Washington, DC– A Christian advocacy group is standing up to preserve traditional marriage by asking for support of the new constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm specializing in constitutional law, is launching a national petition campaign to gain support for the approval of the federal marriage amendment, proposed by President Bush last week.

"It is critical that Congress act without delay to pass a constitutional amendment preserving marriage as between one man and one woman," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. "The President has stepped forward to announce his support. Now, the work begins on Capitol Hill to ensure that the amendment clears both houses of Congress in a timely manner. It is clear that most Americans do not support changing the definition of marriage and at the American Center for Law and Justice we are committed to protecting traditional marriage."

The ACLJ is focusing on Massachusetts and California to stop issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. Last week, according to the press release, the ACLJ sent a legal memorandum to top officials in California and San Francisco such as San Francisco County Nancy Alfaro, Governor Arnold Schwarzeneger, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Kim Belshe, Secretary of California Health and Human Services Agency, and Diana M. Bonta, Director of California Department of Health Services.

The letter states: "Because of the special importance of the institution of civil marriage, efforts fraudulently to certify such marriages, or to institute such marriages among parties not lawfully permitted to do so, are crimes under California law."

The letter concluded that state officials who are responsible for issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples are violating several sections of the California Penal Code that prohibits the solemnization of marriages that are forbidden by law and the alteration of state marriage documents to accommodate same-sex couples.

If you would like to sign the petition go to: www.aclj.org