Following California voters’ success in repealing their legislators’ legalization of same-sex marriage, New Yorkers are planning an initiative to put the issue on the ballot.
“New York same-sex ‘marriage’ advocates will soon face a backlash for forcing the new ‘marriage’ law through the legislature, including a campaign to oust turncoat lawmakers and a ballot initiative to enshrine traditional marriage in the state constitution, the National Organization for Marriage has said,” reports Kathleen Gilbert of LifeSiteNews. “The group has announced that the fight for true marriage is not over in the Empire State.”
“It’s high time for change in Albany,” says NOM President Brian Brown.
His group is organizing a four-year campaign strategy to combat the new law, which goes into effect July 24. Among top priorities is to put an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman in the state constitution before state voters, a step that requires the consent of two successive legislatures, but not the governor, according to Brown.
A poll by QEV Analytics found that 59 percent of New York voters preferred to decide the marriage question directly, with only 26 percent favoring a legislative avenue.
NOM criticized what it called “underhanded tactics” that were used to push same-sex marriage through the New York legislature.
“The Gotham Gazette reported in the wake of the Senate vote,” writes Gilbert, ”that the public was illegally barred from accessing committee meetings discussing the bill. In addition, backers secretly changed Senate rules twice – just before and during the vote – in order to push the redefinition through on a tight schedule, depriving outraged senators of a chance to explain their ‘yes’ votes to angry constituencies.’
The poll also found 57 percent of New Yorkers agreeing that marriage is “only between a man and a woman,” a result that was virtually flipped when respondents were asked in a contemporary poll whether same-sex couples ought to be allowed to marry.
Brown also promised to campaign against lawmakers who supported the bill, including Republican senators Mark Grisanti, Steven Saland, James Alesi, and Roy MacDonald, and Democrat senators Carl Kruger, Joseph Addabbo and Shirley Huntley.
Brown said that true marriage supporters shouldn’t be discouraged that an immediate repeal isn’t possible, pointing to progress reversing similar laws in New Hampshire and Iowa, where same-sex “marriage” has been legal for only two years.
In ordinarily liberal California, when the matter was put before voters, same-sex marriage was overwhelmingly banned.
“The key to success is electing legislative majorities who will answer to the people of their state, and not to special interests,” he said. “We’ve successfully defeated every pro-SSM Republican we’ve ever targeted, and I’m convinced we can do so again.”
posted July 9, 2011 at 1:01 pm
As a New Yorker, I can assure you that your “facts” are just plain wrong. NOM’s skewed survey is not even close to reality. Support of Marriage Equality is extremely strong among New Yorkers, actually. NOW is doing what it does best – sticking it’s nose in other people’s business, where it’s doesn’t belong and isn’t wanted. If you’re going to report a story, make it accurate.
posted July 9, 2011 at 5:08 pm
Brian and Maggie can hurl all the weapons they have in their arsenal, but nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come. Marriage between two consenting adults will become the law of the land.
posted July 9, 2011 at 6:46 pm
Your bias against civil equality for lesbian and gay taxpaying citizens shows when you write “In ordinarily liberal California, when the matter was put before voters, same-sex marriage was overwhelmingly banned.”
“Overwhelmingly”? The result was less than five percentage points, 52.2%- for Prop 8 to 47.8% percent opposed.
Not that civil rights should be voted on by the public, or that “overwhelming” majorities should decide who gets their constitutional rights and who doesn’t. Even four years after the Supreme Court ruled in 1964 that laws banning interracial marriages were unconstitutional, a true overwhelming majority of the public, 74%, disagreed and said that interracial marriage was still wrong. As recently as 1983, an “overwhelming” majority by your definition, 48% to 43%, still said interracial marriage was wrong. I eagerly await your article suggesting that between 1964 and 1983 the voters were wronged by the imposition of a minority opinion, and that blacks and whites should have been kept separate until the majority finally came around.
posted July 20, 2011 at 8:47 pm
Its funny how the Christian religion works… Go to church, sometimes three days a week; give 10% of your money, that you have no idea where its going; listen to a man who you are supposed to trust, lie to you; and go home feeling like if you allow yourself to be who you are, you will burn in hell. I did this week in and week out for 12 years of my life. Until one day I decided to actually STUDY, rather than read the Bible and see for my self what it really meant.. Its one thing to have faith in God, but when you listen to a man in a pulpit rather than listening to God’s TRUE word, your putting more faith in MAN, than you are in God!