From: Hrccomm@aol.com
Date: Fri, 14 Jun 1996 16:17:19 -0400
Subject: HRC Launches Campaign '96

________________________________________________________

NEWS from the
Human Rights Campaign

1101 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
email:  communications@hrcusa.org
WWW:    http://www.hrcusa.org
________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 13, 1996

HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES NATIONAL AD CAMPAIGN
FEATURING GAY AND LESBIAN CELEBRITIES TARGETING 1996 VOTERS

Largest National Lesbian and Gay Political Organization Also
Unveils Campaign '96 Voter Registration Website, America Online 
Forum and Political Convention

Elizabeth Birch's Statement

     Good afternoon and thank you for coming. I'm Elizabeth Birch, executive
director of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest national lesbian and gay
political organization.

     This year is a critical election year for gay and lesbian
Americans. We will be voting in races that will determine the
direction of this country into the next century, so I cannot
emphasize enough how important it is this year for our community
to be engaged and involved and voting.

     Today, we are unveiling a public service advertising
campaign featuring well-known lesbian and gay public figures who
are urging all fair-minded people to register and vote. The theme
is "You've got the Power. Register. Vote." The message is simple,
clear and vital, especially to lesbian and gay Americans, our
friends and families. 

     Only 39 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the
1994 elections --and you know what that got us? A Congress that
is largely unfriendly to its gay and lesbian constituents --and
members of Congress who think they need kick out all servicemen
and women with the AIDS virus ... Members of Congress who want to
deny federal funds to public schools that try to protect gay
youth from violence, suicide and HIV ... Members of Congress who
are eager to pass the first federal law regulating marriage --but
the only marriage they want to regulate is same-sex marriage,
which as we all know, isn't legal anywhere. So it's up to us and
our friends and families to stop this congressional gay-bashing.

     We at the Human Rights Campaign keep asking this question
about the 104th Congress: Don't they have anything better to do?
At the moment, it seems that they don't.

      The Human Rights Campaign will be involved in more than 150
congressional races this year --both Democratic and Republican.
We will be working in more than 40 states, providing financial as
well as technical assistance. HRC is also mounting a special
independent expenditure campaign in North Carolina to send Jesse
Helms packing. His brand of bigotry should not be tolerated in
the U.S. Senate, or anywhere else in America.

     HRC is also working to see that Bill Clinton spends another
four years in the White House. President Clinton has done more
for our community than any president in history, while Bob Dole
could hardly have done less for us during his 25 years in
Congress.  

     So we are hopeful that this advertising campaign will touch
the hearts and minds of our community, our friends and our
families. We're telling them: Become politically active. Organize
a voter registration drive. Volunteer to work on a local
campaign. Attend HRC's political convention, August 16 through 18
in Chicago, along with hundreds of other activists who will learn
the skills that will get our friends elected to office.

     Come out, and come out voting --because our lives depend on
it.

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