Friday December 30, 2005 SGN.org |
 |
Volume 33 Issue 52 |
     |
|
Saturday, Jul 04, 2009
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
Religious leaders urge for passage of antidiscrimination bill |
||
.jpg) |
||
| Religious leaders urge for passage of antidiscrimination bill | ||
| Speakers condemn anti-Gay pastor for his opposition of the Anderson-Murray Civil Rights Bill during a Kirkland protest this week
by Cat Rambo - SGN Contributing Writer Over 30 religious leaders were on hand on Wednesday, December 28, to protest outside Lake Washington High School in Kirkland, the place where Antioch Bible Church and its anti-Gay pastor, Rev. Ken Hutcherson, worship every Sunday. The religious leaders of various faiths called for the passage of the Anderson-Murray Civil Rights Bill, the same bill Hutcherson claims to have helped defeat. First introduced thirty years ago by legislator Cal Anderson, Washington State's first openly Gay legislator, the bill seeks to broaden existing anti-discrimination legislation to include Gays and Lesbians, offering them the same protection in employment, housing, public accommodations, and commercial transactions already extended to other minority groups. Currently, state law prohibits discrimination based on race, age, gender, religion, marital status and other categories. The bill was narrowly defeated earlier this year, losing by a single vote on the Senate floor. Every Republican member of the State Senate and two Democrats voted against the measure. Republican Minority Leader Bill Finkbeiner, who twice voted for the bill when he was a Democrat in the House, and Democrats Jim Hargrove and Tim Sheldon were among those who opposed the bill. Opponents of the bill have sought to confuse its purpose, arguing that it will lead to the extension of marriage equality to same-sex couples or will increase business costs. However, the language of the bill simply adds the category "sexual orientation" to the long list of those who cannot be legally discriminated against, the religious leaders said on Wednesday. The protest was organized by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Faith Forward, and the Religious Coalition for Equality (RCE). It was intended to draw attention to the Anderson-Murray Civil Rights Bill and the widespread support it has among religious communities. Robert Jacobs, the Pacific Northwest Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League, opened the protest with a few brief remarks. He said the time has come for the bill to be passed. "It's a bill that is long past due," he said. "Most people don't recognize that a large percentage of the population is still being discriminated against." Four representatives of faith perspectives also spoke. Paul Benz, Director of the Lutheran Public Policy Office of Washington State, began by saying that discrimination is not the American way and that he and other Lutherans do not believe that God created any second class citizens. Rabbi Daniel A Weiner, co-founder of Faith Forward, and Rev. Monica Corsaro, the ecumenical campus minister at the University of Washington, spoke along similar lines, pointing out the wide range of faiths and traditions there to support the bill. "We stand in the face of discrimination," said Corsaro, who is also co-chair of the Religious Coalition for Equality. "We here today are asking the state of Washington to honor all people and love all people individually." Dr. Jamal Rahman of the Interfaith Community Church in Ballard spoke compellingly of the Muslim celebration of difference. The diversity of the world may be the most convincing proof we have of intelligent design, he said, and pointed to Mohammed's plea to his creator: "May I see things as they really are." He urged ilm, the Arabic term for awareness, on the gathered crowd, saying, "This is a path of righteousness. This is a path of peace." Legislator Larry Springer of the 45th District, Democrat, finished by speaking of his experience as freshman legislator and how the defeat of the bill had been a day of major disappointment. "There are some issues that are clearly debatable, such as transportation or labor," he said. "And then there are some about which I fail to understand the debate." Hutcherson was not present for the protest. However, he continues to insist that his threat to organize a nationwide boycott of the Microsoft Corporation if it supported the bill - as it had in previous years - caused the company to drop its support of the measure. Microsoft officials said that their decision had been in the works before Hutcherson made his threat. The company has also said it will support the bill during the next legislative session. It was Hutcherson's very public opposition to the bill that led to the choice of venue for the protest. The same purple-lettered "Home of the Kangaroos" sign that greeted the religious leaders, greets the members of the Antioch Bible Church's congregation every Sunday when they arrive to hold services in Lake Washington High School's gymnasium. It is the same place where Gay and Lesbian activists had arrived to protest Hutcherson's message last May and were told they would have to remove their rainbow armbands to be allowed inside. One of the participants in that protest, Catherine Swardley, spoke about that experience. "I thanked him for letting us in and I said I was sorry he wouldn't support the bill," she said. "I asked if he would allow my Gay son into the congregation and [Hutcherson] said yes, if he confessed his sins." She turned away to look at the gathered leaders and multitude of sunlit signs before adding, "I didn't tell him my son died twelve years ago." In 2006, the bill will again be considered in the Legislature and faith-based groups on both sides of the issues will be lobbying for their side. On January 23, Equal Rights Washington and the Religious Coalition for Equality will be sponsoring "Equality Day" in Olympia and will rally on the Capitol Steps in order to educate legislators and the public about the bill. Further details are available at www.religiouscoalition-wa.org. |
||
.jpg) |
||
.jpg) |
||
.jpg) |
||
 |
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
International Readers |
 
It's new!A blog created by the SGN staff so you can be heard |
|
"Putting on the Ritz |
The Beauty of Freedom through |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
copyright Seattle Gay News - DigitalTeamWorks 2006