NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  June 11, 2008

CONTACT:  Diane Gramley  1.814.437.5355 or 1.814.271.9078

 

Pennsylvania Senate is Laying Groundwork for Marriage Redefinition

 

(Harrisburg) – As Senate leadership allows the Pennsylvania Marriage Protection Amendment to remain tabled, it is laying the groundwork for the redefinition of marriage, an organization advocating for traditional marriage said today.  The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA) has placed into the hands of all fifty Pennsylvania Senators information not only outlining the need for a Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA), but addressing issues brought up during Senate hearings such as the affect on tourism, the Michigan Supreme Court decision (..."Despite the (Michigan Supreme) court's decision, gay people will continue to have benefits for their partners," agrees Emily Doskow, an attorney and co-author of A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples) and the remarks of Oklahoma State Representative Sally Kern.  

 

“As Senate leadership watches the clock tick away on this session, it is placing Pennsylvania’s one man one woman marriage law in danger.  On June 17 California, which has no residency requirement, will begin performing same-sex marriage and some Pennsylvania homosexual couples will go there to get ‘married’ and will come back here to challenge our Defense of Marriage Act despite warnings from homosexual legal groups not to do so,” Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA said today.

 

She was referring to a Los Angeles Times article which reported a six-page memo targeting same-sex couples which had been released by nine groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal. This memo outlined the dangers to the effort toward so-called marriage equality, if early court decision were handed down that did not favor same-sex marriage.  The groups warned that such decisions could take years to overturn.

 

“Today’s LA Times article once again exposes the strategy of the proponents of same-sex marriage – depend on the courts to legalize same-sex marriage.  That is exactly why homosexual activists here in Pennsylvania and other places have fought so hard against giving the voters the opportunity to vote on Marriage Protection Amendments.  They know that the average American voter will affirm that marriage is only between one man and one woman.  That is exactly why 27 states have passed these amendments to their Constitution,” remarked Gramley.

 

The article specifically says, “the battle for marriage must be orchestrated strategically, state by state, court by court.” 
 

“Since Pennsylvania’s constitutional amendment process is so lengthy, by sitting on S.B. 1250 Senate leadership is playing into the hands of homosexual activists and buying into the false information being perpetuated by them.  By not working to get the Marriage Protection Amendment before the people of Pennsylvania, Senate leadership is opening the door for our Defense of Marriage Act to be challenged by Pennsylvania homosexual couples who go to California for their so-called ‘marriages,’ Gramley continued.

 

Working on a statewide smoking ban is much less important than working on protecting the foundation of society and Pennsylvania's children.  One man one woman marriage is the bedrock of society and to expand that definition to include homosexuals is to the detriment of any culture.  Validating a lifestyle which, according to the Oxford University International Journal of Epidemiology, shortens the lives of males by up to 20 years creates a greater public health risk than smoking does.  The CDC has found that male and female smokers lose an average of 13.2 to 14.5 years of life, respectively.  Which is the more dangerous activity – smoking or engaging in male homosexual sex?

 

 

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