Date: Wed, 24 Apr 1996 06:53:52 -0700 (PDT) From: jessea@uclink4.berkeley.edu (Jessea NR Greenman) Subject: still time to write UT gov urging veto || update re Des Moines school board From: KathyWUT@aol.com Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 14:49:28 -0400 Subject: Re: Utah Gay Clubs Bill The following item was sent to me regarding SB1003, the bill passed by the Utah State Legislature at a special one-day session held on April 17. The bill, which was written to prohibit school clubs for Gay teens, bans all clubs that "encourage criminal or delinquent conduct," "promote bigotry" or "involve human sexuality." >From: Utahppcwe@aol.com >We really need to push to get the Governor to veto this bill - >based on discrimination and fuelled by hate. It is not acceptable that the >Governor sanction this kind of rhetoric through signing this unconstitutional >law. I've heard that the Governor is considering a veto. His approach will be >that it is not exactly what he wanted to see happen. He wanted more control >left to the school boards. Whatever - but we need to tell him that the hate >hurt us and our families. And it's not the kind of hate the goes away or >forgets! The Governors number is 801-538-1000. We need to call all the time and >be strong in our message. I have put this on the AlertNet Hotline, the Facts >of Life Line, the computer-generated calling system at Utahns for Choice and >on our home page. >Thanks to all activists - Connie [***Governor Mike Leavitt's Internet E-Mail: governor@email.state.ut.us] Please also feel free to write to the following five men, whom I call the Utah Prophets of Discrimination and Hatred: Governor Mike Leavitt, Senator Craig Taylor, Senator Lane Beattie, Senator Charles Stewart, Senator Howard Stephenson and Representative David Bresnahan. You can write to any of them at the Utah State Capitol SLC UT 84114. If you want more details about the actions and rhetoric of the PROPHETS, email me. KathyWUT@AOL.com Kathy Worthington, Salt Lake City --------------------- From: KathyWUT@aol.com Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 14:49:54 -0400 Subject: Utah State Rep. David Bresnahan Utah State Rep. David Bresnahan spoke about SB1003 in the Utah House of Representatives on April 17th. "My younger brother, Donald, was a homosexual who died of AIDS five years ago. He went through three years of suffering. I made many trips to Massachusetts, sitting by his bedside with his male friends." Bresnahan, an arch-conservative Republican from West Jordan, said he didn't know his little brother, who died at 31, very well until later in life. Donald Bresnahan was much younger than the Utah Legislator. "Donald thought he was born homosexual, that it was a genetic trait," Rep. Bresnahan said. But as Donald slowly died, he came to believe that he was recruited into the homosexual lifestyle by adults, . . . a boy scout leader and his assistant." Bresnaham claimed they abused 22 boys in the troop over a period of time and that they convinced a bunch of them that they were gay. More from Rep. Bresnahan, "We have to protect our kids from perverts who recruit them. And a great place to recruit is a club where homosexuals get together and talk about the 'good times.'" "They're after our kids." "And let's talk about what they do: it's sodomy, a disgusting, filthy, awful thing. It spreads all kinds of diseases. I tell you, free speech doesn't include recruiting kids into a lifestyle that can kill them." "I know if my brother were here," Bresnahan said, choking back tears, "he would want you to do this" - vote for the bill. "I want you to." You can write to Bresnahan at the Utah State Capitol SLC UT 84114, or at Rep. David Bresnahan 7648 S. Thomas Circle West Jordan Utah 84084. By the way, some Utah activists (members of Family Fellowship) are considering making Bresnahan a public offer of a large sum ($10,000) if he can prove the story about the Boy Scouts. If not, they're going to demand he issue a public retraction of his claims. I, for one, am going to offer to donate to the cause. Kathy, SLC KathyWUT@AOL.COM -------------------------- [the below is from in Iowa...The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project would like to reiterate that Letters to school board members can be sent to: Board of Education, Central Campus, 1800 Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50309. The Des Moines school board FAX number is 515-242-7579. ] "Over 5,800 signatures were collected by the Concerned Students of Des Moines and presented to the Des Moines School Board on April 23, 1996. These signatures were from individuals who favored keeping the sexual orientation clause in the employment non-discrimination policy of the Des Moines schools. The signatures were presented to the Des Moines School Board by the two co-founders of the Concerned Students of Des Moines, Kit Murray and Sara Dirks, in front of a standing room only supportive audience. In addition, the school board was presented with a list of 16 organizations which support the current non-discrimination policy. These groups include: the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, Concerned Students of Des Moines, Des Moines Education Association, American Association of University Women, Jewish Community Relations Commission, AIDS Project of Central Iowa, American Friends Service Committee, Progressive Alliance, Iowa Civil Liberties Unition, Women's International League for Peace & Freedom, Iowa Citizen Action Network, Democracy Network, Citizens United for Sensible Government, PFLAG, and the National Association of Social Workers. Twenty-one business and community leaders signed a letter supporting the current policy, as did 71 clergy members from the Des Moines area. Thirteen former school board members (nearly every living school board member) urged the board to retain the current language which prohibits discrimination based on age, race, creed, color, sex, marital status, national origin, religion, disability, and sexual orientation. Notable speakers supporting the at the open forum included: Alicia Claypool, chairperson of the Interfaith Alliance, students Kit Murray and Sara Dirks, Mary Winterstrum, chairperson of the Des Moines area PTA, and Tim Tutt, a third grade teacher in the district. Murray and Dirks urged the board to continue basing hiring decisions on a teacher's ability to teach, not on such things as restaurants at which they eat, cars that they drive, or the gender of the person they choose to love. Claypool brought a message to the board from the mainstream communities of faith which urge tolerance and respect for all individuals. The PTA sent the message that hiring should be based on fitness to teach, and Tutt presented an allegorical story about a male teacher who was single, who didn't have a girlfriend, and whose sexual orientation was questionned by curious parents. The board has taken no action on either re-affirming the policy or rescinding it." *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ OK TO RE-POST. Jessea Greenman The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) CHECK THIS OUT FOR TONS OF INFO - - http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/ Please cc us (for our files) on correspondence you send or receive re our action alerts.