New York Times – “In Same-Sex Ruling, an Eye on the Supreme Court”
“To opponents of same-sex marriage, the ruling was a travesty that usurped the will of millions of California voters. Brian S. Brown, the executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, called it "a horrendous decision" that "launched the first salvo in a major culture war over same-sex marriage and the proper purview of the courts."
Bill Duncan, director of the Marriage Law Foundation, offered a brief analysis of Judge Walker’s ruling on NRO’s The Corner earlier this evening:
The court’s legal premise is pretty novel. Judge Walker rules that laws reflecting the understanding of marriage as the union of a man and a woman violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s due-process and equal-protection clauses. That is to say, he believes Proposition 8 took away a fundamental right and singled out a protected class for unfair treatment. The bottom-line conclusion in support of both legal theories is that California voters could have had no motive in supporting Proposition 8 other than a desire to signal that people who identify as gay and lesbian are inferior to heterosexuals. This is deeply problematic on at least two levels.
First, none of the testimony in the trial showed (nor could it have shown) the voters’ subjective intent in approving the measure. . . .
The second, more fundamental problem stems from the reality that marriage has always been understood, with very few exceptions, as the union of a man and a woman. This is true across time, across cultures, across religious traditions, etc. Does it really seem likely that this remarkable consensus is nothing but a nasty desire of one group to flaunt its privileged position over a minority?
Maggie Gallagher, San Francisco Chronicle, “Prop 8: Judge Walker’s Bias Will be Overruled”
"If this ruling is upheld, millions of Americans will face for the first time a legal system that is committed to the view that our deeply held moral views on sex and marriage are unacceptable in the public square, the fruit of bigotry that should be discredited, stigmatized and repressed. Parents will find that, almost Soviet-style, their own children will be re-educated using their own tax dollars to disrespect their parents' views and values.
Those in power will call it tolerance, they will call it pluralism, but in truth same-sex marriage is a government takeover of an institution the government did not make, cannot in justice redefine, and ought to respect and protect as essential to the common good.
Judge Walker is off-base: same-sex marriage is not a civil right, it is a civil wrong. The Supreme Court and Congress will reject his biased view."
CNN.com – “Judge strikes down California’s ban on same-sex marriage”
“In a separate order, Walker also granted supporters of Proposition 8 a temporary stay, which stops his decision from taking immediate effect. . . . Walker gave both sides in the case until Friday to submit their responses to the order. . . .
“Opponents of same-sex marriage have said their best bet lies with the higher courts, and vowed to appeal the federal judge's ruling.
“Proposition 8 is part of a long line of seesaw rulings, court cases, debates and protests in California over the controversial issue of same-sex marriage. It passed with some 52 percent of the vote in November 2008.
“‘Big surprise! We expected nothing different from Judge Vaughn Walker, after the biased way he conducted this trial,’ said Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage. ‘With a stroke of his pen, Judge Walker has overruled the votes and values of 7 million Californians who voted for marriage as one man and one woman.’”
National Review Online – “Getting Ready to March on Washington” (Interviewing Brian Brown)
"This will go to the Supreme Court, where we expect to win. Remember that originally, the gay legal establishment opposed this case, because they fear what we anticipate: that they don’t yet have five votes for a constitutional right to gay marriage. Two lawyers with very big egos (Olson and Boies) pushed this case over more sober heads, and I think in the end gay-marriage advocates will regret that they did. If the Supreme Court fails to act to protect our right to vote for marriage, Congress will have to step in with some kind of amendment."
NOM released the following statement from Church of God in Christ Bishop George McKinney this afternoon:
(Washington, D.C.) – Bishop George McKinney issued the following personal statement in response to Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling, and in support of the National Organization for Marriage. Bishop McKinney is a board member of the Church of God in Christ, the pastor of St. Stephen's Cathedral in San Diego, and a leading voice among Californian black church leaders for Prop 8:
"Seven million Californians went to the polls on November 2008 to vote to protect marriage. This federal judge in San Francisco has taken away our right to vote for marriage as one man and one woman, using specious and outrageous comparisons between same-sex unions and interracial marriage. Support for marriage is not at all like support for racism. I pray that the higher courts and/or the Congress will overcome this unjust action on the part of Judge Walker, and that in the end truth and justice for marriage will prevail."
To schedule an interview with Brian Brown, President, or Maggie Gallagher, Chairman of the Board, of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Mary Beth Hutchins, [email protected], (x105), or Elizabeth Ray, [email protected], (x130) at 703-683-5004.
The National Organization for Marriage releases the following statement from Bishop Harry Jackson:
“Prop 8 Decision Threatens Core Civil Right to Vote for Marriage”
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, in support of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), Bishop Harry Jackson, head of the High Impact Leadership Coalition and Stand4MarriageDC.com, stated:
“This is a travesty of justice. The majority of Californians — and two-thirds of black voters in California -- have just had their core civil right to vote for marriage stripped from them by an openly gay federal judge who has misread history and the Constitution to impose his San Francisco views on the American people. The implicit comparison Judge Walker made between racism and marriage is particularly offensive to me and to all of us who remember the reality of Jim Crow. It is not bigotry, it is biology that discriminates between same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples. To make a marriage requires a husband and a wife, because these unions are necessary to make new life and connect children to their mother and father. Judge Walker’s slur will not stand the test of time and history, we demand that Congress and the Supreme Court act to protect all Americans’ right to vote for marriage.”
To speak with Bishop Harry Jackson, please contact Shirley & Banister Public Affairs at 1-800-536-5920; or to schedule an interview with Brian Brown, President, or Maggie Gallagher, Chairman of the Board, of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Mary Beth Hutchins, [email protected], (x105), or Elizabeth Ray, [email protected], (x130) at 703-683-5004.
Brian Brown and I have been deluged by media requests. I'll be debating Evan Wolfson on CNN at 10 p.m. But here's the bottom line as I told KGO radio in San Francisco: Something precious has been taken away from all of us--our core civil right to use our democratic processes--to organize, to speak, to donate, and ultimately to vote for marriage as one man and one woman. Judge Walker has substituted his own views and values for the values our Founding Fathers placed in our Constitution. Ultimately this decision will not stand the test of time and history. We expect that the Supreme Court--or Congress if necessary--will act to protect our right to vote for marriage. We will fight for marriage and we will win.
-Maggie
It happened... the unthinkable, the wrong, the outrageous.
An openly gay judge in San Francisco ruled that the votes and values of over 7 million Californians were to be thrown in the dustbin like so many pieces of dirty paper, that his imperial will trumps the voice of the people.
We expected this outcome, because Judge Walker has telegraphed his bias loud and clear. But the sheer audacity, the sheer ego mania of the decision is startling. One judge versus the all of the voters of California, plus the 30 other states that have voted directly to protect marriage. One judge against the simple common sense notion that it takes a man and a woman to make a marriage. And he thinks that this will be the end of it....
But he's wrong. Very wrong. We will fight back, and we will win! This case is no doubt going to the Supreme Court and the National Organization for Marriage will continue to give generously to the Proposition 8 Legal Defense Fund. We've already given $100,000. We were the largest single donor to Proposition 8 and the successful efforts in Maine, New York and New Jersey to protect marriage. But now we're in the fight of our lives.
It's up to you. Our victories in California, Maine, New Jersey, and New York were based on your willingness to provide the resources necessary to fight the good fight. Someone else is not going to do this for you. We're up against a cadre of gay marriage advocates and millionaires and have been repeatedly outspent. But we've won because of you.
And we're now in for the fight of our lives. This decision threatens to overturn marriage not only in California, but throughout this great nation. Imagine one judge dictating to every state that they don't have the right to vote on marriage. Judge Walker is right that this is a civil rights question, it's a question of our civil rights!
We'll keep giving you updates as the appeal progresses, and are right now in the middle of our national Summer for Marriage tour, launched in anticipation of this very decision. We're reaching out to hundreds of thousands of Americans to take a stand for marriage. We'll fight this in the courts and in Congress, but we need your help right now.
Please give and send this message to five of your friends today. We can't wait. We need your support now.
God bless you for your willingness to take a stand and fight for our civil rights. This is going to be a long haul. But we know that we are called to fight with everything in our being for the great truth that marriage is the union of a man and a women. We will never waver.
We ask you to do the same. Please give generously now in this time of great need.
-Brian
The Atlantic: “National Organization for Marriage Calls Prop 8 Trial ‘Disturbing,’ Lawyers ‘Egomaniacal’”
We call on the Supreme Court and Congress to protect the people's right to vote for marriage," stated Maggie Gallagher, Chairman of the Board of NOM
San Francisco Chronicle: “Reaction to Prop 8 Ruling: From cheers for ‘landmark victory’ to jeers for ‘openly gay’ judge”
Political groups, elected officials and activists on both sides are both wildly hailing -- and furiously denouncing - the decision of U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker today overturning Prop. 8, the controversial state ban on same sex marriage.
Some excerpts of statements just released:
*State Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown:(via Twitter)"It's official! Great news for California! Gay marriage ban has been overturned."
*Maggie Gallagher, chairman of the board of National Organization for Marriage: "Here we have an openly gay (according to the San Francisco Chronicle) federal judge substituting his views for those of the American people and of our Founding Fathers, who I promise you, would be shocked by courts that imagine they have the right to put gay marriage in our Constitution. We call on the Supreme Court and Congress to protect the people's right to vote for marriage."
San Jose Mercury News – “Federal judge strikes down California's ban on same-sex marriage”
"We expected nothing different from Judge Vaughn Walker, given the biased way he conducted this trial," said Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage. "With a stroke of his pen, Judge Walker has overruled the votes and values of 7 million Californians who voted for marriage as one man and one woman."
"With a stroke of his pen, Judge Walker has overruled the votes and values of 7 million Californians who voted for marriage as one man and one woman. This ruling, if allowed to stand, threatens not only Prop 8 in California but the laws in 45 other states that define marriage as one man and one woman.”
-Brian Brown, President of NOM-
(Washington, D.C.) – The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) today decried the decision of U.S. Circuit Court Judge Vaughn Walker to invalidate California’s Proposition 8, an amendment which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman:
“Big surprise! We expected nothing different from Judge Vaughn Walker, after the biased way he conducted this trial,” said Brian Brown, President of NOM. "With a stroke of his pen, Judge Walker has overruled the votes and values of 7 million Californians who voted for marriage as one man and one woman. This ruling, if allowed to stand, threatens not only Prop 8 in California but the laws in 45 other states that define marriage as one man and one woman.”
"Never in the history of America has a federal judge ruled that there is a federal constitutional right to same sex marriage. The reason for this is simple – there isn’t!” added Brown.
“The ‘trial’ in San Francisco in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case is a unique, and disturbing, episode in American jurisprudence. Here we have an openly gay (according to the San Francisco Chronicle) federal judge substituting his views for those of the American people and of our Founding Fathers who I promise you would be shocked by courts that imagine they have the right to put gay marriage in our Constitution. We call on the Supreme Court and Congress to protect the people’s right to vote for marriage,” stated Maggie Gallagher, Chairman of the Board of NOM.
“Gay marriage groups like the Human Rights Campaign, Freedom to Marry, and Equality California will, no doubt, be congratulating themselves over this “victory” today in San Francisco. However, even they know that Judge Walker’s decision is only temporary. For the past 20 years, gay marriage groups have fought to avoid cases filed in federal court for one good reason – they will eventually lose. But these groups do not have control of the Schwarzenegger v. Perry case, which is being litigated by two egomaniacal lawyers (Ted Olson and David Boies). So while they congratulate themselves over their victory before their home-town judge today, let’s not lose sight of the fact that this case is headed for the U.S. Supreme Court, where the right of states to define marriage as being between one man and one woman will be affirmed—and if the Supreme Court fails, Congress has the final say. The rights of millions of voters in states from Wisconsin to Florida, from Maine to California, are at stake in this ruling; NOM is confident that the Supreme Court will affirm the basic civil rights of millions of American voters to define marriage as one man and one woman,” noted Gallagher.
The National Organization for Marriage is a nonprofit organization with a mission to protect marriage and the faith communities that sustain it. Founded in response to the growing need for an organized opposition to same-sex marriage in state legislatures, NOM serves as a national resource for marriage-related initiatives at the state and local level. For decades, pro-family organizations have educated the public about the importance of marriage and the family, but have lacked the organized, national presence needed to impact state and local politics in a coordinated and sustained fashion. NOM seeks to fill that void, organizing as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, giving it the flexibility to lobby and support marriage initiatives across the nation. Find out more at www.nationformarriage.org.
To schedule an interview with Brian Brown, President, or Maggie Gallagher, Chairman of the Board, of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Mary Beth Hutchins, [email protected], (x105), or Elizabeth Ray, [email protected], (x130) at 703-683-5004.
Moments ago, in a burst of unprecedent judicial arrogance, Judge Walker struck down California’s Prop 8. This is a ruling that jeopardizes the marriage laws of 45 states, threatening to strip millions of Americans of our core civil right to vote for marriage. We will fight back! Details to follow . . . .
NOM President Brian Brown released the following statement yesterday:
“It is becoming clear that the national gay marriage network is attempting to coordinate a message they know to be false: that NOM tolerates or even encourages violence toward gay or lesbian Americans. These groups – including Freedom to Marry, Equality California and prominent gay bloggers – are attempting to use this false claim as a way to divert attention from organized harassment of supporters of marriage, and for raising money and building their lists. It’s unconscionable that they would deliberately misrepresent our views and scare their own followers just to raise money for themselves.
“The groups are showing a photo of a disturbing sign raised at a NOM rally by a single individual. This sign suggesting violence was immediately rebuked by NOM and we demanded that the individual take it down. NOM issued a nationwide email blast the following day saying, ‘We told the individual to take down his sign because it is wrong and not reflective of NOM’s aims, methods and message: we come together in love to support marriage as one man and one woman.’
“Gay marriage groups know that NOM does not advocate or condone violence and that we have already condemned the brief display of this sign. Despite this, they are sending emails to their supporters asking for money. Equality California went as far as titling their fundraising email, ‘NOM’s Solution to Gay Marriage: Kill Gay Couples.’ We hope that gay and lesbian Americans will see the lengths to which groups like Freedom to Marry and Equality California go to manipulate them so that they will give money. It’s truly shameful.
Read the whole thing.
NOM released the following statement today:
National organization for marriage
TO GAY RIGHTS LEADERS:
REPUDIATE THE POLITICS OF HATRED, DISRESPECT FOR THE MARRIAGE VOWS OF THE MAJORITY
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) released the following statement in response to the escalating attacks on NOM’s “Summer for Marriage” 23 city bus tour by major and mainstream gay rights leaders:
“In the last two weeks, we’ve seen mothers harassed, children threatened, and outrageous efforts to disrupt and drown out our rallies from gay marriage activists. Rather than repudiating these tactics, major gay rights leaders are now blaming NOM for the behavior of their own supporters. This is irresponsible and wrong, and we call on them to repudiate these tactics, which are being driven by their outrageous persistent efforts to paint Americans who believe marriage is one man and one woman as haters or bigots. What they really hate is that we are showing middle America the real face of the gay marriage movement, on videotape, for all the world to see,” said Brown.
Unlike the Human Rights Campaign or Freedom to Marry, NOM leaders do not need to wait to be asked to repudiate extremism, we have consistently called on our supporters at each rally to reject hatred and incivility, and to demonstrate love and respect for Americans who disagree with our views on marriage, including members of the LGBT community. As Bishop Morlino said at the Madison rally, “There is no place for gay-bashers” in our movement.
View protestor’s videos here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4loOZl3xHj0
http://www.youtube.com/NationForMarriage#p/u/4/Ny10_M1nDEk
http://www.youtube.com/NationForMarriage#p/u/8/HWUkBQXrjpM
The National Organization for Marriage is a nonprofit organization with a mission to protect marriage and the faith communities that sustain it. Founded in response to the growing need for an organized opposition to same-sex marriage in state legislatures, NOM serves as a national resource for marriage-related initiatives at the state and local level. For decades, pro-family organizations have educated the public about the importance of marriage and the family, but have lacked the organized, national presence needed to impact state and local politics in a coordinated and sustained fashion. NOM seeks to fill that void, organizing as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, giving it the flexibility to lobby and support marriage initiatives across the nation. Find out more at www.nationformarriage.org.
To schedule an interview with Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Elizabeth Ray, [email protected] (x130), or Mary Beth Hutchins (x105), [email protected], at 703-683-5004.
