It happened... the unthinkable, the wrong, the outrageous.

An openly gay judge in San Francisco ruled that the votes and values of over 7 million Californians were to be thrown in the dustbin like so many pieces of dirty paper, that his imperial will trumps the voice of the people.

We expected this outcome, because Judge Walker has telegraphed his bias loud and clear.  But the sheer audacity, the sheer ego mania of the decision is startling. One judge versus the all of the voters of California, plus the 30 other states that have voted directly to protect marriage. One judge against the simple common sense notion that it takes a man and a woman to make a marriage.  And he thinks that this will be the end of it....

But he's wrong.  Very wrong.  We will fight back, and we will win! This case is no doubt going to the Supreme Court and the National Organization for Marriage will continue to give generously to the Proposition 8 Legal Defense Fund.  We've already given $100,000. We were the largest single donor to Proposition 8 and the successful efforts in Maine, New York and New Jersey to protect marriage. But now we're in the fight of our lives.

Will your right to vote be trampled in the dirt by a San Francisco judge or will you stand and fight?  That's the only question you need to answer right now.

It's up to you.  Our victories in California, Maine, New Jersey, and New York were based on your willingness to provide the resources necessary to fight the good fight.  Someone else is not going to do this for you.  We're up against a cadre of gay marriage advocates and millionaires and have been repeatedly outspent.  But we've won because of you.

And we're now in for the fight of our lives.  This decision threatens to overturn marriage not only in California, but throughout this great nation.  Imagine one judge dictating to every state that they don't have the right to vote on marriage.  Judge Walker is right that this is a civil rights question, it's a question of our civil rights!

Will you give $25, $50, $100, or even $500 dollars to support our efforts in California and throughout the country? Click here to make your gift right now.

We'll keep giving you updates as the appeal progresses, and are right now in the middle of our national Summer for Marriage tour, launched in anticipation of this very decision.  We're reaching out to hundreds of thousands of Americans to take a stand for marriage.  We'll fight this in the courts and in Congress, but we need your help right now.

Please give and send this message to five of your friends today.  We can't wait.  We need your support now.

God bless you for your willingness to take a stand and fight for our civil rights.  This is going to be a long haul.  But we know that we are called to fight with everything in our being for the great truth that marriage is the union of a man and a women. We will never waver.

We ask you to do the same.  Please give generously now in this time of great need.

-Brian