Dear Marriage Supporter,

In an outrageous decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit has ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the Constitution's equal protection clause! This is yet another example of judicial activism and elite judges imposing their views on the American people, and further demonstrates why it is imperative for the U.S. Supreme Court to grant review in the currently pending DOMA cases, as well as to the Proposition 8 case. The American people are entitled to a definitive ruling in support of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, as 32 states have determined through popular vote.

While marriage is under attack in the courts, however, around the nation heroes are rallying in defense of marriage. The American people aren't prepared to allow their voice to be taken away from them on this critical and fundamental issue. They are demanding that their voices be heard and that they be allowed to exercise their basic rights to organize, act, speak, and donate in support of marriage!

Maryland: Dr. McCaskill Fights Back!

Dr. McCaskill, the first African-American PhD Gallaudet University has ever produced, was suspended from her job when the university discovered that she had exercised her core civil right to sign a petition in Maryland for putting gay marriage before the people for a vote.

She didn't take the insult or the attacks lying down—she's fighting back!

Dr. McCaskill held a press conference in Maryland last week, and NOM was there to bring you the story.

Dr. McCaskill's words should be heard by everyone, especially the people of Maryland:

I was approached by a faculty member of Gallaudet University... [and] asked if I had signed a petition to put the question of same-sex marriage on the ballot as a referendum. I responded that I had; that I did sign such a petition. In this very moment, she determined that the signature meant that I was anti-gay. [...]

I offered to have a campus-wide dialogue on this very sensitive issue. I believe in civil discourse. I thought it was important that, as a citizen of the State of Maryland, I could exercise my right to participate in the poitical process. I am pro-democracy. I thought that this would have been an incredible opportunity to teach our campus. Unfortunately, that opportunity was lost. [...] They have allowed misinformation to be circulated throughout the campus community. They have attempted to intimidate me. They have tarnished my reputation and my 24 years of service. My record at Gallaudet University speaks for itself: and I ask to be judged by what I have done. [...]

The University took this action against me because I was among 200,000 people that signed this petition. I exercised my rights. I felt it was important that we, as the citizens of Maryland, have an opportunity to vote. [...] I am dismayed that Gallaudet University is still a university of intolerance; a university that manages by intimidation; a university that allows bullying among faculty, staff, and students [emphases added].

Let me make it clear that Dr. McCaskill says she signed the petition to give the people of Maryland the right to decide the future of marriage. On this ballot issue, Dr. McCaskill will be exercising, along with other Marylanders, her basic right to decide the future of marriage in the privacy of the voting booth.

This new ad launched by Maryland Marriage Alliance this week does not imply Dr. McCaskill's endorsement. It does feature Dr. McCaskill's story, though, along with that of Damian Goddard, spokesman for NOM's Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance. Damian, once a Toronto sportscaster, was fired the day after he tweeted—on his own personal Twitter account—that he supported the "true and authentic meaning of marriage."

The message? Same-sex marriage advocates promised us that Maryland's Question 6 would not threaten the liberty of those of us who believe in the Biblical understanding of marriage; but the threats to Dr. McCaskill, like in the case of Damian before her, show that this just isn't true. This is the point of a new editorial in the Washington Examiner:

Gay marriage proponents have tried very hard to reassure Marylanders that the new law will not force clerics to perform gay weddings or otherwise participate in ceremonies forbidden by their faith. But McCaskill's removal for merely signing a petition make these vague reassurances even less credible than before. [...]

McCaskill's pastor says her dismissal is "a warning of what is to come if same-sex marriage becomes law in Maryland." And MDPetitions.com founder Del. Neil Parrott, R-District 28, plans to reintroduce a bill to protect people like her—and the 200,000 other Marylanders who signed the petition as individual voters. If Marylanders didn't face the very real threat of political retaliation, they wouldn't need such protection [emphasis added].

The president of Gallaudet sent a letter saying he would "work with" Dr. McCaskill to reinstate her.

Work with her? What does that mean? She did nothing wrong! He can and should re-instate her today and compensate her for the attack on her reputation!

Now Gallaudet University is trying to pull back—probably because they know how unfair this seems to most Americans and what a big impact this can have when voters go to the polls to vote against gay marriage. They know it so well, in fact, that—as the Baltimore Sun reports—the University is demanding that the new ad be pulled!

Washington: Two Brave Women Face Gay Marriage Bully

Meanwhile the fight for marriage is producing many new heroes.

In Washington, a feisty Chinese-American grandmother named Arlene Mark was physically attacked for distributing literature urging a no vote on gay marriage (R-74)—but she's not backing down!

Preserve Marriage Washington reports:

On Sunday, one of our volunteers, Arlene Mark—a Chinese American woman—was verbally attacked while waiting to distribute literature to other volunteers. What is more, Nikki Davis who came to her aid—an African American woman—was assailed with racial slurs....

A gay marriage advocate ran at Arlene's car, hit her vehicle, ripped the yard sign off the side of her car, tore it up, threw it on the ground, stomped on it and said " "This is what I think of your f—ing sign! I'm gay and proud of it." He then screamed insults and profanities at the grandma.

A good Samaritan named Nikki Davis—a young black mother who is uninvolved in the campaign—came to Arlene's aid. The attacker then hurled vile racial abuse at this innocent bystander, calling her a "black b—" and the n-word, telling her to "go back to Africa." He then physically struck out at Nikki's vehicle, hitting the back of her van and kicking it.

Nikki was justly frightened for Arlene as well as for herself and her children who were in the van, so she called the police.

The attacker then hopped into a waiting Silver Audi driven by an accomplice and sped away. Witnesses wrote down his license plate, though, and he was promptly tracked down and arrested.

Thank you Arlene! And thank you Nikki (whatever your views on marriage)!

Minnesota: Doctor Takes His Care for Families Seriously

In Minnesota, a family physician has stepped up to counter the lie that science has "proved" children don't need a mom and a dad. Dr. Kion Hoffman, in his letter to the Duluth News Tribune, points to the Mark Regnerus's "New Family Structures Study," published this summer in Social Science Research:

The problem with much of the previous research is it suffered from three types of bias. The first is sample size. If you don't have a large enough sample, then differences don't reach statistical significance and you can say, from a statistical standpoint, the study finds no difference between two groups when there may still be true differences. The second bias is in survey methodology. If you are trying to determine how the children raised by lesbian or gay couples fare, asking their caregivers is not conducive to objectivity. And the third bias of many studies of homosexual parenting is called selection bias. If you recruit your study subjects rather than obtaining a random sample you can introduce significant error. Admittedly, random sampling of this group is difficult because it represents a very small fraction of the general population.

This recent study minimized these types of bias. It compared the responses of adult children of intact biological families with those of adult children raised in homosexual families.

The new research shows a host of potential problems with the typical child raised by a gay parent (or to use a more precise term an adult child who reports his mom or dad had a same-sex romantic attachment):

Those raised in lesbian households had lower educational attainment, felt less secure and reported worse health and lower incomes. Thirty-one percent reported having had sex forced on them vs. 8 percent of adults raised in intact biological families.

Those raised in gay households with their father were more likely to have received public assistance, to have suicidal thoughts, to have had a sexually transmitted disease, to have experienced forced sex (25 percent vs. 8 percent), to have smoked, to have been arrested and to have had more sexual partners.

Hoffman finishes his letter by stating: "The marriage amendment does not prevent homosexuals from having committed relationships. As a family-practice physician, I advocate for the health of families, and I would recommend we vote ‘yes' for the marriage amendment."

Kudos, doctor!

Religious Leaders Standing Up for Marriage

Above all, religious leaders from various faith traditions are stepping up to the plate for marriage.

Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima, whom Pope Benedict appointed to the Washington state diocese in 2011, warned of the threat same-sex marriage poses to religious liberty in a recent pastoral letter:

R-74 jeopardizes freedom rather than expands it. It endangers our religious liberty and the right of conscience. Once marriage is redefined as a genderless contract, it will become legally discriminatory for public and private institutions such as schools to promote the unique meaning of marriage, and to teach about the right of a child to be known, loved and raised by his or her own mother and father in a stable home. [...]

I opened this letter with a wedding picture of my parents. I close by asking you to consider what kind of picture of marriage you desire to give the next generation. If you and I don't uphold marriage as the union of a man and a woman, who will? If we are intimidated by those supporting marriage redefinition who picket and threaten donation boycotts of our charity and our ministry, then who will proclaim the true meaning of marriage?

The Baltimore Sun reports on the way black pastors are stepping up to speak for God's perfect design for marriage with :

Bishop Willard E. Saunders Jr. quieted his Cherry Hill sanctuary Sunday morning, signaling for the music and the hallelujahs to stop so his words would come across clearly.

"If something is perfect, it does not need changing," Saunders said, his image beaming from two screens on either side of the pulpit. "You can't redefine what God has already called perfect.

"Marriage, the institution, is perfect," he continued. "It is the people who are imperfect."

The Sun reports that this coordinated effort to preach marriage from the pulpit will continue in Maryland throughout the remaining days until the election.

And from Salt Lake City, Utah, here is one of the Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church, Dallin H. Oaks, calling his flock to stand for marriage:

The ugly attacks against marriage supporters all have the same root: the false idea that support for marriage is discriminatory, rooted in bigotry or hatred of gay people.

This is the father of all the lies and all the hatred now directed by so many against good, decent, loving, law-abiding people who stand for this simple, common sense idea—that to make a marriage you need a husband and wife, because children need a mom and a dad.

I do want to caution all of us to remember in the middle of the fight that the majority of gay people and gay marriage advocates oppose violence and abusive attacks. We must never descend to using the same kind of broad-brush judgment against our fellow citizens that we now experience directed our way. I hope the majority of gay marriage advocates also oppose the idea that you should lose your job if you publicly oppose gay marriage—but, sadly, that is not clear in the controversy at Gallaudet to reinstate Dr. McCaskill. Despite some last minute calls for McCaskill to be reinstated made by some gay groups, the fact is that in the past, when there hasn't been vote pending, no major gay rights organization has objected to people losing their jobs for reasons such as voting, writing a letter to the editor, donating, or otherwise exercising a civil right to protect marriage.

And the list of people so threatened is long and growing.

We must stand strong against these attacks and the ones that are coming.

Marital unions are unions of the kind that can make new life and connect those precious babies (whether born or adopted) to both a mom and a dad.

This week NOM agreed to distribute a new video that makes this case in a remarkably simple and powerful way: Marriage is biology, not bigotry.

Government promotes natural marriage because it is so vital to all of society. It permits many other kinds of relationships (including gay relationships), and prohibits only a few relationships like incest.

Watch this video. Email it to your friends. Post it on your Facebook page. Help us spread this important message!

Courage, friend: the heroes are arising. The Truth is durable and will tower above lies and hate and even well-intentioned ignorance.

Bless you for all you've done for marriage. These heroes standing up around the country should give us both hope and courage. Now it's important that we do our part and pay it forward.

We need to support the marriage heroes holding the lines at the various fronts of the marriage battle. That's why I urge you today to show your support for these inspiring people by donating whatever you are able to Stand for Marriage America.

You know the mainstream media is not with us. We need money to get the message out and to help win these crucial states where marriage will be decided by the voters in November. With your help, and with God's grace, we will win this battle.