This has been a summer of counter-revolution. Our cultural elites are reeling, shocked that the American people are standing up and speaking out against schemes that could fundamentally alter the relationship between the government and the people. And the Family Institute of Connecticut continues to be your voice on those battles taking place in our own backyard.

Last week we brought you the first issue of iAwaken, the newsletter of our youth wing. That newsletter, which is still available on our homepage, also caught the eye of the Courant.

Yesterday, Peter Wolfgang stood with state activist Bob MacGuffie at a press conference in Hartford. Bob and his small group, Right Principles, had recently been defamed by the media and the Democratic National Committee as a "tool in the pay of a vast corporate conspiracy to manufacture town hall outrage at the president's health plan." FIC has been meeting with Bob and other legitimate grassroots Tea Party-style activists to oppose any health care reform that could lead to taxpayer funding of abortion. Watch for more information on what you can do to help—and on Peter's upcoming media interviews on this issue.

In fact, Peter will be a guest on the Marty Heiser live call-in show TONIGHT (Thursday), 9 to 10 pm, Comcast Cable Channel 23 in Danbury, to discuss this and other issues.

It is very gratifying to be working in unity with allies in a whole coalition to resist the drive toward government control of health care. But there is so much more that needs to be done. In these dog days of summer—the time of year when donations are at their lowest—would you please consider giving $50, $100, $250 or more to help us fight for faith and family in our state? Or, if God has blessed you with the means, would you please click here to donate $500, $1,000, or $2,500 to help us fight for a Connecticut that will be a blessing and not a curse to our children and grandchildren?

Thank you for making FIC the leading voice for faith, family and freedom in our state! There are challenges ahead, but also unprecedented opportunities to reach new people for the pro-family cause—if we have the means. God bless you for your faith and your generous support!

Stop CT's Same-Sex "Marriage" Bill!

Last year, the Connecticut Supreme Court ignored the express will of the legislature and of the people by imposing same-sex "marriage" by judicial force.
Yesterday, a bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee to codify this outrage.

But S.B. 899 goes beyond mere legislative housekeeping. Section 17 of the bill would repeal a state law protecting public policy on a wide range of moral issues.
A repeal of this law could be read to mean that the State of Connecticut
1) condones homosexuality or bisexuality or any equivalent lifestyle,
2) authorizes the promotion of homosexuality or bisexuality in educational institutions or requires the teaching in educational institutions of homosexuality or bisexuality as an acceptable lifestyle,
3) authorizes or permits the use of numerical goals or quotas, or other types of affirmative action programs, with respect to homosexuality or bisexuality in the administration or enforcement of non-discrimination laws and
4) establishes sexual orientation as a specific and separate cultural classification in society.

The law targeted by Section 17 explicitly states that Connecticut's non-discrimination laws cannot be construed to support same-sex "marriage" or the four items listed above.
We must amend Section 17 to salvage that law and stop the pro same-sex "marriage" agenda from being forced on children in the public schools!

We also need to amend S.B 899 to strengthen the statute protecting religious liberty from the same-sex "marriage" agenda (Sec. 46a-81p).
The redefinition of marriage in Massachusetts has led to attacks on religious freedom,
while in Connecticut Justices of the Peace have been told they must perform same-sex "weddings".
Given the radical nature of this new same-sex "marriage" bill, further attacks on liberty and conscience are likely.

We cannot wait for those attacks to begin.
We must strike now, while this bill is going through the legislative process!
If we fail to amend this bill, it will be a serious setback to any effort to take marriage back from the courts and restore to the people their right to decide the issue.

Here are four ways that you can help amend this bill and give FIC Action a fighting chance to restore marriage in Connecticut:

1) Use our Grassroots Action Center to send an e-mail directly to the Judiciary Committee by clicking on the link at the bottom of this message.
We have provided some basic points, but please either put the message in your own words or add a brief introduction and conclusion! 
Personalized messages have a much greater impact.

Let our legislators know that you support marriage, not its redefinition—and that you want SB 899 amended!

2) Be prepared to testify at the public hearing on SB 899. We do not yet know when the hearing will be.
The Judiciary Committee's co-chairmen must give at least five days notice and they typically try to keep the public in the dark for as long as they can.
The five-day countdown will likely include Saturday and Sunday and will put the hearing on a day when Christians are distracted (Ash Wednesday, St. Patrick's Day, etc.).
Now is the time to prepare a two or three minute testimony and alert others to do likewise.
If our opponents think it is in their best interest to rush this bill through then the hearing could happen very soon.

3) Click here to donate to the Family Institute of Connecticut Action.
FIC Action, the lobbying arm of Connecticut's pro-family movement, is your eyes and ears at the state Capitol.
Your support allows us to continue to be your voice for faith and family.

4) Forward this message to every like-minded state resident you know and ask them to do likewise.
And watch for more information on FIC Action's 2009 Pro-Family Rally and Lobby Day.

Thank you for making your voice heard in the fight restore marriage in Connecticut. Click on the link below to contact the Judiciary Committee.

Click the link below to log in and send your message:
http://www.votervoice.net/link/target/fict29033859.aspx

Stop CT's Same-Sex "Marriage" Bill!

Last year, the Connecticut Supreme Court ignored the express will of the legislature and of the people by imposing same-sex "marriage" by judicial force.
Yesterday, a bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee to codify this outrage.

But S.B. 899 goes beyond mere legislative housekeeping. Section 17 of the bill would repeal a state law protecting public policy on a wide range of moral issues.
A repeal of this law could be read to mean that the State of Connecticut
1) condones homosexuality or bisexuality or any equivalent lifestyle,
2) authorizes the promotion of homosexuality or bisexuality in educational institutions or requires the teaching in educational institutions of homosexuality or bisexuality as an acceptable lifestyle,
3) authorizes or permits the use of numerical goals or quotas, or other types of affirmative action programs, with respect to homosexuality or bisexuality in the administration or enforcement of non-discrimination laws and
4) establishes sexual orientation as a specific and separate cultural classification in society.

The law targeted by Section 17 explicitly states that Connecticut's non-discrimination laws cannot be construed to support same-sex "marriage" or the four items listed above.
We must amend Section 17 to salvage that law and stop the pro same-sex "marriage" agenda from being forced on children in the public schools!

We also need to amend S.B 899 to strengthen the statute protecting religious liberty from the same-sex "marriage" agenda (Sec. 46a-81p).
The redefinition of marriage in Massachusetts has led to attacks on religious freedom,
while in Connecticut Justices of the Peace have been told they must perform same-sex "weddings".
Given the radical nature of this new same-sex "marriage" bill, further attacks on liberty and conscience are likely.

We cannot wait for those attacks to begin.
We must strike now, while this bill is going through the legislative process!
If we fail to amend this bill, it will be a serious setback to any effort to take marriage back from the courts and restore to the people their right to decide the issue.

Here are four ways that you can help amend this bill and give FIC Action a fighting chance to restore marriage in Connecticut:

1) Use our Grassroots Action Center to send an e-mail directly to the Judiciary Committee by clicking on the link at the bottom of this message.
We have provided some basic points, but please either put the message in your own words or add a brief introduction and conclusion! 
Personalized messages have a much greater impact.

Let our legislators know that you support marriage, not its redefinition—and that you want SB 899 amended!

2) Be prepared to testify at the public hearing on SB 899. We do not yet know when the hearing will be.
The Judiciary Committee's co-chairmen must give at least five days notice and they typically try to keep the public in the dark for as long as they can.
The five-day countdown will likely include Saturday and Sunday and will put the hearing on a day when Christians are distracted (Ash Wednesday, St. Patrick's Day, etc.).
Now is the time to prepare a two or three minute testimony and alert others to do likewise.
If our opponents think it is in their best interest to rush this bill through then the hearing could happen very soon.

3) Click here to donate to the Family Institute of Connecticut Action.
FIC Action, the lobbying arm of Connecticut's pro-family movement, is your eyes and ears at the state Capitol.
Your support allows us to continue to be your voice for faith and family.

4) Forward this message to every like-minded state resident you know and ask them to do likewise.
And watch for more information on FIC Action's 2009 Pro-Family Rally and Lobby Day.

Thank you for making your voice heard in the fight restore marriage in Connecticut. Click on the link below to contact the Judiciary Committee.

Click the link below to log in and send your message:
http://www.votervoice.net/link/target/fict29033859.aspx

CT's Anti-Family Power Brokers Attack FIC!

The pro same-sex "marriage"/pro-abortion forces who wield inordinate influence over Connecticut's politics and culture are legion. And they are coalescing around a campaign to stop the one group they all fear the most: Family Institute of Connecticut.

It's almost comical. How could FIC's small two-man office be such a threat to the ridiculously wealthy organizations that call the shots in Connecticut's halls of power?

Click here to support FIC: Connecticut's leader in the fight for marriage, faith and family!

And yet, we are. Last week, some of the richest lobbies in our state held a press conference featuring Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to speak against a yes vote for the constitutional convention. Why do they so adamantly oppose it? It is because FIC supports it. Nothing—no other group's position on the constitution convention—scares them more.

So they're getting desperate. And dishonest. Just look at Rick Green's column in today's Hartford Courant. Here's an excerpt:

Members [of the Constitution Convention Campaign] kept saying this wasn't about special interests. So why was the director of the Family Institute of Connecticut (google: Marriage Protection Pledge) up there at the front of the room?...

What [Peter] Wolfgang, [Rep. Arthur] O'Neill, [Campaign Chairman Matthew] Daly and the other faux populists behind this constitutional convention aren't telling you is that this is all about special interests and handing them the right to ram their various agendas down our throats. They want to bring us endless — and costly — referendums on everything from abortion to gay marriage to eliminating teacher unions to medical marijuana.

Rick Green would have the Courant's readers believe that FIC's support for a constitutional convention means the "Vote Yes" side is the one backed by special interests. But what Green isn't telling you is that the "Vote No" campaign is outspending us by more than ten-to-one! Given our opponents' lopsided financial advantage, it is shockingly dishonest for Green to mislead the Courant's readers into believing that a "yes" vote for the constitutional convention would allow "special interests" to "ram" unwanted agendas "down our throats."

The dirty little secret of this campaign—the one Atty. Gen. Blumenthal, Courant columnist Rick Green, same-sex "marriage" activists and other powers-that-be don't want the public to know—is that big money ALREADY controls CT politics and is being spent to stop anything that empowers citizens and lessens the power of well-healed special interests. The $45,000 our opponents are already spending to prevent direct initiative is probably peanuts compared to what they will spend by Election Day.

Nothing has ever threatened the privileged place of “the powers that be” in Connecticut like the prospect of a constitutional convention and direct initiative. Direct initiative will not mean that big-monied special interests will control CT politics. Rather, it will give the average citizen a voice against the big-monied special interests that already do.

We can stop them. We can protect marriage and restore the right to self-government in Connecticut. But to do it we need your help—and we need you at the Rally for Marriage this Sunday!

Click here to support FIC: Connecticut's leader in the fight for marriage, faith and family! 

This Sunday, September 28th at 2:30 p.m. the Family Institute of Connecticut will hold a Rally for Marriage on the steps of the state Capitol in Hartford. This will be Connecticut's most important marriage protection event yet—but it may not succeed unless thousands of people like you turn out to make their voice heard!

Bishop Jeremiah Torres of the House of Restoration Church, Pastor Brian Simmons of Gateway Christian Fellowship, "CT 6" Pastor Christopher Leighton, Rabbi Joshua Hecht of Beth Israel Synagogue, Fr. Greg Markey of St. Mary's Church in Norwalk and other major clergy and politicians will join FIC executive director Peter Wolfgang to speak in defense of marriage and the right to Let the People Decide at the Rally. Parking will be available at The Legislative Office Building Parking Garage, Elm St, Market St and the Bushnell Parking Lot. Click here to download our Rally flyer.

News of a "counter-rally" has raised the stakes for the Rally for Marriage. In order for our Rally to be a success, we must turn out substantially more people than our opposition. Please ask your pastor, priest or rabbi to rally fellow believers to attend the September 28th Rally for Marriage. Please arrange to have a bus leave from your church following Sunday services. The success of the rally depends on turnout, and turning out thousands for marriage protection will not happen unless Connecticut's churches are willing to take a stand. Your willingness to organize your church to attend the rally could make the difference between failure and success. The stakes are that high! For more information, contact FIC at 860-548-0066 and ask for Larry. And please forward this e-mail to every like-minded person you know!

Finally, we are asking for your financial support for the Rally and for FIC's other projects to support marriage and the family in Connecticut. Our opponents are willing to put their financial resources into stopping FIC. Do Connecticut's pro-family citizens have the same level of commitment to our beliefs as those who work around-the-clock to attack the family in our state?

You see what a threat FIC is to Connecticut's anti-family "powers-that-be." We want to make sure their fears are justified—that is, that FIC really is the one group that can best turn back the pro-abortion/pro same-sex "marriage" stranglehold over our state. But we can't do it without you.

Could you please click here to donate $50, $100, or $250 to help us fight for the family in Connecticut? Or if God has blessed you with the means to do so, could you donate $500, $1,000, $2,500 or more?

The Attorney General and the Hartford Courant think FIC is a force to be reckoned with. We want to prove them right...but we need your support to do it!

Thank you and God bless you for all you do for our shared cause. The Rally is just a few days away. Your financial support for our work is more appreciated than we can say.

Don't let them get away with it! Click here to help us defeat the pro same-sex "marriage" movement here in the heart of "blue state" territory!

Major Pro-Family Victory in CT Primaries!

Rep. Kevin Witkos, a 100% pro-family candidate, easily defeated Moira Wertheimer in the 8th Senate District's Republican primary yesterday.
This is a major victory in the fight to protect marriage in Connecticut.
Kevin Witkos was the only FIC Action Committee-endorsed candidate for Senate in the 2008 primaries.

And this was the only Senate primary where the candidates' positions on same-sex "marriage" became an issue!
In an article published last Thursday, The Hartford Courant—the paper of record for the 8th District's 11 towns—highlighted our endorsement of Witkos:
"The candidates both have impressive resumes and share a mainstream Republican philosophy of fiscal conservatism, though Witkos hews closer to the right on social issues such as gay marriage and abortion, while Wertheimer embraces the politics of consensus...Witkos has staked out more conservative territory on social issues, which has won him the endorsement of the Family Institute of Connecticut."

If Kevin Witkos wins the general election on November 4th, he will fill the seat currently held by Thomas Herlihy, the most anti-family Republican in the state Senate.
 If Witkos wins in November it means voters will be replacing Herlihy—the only Senate Republican with a 0% pro-family voting record—with Witkos, who has a 100% pro-family voting record.

The election of Kevin Witkos this November may be the most important thing we can do to move our state legislature in a pro-family direction!

Making pro-family gains at the state Capitol was the goal of our primary endorsements—in contrast to pro same-sex "marriage" activists, whose endorsements were carefully chosen to further an illusion.

Of the seven candidates FIC Action Committee endorsed on August 1st, four won and three lost.
Our winners were Rep. Marie Lopez Kirkley-Bey, Rep. Selim Noujaim, Rep. Corky Mazurek and Rep. Kevin Witkos. Our defeated candidates were Tom Harrison, Lydia Martinez and Jose Rivera.

All six of the candidates endorsed by "Love Makes a Family" (LMF) won—but LMF only made endorsements in districts where victory was guaranteed.
Five of their six endorsements were in districts that already had a pro same-sex "marriage" representative and the sixth had a pro same-sex unions senator.
LMF endorsed only where they knew they would win...so as to create the false perception of a pro same-sex "marriage" trend.

FIC Action Committee, by contrast, did not endorse in some races where both candidates were pro-family.

The lesson of yesterday's primaries is that the 2009 legislative session may turn out to be more pro-family than we were expecting. If so, this will improve our chance of defeating same-sex "marriage" next year...and of passing a direct initiative law.

But first, we have to win in November.
And, for the first time ever, we will face a legislature next year with a pro same-sex "marriage" Speaker of the House. And—looming over all our work and prayer to protect marriage—is a still-undecided state Supreme Court decision which may impose same-sex "marriage" by undemocratic fiat.

We have our work cut out for us.
But, with His help, we have accomplished great things in the past and can do so again.
Watch for more information on what you can do to stand up to the courts, the legislature and anti-family candidates to protect marriage in Connecticut.

FIC Action Committee is recognized by media, politicians and activists—friends and foes alike—as the pro-family voice in state politics. Click here to help us inform the voting public as to who the pro-family candidates are! Thank you!