Free Republic

<p>INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana House of Representatives approved a proposal Tuesday that would place the state's gay marriage ban in the state constitution, while leaving the door open to eventual approval of civil unions.</p> <p>The proposed ban, which cleared the chamber on 57-40 vote, now heads to the Indiana Senate, where members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are set to take up the issue.</p>

On Monday, during his second inaugural address, President Barack Obama took time to parallel the gay rights movement with the Civil Rights movement. At the core of this civil rights argument is the need for same-sex marriage equality, according to the Associated Press. “Never before Monday had an inaugural address conveyed support for marriage equality, and activists now hope the Obama administration will take concrete steps to follow up, including escalated engagement in pending Supreme Court cases,” reports the AP on January 23. The Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments regarding the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s...

THE PRESIDENT’S RELIGION SHOULD THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES USE HIS POSITION AS COMMANDER-IN- CHIEF TO FORCE HIS PERSONAL MORAL VIEWS ON ALL MILITARY PERSONNEL? Historically Americans have expressed legitimate concerns that a President might use his office to promote his personal religious beliefs. From President John Kennedy in 1960, a Catholic, to 2008 Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a Mormon, candidates and presidents have been required to express a commitment not to use the office of the President and Commander-In-Chief to promote their personal moral beliefs. If President John Kennedy had tried to label anyone who rejected his...

"Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future." -- JOHN F. KENNEDY There are countless wonderful programs and organizations dedicated to making sure that kids are safe, involved in school and off drugs, out of poverty, eating healthier, not engaging in self-destructive behavior, and achieving their dreams. I remember practicing "stop, drop and roll" in first grade, completing "Dare to Keep Kids Off Drugs" in fifth grade, and having teachers and counselors guide me through the right classes and activities to set me on a successful path to college. As a former teacher, I...

What would you do to raise $3 million to protect marriage from Barack Obama and his wealthy homosexual lobbyists? A gracious pro-marriage supporter has just created an extremely generous matching grant fund to help the National Organization for Marriage demonstrate your commitment to marriage as the unique union of one man and one woman. Here's how it works: If you donate right now, your contribution to protect marriage from Obama and his homosexual lobbyists will be tripled -- that's right, NOM will receive an additional $2 for every $1 you contribute right now!

Washington D.C., Aug 22, 2012 / 06:03 pm (CNA).- Platform drafters for the Republican Party have approved language asserting a firm commitment to the defense of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. “The institution of marriage is the foundation of civil society,” the draft document states. “Its success as an institution will determine our success as a nation.” The document says that both experience and studies indicate that marriage has physical, emotional, academic and economic benefits for children. It reaffirms the party's support for marriage as the union of one man and one woman, while also...

Matthew 19:4-9 King James Version: 4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? 8 He...

It's no secret that things are not going well for the Obama campaign. The President has been forced to veer to the left on gay marriage, immigration and a host of issues to shore up his base. .... The fact remains that this is a center-right country and if you're a Democratic president who appears beholden to the left, you're in trouble. If you want to reassure voters, you have to establish your independence. .... Obama could really use a Sister Souljah moment of his own -- and he's got an opportunity for one staring him right in the face:...

Like many others, I will not be able to go to a Chik-Fil-A tomorrow to show support for them choosing to stand up for traditional marriage. Actually, that really bothers me. When a business owner is willing to stand up to the radical left, I feel it is critical to support them! So, I went to their website to see if I could order a gift card online tomorrow, I want to see tomorrow be their biggest day of sales ever! So, while I couldn't find a gift card, I found their store that has lots of various items for...

A new poll of likely Minnesota voters showed a 15 percent lead in favor of the constitutional amendment defining marriage as one man and one woman, according to a SurveyUSA and KSTP-TV poll released Sunday, July 22. The poll by SurveyUSA, a public polling firm that partners with local TV stations, had 52 percent of voters saying they would vote for the ammendment to 37 percent against it. Six percent were unsure; 5 percent would not vote. A previous SurveyUSA poll in February showed 47 percent would vote for the amendment to 39 percent against it. Other recent polls display...

ay marriage opponents in Maryland said Tuesday they’ve handed in more than double the signatures required to hold a ballot referendum to squash the state’s new same-sex marriage law. . . “What we’re finding is that people are just engaged and passionate about this, even after Obama and the NAACP came out” in support of gay marriage," McCoy said. “Anybody that was on the fence is no longer on the fence.” A similar effort is under way in Washington state, where legislation approving same-sex marriage was signed into law by the governor earlier this year. Six states and the District...

Public Policy Polling is out with a new survey this morning on the gay marriage referendum likely to be on the Maryland ballot this fall.  It's historic, because it shows that Maryland is likely to pass—by a wide margin—the referendum holding up the bill that lawmakers passed in late February. It's incredible because of the shift in previous polls, particularly among black voters in Maryland.  Check out this flip: In March, 56 percent of black respondents said they would vote against the law, with only 39 percent supporting it. Now, 55 percent of black voters plan to support it, with only 36...

North Carolina already bans gay marriage by statute. Amendment One goes beyond confining marriage to heterosexual couples; it amends the constitution to also makes marriage between a man and a woman “the only domestic legal union” recognized in the state.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina voters have approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage solely as a union between a man and a woman, making it the 30th state to adopt such a ban. With 35 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday, unofficial returns showed the amendment passing with about 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent against.

On Tuesday, North Carolina will vote on a state constitutional amendment that declares, “Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized,” thereby banning recognition of same-sex marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships of any kind... The most recent poll was conducted by Civitas Institute, a conservative think tank whose poll results have generally shown little partisan bias in the past. That survey polled Democratic and Republican primary voters separately, but projected that the measure would win by 16 percentage points when it combined the results. An April poll by...

WINSTON-SALEM - Billy Graham on Wednesday released a statement on the proposed marriage amendment in North Carolina. The 93-year-old Graham has a full-page advertisement scheduled to run in 14 state newspapers.

It was mistakenly reported by some newsfeeds that Scott Brown voted against the Massachusetts Marriage Amendment. Fact: he voted for the Massachusetts Marriage Amendment in 2007. Per Baptist Press' Michael Foust: "Brown opposes 'gay marriage' and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and supports the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy and the federal Defense of Marriage Act. "'Scott Brown not only voted against our community, but he did so unequivocally, proudly and loudly,' Arline Isaacson, chairwoman of the Massachusetts Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus, told Keen News Service. 'Brown voted at least 20 times against marriage equality, over and over...

Republican congressional leaders have joined local activists in a court fight to allow voters to decide whether same-sex marriage should be legal in the District, underscoring the continued uncertainty surrounding the issue. Same-sex marriage supporters and opponents faced off in D.C. Superior Court for a hearing Wednesday on whether the city should be required to allow a ballot initiative that would define marriage as being between a man and a woman. Thirty-nine GOP legislators, including 37 members of the House and two senators, James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), have filed an amicus brief supporting a public vote...

Marriage is one of society’s foremost incubators of virtue — those attitudes and habits of behavior that promote health and well-being in the individual and all those with whom he or she interacts. Despite all the derogatory jokes about the oppressive, irksome nature of marriage, the data clearly show that married couples are healthier, happier, and live longer than those who remain unmarried. Social scientists try to parse out whether this association is the result of happy, healthy, positive people tending to marry with higher frequency or whether being married tends to make people happier, healthier, and more positive in...

Barbara Ann Radnofsky,Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a 22-word clause in a 2005 constitutional amendment designed to ban gay marriages erroneously endangers the legal status of all marriages in the state. The amendment declares that "marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman." But the troublemaking phrase, as Radnofsky sees it, is Subsection B: "This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage." Architects of the amendment included the clause to ban same-sex civil unions and domestic...