From: NGLTF@aol.com Date: Thu, 30 Nov 1995 20:44:38 -0500 Subject: Hearings Prompt Campaign of Outrage ************************************************* National Gay and Lesbian Task Force NEWS RELEASE Contact: Beth Barrett (202) 332-6483 ext. 3215 bbarrett@ngltf.org 2320 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20009 ************************************************* HEARINGS BASHING YOUTH PROMPTS CAMPAIGN OF OUTRAGE Congress in the "Back Pocket" of the Radical Right Says Paras Washington, DC -- November 30, 1995 -- The on-again off-again Congressional hearings, which many believe will provide a tax-payer funded pulpit for anti-gay extremism, have once again been rescheduled. Now called "Parents, Schools and Values," the hearings will take place Tuesday and Wednesday, December 5 and 6 before Rep. Peter Hoekstra's (R-MI) House Economic and Employment Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Outraged by the increasing evidence of Congressional pandering to the Radical Right the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force today called on gay and non-gay Americans to appeal to the common decency of their Congressional leaders. Exclaiming that Congress appears to be perched in the "back pocket of the Radical Right," Melinda Paras, NGLTF Executive Director, pledged to mail her own back pant's pocket to Rep. Hoekstra. NGLTF called on activists around the country to follow suit, sending pockets to their Representatives and calling on Congressional leadership to speak out against the extremist hearings as yet another example of right wing control of Congress. "I wonder which parents, which young people, and which values the subcommittee's hearings will highlight?" said Paras "Right wing extremists hope to promote only their narrow definition of the 'acceptable' family. Will the hearings fairly and fully reflect the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender youth who face harassment, hostility and violence in their schools every day, with no one to defend them? Will the hearings fairly and fully reflect the aspirations of the many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender parents who are raising children? Will the hearings fairly and fully reflect values such as respect, tolerance, and compassion? Or will the hearings merely be a platform for the narrow-minded bigotry of extremists like Lou Sheldon, the Christian Coalition and others who share their views?" asked Paras. The "Back Pocket Campaign" is the latest in a series of national outrcries sparked when Lou Sheldon, an anti-gay extremist and director of the Traditional Values Coalition, claimed in a fundraising letter that the hearings were scheduled at his request. Sheldon has a long history of irrational, extremist proclamations related to lesbians and gays, even suggesting that people with AIDS should be segregated in "cities of refuge" for their own good and the good of society, according to reports in the Los Angeles Times. According to Lou Sheldon and others who support his views, any school services or programs which address prevention of HIV, hate crimes and the high incidence of suicide among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth should be eliminated because they "recruit and promote homosexuality." "The Radical Right will not rest until they have forced their narrow-minded ideas onto every facet of our society," Paras declared. "By holding these hearings, Congress is playing into the plans of the Right to raise a generation of hateful, intolerant and mean-spirited young Americans. Now is the time for decent Americans to stand up and say 'no' by demanding that Congress step out of the back pocket of the Radical Right. We cannot allow our nation's young people to be pawns in the agenda of the far right." -- The "Back Pocket Campaign" is sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, for a sample letter to accompany your back pocket or for more information, please call NGLTF at (202) 332-6483. Write {your representative}, US House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.