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Defend Marriage Newsletter
February 9, 2005

In this issue:


Canadian, U.S. Leaders Chart Very Different Courses to Their Future

Dear Defender of Marriage;

Richard G. Wilkins, Chairman The contrast between the public positions on marriage of the Prime Minister of Canada and the President of the U.S. last week could not have been more stark. Each laid out very different agendas which will produce very different futures for their respective countries.

In Canada, the government of Prime Minister Paul Martin introduced and aggressively began to try to ram through Parliament a bill that would make Canada only the third nation in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.

In the United States in his State of the Union Message delivered just a day later, President George Bush reiterated his strong support for a constitutional amendment that would define marriage in this country as only the union of a man and a woman.

There is little question that if Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin succeeds in legalizing same-sex marriage across Canada, the future for Canadian children is bleak. It is the children that will be harmed the most as they will grow up in families sanctioned by government that can never provide them with both a mother and a father. And we all know how motherlessness and fatherlessness negatively impacts children.

This would be done against the wishes of the majority of Canadians. Current polls indicate that just as in the United States, a majority of Canadians support the protection of man/woman marriage. The Canadian government knows this but claims that legalizing same-sex marriage is a “minority rights issue.” However, what is really happening is the minority in Canada is seeking to force a redefinition of marriage upon all Canadians and to teach this radical new reordering of society to children throughout Canadian public schools.

Legalizing same-sex marriage in Canada will affect all Canadians as marriage is the foundation of the family which is the building block of their society. You cannot tinker with the foundation without risking instability of the structure.

United Families International has been supporting our Canadian affiliate, United Families Canada, in their fight to defend marriage. Working through the Defend Marriage Canada Project, a sister effort to Defend Marriage in the United States, our Canadian friends are making an impressive difference.

On Monday, United Families Canada delivered a message to Canadian political leaders from nearly 35,000 Canadians calling on the government to put the issue of legalizing same-sex marriage to a national referendum vote.

That represents one in every 1,000 Canadians making that call and the number increases daily as more people sign on!

The majority of Canadians want to protect marriage and United Families Canada is having a significant impact on this issue.

United Families International and our affiliates in countries around the world will fight to defend marriage and the family on every front everywhere they are threatened. If we are concerned about future generations we have no choice.

We appreciate standing with you in this vital fight.

Sincerely,


Sharon Slater,
President, United Families International

President Bush Reaffirms Support for Marriage Amendment

In his State of the Union message delivered February 2, President George W. Bush reaffirmed his strong support for a federal constitutional amendment to define marriage. He said, “Because marriage is a sacred institution and the foundation of society, it should not be re-defined by activist judges. For the good of families, children and society, I support a constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage.” Complete text of his speech is available here.

Only One Federal Court Case Challenging DOMA Now Pending In Federal Court

Following the dismissal of their cases by a Florida District Court Judge and the decision of several same-sex couples who were the plaintiffs to drop their suits, a case moving forward in southern California is currently the only active federal case challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Earlier, a decision at the federal district court level in Florida found the federal DOMA to be constitutional. Article here.

Charges Against New York Mayor Reinstated

A judge has reinstated charges against New Platz, New York Mayor Jason West, who illegally married two dozen same-sex couples last year. He is being charged with 24 misdemeanor counts for marrying people who did not have a valid marriage license. The charges were reinstated by a county court judge after being previously dismissed by a town court judge. Article here.

New York Judge Declares State Same-Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

A lower court judge in New York City has declared that state’s ban on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional, finding that it violated the equal protection provisions. New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg quickly announced that the city would appeal the ruling and asked the state’s highest court to quickly hear the case. Article here.

Around the States

  • Alabama – A state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage has been introduced (SB1, 2, and 23).
  • Arizona – Citizens plan to place an initiative on the 2006 general election ballot. Last month, the Arizona Legislature announced it would not pursue a constitutional amendment because the issue was getting “too politicized.” Today, a bill to make no-fault divorce more difficult passed out of the House Judiciary Committee by a 3-2 vote.
  • California – Pro-family supporters are rallying Feb. 14 in Sacramento to oppose the "Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act." Introduced by pro-homosexual rights advocates, this bill would instead change the definition of marriage to “a personal relation arising out of a civil contract between 2 persons.” A state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage is also up for consideration (CA ACA 3).
  • Connecticut – Authors of the pro-homosexual Senate bill -- An Act Concerning Marriage Equality (S.B. 963) -- aim "to authorize persons of the same sex to enter into marriage.” If approved, it would remove the words "bride and groom" from the current statute governing marriage, and replace them with "both persons." Further, it would require that statutes using such terms as "husband," "wife," "groom," "bride," "widow," or "widower" be deemed to include one partner to a marriage between two persons of the same sex. The measure asks that the changes be effective October 1, 2005.
  • Idaho – Idaho became the first state where a proposed amendment failed, falling three votes short of the necessary two-thirds majority in the Idaho Senate last week. The proposed amendment to the state constitution would have recognized marriage as an institution between one man and one woman.
  • Illinois – A state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage was introduced (HJRCA 1).
  • Indiana – A state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage was introduced (HJR 9, 11 and 2).
  • Kansas – The Kansas House of Representatives has approved a constitutional amendment that defines marriage only as the union of one man and one woman, and outlaws civil unions. The amendment, which cleared the state Senate last month, goes before Kansas voters April 5.
  • Massachusetts – A bill legalizing civil unions in 2004 must be approved again in 2005 in order to be placed on the 2006 election ballot.
  • Minnesota – A state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage was introduced (ACR 212).
  • New Jersey – A state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage was introduced (ACR 212).
  • New Mexico – Lawmakers are considering legislation to enact a state law modeled after the Defense Of Marriage Act.
  • New York – A state law was proposed that would prohibit recognition of same-sex marriages or civil unions performed elsewhere (A 2998). A bill that would recognize same-sex marriage has been proposed in the state Senate (SB 3816) and in the Assembly (AB 7392).
  • South Carolina – Legislators have introduced bills to ban same-sex marriage (SC 183 and H 3140) and legislation to strengthen a Defense Of Marriage Act (S 0045, S 0090, S 104, H 3032 and H 3180).
  • South Dakota – Pro-family lawmakers have introduced legislation (HJR 1001) for a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage this year.
  • Utah – After amending the state constitution last year to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman, the Utah Senate overwhelmingly voted last week to kill a bill that would have eased restrictions imposed by the homosexual "marriage" measure. The bill, which lost 18-10, would have created a domestic partner registry.
  • Virginia – The House yesterday approved a constitutional amendment to define traditional marriage. The House voted 78-18 in favor of the amendment, which defines marriage as the union of a man and woman and bans same-sex civil unions. The legislature must pass the amendment again next year before it is sent to voters in November 2006.
  • Washington – Legislators have introduced a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage (SJR 8209).
  • Wisconsin – A state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions was approved by the Legislature in 2004 and must be approved again this year before going to voters in a statewide referendum.
  • Wyoming – The Cowboy State is considering legislation to enact a state law modeled after the Defense Of Marriage Act.

We Need Your Financial Support to Help Us Defend Marriage

We appreciate your generous financial support this year and ask that you continue to support us in the fight to defend marriage. To take advantage of the recent election victories and the opportunities we have to set the country back on the right track will take even more commitment from all of us in the period ahead. Please consider making a contribution of at least $25 if you can, but any amount you can afford will be helpful. If enough people contribute at least a little, together it makes a huge difference.

You can easily and securely make a contribution online or print out a form to mail in a contribution.

Your contribution will be made to United Families International (UFI), a 501 (c )(3) organization, so it is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. Defend Marriage is a project of UFI.

To specifically designate your contribution

If you would like to designate your contribution 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.

Thank you in advance for your generous support!

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United Families International PO Box 2630 Gilbert, AZ 85299-2630
Phone: (480) 632-5450 • FAX: (480) 892-4417

  
     
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