From: Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 13:58:49 -0400 Subject: LEGAL Letter to Editor: Shreveport **************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** LOUISIANA ELECTORATE of GAYS AND LESBIANS (LEGAL) PO Box 70344 New Orleans, LA 70172-0344 504/525-7117 LEGALinc@aol.com Louisiana's statewide non-profit for lesbian and gay human rights. **************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** Friends, Here is a letter addressing an issus that has become commonplace for our community -- the use of lesbians and gay men as political scapegoats. Have fun reading... BRIAN LEGAL Lately it has become very fashionable for socially conservative political candidates to attack their opponents in the public forum by associating them with a group that has virtually no voice in the political process: lesbians and gay men. It takes a lot of guts to throw such a rock. Who would be willing to endure the inevitable second volley after having spoken out against the lies and distortions? Well, for those of you who have not seen the paid political ads of such candidates, I will stand up and inform you of the rock-throwing that is occuring in our own backyards: In the race for Senate District 37, the self-proclaimed "conservative" candidate Max Malone has sullied his name by sending out a mailing which not only distorts the truth about the voting records of Sen. Greg Barro and Rep. Melissa Flournoy but it simply lies outright about them. Malone states that our legislators both "voted for special priviledges for gays" by citing two bills: 1993's Senate Bill 43 and 1994's House Bill 130. These two bills have NOTHING to do with special priviledges for ANYONE. They are bills dealing with hate crimes. One bill simply provides for police education as regards hate crimes and the other increases the penalties for criminals who commit crimes based upon a motive of hate directed at ANY group of people. (Senator Barro, by the way, never even saw House Bill 130 -- HB 130 never even made it to the Senate floor for his vote.) So, it's plain to see that Malone's tactics to bring the records of our legislators down to his own level is simply a cheap smoke screen employed to divert our attention from his own lack of a plan for District 37. And by the way, if these bills were such bastions of liberal thought, then why on earth did Louisiana's most conservative Republican gubernatorial candidate -- Senator Mike Foster -- vote for them, too? BRIAN J.P. HARTIG Louisiana Electorate of Gays And Lesbians (LEGAL)