Family Research Council

by Peter Sprigg

April 27, 2015: The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a set of cases, including Obergefell v. Hodges on Tuesday, challenging state laws and constitutions that define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. One of the arguments made by those who wish to redefine marriage nationwide is that classifying same-sex couples differently from opposite-sex couples for purposes of civil marriage violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

by Peter Sprigg

April 05, 2015: Indiana recently adopted a Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), defining a legal standard for cases in which government action affects someone's First Amendment right to religious freedom. Critics, though, deceitfully attacked it as a "license to discriminate" against homosexuals, leading legislators to gut their own law. On March 30, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced he would ban state-funded travel to Indiana because of RFRA.

by Peter Sprigg

March 16, 2015: Advocates of redefining "marriage" to include same-sex couples use a number of arguments that can best be described as "myths." The reality is often quite different.

by Peter Sprigg

March 06, 2015: By an almost 2-1 margin, Americans in a recent poll declared they agree that "States and citizens should remain free to uphold marriage as the union of a man and a woman and the Supreme Court shouldn't force all 50 states to redefine marriage."

by Peter Sprigg

February 15, 2015: Most of the media is blaming the current chaos in Alabama over whether same-sex couples will or will not be issued marriage licenses on Judge Roy Moore, Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.

by Peter Sprigg

December 18, 2014: Christmas celebrates a miracle. It's not just "Jesus' birthday." And it's not just that Mary gave birth to the baby Jesus when she was still a virgin (although Christians believe that she was, and that the birth was miraculous).

by Peter Sprigg

November 20, 2014: For defenders of natural marriage, the long wait for a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit was worth it. Three months to the day after hearing oral arguments on cases out of four states (Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee), a three-judge panel issued a 2-1 ruling on November 6 upholding the states' rights to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

by Peter Sprigg

October 30, 2014: Local, state and federal governments are being urged by activists to expand the protected categories under existing civil rights laws to bar "discrimination" in employment, housing, and/or public accommodations on the basis of " sexual orientation (which includes voluntary homosexual conduct); and " gender identity (referring not to one's biological sex, but typically to "the gender-related identity, appearance, or mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of an individual, with or without regard to the individual's designated sex at birth" [H.R. 1755/S.815: Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013]). "Gender identity" provisions are intended to protect transgender individuals-an umbrella category that includes: " transsexuals (people who have had sex-change surgery), " transvestites (cross-dressers), " drag queens and drag kings (people who cross-dress for entertainment purposes only). For convenience, we will refer to this general category of non-discrimination laws based on sexual orientation (SO) and gender identity (GI) as "SOGI" laws.

by Peter Sprigg

September 27, 2014: An article in the Washington Examiner on September 18 carried the headline: "Census: Marriage rate at 93-year low, even including same-sex couples."

by Peter Sprigg and Travis Weber

September 11, 2014: On July 21, 2014, President Obama signed an Executive Order to prohibit discrimination on the basis of "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" by federal contractors, and to prohibit discrimination against federal employees based on "gender identity" ("sexual orientation" had already been included as a protected category in federal employment by President Clinton).