All [California] state schools are required to have a specific plan to address safety and other issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Gender harassment can start at very young ages, often before kindergarten, and it is not uncommon for children who step outside of narrow gender expectations, whether in their clothing, hair, toys or styles of play, to become the targets of mistreatment by other children," said district spokesman Troy Flint in an e-mail.
So on Monday, Redwood Heights fourth-graders listened intently to descriptions of biological gender, gender expression and identity.
Gender isn't something that's cut and dry, Baum said.
"Earrings used to be something only girls and pirates wore," Baum said to fourth-grade giggles.
And what's on the outside doesn't necessarily reflect what's on the inside, he said.
"People can feel like girls," he said. "They can feel like boys. They can feel like both, and they can feel like neither."
The people in Minnesota will now have the chance to decide the future of marriage in their own state, thanks to the brave bipartisan group of legislators who voted to put a marriage amendment on the ballot in 2012.
The marriage amendment in Minnesota is simple and clear: "Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota."
It takes the future of marriage out of the hands of activist judges, like those in neighboring Iowa who imposed same-sex marriage against the will of the people, and gives it to Minnesotans generally.
Already the angry campaign to label the good people of Minnesota who believe marriage is the union of husband and wife as haters, bigots, and worse has begun—and let me promise you that it will backfire.
Gov. Mark Dayton symbolically tried to "veto" the bill, slamming millions of Minnesotans by calling it a "mean-spirited, divisive, un-Minnesotan and un-American amendment."
Legislators who voted for the marriage amendment were slammed with thousands of emails generated by the Human Rights Campaign, calling them bigots and other hateful insults because, as Rep. Tony Cornish said, "From the start, right after my vote, I received e-mails calling me a 'bigot' and much much worse, describing in detail horrific things that I should do to my own body, and people talking about my 'obituary.' It wore on me, so about the 300th letter I got like that, I replied, 'Give it a rest!'"
Millions of good, loving and law-abiding Americans have voted to protect marriage as one man and one woman, including in nearby midwestern states like Wisconsin and Michigan, and in deep blue states like California and Maine. Just this spring, Democratic states like Rhode Island and Maryland have rejected same-sex marriage. Protecting marriage is not un-Minnesotan or un-American and no amount of name-calling or insults is going to change that reality. In fact, name-calling and insults will not be a pathway to victory in Minnesota, or anywhere else.
Exactly what kind of person stands up for marriage?
Take a look at NOM's just released video "People Need to Speak the Truth," interviewing folks who attended Sen. Diaz's rally for marriage in the Bronx.
"If we don't speak up for truth, people will believe a lie." Well, you and I won't let that happen, will we?
A reporter for a local news site interviewed people on the streets of Bed-Stuy, a Brooklyn neighborhood. "Most Bed-Stuy residents we spoke to were in favor of traditional marriage," according to the Bed-Stuy Patch:
Jason, a 26-year-old computer tech walking along Fulton Street back to work, concurred. "I don't care what the next man does, but God didn't intend for two men to get married nor two women. That just makes everything untraditional. After you pass same-sex marriage you're just throwing religion out the door."
"I don't believe in same-sex marriage, but to each their own. If that's what the people want to do... but I don't believe that it should be a law," said another Bed-Stuy resident who declined to give her name.
The truth is the movement for marriage is the most unlikely coalition ever, of Democrats and Republicans, of Catholics, Protestants and Jews, of people of every race, creed, color and party coming together to stand in love—against the torrent of hatred and abuse now directed against folks who dare to say marriage is and should remain, as God intended, a union of husband and wife.
Sen. Rev. Rubén Díaz's latest press release asks Gov. Cuomo, the media and the public to pay attention to the increasingly uncivil rhetoric which those who support gay marriage are heaping upon those with whom they disagree.
"I urge Governor Andrew Cuomo along with my colleagues in the legislature, the media, and all New Yorkers to take a close look at the hard core and vulgar tactics that are being used to change a law in New York State. I urge all to compare my non-violent, peaceful and prayerful rallies to protect marriage and the attempts to humiliate me because of my one vote in the State Senate. Add to that the intolerant onslaught of hate-filled phone calls to my office. Add to that to the death threats and threats against my family that have been duly reported to the FBI and the police departments of New York and Albany."
Leaders like Rev. Díaz are attracting this kind of abuse because they are making a difference, thank God!
Our great campaign for the truth about marriage is having a huge impact in New York, clearly, as we work with great people like Sen. Rev. Rubén Díaz, Rev. Jason Maguire and New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedom and many others.
A May 21 Associated Press story detailed the growing gloom among gay-marriage supporters in New York that a high-profile and well-funded push for gay marriage was falling short, as the latest polls show support for gay marriage dropping and opposition growing:
Just a couple of weeks ago, the momentum to legalize gay marriage in New York appeared to be an irresistible force. ...Since then, the conservative and religious opposition has struck back in a big, unexpected way.
Now the opposition has a $1.5 million fund of its own from a national group. There was even some shakiness in the ranks of gay marriage advocates, while Republican senators on the other side, rather than wilting, appear emboldened. ...
Opponents of gay marriage are also bolstered by defeats of similar bills this year in Maryland and Rhode Island. Same-sex marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, D.C., a list unchanged since New York's Senate rejected the measure in 2009 in a surprising blow to the national movement. ...A month ago, support in the Siena poll was four points higher and opposition was six points lower. It was a rare setback in polls that for months have repeatedly shown growing support.
The fight is not over, but victory is within our reach!
Yet another surprising victory against powerful elites when the pundits told us victory was impossible!
Many of you have written concerned about the latest Gallup poll. Gay-rights activists are trumpeting the idea that the majority of Americans now support gay marriage.
Let not your heart be troubled. Americans, faced with a barrage of abuse and insults, are becoming less willing to tell strangers on the phone what they really think. But it is impossible to square poll results like that with what is happening on the ground, in state polls, or in actual elections.
If the majority of Americans now favor gay marriage, why is it that Equality California is reporting its own polls show just 45 percent of Californians want to repeal Prop 8—a drop from its 2009 poll on the subject?
Equality California is now hesitating, unsure if it will try to repeal Prop 8 in 2012, as a result of this news.
If a majority of all Americans now favor gay marriage, why is it that in a very blue state like Washington, the latest poll shows people split almost evenly on the issue (and within the margin of error)?
If a majority of all Americans now favor gay marriage, why is it that in Ohio, a swing state, voters who were asked, "Do you you think gay marriage should be legal or or illegal?" responded "illegal" 53 percent to 31 percent?
Public Policy Polling has been doing state polls that are wildly out of synch with some of the national polls.
Now, many people criticize PPP's polling methods as leaning too Democratic. They also do not use live interviewers but ask people to respond by hitting their phone buttons. This may be one reason their polls show much stronger opposition to gay marriage: It's less intimidating for Democrats and Independents who oppose gay marriage to admit their views to a machine than to a person.
Not only do we at NOM not believe polls reporting a majority of all Americans now support gay marriage, but it is crystal clear that gay-marriage advocates don't believe those polls either.
How do I know this? Because in the deepest, bluest states in the nation, they would rather lose a gay marriage bill altogether than accept the idea that the issue should be referred to a popular vote. Rhode Island, the most Democratic state in the nation, was the clearest example of this.
If gay-marriage advocates don't believe they can win a majority vote on this issue in Rhode Island, they know they can't win it anywhere.
We'll find out in 2012 in Minnesota whose polling is the most accurate.
By the way, the fact that good people feel unsafe saying marriage is the union of husband and wife is a change that we need to face and find a way to deal with.
We at NOM are looking for new ways to protect decent and honorable people from threats to their livelihood and person if they speak for marriage.
We will need to come together in dramatic new ways to stop the abuse, the insults and the threats. But with your help and God's we will win this fight, too.
In January of this year, I became aware that we would have to suddenly fight hard on multiple fronts for marriage, and in the deepest blue states.
The fights have strained our resources. Each one was supposed to be impossible to win. And yet we've won each time—thanks to you.
Thanks in part to NOM's work in the elections of 2010, there were also some new opportunities—votes for marriage in Indiana and Minnesota are just the beginning.
Thank you and praise God for your support—for your emails, for your prayers and for your fellowship.
Thank you for your courage and your decency. Thank you above all for standing with us and with millions of other good Americans for marriage.
Take care and keep those emails coming!
Semper fi,
Brian S. Brown
President
National Organization for Marriage
P.S.. The fight is not over—we have just begun! We will fight and we will win, but we need your help. Be a part of the next victory for marriage! Your donation to NOM will help make those victories possible. We can't do it without you.
This is a fairly balanced news report from KSTP, Minnesota's ABC News affiliate:
But here's a mystery: it reports the latest Survey USA poll taken May 24th and 25th shows Minnesotans will vote for the marriage amendment 51% to 40% (with 10% "other"). The exact wording is not provided.
But the reporters says this is a steep drop from a poll in March showing 62% of Minnesotans favor a marriage amendment.
We cannot find any mention of that poll on the web. It ought to have been fairly big news in Minnesota. Are we missing some news coverage? If you've seen a March 2011 Survey USA today poll can you send us a link?
If the poll was taken, and the results not reported, that would be very odd behavior on the part of ABC news.
A new Survey USA poll shows Minnesotans favors the marriage amendment 51 percent to 40 percent. Local ABC News reports:
The vote on the gay marriage amendment in 2012 could be a close one, according to our exclusive new SurveyUSA poll. In our survey of 552 registered voters on May 23 and 24, 51% say they support the amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Another 40% say they oppose the amendment, while 8% say they wouldn't vote on the issue and 2% are undecided. This is a significant change from our last poll in March when 62% favored the amendment banning gay marriage and 33% were opposed. Both sides anticipate multi-million campaigns, including television and radio ads and a major social media effort.
On May 15th, thousands of people peacefully and prayerfully marched through the streets of the Bronx at Sen. Diaz's rally to speak truth to power: marriage is the union of husband and wife.
What kind of person stands up for marriage and why?
Meet your friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens standing up for marriage:
With Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels out of the race, is a Huntsman boomlet brewing? There is no shortage of voices willing to say so, including Jon Huntsman.
"I think the opening is to our advantage," the former Utah governor told Politico. "How many reform-minded governors are there left who are going to take a very fiscally conservative approach to problem-solving?"
Daniels had a strong appeal to fiscal conservatives, but his "truce talk" added a special appeal to that subset of fiscal conservatives actively motivated to stick it to social conservatives. Many mavericky McCain campaign aides are now drifting off in Huntsman's direction.
... But Huntsman has even bigger problems with other factions in the GOP.
NOM President Brian Brown was asked by National Public Radio to comment on polling in Minnesota (more on that from us soon):
... supporters of the Minnesota amendment say the notion of that state as a bellwether for change in same-sex marriage attitudes is hogwash.
"People doing polls want to get the results they're getting," says Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, a powerhouse behind efforts to prohibit gay marriage.
His organization commissioned a poll in Minnesota, where state law already defines marriage as between a man and a woman, that found that 57 percent of those surveyed opposed same-sex marriage.
NPR also gave him the last word:
"The only poll that counts is what happens in the ballot box, and we've never lost."
Andrea Doucet is a sociology professor at Carleton University in Ottawa and author of "Do Men Mother?". He writes at MercatorNet:
British researcher John Bowlby first brought to light the unique importance of the mother-child relationship after he observed a consistent pattern of disrupted relationships and later adult psychopathology (Bowlby, 1944). Children who were deprived of maternal care during extended periods in their early lives “lacked feeling, had superficial relationships, and exhibited hostile or antisocial tendencies” as they developed into adulthood (Kobak, 1999, p. 23).
... Study of Early Child Care concluded that not only was maternal sensitivity and bonding important, it is the strongest, most consistent predictor of a child’s cognitive, social, and emotional development (NICHD, 2003).
... Research findings show that children seem to do best when mothers express love through listening to and communicating with them about thoughts and feelings while monitoring their behavior by setting and enforcing appropriate limits.
... Finally, mothers influence how fathers provide their essential contributions to children’s development.
“An ideal world would be one with a father and a mother. We’d be lying if we pretended that wasn’t true. How can there be an ideal world without a mother for the children?”
It's too bad the Star Tribune loves to paint all people who disagree with gay marriage as hypocrites and extremists. It seems to me only the extreme views and rhetoric of people on the subject get media attention.
I guess that sells papers. What is lost in all of this is the many people who are conflicted about the issue and are not gay bashers. What is also lost is the fact that you can be a thinking person and disagree with gay marriage.
One doesn't have to be a "dogmatist" to be against gay marriage.
Facebook’s managers are deploying a new software upgrade that will dismantle myriad groups of like-minded political activists unless they get a special software-key from the company.
But Facebook managers are providing very limited information about which groups are being favored with the new key, prompting some activists to complain about possible political favoritism among Facebook managers, and many other activists to experiment with techniques and tricks to get the needed upgrade-key.
... “The Coalition to Save Marriage in New York” is a group of 1,163 social-conservatives seeking to preserve traditional marriage’s role as an institution for parents and child-rearing. The group has been very active this year trying to derail a gay-marriage push in the state assembly, but the group doesn’t have the upgrade, said the group’s administrator, Jason McGuire in Rochester, N.Y. “Nobody else that I know got one,” he said. “You do have to wonder if Facebook is leaning towards liberal positions, instead of being on open format,” he said.
... Noyes also worked informally with gay activists to knock down Facebook pages they disliked. “We had a sort of informal relationship with GLAAD based around things people were seeing on Facebook that they believed needed to come down,” [Andrew Noyes of Facebook] told Metro Weekly, according to a March 2011 article. “It was a very important, informal relationship that we had, because nine times out of 10, the content did violate our terms and we did take it down,” he said.
Young Republican National Federation Chairwoman Lisa Stickan says membership in their group is growing nationwide ahead of the 2012 election and states that within the YRNF, there is a "groundswell" of support for traditional marriage.
... Stickan maintained that she and other young supporters of traditional marriage have found they can respect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people and their rights while holding on to their position on same-sex marriage.
... Stickan predicts that many young adults concerned with the lack of jobs will be turning a serious eye to presidential candidates with strong fiscal plans next year.
"I think that's an issue ... of economics that [will] also dovetail into their traditional backgrounds or their beliefs."
Even though he can't keep it off the ballot, Gov. Mark Dayton today vetoed the bill that proposes a constitutional amendment [allowing the people to vote on] marriage to show his strong opposition.
... No previous governor has tried to veto constitutional amendment legislation, Peter Wattson, the governor's counsel said. But he said the veto has no practical effect. -- Twin Cities Pioneer Press
Local YNN reports that "Capping off a statewide tour, hundreds of MayDay for Marriage ralliers are bringing their message to the Capitol" and includes this video:
By NOM Staff|Posted in New York, Same Sex Marriage|Comments Off on Video: Mayday for Marriage Rally in Albany, NY
This report from The Capitol suggests that NY republicans understand where their constituents are on the question of marriage:
In private conversations around the Capitol, top Democratic lawmakers expressed serious misgivings about the likelihood that any bill would pass this session. At a certain point, they said, political reality takes over: The Senate is controlled by Republicans, and so far not a single Republican senator is willing yet to stand with Bloomberg and Quinn for gay marriage.
... Senate Republicans have little to gain politically from voting “Yes” on gay marriage, the numbers suggest. Even if the governor is willing to cut a deal behind closed doors to bring the issue to the floor, some Republican senators who vote for gay marriage would still face a very real threat to their seats.
After the Minnesota legislature voted to allow Minnesotans to vote on the definition of marriage, HRC sent out an alert to its national email list telling their supports to "voice your anger and disappointment" at the legislators (presumably on both sides of the aisle) who voted for the bill.
Many of HRC's supporters evidently opted for "anger" over simple "disappointment" in their letters to MN legislators, as Rep. Tony Cornish can attest:
From the start, right after my vote, I received e mails calling me a “bigot” and much much worse, describing in detail horrific things that I should do to my own body, and people talking about my “obituary.” It wore on me, so about the 300th letter I got like that, I replied, “Give it a rest!”
It’s just kind of disturbing I guess, when my district asked me overwhelmingly to put this on the ballot, that I should get such letters.
In the SanFran Chronicle:
