Diverse News 2008®

NEWS FEEDS
California Voters Deliver Over 1.1 Million Signatures to Protect Marriage
    Latino Community Holds the Key to Protecting Marriage

    WASHINGTON, April 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Alliance for
Marriage Foundation today celebrated the efforts of California voters who
delivered over 1.1 million signatures to protect marriage with a
constitutional amendment on the November 2008 ballot.

    The signatures must be verified by county election officials before the
constitutional amendment is approved for the ballot.

    "The future of marriage in California should be determined among the 36
million residents of the State of California -- not by the personal,
closed-door deliberation of seven judges," said Rev. Sam Rodriguez, Jr., an
Advisory Board Member of the Alliance for Marriage Foundation. The Latino
community holds the key to protecting marriage in California -- and
preventing the attack on marriage here from having national fallout."

    The California Supreme Court is expected to rule by early June on the
state's marriage laws. Many anticipate the court's ruling could effectively
strike-down the democratically approved Proposition 22, the California
Defense of Marriage Act, which statutorily defines marriage as the union of
a man and a woman.



    "In 2000, the Latino community played a determining, critical role in
approving Proposition 22 at the ballot box," said Rodriguez. "As the
largest 'minority' community in California, the Latino community holds the
key to protecting marriage in California -- and preventing the attack on
marriage here from having national fallout."

    "For several decades, America has been wandering in a wilderness of
social problems caused by family disintegration," added Rodriguez.
"Tragically, as bad as our current situation may be, it could soon become
dramatically worse. This is because California courts and the legislature
are poised to erase the legal road map for marriage and the family from
state law."

    Earlier in the petition effort, Californians for Marriage, an all
Latino-led coalition organized by the Alliance for Marriage Foundation,
delivered signatures in support of the California Marriage Amendment, and
is poised to fill a pivotal role in the ballot efforts this fall.

    Members of Californians for Marriage include Rev. Samuel Rodriguez,
Jr., National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Rev. Felix Posos,
Northern Pacific Latin American District of the Assemblies of God, Dr.
Jessie Miranda, Alianza Ministerial Evangelica Nacional, Dr. David Lazo,
Church of Power, Dr. Sergio Navarrette, Assemblies of God, Pacific Latin,
and Rev. Gilbert Montelongo, Tabernacle of Praise.

    The Alliance for Marriage Foundation is a non-partisan, multicultural
coalition whose Board of Advisors includes Rev. Walter Fauntroy -- the
former DC Delegate who organized the March on Washington for Martin Luther
King Jr. -- as well as other civil rights and religious leaders, and
national legal experts.
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