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NOM Marriage News: October 30, 2009

 

NOM Marriage News.

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Dear Friends of Marriage,

Bishop Harry Jackson and Stand for Marriage DC.com called a rally for marriage in the nation's capital this past Sunday.  DC City Council members are threatening to enact a gay marriage bill, even though the majority of DC voters don't support it, claiming that "civil rights" requires it. 

The idea that the DC human rights code, enacted in 1978, embraces gay marriage is laughable, but it is consistent with the increasingly powerful meme of the gay marriage movement: We win, you lose.

As I stepped up to Freedom Plaza on Sunday,  I watched an incredible sea of faces who refused to be intimidated, who dare to come together to speak out for the core civil right to vote, and to protect marriage in DC.  It was an incredibly moving and inspiring sight!

The Washington Post reporter said that a mere 150 people showed up (and implied that they were mostly bussed in from out of town).  I love writing this letter to you because it give me the chance to give you the inside story, the real stuff.  When I read that WaPo report, I just burst out laughing.  If you go to the website where the Post story is up and look at the photos of the event, notice something important.  The paper doesn't give you any photos of the crowd, only close-ups of black voters demanding their right to vote.   What they don't want you to see is the inspiring sight I saw: the thousands of Americans in DC on fire to protect marriage and the right to vote!

150 people?  More than 1000 people signed up for the rally and I counted more than 2000 faces--and yes, they were mostly African-Americans, who turned up to demand their right to vote for marriage.  (Rev. Anthony Evans says it was more like 4,000.)

NOM's own president Maggie Gallagher devoted her syndicated column to events in D.C. and in New York's 23rd Congressional District, where defeating Dede Scozzafava has become one of NOM's top priorities.

Let me quote from her Oct. 27 column, "Gay Marriage Threatens the Establishment of Both Parties":

The Rev. Anthony Evans stepped up to the podium at Stand for Marriage D.C.'s rally last Sunday with a message for D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray: The black church will no longer partner with politicians of any race who work against its interests and its values.

From the podium, Rev. Evans spoke about an "extraordinary" meeting that took place when a half-dozen black bishops, representing the heart of the black church, paid a pastoral call on Councilman Gray, who is African-American.

The 30 minutes allotted stretched into an hour and a half as bishops representing the core Pentecostal denominations explained their concerns about gay marriage. But Gray was adamant in his support for gay marriage.

Finally one of the clergy asked, "What about your soul?"

"This has nothing to do with my soul," he snapped.

From the podium, Rev. Evans recalled the "astonishing" moment when these religious leaders realized that Gray's mind was made up, his heart hardened. He wasn't really listening to their concerns.

"He's not concerned about his soul on this issue," Rev. Evans said on Sunday. "So let me tell Vincent Gray he will have one less thing to worry about: This will be his last term in office."

The crowd went wild.

More than 3,000 people crowded Freedom Plaza, Evans says, to protest the D.C. Council's attempt to pass gay marriage over the heads of voters.

"We have reached a point in our history where we will not accept African-American politicians pushing policies that will hurt the black church," he told me a few days later. "The black church will not take this anymore."

Major civil rights organizations, long supported by the black church, Rev. Evans says, are now accepting major financial contributions from gay rights interests.

"This will be a major issue in 2010. We will not support Democratic candidates that are working against the interests of the black church," he promised.

Evans is not some GOP stalking horse. He is the president of the National Black Church Initiative, whose main mission is reducing disparities in health care across America. Trust me, Rev. Evans is not interested in wedge issues that elect Republicans. He cares about forcing the Democratic Party -- and black politicians especially -- to pay more attention to the voices and values of its most faithful and numerous base, African-American churchgoers.

Marriage is not a partisan issue to me.  The core moral truth--marriage is the union of male and female, of husband and wife, of mother with father--is bigger than the passing politics of today.

Maggie goes on to connect the dots to show what is happening in both political parties:

Rev. Evans thus has a lot in common, whether he knows it or not, with the emerging conservative GOP coalition in New York's 23rd Congressional District that wants to defeat GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava's bid to become the first pro-gay-marriage Republican in Congress.

I write this column as a participant, not a neutral observer: The National Organization for Marriage (of which I am president) has joined with prolife groups like Susan B. Anthony and Citizens United for Life, Gary Bauer's Campaign for Working Families, and the economic conservative powerhouse Club for Growth, to try to defeat the Scozzafava, and elect a third-party candidate, Conservative Doug Hoffman.

Club for Growth's latest poll shows Hoffman ahead and Dede Scozzafava fading badly under the combined attacks of Hoffman, Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh, her own extreme liberal record, not to mention the weird, miserable judgment her campaign showed in calling in police to deal with the reporter from a respectable magazine -- The Weekly Standard -- who asked too many pointed questions. As Brian Brown, NOM's executive director, put it: "How can she stand up for the interests of the people of New York's 23rd in Washington if she can't even deal with a reporter's questions without calling in the cops?"

Black churchgoers and white churchgoers belong, by and large with many individual exceptions, to different political parties.

Each party is now being put on notice: Some issues are far bigger than partisan labels. If you ignore the voices and values of your core constituents, they will ignore you.

A political revolution is brewing on both sides of the aisle. How long will it take for the politicians to notice?

We are just a few days away from a great and histroric election.  Tuesday, Nov. 3 is the election.  There are key marriage votes in New Jersey (where both Jon Corzine and Chris Daggett support gay marriage, and only Chris Christie has promised to fight for your voices and your values) and in New York's 23rd, where the defeat of Dede Scozzafava would be a historic moment for our movement.

In Maine,  we have a historic chance to demonstrate once again that even in a heavily Democratic and secular state like Maine, the people are not for gay marriage.  In Maine the polls are very close.  The gay-marriage movement's tactics of intimidation and harassment are stepping up. These tactics are deliberately designed to discourage and punish anyone who speaks up for God's truth about marriage--to misuse the law to treat the millions of good Americans who care about marriage like evil racists and discriminators.

Their tactics in Maine and elsewhere make it increasingly clear that our concerns are not hyperbole.  This is a movement which plays hardball with power, and the power to repress and punish those who disagree with it is dear to their hearts.  Most people, including most gay people, aren't like that.  But the leaders of this movement are increasingly up-front and emboldened about their right to win no matter who loses, and what they intend to do with the power of the law if we give in to their demands.

Pray and fast--for victory and for the protection of those on the front lines of this great spiritual battle.

And then get to work!   Vote yourself.  Call your friends and relatives in New Jersey, New York and Maine.  Pass this email on to five friends to build our network.  Thanks to you we are fighting hard against lies and hate for marriage and religious liberty!

To serve with you in the cause of Truth and Love is the greatest honor a man can have. We know Who wins in the end, don't we?

God's blessing upon you, and remember me and my family in your prayers, too.

Brian BrownBrian S. Brown
Executive Director
National Organization for Marriage
20 Nassau Street, Suite 242
Princeton, NJ 08542
[email protected]

NOM Featured Interview
Brian Brown on DC's marriage fight
CBN News
October 27, 2009
Video link

NOM in the News
"Gay Marriage Threatens Establishment of Both Parties"
Maggie Gallagher
October 27, 2009
The Rev. Anthony Evans stepped up to the podium at Stand for Marriage D.C.'s rally last Sunday with a message for D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray: The black church will no longer partner with politicians of any race who work against its interests and its values.

"Right Battles GOP Choice in a Pivotal Race in New York"

New York Times
October 26, 2009
Ms. Dannenfelser, along with members of the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes efforts to legalize same-sex marriage, are helping to coordinate efforts on the ground in support of Mr. Hoffman.

"Gay marriage fights fuel debate over petitioners' rights"
Los Angeles Times
October 25, 2009
Karger pointed to a lawsuit filed Thursday by the National Organization for Marriage against Maine's campaign finance reporting requirements as another attempt to evade scrutiny. The group is the largest donor to efforts to repeal Maine's gay marriage law.

"Catholic donations to fight gay marriage top $550K"
Associated Press
October 23, 2009
Reports show that the National Organization for Marriage was by far the biggest contributor to Stand for Marriage Maine's political action committee.

"Historic vote on same-sex unions in Maine"
Washington Times
October 27, 2009
"For the first time, the citizens of a state have a chance to overthrow legislatively enacted same-sex marriage," said Brian Brown, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriage.

"Sensing Its Moment, The Right Descends On NY-23"
New York Daily News
October 23, 2009
The group, which endorsed Hoffman on Sept. 28, is working in concert with the National Organization for Marriage on the social issues aspect of the NY-23 fight. It is also in touch with the Club for Growth, which Dannenfelser said is expected to spend upwards of $800,000 on Hoffman's behalf.

"Money fueling battle over gay marriage"
Bangor Daily News
October 23, 2009
But $1.1 million of the $1.4 million raised by Stand for Marriage Maine in October came from a single source: the National Organization for Marriage.

"Activists defend same-sex marriage"
Dubuque Telegraph Herald
October 25, 2009
In addition, the National Organization for Marriage has launched Reclaim Iowa, a multi-year campaign to ban same-sex marriage through a state constitutional amendment.

"Conservative Rebellion Explodes in New York over Extreme Liberal GOP Candidate"
Lifesite
October 23, 2009
So far, Hoffman has captured at least 19 total endorsements -- including the New York State Right to Life Party, Susan B. Anthony List, National Organization for Marriage, Fred Thompson, and Steve Forbes to name a few.

"Conservative surge"
World Magazine
October 27, 2009
Prominent Republicans Steve Forbes and Fred Thompson, the National Organization for Marriage, and the Concerned Women for America PAC have all backed [Hoffman].

"NY23 Hits Its Tipping Point"
CQPolitics.com
MSNBC
October 28, 2009
For more than two months, Hoffman's momentum has been building, as conservatives of all shapes and sizes and pedigrees -- Old Right barons (Mike Long, chairman of New York's Conservative Party; David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union; Ron Pearson, of the Conservative Victory Fund; Citizens for the Republic), new media conservatives (Erick Erickson of RedState; Michelle Malkin; Patrick Ruffini), social conservatives (Concerned Women for America; the Susan B. Anthony List; Eagle Forum; National Organization for Marriage) and fiscal conservatives (Club for Growth; Steve Forbes; Dick Armey), and political leaders like Rick Santorum, Fred Thompson, Sarah Palin, and Tim Pawlenty -- have come together behind his candidacy.

"Setback for Group Fighting Gay Marriage in Maine"
New York Times
October 29, 2009
The Maine attorney general is prodding a national group that fights same-sex marriage to reveal its donors by Election Day, after a federal judge on Wednesday denied the group's request for a restraining order.

"Focus of Gay-Marriage Fight is Maine"
New York Times
October 28, 2009
The Maine Ethics Commission is investigating whether the National Organization for Marriage has violated the state's campaign finance laws by keeping its donors anonymous. The group has responded with a lawsuit challenging Maine's financial reporting requirements.

"Same-sex marriage foes vow court fight"
Washington Post
October 27, 2009
"This is the whole ballgame right here," said Brian Brown, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, which has been at the center of the battle over same-sex marriage in California and other states. "We will go to the higher courts. . . . The other side better be careful what they wish for."

"PAC LAW HIT"
Kennebec Journal
October 24, 2009
The National Organization for Marriage, a major donor to the Yes on 1 campaign to overturn the state's gay marriage law, is suing the state, alleging its campaign finance laws are unconstitutional.

"Maine gay marriage debate heats up, differs from Vermont"
Barre Montpelier Times Argus
October 24, 2009
And the National Organization for Marriage is challenging the state's campaign finance laws, which requires them to reveal who their donors are

"Ruling due on privacy of anti-gay-marriage donors"
Kennebec Journal
October 27, 2009
The National Organization for Marriage and American Principles in Action have challenged the state campaign finance laws that apply to ballot question committees, arguing that requiring them to disclose their contributors violates the free speech protections in the First Amendment to the Constitution.

"Group Funding Gay Marriage Repeal Campaign Loses Court Fight"
MPBN News
October 28, 2009
A federal judge has denied a temporary restraining order sought by the New Jersey-based organization that's provided more than half the funding for the campaign to repeal Maine's same-sex marriage law. The National Organization for Marriage, or NOM, sought the restraining order against the Maine Ethics Commission, which has launched an investigation into the source of the group's finances.

"Yes on One Contributors Dealt Setback in Effort to Keep Donors Names Private"
MPBN News
October 28, 2009
The groups American Principles in Action and the National Organization for Marriage argued that Maine's election law is overly burdensome in its donor disclosure and record-keeping requirements and unconstitutional because of the chill it can put on free speech -- in other words on prospective donors who might prefer to remain anonymous.

"Court Action Pending in Question 1"
WTMW.com
October 26, 2009
Video link

"Top Story" (more on donor disclosure)
WGME
October 27, 2009
Video link

©2009 National Organization for Marriage.

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