Breaking News!
U.S. Senate Republican leaders have scheduled the Senate vote on a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman for the week of July 12. This vote would come just two weeks before the Democratic Party convenes in Boston for national convention.
A hearing in the full Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, June 22. Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will be the featured witness and will testify on what has happened in his state and on the implications of efforts to re-define marriage.
There will be intense pressure brought to bear on the Senate by pro-family groups and the proponents of same-sex marriage. We will provide you with more information shortly on the senate vote and on more specific things you can do to defend marriage.
In this issue:
- What You Can Do to Help Defend Marriage
- We Need Your Financial Support to Help Defend Marriage and the Family!
- Gauge Your Knowledge of the Same-Sex Marriage Issue With Our New Same-Sex Self Test
- Congress Watch
- Massachusetts Watch
- News Articles of Interest
What You Can Do to Help Defend Marriage
Dear Friend,
With the recent legalization of “same-sex marriage” in Massachusetts, and with the Senate likely to vote on an amendment soon, more and more Americans are beginning to focus on this growing threat to marriage and the family and all that it implies for the future of our society.
Increasingly, people ask me what they can do to help defend marriage. Let me give you the general answer I give them, because, ultimately, it is up to each of us to do whatever we can to defend marriage. Unless we do, we will lose. It is as simple as that.
- Educate yourself on the issue and what is at stake. The debate over legalizing “same-sex marriage” is emerging as one of the major domestic political issues in the upcoming elections. That alone will give all of us numerous opportunities to discuss this issue with others who will join us in actively defending marriage once they understand the issue and what is at stake. We have posted numerous materials on our website to help you better understand this issue.
- Do what you can to educate
others. Experts recognize that person-to-person contact
within a peer group can be one of the most effective ways
to shape public opinion. That means that you can be very influential
in shaping the opinion on “same-sex marriage”
of your friends, family, co-workers, and others you come into
contact with every day.
Polls consistently show rising opposition to legalizing “same-sex marriage”, but they also show that most people do not understand all what is at stake on this issue. When you help them understand that, their support will become even more solid and they are more likely to in turn influence others to defend marriage as well. Again, we have posted some materials on our website that will help you explain the issues involved, identify the questions that you are likely to encounter, and suggest how to answer them.
We also are developing educational tools such as the “National Same-Sex Marriage Self Test”. You can easily refer anyone on your e-mail lists to this test to help them better understand the issue. - Let your elected representative know how you want them to vote on this issue. Amending our Constitution is by definition a democratic process. In fact, in a very real sense it is a “super-democratic process” since it requires super majorities in Congress and among the states to actually amend it. There will be times when we need to exercise our basic rights and responsibilities as citizens and let our elected representatives at the federal and local level know how we want them to vote on this issue. Then, we need to hold them accountable. The upcoming vote on the amendment in the Senate is the first important opportunity each of us has to do this.
- Contribute as much as you
can financially. Winning major public policy battles
at the national level is never cheap. And, while having a
lot of money on your side does not ensure success, being
massively outspent by your opponents virtually guarantees
defeat. Those are simply the facts of life in the
21st century policy arena.
And make no mistake about it. The homosexual activists and their allies understand full well that this is the showdown battle in their campaign to force society to accept the homosexual lifestyle as equally normal and acceptable to traditional heterosexuality. They are already pouring millions into this effort. Currently, for example, just one of the many homosexual advocacy groups is in the midst of a multimillion dollar advertising campaign trying to sway public opinion.
Defend Marriage and the other pro-family, pro-marriage groups are used to being outspent on these issues. We operate as efficiently as possible. Wherever we can, we use volunteers and in-kind contributions. Many of us donate our time and other expenses to this effort. But we still need money to be competitive — and on this issue we will need a lot of money to be competitive. We have to pay long-distance bills, buy databases, rent office space, print materials, and pay specialists and experts in a variety of areas from website maintenance to accounting. In short, it costs money for even an efficient volunteer to have any realistic chance of success.
It has always struck me as somewhat of a paradox that contributing financially to a group such as Defend Marriage is about the easiest way for someone to help, but it is the thing that only a very small percentage of our supporters ever do. Many people who want to stand up for marriage and the family may not have the time to educate themselves on the issue in enough depth to feel comfortable discussing it with friends or co-workers. But if someone does nothing else but make a generous contribution to a group like Defend Marriage, they will have still done something very important to help.
In terms of the future we will bequeath to future generations, there is no more important issue any of us will be involved with than defending and promoting marriage and the family. These institutions have always been the essential foundation of all successful societies and always will be.
Each of us can do something to help in this important fight. If we are to succeed, each of us must.
Sincerely,
Richard G. Wilkins
Chairman
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. Thank you in advance for your generous support.
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.
Congress Watch
Senate Republican leaders have scheduled the Senate vote on a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman for the week of July 12, just two weeks before Democrats convene in Boston for their presidential nominating convention. The final hearing on the issue is scheduled by the full Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, June 22, and will feature Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney discussing his perspective on the issue, both within his state and nationally. More
Massachusetts Watch
One month after Massachusetts became the first state to legalize homosexual marriage, a legal challenge of same-sex unions is still making its way through federal court. A legal challenge has been filed to the 1913 lawsuit that prohibits individuals marrying in Massachusetts if their marriage would be illegal in their home state. It has been used to block a predicted flood of same-sex couples from “marrying” in Massachusetts and then beginning legal action to demand that their home states recognize these unions. More.
Legislation has been submitted to remove the four state Supreme Judicial Court justices who ruled in favor of homosexual marriage. Both sides of the debate are preparing for the November elections for the state legislature that will hold a second vote on an amendment to the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Nearly 2500 same sex “marriages” were performed in Massachusetts in the first week they were legal. More.
News Articles of Interest
Bush asks Vatican to Bring Bishops on Side on Life and Family Issues
During his recent visit, President George Bush asked the Vatican to push the American Catholic bishops to be more aggressive politically on family and life issues, especially a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. More
Canadian Government Funds Radical Homosexual Activist Organizations
Canadian taxpayers footed the bill for the legalization of homosexual marriage. EGALE, the group that fought the three court cases resulting in legalization of same-sex unions in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec, has stated on its website that the cases were funded by the government-sponsored Court Challenges Program. More
IRS: Homosexual Couples Cannot File As 'Married'
In a letter to a conservative, pro-family group, the Internal Revenue Service established this week that homosexual couples filing joint tax returns would be in violation of the law under the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act says the states will not be forced to recognize homosexual marriages, and it legally defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman. More
NY State Court: Banning New Paltz Mayor's Same-Sex ‘Weddings’ Unconstitutional
A New York state judge has thrown out all charges against New Paltz mayor Jason West for performing same-sex "marriages" without licenses. Judge Jonathan Katz ruled that an earlier ban by a lower court was unconstitutional. Previously, Judge E. Michael Kavanagh, of the Ulster County Supreme Court in New York, issued a Permanent Injunction ordering West to stop solemnizing same sex "marriages." More.
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United Families International PO Box 2630 Gilbert, AZ 85299-2630
Phone: (480) 632-5450 • FAX: (480) 892-4417