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Defend Marriage Newsletter
December, 2005

In this issue:


An Important Development in the Worldwide Fight to Defend Marriage

Dear Friend of the Family,

I would like to preface Richard Wilkins’ message in this issue of the newsletter to say a few words about him.

One of the many benefits of serving as President of UFI is the opportunity I have to work with and get to know some truly remarkable and dedicated people. Richard Wilkins is one of those at the top of that list.

I first met Richard in Geneva in 1999 at the First World Congress of Families, an event he helped organize. Since then, I have had numerous opportunities to work with him at various meetings and conferences and especially during the past two years that he has served as the Chairman of UFI’s Defend Marriage Project. Like everyone else who has ever worked with him, I am continually impressed by Richard’s intellect, scholarship, energy, courage, wisdom, ability to work effectively with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds and his complete dedication to defending marriage, the family and family values wherever they are threatened.

Richard’s accomplishments are far too numerous to even list briefly here. Let me take note of just one, the Doha Declaration adopted at the Doha International Conference for the Family held a year ago in Doha, Qatar. For those of us concerned about defending the family and family values at the international level, the Doha Declaration is one of the most important documents in recent decades.

This is because the Doha Declaration clearly and emphatically reaffirms many of the positive pro-family international policy positions adopted by the United Nations over the years. It is these positions which some UN entities have been ignoring in recent years. The result has been serious undermining of the family and family values around the world. Richard played an important role in assisting the State of Qatar, and Her Highness Sheikha Moza, in making the Doha conference successful.

In his message below, Richard announces that he is taking a two year professional development leave of absence from his teaching duties as a professor of constitutional law to launch the Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development as its first Managing Director. The creation of this institute is one of the outgrowths of the Doha conference with the intent that it would help keep these pro-family UN positions in the forefront of international activities. With Richard at the helm, the Institute certainly will become an important and valuable asset in the fight to defend marriage and the family around the world.

I am equally pleased to announce that while his role will change somewhat, Richard will continue to serve as the Chairman of our Defend Marriage Project. His advice and insights have been invaluable and we are pleased that we will continue to benefit from them.

Sincerely,

Sharon Slater
President

New Challenges, New Opportunities to Defend Marriage

Dear Defender of Marriage,

Starting in January, I will be taking a two year leave of absence from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University to become the first Managing Director of the Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development

I am assuming this position at the personal request of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Al-Missned, Consort of His Highness the Emir of Qatar and President of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, State of Qatar. The Institute is an academic center situated within the City of Learning in Doha, sponsored by Her Highness Sheikha Moza and the Qatar Foundation. The Sheika is emerging as one of the most powerful and effective defenders of marriage and the family in the world. Her sponsorship of the Institute gives it the potential to become an increasingly valuable asset in that effort.

In many ways, this was not an easy decision. Although I have worked for the past eight years to strengthen marriage and family internationally, the need to defend marriage and family in the United States is increasingly pressing. It is also difficult to leave friends, family and colleagues to move half-way around the world. My capable friend Dr. Scott Loveless, however, has agreed to take over the helm at the World Family Policy Center and continue the Center’s important academic work. My wife, Melany, and my son, Rex, have agreed to pack their bags and embark on a new adventure. And so, in early January, we will move to Doha.

The Institute will encourage the development and implementation of practical programs to help families throughout the world by engaging in cooperative research and policy analysis efforts with Universities, study centers and national governments; supporting projects which (a) promote high-quality family scholarship and (b) the development of practical programs consistent with The Doha Declaration; developing a cooperative network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and governmental partners to implement policy proposals of the Institute; developing media programs and initiatives consistent with the Calls for Action in the Doha Declaration; and attending carefully selected international negotiations to present high-quality evidence and materials supporting national and international policies consistent with the Doha Declaration.

As you can see, my efforts for the next two years will focus primarily on developing an international network of scholars, NGOs and government leaders who will support the statement in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (and the Doha Declaration) that the “family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society.” Article 16(3). Nevertheless, at the same time, I will continue to support efforts in the United States to preserve and strengthen marriage – including initiatives to amend state and federal constitutional provisions.

Family, marriage, parenthood and childhood have become issues of international law – law that stretches down into local communities in the United States and throughout the world. Thus, while I will be in Doha, the challenge before us remains the same: defending marriage and the family. All efforts – whether before a local school board, county commission, state legislature, the U.S. Congress or an international negotiation – are inextricably linked. What happens in your neighborhood may have an effect on what will happen next at UN Headquarters in Geneva and New York.

I look forward to continuing, as best I can, the much-needed effort to reinvigorate the right of all children, at home and throughout the world, to be raised by a father and a mother

Sincerely,

Richard G. Wilkins
Chairman, Defend Marriage Project

News Items of Interest

National News
  • Senate Subcommittee Reports Federal Marriage Amendment

    The Constitution Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee has reported a federal marriage constitutional amendment to the full Judiciary Committee. This action sets the stage for likely committee action and consideration by the full Senate early in the second session of Congress which starts in January. The amendment passed on a straight party line vote, with Republican Senators Brownback, Specter, Graham, Cornyn and Coburn voting for it and Democrats Feingold, Kennedy, Feinstien and Durbin voting against it.
    Article here.
     
  • Massachusetts Marriage Supporters Gather More Than Enough Amendment Signatures

    • Supporters of a state constitutional amendment to put a marriage amendment before the voters have gathered far more than enough signatures to begin that process. The coalition of pro-marriage groups submitted more than 170,000 signatures, of which about 147,000 were validated. Less than 66,000 valid signatures were needed. The coalition of groups and marriage supporters in the commonwealth had abandoned the amendment passed by the state legislature last year which defined marriage but also provided for domestic partnerships. Instead, they are pushing this amendment which deals exclusively with marriage to reverse the Goodridge court decision that imposed same-sex “marriage” two years ago. The amendment will require the assent of only 25% of the legislature in the next two sessions to go on the 2008 ballot. Article here.

  • New York Court Upholds Marriage

    By a 4-1 ruling a New York state appellate court overturned a lower court ruling that had found that the state’s ban on same sex marriage was unconstitutional. Significantly, the appellate court in its decision also found that the state had a legitimate and rational interest in limiting marriage to the union of only a man and a woman. Courts in Massachusetts, Washington and elsewhere have found that there is no rational state interest in preserving traditional marriage. The New York appellate court also noted that any change in the law regarding same sex couples should come from the legislature, not the courts. Article here.
     
  • New Hampshire Legislative Commission Rejects Same-Sex "Marriage"

    A special New Hampshire commission created by the state legislature to study the issue of same sex “marriage” has recommended a state constitutional amendment to ban it in that state. The commission was created following the Goodridge decision in neighboring Massachusetts legalizing same-sex marriage in that state. The commission based its recommendation to the state legislature based on a number of findings, including that married heterosexual couples make the best parents and that same-sex marriage is not a civil right because homosexuality is not an innate characteristic. Article here.
    “Commission Report on Same-Sex Civil Marriages” here.

International News

  • South African Court Orders Same-Sex "Marriage"

    On December 1st, the South African Constitutional Court, the highest in the land, ordered the government to legalize same-sex “marriage” and provided a one year deadline to do so. The court found in a unanimous ruling that the prohibition on same-sex marriage violated the 1995 Constitution’s prohibition against discrimination on the basis of ‘sexual orientation.’ South Africa would become the fifth nation to take this action, joining Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Canada. Article here.
    •  

  • Britain Begins Registration of "Civil Partnerships"

    On December 5th, Britain began registering “civil partnerships” which give same sex couples many of the benefits of marriage. A 15 day waiting period is required before the partnerships can become legal. Parliament passed a law last year to provide for this recognition. Article here.
     
  • Commentary: How Legalized Same-Sex Marriage is Changing Canada
     
    Minneapolis Star Tribune writer Katherine Kersten surveys how the recent legalization of same sex marriage in Canada is radically changing that country. She notes that “Some people argue that same-sex marriage wouldn't change anybody else's marriage but merely expand the institution to provide equal rights for all. Canada made same-sex marriage the law of the land in June. What's happened there in recent months suggests a different story.” 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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