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 crossposted from Out4Immigration’s Blog On July 6th, 2010, Atlanta, Georgia became the 21st city to pass a resolution in support of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA). This would not have been possible without the help of Jeff Graham of Equality Georgia, Councilor Alex Wan, and Don George, a member of Out4Immigration. If you’d like to thank Jeff, Alex and the Atlanta city council:
Folks – all of these resolutions and letters of support are happening because people are reaching out locally and spreading the word and asking for a resolution. These are not happening out of the blue. ARE YOU reaching out and spreading the word in your State?? If not – WHY?? Imagine if everyone on this list starting reaching out, and how much more support this would garner for ALL us. It is time for EVERYONE to step up and help push UAFA forward at the grassroots level, not just a small handful of people. E-mail [email protected] to help move UAFA forward in your State. http://out4immigration.blogspot.org
Out4Immigration is an all grassroots organization and our letter writing campaign is now in its 70th week. We must continue to keep this issue out front and make sure UAFA’s language is included in any bill that moves forward. Our efforts have gained us a LOT of co-sponsors in both the House (24) and Senate (5), and it’s important to remember the impact that continued, consistent grass roots efforts have. WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE! This week, we are focusing on five more members of the House – Rep. Ben Chandler (D-KY-6), Rep. Travis Childers (D-MS-1), Rep. Jerry Costello (D-IL-12), Rep. Lincoln Davis (D-TN-4) & Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC-7)! Click the link to send an e-mail to all of these members of Congress, and please also forward this on to as many family and friends, and share on Facebook, Twitter, etc… We need as many people to sign this each week as possible, and the change.org link makes doing this quick and easy! We are also working on getting UAFA-supportive resolutions passed by city councils all around the country, and getting State, County and City elected officials to send letters to members of Congress urging them to support UAFA. Please contact Tom Tierney – if you can help (it’s very easy!!). http://out4immigration.blogspot.com
A gay rights group, Fight Back NY, is joining the campaign against Eerie County Democratic State Sen. William T. Stachowski of Lake View by blanketing Erie County voters with a mailing that urges his defeat. FightBackNY, an organization that favors gay marriage, said Tuesday that it is distributing the fliers in the same way that it campaigned against now-expelled Sen. Hiram Monserrate of Queens. The flier makes no specific mention of Stachowski’s vote against legalizing same-sex marriage but indicates that his re-election would not be expected to yield a different result. However, an e-mail accompanying the announcement of the campaign and seeking financial support said Stachowski has consistently voted against the interests of the gay community. “Sen. Stachowski voted against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender New Yorkers at every turn, whether it’s nondiscrimination protections or marriage equality,” the e-mail said. “Sen. Stachowski does not represent fair-minded New Yorkers, and it’s time we hold him accountable.” Source: Fight Back NY is A political action committee focused on removing from office New York State Senators who have voted against equal rights for gay and lesbian people in New York. Sign Up and Take Action Here: http://fightbackpac.com/ More Actions to Take: This September, we have the opportunity to bring real change to New York State and to the South Bronx. These times demand bold and honest leadership. For far too long, we have accepted the status quo, but we deserve more, much more. It is time to put an end to the reign of politicians who do not share our values and betray our trust over and over again. We must fight to restore faith in our state government and uphold the values of our community. If you believe in real democracy and freedom for all, you know that we the people have a choice in what kind of leadership we need in 2010. We need your help to bring a true, honest, and hardworking leader to Albany. Charlie Ramos’ Vision: Reproductive Freedom: Women and men – not politicians – deserve the right to make personal decisions about their reproductive health in accordance with their own personal and moral beliefs. Health Care: Every individual should have affordable, quality health care. Education: It is essential that we invest in quality public education for all. Environment: We must commit to restoring and protecting our environment. Economic Justice: Prosperity should be accessible to everyone, not merely the few. Join the campaign and contribute here: http://www.charlieramos2010.com/ Charlie Ramos’s email is: [email protected] 2- Sign Up for FIGHT BACK NEW YORK This fabulous organization is dedicated to replacing the anti-equality members of The NewYork State Senate. 3- Join the Andrew Cuomo For Governor campaign. Attorney General Cuomo is a equality strong ally. He has pledged to make marriage equality in New York State a top priority. We thank outgoing Governor David Paterson for his strong pro-equality advocacy and activism. Sign up here: http://www.andrewcuomo.com/ 4- Join Marriage Equality New York MENY Organization committed to securing the right to civil marriage for same-sex couples. Blog with related news and calendar of upcoming events. http://www.meny.us/ 5- Join Tommy’s Yahoo Group dedicated to electing a pro-equality New York State Senate. On December 2nd, 2009, by a vote of 38 Nays to 24 Yeas, The State Senate Voted Against Marriage Equality. Every single Republican and eight Democrats voted for discrimination. Our goal is to defeat and remove all 38 from office, most especially Bronx State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr; who lead the vote against marriage equality. Click Here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NewYorkStateSenateForCivilRights/
Contact Linda Lingle and express your outrage at this homophobic veto of civil rights. Tell her that you will join the campaign to remove her from office in the next election for her office. -Tommy Governor Linda Lingle Contact Information: Governor’s Office Website: http://hawaii.gov/gov Contact Constituent Services: Roz Makāula, Constituent Services Manager Hawaii Governor Vetoes Bill to Allow Same-Sex Unions Source: Governor Lingle’s Website: http://hawaii.gov/gov
ONE OF THE FIREWORKS ON JULY 4th was the launch of The American Equality Bill: ONE BILL to include “sexual orientation and gender identity” in all of America’s civil rights laws. With great enthusiasm, activists from California to North Carolina, Massachusetts to Florida celebrated Independence Day by charting a new future for the LGBT Civil Rights Movement. It was palpable in the moment that the time for equal SO&GI Civil Rights has come. Veteran civil rights activist Karen Doering, Esq, the Bill’s drafter and Former Senior Counsel of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, emphasized that amending all of America’s civil rights laws at once would go much faster and be fairer than creating a patchwork for LGBT protections. She reminded everyone that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has been enhanced various times and that this bill was crafted with precision to insert “sexual orientation and gender identity” into the existing list of “race, color, sex, national origin and religion.” Nothing more, nothing less. Introducing the American Equality Bill, Todd (Tif) Fernandez explained that what we think of as “civil rights” are actually simply a set of laws we’ve created to stop people from interfering with our “human rights” which belong to us automatically by virtue of being born. Reading from the Declaration of Independence, he reminded us that we were already entitled to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” We just had to end the “legal discrimination” that our exclusion from the civil rights laws creates. “We want in the group policy. It’s what we deserve.” That same day, President Obama quoted the same passage from the Declaration of Independence, he himself a product of the 1964 Civil Rights Act we seek protection under. He was able to become President because of the freedom that law created, not only because it protected his job, but because those laws sent a clear message that race-based discrimination was unacceptable. This is all we seek: to make it official US Policy that SO&GI discrimination is unacceptable. Because somewhere there is an LGBT baby destine to be President. Somewhere there is an aging activist tired of fighting for crumbs. And everywhere among us there are determined activists fed up with excuses who are determined to put “sexual orientation and gender identity” in America’s civil rights laws – now. The American Equality Bill (AEB) was born of the visionary leadership of Juan Ahonen-Jover, Ph.D., co-founder of eQualityGiving.org, which also hosted the call. He and others like Donald Hitchcock and John Bare, have worked aggressively to empower the grassroots to forge a new path for our movement with projects like The Dallas Principles and ActOnPrinciples.org, specifically, a comprehensive equality bill. From the call, it was clear that the fruit of that work is now in full bloom. Dozens of activists dedicated their July 4th to a new vision for our movement. The magic on the call was palpable, as was the spirit and intention for this bill to be The Peoples’ Bill designed as much to give our movement dignity as to give our people something to fight for together. With much to do, the emphasis is on emboldening Josephine-citizen, in all her colors, to go out and get the votes it takes to pass this historic legislation – fast. The first step is to identify sponsors for filing this Fall. The race is now on to see which Congressional hero will be the original Sponsor of The American Equality Bill, and which activist will deliver that Sponsor for the team. All are welcome to the effort behind this! Happy Independence Day! Let’s get free. Grassroots Organizing calls (Sponsorship Hunt) begin this Sunday, July 11th. For call-in details Join FB page: http://bit.ly/AEBnow. To post/view blogs/direct actions related to the AEB go to: ActOnPrinciples.org. To join the SPONSORSHIP HUNT – stay tuned in.
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