Defend Marriage: Newsletter

In this issue:

“California Bill Could Harm Marriage Nationwide”
Your Contribution Urgently Needed to Help Stop AB 19 in California!
California Legislative Action on Same-Sex Marriage
Oregon Court Nullifies 3,000 Same-sex “Marriages”
Connecticut Adopts Civil Union Bill
New Round of Senate Marriage Hearings
Tennessee ACLU Sues to Keep Marriage Amendment Off the Ballot
South Carolina Marriage Amendment Will be on 2006 Ballot

Dear Defender of Marriage;

Sharon Slater, President No matter where in the nation we live, all of us concerned about marriage must help stop a very bad anti-marriage bill now moving in the California legislature.

AB-19, which would legalize same-sex marriage in California, was reported in late April by the State Assembly’s Judiciary Committee. If it passes, it would mark the first time that any legislature in this country will have legalized same-sex marriage.

That would hurt our efforts to defend marriage in all states as well as the effort to pass a federal marriage amendment.

The problem would be the impact it would have on public opinion. In Massachusetts, the only state where it is legal, same-sex marriage was imposed by four unelected judges. If a state legislature were to legalize same-sex marriage, however, the homosexual activists would use that to make it appear that there is majority public support for same-sex marriage, even though exactly the opposite is true. This is precisely why they are pushing it in California and looking for other states in which to do so as well.

We can all imagine how the liberal media would spin the story of a state legislature legalizing same-sex marriage. At the very least, this reporting would confuse many people across the country.

All of us, whether we live in California or elsewhere, must do whatever we can to prevent AB-19 from passing.

This PR spin from the legislature passing this bill would be particularly outrageous because doing so would so clearly be contrary to the will of the people of California. By a vote of nearly 2 to 1 just four and a half years ago, they adopted Proposition 22 which states that “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

That should have been clear enough, but the way Assembly and Senate districts have been drawn in California, the legislature is much more liberal than the people of that state and so they think they can largely ignore the majority. (In fact, one of Gov. Schwarzenegger’s major initiatives is to get those district boundaries redrawn to be more representative.)

We should take no comfort in the fact that AB 19 is almost certainly unconstitutional because it attempts to overturn by legislation a ballot initiative passed by the people. Nor should we feel encouraged about reports that the governor might veto the bill if it does pass.

These are not relevant because the damage would come with passage by the legislature regardless of whether it is eventually overturned. The supporters of AB 19 are far more interested in this PR “hit” than they are in actually legalizing same sex marriage. That is what we have to stop them from achieving.

Of course, the major responsibility for stopping AB 19 must fall to the people of California. Only they can influence their legislators to vote against it. Through our Defend Marriage Project and our California chapter, United Families International has been working to stop this bill, including testifying against it at the Judiciary hearings.

But those of us who do not live in California can and must help as well because marriage everywhere will also be adversely affected if it passes.

The first thing everyone can do is to contact anyone you know in California and alert them to the problem and urge them to get involved. An easy way to do this is to forward this e-mail on to them. Send them to our California chapter Web site, www.unitedfamiliescalifornia.org to sign up for the free e-mail alerts that will keep them informed and suggest specific things they can do to help.

The other critical thing I hope you will do is to make the most generous financial contribution you can to help us defeat AB 19. California is a huge state and those pushing AB 19 are very well organized and very well financed. They also have most of the media in the state on their side. If we are to be successful, we need money to support a grass roots lobbying effort that goes directly to the people through regular mail, e-mail and telephoning as well as direct lobbying in Sacramento.

This situation in California is so serious that for the next week we are going to earmark all contributions to our Defend Marriage Project to go to support our California chapter in its efforts to stop AB 19. This is the first time we have done that. Instructions on how to contribute securely on line or by mail are included below.

Thank you for your efforts to defend marriage wherever you live and especially for any support you can give to help in California.

Sincerely,

Sharon Slater
President, United Families International

Your Contribution Urgently Needed to Help Stop AB 19 in California!

AB 19, a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, is moving in the California legislature. If it passes it would be a blow to our efforts to defend marriage in other states as well as nationally. It would be the first time same-sex marriage would have been legalized by a legislature rather than imposed by unelected judges.

We must do everything we can to stop this bad anti-marriage bill.

California is a very large state and those who are pushing for passage of AB 19 are very well funded and very well organized. We are making a nationwide appeal for contributions for our California Chapter, United Families California, to help them stop AB 19. They need funds to build grass roots opposition as well as to lobby against the bill in Sacramento.

For the next week, we are taking the unprecedented step of allocating all contributions to our Defend Marriage Project to support this effort in California.

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.

If you would like to designate your contribution to go entirely to our 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. Between now and May 18th all contributions to our Defend Marriage Project will be earmarked to help defeat bill AB 19.

Thank you for your support!

News Items of Interest

California Legislative Action on Same-Sex Marriage
The Assembly’s Judiciary Committee on April 26th voted to report AB 19, a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in California. It is similar to AB 1967 in reported by the committee in the last legislature and passed on a 6 -3 party line vote. Critics, including the counsel to the legislature, have concluded that the bill is probably unconstitutional since it seeks to overturn legislatively Proposition 22 adopted by the voters in 2000. Proposition 22 states that only the union of a man and a woman will be recognized as a valid marriage in California. Article here.

In response to a San Francisco judge declaring that the state’s prohibition on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, pro-marriage groups are beginning the push for a state constitutional amendment. Hearings will be held on May 9th in both the Assembly and the House on versions of such an amendment. Proponents admit they have little chance to get a bill through the liberal legislature and are also preparing to put it on the ballot by initiative. Article here.
Oregon Court Nullifies 3,000 Same-sex “Marriages”
The Oregon Supreme Court has nullified more than 3,000 same-sex marriages licensed by Multnomah County. The court stated clearly that the county had no authority to ignore Oregon law that limits marriage to a man and a woman. The court made the decision without having to depend on the state constitutional amendment adopted by the voters last November. Article here.
Connecticut Adopts Civil Union Bill
Amid much media hype, Connecticut enacted a same-sex civil union bill that also defines marriage in the state as only the union of a man and a woman. While widely touted as the first state to legislate civil unions, in fact the bill is not much different in its application than “domestic partnership” legislation already enacted in several states such as California. The marriage amendment was included at the insistence of Gov. Jodi Rell. Article here.
New Round of Senate Marriage Hearings
Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, newly named chair of the Senate Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee, kicked off the first of a series of hearings on marriage on April 13th. The purpose of the hearings, he said, determine how to protect the traditional definition of marriage as the union that is "increasingly at risk from an activist judiciary determined to run roughshod over... the will of the people." These hearings are widely seen as the first steps leading to Senate consideration of a federal marriage amendment. Article here.
Tennessee ACLU Sues to Keep Marriage Amendment Off the Ballot

The Tennessee ACLU chapter has filed suit to keep the states marriage amendment off the ballot. The suit alleges that the proposed amendment was not published for the public the required six months before the election. Article here.
South Carolina Marriage Amendment Will be on 2006 Ballot

The South Carolina House approved a state constitutional marriage amendment by voice vote to put it on the 2006 ballot. The Senate had already approved the amendment by a 36-1 vote. It is expected to be adopted easily. Article here.

Want to help even more?

Please forward this on to others who may be willing to help defend marriage and the family.

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