But First

Students Ask School Libraries to Offer Other Views on Homosexuality



And McDonald's pledges neutrality in culture battle-"The American Family Association (AFA) is ending its boycott of McDonald's.

Mississippi-based AFA called for the boycott in May after the fast food giant joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. McDonald's has notified the pro-homosexual organization that McDonald's vice president Richard Ellis resigned from the board of directors of NGLCC and his seat on the board will not be replaced. In a press release on Thursday morning, AFA reports that in an email from McDonald's to its franchise owners the company stated its policy is "to not be involved in political and social issues." Randy Sharp is director of special projects with AFA. He says McDonald's has pledged to remain neutral in the culture war surrounding homosexual marriage. "The franchise owners understood very early that this was an issue that McDonald's did not need to be involved in from a corporate level, and [that] they needed to stick with serving good food products in a convenient way, at a good price." McDonald's officials also said the company has no plans to renew its membership in the NGLCC when it expires in December. AFA founder and chairman Donald E. Wildmon states that his pro-family organization "appreciate[s] the decision by McDonald's to no longer support political activity by homosexual activist organizations."

Record amounts of money in the campaign for and against Prop 8 in California from both sides

California

Record Donations Flood In From Californians-"The state filing by the Protect Marriage Coalition today was nearly 5,000 pages long, recording tens of thousands of individual donations.
Protect Marriage campaign manager Frank Schubert acknowledged the enormous fund-raising success “shows the strength of our cause and the tremendous grassroots support for traditional marriage across the state.” About two-thirds of all donations received have been $100 or less. Over 62,000 donations have been received to date. Ninety-five percent of all donations have come from within California."

CBS 5 Poll: Young Voters Lead Prop 8 Support Shift-"CBS5.com reports: “According to the poll, likely California voters overall now favor passage of Proposition 8 by a five-point margin, 47 percent to 42 percent. Ironically, a CBS 5 poll eleven days prior found a five-point margin in favor of the measure’s opponents.” Protect Marriage - Yes on 8http://www.protectmarriage.com/"

Traditional Marriage Supporters Collect Record Donations in Calif.-"Supporters and opponents of a ballot initiative that would outlaw same-sex marriage in California have poured $41.2 million into the race, more than the combined total spent in the 24 states where similar measures have gone before voters since 2004....Schubert said more than 60,000 people and businesses have given money to help pass the initiative, which would amend the state constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman. He provided the figures Monday before the group filed its official fundraising report with the secretary of state's office to meet the reporting deadline....According to figures compiled by the National Organization on Money in State Politics, a little less than $33 million was spent on campaigns to pass or defeat gay marriage bans in the 24 states where they appeared on ballots in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Supporters of same-sex marriage had the fundraising edge in all of them, but voters approved all but one, in Arizona.
With a month to go until the election, fundraising by the two sides in the California campaign already has well exceeded that amount. By comparison, the most expensive gay marriage fight before now was in Colorado, where opponents and supporters spent $6.8 million in 2006.
"For an issue like this, it's a lot of money," said Rachel Weiss, a spokeswoman for the national Organization on Money in State Politics. "California is in its own universe."

Union Contributes $100,000 to oppose Cal. marriage amendment-"Equality California has issued this press release indicating that United Here International Union made a $100k contribution to the No on Proposition 8 campaign and intends to raise another $50k. “Unite Here is the merged union of needle trade and textile employees with hotel and restaurant employees.”
San Francisco Catholic Charities Ends Relationship with the US' "Gayest Adoption Agency"-"Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of San Francisco has announced it will be cutting ties with the adoption agency, Family Builders by Adoption, which focuses on placing children with homosexuals.
Jill Jacobs, executive director of Family Builders by Adoption, told Our Sunday Visitor, "The funding from Catholic Charities is ending this [budget] year." Catholic Charities provides two staff members to the organization, at an annual cost of US $250,000. Family Builders by Adoption advertises itself as "the gayest adoption agency in the country," that is committed by contract to "increasing the number of children adopted by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) adults."
Archdiocesan spokesman, Maurice Healy, did not give reasons for the change, saying only that the archdiocese's relationship with Family Builders "was not envisioned as being long term."
The archdiocese struck the deal with Family Builders by Adoption in 2006.
Archbishop George Niederauer had received instructions from the Vatican to cease allowing homosexual persons to adopt children through the Catholic agency. San Francisco's homosexual activist mayor, Gavin Newsom, then threatened to withdraw funding from Catholic Charities. The city's board of supervisors unanimously passed a resolution, accusing the Vatican of being a "meddling ... foreign country" and demanding that Niederauer "defy" the directive.
Rather than follow the lead of Boston's Catholic archdiocese, which closed its adoption services rather than be associated with homosexual adoption, San Francisco Catholic Charities side-stepped Catholic teaching on the intrinsic immorality of homosexual adoption by partnering with Family Builders. Archbishop Niederauer told media that he regarded it as a case of "remote cooperation" with what the Church teaches is an act of violence against children.
It is unclear how or if Catholic Charities will handle homosexual adoptions after severing its ties with Family Builders."

“Proposition 8 Won’t Be Easy to Defeat”: Fresno Catholic priest’s “coming out” as barometer-"Altar Net has this report describing a Catholic priest who “came out” and anounced his opposition to California’s proposed marriage amendment, Proposition 8. According to Altar Net, the parish response to the priest is reflective of the divisions and political reality in the marriage debate:
Watch the TV clip. Half of the parishioners are standing and clapping, half are sitting there with arms folded and in utter shock over what they’ve just heard. That’s the audience we’re facing on November 4, when gay marriage — and Adam and Steve — face the voters.
The Boston Globe reports that the media was already on hand (apparently they were tipped off in advance) and it links to the full text of the priest’s sermon indirectly through a link that leads to a post on a lesbian’s blog, Pam’s House Blend.
ABC30 carries video report from the church.
Numerous reports about the priest can be view through Google News search."

‘Bride’ and ‘groom’ to be restored to Calif. forms-"The AP reports: “California health officials say the words “bride” and “groom” will reappear on marriage license applications starting next month.” The Sacramento Bee carries this related report. Related: California: “Bride and groom to file suit over license language” Couple fight California’s gender-neutral language in wedding license"

Mormons renew calls for Calif. marriage amendment-"The AP reports:
Mormons are being asked by their church leaders to step up their already considerable efforts to pass a ballot initiative to ban same-sex marriage in California.
Senior elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made a televised appeal to members Wednesday night and laid out a week-by-week strategy for boosting Mormon involvement before the Nov. 4 election."

Mistrial ends San Diego firefighter’s “gay pride” harassment case-"The AP reports:A mistrial was declared Monday after a jury could not decide whether to award damages to four firefighters who claimed they were sexually harassed after being forced to participate in a gay pride parade last year.The jury deliberated nearly four days before announcing a deadlock on the first of several criteria needed to find the city liable."

Robert Knight: “How 25 Years of Gay Activism in Hollywood Has Paid Off”-"Townhall carries this commentary by Robert Knight, who writes:
A new Eye on Culture report from the Culture and Media Institute, “Lavender Propaganda,” reveals the depth and breadth of the current media campaign to promote homosexuality to average Americans. But Hollywood became a uniformly pro-gay industry well before Will & Grace or the slew of 2008-9 network shows . . . the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation now routinely vets all TV scripts dealing with homosexuality to make sure that the public sees only what the activists want. That means, among other things, no programs showing “ex-gays,” people who have overcome homosexual temptations, unless it is to mock them."

Parenting "Rights" for Homosexuals: How We Got There and its Implications for all Families-"The California Supreme Court decided several weeks ago that doctors specializing in assisted reproductive technologies may not assert their religious freedom as a defense to California’s Civil Rights law requirement that businesses provide services without discrimination on the basis of clients’ sexual orientation. A fertility clinic willing to treat heterosexual patients must therefore also treat homosexual patients."

Massachusettes

Same sex “marriages” in California surpass those in Massachusetts-"The LA Times reports: “The data, released Monday by UCLA’s Williams Institute, found that an estimated 11,000 same-sex couples were married in California from June 17, when the California Supreme Court began allowing the weddings, to Sept. 17.”

Mandatory Homosexual Indoctrination in Grade School Survives after Supreme Court Turns Down Case-"After mounting a ferocious battle to preserve traditional marriage values, David Parker could only watch helplessly as the United States Supreme Court left intact a lower court ruling that allowed Massachusetts schools to promote homosexuality in the classroom without telling parents or allowing them to opt out.
"The Federal Supreme court of the United States has tragically decided to deny our case from moving forward," said Parker in a statement following the Supreme Court rejection. "We have exhausted all our legal options in the Federal system for the protection of young children in the public schools. The Supreme Court has cowardly turned their backs on a parental rights issue that clearly has national significance with profound consequences."

Florida's Marriage Amendment

Blue Cross Blue Shield Fights Florida’s Marriage Amendment-"Citizen Link reports: “Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, the state’s largest health insurer, is working to defeat the marriage-protection amendment that will go to voters Nov. 4.”
Visit Yes2Marriage.org."

“Supreme Court Denies Parents’ Appeal on Teaching Tolerance for Gay Marriage”-"The School Law Blog reports: The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to review several education cases, including the appeal of two Massachusetts families of a lower court decision that a school district did not violate their rights by exposing children to books promoting tolerance for gay marriage and families led by same-sex couples. The case was one of hundreds the justices refused to review on the first formal day of their new term . . ."

Video: The Truth About Marriage-""Never before in the history of America has there been such confusion about marriage and the family. The national debates over marriage law, civil unions and gay marriage have impacted you, your people, and your ministries. As a result, important questions and conversations are underway in churches and synagogues throughout our land." - Dr. Peter A. Lillback, President of Westminster Theological Seminary(Click here to read the rest of Dr. Lillback's letter to the Communities of Faith)"

UK

Bishop: Catholic Adoption Agencies Could Be Evicted for Defying Church Teaching on Homosexual Adoption-"A Catholic adoption agency in northwest England will face possible eviction from diocesan properties if its trustees do not reconsider a decision to comply with government demands to place children with homosexual partners. Bishop Patrick O'Donohue, head of the diocese of Lancaster, has warned Catholic Caring Services that it may not be as easy as they think to secularise their activities."

Virginia

“Virginia High-Schoolers Rally for Gay-Cure Books”-"The American Library Association reports: “Groups of students and parents staged rallies and presented some 85 books on homosexuality from a conservative Christian perspective for inclusion in the libraries at 11 schools in the Fairfax County (Va.) Public School District October 2. The inspiration for their actions came from a nationwide campaign organized by the Colorado Springs, Colorado–based traditional values group Focus on the Family.”