Date: Wed, 08 May 1996 16:21:39 -0400 From: Maggie Heineman Subject: Broadcast: PA anti-marriage Legislation (long) 1. Short announcements 2. PA Marriage Alias 3. Phone numbers - PA County Election Boards 4. Talking Points 5. Letter writing tips 6. Phila. Freedom to Marry Meetings 5/8 and 5/12 ================================================================= 1. Short announcements 1A. PENNSYLVANIA (posted by Scott Safier, Western PA Freedom to Marry Coalition on the PA League of Gay and Lesbian Voters LGLV List) The Pennsylvania anti-marrige legislation is House Bill 2064 Printer's Number 3494 Sponsor: Rep Allan Egolf. There are 37 co-sponsors. Lita Cohen (R- Montgomery County) has indicated that she will work with House Leadership to defeat/stall/kill this bill. Larry Frankel reports that no Philadelphia representatives are co sponsors. Committee assignment/co-sponsors will follow as available 1B. FEDERAL (posted by Evan Wolfson) (NEW YORK, May 8, 1996) Acting at the request of religious-political extremist groups, Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) and other House Republicans today introduced, H.R. 3396, a bill that would insert the federal government for the first time in our country's history into decisions about marriage, an area traditionally left to the states and to individual couples. ======================================================================== 2. PA Marriage Alias The FTRN Communications Working Group (FTRN-CWG) has established a PA MARRIAGE ALIAS for continuing updates on the Pennsylvania and Federal anti-marriage bills. Our cross-issue PA-EXPOSE e-mail list will have less detail on this subject. The FTRN-CWG is on the nationwide MARRIAGE list and the LGLV list. We also receive the announcements from both the Philadelphia and Western PA Freedom to Marry Coalitions. People who are not subscribed to the LGLV and MARRIAGE lists may wish keep informed by asking to be on the PA MARRIAGE ALIAS. This is not a formal list, simply send a request to if you wish to be on this alias. ========================================================================== 3. Phone numbers - PA County Election Boards If you do not have contact information for your elected officials, call the PA League of Gay and Lesbian Voters in Pittsburgh 412.421.4470 or your county election board. Adams County: 717-334-6781 Allegheny:412-350-4500 Armstrong: 412-543-2500 Beaver: 412-728-5700 Bedford 814-623-4807 Berks: 610-478-6100 Blair: 814-695-5541 Bradford: 717-265-1727 Bucks: 215-348-6000 Butler: 412-285-4731 Cambria: 814-472-1607 Cameron: 814-486-2315 Carbon: 717-325-3611 Centre: 814-355-6703 Chester: 610-334-6410 Clarion: 814-226-4000 Clearfield: 814-765-2641 Clinton: 717-893-4000 Columbia: 717-389-5600 Crawford: 814-333-7306 Cumberland: 717-240-6385 Dauphin: 717-255-2793 Delaware: 610-891-4670 Elk: 814-776-1161 Erie: 814-451-6000 Fayette: 412-430-1265 Forest: 814-755-3537 Franklin: 717-261-3886 Fulton: 717-485-3691 Greene: 412-852-5210 Huntingdon: 814-643-3091 Indiana: 412-465-3800 Jeferson: 814-849-1653 Juniata: 717-436-8991 Lackawanna: 717-963-6737 Lancaster: 717-299-8293 Lawrence: 412-656-2181 Lebanon: 717-274-2801 Lehigh 610-820-3051 Luzerne: 717-825-9343 Lycoming: 717-327-2200 McKean: 814-887-5571 Mercer: 412-662-3800 Mifflin: 717-248-6733 Monroe: 717-420-3468 Montgomery: 610-278-3280 Montour: 717-271-3000 Northampton 610-559-3000 Northumberland: 717-988-4100 Perry: 717-582-2131 Philadelphia: 215-686-1505 Pike: 717-296-7744 Potter: 814-274-8290 Schuylkill: 717-837-4207 Somerset: 814-445-2114 Sullivan: 717-946-5201 Susquehanna: none Tioga: 717-724-1906 Union: 717-524-8600 Venango: 814-432-9500 Warren: 814-723-7550 Washington: 412-228-6700 Wayne: 717-253-5970 Westmoreland: 412-830-3000 Wyoming: 717-836-3200 York: 717-771-9313 ========================================================== 4. Talking Points By far the most effective way to be heard by your State Representatives and Senators is through a letter either typed or hand written, but phone calls post cards can also be effective. In an effort to facilitate focused discussion with your legislators the Western Pennsylvania Freedom to Marry Coalition has prepared talking points. Marriage is a stabilizing influence in our society. It promotes monogamy and the family. It is the entry point in our society for the rights, benefits and responsibilities accorded to committed couples in long-term relationships. Gay and lesbian couples are denied significant benefits in the area of property and inheritance rights, legal standing, insurance and employment, and taxation because they cannot legally marry. Hawaii, the only state to study marriage for same-sex couples, concluded that there are no reasons to deny marriage to same-sex couples, and significant reasons to extend marriage to them. Civil marriage is not religious marriage. The separation of church and state protects religious denominations from having to perform or recognize marriages for same-sex couples. Just as some religions now do not recognize civil divorce, no religion can be forced to recognize marriages that go against their teachings. About the proposed anti-marriage legislation The proposed legislation lacks a legitimate foundation in public policy. Encouraging monogamous marriage decreases the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases, can improve mental health by providing stable emotional support, and is consistent with state policies protecting freedom of religion, protecting civil rights, and granting protection from discrimination. Legislation to restrict marriage runs counter to these positive public policy concerns. The proposed legislation is unnecessary and costly. No state currently performs marriages for same-sex couples. No county in Pennsylvania will issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple. There is no pending litigation in Pennsylvania on this issue. If, in the future, some state should begin to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the state courts will decide whether or not these marriages must be recognized. This legislation, if passed, guarantees that Pennsylvania will face expensive litigation when these laws are challenged. The proposed legislation is legally suspect. In re Estate of Lenherr (455 Pa. at 229-30, 314 A.2d at 258 (1974)), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court wrote, "Specifically regarding conflicts as to recognition of marital status, there is a strong policy favoring uniformity of result. In an age of widespread travel and ease of mobility, it would create inordinate confusion and defy the reasonable expectations of citizens whose marriage is valid in one state to hold that marriage invalid elsewhere." The proposed legislation is also suspect under Pennsylvania's Bill of Rights which protects individual's civil rights and guarantees the state will not discriminate on the basis of sex. The proposed legislation dangerously mixes religion into the business of the state. Religions and philosophies differ with regard to the moral imperatives they either condemn or condone. While some find same-sex unions repugnant, others embrace and sanctify them. If the moral position of some is enshrined as a legal prohibition against marriage for same-sex couples, what other moral positions can be enacted into law? Should the state allow adulterers to remarry? Should procreation be a requirement for a married couple? Civil marriage for same-sex couples is supported by a broad coalition of groups and individuals. All the national gay and lesbian political/legal groups support civil marriage for same-sex couples, as does the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Organization for Women, the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (Reform Judaism), the NAACP, the Japanese American Citizens League, and many more. =========================================================== 5. Letter writing tips An effective letter would present any one of these arguments (or an argument of your own) as a way for your legislator to vote against anti-marriage legislation. Try to keep you letter short and focused on just one or two of the many issues involved. Use the letter to tell about how this legislation would affect you personally. ============================================================== 6. Phila. Freedom to Marry Meetings 5/8 and 5/12 Philadelphia Freedom to Marry Coalition will meet on Wednesday May 8 (tonight!) @ 6:30pm @ 201 S. Camac Street. Sunday 4:30 - 6:30 meeting in Center City. For the location of the Sunday meeting call (215)893-9458. or write to PHFtoMarry@aol.com. =============================================================== Broadcast by: Communications Working Group, Fight the Right Network P.O. Box 2084, Philadelphia, PA 19103-0084 215.389.1400 Apologies to those who are on several of the lists and aliases to which this is being sent-- for continued updates, please ask to be on the PA MARRIAGE ALIAS