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ANTIDISCRIMINATION BILL
Dear Ken,
[Ed. Note - The following letter was sent to KOMO commenator Ken Shramm. The author also sent us a copy.]
As a gay man, I was delighted to hear the news that the gay civil rights bill was signed into law here in Washington. I finally felt as though I can be treated as more than a 3rd class citizen. When I heard the news, I looked at one of my work peers and told her. She responded by asking me if I felt like I am discriminated against. A million thoughts went through my mind when she asked me that. The answer of course was yes, but one discriminating factor stood out more than any of the others.
My partner has MS, along with many other health issues. A couple years ago, he underwent a major surgery in which he didn't respond well to the analgesics. I waited in the waiting room for 7 to 8 hours. I was finally told by the waiting room host that he would be coming out of the recovery room and into a hospital room. I was told what room he would be going to. I went to that room and waited 2 more hours. Finally, about 2 in the morning, a nurse came to the room with a security guard by her side. The first words out of the nurses mouth was a demand as to where my partner's mother was. I told the nurse that Kelly's mom lives in Idaho. She asked me if I was Kelly's partner. I told her I was.
She told me I need to leave the premises immediately. When I asked why, she explained that I need to leave now. When I began to explain that I have medical power of attorney, the security guard got in my face and screamed that that I need to leave. I had no explanation. The next day, my partner's mother came to the hospital. She was outraged that I was treated in such a matter. Being she is a retired nurse, she asked for the right people to come down and explain what had happened. Several people came to Kelly's room and I was allowed to describe how I felt that night but I was unsuccessful.
I don't think there are words to describe that feeling. I did ask the hospital to give me a formal apology for what happened. I never received that apology. This is just one of many reasons why I feel I have been discriminated against. So you can only imagine the joy I felt when I heard the news about the gay rights bill. But today, that joy was stricken with a cat of-nine-tails. I heard the word that Tim Eyman is pushing an initiative that would remove this law. I did a search to find an email address so I can write Tim myself. I was unsuccessful. If I could speak to Tim, I would tell him that I have supported and voted for some of the initiatives he has brought to the public. I would also like to ask him why it is so important for him to allow gays and lesbians to continue to be discriminated against. I would further explain to him that if I find that he is indeed pushing an initiative that would allow me to continue to be mistreated, humiliated, abused and discriminated against, then this gay man will never support any initiative he brings to the public again, and this gay man will vote against them all. One last thing, while I was researching for a way to contact Tim,
I found a website that I never even knew existed. It is called, permanentdefense.org, a site dedicated to stopping Tim. Due to the information I learned today that Tim Eyman may have a prejudice toward gays and lesbians, this website is really starting to look compeling to me.
Thank you,
Duane
Dear SGN,
The LGBT community and our allies scored a major victory yesterday when Governor Gregoire signed HB 2661. If your Representative or Senator voted in favor of the bill, please take the time to call and thank them for their support at 800-562-6000. Now we must fight to keep a law that community activists worked for 30 years to pass.
We will beat Tim Eyman's initiative and referendum. And we are prepared for the battle to come over marriage equality. Equal Rights Washington is a membership based organization. Please join us. We rely on contributions from people around our state to fight the right-wing bullies.
Tim Eyman lashes out:
"The voters have watched this disgusting display of arrogance and selfishness for weeks."
Equal Rights Washington's Fran Dunaway responds:
"It's unfortunate that the principle of basic equality is the target of this year's right-wing organizing drive disguised as a ballot campaign.
"Fair-minded Washingtonians rejoiced at the history we made together with HB2661, in extending equal rights throughout the state. But we and our allies also anticipated that our opponents would go to any length to see that discrimination continues in Washington, and we will do what we need to in order to protect equal rights. We are mobilized, we are motivated and we are ready. We won on Friday and we will win again in November.
"We don't need this in our state. This is about everyone. Washingtonians don't discriminate and we don't divide communities. And the sponsors of this initiative are about to learn that the hard way."
Please tell your family and friends about ERW's work on behalf of LGBT equality. Thank you for all that you do.
Yours in Equality,
Lee Frankl
Associate Director
Equal Rights Washington
WOMEN'S CHOICE
Dear SGN,
Let's not sugar-coat it: this is a bad day for our nation, and the American values of freedom and privacy.
With the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, President Bush and his anti-choice allies now have enough votes on the Court to dismantle a woman's right to choose. And there are more than a few upcoming court cases that the new anti-choice majority on the Supreme Court could use to undermine reproductive freedom and privacy.
After so many of you fought so hard and did so much to prevent this confirmation, I can't pretend this isn't a discouraging moment.
But despite how we feel now, this is not the end. It's a challenge to be sure. Yet, we must see this moment as an opportunity to reconnect with the reason we started fighting in the first place. We've learned some hard lessons this past year. But this challenge must inspire us toward victory in the future.
If you're like me, you believe in an America where people have the freedom to take responsibility for their own lives - without government interference. That is the America I want to live in, and we'll need you to join us in fighting to take it back. Here's how we can get started...
First, we must take a good hard look at the latest Supreme Court confirmation battle that ended today. Of course the big question is: why did we lose?
One word sums it up: numbers. While a strong majority of Americans believe in a woman's right to choose, we don't have the majority in the Senate. There is a silver lining, though. While we lost the confirmation battle, we have significantly added to the numbers of active pro-choice Americans who can help us win back the Senate.
Electing pro-choice senators in 2006. To quote pro-choice Sen. Barack Obama: "There's one way to guarantee that the judges who are appointed to the Supreme Court are judges that reflect our values. And that's to win elections."
As we put our priorities into action, one thing is certain: we can't succeed without you by our side. You are our partner in this struggle, and your dedication, creativity, and ideas are our most valuable resource. So, today I'm asking you to share your thoughts with your fellow pro-choice Americans.
Here are a few ways we're hoping you will give us your input as we begin this new day:
Ask me anything you want to know about our plan for 2006. "Ask Nancy" and I'll be answering your questions throughout next week.
Our resident blogger Jessica will be leading online discussions about what this confirmation means, how we can keep up hope, and what we're going to do next. Check it out now at
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