Original post here -Adam
Cross-posted at Good As You
By Jeremy Hooper
Remember when I called out the (conservative, heavily Mormon) Deseret News for running a “poll” conducted by anti-gay writer and activist Gary Lawrence, as if Lawrence’s (also conservative, heavily Mormon) work is on par with Gallup? Yeah, well — check out this little act of egregiousness!
After my post, I went over and left a comment on the article, which you will find below. But before my comment, you will find THE PAPER’S DENIAL of said comment, based on completely inapplicable rationale:
Not only are they shutting out fair discourse, but they are putting an unfair onus on me. The editors are essentially accusing me of some sort of out-of-line behavior, when all I gave them was insight that they themselves were not willing to give!
So in short: Typical behavior for those with a certain “culture war” agenda.
**MORE INSIGHT: Two NOM staffers serve on Deseret News Editorial Advisory Board!
October 15, 2011
Cross-posted at Good As You
By Jeremy Hooper
Back during the Prop 8 battle, Mormon writer and pollster Gary Lawrence contributed some of the most jaw-dropping rhetoric around. For instance, check out this summer of ’08 article, wherein he framed the whole thing as a battle between “Lucifer” and “the Creator’s plan”:
(*forgive the unsightly presentation — it’s an archived copy with dead images)
lawrencemeridian
Lawrence was also behind the widely distributed pamphlet (though it was originally printed anonymously):
Six Consequences If Proposition 8 Fails
1. Children in public schools will be taught that both traditional marriage and same-sex marriage are okay.
The California Education Code already requires that health education classes instruct children about marriage. (§51890)
Therefore, if the definition of marriage is changed, children will be taught that marriage is a relation between any two adults. There will be serious clashes between the secular school system and the right of parents to teach their children their own values and beliefs.
2. Churches will be sued if they refuse to allow same-sex marriage ceremonies in their religious buildings that are open to the public. Ask whether your pastor, priest, minister, bishop, or rabbi is ready to perform such marriages in your chapels and sanctuaries.
3. Religious adoption agencies will be challenged by government agencies to give up their long-held right to place children only in homes with both a mother and a father. Catholic Charities in Boston has already closed its doors because of the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.
4. Religions that sponsor private schools and which provide housing for married students will be required to provide housing for same-sex couples, even if it runs counter to church doctrine, or lose tax exemptions and benefits.
5. Ministers who preach against same-sex marriages will be sued for hate speech and could be fined by the government. It has already happened in Canada, one of six countries that have legalized gay marriage.
6. It will cost you money. A change in the definition of marriage will bring a cascade of lawsuits. Even if courts eventually find in favor of a defender of traditional marriage (highly improbable given today’s activist judges), think of the money – your money, your church contributions – that will have to be spent on legal fees.
This in from Gary Lawrence: Consequences of Do Nothing [Yes on Prop 8 Blog]
The obvious: Lawrence is far from an objective voice or pollster. At the very least, any media outlets who cites his work has a responsibility to elucidate what Gary Lawrence has himself put on the record, so that readers can understand the spirit from whence the data stems.
Which brings us to the heavily Mormon Deseret News, the second largest daily publication in Utah. That paper is now pushing a supposed new poll conducted by Lawrence, without any sort of mention of the pollster’s background. Here’s a snip and link to the full piece:
SANTA ANA, Calif. — When it comes to polls about same-sex marriage, it’s all about how you ask the question. A new national poll by Lawrence Research found that 64 percent of Americans feel that marriage should only be between one man and one woman. Thirty-three percent feel marriage should be redefined to include any two people.
The poll results may seem to contradict a Gallup poll in May that found 53 percent of Americans thought “marriage between same-sex couples should … be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriage.”
64% don’t support gay marriage new poll says [Deseret News]
(H/t: Bob Barnes)
The paper pits Lawrence against Gallup, as if they are two trusted bookends. The most mention Deseret gives to Lawrence’s Prop 8 work comes via this little snip:
Gary Lawrence is the president of Lawrence Research in Santa Ana, Calif., and is very familiar with both the topic and the polling. His company conducted polls in 2008 for the “Yes on 8″ campaign, which successfully pushed for the passage of Proposition 8 in California to define marriage as between a man and a woman.
That’s it. They don’t mention that he actively and aggressively advocated for Prop 8′s passage and that he’s connected to the “protect marriage” movement. They don’t give insight into Lawrence’s outwardly religious motivations. They don’t mention that he routinely conducts polls for groups like the National Organization For Marriage, even though the paper gives NOM’s Maggie Gallagher a forum to comment on how powerful Lawrence’s work supposedly is. They simply push the idea that one of America’s most trusted polling firms, Gallup, is being handily challenged by another, equally weighted outfit.
That is not only unfair: It is downright negligent!
October 13, 2011
By Adam Bink
A major disappointment today. Via e-mail from Lambda Legal:
(Washington, DC, October 11, 2011) – The U.S. Supreme Court today denied
Lambda Legal’s petition for a writ of certiorari in the case of a same-sex
couple seeking an accurate birth certificate for their Louisiana-born son
whom they adopted in New York. The Louisiana state registrar has refused
to recognize the adoption and issue a birth certificate listing both
fathers as the boy’s parents.
“By denying this writ, the Supreme Court is leaving untouched a dangerous
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that carves out an exception to the
Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution and to the uniformly
recognized respect for judgments that states have come to rely upon,” said
Kenneth D. Upton, Supervising Senior Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal’s
South Central Regional Office in Dallas. “This decision leaves adopted
children and their parents vulnerable in their interactions with officials
from other states.”
“More particularly, this decision leaves a child without an accurate birth
certificate listing both his parents,” Upton added. “This issue now moves
into the legislative arena. We need to push for a change in Louisiana
state policy in order to stabilize and standardize respect for
parent-child relationships for all adoptive children.”
Lambda Legal represents Oren Adar and Mickey Smith in their case against
Louisiana State Registrar Darlene Smith. Adar and Smith are a gay couple
who adopted their Louisiana-born son in 2006 in New York, where a judge
issued an adoption decree. When the couple attempted to get a new birth
certificate for their child, in part so Smith could add his son to his
health insurance, the registrar’s office told him that Louisiana does not
recognize adoption by unmarried parents and would not issue it with both
adopted parents’ names.
Lambda Legal filed suit on behalf of Adar and Smith in October 2007,
saying that the registrar was violating the Full Faith and Credit Clause
and Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution by refusing to
recognize the New York adoption judgment because the child’s parents are
unmarried. The Constitution requires that judgments issued by a court in
one state be legally binding in other states. Further, a state may not
disadvantage some children over others simply because the child’s parents
are unmarried. The Louisiana attorney general advised the registrar that
she did not have to honor an adoption from another state that would not
have been granted under Louisiana law had the couple lived and adopted
there. In 2008, U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey ruled against the registrar
and entered judgment ordering her to issue a new birth certificate
identifying both Oren Adar and Mickey Smith as the boy’s parents, saying
her continued failure to do so violated the U.S. Constitution. In 2010, a
three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed and
unanimously affirmed the judgment. The attorney general requested a
rehearing by the full Court of Appeals, and a sharply divided court issued
a decision this spring overturning the prior decisions.
In July Lambda Legal asked the U.S Supreme court to review the case
arguing that the Fifth Circuit’s ruling ignores nearly one hundred years
of well-established Supreme Court law and conflicts with other federal
circuits across the country. In August, the nation’s leading child welfare
organizations joined family law and constitutional scholars in support of
Lambda Legal’s petition for a writ of certiorari, filing six separate
friend-of-the-court briefs. The signatories included: National Association
of Social Workers; Child Welfare League of America; Center for Adoption
Policy; Tulane School of Law – Juvenile Litigation Clinic; Juvenile
Justice Project of Louisiana; and more than 60 legal scholars.
“Unfortunately, same-sex parents who have or plan to adopt children are
treated differently from state to state at this point,” added Upton. “So
we urge parents to check with an attorney and take every step they can to
protect their families – and to call Lambda Legal’s HelpDesk if they need
more information.”
The case is Adar v. Smith.
October 11, 2011
By Adam Bink
Pamela Jo Brubaker, a Ph.D candidate at Penn State, reached out on this topic. She’s conducting research on blog readers’ perceptions of media messages on legalizing same-sex marriage in the United States, and asked if some folks here would mind completing a quick survey on the topic. I took it and it’s fairly interesting.
If you’re interested, more details and the link below. Note: the last question asks the source of the survey. You can enter P8TT, but because the survey does not allow numbers or punctuation in that response field, I had to change it to “PropEightTrialTracker”. Please do so, and I alerted Pamela to this issue.
This is an open thread.
Supporters and opponents of legalizing same-sex marriage are needed for an online research study concerning communication messages about legalizing same-sex marriage within the United States.
Share your opinions by Oct. 25. Click here to take the survey, or copy and paste this link into your browser: http://pennstatecomm.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5q0jBQGKH2DXFWs
The survey takes less than 15 minutes to complete. You are eligible to participate if you are at least 18 years old.
This research study is being conducted as part of a doctoral dissertation at The Pennsylvania State University. It is NOT funded or commissioned by any political, religious, or advocacy organization. If you have questions about this study, please contact Pamela Brubaker at pjb943@psu.edu.
October 9, 2011
