NOM BLOG

Monthly Archives: April 2013

Texas AG: Same-Sex Partner Benefits Violate State Constitution

From a CBS affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth comes this story:

Local governments and school districts that offer marriage benefits to same-sex partners are violating the state constitution, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott stated in an opinion Monday.

[...] In a six-page opinion, Abbott found that the constitution “prohibits political subdivisions from creating a legal status of domestic partnership and recognizing that status by offering public benefits based upon it.” He said city governments and school districts constitute political subdivisions.

Abbot weighed in on the matter at the request of state Senator Dan Patrick of Houston, who "argued that Texas amended its constitution in 2005 to define marriage as between one man and one woman, while prohibiting government entities from recognizing anything similar to marriage."

Patrick is concerned that Texas law states "cities, counties and school districts cannot subvert the will of Texans" but that this is precisely what is happening in those municipalities and school districts which offer same-sex partner benefits.

You can read the full story here.

Is Obama Spending Your Taxpayer Dollars to Promote Gay Marriage in the Developing World?

LifeSiteNews reports on a "new partnership" between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and various LGBT groups internationally to forge "a new LGBT Global Development Partnership."

The agency's announcement reads in part:

Our aim is to unleash the potential of hundreds of millions of people globally who are LGBT to have the freedom and dignity to contribute fully to their families, communities and nations.

While many of the initiative's goals are unquestionably laudable - stopping real human rights violations and abuses - one must wonder, based on the Obama administration's domestic policies, whether marriage redefinition will be an essential part of "unleash[ing] the potential" of LGBT folks worldwide.

It seems very likely that such will be the case, but only time will tell.

"What's More Harmful to Kids?"

That's the question asked by blogger Lindy West at Jezebel:

What's more harmful to kids—being awkwardly micromanaged by adults, or being warped by lifetimes of gender normativity?

What is Lindy talking about? Well, news is buzzing this week about Sweden's "gender-neutral" policies after the country officially added its "gender-neutral" pronoun, Hen, to the country's national encyclopedia.  HuffPo explains that bit:

The word is a gender-neutral pronoun that can be applied to objects and people who don't wish to specifically identify as male or female, and it is now an official third pronoun in Swedish.

But Sweden's obsession with gender-neutrality doesn't stop at just semantics. It is exercised even in terms of classroom policies, and at the lowest level. That's what Lindy West is talking about when she asks "what's more harmful to kids?"

Well, read this excerpt from a Slate article, and you decide for yourself what seems more harmful!

[I]n the effort to free Swedish children from so-called normative behavior, gender-neutral proponents are also subjecting them to a whole set of new rules and new norms as certain forms of play become taboo, language becomes regulated, and children's interactions and attitudes are closely observed by teachers. One Swedish school got rid of its toy cars because boys "gender-coded" them and ascribed the cars higher status than other toys. Another preschool removed "free playtime" from its schedule because, as a pedagogue at the school put it, when children play freely "stereotypical gender patterns are born and cemented. In free play there is hierarchy, exclusion, and the seed to bullying." And so every detail of children's interactions gets micromanaged by concerned adults, who end up problematizing minute aspects of children's lives, from how they form friendships to what games they play and what songs they sing.

Lindy West seems to think that this "problematizing minute aspects of children's lives" is preferable to them "being warped by lifetimes of gender normativity"; but it seems to us that when "free playtime" is removed from a school schedule in order to prevent boys from being boys and girls from being girls, it is just another example of the selfish preferences of adults being allowed to supersede the rights of children. And unfortunately, that remains one of the hallmarks of the marriage redefinition movement.

Tell the Senate: Do NOT Redefine Marriage in Delaware!

National Organization for Marriage

Dear Marriage Supporter,

You must act TODAY to preserve and uphold marriage in Delaware!

Click here to send an urgent message to your State Senator and the members of the Senate Executive Committee urging them to REJECT House Bill 75 and to say "NO" to redefining marriage in the First State.

This week, the Senate Executive Committee is considering House Bill 75 (HB 75), which would impose genderless "marriage" on the citizens of Delaware!

Governor Markell has said that same-sex marriage in Delaware is "inevitable," but you and I know that the people of Delaware are resilient and strong.

The time we have left in which to act is rapidly slipping away. We need to stop this radical legislation in the Senate right now—the State Constitution does not give citizens recourse to overrule legislators through a ballot initiative down the line.

THE TIME TO ACT IS TODAY!

Click here to send a strong and clear message to your leaders in Dover that marriage is not of the State's making, and not the State's to un-make!

Marriage is good for children, good for men and women, and good for society as a whole. And everywhere marriage has been redefined, the consequences for ordinary citizens, and men and women of faith, have been disastrous.

There's every reason to believe that the consequences in Delaware of marriage redefinition would be even worse: the inappropriately named "Civil Marriage Equality and Religious Freedom Act of 2013" (HB 75) does nothing to protect people's conscience and religious freedom.

There are no protections offered to individuals of faith and faith-based business owners from legal repercussions for opting out of assisting in same-sex 'weddings'—to say nothing of the fact that people who believe in marriage between one man and one woman would now be stigmatized in law as backward-thinking and haters, the equivalent of bigots or racists.

We cannot allow this radical legislation to determine the future of marriage in Delaware. We need to preserve and protect marriage for our children's and grandchildren's generations.

Tell the Senate today: marriage deserves to be defended—not redefined!

Thank you for your quick attention to this crucial matter.

PS: Click the buttons below to forward this action item on to your pro-marriage family members and friends, or to post to Facebook and Twitter. EVERYONE needs to take action right away so that the Senate knows without a doubt that the people of the First State stand for marriage!

Please take a few minutes out of your day to contact your Senator, and then find at least two or three friends who can similarly take action! The future of marriage in Delaware is at stake—let's give it the best defense possible!

"We Lie That The Institution of Marriage Isn't Going to Change..."

Same-sex marriage activists certainly do want marriage ...but not for the reasons you might think.

We've reported to you before on lesbian journalist Masha Gessen's outrageous comments at a recent writers' forum in Sydney. The remarks continue to gain exposure by the mainstream media, which is good news for getting the word out about the underlying agenda which accompanies much of the lobbying in favor of marriage redefinition.

Hear Gessen's frank (but honest) statement of a viewpoint more common than most people think among those who purport to favor same-sex marriage:

The Blaze:

Gessen shared her views on the subject and very specifically stated;

  • “Gay marriage is a lie.”
  • “Fighting for gay marriage generally involves lying about what we’re going to do with marriage when we get there.”
  • “It’s a no-brainer that the institution of marriage should not exist.” (This statement is met with very loud applause.)

Marriage Redefinition Fails in Northern Ireland

From the Belfast Telegraph:

Unionists voted down a motion at Stormont's Assembly which called on the power-sharing ministerial Executive to legislate.

[...] DUP Finance Minister Sammy Wilson defended his party's veto and said colleagues would use it again to defeat "reckless" legislation.

Congrats to the brave DUP for standing up for families and the rights of children.


“World’s Most Perfect Argument” for Redefining Marriage?

A viral photo on the social network Reddit is gaining attention in the media.

The letter shows a two paragraph essay written by a fourth-grader in favor of marriage redefinition. The letter begins:

Why gay people should be able to get married is you can’t stop two adult’s from getting married because there grown and it doesn’t matter if it creeps you out just get over it.

Now, of course, we’re not interested in arguing with a fourth-grader. But what does interest us is the assessment given to the letter by Salon.com journalist Katie McDonough. She called it the “world’s most perfect argument in support of marriage equality”!

McDonough highlights especially the child’s advice that those who stand for marriage between one man and one woman, that they should “just get over it.”

Proof again that the activists pushing same-sex marriage aren’t interested in reasoned debate and argument: just silencing the other side. A tactic fitting maybe for a schoolyard, but not the public square.

Columbian Senate Overwhelmingly Rejects Marriage Re-Definition

LifeSiteNews reports:

The Senate of Columbia voted down a bill to create homosexual "marriage" yesterday by an overwhelming majority of 51-17, with 32 senators either not present or abstaining.

The defeat of the bill means that it will not pass to the lower Chamber of Deputies, and is effectively dead.

With the failure of this bill to pass the Senate, the article explains, now a civil union-type institution will take effect on July 20 in accordance with a court ruling. The unions will be called “solemn contractual bond[s]” and “will not include the right to adopt children.”

A Tough Week... NOM Marriage News

NOM National Newsletter

Dear Marriage Supporter,

The news this week is tough. I'm not going to sugar coat it.

In Rhode Island, all five Republican state senators joined the Democrats in the state senate to pass a same-sex marriage bill. It now goes back to the House which had previously passed a gay marriage bill and the governor has promised to sign it.

The Rhode Island bill does not create a new category of marriage for same-sex couples. Rather, it completely redefines marriage for all people in Rhode Island.

Some religious liberty protections were added for churches. But as Scott Spear, a NOM Rhode Island Advisory Board member, told the press, "It won't be long before gay 'marriage' activists start pressing hard their new found rights on the faithful in Rhode Island. In Vermont, Christian innkeepers were sued. It was Christian florists in Washington state. Elsewhere photographers, bakers, event venue operators, notary publics, justices of the peace and town clerks have all been targeted for punishment if they do not agree to go along with gay 'marriage' in violation of their deeply-held beliefs."

Targeting The Children

All true. But the people I'm most concerned about are the children in Rhode Island, who for the first time will be educated by this new law to believe that the rights of adults to marry any person they love trump a child's right to a loving mom and dad.

Sometimes that education will be direct: In Red Hook, New York, parents last week were outraged to find that 13 and 14 year old girls were asked in their public school to pretend to be lesbian couples and ask each other for kisses in a school anti-bullying assembly. When parents objected, their school told them basically to stuff it!

Same-sex marriage is not just an attempt to help ordinary gay people live their private lives as they choose—it is part of a push for an aggressive new public norm that affects us all.

Continuing The State Fights

For the politicians who refused to let the people of Rhode Island vote on marriage, this is not over!

In Delaware, another blue state, a gay marriage bill passed the house, as expected, although by an unexpectedly tight margin. The fight now goes to the senate to hold the line for marriage.

If you have a moment, please click here to use NOM's Advocacy Center to send messages to your elected officials, letting them know that you support marriage:

 

We intend to make sure that every Rhode Islander knows how their policymakers voted on this critical issue. We will hold the politicians accountable for their votes.

Republicans, especially, will have to answer for abandoning marriage—a core position of the GOP platform. In New York, when the dust cleared, 3 out of the 4 Republican state senators who betrayed their constituents and voted for gay marriage were no longer in office.

And we should also point out that there were some heroic marriage champions who stood up from the Democratic side of the aisle. In particular, I'd like to thank Senator Harold M. Metts, D-Providence/Slater, who testified:

I am puzzled as to why those who seek tolerance and now acceptance are so intolerant of others' religious beliefs and rights.

I was not intimidated over the years by being called a religious bigot, or some of the phone calls I received this week... the last time I checked, this is America and we are all entitled to our opinions.

Many from my community take exception to the attempts of the gay rights activists to hitch their wagon to the civil rights movement as it pertains to African Americans. I can change my sexual preference tonight if I want to, but I can't change my color.

What people do in the privacy of their bedrooms can never compare to what African Americans went through in slavery... Our people were treated like animals, they were exploited... raped. Families were split up... There [were] lynchings. There [were] castrations. And I could go on and on. Again, for many form my community, there is no grounds for the comparison.

International Organization for Marriage

Meanwhile, despite massive ongoing grassroots protests from the French people, the French parliament voted to redefine marriage. As I told the press "Even though the same-sex marriage policy being foisted on an unwilling public is profoundly unwise and anti-family, no citizen should ever express their disapproval through violent means. We condemn in the strongest possible terms violence by anyone on either side of this debate."

NOM will continue to work with our friends in France to defend marriage.

Specifically, NOM is working with the Collectif Famille Mariage (CFM), a charter member of the International Organization for Marriage (IOM). CFM—along with a wide coalition of pro-marriage organizations—is imploring France's Constitutional Council to carefully study and limit the scope of this law, which has been rushed through the Senate and the National Assembly.

In Brussels, Belgium at a panel discussion about free speech, Archbishop Andre Leonard was abruptly assaulted by four protestors who said his "homophobia" was the reason. They squirted him with water bottles shaped like the Virgin Mary, according to the Global Post.

The story notes: "[T]he archbishop himself remained composed and apparently at prayer throughout."

The picture above shows Archbishop Leonard picking up and kissing one of the bottles following the disruption.

So Much For Tolerance

Our friends at FRC released video footage of domestic terrorist Floyd Corkins' FBI interview, where he acknowledges that he used the Southern Poverty Law Center's "anti-gay hate list" to target his intended victims.

SPLC still has the target list up, as I write this, despite its use to target decent, loving, law-abiding Americans who work in mainstream organizations.

Still Not "Inevitable"

Meanwhile in Illinois, gay marriage advocates are still scrambling to find the last few votes to ram a gay marriage bill through that blue state legislature.

Opposition from downstate Illinois Democrats is one reason. But the biggest obstacle? As a NBC Chicago columnist puts it, "The toughest votes? Black lawmakers who are under pressure from the African-American Clergy Coalition to vote no. . . .a black legislator trying to move up to alderman, county board, state senate or Congress would be denied a Sunday appearance at a conservative black church. That's a valuable endorsement in the black community, so that may be enough to make a politician hesitate before pressing 'yes.'"

And in Minnesota, polls are showing the public is rather shocked to find a gay marriage bill being pushed through the state legislature... apparently they believed the ads opponents to the state marriage amendment ran suggesting a constitutional amendment was not necessary!

A Star Tribune poll in February found just 38 percent of Minnesotans support the gay marriage bill. And as our friends at Minnesota for Marriage pointed out, the further one moves away from Minneapolis, the more the support drops.

While 57 percent of people in Hennepin and Ramsey counties support same-sex marriage, only 19 percent of those in what they call "outstate" Minnesota do.

Greater Minnesota is "very, very much opposed to the metro area's attempt to force gay marriage on the rest of the state," Autumn Leva of Minnesotans for Marriage told the press.

I promise you one thing: we here at NOM will never stop fighting for marriage, working with good people of all races, creeds and colors in every state of these wonderful United States.

In the tough times the sunshine patriots run. But you can count on us standing up to the forces seeking to undermine marriage everywhere across this great land! And now as part of a new international movement for marriage!

Together we are making a difference!

One final request for this week: I'd like to ask for your prayers for Pastor Jim Garlow of San Diego's Skyline Church whose beloved wife Carol passed away this week after battling cancer bravely for many years.

In lieu of flowers the family has asked that donations be made to the Carol Garlow Memorial Fund which supports a transitional home to help troubled adults become godly men and women.

Jim is a friend of mine and a hero of mine for standing up for marriage in the great Prop 8 battle. Carol was a great woman, a loving and much loved, wife, mother, Christian prayer warrior, and benefactor to her congregation and community. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

Jim, old friend, my heart goes out to you. May God comfort you and your family in this season of loss.

Thank you for standing for marriage. And thank you for your prayers for me and my family and for all those on the front lines of this great and noble fight for God's first institution.

What He has created, we will not abandon.

National Organization for Marriage Decries Passage of Same-Sex 'Marriage' By Rhode Island Senate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 24, 2013

Contact: Elizabeth Ray or Jen Campbell (703-683-5004)


National Organization for Marriage

"The Senate has abandoned society's most important institution and put their constituents on a collision course with the law." — Brian Brown, NOM president —

Providence, RI — The National Organization for Marriage Rhode Island today decried passage of same-sex 'marriage' in the state Senate and pledged to make sure that voters know how all state Senators voted on redefining the institution of marriage. The RI Senate passed SB 38 [Sub A] by a vote of 26-12.

"The Senate has abandoned society's most important institution and put their constituents on a collision course with the law," said Brian Brown, NOM's president. "Lawmakers have allowed themselves to be fooled into thinking they have protected people of faith when in fact they have put those who believe in true marriage in the crosshairs of the law and gay 'marriage' activists. It won't be long before the repercussions begin to be felt."

SB 38 does not create a new category of marriage for same-sex couples. Rather, it completely redefines marriage for all people in Rhode Island. While it purports to include so-called religious liberty protections for churches and certain religious groups, it contains no protections for other faith-based organizations and no protections for small businesses and individuals who are frequently targeted for legal punishment over their refusal to countenance genderless marriage.

"Citizens in other states that have redefined marriage have heard the same shallow promises from elected officials that nobody will be negatively impacted by redefining our most important social institution," said Scott Spear, an Advisory Board Member for NOM Rhode Island. "It won't be long before gay 'marriage' activists start pressing hard their new found rights on the faithful in Rhode Island. In Vermont, Christian innkeepers were sued. It was Christian florists in Washington state. Elsewhere photographers, bakers, event venue operators, notary publics, justices of the peace and town clerks have all been targeted for punishment if they do not agree to go along with gay 'marriage' in violation of their deeply-held beliefs."

Brown said that the biggest losers in the redefinition of marriage will be children.

"For the first time, the state of Rhode Island is saying to its children they do not deserve both a mother and a father, and are backing a law that is designed to intentionally deprive some kids of either a mom or a dad," Brown said. "It's bad enough when families break down through divorce or death, but it's unconscionable when a state encourages this through policies that deprive children of the love of both a mother and a father. This is a very sad day for Rhode Island."

NOM pledged to educate Rhode Islanders on the votes of their Senators and Representatives and to hold them accountable for redefining marriage. "This isn't the end of the debate. We intend to make sure that every Rhode Islander knows how their policymakers voted on this critical issue. We will hold the politicians accountable for their votes. Republicans, especially, will have to answer for abandoning marriage — a core position of the GOP platform — and many may face Republican challengers, as they should."

The legislation now goes back to the House, which previously passed it. Governor Chafee had pledged to sign the bill into law when it reaches his desk.

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To schedule an interview with Scott Spear, Advisory Board member of NOM Rhode Island or Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Elizabeth Ray (x130), [email protected], or Jen Campbell (x145), [email protected], at 703-683-5004.

Paid for by The National Organization for Marriage, Brian Brown, president. 2029 K Street NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006, not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
New § 68A.405(1)(f) & (h).

We've Got Work To Do...

National Organization for Marriage

Dear Marriage Supporter,

We've got work to do.

You and I know the critical role marriage has always played in a prosperous and healthy society... the critical role that a mother and a father in a permanent, exclusive marriage play in the life of their children.

And you and I know that when the definition of marriage is changed, there are countless examples of people being punished for not abandoning their deeply-held beliefs that marriage is and can only be the union of a man and a woman: wedding professionals have been fined; small businesses have been sued; church groups have lost their tax exemptions; and religious-based charities have closed down.

Supporter, marriage needs you right now!

Please make an emergency donation of $35, $50, $100 or even $500 to NOM right away to help us stop this aggressive push being made by same-sex marriage activists!

Remember, we have a generous donor who has agreed to match every donation coming in to NOM up to $500,000 ... but that is only effective if you make a donation today.

Yesterday, legislators in Rhode Island voted a same-sex marriage bill out of committee. We narrowly failed to pass (by a single vote!) legislation allowing the people to decide the marriage issue for Rhode Island. This despite polling that found 78% of Rhode Islanders want the right to vote on the definition of marriage. The full state Senate will now vote on the bill as early as today.

In addition, the state House in Delaware narrowly passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in their state. That bill will likewise go to the state Senate soon.

I want to assure you: NOM is NOT giving up this fight! And I'm asking you to renew your commitment as well.

Click here to make an urgent donation to NOM right away, and join us in the fight to defend marriage wherever it is threatened!

Our matching gift campaign means your donation will DOUBLE, giving it TWICE the impact in defending marriage!

Your donation to NOM will be put to immediate use. These fights are not over—we will not abandon the fight in Rhode Island, Delaware or anywhere marriage has been redefined.

NOM will rally the grassroots base of marriage supporters throughout the country to stand up and defend marriage. We will hold politicians accountable for their decision to abandon their constituents and impose a radical redefinition of marriage on their citizens.

Many politicians voting to redefine marriage will face primaries and re-election campaigns in the coming months and year... and with your help, NOM will be there to remind them—as we reminded five New York State Senators last November—that flipping on marriage will mean looking for a new job!

Please click here right away to make an emergency contribution to help NOM fight back against the intransigent assault on marriage, family, children and our sacred values!

God bless you for having the courage to stand up for marriage!

National Organization for Marriage Urges Delaware Senate to Reject Legislation Redefining Marriage

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 24, 2013
Contact: Elizabeth Ray or Jen Campbell (703-683-5004)


National Organization for Marriage

"Marriage is intrinsically the union of one man and woman; attempting to redefine it will strip the institution of its meaning, harm children and open people of faith to real consequences." — Brian Brown, NOM president —

Washington, D.C. — The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) today urged the Delaware Senate to defeat legislation that would redefine marriage. The House narrowly passed HB 75 yesterday, sending the measure to the Senate.

"The passage of HB 75 by the Delaware House was expected, though the vote was closer than many anticipated. It's now up to the upper chamber to exercise restraint and preserve the institution of marriage," said Brian Brown NOM's president. "Marriage is intrinsically the union of one man and woman; attempting to redefine it will strip the institution of its meaning, harm children and open people of faith to real consequences."

The Delaware legislation makes marriage genderless so that people of the same sex can be 'married' under the law. As such HB 75 shifts the purpose of marriage away from bringing men and women together to provide mothers and fathers for children, and instead changes the institution into state recognition of romantic relationships.

"The only reason that Delaware or any other state has any business being involved in licensing marriages is the interest of children," Brown said. "The state has a profound interest in children, both to encourage couples to have children so that society can be propagated, and to ensure that those children have the best opportunity to be raised by a mother and a father. So-called same-sex 'marriage' severs the interests of children from our marriage laws, and says that marriage exists to provide emotional satisfaction to adults. That is a very bad step for America's first state to take."

NOM said that while the legislation purports to protect people of faith from lawsuits for refusing to recognize same-sex unions as marriages, the bill fails to include meaningful religious liberty protections.

"This bill redefines marriage for everyone in Delaware," Brown said. "Every marriage will now be genderless. That means that anyone who cannot accept this radical and flawed change to marriage is going to be subjected to punishment. HB 75 contains no meaningful protections for people who have deeply held beliefs that marriage is and can only be the union of one man and one woman. We can expect religious groups and nonprofits along with small businesses and individuals to face consequences. These have included government fines, lawsuits, denials of contracts and government services, and stripping nonprofits of their tax exemption, among other consequences. Religious charities have been forced to abandon their service mission because they can no longer maintain fidelity to their beliefs while accepting genderless marriage. State Senators need to realize that these are the consequences they are imposing on its citizens, especially people of faith, if they vote to redefine marriage. We urge them to preserve marriage and reject redefining this most important institution."

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To schedule an interview with Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Elizabeth Ray (x130), [email protected], or Jen Campbell (x145), [email protected], at 703-683-5004.

Paid for by The National Organization for Marriage, Brian Brown, president. 2029 K Street NW,
Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006, not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
New § 68A.405(1)(f) & (h).

“Femen” Activists Disrupt Event, Assault Archbishop

Here is the story from globalpost:

The four protesters leapt out of their seats at a debate on blasphemy and freedom of expression held at the Brussels' Free University (ULB) campus Tuesday evening, baring their breasts and squirting water at Archbishop Andre Leonard as they accused him of homophobia.

The story notes:

[T]he archbishop himself remained composed and apparently at prayer throughout.

The women used water bottles made for blessed holy water, shaped like Catholic statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The picture to the left shows Archbishop Leonard picking up and kissing one of the bottles following the disruption.

Outrageous: NYU to Use Commencement Ceremonies as SSM Publicity Stunt

A report on NYU’s upcoming commencement reveals that the honorees will include two same-sex marriage activists:

David Boies, the attorney arguing in the Supreme Court against the California anti-gay marriage amendment Proposition 8, will be NYU's commencement speaker at the Yankee Stadium ceremony on May 22, the university announced Tuesday morning.

An NYU School of Law alumni, Boies will be honored along with New Yorker Edith Windsor, whose challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act is also being heard by the nation's highest court.

Boies will receive an honorary doctorate, and Windsor an unspecified award.

“He is a Boy”

Yesterday at Public Discourse, Anthony Esolen published a stirring piece entitled “A Boy’s Life with Unisex Scouts.” The piece brilliantly brings out the essential differences and complementarity of the sexes, so important to the institution of marriage:

The sex of a human being is marked in the voice, the hair, the shape of the face, the thickness of the bones, the contours of the torso, the quality of the skin, everywhere. A friend of the same sex is an image of myself, an alter ego. He echoes my voice.

But the spouse is no alter ego. The spouse complements my voice. The man to the woman and the woman to the man are suggestions on earth of the totaliter aliter, the wholly other.

Be sure to read the rest of this evocative essay!