Free Republic

The most effective man fighting to deny the right of gay marriage in America is Frank Schubert of Sacramento. Schubert ran the successful Yes on Proposition 8 campaign last year, the initiative banning gay marriage in California. This week, when Maine voted to repeal a new law allowing gay marriage, Schubert was again the pivotal organizer. If conventional wisdom on gay marriage inevitability were a balloon, Schubert would be the needle. His win in California galvanized Yes on Prop. 8 believers from the right and left - from black to white to Latino and Asian. His win in Maine halted...

Maggie Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage, comments on Maine´s victorious Question 1, which repealed a legislative act legalizing gay ´marriage´ in the state.

Largest Hate Group In America Unmasked Maine Voters Reject Gay Marriage Colin Tims A-CNN Staff Reporter The Mother of all Hate Groups: Voters! ALLIUM CEPA NEWS NETWORK: Now that Maine voters have overturned the state's "gay marriage" law Gerald Kapok, censorship chairman of Project Gag at the Southern Prosperity Law Center, announced that the watchdog group has sniffed out the largest hate group yet to be found in the West: voters!“There are many unenlightened voters out there who simply don’t know what is good for them and as a result cast ballots that do not accord with our agenda,”...

The Record The Christian Civic League of Maine has issued the following press release  on the success of the People's Veto of the same sex marriage law. The League thanks its faithful friends and supporters for all they have done to protect marriage  and the families of Maine.    The Christian Civic League of Maine welcomes the news of the win on Question 1. Shortly before the election, the League predicted that homosexual marriage would eventually be decisively and finally defeated. The League saw that the common sense of the people, combined with the Biblical truth about homosexuality would win out over any...

The stars seemed aligned for supporters of gay marriage. They had Maine's governor, legislative leaders and major newspapers on their side, plus a huge edge in campaign funding. So losing a landmark referendum was a devastating blow, for activists in Maine and nationwide. In an election that had been billed for weeks as too close to call, Maine's often unpredictable voters repealed a state law Tuesday that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed. Gay marriage has now lost in all 31 states in which it has been put to a popular vote — a trend that the gay-rights movement...

PORTLAND, Maine — Cecelia Burnett and Ann Swanson had already set their wedding date. When they joined about 1,000 other gay marriage supporters for an election night party in a Holiday Inn ballroom, they hoped to celebrate the vote that would make it possible. Instead, they went home at midnight, dejected and near tears after a failed bid to make Maine the first state to approve same-sex marriage at the ballot box. "I'm ready to start crying," said Burnett, a 58-year-old massage therapist, walking out of the ballroom with Swanson at her side. "I don't understand what the fear is,...

Gay-marriage opponents are claiming victory in a closely watched referendum in Maine on a new state law that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed. The law in question was passed by the Legislature in May but never took effect because of a petition drive by conservatives. With more than 84 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday, the side seeking to repeal the law had 53 percent of the vote. Their campaign organizer, Frank Schubert, claimed victory and declared that Maine voters had helped preserve the institution of marriage. Gay-marriage supporters refused to concede, holding out hope that that the tide...

Maine: Reject Gay Marriage Law 55% Precincts Do you want to reject the new law that lets same-sex couples marry and allows individuals and religious groups to refuse to perform these marriages? Answer Party Votes Pct. Yes — 166,155 50.9% No — 160,127 49.1 N.Y. District 23 Candidate Party Votes Pct. Bill Owens Dem. 51,292 49.1% Doug Hoffman Con. 47,219 45.2 Dede Scozzafava Rep. 6,012 5.8

Referendum Measure 71 concerning rights and responsibilities of state-registered domestic partners Approved 165,340 44.89 % Rejected 202,954 55.11 % Total Votes 368,294 100.00%

28% Reporting, rejection of Gay Marriage up 50.51%

10:47 -- With 37% reporting, gay marriage is staying alive in Maine by 37 votes right now. I'd guess that a lot of the outstanding votes are from rural precincts, which probably bodes well for overturning the legislature's allowance of gay marriage. --SEAN TRENDE

For Washington go to http://protectmarriagewa.com/ and and for Maine http://www.standformarriagemaine.com/index.php?home=1 If you know anyone in these states that can go vote to protect marriage or can donate, get other people to the polls let them know

Over the last several months homosexual activist campaign workers from across the country have been traveling to Maine to campaign against the upcoming vote for traditional marriage. It's been largely paid for by national homosexual groups. But all along the Massachusetts homosexual lobby has been a major organizing and fundraising arm of the pro-gay marriage push in Maine.

Yes on repeal of gay marriage 51% No on repeal of gay marriage 47%

Raleigh, N.C. – Two weeks out from election day Maine voters are divided right down the middle when it comes to whether they will reject the state’s law allowing same sex couples to marry. 48% say they will vote to over turn the law while 48% say they will vote to keep it with only 4% of the electorate still undecided. Opinion on the issue predictably breaks heavily along party lines. 74% of Republicans are planning to vote yes while only 25% of Democrats are. Independents may end up deciding which way it goes- presently 50% of them support rejecting...

IFI E-Alert:: Marriage Rally and Lobby Day -- Oct. 29th 10/20/2009 8:10:00 AM By David E. Smith, Executive Director -Illinois Family Institute Approximately eight hundred Illinois citizens from around the state joined IFI & other Christian leaders in Springfield last year to rally, pray, and lobby for natural marriage, religious freedom, parental rights and the innocence of our children. Click HERE to download a flyer to distribute at church and in your community. Join IFI and Illinois families from around the state to take a stand for protecting marriage, religious freedom, parental rights and the innocence of our children! Plan...

IFI E-Alert:: Marriage Rally and Lobby Day -- Oct. 29th 10/20/2009 8:10:00 AM By David E. Smith, Executive Director -Illinois Family Institute Approximately eight hundred Illinois citizens from around the state joined IFI & other Christian leaders in Springfield last year to rally, pray, and lobby for natural marriage, religious freedom, parental rights and the innocence of our children. Click HERE to download a flyer to distribute at church and in your community. Join IFI and Illinois families from around the state to take a stand for protecting marriage, religious freedom, parental rights and the innocence of our children! Plan...

(CNN) -- Voters in Maine will decide next week whether to overturn the legislation signed by Gov. John Baldacci nearly six months ago that allows same-sex couples to wed. Baldacci, who originally opposed the legislation, said upholding the bill comes down to a fundamental understanding of equal protection and constitutional responsibility. "Initially, I had the opinion for several years that civil unions were the limitations of what I was willing to support," Baldacci said. "But, the research that I did uncovered that a civil union didn't equal a civil marriage." On May 6 when Baldacci signed the legislation, he did...

The Silence of the Lambs - - Obama Style Farewell, Free Speech - - Part 991 bythelastcrusade.org So much for free speech and 1st Amendment rights. A hate crimes bill, which was passed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday and sent to President Obama for his signature, will serve to muzzle Christian writers, preachers, and teachers who still possess the temerity to advocate Biblical values. Mr. Obama has made a pledge to the gay and lesbian community that the bill will become law before the end of October. Matt Barber, an attorney for Liberty Counsel, says that the President...

On October 10th and 11th, thousands of students, service members, and others will converge in Washington to fight for equal rights. The demand is simple: we want equal protection for LGBT people in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states. This issue is of particular importance for our generation. This is our civil rights movement – we see the issue of LGBT equality as a part of a much larger struggle for social justice. However, there is no singular leader for this movement. We have no Martin Luther King, no Rosa Parks, and no Susan B. Anthony....

AUGUSTA, Maine (BP)--The issue of "gay marriage" in public schools is now front and center in Maine, thanks to a new television ad paid for by a group opposed to redefining marriage. Stand For Marriage Maine launched the ad Sept. 23, spotlighting a Massachusetts couple whose son's second-grade class was read a book, "King & King," about a prince who "marries" another prince. The couple objected and requested notification of similar books in the future, but the school refused. The couple then sued in federal court and lost. The ad is at the heart of an effort to pass Question...

Nearly 100 members of the U.S. House are working in lockstep with the Obama administration to try to eliminate protections for traditional marriage in the United States with the "Respect for Marriage Act" that has just been introduced in Congress. H.R. 3567 was introduced just days ago by U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-New York, and more than 90 co-sponsors. "This legislation would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a 1996 law which discriminates against lawfully married same-sex couples," Nadler said in a statement on his website.The proposal has been assigned to committee. "The 13-year-old DOMA singles out legally married...

've decided to move out of the Sunshine State. It's a bit more chilly here than I had expected. Some may say good riddance, but I'm no longer willing to live in a place where I can't get married, can't adopt children and where there are no state laws to protect me from being fired because I'm gay. And so my partner Keith and I have decided to sell the house, load up the dogs and head north, toward a decidedly warmer climate. To those who visit here, Florida must seem somewhat schizophrenic. We sell ourselves as a great place...

I was in Maine on the day that marriage qualified for the ballot this November. I went to Maine as president and founder of the National Organization for Marriage, which helped local groups organize the signature drive in Maine, as we did in California for Proposition 8. Most of the people in Maine were enthusiastic, but one clergyman asked me, "Shouldn't we live with our neighbors in peace?" His question haunts me for its debased presumptions: Is using democracy to fight for shared values somehow an act of war against our neighbors? "Agree with me or you're a hater" is...

OLYMPIA, Wash. (BP)--Voters in Washington state this November apparently will get to decide whether to keep or overturn the state's same-sex "everything but marriage" law, which grants homosexual couples all the legal benefits of marriage and which conservatives warn will lead to the legalization of full-fledged "gay marriage" in the state.

A coalition of gay marriage opponents asked the D.C. elections board Tuesday to authorize a ballot initiative that if approved by a majority of voters would define marriage in the District as the union of a man and a woman. Stand4MarriageDC, led by Bishop Harry Jackson of Beltsville's Hope Christian Church, filed papers with the Board of Elections and Ethics seeking authority to collect petition signatures for a November 2010 referendum on the definition of marriage. The filing, backed by the Archdiocese of Washington, comes ahead of an anticipated D.C. Council effort to legalize same-sex marriage in the District. "The...

Washington's Secretary of State Sam Reed Seattle, Wash., Sep 2, 2009 / 06:55 am (CNA).- Preliminary, unofficial figures from the Washington state Elections Division shows that a sufficient number of signatures have been gathered to place on the ballot Referendum 71, a measure that would preserve the unique place of marriage by rescinding the state legislature’s expansion of homosexual domestic partnership benefits. Protect Marriage Washington, which is sponsoring the proposal, submitted nearly 138,000 signatures on July 25. State checkers of the signatures accepted 121,617 signatures. According to David Ammons, writing on the blog of the Washington Secretary of State’s...

A disgusting, un-American tactic is coming to Maine. As they did in California, homosexual activists are preparing to harass and intimidate people who donate money to support the pro-marriage ballot question, to be voted on in Maine this November. In California they posted the names, addresses, and dollar amounts of people who donated to the Proposition 8 pro-marriage cause. They even posted Google maps with locations of their houses. As a result people were viciously harassed. Business were boycotted and picketed. Some people even lost their jobs when their pro-gay employers found out. Now one of those California groups is...

Most Rev. Salvatore Cordileone Proposition 8, the California constitutional amendment that deprived gay men and women of the right to marry one another, was perhaps the ugliest and most divisive electoral moment since Proposition 187, which denied illegal immigrant children access to health care and public education. All across the state, gay men, lesbians, and their friends picketed hostile churches and boycotted businesses that backed the amendment. And as they contemplated their fate, they asked themselves: Who did this to us? Was it the Mormons? The National Organization for Marriage? Black voters? White evangelical megachurches? Now, eight months after...

As over 100 couples renewed their vows at Celebrate Marriage and Family Day, an event sponsored by the National Organization of Marriage on property owned by Rhode Island’s sole diocese, between 20 and 30 homosexuals engaged in a peaceful protest. Tim Hortons and a local seafood company had originally sponsored the event but withdrew their support following complaints.

Dear Friends, Our dear friend Dr. Jerry Prevo, pastor of Anchorage Baptist Temple, has asked for our help in stopping an ordinance from becoming law. The Anchorage (Alaska) City Assembly passed an ordinance that would add "sexual orientation" to the city's non-discrimination and civil rights law. If signed into law by the Mayor, this ordinance will force individuals and small businesses to accept and accommodate all forms of "sexual orientation" including homosexuals, transgenders, and cross dressing. We have seen in other cities where, due to these laws, a Christian photographer was fined for not photographing a lesbian commitment ceremony, the...

Oh, don't you hate it when doughnuts decide to go homophobic? The Canadian mega-giant Tim Hortons (which in Canada is the largest coffee chain in the country), has decided to co-sponsor a rally in Rhode Island next week hosted by the National Organization for Marriage. Yup, the same National Organization for Marriage that is currently leading campaigns to take away the civil rights of gays and lesbians in Maine to marry, and the same group fighting marriage equality in places like Washington, D.C., New York, New Jersey and elsewhere.

Opponents of gay marriage in Maine have collected over 100,000 petition signatures, nearly double the amount needed, to prompt a November referendum on the state policy. Bob Emrich, founder of the Maine Jeremiah Project and a primary petition drive organizer for the Stand for Marriage Maine coalition, dropped off the petitions Friday morning at the office of Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap. The precise total – 100,363 – is well over the 55,087 needed to prompt a “People’s Veto” ballot initiative. Maine’s legislature legalized gay marriage in May, prompting opponents to launch their petition drive. Dunlap’s office has 30 days...

Washington state officials are ready to verify signatures for a proposed referendum on Washington state's newly expanded domestic partnership law. Secretary of State Sam Reed said Thursday that supporters of Referendum 71 turned in 137,689 signatures, about 14 percent more than the minimum needed to win a place on the November ballot. The average historic error rate is 18 percent. At least 120,577 valid voter signatures are needed to get on the ballot. Election workers will begin verifying signatures Friday.

A judge in Washington State ruled that 138,500 residents who signed a petition protesting a recent move to give gay couples the same rights as married couples will not have their names released on the internet as requested by a pro-gay lobbying group. The group, Whosigned.org, sought to release the signatures to “make this public record signature information accessible and searchable on the internet,” and to “provide Washington State Voters with a way of reporting when their signature has been recorded either fraudulently or in error.” But James Bopp, Jr. the attorney for the plaintiffs that sought the injunction against...

Today, a federal judge tossed out yet another challenge to Proposition 8. (Prop 8 is a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman in California) This time the challenge was on "federal constitutional grounds..."

I have a suggestion for Julaine Appling, the pious president of the so-called Wisconsin Family Council -- not that I have any hope that she'll accept it, of course. But it might be more productive for her and her organization to spend more time on the massive problems with heterosexual marriages and the adverse impact so many of them have on family stability rather than sticking their collective noses into same-sex relationships. Appling is on a tear once again because the new state budget allows gays and others to enter into domestic partnerships starting on Aug. 1 of this year....

Couples who shack up before tying the knot are more likely to get divorced than their counterparts who don't move in together until marriage, a new study suggests. Upwards of 70 percent of U.S. couples are cohabiting these days before marrying, the researchers estimate. The study, published in the February issue of the Journal of Family Psychology, indicates that such move-ins might not be wise. And it's not because you start to get on one another's nerves. Rather, the researchers figure the shared abode could lead to marriage for all the wrong reasons. "We think that some couples who move...

DES MOINES, Iowa (BP)--In the first statewide survey since the Iowa Supreme Court's landmark "gay marriage" ruling, a new poll shows that just over two-thirds of the state's voters support placing a constitutional marriage amendment on the ballot. The survey of 500 registered voters by Voter/Consumer Research was released Monday, more than three months after the court made the state the first in the heartland to recognize "marriages" between homosexuals. The proposed marriage amendment -- proposed immediately after the ruling by state legislative Republicans but blocked by Democratic leaders -- likely will be an issue in next year's gubernatorial and...

The push to get a gay marriage referendum on the November 3 ballot in Maine kicked into high gear this week when petition-gathering opponents gathered well more than the required signatures in little more than a month. Gay marriage opponents are required to have 55,087 validated voter signatures on petitions by Aug. 3 to prompt a “People’s Veto” and send the issue to Maine voters. Earlier this week, about 70,000 signatures had been gathered, with more expected, according to Bob Emrich. Emrich is a pastor and founder of The Jeremiah Project, a Christian-based public advocacy group. He is one of...

Why Marriage Is Only Between A Man and A Woman “The truth does not require your belief in it to be so.” -Spike Spencer To understand why marriage must be between a man and a woman we first must understand some basic eternal truths. 1. We are all literal children of Divine parents. “. . . And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water, neither in the air;”1...

Judge Vaughn R. Walker Sacramento, Calif., Jul 1, 2009 / 06:02 pm (CNA).- The U.S. District Court has agreed to allow ProtectMarriage.com to defend   Proposition 8 in a lawsuit, after the state's Attorney General, Jerry Brown, refused to do so. The ruling will allow the coalition to defend the successful California initiative from last November that restored marriage to being only between a man and a woman in the state constitution. Andrew Pugno, general counsel for ProtectMarriage.com, has said that he is “pleased that the court will allow us to defend marriage and the will of the people against challenges to...

Sadly, and to my horror, I am divorcing. This was a 20-year partnership. My husband is a good man, though he did travel 20 weeks a year for work. I am a 47-year-old woman whose commitment to monogamy, at the very end, came unglued. This turn of events was a surprise. I don’t generally even enjoy men; I had an entirely manageable life and planned to go to my grave taking with me, as I do most nights to my bed, a glass of merlot and a good book. Cataclysmically changed, I disclosed everything. We cried, we bewailed the fate...

DOMA is the federal statute that says state X, which prohibits gay marriage, can’t be forced to recognize a gay marriage performed in state Y. As Tapper reminds us, candidate Obama opposed it in 2007. Two years later, Change has come to America. Question: Why does the president hate gay people? Justice spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said that President Obama “has said he wants to see a legislative repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act because it prevents LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) couples from being granted equal rights and benefits,” she said. “However, until Congress passes legislation repealing the law,...

The Iowa Supreme Court recently proved that the critics of same-sex “marriage” are correct: we are not being urged to make marriage more inclusive, but to radically redefine the nature of marriage itself. With its decision, the Iowa Supreme Court covertly but profoundly changed the meaning of marriage. While marriage previously served public purposes of attaching mothers and fathers to their children and one another, now marriage merely serves as affirmation of adult feelings. The Court abolished the essential public purpose of marriage, and replaced it with a new understanding of marriage that is neither essential nor public. The Institution...

SANTA ANA, CALIF. -- President Obama, who said as a candidate that he would seek repeal of a law denying federal recognition of same-sex marriage, has angered gay rights groups with court arguments portraying the law as a nondiscriminatory measure that "preserves scarce government resources." Obama called the law "abhorrent" during the presidential campaign and said he would work to overturn it. "We ask him to live up to his emphatic campaign promises, to stop making false and damaging legal arguments, and immediately to introduce a bill to repeal (the Defense of Marriage Act) and ensure that every married couple...

She was fired for her stand against same-sex marriage and nothing else, former Miss California USA Carrie Prejean said Friday, adding that allegations that she did not discharge her duties are false. “I’m here talking to you because of the answer I gave on that stage,” Prejean told TODAY’s Matt Lauer Friday from San Diego. “It’s a test to Americans’ tolerance. It needs to be a two-way street and it’s not. This is about me stating my beliefs about same-sex marriage, and that’s the reason why we’re here today.”

Date:Tuesday, June 9, 2009 Time:10:30am - 12:30pm Location:East Steps, State Capitol City/Town:Albany, NY Join the expected thousands of concerned citizens standing for the traditional definition of marriage. Scheduled to attend are Sen. Rev. Ruben Diaz, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr. of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, State Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long, and many pro-family legislators. All are welcome – including children. It is important that we remind legislators that marriage is about the needs of children, and not just the preferences of adults. Please feel free to bring your own signs with statements...

Thousands of supporters of California's ban on same-sex marriage rallied in Fresno and San Diego on Sunday in what organizers described as a celebration of traditional wedlock and a thank-you to the California Supreme Court for upholding their voter-approved measure. The demonstrations followed Saturday's gathering of gay rights supporters in Fresno to renew efforts to reverse Proposition 8, which the high court let stand early last week. The dueling weekend rallies underscored the fact that, despite an election and a Supreme Court decision, the issue of same-sex marriage remains divisive in California. In San Diego, about 200 Proposition 8 supporters...

The National Organization for Marriage, a conservative Christian group that has fought efforts to legalize in California and in the Northeast, has set its sights on New York with its latest media campaign.Beginning Thursday in the New York City and Albany markets, the organization will run a 30-second television commercial that warns of unanticipated social consequences if the state allows gay couples to marry.Echoing a theme that was used in turning public opinion against same-sex marriage in California in a vote last fall, the commercial suggests that children will be taught about homosexuality in schools.“And it’s not just kids who...