BATTLE TO REDEFINE MARRIAGE WILL BE DECIDED AT THE BALLOT BOX

Most of you are well aware that the institution of marriage is currently under heavy assault in our nation. In legislatures and courtrooms across the country, lawmakers are being bombarded with this issue on a daily basis. But the real battle will not be fought in the legislature or a courtroom, rather it will be decided at the ballot box, and your involvement in this issue is critical.

Efforts to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples have dominated the legal landscape since 1998 when the Hawaii Supreme Court sought to impose same-sex marriage by judicial fiat. Since that time, the people of Hawaii, and concerned citizens from just about every other state, have responded overwhelmingly to counter these efforts by passing laws seeking to protect the traditional definition of marriage as the relationship between one man and one woman.

In fact, currently four states, including Hawaii, have passed constitutional amendments declaring just that. Most recently the state of Missouri on August 3, 2004 took this issue to the voters. With similar results to the votes taken in Hawaii (69.2% to 28.6%), Alaska (68.11% to 31.89%), Nebraska (70.1% to 29.9%) and Nevada (67.1% to 32.7%), the citizens of Missouri overwhelmingly voted to support traditional marriage by a margin of 70.7% to 29.3%!

Twelve more states will seek to follow Missouri this fall hoping that voters will approve a state constitutional amendment protecting marriage. Louisiana will vote on September 18 with the remaining states all having ballot initiatives on November 2, the date of the general election - those state are Georgia, Arkansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Utah.

So, if you live in one of these key states, make sure you are registered to vote - and that you vote for traditional marriage at the ballot box! To find out more about registering to vote, visit www.nationalcoalition.org and select Voter Registration Information and follow the directions for your state. In addition, make sure that your friends and family members in these key states are registered and know the importance of standing up for traditional marriage. You can order a brief, but powerful, brochure called Why Is Marriage Important? from the National Coalition web site as well.