From: Heather Wright Subject: PFLAG News: CA Vote Shows Increasing Straight Support Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 10:59:45 -0500 March 10, 2000 Contact: Jay Heavner 202-467-8180 ext. 231 PFLAG LOOKS AT CALIFORNIA VOTE, NOTES INCREASING SUPPORT BY HETEROSEXUAL ALLIES Officials of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) examined the numbers from Tuesday's election in California in which an anti-gay ballot measure passed and, although disappointed, decided the news was not all bad. "Nearly 40 percent of California voters said 'No' on Proposition 22," said Executive Director, Kirsten Kingdon. "Who would have imagined even five years ago that so many voters in the state would stand with us on the issue of same-gender marriage? This obviously represents a huge number of voters who chose justice over prejudice. We may have lost the election, but we're obviously winning the hearts and votes of straight allies." PFLAG also cited analysis by the California Alliance for Pride and Equality, which noted that every openly gay or lesbian candidate in a state legislative race won over 50% of the vote in the primary election. "These election results support the observations of our chapter leaders in California who saw a significant increase in membership by straight allies who joined us in their efforts to oppose Proposition 22. We have always had members who are family and friends of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered (GLBT) people or who are GLBT themselves. But many of these new members had no close family members or friends who they know are GLBT. They joined out of a commitment to justice and equal rights." The day after the vote, Paul Beeman, President of PFLAG, sent an open letter of thanks to the thousands of PFLAG members in California who worked to oppose Proposition 22. In the letter, Beeman, said, "Please, don't say that we lost on Proposition 22... You have shown the inequity of discrimination against an entire class of Americans. You have built a coalition of concern. You are a legion demanding legality, a host of supporters expecting the public's hospitality for our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered loved ones." PFLAG chapters throughout California took the lead in staffing phone banks and tables at shopping malls, as well as sending postcards to friends urging them to "join me in voting against Prop 22." They registered voters and spoke in churches and synagogues, community groups, and public forums. PFLAG members also raised money to fight the initiative and appeared in advertisements encouraging GLBT people to register to vote. # # # Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons, their families and friends. Serving over 77,000 members and supporters, PFLAG affiliates are located in 435 communities across the United States and abroad. 1726 M Street, N.W., Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 467-8180 Fax: (202) 467-8194 E-mail info@pflag.org Web: http://pflag.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ to unsubscribe from PFLAG's Email Alert List, send an email, subject line "unsubscribe" to info@pflag.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~