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Category Archives: Events

Photos: Hundreds Rally to Protect Marriage in Illinois!

May 6, 2013 – 11:15 am

Here are some photos of the large pro-marriage rallies that took place in Illinois over the weekend at the offices of wavering Illinois Representatives:

Please contact your Representatives in Illinois and continue to help spreading the word!

By NOM Staff | Posted in Events, Illinois, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (6)

LSN: March for Marriage Planned in D.C. as Supreme Court Hears SSM Case

March 5, 2013 – 12:00 pm

LifeSiteNews:

On March 26, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Hollingsworth v. Perry case, which will determine if Proposition 8 – the 2008 ballot initiative protecting traditional marriage in California – is constitutional or not.

Their decision will have grave implications for the entire nation. A decision against Prop 8 would set a precedent for overturning the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and any other state restrictions on same-sex ‘marriage.’ A separate case concerning DOMA is set to be heard the following day.

As the justices begin their deliberations on what has become a defining issue of our time, supporters of traditional marriage are planning to march on the Court. The “March for Marriage,” which will take place on Tuesday March 26, is being organized by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM).

Thomas Peters, spokesman for NOM, says the March will start at the National Mall, then proceed to the Supreme Court building and back.

“The purpose [of the march] is to show that the American people are strongly supportive of the only institution that ties mothers and fathers to their children and vice versa,” said Peters. “[W]e've got a large coalition of African-American pastors, of pro-family organizations [and] various other church groups.”

One of those organizations is Human Life International (HLI), a Catholic group that fights for traditional marriage and pro-life, pro-family causes worldwide.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Events, March for Marriage, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage, Supreme Court | Comments Off

Amazing Video: Hundreds of Thousands Rally for Marriage in Puerto Rico!

February 21, 2013 – 11:30 am

Our earlier post containing one photo from this week's rally to protect marriage in Puerto Rico did not do the crowds justice. This panorama video taken during the rally shows the massive numbers and energy in the crowd!

We are part of something big! Learn more about our March 26 march to protect marriage at MarriageMarch.org.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Events, March for Marriage, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments Off

More than 3,000 Lobby to Protect Marriage in Illinois!

February 21, 2013 – 8:00 am

Thank you to all of our supporters who joined the Defend Marriage Lobby Day in Springfield!

The Journal Star:

"...“Defend Marriage Lobby Day,” the event that bought the Grace Presbyterian contingent to Springfield, attracted more than 3,000 people, according to David E. Smith, executive director of Illinois Family Institute, based in Carol Stream, the event’s main organizer.

About five busloads from the Peoria area, including two organized by the Catholic Diocese of Peoria, attended.

... Brian Elsasser of Princeville, a Peoria County Board member who rode on one of the buses organized by the Peoria diocese, said, “I pray and I love all humankind, no matter what they do. But that doesn’t give us the right to take an institution, which was ordained by God, and change it in Illinois.”

... Bethany Baptist Church, Germantown Hills Baptist Church and Dayton Avenue Baptist Church also were among the local churches that organized trips to the lobby day.

Please continue to contact your representatives and urge them to vote NO on same-sex marriage!

By NOM Staff | Posted in Events, Illinois, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments Off

Between 120,000-200,000 Rally to Protect Marriage in Puerto Rico!

February 19, 2013 – 2:30 pm

Puerto Rico is ardently pro-marriage! George Will writes that "91% oppose same-sex marriage".

The entire population of Puerto Rico is three-and-a-half million, so about 5% of the total population rallied to show their support for marriage:

Between 120,000 and 200,000 people blanketed the Capitol Building in San Juan, Puerto Rico, today to encourage the island's lawmakers to defend marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Bearing signs stating “Puerto Rico stands up to defend the family,” tens of thousands of protesters called on the ruling Popular Democratic Party to turn back any measure that would redefine the family unit.

The crowd represented a significant turnout on island of three-and-a-half million. “Traffic was snarled for miles leading toward the San Jun islet as buses packed with marchers headed toward the north side of the Capitol,” according to the Puerto Rican-based Caribbean Business.

Organized in just three weeks, the cresting crowds represented people of different religious backgrounds, as well as denominations ranging from Pentecostal, Baptist, Catholic, and Disciples of Christ. (LifeSiteNews)

You can learn more about our upcoming March for Marriage at the official website and on Facebook.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Events, Marriage, News, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (6)

VICTORY: Chick-Fil-A Sales Up $500 Million as 96 New Locations Open

February 1, 2013 – 12:30 pm

THANK YOU to everyone who participated in our Chick-Fil-A Appreciation program! Your efforts help demonstrate to Americans of good will that pro-marriage business owners have a right to their beliefs and we have a right to support them!

Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy’s controversial comments on “biblical” marriage last summer and the uproar that followed didn’t dampen the Atlanta company’s annual sales.

The fast food giant, the nation’s second-largest chicken chain, ended 2012 with $4.6 billion in sales — up 14 percent from $4.1 billion a year earlier. The company also opened 96 news stores, four more than the year before.

The company does not have to publicize financial results because it is privately owned. It made revenue and store growth figures available at the request of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Supporters of Cathy’s views against gay marriage and his right to express them hailed the numbers as a victory, saying a summer boycott of the chain by backers of gay marriage failed. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

By NOM Staff | Posted in Chick-fil-A, Corporate Ethics, Events | Comments (8)

BCN: Nearly One Million March for Marriage in Paris

January 17, 2013 – 11:30 am

Actually, event organizers peg the attendance at over 1,000,000:

World Congress of Families (WCF) hailed Sunday's march for traditional, natural marriage in Paris. WCF Managing Director Larry Jacobs commented: "Hundreds of thousands marched in Paris yesterday, in bitterly cold temperatures, to oppose plans by President Francois Hollande to force a bill legalizing so-called same-sex marriage through the parliament. Yesterday's march, supported by the French Catholic hierarchy, was an impassioned outpouring in defense of marriage, children, and the natural family. It demonstrates, once again, that the push for 'same-sex marriage' is driven by elites and rejected by the overwhelming majority of families worldwide."

...Jacobs concluded: "We congratulate the organizers of the Paris march and declare our solidarity with efforts to defend natural marriage in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and wherever such efforts are underway. Just as the campaign to undermine marriage . . . is international in scope, the defense of natural marriage must stretch across national boundaries to embrace families everywhere." (Breaking Christian News)

By NOM Staff | Posted in Europe, Events, France, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (1)

Hundreds of Thousands Rally to Protest Same-Sex Marriage in Paris

January 13, 2013 – 10:35 am

Reuters:

Several hundred thousand people are expected to march through Paris on Sunday against the planned legalisation of same-sex marriage in the first mass protest against the unpopular President Francois Hollande.

Strongly backed by the Catholic hierarchy, lay activists have mobilised a hybrid coalition of church-going families, political conservatives, Muslims, evangelicals and even homosexuals opposed to gay marriage for the show of force.

So many are expected to converge on Paris from around France that police had organisers split it into three separate columns starting from different points around the city and meeting in the Champ de Mars park at the Eiffel Tower.

... Gay marriage opponents such as Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, head of the Catholic Church in France, have asked why Hollande is pushing through a divisive social reform called "marriage for all" when voters seem more concerned about "jobs for all."

Vingt-Trois spearheaded the opposition with a critical sermon in August. Other faith leaders -- Muslim, Jewish, Protestant and Orthodox Christian -- soon spoke out too.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Events, France, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (6)

Biggest French March in Support of Marriage to Take Place This Sunday!

January 10, 2013 – 10:00 am

The largest pro-marriage demonstration to date in France is schedule to take place this Sunday!

Here's a rough English translation of one of the rally posters (below):

"THE RALLY FOR ALL -"All born from one man and one woman - Call to all citizens and elected official against the project of law "Marriage and adoption for all [same-sex couples]" - Daddy and Mommy, there is nothing better for a child"

This is an interactive map for people coming by buses, trains or who are flying (in case you have friends and relatives in France or nearby who wish to attend).

Here is an article in a magazine called The Christian Family promoting the rally translated into English by Google.

Here is a link for buying items promoting the campaign. Products were sold out when we last checked the link!

Meanwhile, a French version of the "Marriage = Biology, Not Bigotry" video has been viewed over 70,000 times and has 2-1 Likes over Dislikes.

These are all encouraging signs of a strong, diverse and grassroots pro-marriage movement in France!

By NOM Staff | Posted in Events, France, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (2)

Today: Watch the Authors of What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense

January 7, 2013 – 1:00 pm

You can watch this event online here at 12:30PM Tuesday (today):

What Is Marriage?
Man and Woman: A Defense

Featuring authors--

Sherif Girgis
Ph.D. Student, Princeton University and J.D. Candidate, Yale Law School

Ryan T. Anderson
William E. Simon Fellow in Religion and a Free Society, The Heritage Foundation

Robert P. George
McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University

Until recently, no society had questioned whether marriage would be anything other than a male-female union. What Is Marriage? identifies and defends the reasons for this historic consensus and shows why redefining civil marriage is unnecessary, unreasonable, and contrary to the common good. What Is Marriage? answers common objections: that the historic view of marriage is rooted in bigotry; that it is callous to people’s needs; or that it can’t show the harm of recognizing same-sex couplings.

Originally published in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, the book’s core argument quickly became the year’s most widely read essay on the most prominent scholarly network in the social sciences. Since then, it has been cited and debated by scholars and activists throughout the world as the most formidable defense of the tradition ever written. Join us as authors Sherif Girgis, Ryan T. Anderson, and Robert P. George discuss what marriage is, why it matters, and how to talk about it.

You can order the book here.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Debating Marriage, Events, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments Off

French Organizers of Marriage Marchers Expect Crowds of 350,000; Have Already Rallied Far More Than Opposition

December 23, 2012 – 9:00 am

LifeSiteNews on the next wave of major national demonstrations in France in favor of protecting marriage:

Organizers of the first nationwide demonstration against same-sex “marriage” in Paris on January 13th say they hope to bring together over 350,000 people. If they succeed, it would make the event one of the most important rallies in the French capital since a giant march in favor of freedom of education in 1984 mobilized over a million people.

But controversy has broken out in more traditional quarters against the general tone of the “Manif pour tous,” the “demonstration for all.” “Marriage for all” is the slogan French president François Hollande is using to promote the draft same-sex “marriage” law.

So far, pro-marriage demonstrations in France have outnumbered pro-SSM demonstrations by about 209,800 to 178,000.

See the image below -- when they are two numbers, the lower # is from the official police estimate and the higher # is from the organizers:

By NOM Staff | Posted in Events, France, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage, United for Marriage | Comments (19)

Video of the Massive Pro-Marriage French Rallies

December 1, 2012 – 9:00 am

As we reported earlier, hundreds of thousands of pro-marriage Frenchmen and women have gathered to protest the planned redefinition of marriage in France.

As this video shows, they chant slogans such as "Family is sacred, we must respect it" and "France has work to do, no to homosexual marriage."

By NOM Staff | Posted in Events, France, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (19)

LSN: 200,000-500,000 Rally Against Gay Marriage in France

November 20, 2012 – 11:45 am

LifeSiteNews reports on a second, and far larger rally for marriage in France!

Hundreds of thousands of traditional marriage supporters demonstrated against same-sex “marriage” in France over the weekend.

On Saturday, a nationwide rally drew an estimated 200,000 protesters in Paris according to organizers, with tens of thousands more attending rallies throughout the country.

Almost 30,000 traditional marriage supporters demonstrated in the city of Lyon, according to a Reuters report. Police there reported that 40 counter-protesters were arrested after they attempted to disrupt the rally.

Police in Toulouse reported that tear gas was used to break up a group of homosexual activists who tried to interfere with the gathering of five thousand traditional marriage supporters.

Le Parisien reports that between 6,000 and 8,000 people demonstrated in Marseille, proving that, as one blogger quipped, “there are more than just drug dealers in the beleaguered city.”

Marseille police said they used tear gas against counter-demonstrators who unfurled a banner that read, “Your model of society is dead, welcome to Sodom and Gomorrha,” and hurled insults at the traditional marriage demonstrators.

Saturday’s demonstrations were endorsed by leaders of the of the Catholic, Muslim, Protestant and Jewish communities, who demanded the government of President François Hollande reconsider the impact of changing “a foundation of society.”

You can view a live blog by Nouvelles de France here which includes more photos and video of the rallies. Here are a few photos:

By NOM Staff | Posted in Events, France, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (15)

Tens of Thousands Join Pro-Marriage Marches Across France

November 19, 2012 – 2:30 pm

The Associated Press:

Groups opposing President Francois Hollande's plan to legalize gay marriage and adoption took to the streets across France on Saturday.

Hollande said he would enact his "marriage for everyone" plan within a year of coming to power in May, but vocal opposition from religious leaders, some politicians and parts of rural France has divided the country.

Saturday's protest, called the "March for Everyone," included pro-family and Catholic groups. Several thousand people marched in Paris, carrying signs with slogans such as "One child (equals) one father + one mother."

Their final destination was the Invalides monument, the final resting place of Napeolon Bonaparte, the French leader who invented the country's prized civil code, which is still in force today. It states that marriage is a union between a man and a woman, a point the gay marriage bill seeks to overturn. Another reform would be to replace the entries in a child's registry book from "father" and "mother" to "parent 1" and "parent 2."

The Daily Caller adds more:

Nearly 20,000 people gathered in cities all across France to protest a pending bill that would legalize gay marriage and adoption in the country.

Protesters took to the streets in Rennes, Nantes, Dijon, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse to march in the “Demonstration for All” rally, France 24 reports. The activists carried pink and blue balloons with signs that read, “No to the government bill for the marriage for everyone,” and “A mother and father, there’s nothing better for a child.”

“We defend our vision of what society should be like. Our first concern is the child’s well-being and balance,” said Flora, a student protester who spoke to France 24. “If the law passes, it would be a deep injustice to the child, who is not given a choice.”