{"id":888,"date":"2008-08-22T16:29:50","date_gmt":"2008-08-22T16:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/2008\/08\/hallmark-plan-for-gay-marriage.php"},"modified":"2008-08-22T16:29:50","modified_gmt":"2008-08-22T16:29:50","slug":"hallmark-plan-for-gay-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2008\/08\/hallmark-plan-for-gay-marriage","title":{"rendered":"Hallmark Plan for Gay Marriage Cards Angers Conservatives"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tim Murphy
\nReligion News Service<\/strong>
\n(RNS) Hallmark’s decision to introduce a new line of cards for gay marriages has drawn criticism from conservative Christian groups who accuse the company of promoting immoral behavior.
\nHallmark is releasing four cards specifically for same-sex couples in response to increasing demand after gay marriage was legalized in California in May.
\nTim Wildmon, president of the Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association, called Hallmark’s decision “apalling.”
\n“I’m pretty jaded now with everything I’ve seen, but Hallmark is synonymous with all-American…wholesomeness,” Wildmon said. “So this does surprise me that they want to get into the culture wars.”
\nHallmark spokeswoman Sarah Gronberg Kolell said the company began distributing the cards in July, but they will not be widely available until next summer.
\nHallmark introduced a new line of cards last year to support people “coming out” — making public their sexual orientation.
\nTony Perkins of the Washington-based Family Research Council denounced Hallmark’s plans and encouraged the council’s supporters to contact the card company.
\n“Placing profits over character should never be a good business decision,” Perkins said. “This is far from being the `very best.”‘
\nKathryn Hamm, president of gayweddings.com, said Hallmark’s decision to issue same-sex wedding cards is significant.
\nHallmark “is a company that has always sort of been the all-American, feel-good card … so their embracing it is a really big deal,” Hamm said.
\nCopyright 2008 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tim Murphy Religion News Service (RNS) Hallmark’s decision to introduce a new line of cards for gay marriages has drawn criticism from conservative Christian groups who accuse the company of promoting immoral behavior. Hallmark is releasing four cards specifically for same-sex couples in response to increasing demand after gay marriage was legalized in California…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHallmark Plan for Gay Marriage Cards Angers Conservatives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2008\/08\/hallmark-plan-for-gay-marriage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hallmark Plan for Gay Marriage Cards Angers Conservatives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Tim Murphy Religion News Service (RNS) Hallmark’s decision to introduce a new line of cards for gay marriages has drawn criticism from conservative Christian groups who accuse the company of promoting immoral behavior. Hallmark is releasing four cards specifically for same-sex couples in response to increasing demand after gay marriage was legalized in California…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2008\/08\/hallmark-plan-for-gay-marriage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beliefnet News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-08-22T16:29:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"nsymmonds\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hallmark Plan for Gay Marriage Cards Angers Conservatives","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2008\/08\/hallmark-plan-for-gay-marriage","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hallmark Plan for Gay Marriage Cards Angers Conservatives","og_description":"By Tim Murphy Religion News Service (RNS) Hallmark’s decision to introduce a new line of cards for gay marriages has drawn criticism from conservative Christian groups who accuse the company of promoting immoral behavior. 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A New Yorker by birth but a Floridian by tenure, Nicole graduated from Florida A&M University with a B.S. in Public Relations and a minor in Sociology. She moved to NY to pursue a career in journalism which started at In Style magazine. There she learned the ropes of magazine reporting, researching, and writing\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand became exponentially more stylish. But what seemed like a deep interest in fashion and entertainment would soon be revealed as merely the vehicle that moved her closer to discovering her purpose, writing and covering matters of the Christian faith. While in her purpose-driven vehicle she can be found traveling between Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens for life, work and worship, respectively. 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