Exodus: Live Out Loud

Values Voters Summit

Exodus brought a redemptive view of homosexuality to this years The Washington Briefing: Values Voters Summit.  At our booth we handed out plenty of informative material including general information about Exodus, testimonies and newsletters.  Person after person came up to us seeking prayer and ministry concerning their own struggles or their family member who identifies as gay.

The Washington Briefing is mainly about public policy concerning a broad spectrum of issues.  However, since the issue of redefining marriage into a gay worldview is of such importance (along with other gay-centric efforts in public policy), many leaders at The Washington Briefing have gone out of their way to welcome the Exodus message and bring a very important perspective to the table.  Our perspective includes preserving marriage, an extremely important social institution,  while reaching out with compassion.   Wherever, public policy affects the people we are ministering too, we will be there to offer a personal and redemptive view.

Included in the "continue reading" reading link below will be a couple of articles covering the summit and excerpts as they pertain to the battle over marriage.

SJC upholds law barring out-of-state gay couples from marriage

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2006/03/high_court_upho_1.html

"In an eagerly awaited landmark decision, the state's highest court ruled today that Governor Mitt Romney and Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly had the authority to invoke a 1913 state law that Massachusetts used to block out-of-state gay couples from marrying here when same-sex marriage became legal in 2004.

The Supreme Judicial Court upheld the 1913 law when it was used to block same sex-couples from Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, because gay marriage is prohibited in those states."- Jonathon Saltzman, The Boston Globe, 30 Mar 2006

Is New Hampshire Next?

Our friend Dawn Videto writes a first hand account of her journey in New Hampshire to help preserve marriage.

Dawn writes ...

Last year, a state panel was held in New Hampshire to discuss whether or not to endorse same-sex marriage, to recommend civil-unions as an alternative, or to propose a ban on same-sex unions. This panel was to go to the people of New Hampshire and New England to get their views and then return with a recommendation based on those findings. I was asked to go and share my testimony to the panel, so I went.

The entire evening was unlike anything I had ever been a part of before. The panel was obviously divided on this issue and their internal disagreements often broke out into full scale arguments throughout the evening. At one point, the chairman, who was obviously conservative, needed to take a break for a few minutes. Another gentleman replaced him who was obviously liberal, and then some on the panel began to harass one of the speakers, who were against same-sex marriage. To say that it was a fiasco would be an understatement.

The panel did their interviews, discussed their findings and made a recommendation to the State; which was to ban same-sex marriage but be willing to keep an option for civil unions.

According to the Union Leader, a New Hampshire newspaper, the State of New Hampshire made a decision yesterday…

(They defeated the ammendment)  Dawn goes on to say...

I can’t say that I am surprised by this outcome, but I am a bit saddened. It saddens me because, as same sex marriage or any other sin becomes more widely accepted, those that are truly looking for healing and wholeness can become more discouraged than ever. Healing is possible, I am a living example of that, but I am sure most of those who live in New England and struggle with same sex attraction don’t know that.

Now, go read the rest of her post.

Same-sex marriage

Gay Couples Challenge Marriage Laws

http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-gaymarriage0321,0,7184835.story?coll=hc-headlines-local

Poll finds U.S. warming to gay marriage

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/23/MNGAOHSE4I1.DTL&feed=rss.news

Commentaries/News Briefs- Agape Press

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/3/222006h.asp

Same-Sex Marriage

France rejects same-sex marriage to protect children's rights

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2006/20/c3914.html

Focus Action Fights for Marriage in Minnesota

http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039890.cfm

John Adams' former church supporting 'gay marriage'

http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=22775

"Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams just might be rolling over in their graves.

Officials at United First Parish Church -- where both former presidents are buried in crypts -- want to hang a huge 34-by-4-foot sign outside the building supportive of "gay marriage." The sign would read: "People of Faith for Marriage Equality."

The Quincy Historic District Commission, though, voted 3-2 Feb. 27 against a permit that would have allowed the church to hang the sign for 30 days, The Boston Globe reported.

"I just think that a vinyl banner like this creates a circus atmosphere that's not a good fit for a building with as much historic magnitude," commissioner Thomas Koch said, according to The Globe."-Michael Foust, Baptist Press, 3, Mar, 2006

Minister 'Honored' to Perform Gay Weddings

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060303/ap_on_re_us/presbyterians_gays_5

"A veteran Presbyterian minister told a church judicial panel that she knew the faith's position on gay marriage, yet felt called by God and her conscience to call the unions between two lesbian couples marriage anyway.

The Rev. Jane Spahr of San Rafael is charged with official misconduct for officiating at the ceremonies in 2004 and 2005. The constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA) reserves marriage for a man and a woman, although ministers may bless other types of "holy unions."- Lisa Leff, Associated Press Writer, Mar 3, 2006

Same-sex marriage coming to California?

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49043

"Advocates of same-sex marriage in the Golden State are hoping to go directly to voters to make changes in the state constitution, deleting all references to gender in marriage law and nixing provisions of Prop 22, which declared marriage in California was strictly between one man and one woman.

The Organization for Fairness and Equality has turned paperwork into Attorney General Bill Lockyer to initiate the signature-gathering process for the proposal. The group is confident state voters will think differently about same-sex marriage than does Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who vetoed a bill last year that would have legalized the practice. The effort has a formidable task: collecting 600,000 signatures from registered California voters before "The Fairness in Marriage Act" could be placed on the ballot. "- WorldNetDaily.com, Feb. 28, 2006

New York Appeals Court Rules Against Gay “Marriage”

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/feb/06021701.html

"New York’s marriage law is constitutional, a five-judge panel decided at a mid-level appeals court yesterday.

The ruling addressed three separate cases involving gay couples that were refused marriage licenses. The couples argue the state’s definition of marriage as being only between a man and a woman violates the state Constitution’s equality, privacy and legal access provisions."- Gundun Schultz, LifeSiteNews.com Feb. 17, 2006

Study Suggests Gay “Marriages” Healthy, Ignores Opposing Research

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/feb/06021404.html

"A new report suggesting civil partnerships may hold potential health benefits for gay couples ignores significant research showing serious health problems associated with the gay lifestyle.

The report, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (JECH) by London researchers Professor Michael King and Annie Bartlett, suggests that gay couples will experience the same health improvements that have been linked to those in heterosexual marriages. Stress reduction through stable relationships and emotional security has been linked to reduced incidences of cardiovascular and other diseases in married couples."- Gudrun Schultz, LifeSiteNews.com, Feb. 14, 2006