Subject: IWG USA Today letter Date: Wed, 20 Nov 1996 22:45:08 -0500 (EST) From: Chris Purdom The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 3 congregations, 5 religious organizations and 37 clergy from 12 faiths and denominations. If you are in the general Philadelphia area and represent a congregation or religious organization or are clergy, let us know if you want to be added - all faiths are welcome. We will also be happy to help start similar organizations in other areas. Visit the web page at http://www.libertynet.org/~iwg/. November 19, 1996 USA Today 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington,VA 22229 fax: 1-703-247-3108 Dear Editors: Peter LaBarbera has the rather odd opinion that the only form of bigotry is racial bigotry. Just because a type of bigotry crosses racial lines or has millions of supporters doesn't mean it is acceptable. LaBarbera's organization purchased an advertisement which urged readers to vote against an elected official based on his appointments of a few members of a minority group. If the group had been Jews or Conservative Protestants, those groups and other 2people who actively oppose all bigotry on principle would have complained just as vociferously as those voicing their opposition to LaBarbera's attack on sexual minorities. Michael Springer's letter rightly compares LaBarbera's action to racial bigotry. LaBarbera points out that his brand of bigotry is also prevalent among racial minorities, and he would doubtless respond to us that there are millions of people of faith who oppose homosexuality. That's not the point. LaBarbera's organization exists for the sole purpose of denying all members of a single minority group the right to participate in government. He has the right to make offensive statements, but he should not be surprised when people are in fact offended, or when obvious comparisons are made to other forms of bigotry that were once as socially acceptable as being anti- gay. Sincerely, Barbara Purdom Christopher Purdom Interfaith Working Group Coordinators -- Chris Purdom phone:610-993-1134 Development Team Leader email: purdom@rabbit.com Tangram Enterprise Solutions homepage: http://www.tesi.com/~cpurdom/ Those dimensions are there, they're just unexplored. -Bill McNeill From lambda@aloha.net Tue Feb 18 16:46:06 1997 Received: from haleakala.aloha.net (root@haleakala.aloha.net [204.94.112.33]) by qrd.rdrop.com (8.6.9/8.6.9) with ESMTP id QAA22292 for ; Tue, 18 Feb 1997 16:46:05 -0800 Received: from kauai-61.u.aloha.net (kauai-67.u.aloha.net [207.12.7.67]) by haleakala.aloha.net (8.7.5/8.6.9) with SMTP id OAA22852; Tue, 18 Feb 1997 14:45:48 -1000 (HST) Message-Id: <199702190045.OAA22852@haleakala.aloha.net> X-Sender: lambda@aloha.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Version 1.4.4 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1997 13:51:37 -1000 To: queerlaw@abacus.oxy.edu, marriage@abacus.oxy.edu, queerpolitics@abacus.oxy.edu, queerplanet@abacus.oxy.edu, submit@qrd.org From: lambda@aloha.net (Martin Rice) Subject: The GARDEN ISLAND (KAUA`I), February 18, 1997: Photo with caption Aloha auwinala kakou. The GARDEN ISLAND 3137 Kuhio Highway Lihu`e, Kaua`i, Hawai`i 96766 fax: 808-245-5286 February 18, 1997 [A big photograph--1/4 newspaper page--of a sign "Lesbian Rights" in the foreground, and a woman at a podium addressing a crowd, with several other people/signs in the background.] Caption: BEAR ATWOOD, New Jersey National Organization for Women president, speaks out against pending legilsation, which would ban same-sex marriages. Atwood, who delivered a valentine to Gov. Whitman's office, was joined by several New Jersey NOW members in stating that the measures would discriminate against gays and fuel intolerance and violence. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) ~~pau~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Military Justice is to justice as Military Music is to music." --Unknown ~~~~~ Fred and Martin 24 years, yet strangers before the law ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~