From: exe00595 Subject: Colorado for Family Values 3/4 Date: Thu, 17 Mar 1994 21:30:30 -0500 (EST) CFV Report, Vol 14, March 1994 [Colorado for Family Values] Bill Armstrong Addresses CFV Banquet A remarkable thing happened at the Colorado Springs Red Lion Hotel onJanuary [sic] 22. Nearly seven hundred supporters of the most controversial organization in Colorado gathered to meet, encourage each other, and hold a "first annual gathering." So what happened that was so remarkable? Nothing. Journalists who attended could find nothing divisive or outrageous to report. No shock troops from the homosexual militant fringe saw fit to disrupt the proceedings -- either from the outside or the inside of the building. All that happened was a wonderful evening of good food, stirring addresses from respected leaders, and a reminder of where CFV has been as an organization. Here are excerpts from former Senator William Armstrong's speech to the crowd, beginning with his introduction by Will Perkins. *Will Perkins*: "When you have the opportunity to introduce somebody with the credentials of a Bill Armstrong, you really need more time than is allotted for the speech. Bill's political career spans a period of some twenty-eight years, during which he served in both houses in the Colorado Legislature, spent three terms as a U.S. Congressman and two terms as a United States Senator. And all that time, he considered himself a citizen legislator. I was always amazed at how Bill could have one of the better attendance records in the Senate, do a wonderful job in Washington, and still remain involved in so many business ventures. Itjust baffled me. Then in 1991, to the chagrin of most Coloradans and the amazement of most political experts, at the height of his political career and with his reelection as a shoo-in, he resigned his seat in the U.S. Senate. Now I can say from a human perspective that without Bill Armstrong there would be no Colorado for Family Values. As a reward for his participation, he received the most vicious media attack of his whole political career. I never spent any time with Bill Armstrong that when 1 left I didn't have a better understanding of the situation and a better way to address the problem. I'm sure the same will be true tonight. May I introduce to you, Senator Bill Armstrong." *Senator Bill Armstrong*: "You know, we're more than a team. We're more than an organization. We're a movement. We're a crusade. We're here because we love our country, because we love our families, because deep down inside we have faith in God and faith in values that make for strong families and safe neighborhoods, progressive communities and a great America. That's really what this is all about. CFV is an expression of our love of family and community and country . . " "We love our country, and we're prepared to protect our country. We love our kids, and we're not prepared to leave unanswered those who would want to go to our children and grandchildren and say that recreational sex is okay, that adultery is okay, that socialism is okay, that arson and crime in the ghetto are okay, that experimentation with drugs is okay, that cheating on exams is okay, that forgetting the Ten Commandments is okay, that atheism is okay, that pornography is okay, whatever is legal is moral. And we sure as thunder are not prepared to leave unanswered those who would teach our children and grandchildren that homosexuality is a valid alternative lifestyle. "If anybody had told me ten years ago that I would stand up in public and discuss the subject of homosexuality, I wouldn't have believed it. I am dumbfounded that somehow homosexuality has become a public policy issue in this country. "And the idea that this issue would arise and become focused on the state of Colorado is incomprehensible to me -- because if there was ever a state that has a freewheeling, live-and-let-live kind of an attitude, a traditional Western point of view, it's Colorado. That's always been what our state has been about. Now I don't know everyone in the room here, but I don't think I'm a lot different from most of you when it comes to homosexuality. "For example: I've been an employer in this state for almost thirty-five years. Throughout all of that time, I have had and I still think I have -- the right not to hire somebody if they're homosexual. 1 have that right. I think it's a precious right. But I have never exercised it. "You know, I've employed thousands of people, I've done business with thousands of people and done business with thousands of vendors and suppliers, and had many customers. And you know, the last thing I'm going to ask somebody as we're getting ready to sign a contract, or if they came into my place of business, or presented themselves for employment -- the last thing I would ask is, 'Oh, by the way, are you a homosexual? Or are you an adulterer or a slanderer?' I mean, that just doesn't come up. "Now, if they chose to make an issue of it, if somebody who worked for me or did business with me chose to make sexual ethics an issue, on their initiative, then I would take it into account. lf somebody came into my place of business and sought to recruit the men and women who worked there or were customers there into adulterous relationships, group sex, or homosexuality -- yes I would. If they brought it up, if they flung down the gauntlet, 1 believe I have a right. I have a responsibility, in many cases, to take that into account. "Let me make a related point. I have the right not to hire somebody who has different political views from mine. I do. And I have very strong views on a variety of political subjects. But do you know, in all these years, I have never seen fit to exercise that right in my capacity as a private employer. I don't cross-examine somebody when they come into my place of business: 'Well, how do you feel about this? How do you feel about that? Who'd you vote for in the last election?' It just isn't something that I want to do. "Now, if I knew that somebody who was going to be part of my team in business was a member of the KKK or the Nazis, and every Saturday morning they went out and put a white sheet over their heads and sat out in front of the capitol and said hateful things about Blacks and Catholics and Jews, I'd take that into account. By gosh, I think that's a very fundamental, precious basic right for me to do so. Wouldn't you? (applause) "It comes down to a very simple equation. If Ellen and I had happened to own a duplex in Denver, Colorado, and if we'd been raising our family in the north half of the duplex and trying to teach our kids something about traditional values, I think it is morally wrong for the government to step in and compel us to rent the south end of that duplex to a homosexual couple or a homosexual group. "And if anybody thinks that as a Boy Scout Leader -- if I were ever to be on a Selection Team -- the last thing I'd want is to permit or vote for hiring a sexual pervert to become a leader or role model for impressionable young boys. "Rabbi Goldberg said it best, in a brilliant 1991 article in the *Rocky Mountain News*. 'Without flaunting their sexual orientation, homosexuals are almost always left alone. While there is anecdotal evidence of harassment of homosexuals, there is also anecdotal evidence of harassment against virtually every group in society. The price of providing legal redress for homosexuals is too high. The price is to endanger social cohesion and the family, to encourage a larger homosexual agenda, to redefine morality, increase AIDS and public spending, and to misunderstand compassion.' "I deeply regret that this controversy has arisen in our state, and I note with pleasure that it is subsiding somewhat, at least for the time being. But I think we need to keep a few of the facts in very well-focused, sharply-defined perspective. And one of those facts is, 'We didn't start this fight.' "When the homosexuals a few years ago came forward and said, 'Look, it really isn't fair to assess criminal penalties on us because of private, sexual behavior between consenting adults,' there wasn't any CFV coming forward to fight that effort. In fact, I'll bet there are many of us in this room who really thought that was probably right. However we may have disapproved of homosexuality, I'll bet a lot of us thought maybe such laws had outlived their usefulness. "But now, just a few years later, they're trying to make us criminals if we refuse to put a homosexual, sexual pervert in a position of leadership with impressionable young people! They're criminalizing that kind of behavior ! "Competing for the support of our fellow citizens isn't easy, but it isn't over. The battle has just begun. You know, the truth of the matter is, it's easy to get scared. It's easy when the shells start coming in to think, 'This is terrible. We're not getting anyplace. We're gonna lose this thing!' Rabbi Goldberg, if I may quote him one more time, put it so well. He said, 'Many homosexual-rights activists try to intimidate those who disagree with them. Disagreement is equated with homophobia. Opposition is equated with personal hatred. The main intolerance on this issue,' Rabbi Goldberg wrote, 'is this intimidation.' "He couldn't be more right. And you know my friends, that's why this gathering here tonight is so terribly important. So that we can see each other, and rub shoulders with each other, draw courage from each other, and know that we're not in this battle alone, and we're not going to lose -- we're going to win."