Why You Should Give A Damn!

Newsletter Archive

Newsletter #37, December, 2009

Congress needs to know you support marriage equality!

by Davina Kotulski, Ph.D.

[PCongress needs to know you support marriage equality!

The DC City Council passed a marriage equality bill 11:2 that will become law, but only if Congress approves. Congress has 30 working days to approve the bill which they have rejected in the past. Anti-gay opposition is rallying their troops to take away this victory like they did in California and Maine. We can’t let them do this! We must stand up and speak out for equality NOW!

Please go to http://www.house.gov/ and send your representative an e-mail asking them to support equal rights for LGBTIQ Americans by supporting the marriage equality bill. You can also call your representative today (202) 224-3121.

We must act now!

Ringing in the New Year with Marriage Equality in New Hampshire.

2009 was a banner year for marriage equality, with victories in Iowa and Vermont. And while equality was delayed in California, Maine, New York, and New Jersey, we will kick off 2010 with marriage equality in New Hampshire.

Starting January 1, 2010, same-sex couples can begin legally marrying in New Hampshire and same-sex couples in New Hampshire civil unions can have their civil union upgraded to a marriage license by submitting an “Application for Conversion of a New Hampshire Civil Union to a New Hampshire Marriage” form to the clerk.

One note of caution, the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders note that New Hampshire has some complex residency requirements and suggests that same-sex couples from AZ, AR, DE, IN, KS, KY, ME, MN, MS, OH, SC, TN, TX, UT, get married in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, or Vermont instead, so as not to have the validity of their marriage challenged.

What we have learned.

We’ve learned that we must stand up and work to make the world a more just and equal place. We must make phone calls, walk door to door, and participate in campaigns and call our representatives and senators. We must speak out for equality at home and in the workplace. We must educate others who do not understand what’s at stake. We must invest in our cause for equality by supporting organizations and individuals who are doing marriage equality work.

We’ve seen how the backlash against gay people in a free country like the United States ripples across the globe with attempts to create laws to put gay people to death in Uganda and anyone who doesn’t turn them over to the Government. We’ve learned how the money and power amassed by anti-gay organizations that take away marriage rights at home can be used to take away lives in other regions of the globe.

So, we must be reignited in our efforts for global equality for LGBTIQ people, because we are one people, one world, and the harm done to one is done to all. And we must never settle for anything less than full equality for LGBTIQ people whether it be in housing, employment, relationship recognition, health care, or freedom of expression.

In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. : "I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant." Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speach, December 10, 1964

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