NOM BLOG

The Path Forward

 

National Organization for Marriage

The National Organization for Marriage has hundreds of thousands of active supporters across the nation, and I've heard from many of you since the Supreme Court's rulings in the DOMA and Proposition 8 cases with some version of this question: “What's the path forward to preserve marriage?”

We have been working hard to fine-tune strategies, both in anticipation of the Supreme Court's rulings, and in their wake. Despite the seeming setback at the Supreme Court, we're excited about the future of the marriage movement, and want to share our conclusions regarding a path forward to victory.

There are five key prongs of our strategy:

The US Supreme Court has decided that, at least for now, marriage is the purview of the states, and they declined to “constitutionalize” gay 'marriage.' That's good news for us, because 38 states already define marriage as the union of one man and one woman – the vast majority of them in their state constitutions. It is imperative that we protect that turf, and go on to win more states.

So as a matter of first importance, NOM will continue to work tirelessly with our national and state partners to defend natural marriage whenever and wherever it is under attack. That includes working legislatively in states like Illinois, New Jersey and Hawaii, and at the ballot box in states like Ohio and Oregon. And NOM will continue to press hard for the right of states to have their voters define marriage in state constitutions. We join with Governor Mike Pence in calling on the Indiana Legislature to put a marriage amendment on the 2014 ballot, and we will work vigorously to pass it. Similarly, we call on states like New Mexico and Pennsylvania to do the same, along with any other state that doesn't yet protect marriage in their state constitution.

Will you help us execute this critical element of our strategy to preserve marriage? We expect an onslaught of battles to redefine marriage, and we are counting on your financial assistance to preserve marriage as God designed it. It couldn't be more important for all of us to remain strong than it is at this very moment.

Justice Anthony Kennedy and his fellow liberal activist judges on the Supreme Court issued a virtual open invitation to homosexual activists and groups to sue in federal court to overturn any state marriage law that defines marriage in the true manner. Already there have been lawsuits filed or threatened in states like New Jersey, Texas, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and Nevada. We expect many more such suits in the weeks to come.

Will you help us ensure that marriage enjoys a robust defense in federal court whenever it is challenged? We will work with national and state allies to help ensure that the right attorneys are engaged, expert witnesses are recruited where needed, scholarly research is made available and other important work is presented to the courts to show that the states have a compelling interest in preserving marriage as the union of one man and one woman. NOM was not only the biggest funder in terms of getting Proposition 8 on the ballot in California, but we were one of the biggest donors to its defense. States will be relying on us to help them defend marriage, and we are counting on you.

We must fight for the right of people of faith to conscientiously object to participating in any same-sex marriage regime. We must move forward aggressively to pass federal and state laws guaranteeing the right of people to live their faith in the public square, and to refuse to accept same-sex 'marriage' as a violation of their conscience and deeply held religious beliefs.

When marriage has been redefined, we've seen people of faith, small businesses and religious groups punished by government for refusing to abandon their faith principles and support gay 'marriage.' They've been targeted with threats of loss of employment, government fines, potential jail sentences, lawsuits, loss of governmental contracts and many other types of punitive actions. None of this should be allowed to occur in America. It's time for people to demand equality of beliefs. (It's funny how homosexual activists want society to consider 'marriage equality' when they themselves refuse to treat people with opposite beliefs with equal dignity!) We will work with legal experts, legislators and members of Congress on comprehensive religious liberty protections to prohibit punitive consequences toward individual citizens, businesses and religious groups for simply living their faith in the public square and refusing to condone a redefinition of marriage. We will call on leaders in Congress and state legislatures to work with us. This kind of effort is very expensive, and we will need to raise the funds necessary to be successful. Please help us with a generous contribution today.

Let's face it: Anthony Kennedy and his activist cronies on the Supreme Court are itching to redefine marriage and impose same-sex 'marriage' on an unwilling nation. Justice Scalia has warned us clearly in his dissent that the only thing that will stop Kennedy and crew is their own sense of what they can get away with. The most direct and effective way of ensuring that gay 'marriage' is not inserted into the US Constitution by an activist majority on the Supreme Court is to amend the Constitution itself to preserve marriage. That's just what we're determined to do!

Representative Tim Huelskamp has introduced a proposed constitutional amendment that has already attracted over two-dozen co-sponsors. We're going to push every member of Congress from every state that defines marriage as one man/one woman to co-sponsor the amendment in order to ensure that activist judges do not obliterate all of America's state-level laws defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman and replace with judicially-imposed a genderless counterfeit. If they refuse, we will make sure their constituents know that their lack of action risks marriage in their state.

We're under no illusions about how difficult it will be to pass a constitutional amendment, but we've faced tough battles before – and prevailed. We passed Proposition 8 in California, when everyone said it would be impossible! It was only through judicial and political corruption that politicians like Jerry Brown and Kamala Harris were able to abandon the voters, and a single homosexual judge was allowed to invalidate it. It's imperative that no other state have to go through what Californians have suffered. We're demanding that the Huelskamp marriage protection amendment come before the full House of Representatives for a vote.

We're going to need millions of dollars to effectively push for a constitutional amendment. That's what it will cost to hire trained lobbyists, mount new grassroots efforts, organize rallies and events and deploy effective communications efforts. It's only if thousands of marriage supporters like you stand up and give generously that we can be successful.

I've saved arguably the most important strategy for last. Same-sex 'marriage' is a lie that runs contrary to human nature and God's design for the family. Firstly, there is no such thing as same-sex 'marriage' since marriage is intrinsically, by definition, the union of one man and one woman. No judge or politician can ever change that reality. Furthermore, it's beyond dispute that children do best when they are raised by a loving mother and father in an intact marriage. Our laws should encourage that reality, yet so-called same-sex 'marriage' turns the paradigm on its head by creating motherless or fatherless children by design. It says to children that they don't matter, because instantly satisfying the demands of adults is more important.

There are some incredibly exciting new developments in the public square as people of all stripes begin to realize that we are perilously close to losing marriage in this nation. More and more academics and social scientists are speaking out about the good of marriage, especially for children, and the serious problems that kids experience when raised by parents in a same-sex relationship. Increasingly, members of the gay community themselves are becoming active, speaking out against same-sex parenting and the emotional trauma they say same-sex relationships can inflict on children. One prominent scholar has argued that society, egged-on by a biased media, demands that we accept and even celebrate a relationship that intentionally injures a child, depriving her of a mother or father, further victimizing the child who struggles with her emotional loss. This same scholar, who was raised by a lesbian mother and her partner, recently wrote in raw and powerful terms that he considers same-sex parenting to be akin to child abuse.

It's now established fact that the media is biased in favor of same-sex 'marriage' -- but not even a biased media can sustain a lie forever! It's our responsibility to develop effective public education campaigns, organize at the grassroots level, work with the broad faith community, engage parents and otherwise get the truth out to the American people. We need to explain what marriage really is, why it's so important for America and what's at risk if we let it be redefined by activist judges on the US Supreme Court. And we need elected officials, especially a US President, who are champions for true marriage. NOM is already hard at work with our allies across the country and in every state to win the fight for marriage in the court of public opinion and in the culture at large.

That, too, will be an expensive undertaking, something that we can accomplish only with your generous support.

The challenges before us are daunting, there's no doubt about that. Taking on even one of the five prongs in our national strategy would be difficult, let alone pursuing all five objectives simultaneously. We do so in faith, relying on God to provide the resources, energy and inspiration to be successful. And relying on you who have sustained us over the years because you know so well how important this precious institution of marriage is to our nation, our families and, especially, to our children.

Please let us know today that you will be with us as we embark on this powerful new path forward to secure victory for marriage.

If you have never supported our efforts financially before, please do so today as your pledge of becoming more engaged in this all-important cause.

Contributions or gifts to the National Organization for Marriage, a 501(c)(4) organization, are not tax-deductible. The National Organization for Marriage does not accept contributions from business corporations, labor unions, foreign nationals, or federal contractors; however, it may accept contributions from federally registered political action committees. Donations may be used for political purposes such as supporting or opposing candidates. No funds will be earmarked or reserved for any political purpose. This message has been authorized and paid for by the National Organization for Marriage, 2029 K Street NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006, Brian Brown, President. This message has not been authorized or approved by any candidate.

12 Comments