Post by Pirate Phoebe on Jul 21, 2004 20:36:35 GMT -5
Hello Pirates! I just got this newsletter from the Bl(A)ck Tea Society, I thought I'd share it with all of you to help get the word out.
The newsletter reads as follows:
-------------------------------
note: this is not from the Bl(A)ck Tea Society, we are just helping to
get the word out.
*Demand Equal Marriage Rights*
- Regardless of Party -
Protest for Equal Marriage Rights during the Democratic Convention
8:30 PM: Monday
July 26 Outside the Avalon
15 Lansdowne St, Boston
After its July 14th defeat in the Senate, the threat of an anti-gay
Constitutional
amendment at the federal level has receded for the time being.
Unfortunately, other threats are beginning to loom larger. Chief among
them is the threat to equal marriage rights in Massachusetts, the one
state where we've won it.
John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee for President, says that
while he opposes the Federal Marriage Amendment, he also OPPOSES gay
marriage and says he SUPPORTS a proposed anti-gay amendment to the
Massachusetts
State Constitution.
In other words, he calls for destroying equal marriage rights in the
only state where we have it!!
Democratic office holders in Massachusetts are in the forefront of a
move which could once again ban gay marriage there as early as 2006.
Rather than forthrightly saying that the civil rights of millions of
Americans should be defended, most Democratic politicians have treated
our equal marriage rights as at best, an unfortunate "diversion" in
their
election campaigns. In response to the July 14th victory over the
Federal
Marriage Amendment, Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader in the Senate,
loudly proclaimed his own "family values," which explicitly exclude
us:
"Marriage is a sacred union between men and women. That is what the
vast
majority of Americans believe. It's what virtually all South Dakotans
believe. It's what I believe. In South Dakota, we've never had a single
same-sex marriage, and we won't have any . . . There is no confusion.
There is no ambiguity."
These attitudes are an insult to the humanity of every Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgendered person in this country. Unfortunately, the
leading political organizations in our community have chosen to
politely
downplay the Democrats' attacks on equal marriage rights, all while
using
the marriage issue in fundraising letter and fundraising letter to
swell
their treasuries.
Shouldn't we be demanding better from our organizations and "our"
politicians?
Can you imagine the NAACP endorsing a candidate who OPPOSED legal
equality
for African-Americans? Can you imagine NOW endorsing a candidate who
OPPOSED legal equality for women?
Some will say that with the threat of George W. Bush, we should take
a pass on protesting the anti-gay Democratic politicians. This is the
same approach used when, early on in the first Clinton administration,
conservative Republicans led the charge against gays in the military.
Our movement's failure to confront Clinton, even when it became clear
he was going to sell us out, meant that we were saddled with his "Don't
Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which led to far greater numbers of anti-gay
purges from the military than under the previous policy.
By contrast, when ACT-UP Philadelphia and other east coast anti-AIDS
groups continually confronted Presidential candidate Al Gore over his
siding with the pharmaceutical industry to prevent low-cost AIDS drugs
for Africa, their repeated protests and pickets led him to greatly
change
his backwards policies on the issue.
Our movement can either decide to follow the failed strategies of the
Clinton years, which gave us the Defense of Marriage Act and "Don't Ask
Don't Tell," or we can confront those who oppose our equal rights,
regardless
of their party affiliations.
We can either allow our rights to be a political football of the two
parties, or we can stand up and demand them. Please join DontAmend.com
for a picket of the Stonewall Democrats/HRC/NGLTF reception for
Democratic
Party delegates:
Monday, July 26
8:30 pm
The Avalon
15 Lansdowne St.
Boston, MA
For more information on the protest, email ATDontAmend(-at)aol.com
----------------------------------------------
email contact: nodnc04@hush.com
----------------------------------------------
on the web: blackteasociety.org
----------------------------------------------
email announcement list: lists.riseup.net/www/info/dnc2004
----------------------------------------------
donate to the convergence: blackteasociety.org/donate.php
The newsletter reads as follows:
-------------------------------
note: this is not from the Bl(A)ck Tea Society, we are just helping to
get the word out.
*Demand Equal Marriage Rights*
- Regardless of Party -
Protest for Equal Marriage Rights during the Democratic Convention
8:30 PM: Monday
July 26 Outside the Avalon
15 Lansdowne St, Boston
After its July 14th defeat in the Senate, the threat of an anti-gay
Constitutional
amendment at the federal level has receded for the time being.
Unfortunately, other threats are beginning to loom larger. Chief among
them is the threat to equal marriage rights in Massachusetts, the one
state where we've won it.
John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee for President, says that
while he opposes the Federal Marriage Amendment, he also OPPOSES gay
marriage and says he SUPPORTS a proposed anti-gay amendment to the
Massachusetts
State Constitution.
In other words, he calls for destroying equal marriage rights in the
only state where we have it!!
Democratic office holders in Massachusetts are in the forefront of a
move which could once again ban gay marriage there as early as 2006.
Rather than forthrightly saying that the civil rights of millions of
Americans should be defended, most Democratic politicians have treated
our equal marriage rights as at best, an unfortunate "diversion" in
their
election campaigns. In response to the July 14th victory over the
Federal
Marriage Amendment, Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader in the Senate,
loudly proclaimed his own "family values," which explicitly exclude
us:
"Marriage is a sacred union between men and women. That is what the
vast
majority of Americans believe. It's what virtually all South Dakotans
believe. It's what I believe. In South Dakota, we've never had a single
same-sex marriage, and we won't have any . . . There is no confusion.
There is no ambiguity."
These attitudes are an insult to the humanity of every Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgendered person in this country. Unfortunately, the
leading political organizations in our community have chosen to
politely
downplay the Democrats' attacks on equal marriage rights, all while
using
the marriage issue in fundraising letter and fundraising letter to
swell
their treasuries.
Shouldn't we be demanding better from our organizations and "our"
politicians?
Can you imagine the NAACP endorsing a candidate who OPPOSED legal
equality
for African-Americans? Can you imagine NOW endorsing a candidate who
OPPOSED legal equality for women?
Some will say that with the threat of George W. Bush, we should take
a pass on protesting the anti-gay Democratic politicians. This is the
same approach used when, early on in the first Clinton administration,
conservative Republicans led the charge against gays in the military.
Our movement's failure to confront Clinton, even when it became clear
he was going to sell us out, meant that we were saddled with his "Don't
Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which led to far greater numbers of anti-gay
purges from the military than under the previous policy.
By contrast, when ACT-UP Philadelphia and other east coast anti-AIDS
groups continually confronted Presidential candidate Al Gore over his
siding with the pharmaceutical industry to prevent low-cost AIDS drugs
for Africa, their repeated protests and pickets led him to greatly
change
his backwards policies on the issue.
Our movement can either decide to follow the failed strategies of the
Clinton years, which gave us the Defense of Marriage Act and "Don't Ask
Don't Tell," or we can confront those who oppose our equal rights,
regardless
of their party affiliations.
We can either allow our rights to be a political football of the two
parties, or we can stand up and demand them. Please join DontAmend.com
for a picket of the Stonewall Democrats/HRC/NGLTF reception for
Democratic
Party delegates:
Monday, July 26
8:30 pm
The Avalon
15 Lansdowne St.
Boston, MA
For more information on the protest, email ATDontAmend(-at)aol.com
----------------------------------------------
email contact: nodnc04@hush.com
----------------------------------------------
on the web: blackteasociety.org
----------------------------------------------
email announcement list: lists.riseup.net/www/info/dnc2004
----------------------------------------------
donate to the convergence: blackteasociety.org/donate.php
