Contact your legislators re Gay Marriage Ban & Special Election

[DesEtoiles]

Just saw this in:

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/webreturn/?url=/federationlgbt/issues/alert/?alertid=7204111

Alabama Gay Marriage Ban
Special Election is Not Fair Play

3-10-05
EQUALITY ALABAMA
CONTACT: JUDY JONES BOARD OF DIRECTORS VICE CHAIR
334-549-2567

Even our Republican Attorney General agrees that an amendment to our
state's already overly convoluted Constitution would be redundant, as
marriage in Alabama is already defined as between a man and a woman.
The law has been on the books for several years.

So why are our state legislators spending so much time, effort, and our
tax money to make one happen?

Politicians have decided that the GLBT community is a threat and that they have to deal with it harshly.
So they have begun passing a series of laws to
penalize; marginalize; and exclude gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered Alabamians from traditional American rights and
responsibilities. Today it is marriage; adoption; and books that dare to
mention their existence, even in passing. Moving forward, the
proponents of hate will strive to remove other important rights until the GLBT community is reduced even
beyond the second-class citizenship it is presently afforded.

We at Equality Alabama are saddened and outraged that this hate-filled
agenda has taken priority in a state where so many other issues need to
be addressed by our lawmakers.

The anti-marriage/civil union bill that will soon be voted on for
compromise bills is mean-spirited and designed to perpetuate hate.
Lawmakers, because of their own selfish motives, have decided to call
for a special election. They fear the impact of traditional non-voters
turning out to vote in record numbers for regularly scheduled
elections and hope to exclude their
voices by making voting as inconvenient as possible.

It is likely the legislature will call a special
election. This election would take place outside of any other election,
meaning that, the taxpayers would be absorbing the close to 3 million
dollars, money
which could be spent to earn federal matching funds for Medicaid, to
help elderly and disabled citizens in nursing homes, or any number of
other far more worthy causes. Does
this sound like these legislators are being good stewards
of our tax money?

We at Equality Alabama will not allow this deceptive attempt to dodge
the spirit of democracy to go unanswered. We will fight this amendment,
regardless of how inconvenient it is made for those who would oppose
waste and tyranny.

This amendment has been proposed in the name of "protecting traditional marriage." Alabama has one of the highest divorce rates in the country. You can find many examples of divorce and other transgressions against marriage in our state Senate and House.
Some of these hypocritical politicians, who are
all too quick to quote the Bible, would do well to heed
it's advice: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Please contact your legislator and let them know how you feel about this
issue.

[NeedhamGuy]

1. Opponents of gay marriage must amend the state constitution!

The writer of this newspaper article is either clueless or deliberately out to sow confusion. When more than a dozen states have amended their constitutions to outlaw gay marriage, they have done so because this is the only way to prevent activist judges from overturning legislation passed by the state legislature intended tor the same purpose. This is as true for Alabama as it is for other states.

Clearly, the cause of justice for families headed by a same-sex couple is best advanced through civil unions. A majority of Americans can support civil unions. But they will never support gay marriage, and for ample pragmatic good reason, not just religious concerns.

[DesEtoiles]

2. I don't agree