Legalizing gay marriage has consequences for our kids -- and if we don't act now, we'll all have to accept gay marriage "whether we like it or not."
That's the theme of a hard-hitting new radio ad that we're launching today as part of our 2009 Northeast Action Plan, and I wanted you to be one of the first to know about it. We're excited about the ad -- our strongest and most hard-hitting ad yet -- and I think you will be, too.
Click here to listen to the radio ad.
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16 Comments
I'm still waiting for examples of these "consequences." So far it just seems like it makes people uncomfortable, but I'm not really seeing where the "freedoms" are being taken away, or what's unconstitutional. The example in this ad for the consequences of the rise of this issue is the girl says she learned about a "prince marrying a prince" in school and that she can marry a princess.
... That's it? That's the huge consequence on kids? I'm not following. Brian Brown or others, can you help me understand?
I think kids can handle a lot more than people think. I think it's our culture and children's parents that instill prejudice and intolerance for others, not the situation itself.
".. We'll all have to accept gay marriage whether we like it or not." Really? This is the argument? Well, I don't like paying my taxes - can I get out of that one? I don't like that I have to wear clothes in public - should I protest that? Do I think your organization shouldn't be allowed to say what it's saying on this website? Well, I mean, I certainly don't agree, I think you're offending millions of people, and you're spreading a terrible message, but I still grant you the right to your freedom of speech. How about this one: it offends me when Christians celebrate Christmas? Should I protest that? No, because this country has freedom of religion and people have the right to celebrate the holidays they want, and practice the religion they want. They also have the right to commit themselves via marriage to the person they choose.
I think what I'm really not getting is what the big fear is? Because, although there are other things involved here, like intolerance and prejudice, this whole website reeks of fear. Are the people supporting this organization afraid that if their kids learn about gay marriage in schools / growing up that they'll be more likely to be homosexual? Is that what this is all about? I've heard the argument, too, that if homosexuals are allowed to marry, it takes something away from the marriages of heterosexuals? I don't follow that argument, either. Does the heterosexual marriage your neighbors have take something away from the marriage you have?
I feel like there's a disconnect here. How does allowing gay marriage have anything to do with you or your family? What's the fear?
"Kids have enough to deal with already"
Exactly, they do. How are they supposed to discover their true sexuality when their options are limited to the opposite sex? How are they supposed to liberate themselves and become who they really are when "concerned parents" and religious zealots are bullying them into hiding their real selves? I can only imagine the torture some children go through, being told that they must love the opposite sex when they don't really want to.
Congratulations for condemning children to a life as a repressed sexual being.
Legalizing gay marriage will increase the number of openly gay people. Of course it will! Because there are hundreds of thousands of gay people in this country who are repressed on a daily basis through words and through violence. These ads are encouraging violence against gay people and it has brought more than a tear to my eye. Please, please let us move on with society, open our hearts and show pure love and acceptance of every loving human soul for who they really are.
Let us not restrict others freedoms any longer. We live sheltered and repressed lives, dare we pass this on to our children? Our children are the future and they deserve to be freer than us.
I have a question which may come off as argumentative, but I don’t mean it to at all; I’m genuinely curious:
How is it that children are harmed by learning that men can marry men and women can marry women?
What is the specific perceived threat? Is it the fear that it would encourage deviant sexual behavior? That children might grow to believe the sexes are indispensable? Something else?
If someone knows the answer, I’d appreciate if you posted it. I’ve never heard this argument played out to its logical conclusions before. Thanks.
Home schooling, private schooling, parent waiver forms. Need I say more?
Everyone should know that NOM is a front organization for the Mormon Church. I first noticed it when I saw that this website was clearly designed by the same people that designed the Protect Marriage site during the California Prop 8 battle. They didn't even disguise it...
This site tells the full story: http://www.mormongate.com
It is remarkable that my accusation of NOM being a front organization for the Mormon Church has not yet been denied by anyone from the staff. This would leave us with the logical conclusion that this is, indeed true! Is anyone surprised?
Megan -
The reason the argument is never played out is because there is no harmful consequence from kids learning about same-sex marriage. It's a fear-based argument, and fear is always based on the unknown; if people understood the truth, they wouldn't be afraid.
Okay, whoever posted the "homeschooling... blah blah blah blah ..... need i say more?" Are you seriously going to homeschool your child so that they arent "involved with the outside world?" and " not influenced by the outside world?" you people against gay people make me sick. your thoughts are sick, and i cant believe i took my time to post this comment on this stupid site. Marraige is great. but why so against gay marraige? are you afraid about your children???? for christs sake, let them have their own thoughts, and not yours! i tottally agree with James. c'mon, lets continue going fowards, not backwards. backwards will only let us trip on our feet and fall on our face and it will be a disaster.
Some of our citizens are unaware of the phrase “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” used by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence and taken from the writings of British philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) and English jurist William Blackstone (1723-1780). Locke and Blackstone argued that the laws of man must comply with the immutable laws of nature instituted by nature’s God.
Since the writings of Locke and Blackstone greatly influenced the American Revolutionaries and subsequently the framers of our U.S. Constitution, it’s imperative that our laws take into consideration those eight words borrowed by Jefferson that have served as an underpinning for our U.S. Constitution and hence each state’s constitution.
Any fair minded citizen must conclude that homosexual acts do indeed go against “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” Same-sex couples cannot naturally reproduce neither can they engage in sexual intercourse that is compatible to the design of the human body. Therefore, to enact a law that legitimizes any union that runs contrary to “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” will in fact violate this higher law that the framers of our Constitution considered key for the prudent governing of our society.
Why should we or why would we attempt to redefine the time honored definition of marriage and undermine the foundations of our constitutional law? Do we regard ourselves wiser than those who have gone before—those who laid the foundations of the world’s greatest democracy? If through our laws we should validate homosexual unions as a legitimate expression of marriage, then we would indeed go against the wisdom of our nation’s founders.
The majority of California’s voters made the correct call when they passed Proposition 8. They were not overturning some inalienable right granted by our Creator and embraced by our founding Fathers. They were merely upholding “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” And from their writings we may also deduce that Locke, Blackstone and Jefferson would most assuredly agree.
In light of this, one might conclude that when California voters passed Prop 8, it actually served more as a clarification than an amendment to our State’s constitution. We can be certain that it never entered the minds of our founding fathers that marriage would need to be defined as a union between one man and one woman—it was simply a given and to argue otherwise would have seemed ludicrous. California’s Prop 8 only became a necessity because of a militant minority that is attempting to overturn a key principle of American jurisprudence.
John D. McLaughlin
A California Voter
Dan, do you have to post this on every blog? What is it you are afraid of? You think the Mormans are going to come get you?
And why don't you homosexuals start your own website and talk all you want about how wonderful it is to "marry" two men? If you start one, let me know because I want to go over there and blog all over the place. Plus, if it is ok for two men to get "married" I would assume you would agree that there isn't anything wrong with two men and a woman to get "married" right? After all they all love each other.
I would like to say that I support Ms. Prejeans right to speak her beliefs and I am a lesbian. This is a free country and she has every right to speak without reprisal of any sort. Stick to your guns Ms. Pejeans, don't let anyone discourage you.
No on says gays have to stay in the closet. i can be be tolerant... BUT don't try and force your "gayish" behavior on me or my family.
There is no such thing as gay marriage. Marriage is clearly defined biblically. Only amoral persons are trying to redefine marriage for their own selfish , deviant and immoral purposes.
I talked with a man in prison on Wednsday that I had known 2 years ago in county jail, when he felt he could confide in me, he told me he had been a male prostitute for many years. He now says that since our time in bible study at the jail, he has stopped all wrong living and is in prayer and studying his bible every day. He is at peace even though he has a 25 year sentence. He knows God has given him a new life. Praise God for secound chances!
In The year 2009 I dont understand how an American society can put blood on their hands and say its ok.America is supposed to be the land of the free.The right to live a life without discrimination.People who care more about a makebelieve religious crap over Human beings is sickening.
America the home of the Devil and UNEDUCATED.
You do know that your evil thoughts and wants is your ticket for refusal into Heaven..
Have fun in pergatory and HELL..Or will you change that to the New America...
Disgusting and lacks solicitude for our children who are facts of life. This may help you understand how insiduous your stance is.
The fate of California’s same-sex marriage hangs in the balance, as the Justices prepare their ruling on the challenges to the validity of Proposition 8.
In my house of two married moms, we remain overtly safe from this decision as long as it is not declared invalid retroactively. How will I explain that to my children? If the result is not favorable, I am faced with having to inform my children that gay and lesbians are no longer allowed to marry under the law of this State.
The unfairness of being placed in this bewildering wait triggers memories of the pre-Prop 8 fight and my quest to protect my daughters from the worst pain imaginable “your family is not a family!”
My daughter, HC, is as well adjusted as any child; she has been around the world a few times, hence her sophistication belies her short twelve years. She is engaging and endearing and born to lead. Kind, loving and perceptive, when a toddler she earned the name “little Buddha.” A keen, astute student, each year she adores her assigned teachers and tends to hold them in the highest esteem. They are her heroes and in turn she is their delight. This is a kid who never wants to miss school. She loves it!
When the California Court first ruled favorably for same-sex marriage we were the first lesbian couple to be married by our Rabbi, at our congregation temple. My kids had a great time and together with twenty other kids all dressed in white walked down the aisle toward the ‘Chuppah’ in most traditional fashion. It was a big event for our community and family came from around the world. My children were so invested in the wedding as for them it presented a validation and celebration of our little family of four.
Three months of gay marriage and then enter Proposition 8 together with the egregious advertisements facilitated by the millions of hateful dollars sent from Utah’s Mormon community to California, intent on promoting the proposition that would serve to outlaw same-sex marriage. The very idea of it, least of all a yes vote, served to insult our recently acknowledged family.
About two weeks before the November 2008 election and the impending prop 8 vote, HC and I were driving our route to school. We noticed that overnight what used to be one lone “No on Prop 8” on Central Avenue had morphed into a “NO on 8” at each and every home down our neighborhood’s main street. Later we found out that the lone sign outside the home a lesbian mom, kept getting torn down; day after day she would restore the sign until eventually overnight the entire neighborhood put up the NO sign in support of their neighbor. I remember remarking how amazing it was to see everyone in our midst against prop 8.
As we drove through the reasuring tunnel of “no on 8’s,” our comfort was short lived as we exited the micro and entered the macro – yes that nasty world at large reared its beastly head as amidst our usual morning tussle between Stephanie Miller and Radio Disney, an advertisement popped on the radio.
“……and your children will be forced to learn about homosexuality and gays it will be taught in the schools; ….. your churches will be forced to marry them… blah..”
I glanced at my child and noticed an odd expression on her usually placid face, one which I will not easily forget, and she asked, “Mom I don’t get what is wrong with other kids learning about my type of family?” I was stunned! The advertisement had placed a perspective calling for this very question; but why my child? We have lived our lives so openly and relish the good fortunate of our supportive community, where our ‘same-sex-ness’ is the least of our day to day issues.
It was as if HC had received a slap across her face. The advertisement had clearly hurt my child; its viciousness was not something she had been subjected to before. What could be worse than adults lashing out like that at children? It was direct and personal and having heard it before, was not personally outraged as when I realized the irresponsibility and how damaging those lies were to my babies. Now I had to come up with an answer to this ferocious fanaticism. I explained, “Hun, we live in a world where peoples are often the subject of fear on the art of others and so when they are afraid, usually because of ignorance, they lash out in this way. What you heard on that ad, was unfair and contorted, but that is how the people who are against the idea of same-sex marriage think they can get other people to join their way of thinking.” I provided more reassurance as best I could. A few more questions and answers later we arrived at school, and went on with the next two weeks, during which time HC and my four year old accompanied me to various “NO ON 8” rallies; “no on 8, no on 8,” a battle cry still performed by my 4 year old whenever she sees the number 8, whether in the market, at school or in the movies.
So came the vote: The “Yes” win was a shock and a huge upset; I had a lot more explaining to do; “mom is our marriage okay are we still married? (Our marriage is clearly viewed by my kids as a family event!) Then came one of the saddest moments in my life, on the day after the election, when HC came home from school and told me that her class teacher had told the group she had voted for John McCain. Living in Marin County California, I do believe the kids found this quite odd, and I explained we all have the right to vote as we choose. But then she announced, “Mom it is sooo weird Mrs. Ray also told the class that she voted “yes” on Prop 8; but I think she must have been just joking!” Well long story short, she was not joking – and my child was completely and utterly shattered. Trying to hide her emotions for the next three weeks, I noticed a big change. She was not so keen about school. In fact after a week with a substitute teacher she came home devastated that he was leaving. I realized it was less about the loss of the sub teacher and more about Mrs. Ray’s return.
Despite my promise to HC to keep hush, “I flew like a bat out of hell” to see the Principal, who, ironically an “out” lesbian, was not surprised to see me show up on the issue; she mentioned that I was the fourth parent to complain about this lack of discretion on the part of the teacher. I explained that my child was extremely conflicted in trying to reconcile her respect and admiration for her teacher with her love and pride for her family. My child moved classroom and she adores her new teacher.
Fortunately, HC is back to being her happy self, but a deep and profound wound has been inflicted on her free and safe spirit. If proposition 8 is upheld by the pending judicial decision, I truly believe that my child will suffer more emotional harm, through the perceived aberration of her family. It is so unjust and so unfair. Our children do not deserve to be the political pawns of the divisive and fearful bigots and religious right in our country. We are family values and we are entitled to equality. My children are facts of life and they cannot be relegated to some second class category that diminishes us as a family. As a Mom I vow to carry on fighting for the sameness my babies, by virtue of their very existence deserve.
I have to show my child that our family is worth fighting for and that anything short of complete equality is simply not good enough. I think this story illustrates the far reaching effects of de jure disqualification and the de facto reality of inequality. Whether we receive equal rights or not, nothing will derogate from the fact that we are here; us, our wives and our kids and nothing can or will ever change that simple fact.
Until such time as DOMA disappears, Prop 8 ditched- every US State allows gay marriage -our children will be marginalized as my daughter was when her teacher basically told her –‘You are not the same – you are not entitled.’
Fake Name and Megan ask for evidence of adverse consequences for children if their lives hereafter are set adrift with sexual ambiguity after redefining marriage --the sex-blinding it for SSM same-sex marriage?
SSM is not meant only to comfort an invisible, tiny minority. SSM clearly launches a full attack on sexual normalcy --attempting judically to establish homosexuality's "equality" (sameness?) with straight sex. And so Calif.'s Supreme Ct. held in May 2008 --'till Prop. 8 reversed it.
But shouldn't the burden of proof weigh on proponents of social experiments this radical?
Prove that it's harmless!!