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In a move that wasn't entirely unexpected, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain endorsed Thursday the controversial California Marriage Protection Act initiative expected to go before the state's voters this November. In an e-mail received by the ProtectMarriage.com campaign McCain issued the following statement: "I support the efforts of the people of California to recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman, just as we did in my home state of Arizona," McCain said in a message widely distributed via PRNewswire. "I do not believe judges should be making these decisions." Commenting on the endorsement,...

This was one of the more politically significant weeks in recent history. A recap of the winners and losers: Click here

  For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryJune 3, 2006 President's Radio Address       Audio      THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Next week, the United States Senate will begin debate on a constitutional amendment that defines marriage in the United States as the union of a man and woman. On Monday, I will meet with a coalition of community leaders, constitutional scholars, family and civic organizations, and religious leaders. They're Republicans, Democrats, and independents who've come together to support this amendment. Today, I want to explain why I support the Marriage Protection Amendment, and why I'm urging Congress to pass it...

MARRIAGE PROTECTION AMENDMENT (MPA) By Matt Daniels Senate Joint Resolution 1 in the 109th Congress THE CONSEQUENCES OF FAILURE I. LEGAL CONSEQUENCES Invalidation of all state marriage amendments (Nebraska amendment invalidated in federal court) Invalidation of over 1,000 federal laws concerning welfare, education, immigration, taxation, the armed forces, federal benefits, loan programs, and other policy areas (General Accounting Office Report prepared for Senator Frist) Invalidation of thousands of state laws -- for every state in the nation -- concerning welfare, education, taxation, state benefits programs, and many other substantive state policy areas. II. CONSEQUENCES FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION Curricula in all...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel advanced a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on Thursday as the committee chairman shouted "good riddance" to a Democrat who walked out of the tense session."If you want to leave, good riddance," The Senate Judiciary Chairman, Republican Arlen Specter, told Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russell Feingold, who refused to participate because, he said, the meeting was not sufficiently open to the public."I've enjoyed your lecture too. See you later, Mr. Chairman," Feingold told the Pennsylvania senator before storming out of the private room where the meeting took place. The testy exchange highlighted tensions over...

WASHINGTON (BP)--A marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution was re-introduced in the Senate Jan. 24 with support from Majority Leader Bill Frist and 21 other senators. Although the amendment was defeated last year, supporters hope it has a better chance of passing this session following a slew of conservative victories on Election Day, when voters in 11 states passed marriage amendments to their respective state constitutions. They passed with an average of 70.1 percent of the vote. But amendment backers say a marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the only permanent remedy. Its name has changed a bit from...

QUEERLY BELOVED Marriage protection rejected by House Constitutional amendment fails to get two-thirds vote -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: October 1, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com WASHINGTON – A constitutional amendment defining marriage as an institution between one man and one woman was defeated in the House of Representatives last night as it fell 49 votes short of the two-thirds needed. The vote was 227-186. "God created Adam and Eve, He didn't create Adam and Steve," said Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., on behalf of a measure that supporters said was designed to protect an institution as old as civilization itself. Democrats...

Thursday, July 1, 2004 Could your kids be given to 'gay' parents? Posted: July 1, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Stephen Baskerville © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com In the debate over gay marriage, strikingly little attention has been paid to the impact on children. Some question the wisdom of having children raised by two homosexuals, but the best they can seem to argue is that serious flaws vitiate the literature defending it. Almost no attention has been devoted to what may be the more serious political question of who will supply the children of gay "parents," since obviously they cannot produce children...

"On October 3, 2003, President Bush, facing the reality that increasingly fewer Americans think he should be re-elected, and at the direction of ultra-conservative organizations, declared the week of October 12-18 'Marriage Protection Week.' In a desperate move to attract the right-wing base of his party, Bush has again aligned himself with the Rev. Jerry Falwell and right-wing organizations such as the Concerned Women for America and the Family Research Council. These groups, who have formed 'The Coalition to Protect Marriage,' last week declared that with Bush's support they would begin lobbying all members of Congress for the passage of...

Not long after he endorsed "Marriage Protection Week," President Bush sent a letter of congratulations to a denomination founded by homosexual activists that performs more than 6,000 same-sex "weddings" each year. The president wrote to the founding congregation in Los Angeles of the Metropolitan Community Churches, led by leading homosexual activist Rev. Troy D. Perry, on the occasion of its 35th anniversary. Rev. Troy Perry, left, and partner Phillip De Blieck were granted a marriage license in Toronto in July (Photo: Toronto Star) "By encouraging the celebration of faith and sharing of God's love and boundless mercy, churches like yours...

If it's October it must be "Domestic Violence Awareness Month." This federally driven observance has generated a steady stream of dishonest claims about how domestic violence is a gender crime perpetrated entirely by men against women. This non-existent crisis will be used to set aside more constitutional protections in order to railroad innocent men into jail. Men's groups are beginning to fight back, pointing out decades of unchallenged research establishing that domestic violence is perpetrated as much by women as men. But more needs to be said. Most of the domestic violence hysteria is generated for one purpose: to gain...

Proclamation of "Marriage Protection Week," 2003 Thursday, October 16, 2003 By George W. Bush Marriage is a sacred institution, and its protection is essential to the continued strength of our society. Marriage Protection Week provides an opportunity to focus our efforts on preserving the sanctity of marriage and on building strong and healthy marriages in America. Marriage is a union between a man and a woman, and my Administration is working to support the institution of marriage by helping couples build successful marriages and be good parents. To encourage marriage and promote the well-being of children, I have proposed a...

President Bush issued a proclamation making this "Marriage Protection Week," stating that "marriage is a union between a man and a woman." That is a worthy goal. However, it is impossible to protect traditional marriage while supporting "domestic partnerships" pushed by homosexual activists. The U.S. Treasury has the responsibility for minting our coins and printing our money. What if Congress, the various federal agencies and our states suddenly decide to recognize counterfeit money as legal tender? It would undermine the nation's monetary system and throw our economy into chaos. That is exactly what is happening with traditional marriage. It is...

"Queer Eye for the Straight Couple," an online forum where committed gay couples offer relationship advice to married heterosexual couples, was launched on Wednesday by the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. The seven participating lesbian and gay couples bring a total of 96 years of relationship experience to the discussion. Dr. Pepper Schwartz, a nationally recognized relationship expert, also contributes to the forum. "We've brought together some fantastic lesbian and gay couples who are kind enough to lend their relationship experience to their heterosexual peers," said Michael Adams, Lambda Legal's Education and Public Affairs Director, in a prepared statement....

Forty years ago, a study called the Hammond Report analyzed the smoking habits of half a million people. Its conclusion: Smoking is dangerous to one's health. It was a warning that ended up on every pack of cigarettes sold. Ten years later, a researcher took another look at the Hammond Report and found something that had been overlooked -- something just as hazardous as a pack-a-day cigarette habit -- that is, divorce. As Linda Waite and Maggie Gallagher write in their book, THE CASE FOR MARRIAGE, an enterprising Surgeon General might wish to slap a warning label on divorce decrees,...

<p>Did you hug a priest today? Run from a scary homosexual person? Coo over a copy of Bride's magazine? Fall on your knees and thank God Almighty that your child isn't yet gay or pagan or libertarian and if she is that's OK because it's nothing that regular lithium and electroshock therapy can't "cure"?</p>

President Bush has proclaimed the week of October 12-18 as Marriage Protection Week because it's becoming clearer all the time that the institution of marriage needs protection against battering by the courts. The gay lobbyists have made it clear that their aim is to litigate to get activist judges to accord the status of marriage to same-sex relationships. A public not well informed about the U.S. Constitution, an acquiescent bar, and spineless Members of Congress have for years allowed activist judges to expand their powers at the expense of our elected representatives and in violation of the separation of powers....

"Losing [the debate about marriage] means losing marriage as a social institution, a shared public norm," writes columnist Maggie Gallagher. "The question is not whether this is a battle we can win, but whether it is a battle we can afford to lose." Gallagher is right. As we fight this battle to keep the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman, we have to be careful to articulate the value of marriage in ways that make sense to the general public. That's why this week has been designated "Marriage Protection Week," and it's why BreakPoint...

<p>President Bush has declared this week "Marriage Protection Week" after a coalition of 25 evangelical Christian and conservative organizations announced a campaign to preserve marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The drive of the campaign is to bring awareness to a proposed amendment to the constitution that states in part, "Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman." President Bush has not, as yet, endorsed the amendment.</p>

I have to admit, I'm not that happy about the project the good people at Concerned Women for America are working on this week. They're one of the groups supporting President Bush's "Marriage Protection Week," which runs through Saturday. Although I love and applaud the theme: "Marriage: One man, one woman." I just hate that we've reached the point where such a week is necessary. Thankfully, we have a president that has drawn the proverbial line in the sand with his bold declaration that he will do all he can to protect the sacred institution. Marriage is the legal union...