Washington D.C., Aug 27, 2010 / 07:22 am
The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has produced a video recapping its eventful Summer for Marriage tour and has announced the creation of an initiative to organize two million Americans to defend marriage from political redefinition.
The 23-stop tour began in Centreville, Virginia on July 4 and ended with a rally outside the U.S. Capitol on August 15. About 300 people attended the final rally. With religious and community leaders, they called for the right to vote on the same-sex “marriage” law enacted in the nation’s capital.
A new video recapping the tour recounts the events and tour speakers, who included Dr. Alveda King, niece of slain civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The video also notes efforts by same-sex “marriage” activists to disrupt the rallies. At the Albany stop, activists intimidated a nursing mother, while in Providence, Rhode Island they physically surrounded a rally speaker and tried to shout him down.
At a rally in Madison, Wisconsin counter-protesters booed Bishop of Madison Robert Morlino as he prayed the Our Father.
“Little did we know how threatened our opponents would be by our tour,” Brown said in a NOM e-mail to supporters. “But their protests, all too often characterized by hateful intolerance, only raised the profile of the tour, drawing media attention and new supporters to our cause.”
In the recap video, Brown said he was proud that rally participants didn’t respond “in kind” to the aggression but stood their ground. He said that while the tour started out as an effort to rally support in “key battleground states where marriage is under attack,” the poor behavior of counter-protesters and the federal court ruling overturning California’s Proposition 8 gave extra urgency to the tour.
“If allowed to stand, Walker’s decision will change marriage nationwide forevermore,” Brown remarked in the video.
Noting that one purpose of the summer tour was to expand the base of pro-marriage activists, he announced the launch of the Two Million for Marriage website.
“We’re already more than 700,000 strong and well on our way toward our goal of identifying and organizing an army of two million Americans willing to stand up to protect marriage,” he commented.
Brown also announced a major new initiative before the November elections to reach out to Americans through the new website, Twitter, Facebook, phone calls and direct mail as well as through radio, TV, and internet ads.
The recap video is available at the new website, http://TwoMillionforMarriage.com