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Defend Marriage Newsletter
November 9, 2005

In this issue:


A Great Couple of Weeks for Marriage!

It has been a great couple of weeks for marriage!

Yesterday, November 8th, Texas became the 19th state in a row to adopt a state constitutional marriage amendment. Voters in the state turned out in much higher than expected numbers for an off year election and passed the amendment by a 76% to 24% margin.

This margin of victory in Texas was especially significant because anti-marriage groups opposing the amendment staged a massive and particularly deceptive and misleading campaign in their effort to defeat it. Their campaign included a media blitz and telephone calls to more than a million Texas households claiming that the proposed amendment language would do all sorts of terrible things, including nullifying traditional marriages in the state

It turns out that the real practical effect of the amendment opponents’ campaign was to spur outraged amendment supporters to redouble their efforts to turn out pro-marriage voters. Defend Marriage was active in helping turn out these pro-amendment votes in Texas and we certainly thank all of those who voted for this amendment.

In another good sign for defending marriage, it appears that President Bush’s nomination of Judge Samuel Alito, Jr. to replace Harriet Miers is gaining increasing support in the Senate and nationally. Unlike Miers, whose nomination set off a virtual revolt among many conservatives, his nomination is generating almost unanimous support among conservatives and wide support among moderates as well.

Having served on the appeals court for 15 years, Judge Alito has a proven track record as a judicial conservative and a constitutional “originalist” who will refrain from legislating from the bench. He is certainly more conservative than Justice O’Connor whom he will be replacing.

This means that, if confirmed, Judge Alito will help nudge the court back into the mainstream of American history, culture and practice as well as help restore the limited role envisioned for the court by our Constitution and our nation’s founders. Not only will this mean that the Supreme Court will be less likely to “find” a constitutional right to same- sex “marriage” in the near future, but it will also be less likely to hand down rulings which will undermine the family and family values in other areas as well.

Liberals, of course, as expected are lining up to oppose the Alito nomination and getting him confirmed will still be a tough fight. We will be in touch with those of you in key states in the next few weeks to suggest things you can do to encourage your senators to support the Alito nomination.

Passing these state marriage constitutional amendments certainly can stop activist state judges or state legislatures from legalizing same-sex “marriage” or “marriage-like” arrangements such as domestic partnerships or civil unions. And appointing conservative judges to the Supreme Court can also reduce the judicial threat to marriage at the federal level.

But the only certain way to defend marriage in this country is to adopt a federal constitutional amendment and that effort do that is starting once again.

Our Defend Marriage Project Chairman, Professor Richard Wilkins, continues to be in the forefront of the effort to move a federal marriage amendment through Congress. Recently he was one of a handful of national experts invited to testify on the Protect Marriage Amendment in a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee. His testimony is posted here. Just today, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Constitution subcommittee reported the Marriage Protection Amendment to the full committee on a straight party line vote.

The momentum, for now at least, is with those of us who are committed to defending marriage, but it is important to recognize that this is the only happening because of the hard work of many dedicated individuals. If we are going to continue this momentum, we have to continue to work hard to defend marriage.

Sincerely,

Sharon Slater

President

Defend Marriage Project Chairman Richard Wilkins Testifies in Support of Marriage Protection Amendment

Defend Marriage Project Chairman Richard Wilkins was one of a handful of experts invited to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Constitution Subcommittee on the proposed Marriage Protection Amendment.

The subcommittee, chaired by Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, held a series of hearings leading to reporting the proposed amendment, S.J.Res. 1, to the full committee on November 9th. Professor Wilkin’s testimony, both his shorter oral presentation and his longer testimony submitted for the record, is posted here.

News Items of Interest

  • Senate Subcommittee Reports Marriage Protection Amendment on Party Line Vote

    On November 9th the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Constitution Subcommittee reported the Marriage Protection Amendment to the full committee on a 5-4 party line vote with all the Republican members voting to report the bill and the all the Democrats opposing it. Full committee chair Arlen Specter, who does not support the amendment, has stated that he believes that it should none the less be voted on by the full Senate. No article available at press time.
     
  • Texans Overwhelmingly Vote to Defend Marriage

    • By a 76% to 24% margin, Texas voters adopted Proposition 2, the marriage amendment to the state constitution. Turn out in the election was 17% compared to only 12% in 2003, the last off year election and much higher than would be expected. Analysts attribute the higher turn out to the presence of the marriage amendment on the ballot. The turn out was also spurred in part by a backlash among pro-marriage supporters who were outraged at a massive and highly deceptive direct telephoning campaign waged against the amendment by homosexual activists and their allies. Texas becomes the 19th consecutive state to adopt a state constitutional marriage amendment. Article here.

  • Maine Voters Endorse Sexual Orientation Non-descrimination Law

    The third time it has appeared on a statewide ballot, Maine voters by a 56% to 44% chose not to exercise a “people’s veto” over legislation that would add “sexual orientation” to state non-discrimination law. Voters had rejected two similar laws in previous years. The legislation defines sexual orientation as "a person's actual or perceived heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality or gender identity or expression." Article here.
     
  • New Hampshire Panel Rejects Civil Unions in Final Vote

    A state commission organized to study whether to recommend Vermont-style civil unions in that state has rejected that option by a final vote of 8-3. Previously, this same panel had recommended adopting a state constitutional amendment to define marriage as only the union of a man and a woman not to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Article here.
     
  • Oregon Judge Upholds State Marriage Amendment

    An Oregon county judge on November 4th upheld the marriage amendment adopted by voters in 2004. Homosexual activists have filed several technical challenges against the amendment and have vowed to appeal the decision. Article here.
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  • Backlash Building Against Alaska Ruling on Domestic Partners

    Alaska state legislators and the governor are moving to reverse the recent ruling by the Alaska Supreme Court that will require the state to offer benefits to the domestic partners of same-sex employees. Alaska passed one of the first state constitutional marriage amendments in 1998. The governor and legislators are considering pushing another constitutional amendment to reverse the court’s ruling. Article here.
     
  • Vermont Legislators Call on Congress to Extend Federal Recognition for Civil Unions
     
    A majority of Vermont state legislators have signed a letter calling on Congress to extend federal recognition for same-sex individuals who have entered into one of the state’s civil unions equal to the federal recognition now given to marriage. Such recognition would require the repeal or amendment of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Article here.

We Urgently 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. Please consider making a contribution to the Defend Marriage Project 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 in what we will be able to do.

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 to the Defend Marriage Project, simply make 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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