ST. LOUIS -- Missouri voters' overwhelming approval Tuesday of a Marriage Protection Amendment to their state constitution is an indication of things to come in Michigan this November, a statewide traditional values group predicted early Wednesday morning.

The American Family Association of Michigan last summer, following Ontario's legalization of so-called homosexual "marriage," called for a similar amendment to Michigan's constitution to prevent similar legal challenges to an existing state law that defines marriage as only between one man and one woman.

AFA-Michigan President Gary Glenn noted that Missouri is the fifth state since 1998 -- following Alaska, Hawaii, Nebraska, and Nevada -- to overwhelmingly approve a Marriage Protection Amendments to its state constitution, all by comparable super-majorities.

"Families in Michigan feel just as strongly as in Missouri about preserving and protecting one-man, one-woman marriage for our children and grandchildren," Glenn said. "We know if we work hard, voters here will just as overwhelmingly vote 'yes' to protect marriage in Michigan this November."

Pointing to strong support for the Marriage Protection Amendment among both Republicans and Democrats, especially African-Americans and union households, Glenn predicted the campaign for a "yes" vote in favor of the amendment "will be the most diverse, bipartisan, and broad-based coalition Michigan voters have seen in recent memory."

"This issue was forced on Michigan, as it has been on other states, by activist judges and outside forces, but the people of Michigan will respond with one voice this November in saying 'yes' to protect marriage," he said.

Citizens for the Protection of Marriage, the ballot campaign committee supported by AFA-Michigan and other pro-marriage organizations, last month turned in petitions containing the signatures of 482,950 registered voters demanding the right to vote on the marriage amendment on the November ballot. The total, far in excess of the 317,000 signatures required, was gathered in less than three months, a result amendments supporters consider a "miracle," Glenn said.

"Nearly half a million signatures in record time. That alone shows how strongly Michigan families feel about protecting one-man, one-woman marriage," he said.

Louisiana -- which, like Michigan, has a strong Catholic population -- will be next to vote on a marriage amendment on its Sept. 18th primary election ballot.

Then in November, voters in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah will consider marriage amendments, while proposed amendments await formal approval for ballot status in Michigan, North Dakota and Ohio. Supporters in all three states gathered signatures far in excess of the number required.

Bud Press is a Christian Investigative Researcher and the Director of Christian Research Service. As a service to the body of Christ he provides information, documentation and referral on a wide variety of issues to individuals, companies, pro-family groups, outreach ministries and the Christian news media.