From: NGLTF@aol.com
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 18:54:01 -0500
Subject: NGLTF Marriage Front Update

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PRESS RELEASE
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
2320 17th St. NW; Washington, DC 20009
Contact: Robert Bray (415) 552-6448 rbray@ngltf.org
or Tracey Conaty (202) 332-6483 tconaty@ngltf.org
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NGLTF ANTI-MARRIAGE UPDATE

COLORADO BILL MOVES TO THE GOVERNOR

Washington, D.C., March 14, 1996...The radical right, armed with
anti-marriage legislation,  continued to attack the gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgendered community.  According to the National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force (NGLTF), 19 states, currently face legislation intended to ban
same-gender marriage.  Those states are AL, AK, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL,
IA, KY, MD, MI, MO, OK, SC, TN, WI, and WY.  Michigan and Oklahoma were added
to last week's list of seventeen states.  

 There was no change from last week's tally of seven states that had
anti-marriage legislation introduced but withdrawn or blocked (ME, MS, NM,
RI, VA, WA, and WV).

 Of greatest alarm to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people was the
passage of an anti-marriage measure in both houses of the Colorado state
legislature.  The bill passed the House by one vote on February 28 and the
Senate by a 20 - 14 margin this Monday, March 11.  It has been sent to the
Governor for action. 
 
 NGLTF, working in partnership with Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund's
Marriage Project and other members of the National Freedom to Marry Coalition
(NFTMC), is assisting local activists throughout the country in fighting off
these anti-gay attacks.  NGLTF, in conjunction with Colorado activists and
NFTMC, is urging concerned citizens, both within and outside Colorado, to
contact Colorado Governor Roy Romer and urge him to veto this bill.  Romer
can be reached by phone at (303) 866-2471 or fax at (303) 866-2003.

  Activists interested in obtaining a copy of the map (free) or NGLTF's
marriage organizing manual, To Have and To Hold  ($10), should contact Tracey
Conaty or Robert Bray at the numbers listed above.  Those interested in
obtaining talking points on same-gender marriage and other materials should
contact Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund at (212) 995-8585.

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