Category Archives: Marriage & Family

CBN: The New York Times recently recognized Anderson and other movement leaders like Caitlin Seery, who directs the Love and Fidelity Network on college campuses.

Rick Klein, Olivier Knox, Richard Coolidge, and Jordyn Phelps at Yahoo News: Moran says the justices “don’t want to be the judges of America when it comes to this issue” and predicts that they will find a way to defer to the states in the two cases dealing with same-sex marriage. “They see this roiling democratic debate that’s happening state-by-state, and the betting at the Supreme Court is that they’ll find a way to decide this issue by getting themselves out of it,” Moran says. “They won’t declare gay marriage legal all over the country or illegal. They’ll say, ‘Let the states handle it.’”

NPR: As the Supreme Court prepares to rule on two cases involving same-sex marriage, a new documentary takes a look at what same-sex marriage means for African-Americans. Host Michel Martin speaks with Yoruba Richen, the director of The New Black to find out what inspired the film.

Washington Post: Nearly three months later, a study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) has completed a close examination of how the media covered the issue. The principal finding? Detractors of gay marriage couldn’t buy their way into the coverage. Well, that’s the unscientific way of putting things.

USA Today: The Supreme Court rulings are not as simple as whether gays and lesbians can marry or not, and whether they become eligible for federal benefits.

AZ Central: A nonpartisan group calling itself Equal Marriage Arizona filed paperwork Monday with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office for an initiative to redefine marriage as “a union of two persons.” The state constitution currently defines it as only between one man and one woman.

AP: Women may be able to start training as Army Rangers by mid-2015 and as Navy SEALs a year later under plans set to be announced by the Pentagon.

NPR: “People forget that durable rights don’t come from courts, they come from consensus and strong support from society,” says Jonathan Rauch, author of Denial, a recent memoir about growing up gay. “We are winning the right to marriage in a bigger, deeper way by winning it in the court of public opinion.”

NCPA Policy Digest: A cultural shift in work ethic also could be partially to blame, says Clark Hodges, a financial strategist for the Dallas-based investment advisory firm Hodges Capital Management. “The way (teens) have grown up, they’ve always been handed things,” he says. “They don’t have the incentive or drive to work. That may be a generalization, but I think it’s a big factor.”

Deborah Savage at Public Discourse: To demand that we recognize same-sex romantic relationships as marriages, and teach our children so, is to prevent them from discovering reality.

Kathleen Parker at USA Today: My argument that men should be saved is that, despite certain imperfections, men are fundamentally good and are sort of pleasant to have around. Most women still like to fall in love with them; all children want a father no matter how often we try to persuade ourselves otherwise. If we continue to impose low expectations and negative messaging on men and boys, future women won’t have much to choose from. We are nearly there.

Catholic New World: Nonetheless, the legal creation of what is naturally impossible is not inevitable. Cultural change can be redirected so that the long road to obtain respect that has been traveled by many homosexually oriented persons can be maintained without destroying the institution of natural marriage. Since the difference between men and women is different from racial difference, same-sex marriage is not a civil rights issue. A newly invented civil right cannot be used to destroy a moral good, lest society itself go into decline.

Politico: Conservative leaders say it would be wrong to read too much into the speeches Thursday. There’s no question, they say, that in the event of a sweeping Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay unions, the Republican Party’s leadership and its field of 2016 candidates would take the side of social conservatives.

Wall Street Journal: A complaint filed Wednesday with the U.S. Justice Department on behalf of students in school districts here and in surrounding suburbs alleges that Texas laws impose “cruel and unusual punishment” for truancy, in violation of students’ constitutional rights. | Washington Post: Dallas area schools to face federal civil rights complaint | National Center for Youth Law: Students’ Constitutional Rights Violated by Dallas County Schools & Truancy Courts, According to Complaint Filed Today with Department of Justice

AFC: The American Federation for Children, the nation’s voice for educational choice, today applauded the North Carolina House of Representatives for passing a budget that provides funding for an educational choice program creating new opportunities for thousands of North Carolinian children. North Carolina’s educational choice program received bipartisan support and is tailored to children who participate in the federal free or reduced lunch program.

Americans United for Sep. of Church and State: Yesterday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee was considering amendments to S. 1094, the “Strengthening America’s Schools Act,” which would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C) introduced an amendment that would have allowed states to turn their Title I funds into giant voucher programs.

Indy Star: Rick Sutton and Micah Clark have opposite views on whether gays and lesbians should be allowed to marry. But both agree that the pending Supreme Court decisions on gay marriage are unlikely to stop the fight in Indiana over a constitutional amendment banning same-sex unions.

The Hill: “If this bill has in it something that gives gay couples immigration rights and so forth, it kills the bill,” Rubio said Thursday on the “Andrea Tantaros Show.” “I’m gone, I’m off it, and I’ve said that repeatedly. I don’t think that’s going to happen, and it shouldn’t happen, this is already a difficult enough issue as it is.”

John M. Smoot at Public Discourse: Redefining marriage will make it harder for our children to develop their self-understanding and will sanction procreative methods that treat children like commodities.

Nathan Cherry at Engage Family Minute: The first thing we need to understand is that the issues of life and marriage are not merely cultural, social, or political issues. They are first and foremost biblical moral issues. They have, unfortunately been so politicized however that many pastors have failed in their duties to preach and teach on these critical issues in light of the Gospel

AP: Caterpillar Inc. is no longer giving money to the Boy Scouts because the organization discriminates against homosexuals, a spokeswoman for the Illinois-based heavy equipment manufacturer confirmed Thursday.

Reuters: Whatever the U.S. Supreme Court decides this month, gay marriage appears destined to face several more years of legal debate and at least one more round of argument at the high court.

Pew Research: An overwhelming share of America’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults (92%) say society has become more accepting of them in the past decade and an equal number expect it to grow even more accepting in the decade ahead.

Sherif Girgis , Ryan T. Anderson , Robert P. George at National Review: In What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense and in various follow-up pieces, we have argued for several ideas: Reducing marriage to the more general category of sexual domestic partnership is a deep mistake. Marriage — the human good that marriage law should foster — is rather a union of persons at every level (mind, heart, and body) and for the whole of life, inherently oriented to family life

The Daily Caller: The lesbian parents of a 14-year-old boy have started a MoveOn.org petition after their son was asked to remove the lipstick, black eyeliner and eye shadow he wore to Meadowlawn Middle School in St. Petersburg, Florida. The student, Chris Martin, was also also asked to change out of a shirt emblazoned with an anarchy symbol.

Forbes: Any day now, the Supreme Court will rule on whether same-sex married couples have the right to file joint federal tax returns. But Yale tax law professor Anne Alstott has me wondering whether the entire debate over the tax consequences of the Defense of Marriage Act is missing the point.

LA Times: The USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll . . . found that 58% of the state’s registered voters believe same-sex marriage should be legal, compared with 36% against, a margin of 22 points. When the same pollsters asked that question three years ago, 52% favored gay marriage and 40% opposed it, a 12-point spread.

NY Times: But where are the weddings among all those TV gays? The American Civil Liberties Union would like to know, and is unveiling a new marriage-equality campaign along those lines. I find it interesting for several reasons.

WTVR.com: First Things First, an organization dedicated to keeping dads involved in kids’ lives, reports that 60 percent of all families in the city of Richmond are single-parent households. Within the African-American demographic, that number spikes up to 86 percent, a number that surpasses the national average.

Howard Mintz at Mercury News: But there are about as many twists and turns in what the Supreme Court could do as there can be in a marriage. Among the possibilities . . .

DCist.com: The D.C. Council’s Judiciary and Public Safety Committee approved a bill yesterday that would allow nearly any adult in the District to become a temporary wedding officiant.

MPR: County recorders have an annual statewide meeting this month, where they plan to discuss the wording for marriage applications and licenses for same-sex couples, particularly the section where applications read “bride” and “groom.”

Huffington Post: A trio of Iowa-based religious scholars penned an op-ed in a local paper this week, reminding readers that despite popular opinion, the Bible does not simply define marriage as between one man and one woman. The joint editorial was written by Hector Avalos, Robert R. Cargill and Kenneth Atkinson and published in the Des Moines Register on Sunday. The men teach at Iowa State University, University of Iowa and University of Northern Iowa, respectively.

American Federation for Children: The American Federation for Children, the nation’s voice for educational choice, today criticized the New Jersey Education Commissioner Chris Cerf for depriving students of vital educational options by refusing to authorize two virtual new charter schools. Both charter schools had received conditional approval and spent a year ensuring they met every requirement, only to have Cerf deny their approval.

BuzzFeed: With a record number of out LGBT lawmakers, the caucus is aiming to change the Hill — and the country.

NY Times: A solid majority of Americans opposes a broad national right to same-sex marriage, saying the power to legalize gay unions should rest with the states — even as most support marriage equality for gay people, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

USA Today:  The ACLU has given another extension to the Pentagon to explain how it will integrate women into combat roles, a spokeswoman tells U.S. News. A lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union is still pending against the Department of Defense, filed before then-Secretary Leon Panetta lifted the ban on women serving in combat roles last January.

The Spectrum: hile growing up, Kristyn Decker, who now lives in New Harmony, was a seventh-generation polygamist on her father’s side. More recently, she has made efforts to share her experiences of growing up in a polygamous community by writing “Fifty Years in Polygamy: Big Secrets and Little White Lies.”

Catholic Culture: Saying that he would “prayerfully reconsider whether a continued partnership with the BSA will be possible,” Bishop Loverde added that “it is highly disappointing to see the Boy Scouts of America succumb to external pressures and political causes at the cost of its moral integrity. Additionally, it seems clear that the result of this policy change will likely not bring harmony, but rather continuing controversy, policy fights, and discord.”

Education Week: A Pennsylvania school district cannot be held liable for the bullying of a high school student by one of her peers, despite the fact that school officials re-admitted the perpetrator after she had been found delinquent and then continued to bully the victim, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Columbus Dispatch: Ohioans won’t vote on whether to allow gay marriage until at least the November 2014 election. FreedomOhio, the campaign to overturn Ohio’s 2004 constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman, said today it would wait until next year, despite an ongoing petition drive.

Albert Mohler, Jr. at Baptist Press: More recently, research has emerged that points to another effect of pornography exposure — it warps the worldview of the viewer. Late last year, Professor Mark Regnerus of the University of Texas argued that exposure to pornography may well influence views on the legalization of same-sex marriage.

American Federation for Children: The American Federation for Children, the nation’s voice for educational choice, today applauded new legislation to improve funding for the state’s choice and charter schools while expressing disappointment that efforts to expand parental choice to more families were not enacted into law.

The Catholic Thing: Do you know, Scoutmasters, what you have done? You were the last prominent public institution left standing that retained for yourselves some small shred of that forgotten but foundational freedom, the freedom of association. It should have been repugnant to a people loving liberty that anyone would hale you before any court in the land, much less the Supreme Court, to compel you to alter your standards for membership in the Scouts – standards that have gotten fairly lax at that.

Education Views: In a through-the-night push, Republican lawmakers sculpted some of the final contours of a state budget that would cut income taxes by $651 million over two years, expand taxpayer-funded private voucher schools across the state and increase state aid to public schools by $300 per student over two years.

Asbury Park Press: Beth Sarre of Neptune said she and her husband, Greg, face nearly $20,000 in tuition costs for their son, who is starting his junior year at St. Rose in Belmar, and for their daughter, a student at St. Rose Grammar School.

Baptist Press: “As evangelical Christians,” Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, noted, “we’ve surrendered on marriage in too many ways: on its permanence, on fidelity and even too many times on its nature rooted in sexual complementarity.

CNSNews: The 2009 stimulus law financed a $431,363 project in Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s California district to study the “psychological distress” of homosexual fathers. The study took three years to publish its results, and it created no jobs.

Nathan Cherry at Engage Family Minute: What I find extremely interesting in this ongoing discussion over homosexuality and the effort to redefine marriage is fewer people are remaining silent on the issue.

One News Now: An analyst who studies religion in America predicts the election of an openly homosexual bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran Church will cause even more congregations to abandon the denomination.

NewsMax: Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus says a new study by college GOP members marks a “great” step forward in boosting the party’s appeal to young voters even though the report warned the party’s brand was damaged among that demographic.

The Advocate: College Republicans to GOP: Drop Marriage Opposition If You Want Our Vote
Congressional Republicans must give up their slavish devotion to opposing marriage equality if they hope to once again attract younger voters, the nation’s leading group for conservative college students said today in a scathing report. | More reports here.

Sherif Girgis , Ryan T. Anderson , Robert P. George at NRO: The marriage debate is not about homosexuality, but about marriage. Upholding the truth about marriage doesn’t deprive anyone of the joys of companionship, as many supporters of same-sex marriage suppose.

Philip Cohen at the Atlantic: Public policy should catch up with the reality that fewer and fewer children are being raised in homes with two married parents

Penn Live: A transgender student at Red Lion High School who uses the name Issak Wolfe will instead hear the name he was born with — Sierra Stambaugh — read as he walks across the stage to receive his diploma Friday.

MO Family Policy Council: Pro-family leaders are hailing African-American Christian pastors for their role in the defeat of an Illinois bill to redefine marriage in that state.

NPR: Ten days after their national organization voted to allow openly gay boys to be members, a handful of Boy Scouts marched in uniform on Sunday at the Utah Pride Parade in Salt Lake City.

Religion Clause Blog: CNN reported Friday that the Southern Baptists at their convention in Houston on June 11-12 will vote on a non-binding resolution urging the denomination’s 45,000 congregations to cut their ties with the Boy Scouts after the Scout’s recent decision to allow gay youths to be Boy Scout members.

CBS Detroit: A measure introduced Wednesday would amend the Michigan Constitution to remove a 2004 prohibition on same-sex marriage. The measure needs two-thirds support in the Republican-led House and Senate to make the statewide ballot.

NCPA Policy Digest: Many politicians and political think tanks have been debating back and forth about the merits of school choice, and whether it would benefit U.S. children. In Arizona, charter schools are among the highest-achieving schools in the nation, with their students routinely topping nationwide comparisons. The government should encourage the use of charter schools throughout the nation, says Jonathan Butcher, education director at the Goldwater Institute.

Orlando Sentinel: Gay Days’ organizers say they expect 170,000 people to participate in some aspect of this year’s event, which started Tuesday evening and runs through Sunday. In addition to visiting Disney World, participants have a range of planned events from which to choose across the tourism district and the rest of the Orlando area, including a Taste of Gay Days restaurant exposition, a charity auction, pool parties and other social gatherings.

Mary Rice Hasson at EPPC: Let’s be clear: the Boy Scouts’ decision is not a statement about the morality of homosexuality. It’s a decision to “serve every kid.” Premised on the idea that “kids are better off in Scouting,” the “voting members of the National Councilapproved a resolution removing the restriction denying membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientation alone, effective January 1, 2014.” The ban on homosexual adult leaders stands.

Bloomberg: Fifty-six percent of adults favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to wed, with 38 percent against, the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California said late today.

Maggie Gallagher at NRO: A new gay-rights social-media campaign has taken up the cause of an 18-year-old high-school senior who persists in her right to have a romantic, loving, sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl she plays with on the school basketball team. ”Stop the hate, free Kate” is the new battle cry.

USA Today: In ongoing fight to persuade the Boy Scouts of America to allow openly gay leaders. One student says, “the overall goal is 100% equality nationally-mandated. No questions.”

BBC: A record 40% of US homes with children relied on mothers as their main or only source of income, a Pew survey found.

Christian Institute: A primary school in America has come under fire for encouraging children as young as five to dress as the opposite sex for the day, during a week of special events.

ABC: A number of churches that previously sponsored Boy Scout troops have said they plan to sever ties to the organization following its decision to lift a longtime national ban on admitting openly gay Scouts. Openly gay adults will still be barred from leadership roles in the organization.

Catholic Culture: The chairman of the National Review Board, a lay body that advises the US bishops in combating clerical sexual abuse, has disputed a 2011 John Jay College of Criminal Justice study that found no link between homosexuality and clerical abuse.

Ilya Somin at Volokh Conspiracy: Northwestern University Law Professor Andrew Koppelman recently posted an excellent article assessing recent arguments against gay marriage put forward by leading anti-gay marriage legal scholars and political philosophers. Here is the abstract . . .

The Illinois General Assembly is being pressured to vote on a homosexual marriage bill by a vocal minority of gay advocacy groups.

AP: By a 4-to-1 ratio, shareholders defeated a resolution to explicitly ban discrimination against gays. The Exxon board had argued that the company already banned discrimination of any type and didn’t need to add language regarding gays

LA Times: Lawyers leading the fight for gay marriage in California have been quietly preparing state officials for the possibility the U.S. Supreme Court might dismiss the case on a technicality next month without deciding the fate of Proposition 8.

MO Family Policy Council: He points to the experience of Canada, where Scout officials voted in 1998 to open the ranks of Scouting to avowed homosexuals. “Within a space of ten years participation in Canada’s Scouting program has fallen by 50 percent,” Schwarzalder comments.

Washington Times: The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called for prayer and fasting in the days leading up to the Supreme Court’s decisions on two gay marriage cases.