In PA, Today is Marriage Equality "D-Day!"

From the Center for Lesbian & Gay Civil Rights:

"The so-called "Marriage Protection Amendment" is listed on the Pennsylvania House of Representative's voting schedule for Monday, April 24th. If you haven't contacted your legislator yet, it is not too late.

Our opponents are working hard to get as many people as possible to contact their state Representatives. Your Representative needs to hear from you too! Please call your Representative on Monday in their Harrisburg office. If you don't know who your Representative is or their phone number, just click on the legislator locator below."

Call them first, then do all the other things listed below. We need then to hear from us today!

Ask Your Legislator to Stop the Anti-Family Constitutional Amendment!
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives and Senate are considering an anti-LGBT, anti-family constitutional amendment that would prohibit recognition of same-sex marriage and all unmarried relationships in the Commonwealth. [more...]

Click here to send an email to your legislator NOW!
Click here for talking points
Click Here for a List of House Sponsors of HB 2381
Click Here For a List of Senate Sponsors of SB 1084
Click here to see the legislation

Find Your Legislator Now!
The Center now provides a service that allows you to quickly and easily find your state and federal legislators by simply typing your address and zip code. Identify your representatives, and let your voice be heard! Click on the Legislator Locator link now.

Click here for Legislator Locator

As always, we thank you for your support and action!
- posted by Gary @ 8:32 AM 0 comments

 
One Week And Counting...PA Vote on HB 2381
via the Center for Lesbian & Gay Civil Rights:

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has placed HB 2381, the anti-family constitutional amendment on the voting schedule for April 24, 2006. This is the next date that the House will be in session.

The Center, working with our Value All Family Coalition partners and allies, successfully educated more legislators about the potential negative impacts of the so-called "Marriage Protection Amendment" this week. This growing opposition to the legislation helped us to prevent a vote on the floor.

Legislators told us that hearing from their contituents makes a big difference. Thank you to those of you who have visited, called, emailed or written your legislators.

If you haven't contacted your legislator yet, it is not too late!

They will be in their home districts until April 24th.

You can take action by:

Calling their office and set-up a time for a visit -- one in person visit has more impact than dozens of emails. If they are not available, you can meet with a staff person.

Picking up the phone and call their district office.

Asking your friends, family and co-workers to come with you on a visit or make a visit or a call of their own.

For more information including talking points and how to find your legislator, please view the other take action postings on the Center's web site.

Every contact makes a difference. Thank you!

Contact info is easily found by following this link.
- posted by Gary @ 1:34 PM 0 comments

 
If you read this and do nothing...
Then this is what the Legislature of PA will vote to approve tomorrow:

The constitutional amendment, based on Texas and Ohio law, would define marriage in Pennsylvania as between a man and a woman and forbids the creation of any legal status for unmarried couples that is “substantially equivalent” to what married couples enjoy. A bill was introduced in the House with 89 cosponsors Tuesday, and a companion bill is expected to be introduced in the Senate.

I am very frustrated by this at the moment!

Do you realize that this means in the state of Pennsylvania, even if I wanted to spend the money to hire a lawyer and draw up a will, a living will, and a series of other documents to protect my partner and our assets, that is wouldn't be legal in PA!

Do you see that it is not unreasonable to believe that our friends with adopted kids could have those children stripped from them?

Do you not think it is wrong for a private corporation that offers partner benefits to be told by an individual state that is can't do that? This vote will cost me my healthcare! Insurance that isn't paid by the state or threligiousus-right, but by me, my partner, and his employer! How does that hurt anyone else?

Do you not see how the hatred for the gay community is growing!?!

We must stand up and be counted, one and all! There is no time for closets! There is no time for anything but solidarity! We need the love and support of our partners, friends, and family.Communityiy is what we need, and that community needs to be willing to fight for what is ours to lose! Rights in America are to be universal! There are no times that one right should be granted to one American, and denied another. That is not what we are about. What is worse, is that the cowards in office have seen fit to cast a civil rights issue onto a ballot for the majority to decide the rights of the minority! Nothing could be MORE un-American than this!

So, if you care about your rights and the rights of your fellow Americans then you need to tell your elected officials. Otherwise, this hate laden bill in PA could be coming to your state next!

Remember...Silence Equals Death. Your silence will equal the death of your rights!
- posted by Gary @ 12:16 PM 0 comments

 
Why I love Senator Russ Feingold
Because he is always setting himself ahead of the rest of the Dems by saying something brave and inspiring like this. From the article:

"Gay and lesbian couples should be able to marry and have access to the same rights, privileges and benefits that straight couples currently enjoy,” Feingold said.

“Denying people this basic American right is the kind of discrimination that has no place in our laws, especially in a progressive state like Wisconsin. The time has come to end this discrimination and the politics of divisiveness that has become part of this issue.”

- posted by Keri @ 6:10 PM 1 comments

 
PA: Marriage Protection Protects No One!
Tomorrow, Tuesday April 4th, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives will be voting on the future of thousands of PA Families. And the vote they consider is one that will cause great damage in the name of alleged protection.

Those that would have the Legislature believe marriage between anything other than a man or a woman is an abomination to God are screaming louder than we are! People, this is our fight to lose!

I think Stacey Sobel from the Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights hits the nail squarely on the head:

House Bill 2381, the so-called Marriage Protection Amendment, represents an attack on the legal rights of Pennsylvanians. It will not prevent one couple from getting divorced. It will not provide support to any couples struggling to find their way. It will not feed, clothe or educate a family’s child. All of us would describe ourselves as “pro-family.” This amendment, however, does not help even one family, but has the potential to harm thousands.

The majority GOP House of PA is frightened to their core about loosing power in the November 2006 election cycle. The greed of their midnight pay raise has angered the citizenry of this state beyond measure and caused a backlash none of these regressive politicians foresaw. Now they are desperate to do all they can to save their jobs, and that kind of desperation sets up a potentially strong vote against LGBT families in PA. Bashing fags always seems to work at the polls and the GOP has learned this lesson well!

One can take this observation a step further and notice that a fag-bashing ballot is one that will help to motivate hedging Santorum voters. The timing of this debate just stinks to high heaven of the national GOP trying to manipulate the citizens of Pennsylvania so that Frothy Rick can openly abuse gays without fear of retribution from the voters. It makes me sick to even think about it.

In any event, the big vote is tomorrow and we need to stand united against the support to this anti-family measure!

It doesn't take much to see that this so-called "Marriage Protection Amendment" protects very little; least of all marriage and families! The argument presented is the same as we have seen before; that gay marriage is a threat to the institution of marriage, the notion of "traditional families" and the moral fabric of America.

I say "No" on all accounts!

Allowing gays to marry doesn't threaten the institution of marriage. How can it possibly be seen as a threat to something that over 50% of heterosexual couples violate by way of divorce each year? The threat to marriage doesn't come from outside by way of gays, the real threat is from within by way of the union of "one man and one woman" who neither respect the union or one another! Divorce of the "one man and the one woman who shall constitute a marriage" is where the real threat to the institution comes from.

Traditional families aren't threatened by marriage. Marriage protects families. Marriage provides legal, medical, and educational benefits to children. Marriage provides for equal protection of the partners, their children, and their property. Marriage creates stability and tradition. Tradition doesn't create marriage. Marriage is shaped by traditions, and traditions evolve within the family as much as they do outside. So, there is no threat to marriage from marriage. The threat is once again brought by casual divorce, infidelities, and other interpersonal breaches from within the bond of those already married. Allowing LGBT families to enter into this supposedly sacred civil institution has no impact at all on marriage itself or the poorly conceived rhetorical construct of a traditional family. That threat, once again comes from within. It comes from those trying to cast the protection without giving pause to their own role in the institutions continued degradation.

As for the moral fabric of America; that bullshit discussion is the worst argument of them all!

How can one scream that so-called Gay Marriage will destroy America, and then turn a blind eye to the tangible things that are destroying the fabric of this nation? How can one blame LGBT families for all evils when our heterosexual President is so carelessly handling our nation? Who can rightfully call the bashing of fags a national priority while we know the President is flaunting laws and illegally listening to our each and every word? How can anyone see themselves rational or credible when then chant to legislators about the evils of homosexuals when we are in a war based on lies and false agendas? As American blood falls on Iraqi soil, who are the Americans that see marriage to be a greater national priority? While our country spends time and energy debating the issues of immigration, legal or otherwise, how can another American demand the attention of any legislator for something as petty as the alleged call to protect marriage? When tens of thousands of children sit in wait for parents that will offer them love and support, how can a self-proclaimed Christian deny them that chance because the person offering the love, support, and chance at a family happens to be gay? How can a Catholic cast judgment on a LGBT parent, when arguably the richest and most public source of pedophilia comes from straight priests within their own houses of worship?

Hypocrisy seems to be our new national credo?!

To sum up: LGBT families are not a threat to the institution of marriage. The threat to this “sacred” institution comes from those so ignorantly screaming to protect something they clearly don't fully understand.

If one thing has become crystal clear in the wake of all this hateful, bigot-based rhetoric, it is the fact that an amazing number of Americans don't understand the base reason marriage exists. They don't understand what protections it offers. They surely don't get that it is a civil contract, not a religious one. They react in fear to gay marriage because they somehow think that if the government were to grant it, it would force their church to conduct the ceremony? Ignorance, as usual abounds in America where God is the perceived root of the issue. It seems our tradition when we here God to turn off all rational use of our brains. Americans are so woefully left-behind when it comes to questions of civics and the law. Not to mention discussions of history, religion, and how they relate to our national heritage and legal system. We are a people afraid of those unlike us, and all too willing to legislate those different from us (read: white heterosexual) out of the country if possible.

The wisdom of the Separation of Church and State is a mystery to so many. It often seem as though they think it a myth; something as real in their minds as the threat to marriage from fags. Do they not see that the very wisdom in this separation is what allows for gays to be treated equally under the law as it relates to marriage; while simultaneously disallowing the government from telling any church to marry anyone it doesn't want to?! This constitutional construct offers a two way street that is a win-win for every American. It helps to guarantee equality without respect to any religion. God has no place in government and government has no place in a church. Issues of faith and belief are personal and as varied as flakes of snow on the wind. No single individual can agree completely on articles of faith, so none should be able to legislate them for all. This basic idea is the source of our great nation. Religious persecution is the exact reason America exists. This is not a fascist state, yet again the ignorance of the left-behind wishes to turn it into one. Sad.

So, in spite of all this, and for the sake of our future, I ask you to please pick up the phone and call your local Pennsylvania representative and ask them not to support HB2381.

Tell them to vote against it because it offers protection to no one, and threatens everyone!

Let them know that a vote in support of this measure will cost them votes in November.

Let them know that we know they are playing political games with Pennsylvania families, and we won't allow it to continue beyond this term!

TIP: Don't just email them, call them too! It's more direct and timely than email.



- posted by Gary @ 10:50 AM 0 comments

 
Australia Update
Follow-up on Glenn's post about the Australian Capital Territory moving to legalize same-sex marriage rights - - the Prime Minister and federal goverment say they'll move to block such equal rights legislation. From the article, emphasis mine:

"Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said Wednesday that the government would intervene unless the bill is changed to provide only a domestic partner registry with limited benefits."

Could it be even more clear that this flight is not about the religious institution of marriage, but the civil institution? They're basically saying outright, 'we're willing to give you some of the rights we have, but not all of them.'
- posted by Keri @ 1:59 PM 0 comments

 
In Minnesota
After being hounded by professional phobes, Senator Johnson apologizes for what amounts to nothing.

Like in most states that have passed one, Minnesota's proposed anti-gay marriage amendment will go way beyond banning equal same-sex marriage. From the article:

It won't ban gay marriage, because that's already banned. But the proposed marriage amendment to the Minnesota Constitution could change some other things, legal experts say.

The amendment's language would open the door for legal challenges to the benefits and arrangements that unmarried couples -- gay and straight -- use for themselves and their families, legal experts believe.

"It's not simply outlawing same-sex marriage; it does more than that," said Beverly Bales, a law professor at the University of Minnesota.

Health-care coverage for unmarried partners could be challenged, especially at state-funded institutions like the University of Minnesota. Minneapolis' domestic- partnership registry may not survive. Even legal contracts between unmarried partners may face challenges, some scholars say, affecting health-care directives, insurance claims and financial arrangements...

"Support for Marriage Amendment is so 2004," by Laura Billings
- posted by Keri @ 10:15 AM 0 comments