NOM BLOG

Newsbusters notes WaPo's biased reporting of Maryland marriage victory

Tim Graham of Newsbusters (which aims to expose and combat liberal media bias):

On February 24, Washington Post reporter John Wagner sympathetically covered leading Maryland Democrats (and Catholics) for crossing their hierarchy to lobby for "gay marriage" -- without seeming to contact this hierarchy. So when Wagner sympathetically profiled House Speaker Michael Busch -- again -- at the top of the April 11 Style section, the primary question was: How was this "news," a full month after the gay lobby failed to pass it?

... Wouldn't it make more sense to take the occasion of the gay-marriage bill failing to cover the winning side, even just to gauge how that result occurred?

... Post readers are supposed to be thrilled by Wagner's recounting of how Busch converted -- in effect, how he left Catholic church teaching in the dust and embraced hard-left identity politics. The Catholic hierarchy is a distant villain, never to be contacted.

4 Days Remaining! Protect our Right to Speak!

Earlier this year, gay marriage advocates petitioned CNN to silence pro-family advocates and censor their "dangerous anti-gay rhetoric" from the airwaves.

Three weeks ago, radical activists in Michigan tried to get a young woman fired–for the second time!—for a letter to the editor she wrote 3 years ago. She's already been wrongfully fired by one employer over the letter, and now they're trying to get her fired from her next job.

And now the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest same-sex marriage advocacy group, is pressuring 200 of the nation's top law firms to boycott the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) by refusing to represent the House of Representatives in the legal defense of marriage.

Starting to see a pattern?

DefendDOMA

DOMA needs our defense today! Click here to help save DOMA in 3 easy steps.

Gay marriage groups haven't had major new arguments for a long time. And the American people have heard the equality argument over and over again, but still reject same-sex marriage in powerful numbers.

When you run out of arguments, the only thing left is to silence your opposition. And that's what they're determined to do.

Shame people into silence. Censor those who refuse to back down. And boycott anyone willing even to associate with those of us who stand up for the great good of marriage.

Those are the tactics we're up against. It's not just a fair fight in the battlefield of ideas anymore–we have to fight even for the right to speak up for marriage.

There is one federal law blocking the path to same-sex marriage throughout the United States. That federal law is known as the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). DOMA says that wherever the word "marriage" or "spouse" is used in federal law, it means the union of a husband and wife–one man and one woman. And DOMA also says that no state can be required to recognize same-sex marriages from another state.

Can you give $20 to help save DOMA today? Don't let HRC get the upper hand! Your gift today will help to make sure that DOMA receives the best legal defense available–all the way to the Supreme Court.

In late February, President Obama betrayed DOMA, refusing to defend the very law he had sworn to faithfully execute. Yet another attempt to make sure the courts hear only one side of the argument. But with your help, Congress is taking action to intervene on behalf of marriage, giving marriage the legal defense the President refused to provide.

This case—with implications for laws and state constitutional amendments all across the country–could become our generation's equivalent of Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 abortion case that took human life out of the hands of state legislatures, forcing an abortion regime on the entire nation. If we don't act now, the Supreme Court could soon force a same-sex marriage regime on the entire nation, overruling 30 state marriage amendments and the votes of 30 million Americans in a narrow 5-4 ruling–and it could come as quickly as next year.

Time is short, and with your help we can guarantee that marriage and the Defense of Marriage Act never suffer for lack of resources. Thanks to a generous donor, every gift between now and midnight Friday will be matched, up to a total of $1 million dollars. Please, if you can afford a gift of any amount, whether $20, $200, or even $2000, please do it right now, doubling the impact of your gift.

Please click here to make your gift today, and if you haven't yet signed the petition in support of DOMA, please take a moment to send your own message to Washington.

And finally–the only way we have an impact is through the voices of tens of thousands of Americans. Please pass this message on to three friends today, or post it on Facebook or Twitter. When you help spread the word, our cause grows stronger.

As always, thank you for standing firm in defense of marriage. I promise you that we will never, ever give in to those who would take away our very right to speak up for that which is good, and true and right. I'm so proud to have you standing with us.

Study: In India, Pre-Marital Chastity Remains the Norm

Just one in six Indian men, and less than one out of 20 Indian women, have had premarital sex according to this survey of six provinces.

That's not what this media report highlighted, but it is what the report says.

European Commission may force EU-wide recognition of SSM

An alert from the European Dignity Watch:

The European Commission is pushing for “automatic mutual recognition” of public documents in all EU Member States. Among them are marriage and adoption documents.

Automatic recognition, as practical as it may seem at first a glance, entails a severe danger: that of a forced recognition of civil unions, same-sex marriages and corresponding adoption rights by all Member States – even if this goes against their national laws and public order.

Law School Dean: Judge Walker's admission warrants vacating Prop 8 ruling

John C. Eastman is the Henry Salvatori Professor of Law & Community Service and former Dean at Chapman University School of Law. He is also the founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence. He writes in the San Francisco Chronicle:

... Walker's admission [last week] requires that his decision in the case be vacated. He is either a direct beneficiary of his ruling in the case, or a person with a close-enough personal interest in the case that his impartiality might reasonably have been questioned if the required disclosures had been made. In Liljeberg vs. Health Services Acquisition Corp., the U.S. Supreme Court held that vacatur is required even when the disqualifying relationship only became known to the parties 10 months after the judgment entered in the case had been upheld on appeal. Where an objective observer would have questioned the judge's impartiality, recusal is required, and the appropriate remedy is to vacate the judgment because of the risk of injustice to the parties and of undermining the public's confidence in the judicial process.

Canadian Lawyer: Anti-Polygamy Law 'Relic' that Predates Rights Charter

Via the Canadian Press:

The federal prohibition on polygamy is a relic from another time that imposes Christianity on all Canadians and violates their right to religious freedom, says a lawyer arguing against the law.

... [the lawyer] said the Charter of Rights and Freedoms offers two protections regarding religion: laws cannot have a strictly religious purpose, and they can't actively discriminate against people of faith because of their religious practices.

He said it does both.

Even if the law was passed today, under the guise of protecting women and children, [he] said it would still be unconstitutional.

Cook County to House Biological Males in Women's Jails if They Identify as Female

The worthy goal is to protect transgendered folks from abuse. But the means? Requiring women to live with biological males in jail. The story includes this priceless quote:

"You've got people who are in every way a woman — but for their genitalia — who are being placed in male prisons," said John Knight, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Project of the ACLU of Illinois."

Italian Professor May Lose Job Because He Said Homosexuality Brought Down Roman Empire

Gay rights groups in Italy are calling for a prestigious history professor to be fired because he believes the spread of homosexuality helped cause the collapse of the Roman empire.

Sources:

"Equality" Laws Require UK to Lift Ban On Gay Men Giving Blood

Experts calculate that the new rules, which permit gay men who say they have been celibate for at least ten years to donate blood, will only increase the risk that HIV enters the blood supply by 2.5 percent:

The changes were instigated by Sabto, the advisory committee on the safety of blood, tissues and organs, which had concluded that if the ban were replaced by a new rule preventing gay men from giving blood for five years after having sex with another man, the risk of HIV reaching the blood supply would go up by less than 5%.

It is estimated that this figure would halve if the “deferral” period were increased to 10 years, so ministers backed this option. (UK Telegraph)

Cyber-bully Perez Hilton to publish children's book on tolerance

Perez Hilton, who has made a career out of attacking people in childish ways, is about to publish a children's book this fall - "The Boy With Pink Hair":

In a press release for the book, Hilton comments that the "story is about every kid that's ever had a dream, felt excluded, wanted to belong, and hoped that one day they could do what they loved and make a difference." (Time Magazine's Books blog)

NOM NEWS ROUND-UP: April 11, 2011

As is always the case, much has transpired in marriage news over the past week. We've gathered those top stories in one post to make that much easier for your review.

But first, please take a minute to join the tens of thousands of marriage supporters by taking action:

1. Donate to support our ongoing efforts to defend marriage at the Federal level.
2. Sign the petition urging your congressman to stand for marriage as a co-sponsor of House Concurrent Resolution 25.
3. Share this action item with your friends via Facebook or Twitter.

 

THE LATEST MARRIAGE NEWS:

Religious Liberty & Activity:

Culture & Family:

Marriage & Politics:

Marriage Resources & Debate:

International News:

Don't miss Dr. Morse's very first radio show tonight!

From the Ruth Institute:

Sure, she's been a radio guest many times, but tonight...She's running the show!

Tune in to find out: What does the Next Generation really think about marriage?

Tonight on "From the Front Lines of the Culture Wars" on Catholic Radio of San Diego (9-10PM EST - you can listen live at the link) Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse interviews two Catholic students attending non-Catholic universities to find out what the Next Generation really thinks about marriage and life.

Be sure to call in and join the program at 760-931-1604!

Dan Savage, Sex Columnist, Responds to My Critique

A few days ago, I posted a link to an essay on Dan Savage's view of ethics. I was struck by the final comments from the writer (a Lutheran minister) on Dan's advice to a young man who had a girlfriend he loved, with whom he clearly enjoyed an extraordinarily good sexual relationship, but who said he was beginning to crave some sexual variety and wondered what he should do.

Dan told him he should tell his girlfriend and accept that the relationship might end over it but that was better than being a creep and cheating on her, as he undoubtedly would.

Both the Lutheran Minister, and me, were struck by how improbable that advice is, given the supply of women who actually exist in the world: a young man looking for a woman who gives him all this woman gives him--and also won't mind some side sexual relationships--is going to be pretty lonely for a long time.

I suggested that Dan Savage's view of the world is influenced by his personal experience: he's a gay man. Finding another gay man who will accept that kind of deal may be hard, but it's not nearly as hard as finding a woman like that.

Applying gay male sexual ethics to opposite sex relationships is likely to result in some pretty bad advice--because women are different than men.

Dan responded to this mild little blog post pretty strongly. He's not known for restraint of language so don't go read it if you are easily offended.

A high point from his response:

"The possibility of taming one's sexual desire for the sake of another most definitely exists within the Savage moral imagination." [glad to hear it!]

But there's a lot more ... like this:

"Not knowing what women are like [deleted] has never stopped the Pope from offering his unsolicited advice to women—no birth control, no abortions, no oral, no anal, [deleted]—and it's hypocritical of you to suggest that I'm not qualified to advise women, since I won't **** 'em, without first telling that old *** in Rome to [shut up] already.

HRC pressures 200 top law firms to not defend DOMA in court

Apparently, law firms aren't allowed to help some clients without getting on HRC's bad side:

"The Human Rights Campaign, a leading gay-rights group, has written to 200 of the country's top law firms urging them not to take up the case on behalf of the House." (AP)

John Adams, in defending the officers charged in the Boston Massacre, accepted the case at great risk to his family and personal career because he believed "No man in a free country should be denied the right to counsel and a fair trial."

For hundreds of years the legal profession has based itself on the idea that every person is entitled to counsel.

Except those defending marriage apparently.

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Please help us defend DOMA by making sure it gets the defense it deserves - the very best defense! Visit www.DefendDOMA.com right now to find out 3 easy (and very effective) ways you can help.

How much Target cowering is enough?

Target is attempting to make peace with the gay community while also protecting its customers.

Andrea Chang surveys the situation in the Los Angeles Times, and notes the many olive branches Target has extended, including:

  • Meeting with gay activist groups
  • Coming out in public support of ENDA
  • Posting a video to its Facebook and website touting the company's diversity bona fides
  • Pledging to donate $500,000 to gay activist organizations this year

... but even that's not enough. Gay activists are demanding that Target give more of its money to gay organizations and support redefining marriage.

This all started because Target gave $150,000 to MN Forward's pro-business efforts which included supporting Republican Tom Emmer, who the gay activists groups didn't like.