The decision yesterday to uphold the California ban on homosexual "marriage" was greeted with surprise and joy by those in the pro-family movement, and anger and indignation by the homosexual rights movement and their allies. The decision by the California Supreme Court immediately set off a pre-arranged "spontaneous" demonstration in which hundreds of homosexual activists poured out onto the streets of San Francisco deliberately blocking traffic.

Mass demonstrations by radical homosexual activists are nothing new. The movement for homosexual rights traces it origin back to the bottle and brick-throwing Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village in New York City in 1969. It was only after that series of riots that the first of the increasingly aggressive homosexual activist organizations were formed in New York City.  The trend today is towards greater militancy, and less tolerance for those who disagree with the proposition that homosexuality is normal and accepatable.  

The movement now counts among its supporters many activist legislators, including Southern California's own Larry Bliss, a homosexual activist who after moving from Los Angeles to Maine, helped railroad the same sex marriage bill through the Maine Legislature. Bliss, who was a board member of several homosexual rights organizations, signed the same sex marriage bill on behalf of the entire Maine Senate. Bliss has many allies in the Maine Democratic Party --  including Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and Attorney General Janet Mills -- who will all gather next month to celebrate "Gay Pride" at an event where Barney Frank will be the guest of honor.

One of the most remarkable statements to come out of the debate in the Legislature over same sex marriage, was Representative Les Fossel's remark that the new law would unleash a Culture War in Maine over the definition of marriage. The Culture Wars, however, are not limited to a dispute over marriage. The Culture Wars involve a relentless attack on every value the American people hold sacred.

The RECORD previously reported on what has come to be known as "The Flag-Trampling Incident" at the University of Maine at Farmington. As part of a work of performance art, students were encouraged to tread on a large American flag, and scores of smaller flags spread in a school hallway. The President of the University, Theodora Kalikow, justified the "art" in the name of freedom of expression. Few  people know that the same university donated $10,000 of taxpayer money this year to sponsor the annual banquet of the state's largest homosexual rights organization, Equality Maine.

It is not only the symbols, values, and institutions of Christians which are in jeopardy. Christians themselves are increasingly coming under attack. Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, recently saw a group of security guards assault a group of  believers who were quietly and unobtrusively sharing the Gospel with students. The security guards showed little respect for either the Bible or the First Amendment as they put one evangelist in a headlock, and arrested all the others. All this was the result of a student complaint about the presence of evangelists on campus. 

In a somewhat less shocking example, when I gave a speech in 2005 at the University of Maine at Machias I was greeted by heckling protestors.  My speech was about the lack of tolerance on college campuses for traditional American values and differing points of view. Later, our building in Augusta was painted with graffiti, our website vandalized, and there was a call for newspapers not to print what I write. I know better than anyone else in Maine the dangerous nature of the homosexual rights movement. 

The attack on the institution of marriage should not be viewed in isolation. It must be seen as  part of a relentless campaign to detract from what is good and wholesome, and to exalt what is abnormal and unhealthy. 

Only when people regain the moral certitude that "gay marriage" is not about rights and equality, but is instead an effort to make the abnormal normal, will the public be able to make the right decision about gay "marriage."  The decision by the California Supreme Court is a hopeful sign. If we can win in liberal California, we can win anywhere, and we will certainly win here in Maine.