For background, read More High-profile Republicans Going Gay Agenda and also read GOP Strategy: Dump Old Uneducated Christian Voters as well as Warning GOP Against Dumping Christians & Morals
UPDATE 4/14/14: GOP Platform OKs Abortion & 'Gay Marriage:' Nevada
UPDATE 7/26/13: Sen. Ted Cruz Says Gay Agenda Ends Christian Liberty
-- From "GOP still struggling on gay marriage messaging" by Seth McLaughlin, The Washington Times 7/9/13
. . . Republicans across the country are trying to confine the marriage issue to the states, as the tide appears to be going against the Republican Party and its leading voices try to calculate how to best limit the damage, policywise and politically.
While some conservatives panned the [Supreme Court] ruling, most Republican leaders tried to keep their heads down - and all sides are still trying to grapple with whether to aggressively push a federal marriage amendment.
Republican Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Mark Kirk of Illinois and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have broken with party orthodoxy in recent months by endorsing same-sex marriage.
And some of the party's rising stars - including Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida - also have said the marriage issue should be decided by each state.
"I don't think the same-sex marriage issue is an issue where you are going to broaden your appeal by weakening your base," said Richard Land, head of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, N.C. "I think the people who are against same-sex marriage are far more committed to their position and are far more likely to change the way they are to vote than those who are pro-same-sex marriage."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Huelskamp defends amendment to ban gay marriage" by Alexandra Jaffe, The Hill 6/30/13
Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas) . . . [wants] to amend the Constitution to ban gay marriage, saying it would protect the rights of children.
Huelskamp cited research he says shows children of same-sex parents are worse off than those in a household with a mother and a father as evidence that the Court would end up hurting children with its ruling.
. . . He plans to introduce the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would define marriage within the Constitution as between one man and one woman, next month.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Tim Huelskamp Introduces Constitutional Amendment Banning Gay Marriage" by Jennifer Bendery, Huffington Post 7/1/13
The bill already has 28 Republican cosponsors, none of whom are particularly surprising. But it remains to be seen whether House Republican leaders will throw any support behind it . . .
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) previously cosponsored a similar Federal Marriage Amendment that failed to advance in July 2006. That vote was the last time Congress has voted on such a proposal. Requests for comment from Boehner's and Cantor's offices were not returned.
The bill is just two sentences long:
Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Lawmakers remain divided on same-sex marriage" by Curtis Tate, Washington Post 7/4/13
. . . although most Republicans still oppose [same-sex] unions, the party's leaders would prefer to move on. House Speaker John A. Boehner (Ohio) . . . and other Republican leaders say it's now up to the states.
"The court's made its decision," Boehner told reporters last week.
Meanwhile, a group of House Republicans, led by Rep. Tim Huelskamp (Kan.), reintroduced a measure to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Huelskamp said the court had "substituted its personal preferences on marriage for the constitutional decisions of the American people and their elected representatives."
"Congress clearly must respond to these bad decisions," he added.
. . . Boehner and other GOP leaders have not signed on . . .
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
The question for Christians to discern: Are Republicans abandoning a God-fearing Party platform?
