Subject: The call for the Arrest of Jim Kolbe
From: "Steven Jung" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 18:30:00 EDT

And you guys ACTUALLY think the Republican platform and party are the "way 
to go" for gay citizens of this country???????????   HUH???????????????

"Calls for Arrest of Openly-Gay GOP Convention Speaker Reveal Danger of 
Sodomy Laws Nationwide, ACLU Says"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 31, 2000

NEW YORK, NY -- As one of the nation's largest conservative groups called 
for the arrest of an openly-gay Republican Congressman who is slated to 
speak tomorrow night at the Republican national convention in Philadelphia, 
the American Civil Liberties Union's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project today 
said there can no longer be any doubt about the imminent danger posed by 
sodomy laws.

In recent days, the American Family Association began circulating an action 
alert, titled "Arrest Mr. Kolbe." The alert notes that Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) 
is scheduled to address the convention tomorrow night. It also notes that 
sodomy is illegal in Arizona.

"Time and time again when we file lawsuits challenging sodomy laws, 
conservative groups argue that these laws are not enforced and do not 
present any real danger -- but that they should remain on the books to send 
a moral message," said Michael Adams, Associate Director of the ACLU Lesbian 
and Gay Rights Project.

"By issuing this callous alert, the right wing has demonstrated the very 
real danger of sodomy laws – that they can be used to try to intimidate and 
silence lesbian and gay Americans," Adams said. "If a Republican member of 
Congress is not safe from such attacks, then who is?"

The American Family Association's alert includes a sample letter, addressed 
to the Chairman of the Republican Party, which says in part, "... Mr. Kolbe 
as a self-described homosexual means nothing except to say that he engages 
in sodomy. Did you know that in Arizona, sodomy is against the law? Mr. 
Kolbe should be arrested when he returns to his home state for violating 
state law. Would you agree that all lawmakers should insist that all laws be 
enforced?"

The alert then provides an address for other members to send similar 
letters. The American Family Association, which is based in Mississippi, 
wields increasing political power. In recent years, the group's leadership 
has met regularly with Republican majority leadership in the U.S. Senate and 
the House of Representatives.

One of the starkest examples of the dangers of sodomy laws comes from the 
American Family Association's home state, Adams said. Mississippi courts, 
citing that state's sodomy law, refused to allow a 15-year-old boy to live 
with his gay father, even though the child's mother had married a man with a 
history of violence and substance abuse who repeatedly beat her in front of 
the boy.

Currently, 18 states and Puerto Rico have sodomy laws. The specific natures 
of the laws vary, as do punishments, but they all criminalize private, 
consensual, non-commercial oral or anal sex between adults. Five states have 
laws that apply only to lesbians and gay men. While the other 13 - including 
Arizona - apply to straight people as well, they are enforced selectively 
against lesbians and gay men.

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