Yo! Californians!!!
angryasiangrrl posted about this in her LJ, but I thought I'd take the liberty of cutting and pasting it into my own LJ to spread the word..
If you'd like to see her post, click here. (it's got prettier formatting than mine...)
PLEASE READ AND CALL!
Statements of Equality California Directors Geoff Kors and Molly McKay Condemning U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein's Comments Blaming Gay Marriage for Bush's Re-election
Join Us in Asking her for an Immediate Retraction and to co-sponsor the Permanent Partners Immigration Act by calling her office now (phone numbers listed below)
"The whole issue [of gay marriage] has been too much, too fast too soon."
U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein as quoted in a front page article in the San Francisco Chronicle on November 4, 2004 entitled, "Gay Marriage: Did Issue Help Re-elect Bush?"
"Equality California, as the statewide LGBT advocacy organization, respectfully demands that Senator Diane Feinstein retract her divisive and erroneous statements blaming the LGBT community and Mayor Gavin Newsom's courageous act of issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples for Bush's relection," said Geoffrey Kors, Equality California's Executive Director. "It is never too soon or too fast to ask for basic civil rights for all Americans. To blame the LGBT community for a presidental election that was won by 136,000 votes (from Ohio) is incredibly offensive. It is blaming the victim for the bully's act."
"As one of the 8,000 people that married the love of my life at San Francisco City Hall thanks to the courage, vision and conviction of Mayor Gavin Newsom, I am dismayed and betrayed by U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein's comments essentially blaming him and our community for President Bush's re-election," said Molly McKay, Associate Executive Director of Equality California.
"First, it is not accuarate to say that those states that had discriminatory Constitutional Amendments actually had higher pro-Bush margins when compared to the 2000 election. For example, Kerry carried Oregon by a wider margin than Vice President Gore and in Michigan and Ohio, he received the same percentage of the vote. The percentages prove that discriminatory marriage amendments did not result in higher turnouts for Bush," said McKay.
"Second, Senator Feinstein's comments are all the more outrageous in light of her own less than stellar record on LGBT equality. For example, when she was mayor of San Francisco, she vetoed domestic partnership legislation. Now, as our U.S. Senator, she has failed to co-sponsor the Permanent Partners Immigration Act (PPIA S.B. 1510) which would grant same-sex couples the right to sponsor their foreign partner for purposes of immigration - just 1 of the 1,138 federal rights that come with civil marriage that is causing heartbreak for thousands of California same-sex couples," said McKay.
"Unlike Senator Barbara Boxer who is a co-sponsor of this bill, Senator Feinstein continues to ignore the PPIA legislation even after both houses of the California Legislature passed the EQCA-sponsored resolution in support of the PPIA earlier this year. Our Republican Governor Schwarzenegger has shown he is more in line with California values than she is. He earned a 100% equality rating for signing all three EQCA-sponsored bills this legislative session. She is out of step with California and her voting record confirms she is too little, too late compared to where her home state stands on LGBT equality," said McKay.
"We are at a crucial time in history. There is no looking back. We need to stand resolved to full equality for same-sex couples. I am sickened to hear the religious right claim they are upholding 'moral values' by denying same-sex couples and their children the most basic relationship protections. Their position is nothing short of 'immoral.' What is moral about denying long-term partners the right to visit each other in the hospital when ill? What is moral about ensuring an elderly partner loses his home to estate taxes when his partner dies rather than postponing the taxes until the second partner dies, like a married couple? What is moral about denying children of same-sex couples the security and benefits of two legal parents? Whose side is Senator Feinstein on anyway?" said McKay.
"It is disheartening that she has elected to turn on her very support base in the face of this loss. Does she blame the Equal Rights Amendment for President Nixon's election? We are not the first, and won't be the last community targeted by the right wing as a wedge issue in the hopes of winning an election. It is disheartening to see California's senator join on Karl Rove's band wagon." said Kors. "We have previously requested a meeting with Senator Feinstein, and we hope that she will make meeting with our community a priority."
The article at issue can be found at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/11/04/GAYVOTE.TMP).
Call Senator Feinstein now and tell her to stop blaming the LGBT Community and our Quest for Basic Civil Rights for President Bush's Re-election and ask her to co-sponsor the Permanent Partners Immigration Act (PPIA) Senate Bill 1510 which would give us just 1 of the 1,138 federal rights that come with civil marriage - the right to sponsor a same-sex partner for immigration.
Washington D.C. office: 202-224-3841
San Francisco office: 415-393-0707
Los Angeles office: 310-914-7300
Fresno office: 559-485-7430
San Diego office: 619-231-9712
I'd also URGE all of you to join the queeractivism community, or at least add them to your friends page, to keep yourselves up to date on ways to fight for the rights of QGLBT people everywhere :).
If you'd like to see her post, click here. (it's got prettier formatting than mine...)
PLEASE READ AND CALL!
Statements of Equality California Directors Geoff Kors and Molly McKay Condemning U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein's Comments Blaming Gay Marriage for Bush's Re-election
Join Us in Asking her for an Immediate Retraction and to co-sponsor the Permanent Partners Immigration Act by calling her office now (phone numbers listed below)
"The whole issue [of gay marriage] has been too much, too fast too soon."
U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein as quoted in a front page article in the San Francisco Chronicle on November 4, 2004 entitled, "Gay Marriage: Did Issue Help Re-elect Bush?"
"Equality California, as the statewide LGBT advocacy organization, respectfully demands that Senator Diane Feinstein retract her divisive and erroneous statements blaming the LGBT community and Mayor Gavin Newsom's courageous act of issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples for Bush's relection," said Geoffrey Kors, Equality California's Executive Director. "It is never too soon or too fast to ask for basic civil rights for all Americans. To blame the LGBT community for a presidental election that was won by 136,000 votes (from Ohio) is incredibly offensive. It is blaming the victim for the bully's act."
"As one of the 8,000 people that married the love of my life at San Francisco City Hall thanks to the courage, vision and conviction of Mayor Gavin Newsom, I am dismayed and betrayed by U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein's comments essentially blaming him and our community for President Bush's re-election," said Molly McKay, Associate Executive Director of Equality California.
"First, it is not accuarate to say that those states that had discriminatory Constitutional Amendments actually had higher pro-Bush margins when compared to the 2000 election. For example, Kerry carried Oregon by a wider margin than Vice President Gore and in Michigan and Ohio, he received the same percentage of the vote. The percentages prove that discriminatory marriage amendments did not result in higher turnouts for Bush," said McKay.
"Second, Senator Feinstein's comments are all the more outrageous in light of her own less than stellar record on LGBT equality. For example, when she was mayor of San Francisco, she vetoed domestic partnership legislation. Now, as our U.S. Senator, she has failed to co-sponsor the Permanent Partners Immigration Act (PPIA S.B. 1510) which would grant same-sex couples the right to sponsor their foreign partner for purposes of immigration - just 1 of the 1,138 federal rights that come with civil marriage that is causing heartbreak for thousands of California same-sex couples," said McKay.
"Unlike Senator Barbara Boxer who is a co-sponsor of this bill, Senator Feinstein continues to ignore the PPIA legislation even after both houses of the California Legislature passed the EQCA-sponsored resolution in support of the PPIA earlier this year. Our Republican Governor Schwarzenegger has shown he is more in line with California values than she is. He earned a 100% equality rating for signing all three EQCA-sponsored bills this legislative session. She is out of step with California and her voting record confirms she is too little, too late compared to where her home state stands on LGBT equality," said McKay.
"We are at a crucial time in history. There is no looking back. We need to stand resolved to full equality for same-sex couples. I am sickened to hear the religious right claim they are upholding 'moral values' by denying same-sex couples and their children the most basic relationship protections. Their position is nothing short of 'immoral.' What is moral about denying long-term partners the right to visit each other in the hospital when ill? What is moral about ensuring an elderly partner loses his home to estate taxes when his partner dies rather than postponing the taxes until the second partner dies, like a married couple? What is moral about denying children of same-sex couples the security and benefits of two legal parents? Whose side is Senator Feinstein on anyway?" said McKay.
"It is disheartening that she has elected to turn on her very support base in the face of this loss. Does she blame the Equal Rights Amendment for President Nixon's election? We are not the first, and won't be the last community targeted by the right wing as a wedge issue in the hopes of winning an election. It is disheartening to see California's senator join on Karl Rove's band wagon." said Kors. "We have previously requested a meeting with Senator Feinstein, and we hope that she will make meeting with our community a priority."
The article at issue can be found at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/11/04/GAYVOTE.TMP).
Call Senator Feinstein now and tell her to stop blaming the LGBT Community and our Quest for Basic Civil Rights for President Bush's Re-election and ask her to co-sponsor the Permanent Partners Immigration Act (PPIA) Senate Bill 1510 which would give us just 1 of the 1,138 federal rights that come with civil marriage - the right to sponsor a same-sex partner for immigration.
Washington D.C. office: 202-224-3841
San Francisco office: 415-393-0707
Los Angeles office: 310-914-7300
Fresno office: 559-485-7430
San Diego office: 619-231-9712
I'd also URGE all of you to join the queeractivism community, or at least add them to your friends page, to keep yourselves up to date on ways to fight for the rights of QGLBT people everywhere :).