Date: Mon, 08 Jul 96 17:52:34 EST From: "Phil Attey" Subject: URGENT- Congress To Address Anti-Gay Marriage Bill This Week ________________________________________________________ URGENT ACTION from the Human Rights Campaign 1101 14th Street NW Washington, DC 20005 email: communications@hrcusa.org WWW: http://www.hrcusa.org ________________________________________________________ CONGRESS TAKING ACTION ON ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE BILL THIS WEEK SEND MESSAGES THROUGH HRC'S ONLINE ACTION CENTER http://www.hrcusa.org In The Senate: Hearings on the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA) are scheduled in the Senate Judiciary Committee for Thursday, July 11 at 10am. We are working with friendly Senators on the Judiciary Committee to ensure that the hearings are not all one-sided and that fair-minded Americans are also represented. HRC will keep you posted as more information becomes available. If your Senator sits on the Judiciary Committee, please be sure to send them a message asking for their support for fairness and to stand up against this election year gay-bashing. In The House: DOMA may be voted on by the House of Representatives as soon as Thursday or Friday of THIS WEEK. So, if you have not already sent a message to your Representative, or haven't sent one in the last week or so, now the time! Flood their offices this week with your opposition to this hateful bill! Send your messages today! Congress needs to hear from you immediately as a national anti-gay marriage bill is thundering through Capitol Hill. Tell your senators to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) as an amendment to the Defense of Marriage Act(DOMA), and tell them to oppose DOMA itself. Background For the last month, the gay and lesbian community has watched the preposterously named Defense of Marriage Act whiz through Washington like a runaway train. Anti-gay extremists in Congress have used this bill as an excuse to spout some of the most hateful -- and false -- rhetoric about our community in terms lifted straight from the playbooks of religious political extremists. Even some otherwise fair-minded members of Congress and the president have felt compelled to voice support for this measure, knowing full well that it is nothing more than a desperate election-year strategy to help Bob Dole's torpid campaign for president. DOMA would define marriage in federal law as a "legal union between one man and one woman." It also gives states the authority to reject the legality of same-sex marriages performed in other states (though such marriages are not yet legal in any state). Offering the Employment Non-Discrimination Act as an amendment to the Defense of Marriage Act in the Senate is a bold strategy that will put the proponents of the anti-gay bill on the defensive. DOMA supporters continue to wave polls that show that 70 percent of Americans oppose legalizing same-sex marriage. According to the latest Newsweek poll, 84 percent of Americans support equal rights for gay people and oppose job discrimination. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act would protect Americans from job discrimination based on sexual orientation. President Clinton endorsed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in October 1995. The new ENDA amendment strategy has garnered broad support from the Human Rights Campaign's partners in the Freedom to Marry Coalition. "I think it's important to call the bluff of those who say they're not anti-gay but are voting for DOMA," said Evan Wolfson, who spearheads the Marriage Project for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, according to a June 7 article in the Washington Blade. With your help, the ENDA amendment has a decent chance of succeeding in the Senate. ENDA has 30 Senate co-sponsors, including two Republicans. ENDA also enjoys the support of major corporations such as Eastman Kodak, Quaker Oats and Bethlehem Steel, and Republican Govs. William Weld of Massachusetts and Christie Todd Whitman of New Jersey. Same-sex marriage is not legal in any of the 50 states. However, it is legal in 41 states to be fired from your job simply because you are gay. Congress should focus on the real problem of job discrimination against gay people that affects Americans right now. A Hawaii case that has sparked the same-sex marriage debate is not expected to be decided for approximately two years. We know the deck is stacked against us. The Human Rights Campaign realizes that because of the rules and ideological bent of the House of Representatives, there is little we can do there to amend or stop the Defense of Marriage Act. And even if we succeed with our ENDA-DOMA strategy in the Senate, there is no guarantee that the ENDA amendment would survive a conference committee, when the House and Senate reconcile differences in their respective bills. Nevertheless, the advantages of boldly seizing the agenda clearly outweigh the risks. If we can get the Senate to debate the Employment Non-Discrimination Act before the American public, we will have achieved something important. The whole nation will be watching. Act Now Contact your lawmakers in Congress immediately. Urge your senators to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (S. 932) as an amendment to the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" and tooppose DOMA. Urge your member of the U.S. House of Representatives to oppose DOMA. Use the sample letter below as a guide for what to say to your senators. Refer to DOMA by its appropriate number -- S. 1740 when dealing with your two senators, and H.R. 3396 when communicating with your representative. Write, call, fax, and e-mail them. You can also contact them through the Human Rights Campaign's World Wide Web site at http://www.hrcusa.org. To call your senators and representative, you can dial the Capitol switchboard, even if you aren't sure who they are. Just ask the switchboard operator and you will be connected. Ask for their fax numbers and e-mail addresses as well: Call: U.S. Capitol (202) 224-3121 Write: The Honorable __________ U.S. Senate Washington, DC 20510 or The Honorable __________ U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 ____________ Sample Letter to Your Senators Dear Senator _________: I urge you to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), S. 932, as an amendment to S. 1740, the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA). DOMA is nothing more than gratuitous election-year gay-bashing, and is most likely unconstitutional. Should S.1740 reach the floor of the Senate, ENDA will be offered as an amendment to DOMA. I strongly urge you to support the ENDA amendment and oppose DOMA. Proponents of DOMA claim not to be anti-gay. Anyone who is not anti-gay can easily support the ENDA amendment. ENDA would protect Americans from job discrimination based on sexual orientation. Though it is not legal for gay people to marry anywhere in the United States, in 41 states it is still legal to fire good workers just for being gay. Until ENDA passes, there is no federal law to protect Americans from this pervasive unfairness. Americans overwhelmingly believe that gays should not lose their livelihoods to discrimination. According to the latest Newsweek poll, 84 percent of Americans support equal rights for gay people and oppose job discrimination. Furthermore, a recent poll by the Mellman Group found that there is no clear consensus among Americans on DOMA, and that 73 percent feel that other issues are much more important. I oppose DOMA because I believe that marriage is a basic human right. The decision of whom to marry is a deeply personal one that should not be interfered with by the federal government. Despite the rhetoric of the religious political extremists, one can honor the relationship between a man and woman without attacking lesbian and gay people or their relationships. Again, since gay marriage is not legal anywhere in the land, but anti-gay job discrimination is widespread and legal just about everywhere, I urge you to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act as an amendment to the Defense of Marriage Act, and oppose DOMA itself. I look forward to hearing your views on this matter. Sincerely, ___________ Tell your friends to help out, too. For more information on how you can help, please contact the Human Rights Campaign at 202-628-4160 and ask to speak with the field team. The Human Rights Campaign is the largest national lesbian and gay political organization, with members throughout the country. It effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support, and educates the public to ensure that lesbian and gay Americans can be open, honest, and safe at home, at work, and in the community. To join, call (800) 777-4723. - 30 -