Date: Sat, 30 Dec 1995 01:31:33 -0800 (PST) From: Richard Isaac Subject: VICTORY! I-166 & 167 DEAD! Greetings! For the second year in a row, discriminatory anti-gay initiatives have been defeated in the signature-gathering phase! BIGOT BUSTERS congratulates the voters of Washington State who declined to sign the petitions; the wide coalition of groups who worked hard towards this day; and the hundreds of dedicated volunteers, contributors and supporters who lent their time, energy and resources in the fight against discrimination. Thank you! BIGOT BUSTERS will hold a victory celebration today, 29 December 1995, at 6 pm at 710 - 15th Ave E. (Capitol Hill, Seattle; between Roy & Valley Sts.) to mark the end of the campaign and thank our volunteers and supporters. All are welcome! BIGOT BUSTERS has issued the press release appended below to mark the occasion of the defeat of I-166 and I-167, and will publish its basic financial information in the early weeks of January in the Seattle Gay News. While the battle may have been won, the war is far from over. We urge you to be alert to and active against further assaults against the dignity and civil rights of sexual minorities and people of all kinds everywhere. Thank you for your support! * Richard Isaac __*_*___ INITIATIVES 166 AND 167 \* * / Seattle 8 March 1995 - 29 December 1995 *\ * ***\**/** rmisaac \/ @eskimo.com HOMEPAGE: http://www.eskimo.com/~rmisaac/ "Hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue." --Francis, Duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BIGOT BUSTERS/DECLINE TO SIGN 29 December 1995 PRESS RELEASE Contact: Patrick Hogan, Director For immediate release ************************************************** STATEMENT ON THE DEFEAT OF INITIATIVES 166 AND 167 ************************************************** ANTI-GAY INITIATIVES FAIL FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR * Vigorous opposition cited as factor in their defeat For the second year in a row, the fair-minded people of Washington State have rejected discrimination. Citizens have declined to sign Initiatives 166 and 167, which would have promoted legalized discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people in the state. All Washingtonians are better off for having defeated these mean-spirited measures and are to be congratulated. Their defeat can be attributed to a number of factors: -*- vigorous opposition from a wide array of groups statewide, including BIGOT BUSTERS (which dispatched trained teams to educate voters about the initiatives); -*- the challenge of meeting the signature-gathering requirement; and -*- the inability of the measures' backers to attract volunteers or funds. BIGOT BUSTERS, among others, engaged in a year-long non-stop voter education campaign ("counter-petitioning"). Our efforts were directed at exposing the discriminatory intent and effects of I-166 and I-167. Clearly we were successful. The campaign offered us an opportunity to talk to voters about the reality of of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people, and to change the way people think about the initiative process itself. We will continue to oppose discrimination in any form, and insist on participating fully in the initiative process. BIGOT BUSTERS will hold a victory celebration and press availability session on 29 December 1995 at 6pm at 710 - 15th Ave E., Seattle, to mark the end of the campaign and thank its corps of dedicated volunteers. This year's victory appears to be thorough and may be lasting: -*- Annetta Small, head of the I-166 campaign, is quoted as being ready to "move on to other issues." (Spokane Spokesman-Review, 20 December 1995) -*- Sam Woodard, head of the Citizens' Alliance of Washington (sponsors of I-167) is quoted as being "worn out" and ready to retire. (ibid.) -*- Rep. Val Stevens, who chairs a key committee in the Legislature, which was expected to be the next battleground, calls anti-gay legislations "dead in the water" for 1996, and says she will "not pursue" such measures. (Seattle Times, 25 December 1995) A complaint filed by BIGOT BUSTERS with the Public Disclosure Commission against the Washington Committee for Equal Rights Not Special Rights, the sponsors of I-166, is currently under investigation by the state. The complaint cites over 175 violations of public disclosure law. The deadline for turning in initiative petitions, 29 December, is also the deadline given to the I-166 sponsors to respond to the complaint's allegations. Anti-gay measures have never had easy going in Washington. King County Initiative 10 and statewide Initiative 490 were defeated in 1986, partly thanks to counter-petitioners (forerunners of BIGOT BUSTERS). And in 1994, while anti-gay initiatives inspired by Oregon's Ballot Measure Nine qualified for the ballot in Oregon and Idaho (where they both lost), Initiatives 608 and 610 both failed in Washington. Their defeat was attributed to the high-profile opposition of counter-petitioners (BIGOT BUSTERS) and a statewide coalition of groups led by Hands Off Washington. And now, in 1995, Initiatives 166 and 167, which would have restricted civil-rights protections for sexual minorities, enshrined discrimination into state law, invalidated any local ordinances protecting gays and lesbians (including the state hate-crimes law), and superseded the "best interests of the child" in matters of adoption and foster care, have failed to gather the necessary 181,667 valid signatures from Washington State voters. Washington voters are to be commended for again rejecting these discriminatory measures, which would have restricted the civil rights of their families, friends and neighbors. --END--