Contact: Justyna Krukowska, Catholics for the Common Good, 415-651-4171

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 10 /Christian Newswire/ -- Equality California, a homosexual political advocacy organization, has just started an advertising campaign in major California media markets as part of an overall campaign to force the legalization of same-sex "marriage" in the state.

"Focusing on a wedding ceremony in a television ad is a shallow, emotional appeal that has nothing to do with the meaning and purpose of marriage," says Bill May, Chairman of Catholics for the Common Good. "By appealing to emotions, they are distracting people from what the debate should center on: the public interest in protecting and promoting marriage."

"The public interest in marriage stems from the fact that it provides the foundation for the family with a mother and a father -- universally recognized as extremely important for the development of children. The public interest is therefore about the interest of children, not the fulfillment of desires and benefits for adults."

"When men and woman have sexual relationships, it is common for children to be born as a consequence. This cannot occur through same-sex relationships. It is in the interest of society to promote marriage to men and women, especially at a time when four out of ten children are born out of wedlock and are also often deprived of a father. That same kind of public interest for creating a civil institution for same-sex couples is simply not there."

A recent Pew Research Center poll (July 1, 2007) found that 71% "say the growth of unwed mothers is a 'big problem.'" The same poll found that 69% "say that a child needs a mother and a father to grow up happily."

"Arguments for same-sex 'marriage' or domestic partnership reduce marriage to the status of one of many equivalent lifestyle choices," May continues. "They weaken marriage at a time when it should be promoted and send the wrong message to our children about marriage and family for their own lives."

Catholics for the Common Good is a national non-partisan and independent organization of lay Catholics dedicated to promoting the common good, especially in regard to the dignity of life, the primacy of the family, human rights and freedom, and solicitude for the poor and vulnerable.