In well-intentioned efforts to curb the erosion of the sanctity of marriage by proposing or passing “marriage amendments” to individual state constitutions, many people believe that merely defining marriage as the union between one man and one woman will do the job of protecting the institution of the family.
Sadly, this is not the case. A state (or federal) marriage amendment that does nothing to protect against homosexual civil unions misses the point of protecting the institution of the family. Such attempts fall victim to the idea that the only thing that needs protecting is the word “marriage.”
This policy paper explains Family Policy Network’s (FPN) position on state marriage amendments and explains why the differences in language are so important.
ShareThisResidents across the state of Maryland are voicing their opposition to a congressional proposal that would use taxpayer money to pay for abortions under the guise of so-called health care “reform”. Pro-family Marylanders are signing Family Policy Network’s petition urging both houses of Congress and President Obama to reject health care “reform” that provides universal abortion funding on the backs of American taxpayers.
Many Marylanders who signed the petition opposing taxpayer-funded abortion added their own comments to the statement above. Here is a sampling of those comments:
Religious conservatives are hoping a referendum on a Montgomery County law protecting transgender people could become a template to repeal similar measures across the country.
Montgomery County Council members unanimously approved a measure last fall that prohibits discrimination against transgender people in housing, employment, public accommodations, and taxicab and cable service. Council members included an exemption for “personal and private†places, but nonetheless drew the ire of local conservatives, who said they feared men would be allowed in women’s bathrooms and locker rooms.
Eighteen pro-lifers participating in the Maryland Face the Truth Tour were arrested without warning by Hartford County State Troopers in the city of Bel Air, Maryland on Friday, August 1, 2008. The group stood peacefully on public property and did not “march” into the street as one news organization erroneously reported. Without warning, an estimated twenty patrol cars arrived on the scene and began arresting pro-life participants without a word. Those arrested were not told what they were being charged with, nor were they read their rights.
The Baltimore City Council has passed a resolution supporting a separate state Senate bill that would give same-sex couples the right to a civil marriage.
The city resolution, introduced by Councilman Bill Henry of the 4th District, covering the York Road corridor, passed 9-3 on March 17. One council member abstained, and two were absent.
[Montgomery County, MD - 3/7/08] – An all-volunteer, grassroots organization opposing Montgomery County, Maryland’s newly passed ‘gender identity’ bill has been notified their referendum petition has been certified by the local Board of Elections, clearing the way for the measure’s repeal to be considered by county voters in November of 2008.
If enacted, the bill would add ‘gender identity’ to the County’s non-discrimination code which covers public accommodation, employment, housing, taxicab and cable services. The measure loosely defines gender identity as “an individual’s actual or perceived gender, including a person’s gender related appearance, expression, image, identity, or behavior, whether or not those gender related characteristics differ from the characteristics customarily associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.†This means that a male appearing as or perceiving he is a female, regardless of his DNA, anatomy, and chromosomal makeup, could gain the legal right to call himself a woman, and use the woman’s facility in any public accommodation.
Coed locker rooms could be a reality now that a new statute to allow people to “choose a gender” has been approved in Maryland.
But the measure, given the green light by elected officials in Montgomery County, will soon be the subject of a court challenge, according to a non-profit public-interest law firm.