Help Us Oppose Judicial Tyranny!
October 20th, 2008 by Peter
From our Oct. 14th e-mail alert:
Last Friday [Oct. 10th] four judges on Connecticut’s Supreme Court undemocratically forced same-sex “marriage” on our state. Our best—very likely our only—chance to restore marriage and self-government in Connecticut is for the majority of state voters to vote “Yes” on Question 1 on Election Day (Nov. 4th) to have a constitutional convention.
FIC will fight hard for that “Yes” vote these next three weeks and we know we can win if we have your help. As we begin the final push to restore democracy in our state, let us keep in mind a few key points in the wake of this outrageous act of judicial tyranny:
Last week’s “victory” for same-sex “marriage” is illegitimate. The claims falsely made against President Bush’s election in 2000 are entirely true in the case of same-sex “marriage” in Connecticut: our opponents’ “victory” is illegitimate; it was stolen from us; they “won” dirty. Connecticut will now be one of only three states in the nation to have same-sex “marriage” and in each state it arrived the same way: a sharply divided state court undemocratically forced it on the people. In no state has same-sex “marriage” been passed democratically.
Our opponents’ biggest fear is that you will click here and make a generous donation to FIC!
Even worse: Neither the legislature in Massachusetts or California said “no” to same-sex “marriage” as often as ours did in Connecticut! In 2003 our General Assembly rejected a same-sex civil union bill in committee, in 2005 they passed it only by attaching an amendment explicitly defining marriage as between a man and a woman and in 2007 a same-sex “marriage” bill died in our House of Representatives. Our opponents were careful only to bring same-sex “marriage” to the legislature in non-election years…and even then they were defeated every year! This fact tells us more than any biased poll could about what the people of Connecticut really believe on same-sex “marriage.” Our opponents worked for years to make Connecticut the first state to pass same-sex “marriage” democratically…but in the end they had to resort to judicial tyranny! This is because they were never going to win democratically in Connecticut…so overwhelming is opposition to same-sex “marriage” in our state that even a legislature as liberal as ours refused to enact it!
Just because four judges undemocratically forced same-sex “marriage” on Connecticut does not mean our state “accepts” it. “This means Connecticut now accepts our ‘marriage,'” same-sex couples are telling local media outlets. They will discover that just because four judges impose a radical redefinition of marriage on our state does not mean that people accept it. “Now we can register as a married couple at Home Depot,” one same-sex couple told a news channel. But what if Home Depot refuses? Will this couple sue it too—and any other private business (or religious entity) that resists the facile equating of a 4-3 pro same-sex “marriage” decision with the public’s “acceptance” of it?
This is why it was clever of our opponents to first try to get same-sex “marriage” through the democratic process…and why the court’s 4-3 ruling forcing same-sex “marriage” on Connecticut is the worst “victory” they could have. If they had secured same-sex “marriage” through the legislature—or especially through direct referendum—they could claim with some justification that Connecticut had “accepted” their “marriages”. Instead, they are left to claim that having same-sex “marriage” forced on the state means we “accept” it. In truth, our opponents’ real goal was not acceptance—if it was, they would never have filed the same-sex “marriage” lawsuit at all. Their real goal was to force same-sex “marriage” on Connecticut whether we like it or not…and then to make us all kowtow to this undemocratic diktat!
Same-sex “marriage” proponents are against representative democracy. Our opponents say they are against a constitutional convention and direct initiative because they prefer representative democracy over direct democracy. The 4-3 ruling forcing same-sex “marriage” on Connecticut exposes them as liars. In truth, they prefer representative democracy only so long as it produces the results they want. In the case of same-sex “marriage,” it didn’t. Even a legislature as liberal as ours repeatedly said marriage is between a man and a woman. So they had the Court force it on us instead. Our opponents have far less respect for representative democracy than we do. Giving Connecticut the right to direct initiative will help restore the power of both legislators and voters—and reduce the power of our “robed masters” on the Supreme Court.
The September 28th Rally for Marriage was the most successful Rally FIC ever had. Make no mistake: last week’s court ruling is a disaster for democracy. But, given the disdain for democracy held by the judges and pro same-sex “marriage” activists, it was a disaster we had been expecting for over a year. As the Hartford Courant reported on Saturday: “But [Peter] Wolfgang said he was happy that voters will get their chance on Nov. 4. ‘It’s been a deliberate strategy of the Family Institute to goad the court into releasing the decision before Election Day,’ Wolfgang said. ‘This is one of the few silver linings of today’s news.”‘ As bad as the pro same-sex “marriage” decision is, it would have been far worse if the Court kept it secret until after Election Day. A main goal of the Rally and other FIC projects was to get the Court to release its ruling before the election. Having achieved our goal, there is now far more attention on the constitutional convention question…and our chances of getting a “Yes” vote are greatly improved.
We must support the Connecticut Constitution Convention Campaign. With the 4-3 ruling for same-sex “marriage,” our opponents have been unmasked as activists opposed not just to citizen empowerment but even to representative democracy! We are up against powerful interests who are thrilled to have a bare majority of unelected judges undemocratically force same-sex “marriage” on Connecticut. Getting a “yes” vote on Question 1 on Election Day in order to have a constitutional convention is very likely the only chance we will have to restore not only marriage, BUT OUR VERY RIGHT TO SELF-GOVERNMENT IN CONNECTICUT! Please click here to offer this group whatever support you can: financial, volunteer, a willingness to put up yard signs and so forth. We have three weeks to restore marriage and democracy in Connecticut and every minute counts!
We must support the Family Institute of Connecticut. Were it not for FIC, either same-sex “marriage” would have already been imposed on us years ago…or the Court would have held its ruling until after Election Day…or few people would even know about the constitutional convention question and its potential for restoring democracy in Connecticut. In the wake of this Court ruling we are hearing the same thing from our opponents that they said after the 2005 civil union law passed: “Oh, good. Now FIC will go away.” Nothing shocks and horrifies them more than that FIC continues to exist and to fight their attacks on faith and family in Connecticut! The avalanche of hateful messages left on our voice mail and e-mailed to my in-box in the days since the Court ruling shows that our opponents know how fragile their “victory” is—and they know that FIC is the one group best positioned to lead the fight for our values for many years to come.
Their disdain for us is really a compliment to you…and a testament to the faith of all of you whose support has allowed FIC to carry on this fight “in season and out of season.” In the weeks and months ahead we will need your support more than ever. Nothing will send a better signal to our opponents that their “victory” is illegitimate and that Connecticut’s pro-family citizens are fighting mad than FIC’s continuing ability to lead the charge.
Could you please click here to make a donation of $25, $50, $100, $250 or more? If you have been blessed with the means to do so, would you be a pro-family hero by donating $500, $1,000, $2,500 or even $5,000 or more? Checks can also be mailed to: Family Institute of Connecticut, 77 Buckingham Street, Hartford, CT 06106.
We are also looking for major donors who may be willing to support the base of our $50,000 Year-End Matching Grant. Our Year-End campaign typically accounts for about half of our annual operating budget and is our most important fundraising event of the year.
This battle is not over. And whatever the results on Election Day, FIC will continue to lead the fight for faith and family in these dark times! Watch for more information in the days ahead. And may God bless you for your continued faithfulness and support.
Kerrigan case.
Legal community is noticing the decision “stinks like a boathouse at low tide.”
http://www.ctlawtribune.com/getarticle.aspx?ID=31882
conn law tribune is a serious publication.
What can we do? We were tricked with the wording on the election ballot. We were not given information unless we were the few in the know. We cannot allow this to become legal in CT or anywhere for that matter. We should not change our beliefs or laws for less than 2% of the population.