Subject: NGLTF ANTI-MARRIAGE UPDATE
From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 21 Mar 1996 19:16:24 -0500

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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 [email-masked]
or Tracey Conaty (202) 332-6483 [email-masked]
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NGLTF ANTI-MARRIAGE UPDATE

IDAHO BECOMES THIRD STATE BANNING SAME-GENDER MARRIAGE AND COLORADO BILL
MOVES TO THE GOVERNOR

Washington, D.C., March 20, 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), 16 states, currently face legislation intended to ban
same-gender marriage.  Those states are AL, AK, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, IL, IA,
KY,  MI, MO, OK, SC, TN, and WI.  

 This week, Idaho became the country's third state, along with Utah and South
Dakota, to explicitly ban the recognition of same-sex marriage.  Currently,
civil marriage between persons of the same gender is not permitted any where
in the nation.

 Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people were also greatly alarmed by
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 on  March 11.  The bill reached Governor Romer's
desk on Monday, March 18.  He has ten days to veto it, sign it, or let it
become law without his signature. 
 
 Maryland and Wisconsin were added to the list of states that had
anti-marriage legislation introduced but withdrawn or blocked (MD, ME, MS,
NM, RI, VA, WA, WV, and WY), bringing the total to nine.

 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.

 The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is a progressive organization that
has supported grassroots organizing and pioneered in national advocacy since
1973.  Since its inception, NGLTF has been at the forefront of virtually
every major initiative for lesbian and gay rights.  In all its efforts, NGLTF
helps to strengthen the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender movement at
the state level while connecting these activities to a national vision for
change.

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