In this issue:
- "Traditional Marriage: Protect It, or Lose It"
- New York Court Unanimously Upholds Marriage
- Wisconsin Will Vote on Marriage Amendment in November
- Tennessee Judge Rules Marriage Amendment Can Go on Ballot
- French Government Report Defends Traditional Marriage and the Family
- More on the Decline of Marriage in Europe by Stanley Kurtz
- Weak Defense of State Marriage Laws by Attorneys General is a Growing Problem
- Marriage Opponents' Battle Plan Revealed
- We Urgently Need Your Financial Support to Help Us Defend Marriage
Traditional Marriage: Protect It, or Lose It
Dear
Defender of Marriage,
Two recent news items provide important lessons on how we can either protect traditional marriage in the United States or how we can lose this critical fight. Both are highlighted and linked below.
The first item is a report issued by the special commission
of the French Parliament that spent more than a year investigating,
holding hearings and even conducting fact finding trips to countries
that have made drastic changes in their family laws, particularly
in the area of same-sex "marriage" and adoption.
The commission's controversial findings have electrified
the debate on these issues. They strongly recommended
that France not legalize same-sex "marriage,"
not permit same-sex adoption, and not allow
what they call "medically assisted procreation"
for homosexual couples. They made these recommendations
"to affirm and protect children's rights and the
primacy of those rights over adults' aspirations."
The second is a "must read" article entitled "Marriage Blitz" which reveals the battle plan developed by homosexual activists and their allies in response to their stunning string of setbacks in the 2004 election cycle when 13 states adopted state marriage constitutional amendments. The article lays out their strategy to drastically redefine marriage by achieving legalization and widespread public acceptance of same-sex "marriage."
While the article is clearly written with a liberal bias it provides valuable insights that we ignore at our peril. Several things especially struck me.
The first is the time frame for their strategy, at least 15 years. We have always known that defending marriage will be a protracted struggle and this is just further evidence. We too need to have a long term plan if we are to save marriage.
Second is the emphasis on one-on-one contacts to change public attitudes in their favor. They have set a goal to reach millions of Americans one-on-one, which experts agree is the most effective means of public education. We need to do the same. Each of us can and must influence and educate our own family, friends, work associates and others.
The third item is money. They are raising and are prepared to spend millions of dollars in this campaign. We must also be willing to fund the defense of marriage more generously than we have in the past.
Fourth is their determination to begin playing political "hardball." This will entail campaigning for and against candidates, more pointed political messages, more coordination politically with their friends and allies including those in the media and generally being more aggressive than they have been in the past. Here, too, we must be prepared to counter these efforts.
Fifth is their commitment to take an incremental approach, attempting to make progress by chipping away at critical laws and passing others whenever possible as part of supporting this larger strategy. We have already seen this in a variety of areas, from pushing pro-homosexual sex education in our schools to adding "sexual orientation" to state and local hate crimes and non-discrimination statutes and filing court challenges to constitutional marriage provisions being adopted in state constitutions. Here we must be prepared to defend wherever such attacks occur and go on the offense whenever possible.
The French commission correctly stated that those who are trying to radically redefine marriage are doing it in pursuit of "adult aspirations" to benefit their own small group. They reached their conclusions on marriage and adoption because they set as the criteria for their recommendations what would be best for children and society and in doing so, they have illustrated once again how we will win this fight. We need only educate enough people about what is truly at stake and they will come to the same conclusion. When they do, it will not matter how much the opponents of marriage spend, how many people they meet with one-on-one or how much political hardball they try to play. We will win, and by winning, we will insure a better future for our children and future generations.
Studying the battle plan of our opposition, however, shows us that to continue to win we will have to do this education more aggressively, more effectively and for a longer time than many people had expected.
Sincerely,
Sharon Slater
President
News Items of Interest
National News- New York Court Unanimously
Upholds Marriage
A New York appellate level court has unanimously upheld the state's prohibition against same-sex individuals marrying. The five judge panel upheld the trial courts ruling supporting the prohibition. In its decision the court recognized what was truly at stake, noting, "We find merit in the defendant's assertion that this case is not simply about the right to marry the person of one's choice, but represents a significant expansion into new territory which is, in reality, a redefinition of marriage." The plaintiffs vowed to appeal to the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, which already has a similar case before it and on which it is expected to rule in the next few months. Article here.
- Wisconsin Will Vote on
Marriage Amendment in November
By a vote of 62-31 on February 28th, the Wisconsin State Assembly voted to send the state constitutional marriage amendment to the voters in November. Article here.
- Tennessee Judge Rules Marriage
Amendment Can Go on Ballot
A lower court judge in Tennessee has ruled that the state gave adequate legal notice of the proposed state constitutional amendment being on the ballot and that it can go before the voters in November. Marriage opponents, represented by the ACLU, immediately appealed the decision to the state supreme court. Article here.
International News
- French Government Report
Defends Traditional Marriage and the Family
A commission of members of the French Parliament has issued a report recommending that France not legalize same-sex "marriage." The commission was formed to examine changes in French law that might be necessary to protect the rights of children and to accommodate changes affecting the family in France. It conducted a year-long investigation, holding extensive hearings inside France and traveling to other countries that have legalized same-sex "marriage" or civil unions. It also recommended against legalizing adoption by homosexuals or permitting "medically-assisted procreation" for homosexual couples. The commission said its recommendations were necessary "to affirm and protect children's rights and the primacy of those rights over adults' aspirations." An article summarizing the report is available here. An English translation of the 33 page Executive Summary is available here.
Some Important Commentary and Analysis
- More on the Decline of
Marriage in Europe by Stanley Kurtz
Author and researcher Stanley Kurtz has added significantly to both the scope and the depth of the public policy debate on defending marriage through his landmark work analyzing the impact of same-sex "marriage" and marriage-like arrangements in Scandinavia and Northern Europe. He makes a further important contribution to the debate with two recent articles, both published in the National Review Online.
One is a response to a detailed critique of his earlier work on the decline of marriage in Scandinavia. It is available here.
The second article examines the steep decline of marriages in the Netherlands following that country's legalization of same-sex unions. Analyzing recent data published by the Dutch government, he concludes that "all signs point to same-sex marriage as a significant causal factor in Dutch marital decline." Article here.
- Weak Defense of State Marriage
Laws by Attorneys General is a Growing Problem
Bill Duncan, Director of the Marriage Law Foundation, highlights a growing problem of some state attorneys general not providing the most "robust" possible defense of their state laws protecting traditional marriage. Using as an example the performance of the New Jersey Attorney General in oral arguments before the New Jersey Supreme Court on the challenge to that state's law, he highlights "the difficulty of defending marriage laws when the attorney general's office has made a strategic decision to deliberately avoid a whole set of arguments for its position." Defenders of marriage have traditionally cited the threat to state marriage laws by activist judges as a major reason to pass constitutional marriage amendments Thanks to Duncan's analysis, we must now add the potential of a weak and inadequate defense of those laws--for whatever reason--by the state official charged with defending them as an additional reason for adopting an amendment. Article here.
- Marriage Opponents'
Battle Plan Revealed
Author E.J. Graff has done defenders of marriage a great service by reporting in some detail on the new battle plan adopted by homosexual activists and their allies to legalize same-sex "marriage" in the United States. Her article, "Marriage Blitz," in the liberal magazine, The American Prospect, reports that following their 13 straight defeats at the polls in 2004 trying to stop state marriage amendments, these activists devised a 15 year plan to turn the tide in their favor. Their plan emphasizes among other things grassroots activism, better coordinated messages, one-on-one contact with voters, lavish funding and a new determination to play political "hardball." It is a must read for defenders of marriage and the family. 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.
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