last wedding. "I am Catholic," she told me, "and my definition of marriage is between a man and a woman. It is a sacrament."
... "I have a number of friends whom I adore" who are gay, Centi told me. "I respect an individual's right to live their life however they chose to do." She paused. "So I would expect the same courtesy." And there's the rub. I was horrified to hear Gov. Cuomo react flippantly to Fotusky's resignation.
This is the law," he said last week. "When you enforce the laws of the state, you don't get to pick and choose. If you can't enforce the law, then you shouldn't be in that position."
Now, Bronx disc jockey Clifton McLaughlin, a born-again Christian, says he'll refuse, if asked, to work at gay weddings. "This is based on God's law," McLaughlin told me. "There is no way man can come with his own law."
Could he be punished? Well, yes! A gay couple denied service by a DJ, not to mention a florist or wedding band, has grounds to sue in Civil Court, a Cuomo spokesman told me.
... This is an outrage. All people -- gay and straight, atheists and observers -- have a moral duty to rise up and protest. This is about freedom.
If we fail to protect those with whom we disagree, everyone's liberty is at risk.
Here at NOM we've been helping ADF get the word out to New York clerks that yes, they do have options.
Here is Mr. Austin Nimocks, Senior Counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, testifying in defense of DOMA at yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing:
We'll have a full report up tomorrow, but in the meantime, the Associated Press reports on the thousands upon thousands of you who joined us in New York City and across the state to stand up for marriage and the right of the people to vote (find out more at the official LTPV website)!
