From: Laurie McBride Date: Fri, 6 Feb 1998 12:04:04 Subject: Pete Knight Introduces Another Anti-Gay Bill FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 6, 1998 Contact: Laurie McBride 916 444 0424 ONE-MAN BIGOTRY MACHINE Sacramento, CA.: Senator Pete Knight, unambiguous foe of all things gay, has introduced another anti-gay measure. SB 1484 would prohibit the University of California and the California State University systems from offering any domestic partner benefits to their employees. Senator Knight objects to the possibility that state tax dollars could be used to "subsidize relationships that have not been legally recognized by the elected representatives of the taxpayers of California." "SB 1484 is only the latest in a string of attacks on the gay and lesbian community by Mr. Knight," said Laurie McBride, Executive Director of LIFE Lobby. "He seems obsessed with trying to prohibit our relationships in any form, from domestic partners to marriage. He uses every opportunity to debase our very lives, to deny us any form of societal support. He condemns our every attempt to live in responsible, committed relationships." Over the past two years Senator Knight has led efforts to ban recognition of same-sex marriages in California. While such marriages cannot legally be performed here under existing law, California currently recognizes ALL marriages legally performed in any other state. Therefore, if Hawaii's Supreme Court decides in favor of allowing same-sex marriages, such marriages would be considered legal here. LIFE Lobby has been successful in killing all such mean-spirited legislation in the past two years. However, McBride, noted, we must always take these threats very seriously. LIFE is California's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and HIV/AIDS Lobby. Founded in 1986, LIFE has an unparalleled track record in the public policy arena, time and again proving itself the single most effective gay and lesbian statewide lobby in the nation. For further information, check out LIFE's website at www.lifelobby.org.