|
Summarized by Kent Larsen
Newspaper Says LDS Church Involved in Nebraska Defense of Marriage Group
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA -- A Nebraska newspaper says that the LDS Church joined
with Catholics and conservatives to form a group to lobby for Nebraska's
defense of marriage amendment. The group, the Nebraska Coalition for the
Protection of Marriage was formed last week, indicating in its
organizational papers that it had raised or spent at least $5,000 in support
of Initiative 416, an amendment to the Nebraska constitution that would ban
same-sex marriages and civil unions.
The Lincoln Journal Star bases its claim of Church involvement on the fact
that two of the six men listed in the organizational papers, Robert Y.
Valentine of Lincoln and Arthur H. Taylor of Omaha, are affiliated with the
LDS Church. The other organizers of the Coalition are affiliated with the
Catholic Church and with the Nebraska nonprofit organization Family First.
The Nebraska Coalition for the Protection of Marriage is currently headed by
Dan Parsons, who is also executive director of Family First. Parsons says
that a formal announcement of the group will be made later this month,
before which the group will seek additional support.
The coalition is the second group involved in the campaign, in addition to
the Defense of Marriage Amendment Committee, which collected the petition
signatures necessary to get the Initiative on the ballot. The Journal Star
calls that group "a loose association of individuals and churches" and says
it also involves Mormons. Parsons says that the two groups will communicate
and collaborate with them.
Meanwhile, opponents of the initiative, have formed a group called
Nebraskans Against 416 and have opened offices in Omaha.
Coalition formed to lobby for marriage amendment
Lincoln NE Journal Star 28Sep00 T1
By Nancy Hicks: Lincoln Journal Star
Coalition formed to lobby for marriage amendment
|
