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June 3, 2004

In this issue:

"Good On You, Australia!"


Dear Reader,

Richard Wilkins, Chairman, Defend Marriage

Interestingly enough, perhaps the most significant recent development in the battle to defend marriage and the family comes from events unfolding in Australia – not the United States. That nation is moving quickly to enact legislation that will prevent their courts from recognizing “same sex marriages” performed abroad or to allow same sex couples to adopt children abroad. Same sex couples cannot legally marry in Australia.

This effort has been prompted by two same-sex Australians who were “married” in Canada and have begun legal proceedings to force the government to recognize their “marriage.” Without this legislation, they appear to have an excellent chance of succeeding.

There are several lessons here for Americans. One is that unless we act quickly to amend our Constitution, we face a similar situation here. Hundreds of same-sex American couples have gone Canada and been “married” there. Some of them are already demanding that those “marriages” be recognized as legal in the United States as well. Since we generally recognize marriages legally performed in other countries, this could pose a serious problem here as well.

It is also noteworthy that Australia – a country with a strong secular reputation – is moving so quickly and aggressively to defend marriage. At international conferences, delegations of diplomats from Australia are frequently among those advocating proposals that undermine marriage and the family.

The case for defending marriage in Australia, moreover, is being made on much the same social science, legal and historical foundation used by Defend Marriage here in the United States. In fact, I am traveling to Australia on June 20 to present lectures and discussions in several major cities in that country on the importance of marriage.

Finally, Australia is the first major country that is taking an affirmative stand against the worldwide campaign to legalize “same sex marriage.” With many European nations, Canada, a number of the developing countries (and now the United States) all having succumbed to this campaign or on the verge of doing so, Australia is providing an especially important example to the rest of the world.

As they say in the Land Down Under, “Good on you, Australia!”

Let me also briefly highlight two other items in this newsletter. One is the announcement of our “Same Sex Marriage Self Test." Defend Marriage has developed this simple, eight-question test as an easy way for people to determine how well they understand some of the fundamental issues in the policy debate over legalizing “same sex marriage.”

It is posted on our Web site along with a short explanation for each of the correct answers. This test can be an effective public education tool. (For example, media reports – including a new advertisement for the City of Philadelphia – continually invoke the widely held but erroneous assertion that 10% of the population is homosexual—but I have just “given away” one of the wrong answers on the test!.)

In the next few weeks we will be suggesting ways you can help us introduce the Self Test more widely. In the meantime, I invite you to take the test yourself and see how you do. It takes just a few minutes.

It is also significant that the California Supreme Court last week heard arguments on whether the City of San Francisco could legally issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. The issue before the court is fairly narrow, and is not likely to result in the legalization of “same sex marriage” by the court in that state in the near term. Nevertheless, this case illustrates once again, if more evidence were needed, that we must amend the Constitution quickly to avert the legal chaos on this issue that is otherwise coming.

These events underscore the increasing urgency that we move as quickly as possible to amend our Constitution to defend marriage and the family. In terms of the future we will bequeath to our children and grandchildren, this is the most important political and social issue any of us are likely to be involved with during our lifetimes.

Thanks for all so many of you are doing to help win this fight!

Sincerely,

Richard G. Wilkins
Chairman

Gauge Your Knowledge of the Same Sex Marriage Issue With Our New Self Test

Defend Marriage has created the “National Same Sex Marriage Self Test” as a way for individuals to test their knowledge of the fundamental facts and issues related to the public policy debate over legalizing same sex marriage. The eight-question test posted on the Defend Marriage Web site requires only a few minutes to take. It is automatically scored and a brief explanation of the correct answer to each question is provided.

The test has been developed as a public education tool and Defend Marriage will be circulating it widely in the coming months. It is available here.

Defend Marriage Asks Senator Kerry for Clarification of His Position on a Marriage Amendment—Again!

Defend Marriage Chairman Richard Wilkins wrote to Massachusetts Senator John Kerry again asking for clarification of the senator’s position on an amendment to the Constitution to protect marriage. More than six weeks have passed since the original request and there has been no response from Kerry or even an acknowledgement of the letter. Kerry has said that he opposes same sex marriage but also opposes a constitutional amendment to prevent it from being legalized. On the other hand, he favors amending the Massachusetts Constitution to prohibit same sex marriage.

“Amending the Constitution to defend marriage is rightly emerging as one of the most significant issues in the upcoming campaign because it has such significance for our future as a society and as a nation,” Professor Wilkins wrote in his most recent letter. “This is why it is so important for you to clarify your position on this issue.” The text of the second letter is available here. The text of the original letter is available here.

Congress Watch

With Congress out for ten days for its Memorial Day Recess, little has happening on Capitol Hill, including same sex marriage issues. There are a couple of noteworthy developments, however. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch joined with Missouri Senator Jim Talent in making a powerful case for a constitutional amendment to protect marriage in an Op-Ed piece available here.

On another issue, Senator Hatch is coming under intense fire from conservatives for his sponsorship, along with Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, of “hate crimes” legislation that is scheduled for consideration by the Senate next week. Pro-family and other conservative groups fear that a person’s “sexual orientation” could be included as one of the categories of crimes that trigger federal involvement and additional penalties and they are mobilizing to oppose it. They fear that it will have a chilling effect on free speech and lawful activities in opposition to same sex marriage and other issues related to sexual orientation just as similar laws have in other countries where they have been enacted. United Families International President Sharon Slater discusses this issue in the latest UFI newsletter, available here.

Massachusetts Round Up

The state of Massachusetts has already performed hundreds of legal same sex “marriages” since the court-imposed deadline of May 17th. Several localities openly flouting Massachusetts law which prohibits non-residents from marrying in Massachusetts if the resulting marriage would not be legal in their state of residence. Gov. Mitt Romney insisted that localities obey this law and threatened legal action against any that do not. Most quickly came into line but Romney instituted a check of the marriages performed and vowed to ensure that any marriages of non-resident same sex couples were flagged as invalid.

Meanwhile, several neighboring states were deciding whether they would recognize Massachusetts same sex marriages as legal in their states. Article here.

President Bush Renews His Call for an Amendment To Defend Marriage

President George Bush used the occasion of the first same sex marriages being performed in Massachusetts to renew his call for a constitutional amendment to defend marriage. In his statement, the president said, “I called on the Congress to pass, and to send to the states for ratification, an amendment to our Constitution defining and protecting marriage as a union of a man and a woman as husband and wife. The need for that amendment is still urgent, and I repeat that call today." Article here. Text of statement here.

Pro-Family Americans say “Good On You, Australia!”

Australia is rapidly moving to enact legislation that would prevent the courts from forcing the recognition of same sex marriages performed in other countries as legal in Australia and that would prevent same sex couples from adopting children abroad. The legislation has been prompted by an Australian same sex couple who were “married” in Canada and began legal proceeding upon their return to force legal recognition in Australia. The legislation is supported by the opposition Labour Party, so quick passage is virtually assured. Australia would become the first major nation to resist the worldwide campaign to force the legalization of same sex marriage. Article here.

Study Challenges a Major Argument of “Same Sex Marriage” Advocates

A common refrain among “same sex marriage” advocates is that heterosexuals supposedly receive 1,138 federal “benefits” from marriage that are denied to same sex couples. Allowing them to marry, therefore, is a matter of equity, they claim. However, recently to Institute for Marriage and Public Policy actually examined the federal statues that refer to marriage and found the reality is very different from this claim:

In summary, we find that while there are important benefits to marriage in federal law, the majority of these 1,138 statutes now described as marriage benefits are more properly described as legal “incidents” of marriage: they may benefit married couples in some circumstances and impose liabilities on married couples in others; or they may be benefits to one spouse and impose liabilities on the other spouse. Other statutes are targeted legal benefits to marriage, but they affect very few individuals and are unlikely to be socially significant, in the sense of affecting marriage decisions or providing advantages to married couples generally. In addition, the federal code is replete with indirect marriage penalties (arising primarily out of the tax code or income-restrictions on eligibility for federal benefits) that must be taken into consideration in evaluating the practical benefits of marriage in federal law.

The full study is available here.

New Poll Finds Growing Support for the Federal Marriage Amendment

Alliance for Marriage, the organization that developed the Federal Marriage Amendment cosponsored by 16 senators and 122 congressmen in Congress has released a new poll showing growing public support for the amendment. Respondents were read the actual text of the amendment and 57% “strongly favored” the amendment with an additional 10% “somewhat” favoring its passage. Only 23% were “strongly opposed” and 7% “somewhat opposed.” Majority support was strong across party, gender and major ethnic group lines. Survey summary available here.

News Articles of Interest

  • The San Francisco Chronicle examines the national political importance of state ballot issues prohibiting same sex marriage in its article “Bans on state ballots could benefit Bush: Conservatives would gain most from get-out-the-vote campaign.” Article here.
  • In “How Is Marriage Doing” Fox News has listed a number of interesting statistics from the last Census on marriage in the United States here.
  • CNSNews Service reports on the stopping of bill AB 1967 in California that would have tried to legalize same sex marriage in that state in “Marriage in California Protected For Now.” Article here.
  • In its article, Supreme Court tackles same-sex marriage:A cautious chief justice guides California's high court,” the San Francisco Examiner analyzes the current California Supreme Court and the scope of the same sex marriage issue now before it. Article here.

We Need Your Financial Support to Help Defend Marriage and the Family!

We need your financial support to defend marriage and the family more effectively, so we are asking you to please consider making as generous a contribution as you can. Defend Marriage is a project of United Families International (UFI), a 501 (c )(3) organization, so your contribution is tax deductible.

If you would like to designate your contribution to UFI to go entirely to the Defend Marriage Project, you can easily do so by making a contribution that ends with 4 cents, i.e. $25.04, $173.04, $1,000,000.04 and so on. That will automatically flag it to be applied entirely to Defend Marriage. You can easily and securely make a contribution online or print out a form to mail in a contribution. Click here. Thank you in advance for your generous support.

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