Dems focus on homosexual agenda

Jim Brown - OneNewsNow -

Democrats are currently undertaking two major efforts in Congress to enact key parts of the political agenda of homosexual activists. Today liberal Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) plans to introduce a bill that would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The bill, which already has 69 co-sponsors, would create federal recognition of same-sex "marriages."

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=681852

Defending Marriage in Troubled Times

by Harry R. Jackson, Jr.

Recently the Obama administration filed court papers claiming a federal marriage law, called The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), discriminates against gays. This was surprising because at the same time government lawyers have been instructed to defend it. In fact, Department of Justice Department lawyers are seeking to dismiss a suit brought by a gay California couple challenging the 1996 Act. The administration's legal strategy so angered gay activists that they claimed the president is backtracking on campaign promises.

http://townhall.com/columnists/HarryRJacksonJr/2009/09/02/defending_marriage_in_troubled_times?page=full&comments=true

Gay Marriage, Democracy, and the Courts

The culture war will never end if judges invalidate the choices of voters.

By ROBERT P. GEORGE
We are in the midst of a showdown over the legal definition of marriage. Though some state courts have interfered, the battle is mainly being fought in referenda around the country, where “same-sex marriage” has uniformly been rejected, and in legislatures, where some states have adopted it. It’s a raucous battle, but democracy is working.

Now the fight may head to the U.S. Supreme Court. Following California’s Proposition 8, which restored the historic definition of marriage in that state as the union of husband and wife, a federal lawsuit has been filed to invalidate traditional marriage laws.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204619004574322084279548434.html

Ben & Jerry's ice cream honors same-sex 'marriage'

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

An ice cream company is celebrating homosexual "marriage" in Vermont (see related article). Same-gender marriage is now legal in The Green Mountain State, and Ben & Jerry's has announced that it will temporarily change its "Chubby Hubby" ice cream to "Hubby Hubby" in honor of homosexual marriage. Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality tells OneNewsNow that companies like Ben & Jerry's neglect to talk about the dangers of the lifestyle.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=661990

Opposing Gay Unions With Sanity & a Smile

By Monica Hesse

The nightmares of gay marriage supporters are the Pat Robertsons of the world. The James Dobsons, the John Hagees -- the people who specialize in whipping crowds into frothy frenzies, who say things like Katrina was caused by the gays.

The gay marriage supporters have not met Brian Brown. They should. He might be more worth knowing about.

Brown is the executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, the preeminent organization dedicated to preventing the legalization of same-sex marriage. For two years, Brown has been traveling across the country. He moved his wife and six kids to California, where NOM was instrumental in passing Proposition 8, the state constitutional amendment defining marriage as an institution only between a man and a woman. Before that, Connecticut, where his cause was hurt when the state Supreme Court legalized gay marriage.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/27/AR2009082704139.html

ABA meddles in marriage issue, members exit

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

The American Bar Association House of Delegates has approved a resolution calling on Congress to repeal a section of the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, that denies federal marital benefits and protections to same-gender couples married in states where it's legal. OneNewsNow contacted Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver, dean of the law school at Liberty University, for reaction. He says the American Bar Association (ABA) is intruding on matters that have nothing to do with the general practice of law, pushing a political position that upsets many members.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=634228

Same-sex marriage has consequences beyond the couple getting married

A Saskatchewan marriage commissioner who refused to marry a same-sex couple has lost his appeal of a human rights ruling.Orville Nichols was approached by a gay man who wanted to get married in 2005 . At first, Nichols congratulated the man, identified in court documents only as "M.J."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2009/07/23/marriage-ruling.html

Romania stiff-arms same-sex 'marriage'

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -
Romania's Parliament has moved to protect traditional marriage. Roger Kiska, a member of Alliance Defense Fund's legal counsel, is stationed in Europe. He tells OneNewsNow that Romania adopted a strong civil code enshrining traditional marriage in law. "It's defined throughout the code -- spouse as between a man and a woman," he explains. "It forbids these backdoor, so-called same-sex 'marriages' where Romanian citizens or foreigners come into the country and ask that their marriage be recognized by the country. It also does the same with civil unions."

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=612576

A Label that Sticks [Father Paul Scalia on the Gay-Straight Alliance]

When I was in high school, the students fell into many different groups: preps, jocks, cheerleaders, punks, deadheads, druggies, geeks, and all the rest. Just about everyone received an unofficial but virtually unchangeable assignment to a particular group. When I work in high schools today, I discover little difference. The groups still exist (with just a few changes in terminology), and the teachers and administrators still counsel against the labels. As they wisely explain, labels reinforce stereotypes and prejudices; they prevent us from accepting individuals and getting to know the real person.

There is one difference, however. While still warning children against stereotypes and labels, high-school administrations increasingly encourage one group of students to label themselves: those who experience same-sex attractions. With the assistance (and sometimes pressure) of such groups as the Gay-Straight Alliance and the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, high schools across the country now routinely have student organizations dedicated to promoting the tolerance and acceptance of homosexuality. Indeed, New York City has an entire school—Harvey Milk High School—devoted to “gay, lesbian, transgendered and questioning youth.”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1456914/posts

God's Marriage Resonates Deeply with Majority of Americans

The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP) is promoting traditional marriage on the streets of New York, Maine and Rhode Island and finding how deeply Americans cherish God's marriage - the union of one man and one woman.

TFP volunteers have been standing on busy street corners holding HONK signs, which are large signs with a message printed in bold and colorful letters: HONK for traditional marriage = 1 man + 1 woman.

The public enjoys the pro-family group's HONK signs."People love to honk their horn for marriage. It's like they feel liberated from all the homosexual propaganda being forced on them," said Norman Fulkerson, TFP leader with the group campaigning in upstate New York.

Fulkerson continued: "The opposition is forced to hear the barrage of honking horns. Their insults and cursing get drowned out in the noise of the honks." Even pedestrians join the honking by simulating the movement of pressing a car's horn and making a loud honk sound."People are tired of hearing all the propaganda for same-sex 'marriage'," said Richard Lyon, TFP volunteer campaigning in Rhode Island. "I'm finding that people don't want their children educated in the homosexual lifestyle. They want the traditional family. And they're happy to see us saying this in public."

The Catholic group also hands out a flyer titled "Ten reasons why homosexual 'marriage' is harmful and must be opposed," and calls on Americans to firmly and peacefully oppose the advance of the homosexual movement.Recent surveys show that support for same- sex "marriage" is declining in the United States.
Visit www.TFP.org for additional reports.

Prop 8 Panel Discussion at San Diego Historical Society

Thursday, July 30 5:30pm – 7:30pm
San Diego NOW!: California Proposition 8: New Strategies for the Same-Sex Marriage Debate Admission: FREE SDHS members, $10 general public.
Please note: Reservations are requested.
Call for program description. 619-232-6203, ext. 129

Beware Prop 8 signature takers

Professional signature gatherers will begin standing outside of Target, grocery stores and other venues to gather the necessary signatures to put the gay-marriage issue back on the ballot for November. They are targeting the more liberal parts of the State, but some signatures will be gathered here in San Diego County as well.

The most effective, and least costly, way to defeat this measure is to make sure it doesn't garner enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. The deadline for gathering the signatures is August 15, 2009.

Please inform your family, friends, and associates of this latest assault on PROP 8. Please encourage one-and-all to NOT sign these petitions at store fronts. Say "NO Thank You" to this petition! Marriage = One Man & One Woman.

A common phrase used by professional signature gatherers is, "It doesn't matter if you sign it, this is only so the people can vote on it." It does matter!

Let's do our part to keep this measure off the ballot. I invite you to forward this information through your personal email lists and encourage others to forward it to their friends and family members.

Persistent pursuit of marriage protection

Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow -
A pro-family group in West Virginia believes the state needs to institute protections for traditional marriage. Kevin McCoy, president of the West Virginia Family Foundation, is pleased that his state's legislature has passed a resolution for a subcommittee hearing on a traditional marriage amendment. McCoy believes they are bowing to pressure from his organization, which has submitted the marriage amendment in every session since 2006.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=608322

Poll: Support For Gay Marriage Dips

Posted by Stephanie Condon

Support for same-sex marriage has declined slightly from two months ago, a new CBS News/New York Times poll finds. On other issues that have come before the Supreme Court -- namely, affirmative action and abortion -- Americans' opinions have remained relatively stable for years, according to the poll, conducted June 12 - 16.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/06/17/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5094597.shtml

Majority of Americans Continue to Oppose Gay Marriage

No change in support from last yearby
Jeffrey M. Jones
PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans' views on same-sex marriage have essentially stayed the same in the past year, with a majority of 57% opposed to granting such marriages legal status and 40% in favor of doing so. Though support for legal same-sex marriage is significantly higher now than when Gallup first asked about it in 1996, in recent years support has appeared to stall, peaking at 46% in 2007.

View poll.

NEA flexes 'political muscle,' backs same-sex 'marriage'

Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow -

The National Education Association has thrown its full support behind homosexual "marriage."
The NEA recently held its annual convention in San Diego, California, where members voted on two issues of importance to those involved in the culture war. One of those issues was whether the union would support same-gender marriage. According to Jeralee Smith, co-founder of the Conservative Educators Caucus, the resolution passed by roughly a two-thirds majority.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=603580

Marriage showdown imminent in Maine

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -
Maine citizens are taking a stand against the state legislature over homosexual "marriage." Although the legislature passed it and Governor John Baldacci approved the same-sex marriage bill in May, the law is on hold. Maine considers the people to be a branch of the government, and they can exercise a People's Veto. Mary Conroy of Stand for Marriage tells OneNewsNow that means gathering enough signatures to put the issue before voters.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=597780

Poll finds most Iowans want vote on gay marriage

DES MOINES -- A poll commissioned by a conservative blog found more than two-thirds of Iowa voters want to vote on whether same-sex marriages should be legal in Iowa.The poll by Voter Consumer Research of Washington, DC, found 67 percent of Iowa voters, including 87 percent of Republican voters, want an opportunity to vote on a constitutional amendment defining marriage. Just 27 percent thought the decision should be left to the courts to decide......

read the rest.....

Pope’s letter calls for openness to human life

Carolyn Moynihan
Pope Benedict XVI’s new encyclical letter, “On Integral Human Development in Charity and Truth”, discusses a wide spectrum of social realities, among them the need for openness to new human life, which, he says, “is at the centre of true development”, and protection of the family founded on “marriage between a man and a woman, the primary vital cell of society”.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/popes_letter_calls_for_openness_to_human_life/

'Gay marriage' law takes effect in nation's capital

Associated Press -
WASHINGTON, DC - A law recognizing same-sex "marriages" performed elsewhere has gone into effect in the District of Columbia.

The bill was approved in a 12-1 vote by the D.C. Council in May, with council member Marion Barry casting the lone no vote.

Congress, which has the final say over the city's laws, had 30 days to review the bill. A push by black church leaders who oppose same-gender marriage failed to get a referendum on the matter. And Congress took no action, allowing the bill to become law Tuesday.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=594512

Same-Sex-Marriage Follies

http://nymag.com/guides/summer/2009/57474/
Commentary on this article from Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage:

"New York magazine gives the National Organization for Marriage (that's you and me and thousands of other marriage supporters working together) credit for helping turn this situation around: "Meanwhile, an organized opposition was taking root. Starting in mid-May, the National Organization for Marriage, founded by pundit Maggie Gallagher, spent $600,000 on, among other things, more than 2 million robo-calls, primarily to Republicans and independents. 'The amount of political pressure it takes the Legislature to do something is a lot more than getting it to do nothing,' she said. 'I have to generate enough public pressure to get politicians to do nothing. How hard should that be?'"

We know that thanks to your help, we flooded the legislature with thousands of phone calls and emails from outraged constituents: Sen. Alesi, one of the few Republicans who hinted he might vote for the bill, admitted his office was inundated with calls. And privately state senators sent up the word: "We're with you! Take us off your list, please!" When the people speak up loud and clear, politicians sit up and notice.Only one thing is more important to politicians in Albany than what the voters want, it seems: money."

More on "NEA to consider full support of homosexual 'marriage'"

This is the kind of behavior that has driven some teachers to form an alternative organization: http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=588006

The NEA is currently holding its annual convention in San Diego, California. Educator and conservative activist Jeralee Smith called OneNewsNow from the convention to report that the executive council has approved language that will throw the full support of the NEA behind same-gender marriage, homosexual adoption, and other issues surrounding the homosexual agenda.
That alternative organization is called the California Teachers Empowerment Network. Its president had an outstanding article in today’s San Diego Union Tribune. Readers can join them by going here.

Robert P. George on the Struggle Over Marriage

by Ryan T. Anderson
http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/viewarticle.php?selectedarticle=2009.07.03.001.pdart

Recently, the editor of Public Discourse sat down with Robert P. George to discuss the state of the marriage debate. While supporters of same-sex “marriage” claim that history is on their side, it turns out that supporters of traditional marriage have more reasons for hope than they may realize.

"Every time the issue is put to the people, even in deep blue states such as California and Wisconsin, conjugal marriage wins and same-sex “marriage” loses. In fact, polling often shows greater support for the re-definition of marriage prior to campaigns in which the issue is tested than at the end of such campaigns after the competing sides have made their arguments and the people render their decisions. And this is despite the fact that the advocates of re-defining marriage are extremely well-funded and well-organized and enjoy the overwhelming support of the cultural establishment. So people who oppose redefining marriage should not let themselves be railroaded by those on the other side to believe that their cause is lost and that same-sex “marriage” is inevitable. It isn’t."

Same-sex 'marriage' loses support among Americans

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow

A recent poll indicates that Americans are not as supportive of homosexual "marriage" as they once were.A CBS-New York Times survey shows that support for redefining marriage to include same-gender couples has declined. Jenny Tyree of Focus on the Family Action tells OneNewsNow that, according to The New York Times, the figure dropped slightly -- but she believes nine percentage points is more than slightly.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=581060

Sen. Dodd Comes Out in Favor of Same-Sex 'Marriage'

By Kathleen Gilbert
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - U.S. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a Roman Catholic, on Sunday declared he had changed his position on same-sex "marriage," and now calls law defining marriage between a man and a woman "archaic" and "unfair." “To my daughters, these couples are married simply because they love each other and want to build a life together," wrote Dodd on his Senate Web site. "That’s what we’ve taught them. The things that make those families different from their own pale in comparison to the commitments that bind those couples together."And, really, that’s what marriage should be. It’s about rights and responsibilities and, most of all, love."
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jun/09062310.html

Poll: Support For Gay Marriage Dips

Posted by Stephanie Condon

"The poll found 33 percent favor marriage for same-sex couples, down somewhat from a high of 42 percent in April…" http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/06/17/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5094597.shtml

Dr. Morse says: This is not a small change: this is a complete collapse of support for same sex marriage! But the reporter has no desire to look behind the numbers and account for them. Could it be that people are starting to think through what redefining marriage will actually mean? Could it be that people are disgusted with the strongarm tactics of the gay lobby, in their treatment of people like Carrie Prejean? Could it be that people find the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling to be revolting? I don’t know. But at least, I’m asking, which is more than the Main Stream Media is doing.

The “Federal Strategy” to Impose Same-Sex “Marriage”: Good News for Defenders of Marriage?

by Helen Alvaré, J.D., Senior Fellow in Law

It is well-known by now that the effort to overturn California’s Proposition 8 lost at the California Supreme Court. Proposition 8 is the citizens’ initiative which overturned that same court’s prior decision ‘finding” a right to same-sex “marriage” within the California Constitution. Gay rights’ reaction to the latest court ruling has included calls for another citizen vote on the subject in 2010. Leading same-sex marriage proponents have not tended to support the alternative strategy of bringing their cause before a U.S. federal court. The U.S. Constitution gives the federal courts jurisdiction to hear claims that state action violates federal constitutional guarantees. In the case of same-sex marriage, plaintiffs would argue before a federal court that state laws reserving marriage for opposite-sex couples violates both the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

http://www.culture-of-life.org/

Iowa Supreme Court Decision Overturns Ban on Same Sex Marriage

by Helen Alvaré, J.D., Senior Fellow in Law

It must be said first that the Iowa Supreme Court decision (Varnum v. O’Brien, No. 07-1499, April 3, 2009) which invented a state constitutional right to same sex “marriage” is very hard to read. By this I don’t mean to say that it is intellectually complex for any reader possessing legal training. I mean that it is hard on a rational reader’s desire for logic and hard on a fair reader’s sense of justice. It is hard for those who know something about U.S. constitutional law or family law because seven out of seven of Iowa’s Supreme Court justices summarily jettisoned or ignored much of the accumulated wisdom in both of those fields.

http://culture-of-life.org/content/view/557/1/

AP source: Same-sex partners to get fed benefits

PHILIP ELLIOTT

WASHINGTON- President Barack Obama, whose homosexual supporters have grown frustrated with his slow movement on their priorities, is extending benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees, a White House official said.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Headlines/Default.aspx?id=570344

Former Miss Calif: Homosexual comment cost me my crown

Associated Press -LOS ANGELES, CA -
Former Miss California USA Carrie Prejean says she lost her crown because of a comment she made about homosexual "marriage" -- not because she had been skipping appearances.Prejean told Matt Lauer on NBC'S Today show Friday that she "absolutely" had been dethroned because of the comment, when she said marriage should be between a man and a woman.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=564850

Same-Sex Marriage and the Death of Tradition

Carson Holloway

Conservatism emerged as a defense of tradition. Edmund Burke, universally acknowledged as the founder of modern conservatism, famously defended tradition as a source of social safety and stability, a bulwark against the corrosive effects of an unfettered rationalism. To be sure, neither Burke nor his later followers have defended a blind adherence to traditional social forms. As Burke noted, a state incapable of change is a state without the means of its own preservation. Tradition must often be altered and adapted to new circumstances. Nevertheless, for the conservative, if tradition is not always to be preserved, it is at least always to be given the benefit of the doubt. As the most eminent of American Burkeans, Russell Kirk, once said, "if it is not necessary to change, then it is necessary not to change.

http://www.firstthings.com/on_the_square_entry.php?year=2009&month=06&title_link=same-sex-marriage-and-the-deat

NH legalization of same-sex marriage likely to 'backfire'

Jim Brown - OneNewsNow -

The head of a conservative activist group in New Hampshire believes the legalization of same-sex "marriage" in the Granite State will eventually backfire on the politicians who pushed for the new law.

Earlier this week, New Hampshire became the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage (see earlier article). Governor John Lynch, who as recently as two months ago said he did not support same-sex marriage, signed the bill into law after the Legislature approved religious exemptions. Lynch also called for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, saying it is time the federal government recognizes same-sex marriage.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=555204

The Odd Couple: Dick Cheney and Ted Olson

Prof. Hadley Arkes

Within the space of a week, two notable figures on the conservative side in our politics have come out in favor of same-sex marriage. In the case of Dick Cheney, the former vice-president, his daughter Mary had long been known as a lesbian, and Cheney was free now, out of office, to speak words on the side of his daughter.

The bigger jolt came with the announcement of Theodore Olson, the former Solicitor General under Bush II. Olson is one of the premier figures in the conservative legal establishment, an icon of the Federalist Society – and my own political friend. But with a public flourish Olson accepted a commission to challenge yet again Proposition 8 in California, this time in the venue that he calls home: the federal courts.

http://www.thecatholicthing.org/content/view/1725/2/

Sen. Diaz at the NYC Marriage Rally

In the background of the political machinations in the NY State Senate, is this rally in favor of natural marriage. http://www.nycf.info/home

Republicans Seize Control of State Senate

Did same sex marriage have anything to do with these maneuverings? Stay tuned… or, sign up for NOM news alerts. Brian Brown’s note first alerted me to this change of hands in the NY State Senate. See here:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/revolt-could-imperil-democratic-control-of-senate/?hp
and
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--nysenatemajority0608jun08,0,2042213.story

New Hampshire legalizes 'gay marriage' with religious protections

CONCORD, NH - New Hampshire has become the sixth state to legalize same-sex "marriage." Governor John Lynch signed it into law after the Legislature approved religious exemptions.

The revised bill specifies that all religious organizations, associations, or societies have exclusive control over their religious doctrines, policies, teachings, and beliefs on marriage.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Headlines/Default.aspx?id=554126

Statement of the Catholic Bishops of New York State on Marriage

The Bishops say: “ If there are injustices against those in relationships other than marriage, those injustices can certainly be reformed and corrected in a way other than by drastically redefining marriage.” This has been my position for some time. ~Jennifer Morse


We face today the prospect of a law in New York which would radically change the timeless institution of marriage. As pastors of citizens from every corner of our great state, we stand unified in our strong opposition to such a drastic measure.Throughout history, different cultures have had different customs regarding marriage. But the one constant has been the conviction that marriage is the union of a man and a woman in an enduring bond, ordered for the procreation and stable rearing of children. Regrettably, the state Assembly has voted to redefine what nature and our common heritage long ago defined for us. We fervently pray that members of the state Senate will stand firm in opposition to this ill-advised legislation, and we call on Catholics and all New Yorkers to contact their Senators to make their voices heard.
http://www.nyscatholic.org/pages/news/show_newsDetails.asp?id=485

Love isn’t enough

Trayce L. Hansen Ph.D.

Mothers and fathers are not interchangeable. Children need the love of both. Proponents of same-sex marriage believe the only thing children really need is love. Based on that supposition, they conclude it’s just as good for children to be raised by loving parents of the same sex, as it is to be raised by loving parents of the opposite sex. Unfortunately, that basic assumption—and all that flows from it—is false. Because love isn’t enough!

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/love_isnt_enough/

Traditional marriage still popular in Penn.

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow

A recent poll shows most Pennsylvanians support traditional marriage. The numbers show residents favoring one man and one woman as the definition of marriage, and the figures are very high among older Pennsylvanians.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=550166

'Gay' event in Boston caters to pre-teens

Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow -

A pro-family activist in Massachusetts is disgusted by a recent pro-"gay" advent in Boston that targeted teens and young children.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=547472

Redefined marriage = society's downfall

Jim Brown and Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -
A pro-family activist says a former Mitt Romney adviser is "providing aid and comfort" to proponents of same-sex "marriage."

Pepperdine University law professor and Barack Obama supporter Doug Kmiec recently told CNSNews.com that he would like to see marriage replaced, in the legal sense, with a neutral civil license. Kmiec, a self-professed pro-life, pro-traditional marriage Catholic, is quoted as saying: "I think the way to untie the state from this problem is to create a new terminology that would apply to everyone -- straight or gay -- call it 'civil license.'"


http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=547244

Biased news coverage of Prop. 8 continues

Chad Groening - OneNewsNow

...Colleen Raezler, a research assistance at the conservative media watchdog organization, says while the will of the majority of Californians who support traditional marriage was upheld, the three networks gave their side scant coverage...

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=547564

What’s the difference?

Patrick Thompson

Same-sex marriage does make a difference to wider society, especially when the force of the state is behind it.
"What difference,” goes the refrain from same-sex marriage supporters, “ does the marriage of two men or two women make in your life or your marriage?”

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/whats_the_difference/

Carrie Prejean clips

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feQlYsHSI28&feature=PlayList&p=BE89413905763ABE&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=24
Note the commment around 4:29 about her grandfather fighting for freedom of speech and her doing so too on stage. Notice her Christian forgiveness at 5:24.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K1I-vn2JUU&feature=PlayList&p=BE89413905763ABE&index=25&playnext=2&playnext_from=PL

Miles McPherson, Carrie's pastor, did a great job on CNN. What a good spokesperson! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqq-9gwnW4s

Thousands rally in support of gay marriage ban

Contrary to this story, the SDPD estimated the crowd at over 700. There were about 20 gay rights supporters protesting us.

The demonstrations in Fresno and San Diego follow a gathering of Prop. 8 opponents, who vow to press ahead.

By Tony Perry and Spencer Weiner June 1, 2009

Thousands of supporters of California's ban on same-sex marriage rallied in Fresno and San Diego on Sunday in what organizers described as a celebration of traditional wedlock and a thank-you to the California Supreme Court for upholding their voter-approved measure.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gay-marriage1-2009jun01,0,2006409.story

Bill to define marriage in DC introduced in House

Associated Press and Charlie Butts (OneNewsNow)

More than 30 members of Congress have joined hundreds of pastors in an effort to define marriage in the District of Columbia as the union of a man and a woman. The bill, which was introduced in the House Thursday, is meant to thwart this month's Washington city council vote to recognize same-sex "marriages" performed in other jurisdictions.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=537986

Facing the new fascism

By Jennifer Roback Morse

The premise of Jonah Goldberg's book Liberal Fascism is that the socialist or liberal left frequently uses the tactics of the fascist right. Some liberals are so convinced of the correctness of their cause that they think themselves entitled to the use of any methods, no matter how illiberal, to advance that cause. In the aftermath of the California voters' passage of Proposition 8, the new fascist mindset is on display in living Technicolor, or maybe I should say in rainbow color.

California voters rejected the darling social cause of the fashionable elites: same-sex "marriage." The election procedures were undeniably fair: After all, this is the electorate that voted for Obama by landslide margins. Did I say that? Obama won by 52% of the popular vote nationwide: the exact same percentage that voted for Proposition 8. So the homosexual lobby must find some other pretext for undoing the outcome of a fair election. Please observe the tactics:

1. Get the judiciary to overturn the election on a technicality: Proposition 8 was not an amendment at all, but a "revision" to the California Constitution.

If they really believe this argument, they should have asked to throw it out before it ever got on the ballot. Both sides were in court, back in July, when Jerry Brown was rewriting the title of the initiative in order to sink its chances of passing. That would have been a good time to bring up the subject of "revision vs. amendment" — before the two sides spent more than $70 million on an election.

http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/18266/

Same-Sex Marriage Laws Pose Protection Quandary

Even the NYT is admitting that there may be conflicts between religious liberty and same sex marriage: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/23/us/23beliefs.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2

Posted by Jennifer

Redefining Religious Liberty

Gay marriage and the conflict between church and state.
By Maggie Gallagher

Prop 8 won yesterday. Even in California, they could find only one supreme-court justice willing to strip 7 million people of their core civil right to amend the state constitution, guaranteed by the constitution itself. Why do I feel, absurdly, that I should be grateful?

Liberals who support gay marriage may understand what their movement is willing to endorse and where it draws the line. The rest of us have to sit back and wonder:Why stop at marriage? Many well-defined, seemingly secure words and terms can be redefined to help remake society along sexually liberal lines.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDQwMGU5ZjgwNmFiODcxZDgyNTAxYjVmYzY2ZjViOTY

Comments from Jennifer:
This quote helps explain why so many African Americans resist and resent the blithe equating of their civil rights movement with the demands for same sex marriage: (BTW, my recent podcast from Memorial Day includes interviews with an African American political candidate and pastor who make this argument.)

Actions are typically protected by liberty interests, not equality interests. Sexual liberty means I have the right to do what I want, not the right to be free from the knowledge that others disagree, or from their choosing to build institutions that teach that my sexual actions are wrong and exclude those who engage in them.

Equality is typically predicated on characteristics that do not imply actions, because actions are always choices. Skin color is irrelevant. And unchosen. Sexual orientation is almost certainly unchosen, but the decision to incorporate a sexual desire into one’s identity, and then to act on it, is a decision. Maybe most people think it’s the right decision, the healthiest decision, but the point is that it’s a choice, and subject to moral reflection. A sexual desire is not its own justification.

Focus on gay marriage rights stays on state fights

Lisa Leff, Associated Press Writer –

SAN FRANCISCO – California's status as a guardian of gay rights slipped this week when its highest court upheld a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, even as other states extended the institution to gay couples.

"Are the people of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire more sexually literate than Californians?" asked the National Sexuality Resource Center, a San Francisco-based think tank, naming the states where gays can or soon will be able to wed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gay_marriage

Gay Curriculum Proposal Riles Elementary School Parents

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,521209,00.html?test=latestnews

This is the very sort of stuff that has been driving us crazy in CA. this is a power grab by the Gay Lobby, pure and simple. This has nothing to do with protecting children from bullying. As Karen England put it, the only “protected class” that gets its own anti-bullying curriculum, so-called, is sexual orientation.

And by the way, the Gay Lobby might have gotten away with this type of nonsense, if they hadn’t made an issue of same sex “marriage.” The people of CA were prepared to accept the domestic partnership law. Only the court case mandating ssm got people riled up enough to propose and pass Prop 8. The course of that campaign made people aware of the possibility of the Gay Lobby controlling the school curriculum. All those people who worked on Prop 8 are not just going to fade into the woodwork. They are paying attention now, in a way that they were not paying attention before.

Posted by Jennifer

Law 'will force churches to employ gay staff'

This is the very sort of thing we are concerned about.

Churches will be banned from turning down gay job applicants on the grounds of their sexuality under new anti-discrimination laws, a Government minister said.

By Matthew Moore

Religious groups are to be forced to accept homosexual youth workers, secretaries and other staff, even if their faith holds same-sex relationships to be sinful.
Christian organisations fear that the tightened legislation, which is due to come into force next year, will undermine the integrity of churches and dilute their moral message.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/5357247/Law-will-force-churches-to-employ-gay-staff.html

If Hispanics Hold a Mass Rally Against Gay Marriage . . .

Maggie Gallagher

. . . and nobody reports it, did it happen? Does it matter?
The New York Times reports that "Gay Marriage Slow to Draw an Opposition" just three days after a mass rally of (I'm told) 20,000 people — Hispanics lead by Hispanic pastors — protested gay marriage in front of Governor Paterson's office. I'm looking for a video of the event, which must have been large because it was mentioned (briefly) in the media with no indiciation of the size. I'll let you know what I find.

And, no, I did not tell the New York Times reporter that NOM's resources were stretched thin. He'll probably find out by next week what I meant by what I did say.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MDkzOGQyZWMwNjBmN2EyMTAyY2Y3MDRhYTQ1N2FlM2I

Gay Marriage Slow to Draw an Opposition in N.Y.

JEREMY W. PETERS

ALBANY — Assemblyman Dov Hikind of Brooklyn was feeling distressed.

The State Assembly had just voted to legalize same-sex marriage, after gay rights groups flooded the Legislature with visits, phone calls and e-mail messages. Where, he wanted to know, was the other side?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/nyregion/20marriage.html?_r=1

HUGE victory for marriage in New Hampshire!!!

from National Organization for Marriage:

the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted by a 2-vote margin (188-186) to reject amendments to the same-sex marriage bill that had been required by Governor Lynch as a condition of his signing the bill.

Same-sex marriage advocates were SHOCKED! As one blogger wrote: "We were hardly even watching since we thought the vote was such a sure thing." State Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley has been pressuring legislators for weeks in an effort to push this bill through. I'm told the shocked look on his face after the House vote today was unforgettable! There is already talk of the parliamentary wrangling to come as proponents seek to salvage the bill. More details will follow, but we need to keep the pressure on, urging Governor Lynch to keep his word and veto the bill today!

ACTION NEEDED! If you live in New Hampshire, please email Governor Lynch again today. Urge him to make good on his promise to veto the same-sex marriage bill. The House refused the religious liberty amendments. Now it's time for him to keep his word, veto the bill, and move on. Click here to send a message to Governor Lynch!

MASSACHUSETTS GAY MARRIAGE: FIVE YEARS LATER

Maggie Gallagher

Five years after same-sex couples first began to enter legal marriages -- recognized by court order -- in Massachusetts, what do voters in the Bay State think about gay marriage?
A new poll commissioned by my organization, the National Organization for Marriage, and the Massachusetts Family Institute indicates that voters remain sharply and surprisingly divided about gay marriage.
When asked, "Do you personally favor or oppose same-sex marriage generally?" 43 percent of Massachusetts voters favor same-sex marriage and 44 percent oppose it, with the remainder saying they don't know or choosing not to respond.

http://www.uexpress.com/maggiegallagher/

New Yorkers Divided On Marriage

Religious, Blacks Favor Tradition

By Bradley Vasoli, The Bulletin

As the New York state legislature considers altering the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples, a Quinnipiac University poll released yesterday shows Empire State voters split on the issue.

A closer look at Quinnipiac’s data shows some fairly pronounced cultural divisions. While 46 percent of New York registered voters surveyed say they favor gay marriage and the same percentage say they oppose it, black voters oppose it 57 percent to 35 percent. White New York voters support it 47 percent to 45 percent.

“It’s not surprising to me that the black community in the aggregate is opposed,” Quinnipiac University Polling Institute Director Maurice Carroll said. “They tend to be church-oriented.”

Voters also tend to differ on the marriage issue according to religion. Fifty-three percent of New York’s Catholics are against it while 39 percent want to enact it and the state’s Protestants disfavor it 55 to 38 percent. Sixty-one percent of Jews support same-sex marriage while 34 percent oppose it.

http://www.thebulletin.us/articles/2009/05/15/news/nation/doc4a0d524636ed0512522500.txt

DOMA, Prop. 8 under legal attack in Calif.

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has been granted permission to intervene in a federal marriage case in California.

A same-gender pair has filed suit in federal court challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8, the California constitutional amendment protecting traditional marriage, alleging that passage of both violates the U.S. Constitution. The two men are asking the court to issue a broad injunction "mandating the use of gender-neutral terms in all legislation affection marriage."

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=533756

Study: Gay marriages pump $111 million into Mass

AMHERST, Mass.—

A study says the over 12,000 same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts since 2004 have pumped over $111 million into the state's economy.The report from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law says a typical same-sex couple spent about $7,400 on their wedding, with one in ten couples spending over $20,000.A second study by the same group found that young, highly educated people in same-sex relationships were 2.5 times more likely to move to Massachusetts after 2004 than before gay marriage became legal.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/05/17/study_gay_marriages_pump_111_million_into_mass/

Maine bishop vows to help bring same-gender 'marriage' to vote

Associated Press -

PORTLAND, ME - The spiritual leader of Maine's 200,000 Roman Catholics has pledged his diocese's help in bringing the state's same-sex "marriage" law to a vote in November.Bishop Richard Malone calls the law "a dangerous sociological experiment" that he says will have negative consequences for society. Malone says marriage as it's been known for millennia "has served as the cornerstone of society." In a statement, Malone also expresses concern over the law's effect on teachings about same-sex marriage in schools.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=529232

Maine bishop vows to help bring same-gender 'marriage' to vote

Associated Press -

PORTLAND, ME - The spiritual leader of Maine's 200,000 Roman Catholics has pledged his diocese's help in bringing the state's same-sex "marriage" law to a vote in November. Bishop Richard Malone calls the law "a dangerous sociological experiment" that he says will have negative consequences for society. Malone says marriage as it's been known for millennia "has served as the cornerstone of society." In a statement, Malone also expresses concern over the law's effect on teachings about same-sex marriage in schools.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=529232

Worldview Test: Can We Do Without "Male" and "Female?"

Controversies and debates about gender define much of today's cultural landscape. In reality, if you take away all debates about gender, gender roles, and sexuality, our world would be a much quieter place. Nevertheless, the world we know is a world increasingly in revolt against the idea that gender is assigned by our Creator and is thus a fixed category.

A perfect illustration of this confusion is found on the May 12, 2009 op-ed page of The New York Times. There, along with articles by the paper's own columnists, was an article by Jennifer Finney Boylan, a professor of English at Colby College in Maine.

Professor Boylan argues that we should just accept and celebrate "the elusiveness of gender" and see the most difficult questions about gender as "sometimes unanswerable."

As you might expect, there is a story here. Professor Boylan begins her column with reference to the fact that Gov. John Baldacci of Maine recently signed a law making his state the fifth in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage. Then Boylan drops the bombshell. Even before Maine's governor signed the law, there were legally-recognized same-sex marriages in Maine (and other states as well). As Boylan explains: "These are marriages in which at least one member of the couple has changed genders since the wedding.""I am in such a marriage myself," Boylan explains.

http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=3792

Maine's marriage traditionalists optimistic

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

Maine voters have started the process to overturn the legalization of homosexual "marriage" in their state. If successful, those efforts could put the measure before voters as early as this fall.

Earlier this month, Governor John Baldacci signed legislation legalizing same-gender marriage legal. But in Maine, citizens are a co-equal division of government and have the right to veto laws through the petition process. Bob Emrich is with the Maine Jeremiah Project, a church-based public policy group that is leading a petition campaign to override the governor's signature.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=528252

Taking Sex Differences Seriously

This is a comment that was left on the post of Dr. Morse's article, How Iowa Happened. It is worthy of it's own blog post. Thank you, Mr. Rhoads.

I am one of the academics whose testimony was considered irrelevant by theIowa court. In my book, Taking Sex Differences Seriously, I set forthevidence showing sex differences in parenting. Mothers and fathers parentin very different ways and both approaches are important in the healthydevelopment of children. The book also sets forth my own research showingdramatic differences in male and female academics' interest in caring forinfants/toddlers.

The Iowa court's footnote, quoted by Dr. Morse, cavalierly dismissesresearch clearly relevant to the question of whether same sex parentingdoes as well as parenting by a biological mother and father.

Steven E. Rhoads
Professor
Politics Department
University of Virginia

The injustice of Iowa's ruling on gay marriage

Its central focus on emotions erodes moral principles and law.By Matthew J. Franckfrom the April 10, 2009 edition

When the Iowa Supreme Court proclaimed last Friday that gays have a right to marry, it insisted that its groundbreaking decision rested squarely on the state constitution's equal protection clause. In reality, the court's bland overturning of foundational moral principles and many centuries of civilization shows what happens when judicial arrogance becomes second nature: It transforms into smug self-deception. By allowing feelings and desire to replace moral reasoning – or at least a fair-minded reading of the constitution – as the basis for judgment of lawful public morality, the Iowa court, like American judicial power more broadly, has burst free of all constraints and is now in the grip of a banal routinization of tyranny. "Tyranny" is a strong word, but consider:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0410/p09s01-coop.html

Three's Company: threesome or triad marriages

The O'Reilly Factor video: http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/22273194/three-s-company.htm

threesome marriages

What next? Apparently this.

First came traditional marriage. Then, gay marriage. Now, there's a movement combining both—simultaneously. Abby Ellin visits the next frontier of nuptials: the "triad."Less than 18 months ago, Sasha Lessin and Janet Kira Lessin gathered before their friends near their home in Maui, and proclaimed their love for one another. Nothing unusual about that—Sasha, 68, and Janet, 55—were legally married in 2000. Rather, this public commitment ceremony was designed to also bind them to Shivaya, their new 60-something "husband." Says Sasha: “I want to walk down the street hand in hand in hand in hand and live together openly and proclaim our relationship. But also to have all those survivor and visitation rights and tax breaks and everything like that.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-05-07/threesome-marriages/

Archbishop Burke's Keynote Address

So much of Archbishop Burke's address at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast was fantastic, but here is just a piece of it:

"6. Over the past several months, our nation has chosen a path which more completely denies any legal guarantee of the most fundamental human right, the right to life, to the innocent and defenseless unborn. Our nation, which had its beginning in the commitment to safeguard and promote the inalienable right to “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” for all, without boundary, is more and more setting arbitrary limits to her commitment (cf. The Declaration of Independence: Action of Second Continental Congress, 4 July 1776, in The Constitution of the United States with the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation, New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 2002, p. 81). Those in power now determine who will or will not be accorded the legal protection of the most fundamental right to life. First the legal protection of the right to life is denied to the unborn and, then, to those whose lives have become burdened by advanced years, special needs or serious illness, or whose lives are somehow judged to be unprofitable or unworthy.

7. What is more, those in power propose to force physicians and other healthcare professionals, in other words, those with a particular responsibility to protect and foster human life, to participate, contrary to what their conscience requires, in the destruction of unborn human lives, from the first or embryonic stage of development to the moment of birth. Our laws may soon force those who have dedicated themselves to the care of the sick and the promotion of good health to give up their noble life work, in order to be true to the most sacred dictate of their consciences. What is more, if our nation continues down the path it has taken, healthcare institutions operating in accord with the natural moral law, which teaches us that innocent human life is to be protected and fostered at all times and that it is always and everywhere evil to destroy an innocent human life, will be forced to close their doors.

8. At the same time, the fundamental society, that is, the family, upon which the life of our nation is founded and depends, is under attack by legislation which redefines marriage to include a relationship between two persons of the same sex and permits them to adopt children. In the same line, it is proposed to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. At the root of the confusion and error about marriage is the contraceptive mentality – which would have us believe that the inherently procreative nature of the conjugal union can, in practice, be mechanically or chemically eliminated, while the marital act remains unitive. It cannot be so. With unparalleled arrogance, our nation is choosing to renounce its foundation upon the faithful, indissoluble, and inherently procreative love of a man and a woman in marriage, and, in violation of what nature itself teaches us, to replace it with a so-called marital relationship, according to the definition of those who exercise the greatest power in our society."

Sorry that's a lot, but it lays out the major crises to the Culture of Life we are facing now.
Read the full speech here. (Click the banner near the top.)

'People's veto' last hope in Maine

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

Maine's governor has signed a bill legalizing homosexual "marriage" -- but the governor and the legislature might not have the last word. Maine gives voters a right to veto the governor's stamp of approval through a "people's veto." Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel encourages the people of Maine to stand up and be counted.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=520436

DC may recognize same-sex 'marriages' - churches ignored

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

Despite opposition from some local churches, the Washington, DC Council has voted 12-1 to recognize homosexual "marriages" legal in other states. (View video news report)

Associated Press reports advocates from both sides of the debate were part of an overflow crowd that filled city hall, and more than 100 opponents from churches in the Washington region held a rally across the street. Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council believes the DC Council is on a slippery slope to recognition of same-gender marriage.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=518482

'People's Veto' hopes to preserve marriage in Maine

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

Maine's Senate has approved same-sex marriage and sent the bill to the House where it is expected to pass as well. Based on a recent communication, there is every indication the governor will sign the bill. The senate also axed a proposal to send the issue to the ballot for the people to decide. Michael Heath is with Maine Family Policy Council.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=515778

Homosexual activists target, expose pro-family voters

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

Arkansas voters who signed petitions and then voted to limit adoption strictly to married couples are getting unwelcomed publicity. Some homosexual activists did not like the petition and its success at the ballot box. Jerry Cox is head of the Arkansas Family Council. "Now this gay group out of Massachusetts has acquired the names of all the people who signed the petition to place the measure on the ballot here in Arkansas," he notes. "They got those from the secretary of state, and they've entered those into a database, and they've put them up on the Internet."

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=511306

NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MARRIAGE

Maggie Gallagher, President of the National Organization for Marriage, released the following statement regarding Carrie Prejean:

“Because Carrie honestly said what she believed in answer to a question--marriage is the union of a man and a woman-- she is now the subject of ongoing character assassination. The level of hatred directed at her is astonishing. Even more astonishing is her personal courage and strength of character in the midst of these attacks. Of course Carrie is not perfect. On a personal note, as a former unwed mother, I want to say to Americans: you don’t have to be a perfect person to have the right to stand up for marriage. Nothing gay marriage advocates can do can change the fact—we all saw it on national TV—that Carrie is a young woman who surrendered all the glitter Hollywood has to offer, because she would not become the kind of person afraid to say the truth.

"Through Carrie, we are also learning, the lengths some people will go to hurt and harass those who speak up for marriage.”

http://www.nationformarriage.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=omL2KeN0LzH&b=5075187&content_id=%7b4ED0866E-C06C-4806-B660-33D763370854%7d&notoc=1

The Same-Sex Marriage Movement and the Dangers of Denunciation

by Carson Holloway

Regardless of who prevails in the argument over marriage, the politics of denunciation practiced by same-sex marriage supporters will have damaged the public discourse.

One of the most troubling aspects of the same-sex marriage movement is the rhetorical strategy it so frequently employs: denunciation of its opponents. The most vocal and prominent advocates of same-sex marriage seem to prefer condemning those who disagree as bigots to refuting the arguments for preserving marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Moreover, this tendency is found not just among partisan activists, where one might expect it even while lamenting it, but even among the voices of the most venerable institutions.

http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/viewarticle.php?selectedarticle=2009.05.01.001.pdart

Breakup rules not accepted

Cheryl Wetzstein

Sometimes a cure can look worse than the problem. That seems to be the case with a massive legal guidebook on how to handle family breakups in our brave new world.

When the 1,187-page “Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution” was published by the prestigious American Law Institute in 2002, it was assumed that courts and lawmakers would snap it up. After all, it offered unprecedented guidance for vexing problems with child custody, support and property distribution among unmarried and same-sex couples.
But apparently, the institute's principles are too progressive for America's judges and lawmakers.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/31/breakup-rules-not-accepted/

Emergency legislation favors lesbian in U.S. illegally

Chad Groening - OneNewsNow -

A pro-family activist says it is "ridiculous" that California Senator Dianne Feinstein has introduced legislation designed to help an illegal alien who is a lesbian remain in the U.S.

The case involves 43-year-old Philippines national Shirley Tan, who came to the United States on a visitor's visa in 1989. She overstayed that visa and has been living in a lesbian relationship with a naturalized citizen in Pacifica, California.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=511628

No time for pessimism on same-sex marriage

Rod Dreher

Now that several states have legalised same-sex marriage, is it time to throw in the towel? Maggie Gallagher says No.

I have written recently that while I am an opponent of same-sex marriage, I believe the other side will win this struggle, because the country has changed and is changing in ways that make their triumph inevitable. Maggie Gallagher, one of the most prominent advocates of traditional marriage in the country, wrote me recently to object to my position. I asked her if she'd agree to an interview on the subject. She agreed. Read below Gallagher's view on why all is not lost for traditional marriage campaigners -- and why they'd better not give an inch, or "the churches are going to get rolled." What do you think?

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/no_time_for_pessimism_on_same_sex_marriage/

Leading charge against same-sex marriage

By Keith Eddings
Maggie Gallagher forked a mussel soaked in red sauce out of its shell, twirled her glass of petite syrah, settled back into her chair at a Briarcliff Manor restaurant and described the view from the pinnacle of a national organization that is leading the charge from the right on one of the planet's raging social issues.
"It's been a blur this week," Gallagher said midway through an interview that was pockmarked by the constant "Nutcracker" ring of her cell phone, including one call reminding her that another interview with a Christian radio station in Buffalo was up next. "There's been a lot of gay-marriage news."
http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090429/NEWS01/904290347

Readers: Post your comments on this article site. There are a lot of obnoxious comments posted. Add your voice!

My Apology to Perez Hilton

by Mike S. Adams

Good afternoon, Perez. I’m sorry I haven’t yet taken the time to write you in response to your little flap with Miss California. I’ve been down in South Carolina spending the last few days with a beautiful woman who is opposed to gay marriage. I hope that doesn’t offend you. In Hollywood, that’s called bigotry. In South Carolina, it’s called “normal.”

I’m sorry that I was recently complimented by an older gentleman for simply opening the car door for the aforementioned beautiful woman. I’m sorry because opening a door for a lady should be commonplace. It should not be so rare that it evokes a surprised reaction. I’m sorry if you don’t see how this relates to your flap with Miss California. You will by the end of this column.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=511180

Prejean joins hands with traditional marriage group

Allie Martin - OneNewsNow -

Miss California has become a leading spokesperson in the battle to preserve traditional marriage.Since last week's Miss USA pageant, Carrie Prejean has been deluged with media requests -- all because she took a stand for traditional marriage when pageant judge Perez Hilton, a homosexual blogger, asked how she felt about states giving homosexuals the right to "marry."

Prejean appeared Wednesday on Liberty Live, a syndicated radio program heard on American Family Radio and broadcasted on OneNewsNow.com. She said she has no ill feelings toward Perez Hilton.

"I just would like to thank him for giving me this opportunity to go out and share my faith with other people and not be ashamed of it, and just giving me the opportunity to stand on that stage and give him an answer that he was not expecting -- and I have no regrets," she admits.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=510962

Iowa congressman fights to preserve traditional marriage

Chad Groening - OneNewsNow -

An Iowa Congressman says the people of Iowa, not activist judges, should determine whether the state should allow homosexuals to "marry."

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=511662

No time for pessimism on same-sex marriage

Rod Dreher

Now that several states have legalised same-sex marriage, is it time to throw in the towel? Maggie Gallagher says No.

I have written recently that while I am an opponent of same-sex marriage, I believe the other side will win this struggle, because the country has changed and is changing in ways that make their triumph inevitable. Maggie Gallagher, one of the most prominent advocates of traditional marriage in the country, wrote me recently to object to my position. I asked her if she'd agree to an interview on the subject. She agreed. Read below Gallagher's view on why all is not lost for traditional marriage campaigners -- and why they'd better not give an inch, or "the churches are going to get rolled." What do you think?

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/no_time_for_pessimism_on_same_sex_marriage/

Leading charge against same-sex marriage

By Keith Eddings

Maggie Gallagher forked a mussel soaked in red sauce out of its shell, twirled her glass of petite syrah, settled back into her chair at a Briarcliff Manor restaurant and described the view from the pinnacle of a national organization that is leading the charge from the right on one of the planet's raging social issues.

"It's been a blur this week," Gallagher said midway through an interview that was pockmarked by the constant "Nutcracker" ring of her cell phone, including one call reminding her that another interview with a Christian radio station in Buffalo was up next. "There's been a lot of gay-marriage news."

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090429/NEWS01/904290347

Readers: Post your comments on this article site. There are a lot of obnoxious comments posted. Add your voice!

My Apology to Perez Hilton

by Mike S. Adams

Good afternoon, Perez. I’m sorry I haven’t yet taken the time to write you in response to your little flap with Miss California. I’ve been down in South Carolina spending the last few days with a beautiful woman who is opposed to gay marriage. I hope that doesn’t offend you. In Hollywood, that’s called bigotry. In South Carolina, it’s called “normal.”

I’m sorry that I was recently complimented by an older gentleman for simply opening the car door for the aforementioned beautiful woman. I’m sorry because opening a door for a lady should be commonplace. It should not be so rare that it evokes a surprised reaction. I’m sorry if you don’t see how this relates to your flap with Miss California. You will by the end of this column.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=511180

Prejean joins hands with traditional marriage group

Allie Martin - OneNewsNow -

Miss California has become a leading spokesperson in the battle to preserve traditional marriage. Since last week's Miss USA pageant, Carrie Prejean has been deluged with media requests -- all because she took a stand for traditional marriage when pageant judge Perez Hilton, a homosexual blogger, asked how she felt about states giving homosexuals the right to "marry."

Prejean appeared Wednesday on Liberty Live, a syndicated radio program heard on American Family Radio and broadcasted on OneNewsNow.com. She said she has no ill feelings toward Perez Hilton.

"I just would like to thank him for giving me this opportunity to go out and share my faith with other people and not be ashamed of it, and just giving me the opportunity to stand on that stage and give him an answer that he was not expecting -- and I have no regrets," she admits.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=510962

In the Fray: The Battle for Marriage

by Harry R. Jackson, Jr.

Anderson Cooper is one of the class acts on cable news. He is bright, personable, and very thorough as a journalist. Therefore, on occasion I will compare the coverage of major stories on CNN with both the network news outlets and Fox News. Although I have always liked Cooper’s personal style, I often disagree with his slant on the news.

As I flipped through the channels last Friday night, I was offended by the content of the show. It seemed to me that overt propaganda was masquerading as news on Cooper’s “360” show. As I have already stated, typically my concerns with Cooper are minor and I hardly ever resort to “fussing” at the screen. Well, this segment got me riled up.

http://townhall.com/columnists/HarryRJacksonJr/2009/04/20/in_the_fray_the_battle_for_marriage

Refuse to Be Bullied

by Harry R. Jackson, Jr.

Last week’s public relations “Victim of the Week” award should go to Carrie Prejean. Her ordeal has gone both viral and global. Made to feel like a twelve-year-old during the Miss California competition, she has now been vilified or immortalized by the press and cable news industry. Whether you believe she should have won the pageant or not, the caustic remarks of Hilton Perez about Prejean on his video blog were obviously uncalled for. Hilton’s statements mark the beginning of a new era of gay marriage activist boldness. To add insult to injury Keith Lewis, co-director of the Miss California USA and who runs the Miss California competition, attempted to moralize about the “right to marry.” I found it ironic that a man who runs a competition that parades women around in scanty clothing could attempt to speak out about gender prejudice and stereotypes.

http://townhall.com/columnists/HarryRJacksonJr/2009/04/27/refuse_to_be_bullied

Law, Feelings, and Religion at the Bar in Iowa

by Matthew J. Franck The Supreme Court of Iowa’s decision to redefine marriage abandons reason and replaces it with feelings as the standard of public consensus.

What happens when judicial arrogance becomes so habitual as to become second nature? This past Friday, April 3, the Supreme Court of Iowa provided an answer: judicial arrogance transforms into smug self-deception. This is not the question the court thought it was answering. It claimed to be addressing the question of whether “exclusion of a class of Iowans from civil marriage”—namely the “class” of “gay and lesbian people” who wish to marry others of the same sex—can be justified by the state. But the opinion for a unanimous court in Varnum v. Brien, written by Justice Mark Cady, actually says very little about matters of such justification. By contrast, it speaks volumes about the extent to which American judicial power, having burst free of all constraints, is now in the grip of a banal routinization of tyranny so complete that the tyrants do not recognize their own character as they blandly overturn many centuries of civilization in a day’s work.

http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/viewarticle.php?selectedarticle=2009.04.07.001.pdart

“Rhode Island, Most Catholic State, Welcomes Gay Marriage”

BY BISHOP THOMAS J. TOBIN

That’s a headline we haven’t seen yet, dear readers, but probably will in the next couple of years. And, make no mistake about it – that’s exactly what the headline will say as the story makes its way around the state and across the nation.

The march toward gay marriage across our nation is relentless, and liberal New England is leading the way. The supporters of gay marriage in Rhode Island are well-organized and well-funded. They’re fiercely determined to impose their politically correct agenda on all the citizens of the state – human history, culture and moral principles not-withstanding. Anyone who opposes them is quickly labeled a bigot.

http://thericatholic.com/stories/2089.html

NH committee recommends killing gay marriage bill

CONCORD, N.H.—The state Senate's Judiciary Committee has recommended that the Legislature reject legalizing gay marriage in New Hampshire.

The committee voted 3-2 Thursday against a bill that passed the House last month. Committee Chairwoman Deborah Reynolds, a Democrat, said she doesn't think New Hampshire is ready for gay marriage. Republicans who voted against it said marriage is an institution created and defined by God as between one man and one woman.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2009/04/23/nh_committee_recommends_killing_gay_marriage_bill/?comments=all

READERS: I encourage you to go to the site above and post your comments on this article!

Pro-Marriage Group Thanks Stephen Colbert

By Exception Staff

Stephen Colbert, star of the Comedy Central satire, the Colbert Report, has a new set of fans -- pro-marriage groups.The National Organization for Marriage sent out a public thank-you note to the comedian after he aired their "Gathering Storm" ad on his program.

http://exceptionmag.com/entertainment/celebreality/000768/pro-marriage-group-thanks-stephen-colbert

Gay marriage opponents cheer change

ANDY BARR

"It's a gesture of respect," National Organization for Marriage President Maggie Gallagher told POLITICO. "Even people who want same-sex marriage see that groups that want marriage to remain between husband and wife have a point."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21636.html

National Organization for Marriage Urges Connecticut General Assembly to Defeat SB 899

"Presented under the guise of conforming state statutes to the Connecticut Supreme Court's ruling legalizing gay marriage, SB 899 would undermine existing legal protections for religious organizations and repeal statutes that help ensure that gay marriage is not taught to children in public schools." -- Brian Brown, Executive Director, NOM

http://www.dfwcatholic.org/national-organization-for-marriage-urges-connecticut-general-assembly-to-defeat-sb-899-bill-threatens-religious-liberty-and-crosses-line-into-promotion-of-gay-marriage-in-schools3803/.html

Gay Marriage Spreads Without Backlash

Maggie Gallagher, the National Organization for Marriage's president and a conservative commentator, said there's no shortage of grassroots conservative anger over the recent moves expanding gay marriage. That outrage may not be getting much national press attention, but it remains a potent political force, she said. "It's manufactured moment, this idea that people are ready to give up on the gay-marriage fight," Gallagher said. "In Connecticut, in New Hampshire, in Iowa, the legislators are being flooded with phone calls on this issue. People are not happy with gay marriage."

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=7393903

Choosing Truth Over a Tiara

Maggie Gallagher is president for the National Organization for Marriage.

Miss California’s answer to the political question asked of her by a judge was moving to the audience and the millions of new fans she now has for a simple reason: Her words were marked by genuineness, decency, a clear effort at civility, and great personal courage. The ugly response of her critics, especially Perez Hilton, is demeaning — but not to Carrie Prejean.

If politics and religion are inappropriate in a pageant, as Keith Lewis suggests, judges should not ask questions about hot-button political and moral issues. Carrie Prejean is a heroine to many because in that split second she had to decide, she chose truth over the tiara. It was an extraordinary moment.

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/new-battle-lines-on-gay-marriage/?scp=2&sq=gay&st=cse#maggie

Miss California's Courage

from Brian Brown of National Organization for Marriage

It was, as a San Diego pastor friend of mine put it, a real "Queen Esther"
moment for Carrie [Prejean, Miss California]. Her faith was tested and she
passed with flying colors--she showed the whole world the crown that she is
really seeking, didn't she? How many others are taking inspiration from that
moment--taking renewed courage to show our convictions--to act to support
marriage?

Thanks to Carrie, 20 million or more young adults who support marriage have
a new voice for their views, and a new platform to reach out to their friends,
neighbors, peers. If Miss California has the courage of her convictions, how can
they--or any of us-- stay silent any more?

By the way, far more young adults are on our side on this issue than the
media would have you believe. In California, one of the most liberal states in
the nation, 45 percent of young adults voted for Prop 8. Is it so hard to
imagine persuading another 5 to 10 percent of young people about the importance
of marriage as the union of husband and wife? Thank you, Carrie, for launching a
youth counter-revolution on marriage!

Perez Hilton, the "celebrity blogger" who asked the question, clearly
thought he would manufacture yet another gay marriage moment. Well he did, but
not in the way he thinks. Thank you Perez Hilton for giving us
Carrie Prejean.

Loaded question

Sheila Liaugminas

They’ve always said the Miss America and Miss Universe pageants were about more than beauty.
In recent years, several contestants from the states have taken considerable heat for their principles or stated values on social issues, usually related to abortion and even chastity education.
Suddenly, this year’s pageant has erupted into a news story because of a ‘controversial answer one of the contestants gave to a question about homosexuals and marriage, said a news tease on one of the networks.

http://www.mercatornet.com/sheila_liaugminas/view/loaded_question/

Miss California Speaks Out

Miss California Carrie Prejean appeared on Neal Cavuto's show on FOX News to talk with him about the pageant and if she believes that her comments on gay marriage cost her the Miss USA crown. Prejean says that she feels sorry for Perez Hilton, that she prays for Hilton, and that she was "blessed" to be asked the question that probably cost her the title in the first place.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=499704

Beauty contestant chooses 'biblically correct' over PC

Allie Martin and Jody Brown - OneNewsNow

The first runner-up for Miss USA tells Fox News Channel that she may have lost her chance at the crown because of her answer to a question about same-sex "marriage." However, she says she had to stand on biblical truth.

On Sunday, Miss California Carrie Prejean, 21, was asked by blogger Perez Hilton, an open homosexual and one of the pageant's judges, about her stance on same-sex marriage. Responding, Prejean said she personally believed marriage should be between a man and a woman.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=499580

Amendment Gives Religious Organizations Exemption To Same-Sex Ruling

By DANIELA ALTIMARI

State legislators on Wednesday approved a measure that strives to strike a balance between the rights of gay couples and the rights of religious institutions that object to same-sex marriage.

http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-same-sex-marriage-0423.artapr23,0,3521923.story