NOM Blog ...

NOM BLOG

Tony Perkins on The Frum Flip Flop

July 8, 2011 at 6:03 pm

Tony Perkins in FRC's Washington Update:

David Frum is a writer who, in 1997, engaged in a spirited online debate with homosexual writer Andrew Sullivan over the topic of homosexual "marriage." In over 5,500 words of text, Frum was articulate, cogent, and compelling in his opposition to radically redefining marriage, saying that "this request isn't just misplaced, but is actually logically impossible." Now, however, Frum has changed his mind. In a short CNN op-ed last week, he wrote that "the case against same-sex marriage has been tested against reality. The case has not passed its test."

Tested? Only five out of the fifty states (soon to be six, when New York's new marriage law takes effect) and the District of Columbia currently allow same-sex "marriage." Of those, only one (Massachusetts) has had it for more than three years. It's ludicrous to think this provides enough data to tell us definitively what the institution of marriage and the American family would look like, say, fifty years from now if the U.S. Supreme Court mandates legalization of homosexual "marriage" in all fifty states (as would be the case if U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker's decision from last year is upheld). It took a generation for the devastation wrought by the public policy of no-fault divorce to become clear. Homosexual "marriage" did not initiate the separation of lifelong commitment, marriage, sex, procreation, and parenthood--which were once viewed as normally a package (occurring in that order). But redefining marriage would affirm the institution's deconstruction, when it desperately needs to be reconstructed instead. Frum knew this in 1997. Sadly, his decline to political correctness is more likely the result of peer pressure from the self-styled intellectual elites than from the evidence of any "test."

By NOM Staff | Posted in Culture, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (6)

Michele Bachmann First to Sign Iowa Family Leader Marriage Pledge

July 8, 2011 at 5:48 pm

Slate makes fun of Michele, naturally, for taking the lead on this (as we reported earlier). But women know a thing or two about how women--and children--are abused by human trafficking and the sex industry generally.

Your snark won't hurt Michele.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Election Watch 2012, Marriage, Marriage Election Watch, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (5)

Let The People Vote! NOM Marriage News July 8, 2011

July 8, 2011 at 5:00 pm

NOM National Newsletter

Dear Marriage Supporter,

The fight to take back New York begins. Now it gets serious. Now, it's also a fight to take back the Republican Party from the forces who wish to abandon marriage: the so-called new "pro-equality Republicans."

Four Republican senators in New York voted for gay marriage. But the entire Republican conference, under the leadership of Dean Skelos, helped to make that happen by voting to bring up the gay marriage bill.

NY Republican Senators who Betrayed Marriage

When the Democrats controlled the New York Senate, gay marriage lost in a landslide. After an election, Republicans took control. What did they do with their newfound power? They sold out the party's base, the party's principles, and the timeless institution of marriage.

They imposed gay marriage without a vote of the people!

Now is the time for the sunshine patriots to get out of the way, and for those of us who understand what is at stake in this marriage debate to defeat politicians who had no problem lying to get elected, then turning around and betraying the voters who helped them.

I've got really exciting news to announce to you this week: a new coalition, a new plan, a rebuilt PAC. And here's the most exciting news: a huge multi-city series of rallies and protest marches taking place across the state of New York to win a vote to protect marriage in New York's constitution!

Let the People Vote!

Save the date: Sunday, July 24, 3 p.m. Go here to get the practical details. And here's the good news: You can show up to let Albany know you've had enough of the corruption, the backroom deals, the lying, the politics as usual. Let the people vote!

Don't forget to send this link to Let the People Vote to your five best friends, the folks you know who are mad enough not to take this from Republicans and other pols lying down!

We at NOM have promised to raise $2 million to help defeat the politicians who've betrayed marriage in 2012.

The good news is that in our first week alone, hundreds of you sent donations adding up to $40,000 to NOM's NY PAC. Fight back against the GOP betrayal by donating $5, $10 or $99 to our NOM NY PAC now.

And New York state has no limit on PAC donations (although they are public knowledge if you donate $100 or more). If you really want to show the GOP politicians they made a big mistake in betraying marriage, the sky is the limit.

We are drawing a line in the sand for politicians and the Republican Party here. You cannot deal away marriage in backrooms behind voters' backs. This is not just about New York; it is about the future of marriage in America.

Republican elites like Ken Mehlman are counting on using New York as a model for pushing gay marriage—over the heads of the people across the country—unless you and I show them how big a mistake this is!

As the New York Times concedes, "the events in New York also have national repercussions: ... gay-rights advocates increasingly need Republican support if they are to change local laws elsewhere in the country."

Ken Mehlman, one of a network of Karl Rove protégés, boasted about how he used money to sway Republicans to vote for gay marriage:

"I didn't come in there saying, 'Do this for me,'" Ken Mehlman, the openly gay former RNC chairman who persuaded Republican lawmakers in Albany, told the Huffington Post. "I said, 'Do this for you.' ...We were saying, 'It is the right thing to build the party from a political perspective.'"

New York Republican elites with powerful national connections are now openly saying that abandoning marriage is the key to building the Republican Party!

I'm not making this stuff up.

A plan is in place to bring down the GOP's commitment to marriage, to create an America in which no party and no politician is willing to stand for the fundamental truth of Genesis that marriage is unique for a reason—that male and female must come together, in love, to make the future happen, and to give that future the love and care of a mother and a father.

These powerful megamillionaires want to deface the Bible by ripping Genesis out of it, and then to remake an America without a strong foundation of Judeo-Christian values. What kind of conservative movement would we have left if we let that happen?

And of course it is not just Republicans who stand up for marriage.

Sen. Rev. Rubén Díaz is a loyal, lifelong liberal Democrat who stood up fearlessly and lovingly in New York for marriage as the union of a husband and wife.

He is now facing an ongoing, continuous, thundering barrage of hatred for his courage, for his refusal to kowtow, for being unafraid and unashamed of his support for marriage.

Even victory in New York has not sated some gay-marriage advocates' thirst to somehow humiliate a brave leader like Sen. Díaz, as he made clear in a statement released this week, "Unashamed to Be a Christian." It's worth reading in full (warning: he is very blunt about the kind of hate mail he is receiving, in language no one should have to read), but here's one part I want you to see, to know what he's going through and to share in his passion:

"I was the only Democrat in the Senate to vote against this legislation, and I wear my vote as a badge of honor.

"Although Republican Senate Leader Dean Skelos ushered the gay marriage vote to the floor in order to make the 11:00PM news, and even though the vote passed, the hatred that has spewed in my direction before June 24th continues.

"Yesterday I received a series of five emails in my Senate account from one person that read like homicidal rantings: 'You eat sh*t. You are sh*t.' 'There is no worse person on Earth than you. God has told me so.' 'You worthless pile of human excrement!!!' 'I hope you die! I hope you die soon! I'm waiting for you to die!'...

"Those messages suggest that even though the gay marriage vote passed, that author did not get what he wanted which suggests to me that for some reason, I am the embodiment of his disappointment. He may also be upset because I am unashamed of my vote.

"...After the June 24 vote, so many people who disguise themselves as victims and decry bullies hide behind their computer screens and demonstrate what is called 'keyboard courage' by posting hateful and vicious comments about me.

"For my part, I will continue to be unashamed to be a Christian."

Wow.

NOM is committed to helping brave Democrats like Sen. Díaz, too. Stand with Sen. Díaz and show that you too are unashamed, by making a public donation of at least $100 to NOM's NY PAC today.

On Sunday July 24 evangelicals, Orthodox Christians, Catholics, and Jews will come together in love all across the state to take back marriage from the politicians who betrayed it. Join us.

Already, Republicans are quietly protesting the dishonesty of the four Republican senators who voted for same-sex marriage:
"'He's not honest,' said Ray Akey, 66, a retired sales engineer and a Republican who had voted for Jim Alesi in the past," the New York Times reported. He told the Times he would not vote for him again.

"Asked to sum up his feelings about his senator, Mr. Akey said: 'It's not real pretty. I'd have to put some cuss words in there.'"

The Grisanti flip-flop in Buffalo is creating the most voter anger, in part because Mark Grisanti ran so publicly and vocally as an opponent of gay marriage.

Adam Kaiser, 27, is actually a Republican in favor of gay marriage, but he's still so disgusted by Grisanti that he would never vote for him again: "All politicians are liars, but you got to do a better job of pretending like you're telling the truth," Kaiser told the Times. "I think it's a ticket out of office for him."

Paul Smith, a 60-year-old in Niagara Falls, agreed: "Logic and truth and moral fiber, it's being taken away from us right now. No matter what opinion he gives you publicly on TV, you don't know if he's being honest."

Voters are disgusted with the lying and no one lied more flagrantly or repeatedly than Mark Grisanti.

Dr. Kevin Backus wrote on the blog of the Grand Island Conservative Party that he had lunch before he endorsed Mr. Grisanti and his position on same-sex marriage was the top of the list of items they discussed. "I've spoken with the senator on this issue repeatedly since he took office. I've been assured by him personally and been asked to assure others that he'd never vote for anything with the word 'marriage' in it. Mark committed himself to that position. As recently as 11 days before the vote was taken, Mark was firm in this position."

Dr. Backus says Grisanti is now hinting that Gov. Cuomo may be very helpful to him when it comes to redistricting in ways that could help him keep his seat.

In our fight in New York, Michael Long has made it clear that no Republican who betrays marriage will get the Conservative Party endorsement.

Have voters had enough of politicians who cut secret backroom deals while lying to voters?

We'll find out.

Big things are happening.

The quiet protests among the grassroots are going to get louder and clearer. and ring out from New York City to Niagara Falls—and all the way to Washington: Don't mess with marriage!

In politics, money talks. We do not have the billionaires on our side, the rich Republic mega-donors like Ken Mehlman pushing the party towards this disaster. But we do have you and I, and thousands of other hardworking, loving, decent people of all races, creeds, and colors, willing to sacrifice their time and treasure to protect the precious gift that is marriage.

Stand with us, and stand up to the backdoor back-dealing politicians in both parties, by giving just $10 for marriage to NOM's NY PAC.

Next week, we'll be announcing some big new plans for the GOP presidential race as well—to help you and other voters find out whether the candidates who claim to be for marriage will fight or, like the New York Republicans, fold on marriage.

I walked outside of a TV studio in Arlington, Virginia today and saw on the news chyron these flashing words in big red lights: "Politico: Republicans Fall Silent on Gay Marriage."

The mainstream media thinks it's over. They think they can silence half the population, and create an America without a party for marriage. The mainstream media is going to find out how wrong they are.

And so will the Republicans who betrayed marriage.

Count on it.

Keep fighting the good fight!

And God bless you, and God bless America.

Brian Brown

Brian S Brown

Brian S. Brown
President
National Organization for Marriage

P.S. Show pro-gay marriage politicians how big a mistake it is to lie to voters and betray the people. Anything you can give will help us stand up to Ken Mehlman and the GOP donors who want to drive the party into the arms of gay marriage, to take away our voice and to reduce your power. Fight back today with a generous gift of $9 to $99.

And remember, if you are a person with the means, you can give an unlimited gift of $500, $1,000, or $10,000 more to NOM NY PAC. Thank you! Let the people vote!

By Brian Brown | Posted in Let The People Vote, New York, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (54)

Maggie's Column -- Can We Keep Our Republic?

July 8, 2011 at 3:23 pm

NOM Chairman Maggie Gallagher's latest column:

... Over the long Independence Day weekend, I re-read Tom Holland's "Rubicon" -- a history of the fall of the Roman Republic.

More than any history of the period I have read, Holland's narrative illuminates Friedrich Hayek's great truth that we all, even the most practical hard-headed realist among us, are prisoners of dead thinkers.

The Roman Republic, like any republic, any nation, is simply an idea in the heads of people. An idea that is strong enough to influence people's ideals, how they strive to achieve them and, as important, what they are not willing to do to achieve them.

All our institutions are made up of air -- of symbols, dreams, stories, mere nothings created by poets, dreamers, intellectuals, novelists and speechwriters, and fashioned into enduring modes of living by the airiest of bonds: the bonds of meaning in the heads of living human beings.

Why is it, Holland thinks to ask, that most Americans never stop to wonder: Why on a continent the ancient Romans never even knew existed there stands a new Senate, upon another Capitol Hill?

Like our Founding Fathers, we have much to learn from Rome: how to achieve a republic that lasts for 400 years --and then how in the space of a generation or two, to lose it.

Continue reading at RealClearPolitics.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Culture, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (5)

NOM Praises Bi-Partisan Coalition In US House For Passing Foxx Amendment Upholding DOMA In The Military

July 8, 2011 at 2:43 pm

WASHINGTON - By a large and bipartisan majority of 248 to 175, the House of Representatives voted late Thursday night to approve the Foxx Amendment, which affirms that DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, remains the law of the land for all federal agencies, including the military.

The amendment, which prohibits the use of Pentagon funds in contravention to DOMA, was spurred by a memo since rescinded from the Navy to require military chapels on federal property to host same-sex wedding ceremonies in certain states. The Navy has stated the matter requires further review.

“By a large and unexpectedly bi-partisan margin, the House has confirmed that DOMA is not a dead letter, it is the law of the land,” said Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM). “This is good news for marriage, good news for the Supreme Court, and good news for those politicians who braved political correctness to vote once again for DOMA. We thank Rep. Virginia Foxx and all who voted for DOMA, and pledge to stand by them in 2012. Now we know by this vote, who are the friends of marriage and who are not. Politicians who ignore the wishes of their constituents and vote for gay marriage to please millionaire donors are going to find themselves in trouble come election time.”

Six Republicans voted against the amendment: Reps. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.), Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.), Mario Diaz-Balart, Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.), Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.).

Additionally, 19 Democrats voted in favor of the amendment: Reps. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), John Barrow (D-Ga.), Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), Dan Boren (D-Okla.), Ben Chandler (D-Ky.), Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), Mark Critz (D-Pa.), Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Gene Green (D-Texas), Tim Holden (D-Pa.), Larry Kissell (D-N.C.), Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.), James Matheson (D-Utah), Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), Nich Rahall (D-W.V.), Mike Ross (D-Ark.) and Heath Shuler (D-N.C.).

By NOM Staff | Posted in DOMA, Law, Press Releases | Comments (19)

Iowa Family Leader Introduces Marriage and Family Pledge for 2012 Candidates

July 8, 2011 at 2:15 pm

From the Des Moines Register:

The Family Leader, a prominent Iowa group that promotes Christian conservative social values, said Thursday it is asking all presidential candidates to sign a pledge regarding their personal convictions on traditional marriage.

The pledge is entitled, “The Marriage Vow – A Declaration of Dependence upon Marriage and Family.”

The organization’s chief executive officer is Bob Vander Plaats, a conservative evangelical leader who was the state chair of Mike Huckabee’s Republican presidential campaign when he won the 2008 Iowa Caucuses. Vander Plaats said the Family Leader will not support any candidate who declines to sign the pledge.

“If you are looking at being a leader of our great country….we would like to have you pledge personal fidelity to your own spouse and a respect for the marital bonds of others,” Vander Plaats told reporters at a news conference on the steps of the Iowa Statehouse.

... Presidential candidates who sign the pledge must agree to personal fidelity to his or her spouse, the appointment of “faithful constitutionalists” as judges, opposition to any redefinition of marriage, and prompt reform of uneconomic and anti-marriage aspects of welfare policy, tax policy and divorce law.

The Marriage Vow also outlines support for the legal advocacy for the federal Defense of Marriage Act, humane efforts to protect women and children, rejection of Sharia Islam, safeguards for all married and unmarried U.S. military service members, and commitment to downsizing government and the burden upon American families.

In addition, candidates are asked to recognize that “robust childrearing and reproduction is beneficial to U.S. demographic, economic, strategic and actuarial health and security.”

Michele Bachmann was the first to sign the pledge. [Update: Rick Santorum is second to sign.] Tim Pawlenty is reviewing the pledge, a spokesman said. Jon Huntsman said he never signs pledges. A Ron Paul spokesman said the congressman had reservations. Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain have not yet commented. A representative of President Barack Obama's democratic campaign committee declined comment.

NOM is a co-sponsor of the Presidential Lecture Series in Iowa with the Family Leader.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Election Watch 2012, Marriage, Marriage Election Watch, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (13)

Lawsuit Documents Real Threats and Vandalism by Pro-SSM Activists in Washington State

July 8, 2011 at 1:15 pm

Bob Unruh reports:

A federal court in Tacoma, Wash., has been asked to order that the names of signatories of a state petition seeking to protect traditional marriage be redacted to protect them from death threats from homosexual activists.

"What is becoming increasingly evident," said James Bopp of the James Madison Center, "is that some groups and individuals, certainly a minority, have resorted to advancing their cause, not by debating the merits of the issue but by discouraging participation in the democratic process itself.

"The First Amendment was designed to ensure that all groups, whatever their persuasion, could participate fully in our republic," he said. That breaks down when some groups or individuals are cowed into silence for fear that they or their families will be targeted or threatened if they speak up."

The issue is the some 138,000 Washington state residents who signed a petition in 2009 to repeal a law that gave same-sex partners all the legal rights of married couples. The petition forced a referendum vote in November of that year in which voters decided to sustain the law.

But because the state considers such petitions "public records," homosexual activists are demanding the names and addresses of the signers in order to post them on the Internet and "publicize on their web sites, in searchable format, the identities of every person who signed the … petition," according to a new filing seeking nondisclosure of the names.

The groups announcing the plans were KnowThyNeighbor.org and WhoSigned.org, according to the filing.

The filing on behalf of Protect Marriage Washington explains the real problem is the documentation of actual threats that have been made against those who support traditional marriage, a litany of what the Los Angeles Times described as a "vengeful campaign."

Among the documented threats:

"I will kill you and your family."

"Oh my God, This woman is so f---ing stupid. Someone please shoot her in the head, again and again. And again."

"I'm going to kill the pastor."

"If I had a gun I would have gunned you down along with each and every other supporter…"

"We're going to kill you."

"You're dead. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon … you're dead."

"I'm a gay guy who owns guns, and he's my next target."

"I warn you, I know how to kill, I'm an ex-special forces person."

"Get ready for retribution all you bigots."

Burn their f---ing churches to the ground, and then tax the charred timbers."

The evidence included churches marred by graffiti, swastikas on lawns and walls, bricks thrown through windows and doors, adhesive poured into locks, suspicious packages of white powder sent in the mail – "all for nothing more than supporting traditional marriage."

"On two occasions, both in Washington state, a group called Bash Back! boldly accepted credit for vandalizing houses of worship, writing in one case, 'when we [graffitied your walls] and glued all the doors shut, we threw open our own doors and tattooed those words on hour (sic) hearts. Welcome to our world s---heads.'"

According to the filing, "When some activists could sense that intimidation was not working … they resorted to threatening the families – even the children – of supporters. In one case, the perpetrator threated to 'kill' the supporter's child and the whole family; in another, to 'harm' the supporter's family; and in another, to rape the supporters' daughter."

The reason for the demand for the names and addresses was made clear earlier, according to the filing.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Civility, Law, Same Sex Marriage, Washington | Comments (10)

How Low Can We Go?

July 8, 2011 at 11:00 am

In Great Britain, a fertility "charity" launches a government-approved "Win a Baby" lottery for infertility services:

A controversial IVF lottery will launch in Britain this month giving prospective parents the chance to win thousands of pounds toward expensive fertility treatments in top clinics.

The scheme, which the media have dubbed "win a baby," has already run into trouble on ethical grounds with critics calling it inappropriate and demeaning to human reproduction.

Britain's Gambling Commission has granted a license to fertility charity, To Hatch, to run the game from July 30.

Every month, winners can scoop 25,000 pounds' ($40,175) worth of tailor-made treatments at one of the UK's top five fertility clinics for the price of a 20 pound ticket bought online. The tickets may eventually be sold in newsagents.

The lottery is open to single, gay and elderly players as well as heterosexual couples struggling to start a family.

If standard IVF fails, individuals can be offered reproductive surgery, donor eggs and sperm or a surrogate birth, the charity says, though the winner will only be able to choose one treatment. --Reuters

By NOM Staff | Posted in Children, Culture, Parenting, Science, United Kingdom | Comments (1)

Dan Savage V. Monogamy

July 8, 2011 at 10:30 am

Ross Douthat on his New York Times blog highlights Eve Tushnet's response:

I thought these points from Eve Tushnet were worth highlighting:

1) … I was struck by the conflation of forgiving adultery and understanding nonmonogamy such that there is nothing to forgive in the first place. These actually seem to me like opposite moral positions, but both Savage and Oppenheimer (in his role as sympathetic conveyer of someone else’s position) consistently conflate them.

2) … On a related note, I’m struck by how the only players in this story are a) the adults (in the magazine story as printed it’s really only the adults in the marriage, but even in Oppenheimer’s comments here he only looks at e.g. the mistress, her boyfriend, or other adult parties who might be affected emotionally) and b) the children within the marriage. Have we really forgotten that sex still makes babies? There will be children of affairs, too, and so framing (heterosexual) adultery as a stay-together-for-the-kids plan strikes me as a great way to enhance the inherent inequality between children of the marriage and those outside it. Out-of-wedlock children, in this worldview, become unfortunate side effects of the sexual license designed to protect the marital children.

3) … But couldn’t we all just be rational actors, contracepting demi-perfectly and backing it up with abortion? Then no worries!

But of course the whole weird premise of Savage’s claim is that eros is so powerful and irrational, sexual fulfillment such an obvious non-negotiable, that… we should talk things out like rational adults before we get married and then stick to our rational rules and goals. Eros is simultaneously overwhelming—breaking down the strong norm of marital fidelity—and easily-tamed, contained within little well-contracepted well-communicated honest and generous mini-affairs.

Eve in turn points to this great piece on Dan Savage's ethics.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Same Sex Marriage | Comments (5)

The Advocate: The Right Wingers Might Be Right About How SSM Will Change Marriage

July 8, 2011 at 10:00 am

The Dan Savage meme continues (note -- The Advocate is a gay magazine and some language used in the article may be offensive to our readers):

By designing a relationship that doesn’t fit a typical married couple, Megan and Colin have joined a small but growing number of straight couples who are looking to gay male relationships as the model for long-term, nonmonogamous unions.

Anti-equality right-wingers have long insisted that allowing gays to marry will destroy the sanctity of “traditional marriage,” and, of course, the logical, liberal party-line response has long been “No, it won’t.” But what if—for once—the sanctimonious crazies are right? Could the gay male tradition of open relationships actually alter marriage as we know it? And would that be such a bad thing?

... Welcome to Queer (Roving) Eye for the Monogamous Straight Couple Lie, brought to you in part by writer Dan Savage, who coined the term monogamish to signify committed relationships in which the partners are, he explains, “mostly monogamous, but there’s a little allowance for the reality of desire for others and a variety of experiences and adventure and possibility... People primarily want stable, long-lasting partner bonds. They want safety.” They also want to [have sex with] other people, whether a relationship is open or closed.

... Sex therapist Timaree Schmit says she can understand gay couples’ desire to conform—at least outwardly—to the kind of conventional relationship that society deems “deserving” of marriage rights. “It’s been a big part of campaigning for marriage equality to repeatedly prove the ‘normalcy’ and stability of same-sex couples. People may feel pressure to make their relationship fit into a more acceptable box.”

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

Hate Rhetoric?

July 8, 2011 at 9:45 am

Some creative minds came up with a poster comparing NOM to the KKK. It's outrageous of course. We wouldn't normally bother to notice such stuff, which is par for the course, but even on the gay blogs circulating it a lot of fair minded people are questioning that kind of over the top rhetoric.

So we point out once again, for the fair minded on either side of this debate: When a man came to a NOM rally with a hateful sign, he was immediately told he wasn't welcome. This is why the photo of the hateful sign is not of a sign being held up at a NOM rally but a sign discarded across the street.

Just to make it crystal clear, we then issued a statement denouncing violence, harassment or threats of violence against any one on any side of the marriage debate, including against gay people and gay marriage supporters.

Which we are happy to reiterate again for our gay readers--we know we have many: We stand with you abhorring any threat to the person and property of gay people, or gay marriage supporters. We hope you do the same for marriage supporters.

But we do it because it's the right thing to do not because anyone demands this of us.

There are good people on both sides of this debate, and we need to have a country where even intense moral disagreements can be aired without violence or threats or incivility.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Civility, Culture | Comments (78)

NOM-RI Will Push Legislature to Define Marriage Next Year

July 8, 2011 at 9:30 am

In the Associated Press:

The National Organization for Marriage-Rhode Island will urge lawmakers next year to specifically outlaw gay marriage by defining it legally as being between a man and a woman, according to executive director Chris Plante.

“Then we look at 2012,’’ Plante said. “Marriage Equality Rhode Island will make this an election issue, and it will come down to who can bring the most leverage. We believe marriage is a winning political issue.’’

It’s possible the contentious debate could resurface yet this year, during a special legislative session this fall. Lawmakers intend to use the fall session to focus on the state’s mounting public pension crisis but could debate other issues as well.

By NOM Staff | Posted in New York, Rhode Island, Same Sex Marriage | Comments Off

Tom Messner on Religious Freedom as a Bargaining Chip in NY

July 8, 2011 at 9:00 am

Kathryn Lopez interviews Tom Messner, a lawyer and visiting fellow at the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society, on what role did religious freedom play in the negotiations over same-sex marriage in New York. Here's a sample:

KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ: It’s been said that protections for religious freedom were the key to winning the swing votes on the same-sex-marriage bill in New York. What do you think about that?

TOM MESSNER: If that’s true, it’s regrettable. The marriage debate is first and foremost a debate about the meaning and public purposes of marriage, not a debate about religious freedom. Yes, people on both sides of the marriage debate now recognize that same-sex marriage threatens religious freedom. But the religious-freedom consequences of redefining marriage are a threshold issue of concern to everyone, not an escape hatch for people who would rather avoid difficult issues.
Even if the religious-freedom issues were not on the table, proponents of same-sex marriage would still need to explain why marriage should no longer have any intrinsic connection between children and mothers and fathers and why people who think it should are morally equivalent to racists. Lawmakers would need to squarely confront the core issues presented by genderless marriage, even if threats to religious freedom were not a factor.

In other words, no matter what someone thinks about the merits of genderless marriage, threats to religious freedom from same-sex marriage present serious concerns about redefining marriage. On the other hand, even if same-sex marriage posed no threats to religious freedom at all, the core reasons to support marriage as one man and one woman remain just as compelling and must be addressed.

By NOM Staff | Posted in New York, Religious Liberty, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (7)

Why Doesn't Obama Come Out? New Polling in Key Battleground States Holds the Answer

July 8, 2011 at 8:00 am

Public Policy Polling -- a Democrat polling firm that we've talked about before -- is asking questions in key states for the 2012 election, including what their voters thing about marriage.

FLORIDA
"Do you think same-sex marriage should be legal or illegal?" (July 6th)
Illegal: 53%
Legal: 37%
Unsure: 10%

NEW MEXICO
"Do you think same-sex marriage should be legal or illegal?" (July 5th)
Illegal: 48%
Legal: 42%
Unsure: 10%
(Democrats outnumber Republicans 51-32 in New Mexico)

By NOM Staff | Posted in Florida, New Mexico, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (11)

Sen. Rev. Diaz: "Unashamed to Be a Christian"

July 7, 2011 at 11:35 am

A statement from NY State Senator Rev. Ruben Diaz, the lone Democrat Senator to vote against the same-sex marriage bill:

On June 24th I voted my conscience and opposed Governor Andrew Cuomo's key piece of social legislation in the New York State Senate that redefines our marriage laws away from the traditional definition of one man and one woman. I was the only Democrat in the Senate to vote against this legislation, and I wear my vote as a badge of honor.

I have been congratulated by religious leaders and constituents not only from my district, but from districts all over New York State. I have received messages of encouragement and gratitude from people throughout the United States.

... Although Republican Senate Leader Dean Skelos ushered the gay marriage vote to the floor in order to make the 11:00PM news, and even though the vote passed, the hatred that has spewed in my direction before June 24th continues.

... [but] In the great spirit of interfaith unity I will continue to work to promote what the late Pope John Paul II called the Culture of Life and continue to highlight the actions of the opposition which is still not pleased even with their declared victory in New York against traditional marriage.