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Category Archives: Youth

Refusing to Stay Silent: A Millennial Case for Marriage

May 23, 2013 – 10:30 am

Ryan Anderson and Andrew Walker of the Heritage Foundation are featured this month on the front page of Citizen, the Focus on the Family magazine.

One of the great lines from their article: "There’s no such thing as being on the “right” or “wrong” side of history. There’s only being on the right or wrong side of truth."

Amen!

Here's how their article begins:

Two of the younger conservative voices in the nation explain why marriage needs to be preserved for the next generation—their own.

The media claim we don’t exist. OK, that’s a slight exaggeration. But after all, we’re Millennials, born during the Reagan administration. We’re supposed to be of the generation that is embracing same-sex marriage in droves.

Instead, we’re standing strong on upholding the truth about what marriage is.

We’ve been asked—repeatedly—whether the position we’re promoting is pointless. Are we willing to endure cultural scorn for holding to a position as supposedly outmoded as natural marriage?

Politicos and pundits offer hyperbolic missives on how conservatives are losing young Americans, who are likely to be more libertarian on social issues. The preferred talking point is to assert the demise of the opposition; Same-sex marriage is “inevitable.”

A justly revered conservative columnist, George F. Will, has said twice on ABC’s “This Week” that opposition to same-sex marriage is a dying trait. “Quite literally,” he said, “the opposition to gay marriage is dying. It’s old people.”

Tweet to Mr. Will: Reports of our death have been greatly exaggerated. #NotDeadYet

Read the rest here.

Baptist Press: "They Exist"

April 18, 2013 – 1:25 pm

The Baptist Press reports on the youthful contingent of next-gen pro-marriage leaders represented, in part, by some of the speakers at the historic "March for Marriage" last month:

Young Christians still will face growing temptations to conform to the world's understanding that marriage is primarily about emotional fulfillment. The scorn they endure may one day include discrimination in the workplace. Anderson, for example, faces uncertain job prospects in secular academia as an author of a book defending traditional marriage. But Christian millennials were among those taking a stand on the stage, among the crowd, in the march, on television, and inside the courtroom on the day that marriage went on trial.

Read the whole thing here.

By NOM Staff | Posted in News, Youth | Comments (4)

Thousands of French Youth Protest French Government "Fast-Tracking" SSM

April 18, 2013 – 9:00 am

New photos are coming in from France showing dozens of spontaneous pro-marriage rallies that have been erupting all over the country. LifeSiteNews reports:

Since last Friday, public demonstrations against same-sex “marriage” and adoption in France have been escalating, not only in Paris but also in remote provincial towns and even abroad among French expatriates. The Senate’s approval of the gay marriage bill (known as the “loi Taubira,” after the Justice Minister that proposed the text to the legislature) has sparked off a wave of anger, and groups of determined young people all over the country have decided to make their presence felt."

Check out the photos:

Photos from Le Salon Beige

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

Photo: French NextGen for Marriage

April 13, 2013 – 9:00 am

Organized via La Manif Pour Tous (the umbrella group organizing resistance protests to SSM):

By NOM Staff | Posted in France, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage, Youth | Comments (42)

Shame on Piers Morgan and Suze Orman -- I Stand With Ryan!

March 28, 2013 – 11:45 am

Earlier this week Piers Morgan and Suze Orman conduct one of the most rude, condescending "debates" I've ever seen. I've seen dozens of debates on marriage where rudeness and incivility were directed towards those with pro-marriage views but this takes the cake.

Ryan Anderson, a fellow at Heritage and co-author of "What is Marriage?" patiently gave lucid answers to their questions, even as Piers peppered him with questions without giving him time to respond.

It wasn't a conversation, it was a trial.

They didn't even allow Ryan to sit at the same table as them. Orman went so far as to call Anderson "uneducated" on the question of marriage and insultingly called him "sweetheart".

On the "uneducated" remark, consider what Denny Burk points out:

"Ryan Anderson graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Princeton University and he’s a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Notre Dame. He just co-authored a book that is probably the definitive case for traditional marriage. He’s a fellow at the Heritage Foundation and an all-around brilliant guy. "

At the 12 minute mark, Orman loses control and lashes out at Anderson, pointing her finger at him, etc.

Piers did nothing to intervene or stop her, even as he continually interrupted Anderson.

Then, as if that was not enough, she called on the audience to express their disapproval of Anderson personally by booing, etc.

This is a travesty and Piers Morgan and Orman owe Anderson and pro-marriage Americans an apology.

That's why I'm proudly proclaiming I STAND WITH RYAN on Twitter and Facebook.

Watch the video and see for yourself:

By Thomas Peters | Posted in Civility, Marriage, Media, Same Sex Marriage, Youth | Comments (5)

New York Times Profiles Young Marriage Activists!

March 21, 2013 – 9:00 am

The New York Times covers an often ignored story -- the young men and women who are active in the fight to protect and promote marriage in politics and culture! Ryan Anderson, co-author of "What is Marriage?" and our Communications Director Thomas Peters were interviewed for this article, as were many inspiring young pro-marriage voices:

"...opponents of same-sex marriage say they must argue in favor of traditional marriage, not against gay people or gay rights. “It’s really a broader defense of marriage and a stronger marriage culture,” said Will Haun, 26, a lawyer and member of the Federalist Society.

In the highest-profile effort, the National Organization for Marriage is gearing up for a march on the National Mall on Tuesday, the day the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on California’s 2008 voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage.

Last week, the Heritage Foundation released a report by Ryan T. Anderson, 31, in defense of traditional marriage,"Marriage: What It Is, Why It Matters, and the Consequences of Redefining It.” Mr. Anderson, a Heritage Foundation fellow, has also held briefings for members of Congress, their staff and others to explain his arguments against same-sex marriage, and he and two co-authors released a book last year laying out their case in depth.

...“If you take the longer view of history — I’m not talking just 15 years, I’m talking 40 years or even 100 years — I can’t help but think that the uniqueness of man-woman marriage will be adjudicated over time,” said Andrew Walker, 27, a policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation.

Either way, they are not planning on giving up any time soon.

“Even if we are doomed, and I’m totally naïve, I think it’s important that I do this work anyway,” Mr. Teetsel, of the Manhattan Declaration, said. “If what I believe is true is true, then I’ve got a responsibility to be on its side for as long as I can be.”

By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, Politics, Same Sex Marriage, Youth | Comments (15)

Young Conservative LTE: SSM Denies Children a Fundamental Right

March 19, 2013 – 4:00 pm

Tommy Valentine in a letter to the editor of the Washington Examiner:

There are too many fallacies in Michael Barone's same-sex marriage column to address in a letter to the editor. But I would like to hit a couple points.

The statement that in 2004 the Massachusetts Supreme Court "discovered that the state's 1780 Constitution required recognition of same-sex marriages" is utterly ridiculous. No serious person actually believes that Samuel Adams and John Adams had homosexual marriage in mind as they wrote the Massachusetts Constitution. The 2004 decision was legislating from the bench at its finest.

I do agree with Barone's point that homosexual marriage is a bipartisan issue. This is neatly summed up in the ignored story of 11-year-old Grace Evans, who testified before the Minnesota House of Representatives on the importance of every child having a mom and a dad -- a right homosexual marriage inherently and deliberately denies children.

"Which parent do I not need? My mom or my dad?" Grace asked a panel of lawmakers. They were silent. She repeated the question and again got no response, because there is no response. Every child deserves a mom and a dad, and support for that right definitely crosses party lines.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, Same Sex Marriage, Youth | Comments (32)

NOM's Thomas Peters: Pro-Marriage is Pro-Life

March 7, 2013 – 1:15 pm

NOM's Communications Director Thomas Peters shares in the Daily Caller his conviction that the pro-life and pro-marriage movements must unite to become one united voice for justice to children:

How can you be pro-life unless you are also pro-marriage? I’ve been thinking about that question ever since I moved over from pro-life activism to pro-marriage activism. Since that transition, my conviction that the movements are essentially one has only been reinforced.

Pro-life is in my blood. My parents met at an event to welcome pro-life activists who had been recently bailed out of jail for conducting a peaceful sit-in at an abortion clinic. When I moved to Washington, D.C., five years ago, I knew I would be a pro-life activist, and so I was.

But as my activism matured, so did my conviction that the pro-life movement must become explicitly pro-marriage or risk its future. The Guttmacher Institute tells us that 85% of women who opt for abortion are unmarried. The community most afflicted by abortion, African-Americans, is also the community that suffers the lowest marriage rate.

He concludes with a call for pro-life activists to join the March for Marriage:

"...as an ardent pro-life activist, I’m calling on my fellow pro-life warriors to formally join in the pro-marriage cause. One concrete action we can take in the next months is to show up for the March for Marriage (www.MarriageMarch.org) on March 26 in Washington, D.C, the same day the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Proposition 8 case.

Pro-lifers once needed a scientific instrument — the ultrasound — to renew their cause. Today I believe they only need a bit of encouragement to acknowledge the deeper truth embedded in the biology of the human beings they defend — the truth that unborn children are conceived by men and women. The cultural question which every civilized society before us, and our nation throughout most of its history, has resolved is that this new life deserves to be born and raised by its parents who are united in marriage.

What could be more pro-life than that?"

By NOM Staff | Posted in Culture, Marriage, Politics, Same Sex Marriage, Youth | Comments (29)

Video: Pro-Marriage Vlog by a Young Conservative Activist

February 19, 2013 – 11:00 am

This is an awesome vlog (video blog) by a young conservative activist at Counter-Cultured -- check it out then spread the word!

The woman in the video, Anna Maria, explains that "it's ridiculous that people should be labeled with words like "hateful," "homophobic," "heteronormative," and "bigot" for wanting to restore a culture of marriage in society."

By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, Same Sex Marriage, Youth | Comments (24)

Steven Crowder: 5 Reasons for Men to Grow Up and Get Married

January 29, 2013 – 8:30 am

Comedian Steven Crowder writes humorously (and scientifically!) about why men benefit from marrying women:

I just want to say, flat out…

… Marriage is a really good deal.

Let’s assume for a second that you don’t think of humans as inherently spiritual beings. So let’s remove the fact that married people claim to be happier, more fulfilled, complete and purposeful. Some of you are even thinking,

“Love? Who needs love!”

Okay. Here are a few purely statistical reasons as to why marriage (when done correctly) is conducive to an undeniably better life. Hold onto your butts.

1. You’ll be richer – Yes. Not only do married couples make more, save more, have a higher net worth and qualify for more benefits/financial incentives than lonely, single folk… but your kids will be richer too. Which brings me to my next point

2. Would somebody please think of the children!! – The single biggest indicator of child poverty is whether both original parents are still together. Not only that, but children in married households get better grades, are less disruptive in class and less likely to develop behavioral disorders than children from non-married households. So be married long and prosper. Your kids will too.

Read the other three reasons here!

By NOM Staff | Posted in Culture, Marriage, Youth | Comments (3)

NOM's Peters in NRO: "GOP Won’t Deserve Millenials If It Abandons the Pro-Marriage Ones"

January 14, 2013 – 8:00 am

Our Communications Director Thomas Peters writes in response to the comments made by the IL GOP Chair Pat Brady about young voters and their views on marriage.

He argues that "An abandonment of traditional marriage by the GOP would leave 12 million Millennials without a party that reflects their views on marriage":

Illinois GOP chairman Pat Brady thinks gay marriage is the secret to Republicans’ winning Millennial voters, but he’s wrong.

Brady lamented to a reporter this week that GOP support for traditional marriage is driving away young voters: “How are we ever going to get the vote of anyone under 40?” he asked.

As a 27-year-old ardent supporter of traditional marriage, my question to Pat Brady is, “How does the GOP deserve to get the vote of anyone under 40 if they don’t act decisively to strengthen marriage now?”

Here’s some hard data: Despite all of the Obama campaign’s advantages among young voters, Romney actually won under-30 white men by 13 points. He won under-30 white women by a point. He won 93 percent of under-30 white Republicans, while Obama only managed to get 91 percent of under-30 white Democrats. Romney also won under-30 white independents by two points.

Was Romney’s support for traditional marriage crippling for him among under-30 white voters? Clearly not. (NRO's The Corner)

By NOM Staff | Posted in Illinois, Marriage, Politics, Same Sex Marriage, Youth | Comments (7)

"I’m Socially Conservative, in College, and Need a Party"

December 11, 2012 – 9:00 am

Derek Bekebrede, a senior majoring in economics at Harvard, writes in search of a party that shares his social conservative principles:

"...John Londregan and Luis Tellez on Public Discourse already have shown why the Republican Party should continue its principled support of life and marriage, but the debate has thus far ignored a critical obstacle to the conservative movement’s efforts to appeal to youth: the American college campus. More than sixty years ago, William F. Buckley, Jr., wrote in God and Man at Yale that on college campuses, “the conservatives, as a minority, are the new radicals.” We remain so today.

After three years at the helm of Harvard’s student conservative movement, I know that the campus is not only liberal but also hostile to conservatives, especially social conservatives. As the Republican Party and fellow conservatives try to appeal to young voters, they must not ignore the university environment in which many of those voters live and learn. The actual state of America’s universities is worse than most Republicans realize, not because conservatives’ efforts have failed but because they have not wholeheartedly been tried. Instead of abandoning fundamental portions of the Republican platform, it’s time for the party to embrace a new one: outreach to America’s universities on social issues." -- The Public Discourse

By NOM Staff | Posted in Culture, Education, Marriage, Youth | Comments (8)

Maine Youth Group Almost Run Over For Sign Waving in Support of Marriage

November 4, 2012 – 4:00 pm

An incredible Letter to the Editor from a 14-year-old girl in Maine about her youth group being harassed and imperiled for sign waving in support of marriage:

Recently our youth group, ages 7 to 17, felt called to take a stand for marriage, as traditionally defined by all previous generations. We decided that for the next four weekends we would hold signs along Payne Road in Scarborough, asking Mainers for their support.

We consulted the police and followed their safety recommendations. As we stood along the sidewalk, a tremendous number of people enthusiastically showed their support. But many of the opposition were extremely hostile.

On one occasion, a middle-aged man with children in the back seat of his SUV deliberately drove up onto the sidewalk. He was dangerously near the children as he continued accelerating, plowing over 15 of our marriage signs and covering a span of more than 100 feet. The little ones were very scared.

He pulled off only to avoid hitting a telephone pole, and we saw him laughing as he sped away. The police chased after him and when confronted, the man claimed that he was "distracted." Thankfully, a nearby store captured the entire crime on video.

On another occasion, a car drove by and the passenger leaned out the window, exposing his private parts. I was embarrassed by this lack of decency.

We children endured people calling us names, throwing things at us and hundreds upon hundreds of people sticking up their middle fingers and screaming X-rated profanities. And they call us hateful people?

In the name of "tolerance," I have been insulted, disrespected and bullied, simply because of my beliefs: that marriage is between a man and a woman and that children need both a mother and a father. In spite of all this, I am determined to continue exercising my First Amendment rights and standing up for the true meaning of marriage. -- Portland Press Herald

By NOM Staff | Posted in Civility, Law, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage, Youth | Comments (14)

Video: 14-Year-Old Threatened for Speaking Out Against SSM in Maryland

November 1, 2012 – 12:30 pm

Via FRCAction:

"Young Sarah Crank was bullied and received death threats after testifying in Maryland" [against same-sex marriage].

We've written about Sarah's story before:

By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, MarriageADA, Maryland, Same Sex Marriage, Youth | Comments (5)

NOM's Thomas Peters Quoted in Texan Student Newspaper

November 1, 2012 – 9:00 am

Gary Cecil III includes a few quotes by NOM's Thomas Peters in The Signal (the student newspaper of the University of Houston-Clear Lake):

"...Thirty-two states when given the chance have voted to protect marriage,” said Thomas Peters, cultural director of NOM. “Gay marriage has primarily been pushed with this claim that it is ‘inevitable,’ even though it goes down in defeat time and time again.”

NOM’s pledge also supports appointing federal judges who do not support same-sex marriage and putting the decision to repeal gay marriage in states that have permitted it to a popular vote.

“It’s important to prevent gay marriage because gay unions are not marriages,” Peters said. “The public purpose of marriage is and has always been to unite men and women together, and to unite them to whatever children they may have . . . any child introduced into a same-sex unit is deprived of either his or her mother or father.”"

"...Peters argues gay marriage is really not about benefits anymore and points out even in states that have granted same-sex couples all the legal rights of marriage through civil unions, activists are still attempting to redefine marriage.

“Gay unions are not marriages and however long this fiction may be perpetuated in law, the more harm to society and the next generation will result,” Peters said. “If we erase the idea and if the law treats the idea as akin to bigotry that moms and dads each matter and each contribute something unique to the well-being of children, we have lost a core human truth and society and culture will suffer as a result. Gay people have the right to live as they choose, but they do not have the right to redefine marriage for the rest of us."