Our friends at FRC Action, the political arm of the Family Research Council, are leading a coalition to oppose a Democrat-sponsored redefinition of marriage. Apparently, the lesson Democrats took from last week’s election was to get as much done now before the new Congress (and divided party control) come to Washington.
FRC Action has advised us that on Monday night, as the Senate reconvened for the first time since the election, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced that one of the Democrats’ first orders of business is to ram through a redefinition of marriage bill that will go much further than the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision that mandated same-sex marriage be legally recognized in every state!
They have asked us to spread the word about this attack on traditional Judeo-Christian values and morality and urge CHQ readers and friends to take a moment right now to use the FRC’s contact your legislator tool to contact your senators.
Tell them that a vote to redefine marriage, no matter how the bill may be amended, will go much further than Obergefell—it will further threaten religious freedom by undermining the ability of Americans to live out their sincerely-held beliefs. As we’ve already seen, redefining marriage harms children and leads to more indoctrination by the Left.
Two “Republicans” Senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, have joined with Far Left Democrat Tammy Baldwin of Illinois to propose amendments to the original Democrat bill. The Baldwin-Collins-Tillis text would go much further than affirming “the status quo” on same-sex marriage. It would still:
· further exacerbate already-existing attacks on religious liberty due to the legalization of same-sex marriage,
legislatively cement anti-family policies harmful to children,
make faith-based adoption and foster-care agencies a greater target for frivolous litigation, curtailing or ending their ability to help children find homes,
threaten the tax-exempt status of adoption and foster care agencies and other vitally needed non-profit organizations, whether religious or secular, and
tacitly vilify millions of Americans who believe in natural marriage by labeling that belief “sex discrimination,” tantamount to racism.
If anything has been made clear over the past decade, it is that the legitimization of same-sex marriage has not stopped there; it has led to attacks on those who disagree and has spread to other areas of culture. The attacks on parental authority and the denigration of concerned parents at school board meetings are only the latest manifestation of a trend that was accelerated by the legitimization of same-sex marriage.
Will you take a moment right now and contact your senators to ask them NOT to support the bill, even as amended?
Thank you! Republican senators are being targeted for calls by the left and lobbied by their colleagues to support this harmful bill. Some have indicated they believe it will be easier to pass when they return. It’s urgent that they hear from people like you.
Senate Democrats need 10 Republicans to cross the aisle and vote to redefine marriage. The following Republicans have indicated publicly that they are supportive of the substitute amendment:
Sen. Susan Collins (Maine)
Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio)
Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.)
Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah) (“Romney told TIME […] that he’s been working with the bill’s negotiators on ’religious liberty provisions’ and said his suggestions have ’by and large been included.’ While he declined to say how he plans to vote, he added that he’s ’pleased with the progress that has been made.’”)
Based on private conversations reported by FRC Action several more may be considering it in the “lame duck” (lots of bad stuff happens when Congress returns after the November election).
Forty-seven House Republicans joined all House Democrats in voting to redefine marriage on Tuesday, July 19th:
California
Rep. Ken Calvert
Rep. Mike Garcia
Rep. Darrell Issa
Rep. Jay Obernolte
Rep. David Valadao
Florida
Rep. Kat Cammack
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart
Rep. Carlos Gimenez
Rep. Brian Mast
Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar
Rep. Michael Waltz
Idaho
Rep. Mike Simpson
Illinois
Rep. Rodney Davis
Rep. Adam Kinzinger
Iowa
Rep. Ashley Hinson
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks
Michigan
Rep. Peter Meijer
Rep. Fred Upton
Minnesota
Rep. Tom Emmer
Missouri
Rep. Ann Wagner
Nebraska
Rep. Don Bacon
New Jersey
Rep. Jefferson Van Drew
New York
Rep. Andrew Garbarino
Rep. Chris Jacobs
Rep. John Katko
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis
Rep. Elise Stefanik
Rep. Lee Zeldin
North Dakota
Rep. Kelly Armstrong
Ohio
Rep. Mike Carey
Rep. Anthony Gonzalez
Rep. David Joyce
Rep. Mike Turner
Oregon
Rep. Cliff Bentz
Pennsylvania
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick
Rep. Dan Meuser
Rep. Scott Perry
South Carolina
Rep. Nancy Mace
Rep. Tom Rice
Texas
Rep. Tony Gonzales
Utah
Rep. John Curtis
Rep. Blake Moore
Rep. Burgess Owens
Rep. Chris Stewart
Washington state
Rep. Dan Newhouse
Wisconsin
Rep. Bryan Steil
Wyoming
Rep. Liz Cheney
Will you take a moment right now and call your senators and representative to ask them NOT to support the Democrat bill to redefine marriage, even as amended?
Dobbs decision
Respect for Same-Sex Marriage Act
traditional marriage
privacy
sexual politics
LGBTQ agenda
Defense of Marriage Act of 1996
Obergefell v. Hodges
tax exempt status
DOMA
United States v. Windsor