Conn. group launches campaign against gay marriage

A Connecticut group opposed to gay marriage is launching a media campaign to encourage state residents to define marriage solely as a union between a man and woman. The Defend Marriage Now campaign, which organizers will begin on Thursday, includes highway billboards and radio and newspaper advertisements. "There's nothing about standing up for marriage that's connected with hate," said Brian Brown, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut and a coordinator of the campaign. "It's a core component of society. People shouldn't be afraid to stand up in defense of marriage." The campaign's kickoff is timed with Massachusetts lawmakers' return to a debate on a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage. The Massachusetts high court was the first to declare such marriages legal. In Connecticut, opponents of gay marriage are asking churches to hang banners that publicize the Defend Marriage Now message and are seeking signatures on a statement that spells out how they think marriage should be defined. The statement says that "marriage and family are increasingly threatened by same-sex 'marriage,' civil unions, and domestic partnership legislation."