ProtectMarriage.com
Encyclopedia
ProtectMarriage.com is a coalition of conservative and religious American
political activist groups aligned against same-sex marriage
. The coalition's stated goal is to "defend and restore the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman." Beginning in 2001 as Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund holding the domain name
protectmarriage.com, the organization reformed in 2005 as a coalition to sponsor California Proposition 8
, called the California Marriage Protection Act, and was successful in placing it on the ballot in 2008. Proposition 8 amended the California Constitution
, putting a halt to same-sex marriages in California for nearly two years until the proposition was overturned. While it was in effect, ProtectMarriage.com defended the amendment in a series of legal challenges. Ron Prentice is the executive director.
against legal challenges, to maintain Prop 22's definition of marriage in California as being between a man and a woman. The group, Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund, formed as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and established a website at protectmarriage.com in September 2002. With California State Senator
William J. "Pete" Knight
serving as chairman of the board, the group reported "just over $266,000 of revenue" in its first year. Andrew Pugno held the role of chief counsel—he had been associated with Knight's marriage definition legislation since 1995. Pugno helped Knight form the nonprofit.
Knight died in May 2004. In March 2005, a San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled Prop 22 unconstitutional, and in April, AB 205 was passed by the California legislature; a law which extended many marriage benefits to domestic partners of any sex. These challenges to the one-man-one-woman definition of marriage spurred a change in strategy: rather than defend Prop 22, the advocates associated with the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund would re-organize under a new name to pass new legislation. Ron Prentice, executive director of the California Family Council, teamed with former Prop 22 defenders, including Pugno, to establish a coalition of like-minded groups such as Alliance Defense Fund
. The name ProtectMarriage.com was first presented online mid-2005.
.
Andrew Pugno is lead counsel at ProtectMarriage.com. He coauthored Proposition 8, and continues its legal defense. Pugno began his efforts against same-sex marriage in 1995 with then-assemblyman Pete Knight. He served as chief counsel in the defense of Proposition 22.
In July 2008, ProtectMarriage.com hired Jennifer Kerns as communications director. Kerns, a public relations
consultant, was previously the communications director for Steve Poizner
's successful 2006 bid for the position of California Insurance Commissioner
. She also served as assistant to California Secretary of State
Bruce McPherson
, analyzing election practices and results.
ProtectMarriage.com comprises three programs: Proposition 8 Legal Defense Fund, the ProtectMarriage.com Educational Foundation and ProtectMarriage.com Action Fund.
, Focus on the Family
, and the California Family Alliance.
Catholics for ProtectMarriage.com was formed to support the Proposition 8 campaign. The organization was a collaboration between the Knights of Columbus
, the California Catholic Conference and Catholics for the Common Good.
L. Whitney Clayton
is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints liaison with the coalition.
United States district court
Judge Vaughn R. Walker
overturned Proposition 8 on August 4, 2010, in the case Perry v. Schwarzenegger
, ruling that it violated both the Due Process
and Equal Protection clauses of the United States Constitution
. ProtectMarriage.com appealed the ruling. In June 2011, Walker's ruling was upheld by James S. Ware
, chief judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
.
, ProtectMarriage.com hired attorney Charles Cooper of Cooper & Kirk to form the defense. Pugno said he considered a number of legal firms but settled upon Cooper & Kirk because he believed them on par with Theodore Olson
, former United States Solicitor General
, the attorney for the plaintiffs. In October 2009, Cooper "deflected" an effort by Liberty Counsel
to use the court case to prove that homosexuality was an "illness or disorder". Cooper explained to reporters his view that Liberty Counsel wanted to fight battles that "can't be won." Pugno said that ProtectMarriage.com has tried to distance itself from "strident and combative" fringe groups in order to set a "civilized tone" for the defense, in the same manner as the proposition campaign.
The court case would have been the first federal trial to be captured live by video cameras, shown in real time at public courthouses in San Francisco, Pasadena
, Seattle, Portland
, and Brooklyn
, through an experimental new system developed by the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court
. The trial would also have been shown on the video-sharing website YouTube
. Federal judge Vaughn R. Walker
noted that he had received 138,574 comments on the plans to broadcast the trial, and all but 32 were in favor. In January 2010, two days before the trial, ProtectMarriage.com filed emergency papers with the United States Supreme Court to bar telecasting the trial. The court ruled 8–1 to temporarily stay live streaming, then ruled 5–4 to indefinitely block live streaming. Plaintiff Rick Jacobs of Courage Campaign
said that "Prop 8 backers are continuing their pattern of keeping the truth about this trial from the American public."
From January 11 to January 28, Courage Campaign mounted a website called Prop 8 Trial Tracker which received more than 464,000 views . The website used a logo very similar to their opponent's logo, and the ProtectMarriage.com legal team sent a cease and desist
letter, demanding that Courage Campaign stop using the similar logo. Nathan Sabri, an attorney with Morrison & Foerster, the law firm handling the case pro bono
for Courage Campaign, responded by writing that the request had no merit, and that his client had noted the irony of the ProtectMarriage.com position—that the image of two children flanked by a man and a woman was said by ProtectMarriage.com to be "substantially indistinguishable" from the two children flanked by two women. On January 19, ProtectMarriage.com filed a lawsuit asking for a temporary restraining order to stop the use of the similar logo. Federal judge Lawrence K. Karlton
ruled in favor of Courage Campaign's argument which cited prior cases of one logo being parodied
by another.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
political activist groups aligned against same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
. The coalition's stated goal is to "defend and restore the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman." Beginning in 2001 as Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund holding the domain name
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
protectmarriage.com, the organization reformed in 2005 as a coalition to sponsor California Proposition 8
California Proposition 8 (2008)
Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
, called the California Marriage Protection Act, and was successful in placing it on the ballot in 2008. Proposition 8 amended the California Constitution
California Constitution
The document that establishes and describes the duties, powers, structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of California. The original constitution, adopted in November 1849 in advance of California attaining U.S. statehood in 1850, was superseded by the current constitution, which...
, putting a halt to same-sex marriages in California for nearly two years until the proposition was overturned. While it was in effect, ProtectMarriage.com defended the amendment in a series of legal challenges. Ron Prentice is the executive director.
History
In 2001, an organization was formed to defend the previous year's California Proposition 22California Proposition 22 (2000)
Proposition 22 was a law enacted by California voters in March 2000 to restrict marriages to only those between opposite-sex couples. In May 2008 it was struck down by the California Supreme Court as contrary to the state constitution....
against legal challenges, to maintain Prop 22's definition of marriage in California as being between a man and a woman. The group, Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund, formed as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and established a website at protectmarriage.com in September 2002. With California State Senator
California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...
William J. "Pete" Knight
William J. Knight
William J. "Pete" Knight was a U.S. politician, combat pilot, test pilot, and astronaut. Knight holds the world's speed record for flight in a winged, powered aircraft...
serving as chairman of the board, the group reported "just over $266,000 of revenue" in its first year. Andrew Pugno held the role of chief counsel—he had been associated with Knight's marriage definition legislation since 1995. Pugno helped Knight form the nonprofit.
Knight died in May 2004. In March 2005, a San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled Prop 22 unconstitutional, and in April, AB 205 was passed by the California legislature; a law which extended many marriage benefits to domestic partners of any sex. These challenges to the one-man-one-woman definition of marriage spurred a change in strategy: rather than defend Prop 22, the advocates associated with the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund would re-organize under a new name to pass new legislation. Ron Prentice, executive director of the California Family Council, teamed with former Prop 22 defenders, including Pugno, to establish a coalition of like-minded groups such as Alliance Defense Fund
Alliance Defense Fund
The Alliance Defense Fund is a conservative Christian nonprofit organization with the stated goal of "defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation." ADF was founded in 1994 by the late Bill Bright , the late Larry Burkett , James Dobson The...
. The name ProtectMarriage.com was first presented online mid-2005.
Organization
Ron Prentice, the executive director of ProtectMarriage.com, is a licensed marriage and family therapist. In addition to his duties at the organization, he serves as Chief Executive Officer of the California Family Council, an organization which advocates for what they see as traditional family values and which is associated with Focus on the FamilyFocus on the Family
Focus on the Family is an American evangelical Christian tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s...
.
Andrew Pugno is lead counsel at ProtectMarriage.com. He coauthored Proposition 8, and continues its legal defense. Pugno began his efforts against same-sex marriage in 1995 with then-assemblyman Pete Knight. He served as chief counsel in the defense of Proposition 22.
In July 2008, ProtectMarriage.com hired Jennifer Kerns as communications director. Kerns, a public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
consultant, was previously the communications director for Steve Poizner
Steve Poizner
Stephen Leo "Steve" Poizner is an American businessman/entrepreneur and conservative Republican politician, who was elected State Insurance Commissioner of California in November 2006, and concluded the 4 year term in January 2011...
's successful 2006 bid for the position of California Insurance Commissioner
California Insurance Commissioner
California Insurance Commissioner is an elected executive office position in California. The officeholder is in charge of the California Department of Insurance.The current Insurance Commissioner is Democrat Dave Jones.- Duties :...
. She also served as assistant to California Secretary of State
California Secretary of State
The Secretary of State of California is the chief elections officer of that U.S. state. The Secretary of State is also responsible for the California State Archives, as well as chartering corporations. The Secretary of State is elected to four year terms, concurrent with the other constitutional...
Bruce McPherson
Bruce McPherson
Bruce A. McPherson is a California politician who was the 30th California Secretary of State, sworn in March 30, 2005. He was nominated to replace former Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, who resigned on March 4. McPherson, a Republican from Santa Cruz County, served his term as Secretary until...
, analyzing election practices and results.
ProtectMarriage.com comprises three programs: Proposition 8 Legal Defense Fund, the ProtectMarriage.com Educational Foundation and ProtectMarriage.com Action Fund.
Relations with other organizations
Members of the coalition include: the Family Research CouncilFamily Research Council
The Family Research Council is a conservative or right-wing Christian group and lobbying organization formed in the United States in 1981 by James Dobson. It was fully incorporated in 1983...
, Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family is an American evangelical Christian tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s...
, and the California Family Alliance.
Catholics for ProtectMarriage.com was formed to support the Proposition 8 campaign. The organization was a collaboration between the Knights of Columbus
Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization. Founded in the United States in 1882, it is named in honor of Christopher Columbus....
, the California Catholic Conference and Catholics for the Common Good.
L. Whitney Clayton
L. Whitney Clayton
Lyndon Whitney Clayton III has been a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 2001 and has been a member of the Presidency of the Seventy of the church since April 2008....
is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints liaison with the coalition.
Proposition 8
In April, 2008, ProtectMarriage.com submitted a petition containing 1,120,801 signatures—426,447 more than was necessary to put the measure on the ballot. It appeared on the ballot as the Eliminates Rights of Same-Sex Couples to Marry. Initiative Constitutional Amendment but was called the California Marriage Protection Act by proponents. The proponents of the measure spent approximately 40 million dollars to promote the proposition, which passed, defining marriage in California as between one man and one woman. According to Prentice, the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign was "the single largest, most powerful grassroots movement in the history of American ballot initiative campaigns."United States district court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
Judge Vaughn R. Walker
Vaughn R. Walker
Vaughn R. Walker served as a district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from 1989 to 2011.-Biography:Walker was born in Watseka, Illinois, in 1944...
overturned Proposition 8 on August 4, 2010, in the case Perry v. Schwarzenegger
Perry v. Schwarzenegger
Perry v. Schwarzenegger is a federal lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California challenging the federal constitutionality of Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot initiative that amended the California Constitution to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples,...
, ruling that it violated both the Due Process
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
and Equal Protection clauses of the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. ProtectMarriage.com appealed the ruling. In June 2011, Walker's ruling was upheld by James S. Ware
James Ware (judge)
James S. Ware is the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and his chambers are in San Francisco, California.- Early life and education :...
, chief judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
The United States District Court for the Northern District of California is the federal United States district court whose jurisdiction comprises following counties of California: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San...
.
Strauss v. Horton
Opponents of Prop 8 filed a legal challenge in the California Supreme Court. The Proposition 8 legal defense team featured Ken Starr. The court upheld the constitutionality of the amendment.Perry v. Schwarzenegger
ProtectMarriage.com took on the role of main defense in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the case challenging Proposition 8 in federal court. Under the leadership of California State Senator Dennis HollingsworthDennis Hollingsworth
Dennis Clark Hollingsworth is an American politician who represented California's 36th State Senate district, which includes portions of San Diego and Riverside County, from 2002 to 2010. In 2000, Hollingsworth was elected to the Legislature as a member of the Assembly, and in 2002, Hollingsworth...
, ProtectMarriage.com hired attorney Charles Cooper of Cooper & Kirk to form the defense. Pugno said he considered a number of legal firms but settled upon Cooper & Kirk because he believed them on par with Theodore Olson
Theodore Olson
Theodore Bevry Olson is a former United States Solicitor General, serving from June 2001 to July 2004 under President George W. Bush.- Early life :...
, former United States Solicitor General
United States Solicitor General
The United States Solicitor General is the person appointed to represent the federal government of the United States before the Supreme Court of the United States. The current Solicitor General, Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 6, 2011 and sworn in on June...
, the attorney for the plaintiffs. In October 2009, Cooper "deflected" an effort by Liberty Counsel
Liberty Counsel
Liberty Counsel is a non-profit public interest law firm and ministry that provides free legal assistance in defense of "Christian religious liberty, the sanctity of human life, and the traditional family." Liberty Counsel is headed by attorney Mathew D. Staver, who founded the legal ministry with...
to use the court case to prove that homosexuality was an "illness or disorder". Cooper explained to reporters his view that Liberty Counsel wanted to fight battles that "can't be won." Pugno said that ProtectMarriage.com has tried to distance itself from "strident and combative" fringe groups in order to set a "civilized tone" for the defense, in the same manner as the proposition campaign.
The court case would have been the first federal trial to be captured live by video cameras, shown in real time at public courthouses in San Francisco, Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, Seattle, Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, and Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, through an experimental new system developed by the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...
. The trial would also have been shown on the video-sharing website YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. Federal judge Vaughn R. Walker
Vaughn R. Walker
Vaughn R. Walker served as a district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from 1989 to 2011.-Biography:Walker was born in Watseka, Illinois, in 1944...
noted that he had received 138,574 comments on the plans to broadcast the trial, and all but 32 were in favor. In January 2010, two days before the trial, ProtectMarriage.com filed emergency papers with the United States Supreme Court to bar telecasting the trial. The court ruled 8–1 to temporarily stay live streaming, then ruled 5–4 to indefinitely block live streaming. Plaintiff Rick Jacobs of Courage Campaign
Courage Campaign
The Courage Campaign is a California-based human rights campaign and progressive advocacy organization with more than 700,000 followers, working on a variety of causes, including the repeal of Proposition 8, California budget reforms,, and ballot procedures...
said that "Prop 8 backers are continuing their pattern of keeping the truth about this trial from the American public."
From January 11 to January 28, Courage Campaign mounted a website called Prop 8 Trial Tracker which received more than 464,000 views . The website used a logo very similar to their opponent's logo, and the ProtectMarriage.com legal team sent a cease and desist
Cease and desist
A cease and desist is an order or request to halt an activity and not to take it up again later or else face legal action. The recipient of the cease-and-desist may be an individual or an organization....
letter, demanding that Courage Campaign stop using the similar logo. Nathan Sabri, an attorney with Morrison & Foerster, the law firm handling the case pro bono
Pro bono
Pro bono publico is a Latin phrase generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms...
for Courage Campaign, responded by writing that the request had no merit, and that his client had noted the irony of the ProtectMarriage.com position—that the image of two children flanked by a man and a woman was said by ProtectMarriage.com to be "substantially indistinguishable" from the two children flanked by two women. On January 19, ProtectMarriage.com filed a lawsuit asking for a temporary restraining order to stop the use of the similar logo. Federal judge Lawrence K. Karlton
Lawrence K. Karlton
Lawrence K. Karlton is a United States federal judge.Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1935, Karlton received a J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1958, at the age of 23. He was in the United States Army from 1958 to 1960, and was a Civilian legal officer at the Sacramento Army Depot from 1960 to 1962...
ruled in favor of Courage Campaign's argument which cited prior cases of one logo being parodied
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
by another.