Guarding the Heart of Your Marriage

Two amendments have been filed to overturn Prop 8. One is an amateur effort by

students which would abolish marriage itself. The second is more potentially

formidable, because it's been filed.

So here's the question: Do either of these amendments have a shot? Have the wave

of protests, the name-calling, the threats to people, the anguished cri de coeur

changed Californians' opinions on marriage?

This week we got the answer: NO, according to two new polls.

Two Calif. Polls Show Increasing Support for Prop 8

You haven't heard a lot about these polls--because they are not good news for gay

marriage advocates.

The Field Poll shows Californians about equally divided on an Amendment to overturn

Prop 8.

Why is that good news for us and for Prop 8? Experts know that anything less than

50 percent support signals big problems for an amendment.  It's much easier getting

people to vote "no" than to vote "yes" on new proposition.  

Moreover, the Field poll has significantly underestimated voters' support for marriage

in both 2000 (with Prop 22) and in 2008 (with Prop 8), by 5 to 7 percentage points. 

Compare this poll with the last Field poll before the November elections, and ask

what is the trend. Here's the totally unreported good news you won't get anywhere

else: Public support for protecting marriage as the union of husband and wife is

 increasing!

The Public Policy Institute of California's latest poll also reports the same basic result:

 increasing public support for marriage and against same-sex marriage. Forty-nine

percent of Californians now say they would oppose legalizing gay marriage, compared

to 44 percent who say they favor it. That's about a 5 percent jump in support for

protecting marriage compared to PPIC's last poll in October before the elections.   

And remember: Both Field and PPIC polls consistently under-counted support for 

Prop 8 last November. PPIC predicted just 44 percent of Californians would vote for

Prop 8, while 52 percent actually did!

Clearly there's a public backlash against the campaign of intimidation being waged,

and a new willingness to stand up for marriage.

Thanks to the Washington Times ("Pestered Prop 8 Donors File Suit," March 23, 2009 ),

our side of the story of that harassment campaign is getting out. Our own Chuck

LiMandri spoke for thousands of Californians when he described what unexpectedly

happened after he donated money to support Prop 8.

"I got about two dozen e-mails and hate phone calls. They were calling me Nazi,

homophobe, bigot."  Chuck's emails are now among the hundreds of exhibits in a

landmark case challenging the misuse of California' s election disclosure laws to

harass and sometimes threaten Californians who participated in the political process. 

The Washington Times reports accurately that these ranged from hassles to death

threats. I told the reporter, "Anybody who's in California knows that it's very widespread.

Every donor has a story. I talked to a $100 donor the other day who had a note in his

mailbox that said, 'I know where you live and you're going to pay.'"

"These are just hardworking people who believe marriage is a union of a man and

a woman and who never expected to be threatened in their homes," I told this national

newspaper.

Thanks to each of you who responded to our call to get the truth out there--to the courts

and to the media. I get up every day determined to be YOUR voice for God's truth about

marriage--and it's your help, swelled by the thousands of others working tirelessly to

protect marriage, that makes everything we do possible. 

Northeast Action Plan

NOM's vision has always included creating a great movement of marriage supporters

of every race and creed who can help each other across this great nation. And we're

seeing the power of that vision come true in New England, where local leaders Kevin

Smith of Cornerstone Policy Research in New Hampshire, and Craig Benson of Take

It to the People and Steve Cable of Vermont Renewal in Vermont, are fighting back

against politicians who are trying to push same-sex marriage instead of focusing on

the people's priorities.

Thanks to your help, we've been able to launch a series of "Don't Mess with Marriage"

ad campaigns as the launch of our new Northeastern 2009 Action Plan! The battle is

tight. Pray for marriage and for all the frontline workers for marriage in these states.

But we have good news to report: The Vermont governor has promised to veto the

same-sex marriage bill--and gay marriage advocates are NO LONGER predicting they

have the votes to overturn it. 

In New Hampshire , Democrat leaders were shocked by the degree and intensity of

public outcry.  Their slam dunk has turned into a hard-fought battle such that the

Democratic governor of the state, John Lynch, has promised to veto the bill, and along

with Vermont' s governor is urging legislators to get back to the people's business.

Stay tuned--we'll keep you informed. 

Next week I'll have an announcement about the next phase in our Northeast Action

Plan--two new radio ads created by some of the best in this business. (Can you give

us $10 this week so we can keep these powerful ads running? If God has gifted you

with means, can you spare $100, or $1000 to protect marriage today?) Remember,

the marriage battles in Vermont and New Hampshire are part of a larger national

strategy--to give Pres. Obama an excuse for repealing the federal Defense of Marriage

Act (DOMA), which is the ONLY federal law protecting marriage as the union of husband

and wife. We cannot let folks in New England fight alone. Not when gay marriage

advocates have deep-pocketed billionaires from around the country funding their push

to use the law to impose their values on the rest of us.

But we can fight back!

These New Engalnd politicians are shocked, shocked and appalled--not by the threats,

harassment and intimidation against marriage supporters like you and me--but by the

people's unexpected courage in speaking truth to power:

Marriage means a husband and wife. We don't want politicians or judges changing

that. Not for our kids. Not for our grandkids.

I thank God every day we live in a country where the elites pushing this strange new

culture war on the American people do not have (not yet anyway) the power to shut

down the debate, to prevent your voice and your values from being heard.

With God, all things are possible. Amazing things have already happened, things

nobody predicted. I thank Him every day for your friendship, and your fellowship, and

your support in this great work, this good--so good!--fight.

God bless you, and may God bless our great country,

Brian S. Brown
Executive Director
National Organization for Marriage
20 Nassau Street, Suite 242
Princeton, NJ  08542
bbrown@nationformarriage.org