SPECIAL ISSUE : A Major New Threat To Marriage And The Family!

Please Help!

Dear Reader,

We recently organized Defend Marriage to help defend the institutions of traditional marriage and the natural family in the political arena. That is where we must defeat the effort to legalize same sex marriage, the emerging new threat explained in this special issue. This is a fight we must win because the strength of our society and our nation are directly at risk if we lose. But we will only win if all of us in this country who support marriage and the family work together for victory. This is where we need your help.

Please take a few minutes to read about this threat and then do a couple of things to help. If you are already a subscriber to this newsletter, please forward it on to as many others as you can. The essential first step towards victory is spreading the word.

If this newsletter was forwarded on to you by someone else, please also forward it on to as many others as you can. Then go to the Defend Marriage Web site (www.defendmarriage.org) and sign up to receive this free monthly e-newsletter directly. The second essential step towards victory is keeping those willing to help defend marriage and the family informed of important developments. This newsletter will do that and also suggest things you can do to help.

Thanks for whatever you are able to do!

Richard Wilkins
Chairman

The Major New Threat To Marriage And The Family

Those of us who support and defend traditional marriage and the natural family face a major new threat. Within the next few weeks the Massachusetts Supreme Court will decide a lawsuit that likely will legalize same sex marriages in that state. Homosexual activists filed this lawsuit as part of a larger strategy to require ALL OTHER STATES to also recognize same sex marriages as legal.

If the state court rules as expected, then their next step will be to try to use a provision of the U.S. Constitution, called the "Full Faith and Credit Clause," to achieve their ultimate objective. This provision requires that all states in the Union also recognize the legality of contracts and other obligations that are legal in any one of the states.

Legalizing same sex marriage would seriously undermine traditional marriage and the family. That would be bad enough. But this effort raises serious questions of fairness and equity as well. Opinion polls consistently show that a strong majority of Americans oppose same sex marriage. The homosexual activists know they have no chance of getting same sex marriage legalized in any state through the legislative process, so they are trying to do it through the courts. Yet, in a democratic system, something so potentially harmful to society should only be considered by the peoples' elected representatives, not dictated by a few liberal judges against the clear will of the majority.

What Legalizing Same Sex Marriage Would Mean

Throughout history, the strength and resilience of any society has been directly tied to the strength of the family. Traditional marriage, defined as the legal union of a man and a woman, is critical to preserving and perpetuating strong families. Successful societies have made the natural family sheltered within a special institution, traditional marriage, the ideal and desirable way to have and rear children. To promote and protect this ideal they have created frameworks of legal protections and moral support for marriage and the family.

Legalizing same sex marriage would be a fundamental departure from this ideal. It would cheapen it to something that has little more significance and value than "legitimizing" a certain type of sexual behavior. This and all the other impacts we can identify would be negative and harmful to both marriage and the family. They would only further weaken these vital institutions at a time when they are already under serious assault. For a more detailed discussion of the problems legalizing same sex marriage would create and extensive additional background information, please visit the Defend Marriage Web site.

The bottom line is that those who advocate a change with such profound and potentially negative impacts on society must bear the burden of proof that any claimed benefits outweigh any likely harm. Significantly, the homosexual activists do not even try to make that case. All the "benefits" they cite would accrue only to themselves and none to society.

We must defeat this effort to legalize same sex marriage!

We Can-And We Must-Fight Back!

If the Massachusetts court rules as expected, the only certain way to protect the citizens of all the other states from having to also recognize the legality of same sex marriage is to amend the Constitution. An amendment to do that, known as the Federal Marriage Amendment, was introduced in the last Congress and will be re-introduced in this Congress in the near future.

Amending the Constitution is not an easy process. But the first step in doing so is organizing support for the effort among people like us who are willing to help defend marriage and the family. This is what Defend Marriage is doing and it is where we urgently need your help.

Please Help Win This Critical Fight By Taking These Two Simple Steps Today:

1. Forward this alert on to as many others as you can. Educating good people about this threat is the essential first step to building the political support for a constitutional amendment.

2. If you are not already a subscriber to this newsletter, go to the Defend Marriage Web site (www.defendmarriage.org) and sign up. We will keep you informed about what is happening and suggest additional things you can do to help.

For a more detailed discussion and analysis of this threat, please visit our Web site, www.defendmarriage.org.