Washington, DC Legalizes Gay Marriage

"The mayor of Washington has signed a bill legalizing gay marriage in the nation's capital, but it won't go into effect just yet....

The bill must pass a 30-day period of Congressional review."

Read the story here.

Marriage Victory in New York

"In a lengthy debate Wednesday that often focused more on theology than politics, the New York Senate defeated a “gay marriage” bill 38-24, handing homosexual activists another stinging defeat in the liberal Northeast."

See Beetle Blogger for all the details!

Maine Marriage Supporters Targeted

From Bangor Daily News:

"In a defiant speech to several hundred lingering supporters, No on 1 campaign manager Jesse Connolly pledged that his side “will not quit until we know where every single one of these votes lives.”

“We’re not short-timers; we are here for the long haul,” Connolly told the crowd, some of whom wiped away tears as he spoke. “Whether it’s just all night and into the morning, or next week or next month or next year, we will be here. We’ll be fighting, we’ll be working. We will regroup.'"

[Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin]

Maine Stands For Marriage

From Pearl Diver:

"Yes on Question 1 WINS, 53% to 47%, an almost identical percentage margin, I might add, to California’s Prop 8 results. Congratulations go to Mainers who GOT OUT THE VOTE and represented and protected the children who will ultimately be most affected by any marriage redefinition. It is clear that THE MAJORITY still recognizes the eternal and natural truth that children have a right to be raised by a mother and a father and that GOVERNMENT OUGHT TO DO ALL IN ITS POWER TO PROTECT THAT RIGHT.

Says Fox News, “Gay marriage has now lost in every single state -- 31 in all -- in which it has been put to a popular vote.' "


Opine also has a bunch of news clips and commentary here.

Obama Signs Hate Crimes Legislation

by Peter J. Smith, www.LifeSiteNews.com

President Barack Obama has now signed into law a controversial "hate crimes" bill that authorizes the federal government to intervene in violent crimes that appear motivated by hatred of homosexuals and apply stiffer penalties and sentences.
...

Opponents of the hate crimes legislation have charged that the bill violates the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution by making an individual's thought regarding certain groups as much a factor as the nature of his act in prosecuting a crime.

The US Commissioners on Civil Rights wrote letters to US House and Senate leaders condemning the legislation, saying they "regard the broad federalization of crime as a menace to civil liberties." The commissioners also pointed out that the law creates a legal loophole to the Constitution's prohibitions to double jeopardy, because it allows the federal government to try an individual who has already been acquitted in a state trial, for the same crime.

Read the full story here.

Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Gay Agenda Bills

From Beetle Blogger:

"After a long midnight session with legislators, Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed SB 572 legislation that appoints May 22 as “Harvey Milk Day” in California public schools AND and SB 54 that recognizes same-sex marriages performed out of state.

The signing of these two bills is a slap in the face to voters who have consistently rejected same sex marriage and pushing homosexuality in schools."

Read the full story here.

Illinois State Senate to Consider "Equal Marriage Act"

A similar bill has already been introduced in the Illinois House.




And there is a helpful article here summarizing all of the legal activity
on "gay marriage" so far in 2009.

Texas Judge Rules Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

The ruling came in a gay divorce case, but will this help to open the door for gay marriage proponents?

Read the story here.

Updates from the Frontlines

Check out United Families International for updates in the fight to protect marriage in Washington, Maine, and Michigan.

There are also recent updates from New Jersey and California.

Judge Orders Mother to Send Child to Public School

From New American:

"A New Hampshire family-court judge has decreed in a July 13, 2009 ruling that a 10-year-old home-schooled child must now go to a government school in order to teach her to be less “rigid” and foster “tolerance” in her religious beliefs.

Was it because the child was falling behind or socially backward?

"The judge made this order despite finding that the child “is generally likable and well liked, social and interactive with her peers, academically promising, and intellectually at or superior to grade level.”

So what right did the court have to step in and tell the parent how to educate their child? Was this simply because he didn't agree with the child's religious upbringing? Should the parent or the government have the final say in how to raise the child?

Read the full story here.

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to be Repealed?

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM):

"Today, Congressman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) will introduce a bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act — the only federal law protecting the marriage statutes of 44 states."

"Marriage isn’t about inside-the-Beltway opportunism, or scoring political points. It’s about honesty and integrity. Protecting children and religious liberty."

Visit NOM to see how you can help in the fight to protect DOMA.

United Families International (UFI) lays out what is at stake if DOMA is repealed.

Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has census statistics and poll numbers that disprove any politician's claim that by voting to repeal DOMA, he is simply following the wishes of the majority.

Never Forget

Pro-Life Leaders Warn Obama Still Not Honest About Health Care Abortion Funding

by Kathleen Gilbert, www.LifeSiteNews.com

President Obama told a joint session of Congress last night that "no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions" in his proposed health care overhaul. Pro-life leaders across America, however, immediately slammed the claim, pointing to the testimony of independent analysts who have asserted that the current legislation will in fact open government funds to abortion.

Obama stated in his address to Congress Wednesday night: "One more misunderstanding I want to clear up - under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place."

Last month, Obama had similarly dismissed the abortion debate by telling faith leaders in a conference call that it was a "fabrication" that the health care legislation involved "government funding of abortions."

In response, National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) legislative director Douglas Johnson noted that the wording of Obama's statement allowed him to dispense with the abortion opposition without admitting the actual expansion of abortion in the bill. "Obama apparently seeks to hide behind a technical distinction between tax funds and government-collected premiums," said Johnson. "These are merely two types of public funds, collected and spent by government agencies."

He continued: "The Obama-backed legislation makes it explicitly clear that no citizen would be allowed to enroll in the government plan unless he or she is willing to give the federal agency an extra amount calculated to cover the cost of all elective abortions - this would not be optional. The abortionists would bill the federal government and would be paid by the federal government.

"These are public funds, and this is government funding of abortion."

Read the full story here.

Speak Out in Opposition to Harvey Milk Day

by Charlie Butts, www.OneNewsNow.com

The California Assembly has passed a bill establishing an annual day to honor openly homosexual San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, who was assassinated November 27, 1978. SaveCalifornia.com president Randy Thomasson is calling on conservative Christians to contact the governor's office.

"The bill -- which will honor a sexual predator, a polygamous relationship advocate, and a public liar -- and extend a homosexual, bisexual, transsexual agenda as a role model to children to aspire to is going to the governor afteryou a short stop on the [California] Senate floor," Thomasson explains.

Read the full text here.

Please contact the Governor's office and ask him to veto this bill!

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-558-3160
E-mail: governor@governor.ca.gov

Voter Referenda on Same-Sex "Marriage" on Nov. Ballot in Washington and Maine

by Peter J. Smith, www.LifeSiteNews.com

Voters in the states of Washington and Maine will get the opportunity this November to decide the fate of same-sex "marriage" in their respective states, now that two measures have been certified to appear on the November ballot.

Maine election officials announced Wednesday that pro-family advocates had gathered more than enough signatures - nearly twice the number required - to effect a referendum on the same-sex "marriage" law passed by the Maine legislature. The referendum means Maine voters have the chance to exercise a "People's Veto" of the law, which if successful would then reduce the number of states legalizing same-sex "marriage" to five.

...

Meanwhile on the West Coast, the Secretary of State for Washington has approved R-71, a voter referendum that would overturn a law (SB 5688) passed by the legislature in April that gives homosexual couples all the rights and benefits of marriage, but stops short of giving same-sex unions the title of "marriage."

Pro-family advocates sponsoring R-71 under the banner of Protect Marriage Washington, however, say the law attacks the "historical understanding and definition of marriage" as the lifelong union of a man and a woman, and invites litigation that would lead to state courts legalizing same-sex "marriage."

Protect Marriage Washington submitted nearly 138,000 signatures by the July 25 deadline in order to get R-71 on the November ballot. However state elections officials threw out thousands of signatures, recognizing 121,617 signatures as the final tally. According to the Washington Secretary of State, just 120,557 were required to secure approval for the Referendum.

However the situation in Washington is far more precarious than in Maine, as homosexual activists plan to file a lawsuit on Thursday arguing that Secretary of State Sam Reed certified thousands of invalid signatures, which would then disqualify R-71 from the November ballot.

Yet the Protect Marriage Washington coalition is also fighting attempts by two homosexual activist groups to make the identities public of all Referendum 71 signers. The groups WhoSigned.org and KnowThyNeighbor.org have vowed to create searchable databases of the signers' names, along with the amount they gave and their place of employment. It is unclear whether their home addresses will also be published.

Read the full story here.

The Family: The Hope for the Future of Nations

These are excerpts from an address given by Elder Russell M. Nelson at the World Congress of Families V in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Aug. 12, 2009. (emphasis added)

"Nothing, absolutely nothing, compares with the companionship between a husband and a wife. And nothing, absolutely nothing, can provide the joy and growth that come from happy children who make a family circle. Throughout my life, I have answered to many titles, including doctor, captain, professor, and elder. But the titles I revere most are those of husband, father, and grandfather.

...

"Dear friends, future happiness and even the future of nations is linked to children. Families with children need to be re-enthroned as the fundamental unit of society. We simply must value children more than we do! Without a new generation to replace the old, there is no wealth; without families, there is no future.

Children come from the union of a man and a woman. The happiest and most secure children come from happy and secure marriages of fathers and mothers. History and contemporary studies have shown that marriage of a husband and a wife, with both contributing their distinctive natural traits to the family, provides the ideal context within which to rear productive, compassionate, and moral individuals.

...

Any attempt to broaden the definition of marriage to encompass a contractual relationship between adults outside of the traditional family weakens the institution of marriage as God Himself defined it, and undermines the separate, divinely decreed responsibilities of man and woman for procreation, protection, and rearing of children.

Marriage is not simply a contract between individuals; it affects all of society. For that reason, governments have long recognized the family as the fundamental unit of society and have endorsed and encouraged traditional marriage through legal recognitions, protections and benefits.

Individuals and groups who would overthrow the traditional concept of marriage and family would first mutate and then mutilate these long-established, time-tested social norms. The consequences of such changes would have far-reaching implications. If youth were to harbor the belief that the traditional family is but one choice of lifestyle among others, many of them will make choices that will reap only emptiness and despair, both for themselves and for society at large.

Furthermore, those who seek to undermine traditional marriage and family would effectively limit the rights of those who do uphold the sanctity of these institutions. This consequence leads to another major concern— the eventual erosion of religious liberty, including the liberty to defend, promote, and practice traditional family values. Religious liberty is essential if we are to raise up righteous children. Morally responsible families will not marginalize religious liberty, they will nurture and protect it."

I would encourage you to read the full text of the address here. He gives a great overview of the importance of the family and the attacks it is facing in our society.

Vacation

I will be out of town for the next three weeks so Kingfisher will be taking a break. Enjoy reading some of the great blogs listed on Kingfisher and learning more about how you can help protect the family. Happy reading!

Religious Beliefs Lose to Gay "Rights"

Clash of worldviews - coming to a wedding near you

by Charlie Butts, www.OneNewsNow.com

A court in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan has ruled that a marriage commissioner may not refuse to perform homosexual "wedding" ceremonies.

Earlier this month, the Queen's Bench in Saskatchewan upheld the Human Rights Commission's ruling that a government marriage commissioner illegally discriminated against a homosexual man by refusing to perform a marriage ceremony for him. That commissioner had cited religious objections to performing same-sex "marriages."

Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel says the problem is not confined to Canada -- and argues that the same thing is coming to the U.S. when homosexual marriage is legalized. As he points out, when Vermont legalized civil unions, clerks who perform marriage ceremonies were forced to choose between their faith and their careers.

Read the full story here.

No More Abstinence Funding

House Follows Obama's Plan to Replace Abstinence Grant with Contraceptive Funding

by Kathleen Gilbert, www.LifeSiteNews.com

The U.S. House of Representatives Friday voted to eliminate $99 million in grant funds that would have bolstered abstinence education in the U.S. The House's decision to cut the funds and to approve a new grant towards contraceptive-promoting sex education had been sought by President Obama in his budget recommendations earlier this year.

House lawmakers voted 264-153 to approve the annual health and education spending bill that cut funding for Community-Based Abstinence Education. Also according to the Obama recommendations, Congress in late June chose not to renew the smaller abstinence-education funding initiative known as Title V.

Instead, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education and Labor money will be directed to a new $114 million initiative to promote contraceptives and explicit sex education.

Read the full article here.

Obamacare and Abortion

from New York Times:

An Obama administration official refused Sunday to rule out the possibility that federal tax money might be used to pay for abortions under proposed health care legislation. Peter R. Orszag, the White House budget director, asked whether he was prepared to say that “no taxpayer money will go to pay for abortions,” answered: “I am not prepared to say explicitly that right now. It’s obviously a controversial issue, and it’s one of the questions that is playing out in this debate.”

Read the full article here.

Judge Sides with Christian Student

by Peter J. Smith, www.LifeSiteNews.com

A US District Judge has blocked the Los Angeles Community College District from enforcing its sexual harassment policy, which the judge ruled had promoted a hostile environment for the free speech rights of a Christian student.

U.S. District Judge George H. King agreed with Jonathan Lopez, a student attending Los Angeles City College (LACC), that the District's policy as written had created the environment that emboldened his speech professor to call Lopez a "fascist ba***rd" for explaining his Christian beliefs and how they related to his views against same-sex "marriage."

King stated in a ruling handed down last week that key sections of the policy were "unconstitutionally overbroad" and then issued the preliminary injunction on the policy, saying that the way the policy was constructed meant it "cannot be rendered constitutional by excising words or severing sections."

Represented by lawyers with the Alliance Defense Fund, Lopez had filed a lawsuit against the District and LACC back in February after he had been censored and threatened with expulsion by Professor John Matteson, who had assigned the members of his public-speaking class in mid-November to give an informational speech on any topic.

Lopez decided to give an informational speech to students on his own Christian beliefs, including Christian views on marriage. Lopez had read aloud the definition of marriage from the dictionary and had also quoted two verses from the Bible, when Matteson interjected in the middle of the speech and called Lopez a "fascist ba***rd" before his classmates.

Matteson refused to let Lopez finish, and instead invited other students to leave if they felt offended. But with no student taking up Matteson's invitation to depart, Matteson ordered the class dismissed. Instead of giving the assignment a grade, Matteson mocked Lopez on his written evaluation, taunting, "Ask God what your grade is."

Read the full story here.

Original post here and the story from the L.A. Times here.

Updates From the Front Lines

From UFI:

"There are new disturbing developments within New England and Washington, D.C. and a new battleground has opened up in the state of New York. The current administration has made bold moves in direct defiance of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and a new development has begun in contravention of California’s recent state Supreme Court victory."

Read the details here.

Marriage & Divorce

Massachusetts sues feds over definition of marriage

by Denise Lavoie, AP, www.OneNewsNow.com

Massachusetts is suing the federal government over a law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

State Attorney General Martha Coakley filed the lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in Boston. It says the federal Defense of Marriage Act interferes with the right of Massachusetts to define marriage as it sees fit.

Read the full story here.

Obama Administration Calls for Universal Access to Abortion at UN Meeting

by Samantha Singson, www.LifeSiteNews.com

At the United Nations (UN) headquarters last week, the Obama administration continued its push for increased access to legal abortion around the world. The Obama team has introduced language that has thrown a high level negotiation into a roil. The US proposal calls for "universal access" to "sexual and reproductive health services including universal access to family planning."

Read the full story here.

CA school forces LGBT curriculum on students

by Pete Chagnon, www.OneNewsNow.com

The chief counsel with the Pacific Justice Institute is fighting for the rights of parents to opt out of a controversial curriculum.

San Francisco Bay-area Alameda Unified School District has approved a "lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender" (LGBT) curriculum for use with kindergarten through fifth-grade students. The curriculum is intended to deal with issues such as bullying and harassment.

Alameda Unified School District is not allowing parents to opt their children out of the curriculum.

Read the full story here.

Coming Soon to a High School Near You

by Hilary White, www.LifeSiteNews.com

"Distributing condoms in schools "in the context of combating AIDS" "trivializes" sexuality and education and must be fought by concerned parents says a high-level Vatican official. In an official statement released last week, Agostino Cardinal Vallini, the pope's Vicar General of the diocese of Rome, responded to a decision by the civil authorities of the province of Rome to allow the distribution of condoms from vending machines in high schools."

Read the full article here.

Help Protect Parental Rights

From parentalrights.org:

Dear Friend of Parental Rights,

Monday in a Harlem middle school, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told a group of 120 students that administration officials are actively discussing “when and how it might be possible to join” (that is, ratify) the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). As before, she also communicated what a disgrace it is that the U.S. would stand with only Somalia against such a widely-accepted treaty.

This is the first direct public statement by the Obama administration that it will seek ratification of the UN CRC.

In my 30 years of political involvement, I have learned to recognize this as what is called a “trial balloon.” Like in World War I trench warfare, our opponents have “sent up a balloon” to see if it will draw fire. If things remain quiet, they will proceed with their plans to push for ratification of the CRC in the U.S. Senate.

To discourage them from doing so, we need to make sure that our voices are heard with unmistakable clarity. We must let the Obama administration know that we oppose this anti-family, anti-American treaty.

Here’s what we need you all to do:

1. Call the White House comments line at 202-456-1111. Tell them you heard the administration wants to ratify the CRC, and you strongly oppose this giving away of U.S. sovereignty to the UN. Also keep in mind that this treaty gives the government jurisdiction to override any decision made by any parent if the government thinks that a better decision can be made—even if there is no proof of any harm.

2. Call Ambassador Susan Rice’s office at the United Nations. Tell her that you want her to represent the United States to the world rather than trying to get the United States to go along with international law initiated by the UN. The US Mission at the United Nations can be reached at 212-415-4000 (press 6 to leave your message). This number has been disconnected through our efforts. You can also contact the Public Diplomacy Office at 212-415-4050.

3. Contact your Senators and urge them to oppose ratification of this treaty. (Find your Senators’ contact information by typing your zip code into the box here.) Ask them also to defeat it once and for all by cosponsoring SJRes 16 – the Parental Rights Amendment.

It is very important that we speak up right now. Please call before you close this email!

Sincerely,

Michael Farris

Original letter posted here.