Rick Santorum to Speak at Second Annual 'March for Marriage' Rally in DC Next Week
Former United States Senator and Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum will be speaking at the second annual March for Marriage event in Washington, D.C. next week.
The National Organization for Marriage, a group advocating for marriage being only legally recognized as between one man and one woman, is organizing the march.
In an announcement made Saturday, NOM President Brian Brown stated that he was "thrilled to announce" that Santorum will be part of the march.
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"From his days in the Senate, through his presidential campaigns, Senator Santorum has never hesitated to stand for marriage and make the argument that the social values of our nation are of primary importance to the well-being of our families and children," stated Brown.
"Senator Santorum is a huge addition to our already incredible speaker list that includes Governor Mike Huckabee, Archbishop Salvatore Cordielone, New York State Senator Rev. Rubin Diaz, and the Heritage Foundation's Jennifer Marshall and Ryan T. Anderson, among many others."
Scheduled to be held on Thursday, June 19, the March for Marriage is expected to bring together large numbers of activists and individuals who are advocates for traditional marriage.
The first NOM-organized marriage march took place in 2013 on the first day of oral arguments in the United States Supreme Court cases Windsor v. United States and Hollingsworth v. Perry.
NOM spokesman Christopher Plante told The Christian Post in an earlier interview that the march is being held, in part, "to show the world, the media, members of Congress and the Supreme Court that the marriage debate is not over."
"There is a huge groundswell of popular support, popular belief in traditional marriage. And despite what the polls may say, the reality is the majority of Americans believe marriage is between one man and one woman," said Plante.
Plante also told CP back in April that the March for Marriage drew inspiration from the annual March for Life, a large scale rally held in protest of the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade.
"We are looking to grow this on an annual basis much like the March for Life, and so we expect that we will do more than we did last year," said Plante.
"Life and Marriage are intertwined. The March for Life has been a hugely successful event, and we look to mirror their success and make sure we have an annual event that commemorates the importance and the uniqueness of marriage that becomes visible to our country, to our leaders, to the media."
Preparations for the March for Marriage come as state-level marriage amendment bans are being legally challenged and in some instances struck down without a stay in the decision.
According to a Gallup Poll released in July 2013, if brought to a vote, 52 percent of Americans would support the legalization of same-sex marriage.
