They've been saying that, oh, in every state where NOM has been working to allow the people to vote to decide the issue.

Or was that argument of theirs just a canard?

Contact: Elizabeth Ray or Anath Hartmann at (703-683-5004)

"What part of ‘no' don't gay marriage advocates understand?"—Brian Brown, NOM President

Augusta—The National Organization for Marriage (NOM), America's leading pro-marriage group, today pledged an all-out battle in Maine to defeat a proposed amendment imposing same-sex marriage in the sate. Voters previously rejected gay marriage in 2009.

"NOM intends to vigorously fight this attempt by same-sex marriage advocates to impose gay marriage in Maine," said Brian Brown, NOM's president. "Maine voters rejected gay marriage barely more than two years ago. What part of ‘no' don't gay marriage advocates understand?"

In 2009, voters passed Question One, a "People's Veto" overturning legislation that attempted to legalize gay marriage. NOM spent nearly $2 million on the Question One campaign.

"The people of Maine are not in favor of redefining marriage, as we showed in 2009," Brown said. "Gay advocates are fooling themselves when they say things have changed. Voters still understand that marriage is about more than the desires of adults. They still understand that children need both a mother and father. They understand that same-sex marriage has real consequences for people of faith, small businesses, churches and religious organizations. And they understand that marriage is too important a social institution to be kicked to the curb to satisfy the political demands of a small but powerful and vocal special interest group. We are completely confident that Mainers will oppose this attempt, just as they rejected gay marriage in 2009."

To schedule an interview with Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Elizabeth Ray, eray@crcpublicrelations.com, (x130) or Anath Hartmann, ahartmann@crcpublicrelations.com, (x105) at 703-683-5004.

###

Proponents of a citizens' initiative to allow same-sex marriage in Maine said today the language for the legislation they drafted was recently approved by the Secretary of State.

This allows supporters to begin printing petitions and gathering signatures to reach their goal of placing the issue before Mainers on the November 2012 ballot. They need at least 57,277 signatures from registered Maine voters and will have until January to turn in their petitions to Secretary of State Charlie Summers.

Voters in Maine overturned same-sex marriage 53%-47% in 2009.

A self-identified gay republican activist in Maine wrote in the Portland Herald Press last week that this new attempt to pass same-sex marriage was bound for defeat.

NOM President Maggie Gallagher recently told the Associated Press we're optimistic that the people of Maine will vote to preserve the common sense definition of marriage if asked to vote on it again.

If they follow through on their plan to put same-sex marriage on the November 2012 ballot, EqualityMaine and their left-wing followers will be ensuring that Maine will be a red state in the 2012 election cycle.

I say this because by putting this lightning-rod issue on the ballot, they will be bringing all of the socially conservative voters out of the woodwork to vote against it.

... the liberal progressive establishment is showing how clueless they are about the Maine electorate with this move [to put marriage on the ballot].

They think that putting this on the ballot in a high-turnout year is the tonic to cure the ill of getting around the groundswell these ballot questions generate. The problem is that they are going to hit their target yet again, yet miss the goal. In 2009, they planned for a victory with 265,000 votes. They got 267,000 votes. Their problem was that the opposition got 300,000 votes.

The National Organization for Marriage, which opposes gay marriage, isn't saying how much money would be needed to get out its message. But Maggie Gallagher, NOM's chairman and co-founder, said raising money for Maine wouldn't be a problem. The organization plans to raise $20 million this year in U.S.

"We've won 31 out of 31 times when this has been taken to the state. We'd be optimistic about winning again if they want to put Maine through another campaign," Gallagher said.

Maine voters in 2009 overturned a bill passed by the Legislature that would have legalized the practice. Thirty other states have passed amendments banning gay marriage.

Last month, gay marriage advocates announced that they'd be gathering signatures necessary to put the measure to a state vote again in Maine.

First and foremost, let me say directly that I fully support the definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman...

Second, this campaign was a long, painful process, made all the more difficult by the fact that the campaign staff and I were harassed and threatened repeatedly, to the point that I was concerned for the safety of my staff and our families.

Our computers were hacked, our campaign office was vandalized, death threats were made and our family members were shunned and verbally attacked.

Why? Simply because we worked on a campaign that presented a view, a majority view I might add, that marriage is between one man and one woman.

It was with this in mind that I said I would never do such a campaign again, knowing the toll it would take on my personal health, and on the well-being of my staff given the degree of antagonism that our position generated from some gay activists and their supporters.

... But in the end, to me, and to the majority of voters here and in 30 other states nationwide, the true definition of marriage is worth defending in law, despite the personal attacks and political invective that its supporters faced.

His father was an abusive disciplinarian, so he ran away at home at age 11 and lived homeless on the streets for a few years, before eventually graduating from high school, working to put himself through college, eventually earning a master's degree in business administration. He serves as general manager of Marden's Salvage and Surplus and the mayor of Waterville.

He is both a fiscal and a social conservative--and something else as well:

"I'm putting myself out there because I believe I am the candidate, not only on the Republican side, but the Democratic side and the Independent side, that both have a life history that understands the stigma that goes with being homeless, poor and on the streets, and I understand what it does to the human body, the human psyche," Lepage says.

Dear Friends of Marriage,

The National Organization for Marriage has again, because of your support and work, played a key role in changing the course of history on marriage. As the largest contributor to the Yes on 1 effort in Maine, NOM spent almost all that it had (literally!), a total of $1.8 million dollars, because we knew the singular importance of a victory in Maine.

How important was Maine's vote? Consider these facts:

• National gay marriage groups saw Maine as their opportunity to, in their words, "break" the growing national movement to protect marriage. Winning at the ballot box would have shifted the momentum in their direction after our victory in Proposition 8. They made Maine their rallying cry, and truly believed that they were going to win.
• Maine gay marriage groups spent four years building a sophisticated grassroots organization unlike anything that we have seen. In a state with a population of only 1.3 million, No on 1 had 8,000 (yes 8,000!) volunteers in the field knocking on tens of thousands of doors and making hundreds of thousands of phone calls.
• Maine is a deep blue New England state. At the same time Maine voters rejected same-sex marriage, they approved extending the legalization of marijuana by a 59%-41% margin, and rejected a tax-limiting scheme 60% to 40%.
• We were grossly outspent by nearly two to one.

Yet we won in Maine by an even larger margin than we won in California.

And understand this: If we can win in Maine, WE CAN WIN ANYWHERE!

This is obviously because of your prayers, dedication, and hard work. But it also is because of the team that NOM has built to go into any state and make the arguments and run the campaign to win. Frank Schubert and Jeff Flint of Schubert Flint Public Affairs are the best in the business, and successfully guided both California's Proposition 8 and Question 1 in Maine to success. Anyone who has seen the ads they have produced knows the power of highlighting the consequences of same-sex marriage to voters.

And that's why I'm writing to you today. NOM has broken the bank in supporting the Stand for Marriage Maine effort. In fact, we only have two months' operating budget in the bank right now. NOM's overall contribution to Stand for Marriage Maine of $1.8 million dollars is just a staggering sum to give out of our general treasury account. This year we have grown significantly, but our projected budget of $8 million dollars pales in comparison to our opponents' deep pockets--last year the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) alone had a whopping budget of more than $41 million dollars.

And yet, as an indication of how far we have leveraged ourselves, HRC, with more than 5 times NOM's budget, is reported to have given only $145,000 to support gay marriage in Maine.

If I was an HRC donor I would be screaming to high heaven right now!

This is the difference between our operation and theirs. We are not going to build a bloated bureaucracy with your money. We're going to win with it. It's that simple. This is what Frank Schubert has to say about our efforts:

"I believe that NOM is the most effective national advocacy group in the nation. They are swift, nimble, completely mission focused and extremely effective. There is no bureaucracy with NOM. Whenever we needed help in Maine, one call to Maggie, Brian or Robby George was all it took to get an answer - which was almost always 'yes.' We would have lost in Maine if it weren't for NOM. It's as simple as that."

But we need your help now more than ever. It comes down to this:

Same-sex marriage is likely coming up for a vote in New York and New Jersey in the next month. We do not now have the resources to stop it. We've proven we have the team to win, but we don't have the money.

I'm also asking you to send this message to as many of your friends as possible. Right now. We can't wait to extend the victory in Maine to other states. The fight is upon us and we promise you that we will use your contribution in the most effective way to win. You can count on that!

I want you to consider what our work is worth to you--what marriage is worth to you--and then to give right now by clicking here.

I'm also asking you to send this message to as many of your friends as possible. Right now. We can't wait to extend the victory in Maine to other states. The fight is upon us and we promise you that we will use your contribution in the most effective way to win. You can count on that!

Sincerely,

Brian S. Brown
Executive Director
National Organization for Marriage
20 Nassau Street, Suite 242
Princeton, NJ 08542
bbrown@nationformarriage.org

WE DID IT!By a 53-47 margin, voters in Maine won a decisive and historic victory for marriage by passing Question 1!

But each and everyone of you, who volunteered or donated to Stand for Marriage Maine, who forwarded an e-mail to a friend or neighbor, or who simply prayed fervently for the institution of marriage--today is your victory!

The importance of the win in Maine nationally can not be overstated.

Same-sex marriage activists saw Maine as their best chance to win a direct marriage vote. They thought it would stop the momentum we gained by passing Proposition 8 dead in its tracks--and reverse it.

They thought, in their words, it "would break" our movement.

Instead, for the first time in history, the voters of a state have overturned the legislative enactment of same-sex marriage. New York, New Jersey and other states considering redefining marriage will now have to confront this blunt fact:

The voters in a deep New England state have now joined 30 other states in directly affirming marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

If we can win in Maine, we can win anywhere.

From the beginning, NOM saw how high the stakes were in Maine. That's why we devoted such resources to the effort. We are the single largest donor to Stand for Marriage Maine. We gave nearly $1.8 million, emptying our bank account because of the serious needs in Maine.

Even so, we were outspent 2-1, given little chance to win in the media, and saw our ads pilloried by Maine's elites.

But we kept fighting, kept hope alive, and continued to focus on our message--same-sex marriage has clear consequences.

And we won.

In my capacity as an executive committee member of Stand for Marriage Maine, I have had the privilege of getting to know and work with campaign chairman Mark Mutty and Rev. Bob Emrich. Both have been tireless defenders of marriage and deserve our nation's thanks.

Bishop Richard Malone of the Diocese of Portland provided invaluable leadership, inspiring not only the Catholic faithful, but voters across denominational lines.

Frank Schubert and Jeff Flint of Schubert Flint Public Affairs, masterfully guided Question 1 to victory. They are simply the best at what they do, and our movement in Maine and around the country would not have seen these victories without their efforts.

NOM's president, Maggie Gallagher has been willing to fly at the drop of the hat to Maine (or anywhere else for that matter!) to do whatever necessary to protect marriage.

I write all of this quickly this morning, after a late election night watching returns in Portland, Maine. I'm sitting outside an old stone church in downtown Portland. It is a chilly, breezy, day with the sun shining bright, and the Casco Bay bridge in the distance.

An ideal fall day in New England. An ideal day for marriage in our country.

Faithfully,

Brian S. Brown
Executive Director
National Organization for Marriage
20 Nassau Street, Suite 242
Princeton, NJ 08542
bbrown@nationformarriage.org

Dear Friends of Marriage,

With key votes taking place today in Maine and upstate New York, please do everything you possibly can to help get out the vote.  If you know people who live in these areas, please call them and make sure they get to the polls. Your efforts and phone calls could make the difference in these extremely close races.

Critical Marriage Vote in Maine!
The race to stop same-sex marriage in Maine has come down to the wire. The margin is expected to be razor-thin, and a few hundred votes could tip the outcome one way or the other. Our opposition is extremely well-funded, but the enthusiasm and grassroots momentum we're seeing from our supporters on the ground is contagious, and victory today will go to whichever side is best able to get its supporters to the polls.

Earlier this year, NOM made Maine one of its top priorities for 2009, becoming the largest single donor to the Stand for Marriage Maine/Yes on 1 campaign. Today, the people of Maine have the opportunity to reject the same-sex marriage legislation enacted by their politicians earlier this year. Please help make sure everyone you know in Maine shows up and votes in this pivotal election.

Turnout is expected to be low in this off-year election, making each vote all the more significant. If you live in Maine, don't let anything keep you from voting today! And if you know anyone who lives in Maine, start making phone calls right now. Polls are open until 8pm tonight. The future of marriage in Maine hangs in the balance.

Historic Opportunity in New York 23rd Congressional District!
Today's special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District presents an historic opportunity to shape the future of the Republican Party and set the tone for next year's mid-term elections. NOM has endorsed Conservative Doug Hoffman in this race, making $113,000 in independent expenditures in support of the Hoffman campaign.

Earlier this year, NOM was one of the first to highlight the significance of this race, urging GOP party bosses not to choose pro-gay marriage, pro-abortion, and ACORN-connected Dede Scozzafava to represent Republicans in this race. Many others joined the effort, and last weekend the Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava dropped out of the race (endorsing Democrat Bill Owens), leaving NY23 voters with a clear choice in this now two-way race.

This special election marks NOM's first intervention in any national race, setting the stage for 2010 as we work to identify and support candidates who will stand boldly for marriage in Washington, working to block President Obama's effort to repeal DOMA. Today is the first step, and we need your help to get out the vote. Polls are open until 9pm tonight.  If you live in upstate New York, or know anyone who does, please make sure that every possible vote is cast in support of Conservative Doug Hoffman.We have the chance to change history today! Victories in Maine and NY-23 would send shockwaves across the nation, and set the tone for the marriage debate throughout the coming year. Both races will be extremely close. Please keep these efforts in your prayers throughout the day. If you live in one of these districts -- GO VOTE! And even if you don't live in Maine or New York, please be sure to call anyone you know in Maine or upstate New York to make sure they vote!

Faithfully,

Brian S. Brown
Executive Director
National Organization for Marriage
20 Nassau Street, Suite 242
Princeton, NJ 08542
bbrown@nationformarriage.org

Paid for by the National Organization for Marriage, Inc. (www.nationformarriage.org).
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Dear Friends of Marriage,

Everyone keeps asking me about Maine.

Here's the great news: StandforMarriageMaine.com (the Yes on One folks) have a new campaign ad so effective that National Public Radio doesn't want you to see it!

It's an ad featuring an NPR news interview from 2004 with a pro-gay marriage Massachusetts public school teacher. In the interview, the teacher describes in great (and warning: occasionally graphic) detail how her teaching changed once gay marriage became the law. "Give me a break" she says, "it's legal now."

The marketing department has issued a "cease and desist" order claiming copyright infringement. They are trying to get the ad off YouTube and off the air. Wow. Raw censorship--and by a news organization.

Must be a really great ad, I say!

Why is NPR trying to censor this ad?

Because it's an inconvenient truth. Truth, not truthiness. When gay marriage becomes the law of the land, of course public schools will teach about it. They will teach it as civil rights triumph, as the incarnation of our commitment to equality and diversity. And Maine parents will have no right to protect their children from this government instruction.

And here's more good news: as Mainers come to realize that gay marriage has real consequences, they are moving strongly in the direction of protecting marriage.

You can understand why NPR feels that has to be stopped somehow!

Dana Davis Rehm, executive vice president of marketing, communications and external relations for NPR, tried to justify this unwarranted intrusion of an alleged news organization into a political campaign to shut down information. "The use of the ('All Things Considered') story was a very central piece of the ad," Rehm said Tuesday to the Portland Press-Herald. "It wasn't a small quote, or a quote among a series of quotes, as often would appear in a fair-use situation."

You have to use a series of quotes or it's not fair use? Really Dana? Is this the best NPR can do?

It is an extraordinary moment when a news organization openly acts to interfere with a political campaign.

But truth cannot be stopped by such paltry and obvious lies and evasions. The people of Maine are learning the truth about gay marriage-gay marriage has consequences.

So a new published poll shows the race a dead heat 48 to 48 percent.

As the Baptist Press put it, "The survey is good news for Question 1 supporters, who were outraised 2-to-1 through September and trailed by 9 points in a poll conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 7. Both surveys used identical polling language -- the same language that will be found on the Nov. 3 ballot."

But for those of us who are veterans in the marriage wars, the news is even better than the Baptist Press thinks. Consider the California experience. The last published poll before the election, conducted by The Field Poll, showed Prop 8 going down to defeat with just 44 percent in favor to 47 percent opposed. And yet when Californians voted, marriage won! A majority of Californians (52% to 48%) voted to protect the traditional understanding of marriage and oppose gay marriage.

In other words, in Maine, we are at least four points ahead of where we were at this time in the California battle. Take heart, take renewed courage for the battle from this news: this fight can be won with your help -- and God's.

Pastor Jim Garlow, who led the California Pastors Rapid Response team in the Prop 8 battle, has organized a nationwide campaign of prayer and fasting for victory for marriage in Maine. Not just prayer mind you -- prayer and fasting. Some Catholics in Maine are hosting 9 days of Novena for victory. Pray for victory. Pray and fast.

And get to work!

It's a close race. Every vote counts. If you know someone in Maine call them up, email them, ask them to volunteer (www.standformarriagemaine.com). The gay marriage lobby in Maine has more than 30 paid staffers, a lot of them imported form California to try to turn their people out. We have you!

If you are in Maine go volunteer -- and get five of your friends too

The other thing Maine needs is your financial support, if you can afford it in these tough times. Don't give money to NOM today -- Give it to Maine. Give $100 today to Maine. Give $1 today to Maine. Give for marriage, give for victory, we can win this fight! Tomorrow I will let you in on other exciting NOM news from New York, New Jersey and other great battles. Today I am asking you to let those NPR marketing folks know what you think about their pathetic attempt to censors of the truth! Make a donation to StandFormarriageMaine.com right now!

I thank God once again for the privilege of standing with you in this great battle of our times.

Truth and love will prevail over lies and hate--when good people like you stand up with grace, love and courage under fire and fight back--and then together our voices and our values will be heard!

Friends,

Let me be direct: Unless we act now, marriage will be redefined in Maine. Never before have voters had the chance to directly overturn the legislative enactment of same-sex marriage in any state in the country. If we lose marriage in Maine, we risk losing marriage everywhere.

I'm not asking you today for contributions for the National Organization for Marriage. NOM is dedicated to winning the marriage fight. Period. We don't have a bloated staff or overhead. We were the largest contributor both to the Proposition 8 effort in California and to Stand for Marriage Maine. We put our money where our mouth is. But we have stretched ourselves as far as we can go.

It is now up to you to make the difference. We want your money to go where it is most useful in the fight. And right now, Yes on 1/Stand for Marriage Maine needs your support in a way that no state marriage group has needed it before.

I'm asking you to read the powerful e-mail below from my friend, Marc Mutty, chairman of Stand for Marriage Maine, and to think long and hard about what marriage is worth to you, your family, and your country---and then to give whatever you can today to Stand for Marriage Maine to protect this precious institution.

I'm also asking you to forward this e-mail to everyone you know that supports protecting marriage across the country. Send it to your friends on Facebook, post it on your blog, send it to your e-mail contacts. Do anything you can to get the message out: If we don't act now we risk losing the most important state battle for marriage since California. It's that simple. And it's up to you.

Yours for marriage,

**************************
October 13, 2009

FROM: Marc Mutty, Chair, Stand for Marriage Maine

RE: URGENT DEVELOPMENT: Marriage Under Financial Assault

We knew we were being vastly outspent from the fact that the No on 1 campaign was able to air their advertising upwards of 50% more than our Yes on 1 campaign ads. We had a clue that the other side was awash in money because of the dozens of paid staff members they have on board their campaign. But we never dreamed the situation was as dire as it is: our opponents have raised approximately $1.6 more than we have and are conducting a financial assault on the institution of marriage. Overall, they have raised an astonishing $2.7 million from gay marriage supporters across the country!

We are in desperate need of additional financial support or we risk losing because our opponents are attempting to buy themselves an election - and destroy the institution of marriage in the process.

The latest financial reports detailing the amount of money that has come in for both sides of the Question 1 campaign shows that our committee, Stand for Marriage Maine has raised approximately $1.1 million while our opponents have raised about 2.5 times more than we have. This is an astonishing financial advantage our opponents have amassed. It explains why they were able to be on the air with ads nearly three weeks before our campaign was able to begin advertising. It explains why they can afford to operate multiple campaign headquarters. It explains how they can afford a statewide staff of field organizers and operate dozens of phone banks. And it explains why the institution of marriage is teetering on the ledge - at risk of being forever redefined in Maine. Our opponents are raising money from across the country from gay marriage supporters who see an opportunity to win their first victory at the ballot box in the history of the nation.

We cannot let them get away with this. We cannot let homosexual marriage activists from virtually every state in the nation decide that marriage will be redefined in Maine. Please don't let our opponents succeed with this financial assault on marriage. Will you please, right now, make a generous donation to our campaign?

The good news is that even though we are being vastly outspent, we have run a financially prudent and efficient campaign. Our polling shows that we are dead-even right now and in a good position to win the campaign. Voters recall our advertising more so than the ads from the other side. We are defining Question 1 on our terms. And we know that we will win when voters come to understand the many consequences to families, children and society as a whole if same-sex marriage is legalized in Maine.

The only way our opponents can win is if they try to confuse the issue by running millions of dollars in advertising with false claims that we are lying about the consequences of legalizing homosexual marriage. They don't want to defend the teaching of homosexual marriage to young children in public schools, so they are spending millions to try to deny and deny. They don't want to talk about individuals, small businesses and religious groups being sued for refusing to support homosexual marriage, so they are spending millions to calls us liars. And they don't want to explain to voters why the law they sponsored and advocated strips from Maine's marriage statutes the interests of nurturing children, so they are spending millions making the oxymoronic claim that we are trying to "harm children." We are trying to prevent 5, 6 and 7 year old children from being taught about homosexual marriage in school against the wishes of their parents and we are accused of "harming children?" If it weren't so serious, this would be like describing an 'Alice in Wonderland' situation.

But it IS so serious. Our campaign strategists, who helped pass Proposition 8 in California and who have won dozens of initiative campaigns around the country, tell us that we cannot win if we continue to be outspent as we have to this point. It is amazing that we are still in a dead heat. We've had to cut our voter contact program dramatically. Every week we've cut our advertising budget. We've eliminated a statewide bus tour that we had planned for next week. We've had to cut back on staffing. And collateral materials. And direct mail. Our grassroots organizing has suffered.

Yet still we are in a position to pass Question 1. This is a testament to your strong support and to the common sense of average Mainers who know in their heart that marriage is worth preserving.

But let's not fool ourselves. We have to raise more money, right now, if we are to pass Question 1. Please make a sacrificial contribution today, as if the survival of marriage depended on it.
Because, quite literally, it does.

The campaign reports made available today lay bare the falsehood of our opponents' claim that they have a homegrown, grassroots Maine-based campaign. The truth is their support has come mostly from the gay activist political elite from all corners of the nation, including Hollywood, Colorado, New York, Massachusetts, and the Democratic national political machine, Act Blue.com. They have raised money from virtually every state in the nation.

Why are homosexual marriage activists pouring money into Maine? Because never before have they been able to convince voters to approve homosexual marriage. Voters in thirty states have considered this issue, and in all thirty states they have voted to preserve traditional marriage and reject homosexual marriage. But our opponents think they can win in Maine. We are a small state. Raising millions of dollars to spend here will make a big difference. Recruiting hundreds of volunteers to come to Maine will make a big difference. And if they can win in Maine it would be historic. They will use a victory to attempt to convince the media that the mood of the nation has changed and that it is time for America to also abandon the God-created idea of marriage.

Will you let them get away with it?

So much is riding on the Question 1 election. We have three weeks left. We have three weeks to close the financial deficit we are in. We have three weeks to add to our advertising campaign. We have three weeks to buttress our grassroots operation. We have three weeks to talk to Maine voters about the importance of traditional marriage, and the consequences of abandoning it in favor of homosexual marriage.

But all this must start right now - today - and it must start with you and me. We've learned an important lesson. Our opponents are determined to do whatever they can to secure victory. We must respond, and respond now. It is up to you. There is no one but you. The only question is, will you be there for us when the fight for marriage needs you the most? We pray you will be.

Thank you for all your efforts to defend God's precious institution of marriage. We look forward to your continued help. We are counting on you at this critical time.

Sincerely,

Marc Mutty
Campaign Chairman

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