Nine Consequences If Proposition 8 Fails

For those of you that know me well, you know that politics is something I am passionate about. You would also know that I am a very accepting person. I don't judge others for the choices they make in their life. The gift of free agency is everyones. Yours, mine, everyones. I have many gay and lesbian friends whom I love dearly and have the up most respect for. But I support proposition 8. How could that be, you ask? How could I love my friends who are gay and lesbian, but be for a proposition that will not recognize them as married couples. Just like, I believe they should have the free agency to chose to live the life style they chose, I also believe I should have the free agency to live the life style I chose, for me and my family. Because of my religious beliefs I feel that marriage is between a man and woman. This is what I teach my child. It is my free agency to teach him, this is our life style. Just like it is the free agency of those that chose an alternative life style. If prop 8 passes I will lose my free agency to teach my child the lifestyle we chose. My child will be taught an alternative life style in school. My church will lose their free agency and be forced to preform same sex marriages. Why is it that a group of people feel they can take away MY free agency to teach my child the way I feel is correct. Why is it, I am thought by the world to be a bigot for this? I am not a bigot. I just want the same rights as the gay and lesbian community, the right to believe and voice my opinion.

My position on prop. 8 does not mean that I want the gay and lesbian community to suffer, or to not have the same rights. It does not mean I am anti-gay. That is not what this proposition is about.

Proposition 8 is about preserving marriage; it’s not an attack on the gay lifestyle.
Proposition 8 doest take away any rights or benefits from gay or lesbian domestic partners. Under California law, "domestic partners shall have the same rights, protections and benefits" as married spouses. (Family Code §297.5.) There are no exceptions to this. Proposition 8 will not change this.

Nine Consequences If Proposition 8 Fails

1. Teachers will be required to teach children in public schools that traditional marriage and same-sex marriage are equal. The California Education Code requires that health education classes instruct children about marriage (§51890). If the definition of marriage is changed, children will be taught that marriage is a relation between any two adults. The right of parents to teach their children their own values and beliefs will be significantly challenged. Textbooks for the nation as a whole will be changed in significant ways to bring to the forefront the homosexual alternative lifestyle.

2. Religious adoption agencies will be forced by government agencies to give up their right to place children only in homes with both a mother and a father. They will be forced to either comply or shut their doors. Catholic Charities, an adoption agency in Boston, has already been forced to close its doors because of the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

3. Churches will be sued if they refuse to allow same-sex marriage ceremonies in their religious buildings that are open to the public. This has recently happened in New Jersey.

4. Ministers who preach against same-sex marriages will be sued and even imprisoned for hate speech. It has already happened in Canada, one of six countries that have legalized gay marriage.

5. Religions that sponsor private schools which provide housing for married students will be required to provide housing for same-sex couples, even if it runs counter to church doctrine, or lose tax exemptions and benefits.

6. A change in the definition of marriage will bring a cascade of lawsuits. A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent by churches on legal fees as they attempt to defend their stance.

7. The legal precedent will be set for all other forms of non-traditional marriage. Examples: polygamy, group marriage, marriage of a parent to an adult child, and so on.

8. Banning of the Bible. A law has recently passed in Colorado that bans the distribution of any written material that discriminates based on sexual orientation. The law includes “any communication, paper, poster, folder, manuscript, book, pamphlet, writing, print, letter, notice or advertisement of any kind, nature or description which is intended or calculated to discriminate or actually discriminates.” Legal foundations say that this law would allow a judge to ban the distribution of the Bible.

9. Businesses will be forced to provide their services to things that they are morally opposed to. A wedding photographer in New Mexico and a fertility doctor in CA have both lost recent law suits. Even though these were unnecessary services and could have been provided by others the courts have ruled that if a business provides a service it must provide that service to everyone, regardless of beliefs.

And there are surely unintended consequences that we cannot foresee at this time. This is not simply an issue about allowing people to live their lives the way they want to. This is an issue of people changing the legal definition of marriage in a way that will force us to accept and embrace the lifestyle that they choose and to teach our children that it is acceptable.

For more information please see:

http://www.protectmarriage.com/