[Vision2020] Urge Congress to Oppose the Federal Marriage Amendment

Tue Feb 15 12:29:03 PST 2005

Greetings VIsionaires -

This is NOT a matter of "special treatment" as some people would like you to
believe.

It is a simple matter of equality - nothing more, nothing less.

Tom Hansen

Moscow, Idaho

We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are
dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all
exist very nicely in the same box. 

  _____  

From: NOW National Action Center [mailto:now at now.org] 
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 8:59 AM
To: Tom Hansen
Subject: [NOW Action List] Urge Congress to Oppose the Federal Marriage
Amendment

 <http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/36/0/> NOW Action Alert

Support NOW's Work <http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/2/0/>   |   

February 15, 2005 

  |  Tell a Friend <http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/593021/0/>  

Action <>  Needed

Background <> 

All NOW Actions <http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/11/0/> 

Equal Marriage NOW! <http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/237392/0/>  

  <http://www.now.org/images/spacer.gif> 

Urge Congress to Oppose the Federal Marriage Amendment

Members of Congress need to hear that you oppose the Federal Marriage
Amendment because it denies equal protection, equal access and fairness to
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) couples. 

Many members have not heard enough from their constituents on our side of
this issue. There are some members who actually believe that they do not
have LGBT people or their supporters living in their districts! This means
that your voice is critical for creating a climate that will: 

*	Lead to the defeat of right-wing attempts to pass a constitutional
amendment banning same-sex marriage (and probably civil unions and domestic
partnerships) 
*	Help to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) 
*	Further educate members of your community on the inequities that
LGBT people and their families face under current law 

Action Needed:

Please contact
<http://www.now.org/congress/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=6987211>  your
senators and representative and let them know that you are concerned about
this issue and that you are committed to securing equal rights for all.
Setting up an appointment to discuss this with your member of Congress or a
member of their staff in your state would be terrific-and organizing a
phone-in or letter writing campaign are also great ways to let Congress know
that voters care about this issue. 

The purpose of NOW's Equal <http://www.now.org/issues/marriage/index.html>
Marriage Campaign is to personalize this issue and create visibility so that
LGBT people, their families and allies don't receive second class treatment.
Together our voices can be heard! 

Background:

The Federal Marriage Amendment was first introduced in the 108th Congress.
Since then, 11 states have passed constitutional amendments to ban same-sex
marriage including: Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon,
Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin. All but three of those bans include a ban on
civil unions as well. Other states are currently working on passing
constitutional amendments including: Virginia, Indiana, Kansas and Alabama.
More states will likely introduce legislation for the same purposes this
year. 

On Jan. 24, 2005, Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., reintroduced an amendment to
the U.S. Constitution designed to ban same-sex marriages. The so-called
Marriage Protection Amendment (S.J. RES 1) seeks to define marriage as
solely between a man and a woman. The strategic timing of this
reintroduction makes it one of the first items of business in George W.
Bush's second term. 

The language of the amendment
<http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:S.J.RES.1:> , which currently
has 26 co-sponsors, is just as damaging as it was in the 108th Congress. 

Heterosexual married couples and their families are afforded more than 1,000
legal protections and benefits in state and federal law that are currently
inaccessible to committed same-sex couples. 

Benefits of civil marriage include access to health care and medical
decision making for spouses and their children; parenting rights; Social
Security; taxation, inheritance and other government benefits; as well as
the simple ability to pool resources to buy or transfer property without
adverse tax treatment. 

Marriage in the United States usually consists of two components, civil
marriage and religious ceremony. The first is required by law, the second is
not. Freedom of religion guarantees each church the right to decide whether
or not to marry same-sex couples; however, federal and state governments
should not be allowed to deny rights to any individual based on sex or
sexual orientation. Some religions have already chosen to recognize same-sex
marriages, although only one state currently allows same-sex marriage by
law. 

Taking action around this issue is critical to preserving democracy,
fairness and the diversity of our families. Again, please send
<http://www.now.org/congress/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=6987211>  an
email to let your member of Congress know TODAY that defeating this
discriminatory constitutional amendment is important to you. 

For more information:  <http://www.now.org/issues/marriage/index.html> Equal
Marriage NOW 

SUPPORT NOW:
Support NOW's Work for <http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/38/0/>  Equal
Rights | Join <http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/39/0/>  NOW | Shop
Online <http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/40/0/>  | Member Benefits
<http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/7/0/> 

LEARN MORE:
NOW.org <http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/8/0/>  |
TheTruthAboutGeorge.com <http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/9/0/>  | NOW
News Releases <http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/10/0/> 

TAKE ACTION:
Get Involved <http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/11/0/>  | Legislative
Action Center  <http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/12/0/> | Find Your
Nearest <http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/13/0/>  Chapter | Tell a
Friend <http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/593021/0/> 

LISTS:
Unsubscribe
<http://www.now.org:81/u?id=561185C&u=http://www.now.org/&n=T&l=now-action-l
ist>  | Subscribe <http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/434140/0/>  | All
Lists <http://www.now.org:81/t/186817/561185/16/0/> 

  <http://www.now.org:81/db/186817/561185/1.gif> 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20050215/ea96c8a4/attachment.htm