Date: Sat, 25 Mar 1995 13:19:22 -0500 Contributed by: PLAGALOne@aol.com A Pro-Life Lesbian View Op-Ed or Letter to the Editor from: PRO-LIFE ALLIANCE OF GAYS AND LESBIANS Post Office Box 33292 Washington, D.C. 20033 (202) 223-6697 Internet: plagalOne@aol.com Donna Marie Kearney Post Office Box 10035 Rochester, NY 14610 GAYS MUST AFFIRM ALL LIFE Twenty-five years ago, Norma McCorvey, a lesbian, was carrying a child she did not want. Because abortion was not legal, she sued her home state of Texas; to make her case more credible, she falsely claimed that she was a victim of rape. Today we know Norma as "Jane Roe" in Roe v. Wade. Since it took three years to decide Roe v. Wade, McCorvey's daughter, who was conceived by the falsified rape, was never aborted. She was a college student living in Seattle with her adoptive mother when she was located in 1989. It shouldn't come as a surprise that McCorvey's daughter describes herself as strongly pro-life. As a woman who is both pro-life and lesbian, I take no pride in the fact that Norma McCorvey is a lesbian, or one who lied is responsible for today's abortion on demand policy. Abortion was the promised "miracle cure" that never happened; the hypothetical key to ending discrimination against women and the solution to a host of other problems. Today we must face the devastating results. Thirty-million-plus unborn human lives lost, untold numbers of others wounded. Children and other family members abused in ever-increasing numbers. And more women and children living in poverty than ever before. Isn't it time to acknowledge that abortion is not a solution? Killing our children before they are born cannot solve social injustices. As the Upstate New York contact of the Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians (PLAGAL), a Washington DC based group, I want to introduce you to an exceptional human rights initiative. We are a non-violent, inclusive group of individuals; lesbian, gay, and bisexual (with straight allies) all opposed to legalized abortion. Many of us are activists who have taken on other causes, such as euthanasia, capital punishment, racism, domestic violence, and poverty. As a group, our single shared objective is to abolish legalized abortion: as long as it is easy to have abortions, our society will be robbed of its will to do better by women and children. Abortion is an empty substitute for solutions that affirm human life. It is a profound betrayal of love and an exertion of hostility, an extension of malevolence. A bumper sticker that I came across once said it so wisely, that"No one is free when others are oppressed." Gay rights will only become manifest and ensured when gays and lesbians undertake non-violent activities in the pursuit of rights for all, inclusive of our unborn sisters and brothers. To gain credibility and respect from our society, our families, and friends, we in the gay community must demonstrate respect and love for all human life, and not exclusively our own lives. Scientists and researchers are working now to find a genetic code that predisposes one to homosexuality. Can the day be far off when that genetic link is found and future generations of homosexuals will be wiped out before birth? WAKE-UP, FRIENDS! OPEN YOUR EYES OUT THERE! Better yet, open your hearts. That day is closer than you may think. We live with a laissez-faire attitude that enables parents to abort fetuses because of presumed handicaps. Couldn't these same parents someday (if not today) deem homosexuality such a handicap? PLAGAL is concerned for the existence and protection of our yet to be born gay brothers and sisters. Many gays and lesbians, in numbers that are proportionate to the heterosexual populace, are, in their heart of hearts, opposed to the violence of abortion. We now have an organization that upholds all life, regardless of lifestyle, gender, race, creed, color, or age; born or unborn. PLAGAL's theme is "Human rights start when human life begins." Our mission -- to spread the right to life message to our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters -- is not an easy one. We take heart in what Gandhi once said, "When you speak the truth, you will be persecuted, and it is central to non-violence to confront the truth." The time has come to confront the truth now, and come out of the closet, for life! That's "for life," as in pro-life. ______________ The Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians was organized in 1990 for the purpose of opposing abortion on demand and advancing the Pro-Life argument within the Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual community. Ms. Kearney is one of PLAGAL's National Vice-President and its Upstate New York Coordinator. ___________________________________________________________ To get information on infonet-list, send an empty email message to our information "droid" at the address: infonet-info@netcentral.net To subscribe to infonet-list, send an email message to: listserv@netcentral.net with the body of the email message being: SUBSCRIBE INFONET-LIST --- SEE ALSO: info@netcentral.net for more resources