Hi All, Well the letter from the Human Rights Campaign Fund has re-surfaced on my desk. The entire text of the letter is included below for those who are interested. This is provided with permission and all typos are my fault. HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND 1012 14th Street, N.W. Suite 607 Washington, D.C. 20005 202/628-4160 FAX 202/347-5323 June 25,1992 Dear Member, For the first time in our twelve year history, the Human Rights Campaign Fund has endorsed a candidate for President of the United States and will commit its human and financial resources to the full extent allowed by law to the defeat of George Bush and the election of Bill Clinton as the Chief Executive of this country. I am personally writing this lengthy and important letter to all of our 38,000 members nationwide: (1) to explain why the Board of Directors of the Campaign Fund has strongly and proudly voted to endorse the Arkansas Governor; (2) to encourage all of you to support and work for Clinton's election; and (3) to ask for your help in the biggest endeavor the Campaign Fund has ever undertaken the election of the next President of the United States. Why The Campaign Fund Endorses Bill Clinton. Since its founding in 1980, the Human Rights Campaign Fund has been bipartisan, helping those candidates for the Senate and House of Representatives who support the legislative agenda of the lesbian and gay community, regardless of party affiliation. Our political endorsements are based on issues, not parties, and our membership also reflects our bipartisan commitment. Heroic Republicans like Lowell. Weicker, Bill Green, Tom Campbell and Connie Morella and Democratic champions like Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, Paul Simon, Gerry Studds and Craig Washington have received HRCF's support in the past and will continue to receive our help in the future. The issues that face the lesbian and gay community in 1992 are matters of life - and - death, not marginal or special interests. Will the Constitution be extended to protect lesbian and gay Americans? Will the U.S. government get serious about fighting AIDS in this country? In the past, most lesbian and gay Americans did not cast their Presidential ballots primarily based on gay/lesbian issues, but voted along with other Americans, based on more general foreign and domestic policy issues. But in 1992, it's no longer business - as - usual. Gay men and lesbians of all regions in this nation, of all ages, colors, abilities and economic circumstances and of all political persuasions, are rightfully conditioning their Presidential choice on the candidates' stand on our issues. As the largest national gay and lesbian political organization, the Campaign Fund has been responsible for finding out where these candidates stand and advising our community appropriately. The Campaign Fund has encouraged all the campaigns to support our agenda - Buchanan, Bush, Duke, Harkin, Kerrey, Wilder, Clinton, Tsongas, Brown and Perot have all heard from us and have had the opportunity to address our community's agenda. Of the three remaining candidates, Bill Clinton and Bill Clinton alone, has clearly and unequivocally articulated positive stands on the issues, as demonstrated by the fact sheet accompanying this letter. Consider what a difference a Clinton Presidency will make: * With the stroke of a pen, Bill Clinton will end the exclusive of gays and lesbians from the U.S. Military and will end discrimination in federal employment based on sexual orientation. * The national Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights Bill will have an advocate in the White House. * We will have a President who will defend a woman's right to choose. * And with respect to AIDS, which has killed nearly 150,000 Americans, we will finally have a leader who is committed to its eradication by whatever means necessary. In the past several months, Bill Clinton has met with lesbian and gay groups and AIDS activists. He has incorporated our agenda and our goals into his own and has said to our community: "I have a vision and you are part of it. I believe tomorrow will be better than today if we act. And we are all a part of the same community, and we'd better start behaving as if we are." In contrast, Bush continues to command a military that excludes lesbian and gay Americans and lacks the will to find a cure for AIDS, while Perot personally would discriminate against gay people in his Cabinet and says that changing the military's policy is "unrealistic. There can be no question about which candidate is best for the lesbian and gay community. Why We All Need To Work Hard To Elect Bill Clinton The outcome of the 1992 Presidential Election will affect the lives of every lesbian and gay man in America more than any other single event in this decade. Our self-interest as gay Americans absolutely demands not just an endorsement of Bill Clinton, and not just a commitment to help as contributors and volunteers in the Clinton Campaign. Rather, changing the Administration of this country from George Bush to Bill Clinton should be a relentless, passionate and determined crusade for every gay, lesbian and bisexual American and for every person who cares about fairness in this country. Lesbians and gay Americans are very angry, and we certainly have just cause. We have been told by act and deed that we are worthless, that we are expendable, that we are immoral and perverted, when the truth is that we are hardworking, taxpaying, productive and patriotic Americans. We have to decide individually and collectively what we will "do" with our anger at these libels and with our pride in our accomplishments. We need to convert our Anger into Action and our Pride into Power. And what that means in this election year, is replacing Bush with Clinton. The Human Rights Campaign Fund is absolutely committed to electing Bill Clinton as President of the United States with the maximum, visible support of the lesbian and gay community. We obviously need your help: * To educate the gay and lesbian community regarding the superior commitment of Bill Clinton to our agenda; * To mobilize the lesbian and gay community to work in the Clinton Campaign; * To register millions of lesbian and gay Americans; and * To vote in numbers that have never been seen before. This is hard, labor-intensive, unglamorous work, but it's work that will make a difference - a significant, major difference - for all lesbians and gay men in this country. If we fail to educate and mobilize our community, the lesson will not be lost on future politicians and we can expect a future of more denial and death. As gay men and lesbians, we have an obligation to the thousands who have courageously fought in the past to get us to where we are today and to the millions who will come hereafter, to do ALL THAT WE CAN. Quite literally, the future is in our hands. What You Can Do. Throughout the next several months, members of the Campaign Fund staff and volunteers will be calling on you to help the Clinton Campaign in your own community. We'll be enlisting the services of all our members in all 50 states in specific activities (voter registration and identification, education, mobilization, fundraising and getting out the vote) that need your involvement. This week, I'm asking each of you to do three (3) critical things for us - and for yourself. First, please send us some money. Educating and mobilizing our community will seriously deplete our financial resources. For a gift of $100 or more, we will send you a special video tape that will include parts of Gov. Clinton's May 18 address in Los Angeles to the lesbian and gay community. Second, educate your friends by showing them this letter and the accompanying endorsement statement, and please encourage your friends to join the Campaign Fund. Federal law prohibits us from soliciting political funds or support from non-members, so the first step is to recruit more HRCF members. Third, volunteer your time by responding on the reply card we have enclosed with this letter. Frankly, the level of contributions and commitments we receive from this mailing will determine how active the HRCF membership is willing to be in controlling its own future. It's time to convert that anger into action. we need everyone now more than ever before. The hard work of the past has resulted in the visibility of lesbian and gay issues in this election debate. One candidate - Bill Clinton - has chosen to embrace and support these issues openly and fervently in 1992. It's now our job to put Bill Clinton in the White House. And it's a job for everyone. Thanks. Very truly yours, Timothy I McFeeley, Executive Director P.S. If we can constitute 10% of the vote on November 3, we can really make the critical difference. In 1988, approximately 92 million Americans voted for President, and a shift of 600,000 votes (less than 1%) in certain critical states would have changed the outcome and defeated Bush.