Protest Vigil Targets Anti-Gay Arson

Vigil on One Week Anniversary of Arson Attack On Gay Section of Chicago Public Library

7 PM, Tuesday, June 20

in front of the Merlo Public Library

CHICAGO – Activists are urging all community members to attend a protest vigil in front of the Merlo Public Library, 644 W. Belmont, at 7 PM, Tuesday, June 20th, the one week anniversary of an arson attack on the Library that destroyed about 100 books, mostly in the library’s unique Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans section. The arsonist(s) apparently used lighter fluid as an accelerant to target the collection, the only one of its kind in the entire 81-branch public library system.

ONE branch with an LGBT section is attacked, and of the many sections in that one library, it is the LGBT one which suffered most of the damage,” said Bob Schwartz of the Gay Liberation Network, the group which initiated the protest. “Whether it’s out of laziness, incompetence or a desire to promote an overly rosy image of the city to prospective tourists, the police department’s refusal to call this a probable hate crime doesn’t help matters. Instead, it sends the message that the City doesn't take the violation of the LGBT community’s civil liberties seriously.”

“Anti-gay forces have long tried to use discriminatory legislation to intimidate people from coming out, and now they've used violence to erase our presence in the libraries as well,” said Schwartz. The Merlo Library’s Lesbian and Gay collection was featured in a substantial article in the Chicago Free Press a few months ago. The arson attack comes just a few weeks after Illinois's most active anti-gay organization, the Illinois Family Institute, led a battle to censor "objectionable" books out of the curriculum of a north suburban school district.

“After the 1998 lynching of Wyoming gay student Matthew Shepard, thousands of folks around the country held vigils highlighting the hate crime. By doing so, they dramatically increased public consciousness about the problems of anti-LGBT hate and violence. With this vigil, in a small way we are attempting to make that same kind of contribution,” said GLN’s Andy Thayer.

The Gay Liberation Network is urging community members to not only attend the vigil but, if possible, to send an additional message to the book burners by bringing a new LGBT book to donate to the library's collection. A bin to deposit the books will be available at the vigil. In the event that donated titles aren't needed by the Merlo Library, they will be donated to the Gerber Hart Library, Chicago's privately funded LGBT library.

For Information: Bob Schwartz, 773-878-3697; Andy Thayer, 773-209-1187

Visit the Gay Liberation Network online at www.gayliberation.org.

WORLDPRIDE RESPONSE TO ATTACKS BY JERUSALEM MAYOR AND LOCAL EXTREMISTS

from Hagai El-Ad, Executive Director of Jerusalem Open House, the main organizer of WorldPride

"This week an orchestrated campaign to sabotage Jerusalem WorldPride has been launched by those who propagate the fallacy that only they have a right to claim faith as their mantle. This campaign will fail, as it has in previous years; but the news that the Mayor of Jerusalem has signed a petition calling for the cancellation of WorldPride - accompanied by reports that extremist Jewish preacher Amnon Yitzhak is planning a so-called "humility march" in opposition of WorldPride - should be troubling to anyone who believes in Jerusalem as a welcoming city for all people.

The Jerusalem courts have decreed that WorldPride deserves the support of the city, and that pride is a protected form of freedom of speech. The Jerusalem public has shown its support for pride by attending it in the thousands over the past years. In addition, WorldPride is receiving the unconditional support of thousands of individuals and scores of groups around the world who will converge in Jerusalem in August to discuss and debate important issues in our community - from religion to politics to health to youth.

The truth is that WorldPride represents something that should make religious and political extremists very uncomfortable. WorldPride will be a historic and diverse international event bringing together lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied people proclaiming to the world that we too are people of faith and that we will not allow anyone to hijack our religions, our freedom or our rights.

The Jerusalem Open House looks forward to welcoming in Jerusalem thousands of our supporters this August, for a weeklong, memorable, meaningful, safe, and exiting experience - Jerusalem WorldPride 2006, commencing in 50 days on August 6."

Text of Speech

Given by Ed White

Saturday, June 10, 2006

at the PrideFest 2006 on the Square Rally in Downtown Knoxville, TN

Hello all you Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transgenderfolk and Gays! Hello all those Questioning and, last but certainly not least, our Straight Supporters, too! Hello all you beautiful, blessed people!

I was asked to speak today because I am becoming an old warrior, having fought the good fight locally since the summer of 1990; that was the year I first came out as a bisexual and found out I had a community to fight for. I am not the oldest or most experienced warrior among us, by far, but I represent, perhaps, a moment in Knoxville’s history when gay activism began to go mainstream: the birth of Knoxville Pride.

Those were heady days, but even as our local movement grew, those days were increasingly marred by a new wave of right-wing antics, from Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, to the Knox County Commission’s anti-gay resolution of 1993, a chain letter version of just one such resolution that swept county goverments across the country leading up to the ’94 mid-term election.

Some credit Gingrich’s Contract on America with the right-wing take-over of Congress that year, but the truth is, they built that winning coalition standing on our backs, using such political attacks to build their base just like today.

I continued my activism in various ways over the years, but eventually left organized LGBT activism for more of a free-lance role, most especially writing letters to editors, guest op-eds, and lobbying various reporters and editors for improved LGBT coverage. I also became an AIDS caregiver and ran quilting bees for the AIDS memorial quilt the year it last toured Knoxville,circa 1998. But the good fight left me severly burned out at the end of that decade, and I’m still struggling against that burn out today.

Only with the selection of George Bush and his validation of the right wing did I rouse myself, knowing the fight was once again on in full. I said to friends at the time that with Bush as president, at least activism would become fun again. I never thought how wrong my glib comment would be: Activism today is decidedly not “fun”! It’s exhilarating and rewarding in many ways, yes, but also scarry and often tinged with desperation.

Few here will doubt this, but we are under an extremist attack today, by some of the very people elected to represent all the citicizens of the United States. Today’s bigots – along with those who are just plain opportunists – are slicker than ever these days, too. They’ve learned the same lesson the KKK learned more than a decade ago when they took of the robes and hoods, and cleaned up their rhetoric: They stripped their soundbites and tone of all direct bashing to the point that they talk white power without hardly mentioning the races they hate.

Replay the marriage debate in Washington this week: the pro-ban side hardly uttered the words gay or lesbian, sticking to talking points carefully crafted to give the appearance that this has nothing to do with gays-and-lesbians-proper or with denigrating us. And the people who’ve coached these politicians are people like the folksy James Dobson, pretty boy all-American types like Ralph Reed and the leader of the Family Research Council Ken Connor, the latter of whom actually has past connections with white supremicists, soliciting donations from them for a Lou isiana politician he worked for early in his career.

Gays and lesbians aren't even mentioned in the wording of the gay marriage ban. Even so, you rarely hear anyone in the press or otherwise talking about the formally named "Marriage Protection Amendment". It’s hard for anyone outside of the far right to even utter the bill’s title with a straight face.

But the clear implication of this cleaned-up rhetoric is that all kinds of ultimate doom await the U.S. if those terrible gays are allowed to marry – some of them have even said they consider gay marriage the number one national security threat today - if that's not a form of gay bashing, then I don't know what is. No matter how often ban supporters speak as Bush recently did, saying that everyone "deserves to be treated with tolerance, respect and dignity," the very implication that ga ys and lesbians could harm society totally belies that sentiment.

Intentionally or not, these attacks always causes an increase in hate crimes against us.
Statistics recently release by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, whose hate crime statistics are generally considered more accurate than the FBI's, clearly show this. Hate crimes against gays and lesbians rose significantly in 2003 and 2004. That’s when Massachusetts first legalized gay marriage and the push for a ban grew louder right through the last election.

And then a funny thing happened: gay marriage dropped off the national radar in 2005 and hate crimes against gays and lesbians fell a whopping 15%. Any bets on which direction the stats will go this year?

Now, make no mistake, many of those who are uncomfortable with gay marriage are at heart good people who truly mean nobody harm. Even so, if the results of these political initiatives are increased bigotry and hate, their unintended, misguided support can't excuse them.

Even among our erstwhile supporters there are many who are culpable if bad things result this year and in the future, simply because of their inaction. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard from nominally “supportive” straight folk, “you just shouldn’t push too hard for gay rights in an election year” or even more commonly this week, “this marriage thing is so ridiculous, the best response is just to ignore it and let it go away.” We need to make these people understand: the Salemites may ultimately loose under the weight of their own idiocy and hate, but we in the LGBT community will pay a terrible price along the way without more pro-active friends on our side. We need our supporters to take every single politi cal attack to task, loudly and publically.

Remember the Edmund Burke quote, The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing.’?

People need to understand – and I really don’t think enough of them do - the larger pattern at work here, being played out on local, state and national levels. LGBTQ’s are the focus of political attacks ranging from marriage to adoption and beyond. Those against us tout so-called reparative therapy to discredit our claims to our own identities, they spend millions - MILLIONS - of federal dollars to teach kids that sex is only to be tolerated for the straight institution of marriage. Don’t be surprised if next they try to resurrect their old attempts to ban us from teaching and other professions here and there around the country. They've tried it before, they will again. This is the slippery slope that’s really important: it’s far too reminiscent of the anti-Jewish Nazi pograms for anybody’s comfort. Every time they have a success it validates and inspires further anti-gay legislation to solve the gay question, It’s a drug to these people that can only lead to the question of a final solution.

At this point I must emphasize that we have to keep things in perspective: while many of us ultimately fear genecidal consequences if the Salemites win, we are nowhere near that today. We cannot afford to become like them and allow them to polarize us into extremists ourselves, locked into LGBTQ thought-ghettoes where we are fighting the whole world just to get back at our detractors. We will only alienate possible allies that way, allies without whom we cannot possibly win.

We have to understand the issues better, too: there are serious religious freedom issues at potential loggerheads with gay marriage. It’s easy to think “so what, so long as those religious beliefs are wrong and harmful”. But any precedent limiting any religious expression, even hurtful religious expression, can have far-reaching unintended consequences. Religious liberty is a cornerstone of our society, just as much as is the need for basic fairness for persecuted minorities . We need to understand this and figure out how to minimize these risks on bo th sides of the equation.

These important deliberations seem almost impossible in the current climate, but they will never be possible if we take on the right’s “you’re either with us or against us”, winner-take-all attitude. Playing zero-sum games pits us against even some of our own in the end, and leaves no room to genuinely discuss things that should be of concern to everyone. And that’s exactly what the far right hopes we will do, become absolutists, tearing us and our broader coalitions apart.

But notice something very important. While Lesbians and Gays may statistically be the primary focus of these political attacks and the subsequent hate crime, notice a lot of media coverage of these issues: you’ll see, at some point during each story, they refer to the LGBT Community, never the “Lesbian and Gay Community”.

We are a community, whole and united more than we’ve ever been, and people are waking up to that fact. WE don’t think of gay marriage and other attacks as being against just gays and lesbians We know that if any of us are vulnerable, we are all vulnerable. It’s time the rest of society understands that if any LGBTQs are at risk, they are all just as at risk too.

We are a rainbow of difference, all made the same through our differences, sexual minorities, joined in solidarity against enemies who won’t differentiate between us if they’re ever allowed to come up with that final solution. We are transgendered, bisexual, lesbian and gay.

But we are also black and white and brown and you name it. We are urban and rural, rich, middle-class and poor, third world and first. We are Bhuddist, Jewish, Muslim and Pagan, Athiest and yes, even Christian. We are smart and not so, good and bad and in-between. We are simply everywhere, our colors are shot straight thru the fabric of humanity.

We’re here! We’re queer! And people are increasingly getting used to it. Present-day attacks notwithstanding, and understanding we can take nothing for granted, our society is finally beginning to go beyond mere tolerance and the nascent respect that grows every year.

Keep up the good fight! Don’t leave the few to do all the work of organizing, as so often is the case, this year being no exception. Come out and reach out beyond our LGBTQ enclaves to the rest of society, the only place the battle can be won. And most importantly, keep hope alive! There is no other way to succeed. One way or another, we shall indeed all overcome in the end!

Thank you for listening! BE GOOD!

I'm not Keen on Being Stoned to Death, Nor do I Know Many Lesbians who Look Good in a Burqa

an essay by James Nimmo

(Oklahoma City) What a week it's been (June 4) in Oklahoma City for gay equality!

First, the anti-gay GOPer-inspired "Marriage Protection Amendment" failed in the US Senate. Then, thanks to the efforts of the sterling efforts Cimarron Alliance Foundation and lucky timing, the Human Rights Campaign Executive Eirector Joe Solmonese and his religious side-kick, Harry Knox, were at the Mayflower Congregational Church the very next day after the Senate vote to give us a rousing pep talk and the latest low-down on the strategy of HRC to help America's gays/lesbians secure our full citizenship.

Mr. Solmonese deserves every penny he's paid--his presentation was smooth and articulate, filled with the front-row details he learns as director of America's largest-budgeted gay equality organization.

Mr. Knox is one smooth-talkin' Southern charmer able to switch immediately from the brogue of his birth to that of a skilled debater. If you weren't among the 500 or so in the audience you missed a good compendium of the gay equality fight in America.

Harry Knox is the director of the newly created religious arm of HRC which is used to provide religious viewpoints when the legislative process proves ineffective against the far-out homo-foe fundie x-tians.

As one atheist liberal, I have to ask if it's the best thing to use religion to deflect the bible-bullets our enemies direct our way. How does this help correct the ignorance which this ammunition represents? I think it's likely we'll be hit by ricocheting bullets.

Now, before you godly-pure stop reading, please take a look at this statement: I'm not opposed to anyone's observance of evolved nature worship as long as that ceremony is private, between consenting adults, and is not paid for by tax dollars, or supported by the force of law.

Sounds like sex doesn't it?

Sex is the chief fly in the fundie ointment that they're using to lubricate their way to omniscient power in civil government. That's where we same-gender-attracted folk come in.

Our private lives are the primary battering ram the homo-foes are using to demolish the First Amendment wall separating church and state policies. I don't know about you, but I'm not keen on being stoned to death by the remnants of that wall, nor do I know very many lesbians who would look good in a burqa or hajib.

Portions of religious tradition are being used to keep us gays/lesbians from full warp-and-weft inclusion in the fabric of society. Is it really such a good idea for HRC and other progressive friends to try and use other portions of religious tradition in our favor?

Don't ever underestimate the hair-splitting skill of our crafty, wily religious enemies. Whatever religious-based strategy HRC uses, it will be met serve-for-serve in the tennis tournament of opposing bible verses.

Whether used for open-minded or medieval issues, religion appeals to the emotions, which are malleable, highly reliant on circumstances, and represented by latent tribal bonds of kin vs. outsider recognition.

One can look at the broad history of America and see that the biggest dividing issues have been the Civil War of North and South in the 19th century and race accommodations between blacks and whites in the 20th century. I suggest that the 21st century dividing issue will be religious intolerance between fundamentalists and the rest of us, irrespective of sexual orientation.

This religious intolerance recedes far back in political history, but let's stop at Thomas Jefferson's time (who had his own sexual contradiction) and consider what he said about religious acceptance--"It does me no injury if my neighbor professes 20 gods or no god. It neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket."

I would like to close by thinking that the logic of jurisprudence will save our legal gay equality at the least, and our lives at the most. But the law didn't help the disembodied 2/5ths of the Indians and slaves not counted in the Constitution. It didn't help Dred Scott attain his freedom, nor did it prevent the removal of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands.

Education in the national classroom of hard knocks and experience has changed the tenor of the general American attitude towards minorities even if this does no good for the long-dead individuals in the afore-mentioned examples. It's up to us to make our case to the best of our abilities, however our circumstances may fall.

Winston Churchill said that what we learn from history is that we never learn from history. I would like to think the fight for American gay equality to be the exception to this rule.

For, after all, aren't we all exceptional?

For further consideration take a look at this New York Times article available at--

"Will Same-Sex Marriage Collide With Religious Liberty?"
http://okstonewall.org/forums/index.php?topic=677.0

James Nimmo is a Democratic Party activist in Oklahoma City and treasurer of Oklahoma Stonewall Democrats, www.okstonewall.org .

Copyright 2006, all rights reserved. Permission is granted for dispersal to any human readable outlet, provided content and attribution is kept unaltered.

Gay rights and Labor share common struggle

by Tony Pecinovsky

While the relationship between the LGBT community and the labor movement has traditionally been weak, things seem to be changing. LGBT rights organizations and trade unions are working together more and more, coordinating campaigns, running candidates and fighting for issues like domestic partner benefits and gay marriage.

Sandra Telep of Pride At Work, a constituency group for LGBT union members, says, “Unions do a lot of work with and within the LGBT community. We work behind the scenes, but don’t get
a lot of credit for the work that we do.”In fact, unions and union members have a long history of fighting for domestic partner benefits during union contract negotiations. In 1982, the Newspaper Guild, which is part of the Communications Workers union (CWA), won the first domestic partner benefits package in U.S. history. Since then unions have fought for and won domestic partner benefits in contract negotiations all across the country.

Unions are also in the forefront in the struggle for the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry. Last year, at its national convention, the AFL-CIO, the largest labor federation in the U.S., passed a resolution in support of gay marriage rights.

The resolution said in part: “The Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) [would] amend the U.S. Constitution to deny important rights to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families, such as the right to hospital visitation, inheritance, and health care rights for partners.”

According to the AFL-CIO, right-wing attempts to define marriage as a “union between man and woman” through the FMA only serve to divide and weaken the movement for economic and social justice.

Also at the AFL-CIO convention, Nancy Wohlforth, co-president of Pride At Work and secretary treasurer of the Office and Professional Employees International Union, was elected to the federation’s executive committee. Wohlforth, a founding member of the San Francisco-based Lesbian and Gay Labor Alliance, is the first openly lesbian or gay person to serve on the AFL-CIO executive committee.

Most recently, the Service Employees International Union, with 1.8 million members, sharply criticized the U.S. vote to ban LGBT rights groups from the United Nations.

“The U.S. joined some of the world’s most oppressive regimes in backing a United Nations initiative to silence advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality,” said Andy Stern, president of SEIU.

“All over the country unions are building successful coalitions with LGBT rights organizations like the Human Rights Campaign,” said Telep. “And in many cases unions and LGBT rights coalitions help Pride At Work chapters form.” Currently there are fourteen Pride At Work chapters across the country.

While union leaders support LGBT rights out of a sense of justice and civil rights, that’s not the only reason. They also support LGBT rights out of self-interest. The same organizations that attack LGBT rights, organizations like Focus on the Family and Exodus International, also attack unions.

For example, Focus on the Family, the largest right-wing religious organization in the U.S., finances and supports anti-union “paycheck protection” bills. These bills require unions to obtain written permission from each member before spending union money on political purposes like lobbying for pro-union legislation, communicating with and mobilizing members, and paying expenses for union political action committees. “Paycheck protection” would weaken the labor movement and create unnecessary bureaucracy and red tape in an environment where business already outspends unions 10 to 1.

Said Telep, “The LGBT rights movement and the trade unions have a common enemy. Which is another reason why the labor movement has worked so hard to support LGBT rights.”

While there is a long history of unions fighting for LGBT rights, a lot more work needs to be done. Union members are not one hegemonic group. There are many different political trends and tendencies within the union movement. And unfortunately, some union members are wary of LGBT rights organizations and have fallen victim to right-wing attempts to divide the union vote with wedge issues like gay marriage.

After the AFL-CIO resolution was announced some union members sent letters of protest to the federation leadership. Others complained about union money being used to fund LGBT rights initiatives and organizations, as well as LGBT candidates in electoral races. Others union members actively campaigned against gay marriage.

Overall, though, the organized labor movement — with its combined 13 million members, resources and infrastructure — is moving in the right direction and expanding its field of work to include LGBT rights.

Tony Pecinovsky (tonypec@pww.org) is the district staff person for the Communist Party in Missouri and Kansas. This article was originally written for the Vital Voice, a St. Louis-area gay and lesbian rights bi-weekly.

Visit People's Weekly World online at www.pww.0rg.

Statement by
Judy & Dennis Shepard

Opposing the Federal Marriage Amendment



"Anyone that believes that the hatred behind this amendment is any different than the hatred that was the cause of our son's murder is fooling themselves and doesn't understand what is happening every day in our society."

After viewing the President's press conference on Monday and the Senate debate the past two (2) days regarding the so-called "Marriage Protection Amendment", we feel compelled to respond to those who would write discrimination into the Constitution.

It was hatred directed towards the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community that personally harmed our family and took away our son, Matthew, not the love and commitment expressed each and every day between same-sex couples. Love is the foundation for marriage, not a threat to it. That love should be celebrated by society, not diminished. The love and strength of the GLBT community and their allies that helped us significantly during the difficult times of the past seven (7) years now sustains us and encourages us to continue the fight for GLBT rights. As a society, we should encourage and support our fellow man as the GLBT community has done for our family.

It saddens us that the President and Senate Majority Leadership, in the guise of protecting the institution of marriage, are using the lives and jeopardizing the futures of GLBT individuals and their families for political gain leading up to the 2006 mid-term elections. In their opinion, marriage between a man and a woman needs to be protected or the world as they know it will collapse along with modern society. It ain't so. During the course of our 33-year marriage, the only time our family has needed protection is when hatred and discrimination took the life of our son Matthew.

This is the same type of regressive thinking that led to prohibition (which failed and the Constitutional amendment was repealed) and racial discrimination and segregation (which also failed). Will modern civilization disappear if same sex marriages are recognized as having the same equal rights as those of opposite sex marriages? Only in the closed minds of those currently in political power, especially the older generation, who think it is their duty and God-given right to tell the younger generation what is right and what is wrong; only in the closed minds of those in political power who are worried about the fact that the 'younger generation' is more open-minded and accepting of diversity of all kinds, including same-sex marriage; only in the closed minds of those in political power who are worried about losing an election over other domestic and international policy failures; and only in the closed minds of those fundamentalist church groups who are attempting to purchase a Constitutional amendment through political votes and donations to justify their existence. As far as the President and Senate Majority Leadership are concerned, it's okay to take away the rights of a significant portion of taxpaying, law abiding, God-fearing Americans, as long as it isn't them losing those rights, privileges, and, possibly, families.

Since when is it wrong for a gay American to want to fight for, and protect, the country of birth by serving in the military? Where is the threat to our family and the families of other Americans? Our biggest threats come from an ineffective President and Senate Majority Leadership that can't conclude a war, can't improve the current state of the educational system, can't provide decent health care for every American, can't reform the Social Security and Medicare system to prevent them from going broke, can't protect our borders, can't reduce the debt, and can't bring back the world-wide goodwill, integrity, and reputation that America held before the second Gulf War.

Everything is a 'can't' so the obvious solution to these problems is to focus on an issue that half the country believes is a non-issue.- gay marriage. Why? It turns attention away from the real problems and keeps the religious right happy that something is going to be done. It's so obvious that an Amendment will not pass. But it allows the President and Senate Majority Leadership a so-called 'photo-op' - an opportunity to put on a public display of good intentions, letting them pretend to do what is good for America in order to reach for those all important votes and donations,

Anyone who believes the hatred behind this amendment is any different than the hatred that led to our son's murder is fooling themselves and doesn't understand what is happening every day in our society. Instead of trying to enshrine discrimination into the U.S. Constitution for a threat that does not exist, let's spend the time more wisely by building and supporting rights for all citizens to work, play, marry, raise families and live in a country that was founded on the proposition that all citizens are accorded equal rights.

Judy & Dennis Shepard are the parents of Matthew Shepard, who was killed in an anti-gay hate crime in Wyoming in 1998. Matthew's death touched the hearts and souls of millions across this country and ignited a media focus on the issue of hate in our society. The Matthew Shepard Foundation, founded by Judy & Dennis shortly after Matthew's death, seeks to "Replace Hate with Understanding, Compassion & Acceptance" through its varied educational programs and by continuing to tell Matthew's story. For more information, please visit www.MatthewShepard.org.

This statement has been published with the express permission of Judy and Dennis Shepherd's representatives.

Stonewall Dems labeled "radical" by Elizabeth Dole


I got an unbelievable press release in my email this morning. These folks have really gone off the deep end on this one. In my dealings with the Stonewall Democrats, I can honestly say that the people in the organization, from professional organizers to grassroots activists, are sober, serious, moderate-thinking people. To call them "radical" is to pander to the rising tide of Christian Nationalists who are taking our country by storm.

They completely own the Republican Party. I hope the Democrats don't cave in to their underhanded and completely transparent tactics. Ted Kennedy said it well, "A vote for this amendment is a vote for bigotry pure and simple." That gives me some hope, however I have not forgotten that it was President William Jefferson Clinton who signed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.

Here's the press release:

NRSC Issues Desperate Attack Against Stonewall Democrats
Committee Headed by Elizabeth Dole Lables Stonewall a "Radical Gay Group"
- Rick Santorum Sends Campaign Staff to Videotape Stonewall Members at Convention -

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Washington, DC - Today, National Stonewall Democrats released the following attack piece the organization received shortly after it was issued last Friday by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). The committee, tasked with electing Republicans to the United States Senate, is chaired by Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole (NC). The following attack - sent to the entire NRSC press list - demonstrates a deep desperation on the part of congressional Republicans who face increasing charges of corruption and a rejection by voters at the ballot box this November.

The attack was released on Friday, June 2 - the opening day of the 2006 Stonewall Democrats National Convention in Pittsburgh. In addition to this attack piece, National Stonewall Democrats removed a employee of Rick Santorum's reelection campaign from the convention's opening reception after he was discovered secretly videotaping the evening's remarks and Stonewall members from across the country.

---

NRSC PRESS RELEASE
The National Republican Senatorial Committee
Elizabeth Dole, Chair

For Immediate Release:
Friday, June 2, 2006
Contact: Dan Ronayne (202) XXX-XXXX

ON EVE OF SENATE GAY MARRIAGE VOTE, "SILENT BOB" HIDES BEHIND HOWARD DEAN

DNC Chair To Stand In For Silent Bob in Pittsburgh With The National Stonewall Democrats, A Radical Gay Group Backing Bob Casey, Jr.

WASHINGTON--The NRSC released the following statement regarding Howard Dean's appearance in Pittsburgh before the gay rights group the "Stonewall Democrats" this Saturday in Pittsburgh.

"As the Senate prepares to vote on The Federal Marriage Amendment, Silent Bob is ducking an appearance before a gay rights group. The fact that Casey Jr. is having Howard Dean stand in for him speaks volumes about his political courage. When given a chance to stand up for something, Casey Jr. comes up empty again," said Dan Ronayne, NRSC Spokesman. On June 5, 2006, The "Senate Meets At 2 PM To Resume Consideration Of The Motion To Proceed To S.J.Res.1, The 'Marriage Protection Amendment.'" (FNS Daybook, June 5, 2006)

DNC Chair Howard Dean Is Scheduled To Attend The National Stonewall Democrat Convention This Saturday In Pittsburgh. (National Stonewall Democrats Website, http://www.stonewalldemocrats.org/convsched/, Accessed June 1, 2006)

THE STONEWALL DEMOCRATS SUPPORT "MARRIAGE EQUALITY" FOR HOMOSEXUALS AND BACK BOB CASEY, JR. FOR U.S. SENATE

"The National Stonewall Democrats Support Full Marriage Equality For Same-Sex Families." (Eric Stern, National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director, Op-Ed, "Marriage: An Equal Responsibility," May 2005)

"U.S. Senate Candidate Bob Casey Has Won The Unanimous Endorsement Of The Capital Region Stonewall Democrats, The Harrisburg Area's Largest Political Organization Of LGBT Democrats And Straight Allies." (Capital Region Stonewall Democrats, Press Release, "Casey Gains Gay Endorsement," May 11, 2006)

And The National Stonewall Democrats' Convention Poster Features Pictures Of Senator Santorum And Says, "Pittsburgh: Where Warhol Began His Career, Where Democrats Will Help Rick Santorum End His." (National Stonewall Democrats Website, http://www.stonewalldemocrats.org/convention/, June 1, 2006)

Paid for by the National Republican Senatorial Committee and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. www.gopsenators.com
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National Stonewall Democrats is the only national organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Democrats, with more than 90 local chapters across the nation. NSD is committed to working through the Democratic Party to advance the rights of all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Find out more at www.stonewalldemocrats.org.

Ambassador Victor Ashe

Ashe may be gay, certainly not open

The blogosphere erupted with posts about W's sexual proclivities yesterday. The only reason I noticed such banter relates to the naming of Victor Ashe as Bush's long time lover. While I would not venture to say whether or not Bush and Ashe have had any sort of sexual relationship, I can say this: the blogs that heralded Ashe as "openly gay" were dead wrong.

Ashe, ambassador to Poland since Jjune 23, 2004, was the mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, for 16 years. I am a resident of that East Tennessee 'burg. As a result, I had the opportunity to observe Mr. Ashe as he conducted the business of the city over the years. I can assure you that he was not openly gay. He would have been ridden out of town on a rail if he had publicly disclosed a gay sexual orientation. After all, this is East Tennessee, home of some of the nation's most strident Christian Nationalists.

During his tenure as Mayor of Knoxville, Mr. Ashe dutifully produced wife and children at most any event or occasion requring family presence. As for what he does in his bedroom, I have not a clue, but I do know that if he is indeed gay, as the speculation both local, national, and now international supposes, he kept his secret well, at least in public.

White House photo by Paul Morse

Bush preaches gospel of division in weekly radio address

Constitutional amendment seen as instant solution to marriage equality "problem"

Georgie-porgie is at it again. In his weekly radio address to the nation, he outlines his plan to damage our Constitution as he plunders forward in an attempt to be the first President in the history of the United States to advocate an amendment that reduces the civil rights of a minority group. From his Saturday 6/3/2006 radio address:

On Monday, I will meet with a coalition of community leaders, constitutional scholars, family and civic organizations, and religious leaders. They're Republicans, Democrats, and independents who've come together to support this amendment. Today, I want to explain why I support the Marriage Protection Amendment, and why I'm urging Congress to pass it and send it to the states for ratification.

So what do all these diverse people have in common? I think I know. I think we all know. And if we do, we must step up and move forward in resistance to the rising tide of bigotry before those who would codify hate into law restrict the liberty of the American people past the point of no return.

Having a go at the Constitution to fend off those horrible people that think LGBT citizens should have equal civil rights with other Americans is applauded on every televangelist program on earth. On the 1400 programs and networks that exist internationally, they hawk the way to righteousness regardless of the bloodletting it may cause. Why, the very thought of full citizenship for LGBT folks just makes a respectable Christian Nationalist shudder!

I am reading a book that I would highly recommend to anyone who is concerned about the sharp right turn our country has taken. "Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism" by Michelle Goldberg, senior political writer for Salon is absolutely delicious. Her thorough research and articulate rendering of what could be a very dry read carries the reader along as she points to the intricate details of the Christian Nationalist movement. I haven't read it all just yet, but I have seen enough to highly recommend her book.

At this point, I must note that Michelle does not capitalize the "N" in Christian Nationalism. I suppose it makes it *way* obvious that there are similarities to another, now thankfully dead, party - National Socialism. I am deliberately capitalizing the "N" in Christian Nationalism. Goldberg does not dos so in her book. I guess I fee the obvious analogy is valid. At least Fritz Stern thinks it is, and I'm not sure there is anyone who could address that issue better than Dr. Stern.

I'm also reading chunks of Stern's "Politics of Despair." It was written in the mid-60s and is a bit on the dry side. However the dazzling insights into our current political clime demand that this particular tome be given at least a general once-over by any respectable progressive or moderate in search of understanding the events now taking place on the national and international scene. Stern takes you step by step into an analysis of the psychosocial building blocks that formed the platform upon which German National Socialism blossomed in pre-World War II Germany. It is critical that we study this process in order to prevent repeating the horrors of the end result of that regime.

I must admit to being primed for these two current reads by "With God on Their Side" by Esther Kaplan. If you haven't read this one yet, read it first. It will help prepare you for Goldberg's conclusions, sobering as they are.

Evidence of atrocities mounts

24 innocent civilians murdered by US Marines

I am sick to death of this carnage. This bloody battle that has no end and takes innocent civilian lives is a blight on the history of this country. We have a bloody and terrible history starting with the Nations that were desecrated as the Europeans "settled" in land that was not theirs.

Abraham Lincoln ordered the execution of Native sons on the same day that he "freed" the slaves that built New York City and many other altars to white men's lust for wealth and power. The blood of the African slaves who died on the boats after they were kidnapped, who died from diseases that were foreign to their immune systems, that died from malnutrition, exposure, and just plain exhaustion moves me to write something, anything, to cry out against this madness.

The bloodletting that brought these and many other stains on our nation's past should be just that - the past. But My Lai has been revisited in Haditha, and the death march drones on, unencumbered by such niceties as the Geneva Convention. Aggreessive war and disdain for human lives becomes a part of our existence once again, as it did during the Vietnam War of my childhood.

We have learned nothing.

As I turned my TV on to "Nightline" as is my custom every night as I prepare for another night's rest, the scenes shown echoed those that one might see on "American Justice" or other forensic fare. The blood spatter, the howls of grief, the bodies, the destruction - all weigh heavily on my psyche as I identify with the victims and their families. Human beings, flesh and blood innocents who did nothing to deserve this horrible end.

Have we lost all sense of humanity? Are we headed for a future that only values human life *before* birth?

I am sick and tired, despondent at the prospect that there may be nothing we can do, at least not at this moment. The leadership vacuum has never been so obvious as it has now. Hindsight of Marine Generals notwithstanding, I burn a candle this night for the people who are victimized by the war on Iraq.

Police retried for charges related to immigrant traffic stop

This story hasn't been given much attention on the airwaves. I read it in the Knoxville News-Sentinel's e-version this morning. Depending on who you believe, it appears that two Newport policemen,Sgts. James W. Roach Jr. and Patrick Sheldon, harassed and stole hundreds of dollars from two immigrants, Wilder Gomez Roblero and Marcos Mijia Vasques, after an undocumented stop that the policemen deny.

I'm having a problem reading the News-Sentinel's version of this story. The bias is written all over this article. The crime victims names were in the very first sentence. The defendants names are not mentioned until the end of the third paragraph.

Apparently these guys were tried for the theft in Cocke County and were acquitted of any wrongdoing. Those charges were felonies. They are now standing trial on misdemeanor charges of violating the victims' civil rights.

Golly gee, ya think they may get acquitted again?

It's time for the Feds to step in on this one.

Libby sings, reveals Bush and Cheney gave order to leak

Now that we know for certain that the Bush/Cheney cartel ordered Valerie Plame's exposure as an undercover CIA operative, where's the beef? When are we going to see the impeachment hearings start? Censure? That is just too little, too late.

The last time I checked TREASON is a capital offense. Surely we can get a least a little slap on the wrist of these two bigwigs for committing *treason*. Yes, I know...they probably have some lame excuse that everyone, including all mainstream medai outlets, will accept as gospel.

If the Democrats don't move on this, and there are myriad ways they can do so even if they are the minority party in both Houses of Congress, they are dead in the water as a viable party. PERIOD.

Even the most naive among us knows that exposing the identity of an American spy, who could be killed while trying to obtain intelligence to *help* our nation, is wrong morally, legally, ethically - *every* way.

Such is life in a Christian Fascist nation.

It's high noon in Cocke County

Well it looks like it's the wild, wild west in Schmutzer country. WATE is running an AP story outlining the facts surrounding an apparent abundance of "rights restoration" going on for felons on the Cocke County circuit.

I hate to tell them this, but this is hardly news. This is status quo and has been since I was a child, and I am no spring chicken.

The corruption runs deep in East Tennessee, The common folks here know it, but have no way to mow down the multitude of barriers between the citizenry and the light of day.

Ho hum.

Focus on the Family hawks "ex-gay" film

Mailing list subscribers to the Focus on the Family's action alert listserv were treated to a "3-day special offer" this morning. The smutty propaganda flick offered for your viewing pleasure is "on sale" from now until Monday. Oh, joy! I'm rushing right now to get my credit card to make an online purchase...no...I think I'll get one for Aunt Sally, too.

Could it be that they are having a hard time moving this particular piece of merchandise? Is it possible that the majority of Americans are wising up to their fascist ways and are simply sick of their hatemongering? Or is this part of a concerted effort to goosestep their way into American living rooms with a message of hate and injustice? Could it be all of the above?

Whatever their motivation, it is truly a credit to the sterling value of freedom of speech in the United States of America.

I guess.

JUST IN FROM PLANNED PARENTHOOD -



Guttmacher Institute Study Documents Major Lags In Contraceptive Access Across the Nation

Planned Parenthood Calls on Legislators to Adopt Sound Public Health Policies

February 28, 2006 — Reacting to a newly released Guttmacher Institute ranking of state-level efforts to ensure access to family planning, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) today called on state legislators to adopt policies that support family planning services and ensure access to contraception. Such policies, PPFA noted, would reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion. The Guttmacher study ranked Nebraska, North Dakota, Indiana, Ohio, and Utah lowest among the 50 states, finding they lag significantly in providing adequate access to contraceptive services.

“Access to family planning promotes healthy families, in which children are wanted and loved. It enables people to decide responsibly when to become parents — that is why funding for family planning is so important,” said PPFA President Cecile Richards. “Unfortunately, too many states fail women and their communities by contributing to the number of unintended pregnancies by enacting policies that hinder access to contraception.”

The independent Guttmacher study assessed each state’s commitment to helping women avoid unintended pregnancy by measuring access to contraception; laws and policies that either facilitate or hinder access to birth control and family planning information; and public funding for family planning and services between 1994 and 2001.

The report cites several states, including Alaska, California, Louisiana, Oregon, and South Carolina, that have made the most progress. PPFA applauded states that commit resources to family planning to ensure women have access to contraception and the information they need to use it correctly. Contraception is basic health care used by ninety-eight percent of American women during their lifetimes.

Nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned. Pregnancies can occur when birth control methods fail or are used improperly, inconsistently, or not at all.

Numerous studies show that improved contraceptive access and availability would reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion. With more than 850 affiliate health centers nationwide, Planned Parenthood is committed to working to ensure access to family planning and other reproductive health services for all who need it.

To find out where your state ranks, please visit www.guttmacher.org.

OUTRAGE in South Dakota

Legislators pass abortion ban

The international mainstream press is awash in coverage of the abomination that is occurring in South Dakota. The Boston Herald, the Australian Broadcasting Company, and the Hartford Courant top the list when I Google for articles related to the South Dakota legislature's passage of an outright ban on abortion.

We have stepped back in time and are going headlong down a slippery slope of restrictions on women's reproductive freedoms that I never expected to see in my lifetime. I grossly underestimated the forces that surrounded me in my childhood here in East Tennessee in a small town completely dominated by two Southern Baptist churches. I thought that after I left and moved to live in other areas of the country that I had left behind the misery that the imposition of their rigid lifestyle imposes on everyone in the community.

I feel as if I am awakening now to a nightmare in my 50s in which that same emotional and cultural straitjacket that was the burden of my childhood and adolescence is suddenly going to be imposed on the entire country. This is an outrage.

Do I hear the drumbeat of fascism closing in? Will our freedoms erode so slowly that there is no real resistance? Is there an echo in the room that originated in Europe in the 30s?

I do not believe I am overreacting.

The thought of incest and rape victims forced into pregnancies brought on by the rampant violence against women in our country moves me to rage and action. We must stop this monster before it consumes our reproductive freedom from border to border and coast to coast. The ethnocentric bigots who are pushing these bonds of reproductive slavery on the women of the United States need to know that we will not submit without an all-consuming struggle.

While we have been complacent in our professional services that stand in for political movements these days, we have allowed the opposing forces to move ahead incrementally until we have arrived at this scenario in South Dakota. We need to fire the social workers and the grant writers and get some activists with fire in their bellies to move this movement forward in the tradition of Alice Paul and others like her who would stand in the rain and the cold enduring all manner of cruelty, knowing that women's lives were at stake.

Women's lives are at stake now. Where are the women and supportive men with fire in their bellies? We need you now.

Prepare for the battle in your state. It is coming.

www.naral.org

Schmutzer-style justice once again in Grainger County

THP officer receives probation for hospitalizing girlfriend

It seems that some things never change. I've had a real jolt of that reality lately coming from the 4th District, the perview of District Attorney General Al Schmutzer for the last 30 years. Coming on the heels of the dismissal of charges against Chris Willingham, accused of first degree murder in the death of his business partner, Shane Bacon. The two previously co-owned Monster Audio in Sevierville.

The charges were dismissed by Judge Jon Blackwood after the prosecution's case rested and in response to the usually ho-hum defense motion to dismiss. The victim's family and many locals were stunned by this.

The judge and the prosecutor, Jerry Harris, were from Memphis. How does a judge from Memphis wind up hearing a Sevierville murder case? The judge who would normally hear such a case, Henry Rex Ogle, recused himself citing his mother's death as cause for removing himself from the case.

There were more lawyers running from this case than you can shake a stick at - as my Concord-born grandmother would say.

In addition to Ogle, District Attorney General Al Schmutzer also recused himself. He said that the victim's family had ill feelings toward him.

Then they put the burden of trying this case on District Attorney Pro Tempore Joseph Baugh who became so ill late last June that they had to find someone else to try the case. That's when Harris was drafted to the team.

Of course, the presence of James A. H. Bell as the primary criminal defense attorney had nothing whatsoever to do with all these good fellows hightailing it for the hills.

Sevier County is one of four counties in the 4th District. Jefferson, Cocke, and Grainger round out this lovely quartet.

So yesterday we got the wonderful news that a former Tennessee Highway Patrol officer, Mike Cameron, who beat his girlfriend so badly that she was hospitalized is getting probation for this serious crime. Yes, his girlfriend subsequently married him (and he was summarily fired for marrying her,) but that should not be a factor in the decision regarding the appropriate punishment for this crime.

This is hardly the first time Cameron beat this woman. In fact, he beat her six officially recorded times and Goddess-only-knows how many others that were not officially recorded. That the woman is at his side is no indication whatsoever that he deserves any sort of treatment one way or another, yet the presiding judge cites that as one of the factors considered in rendering his judgment in this case. Has Judge Ben Hooper been in a cave for the last 30 years? Is he really unaware that appeasement of the perpetrator is textbook battered women's syndrome?

So why, you ask, was this sentence given to this beast who beat his own "loved one" with his official THP-issued stick? Why did he only get a year's probation?

That's not all. If he is a good boy, he is eligible to have his record expunged completely at the end of his probationary period..

I think I'm going to be sick.

Knox Dems, others challenging Repubs on August 2006 ballot

Swann, Jenkins, Collins face opposition

Georgiana Vines of the Knoxville News-Sentinel offered up a juicy column recently detailing the Election Commission filings for possible political races for the coming year.

Three of those races leap out at me as deserving of immediate comment.

It appears that the judge who believes that women seek orders of protection “for entertainment” will be facing some opposition come August 2006.

First elected to his post on the Fourth Circuit bench in 1982, Judge Bill Swann has faced no opposition since then. This Ivy League-educated judge will be facing opposition from a couple of opponents including one that he ordered permanently out of his court after learning of his plans to run against him. That move earned him some well-deserved censure from the State Court of Appeals who reversed his order, allowing the opponent to return to Swann’s court to practice.

That opponent, David C. Lee, of the Lee, Lee & Lee law firm, will take on the current judge next August. This Vanderbilt educated attorney took his J.D. in Florida at Stetson University.

Swann has been known to offer orders of protection along with hollow reassurance regarding the actual threat of physical violence and his opinion that the ruling was not reality based, but rather was offered to “help.” He has been demeaning and dismissive of many women who have appeared before him, and it would serve the 4th District well to dust off his seat to make way for new blood.

Perhaps he would like to move his office to UT-K and teach German as he did at both Yale and Brown Universities before deigning to come to Knoxville to “go slumming” as the 4th Circuit Court judge.

Instead of speaking German, Lee apparently prefers Russian. I don’t care what other languages he speaks as long as he can bring a sense of fairness and genuine concern to our family court.

The other opponent, Jeff McKenzie may be a fellow who has spent time in Washington working in the offices of Representative Jimmy Duncan (R-TN.) We certainly will need to know more about him and how he would see his role as jurist if he were to ascend to the 4th Circuit bench.

The women and children of Knox County deserve much better than the melee that currently passes as “order of protection day” at the City-County Building. For those who have not witnessed this grand event, I would invite you to go see for yourself the circumstances domestic violence victims endure in their quest for protection against those who would assault, stalk, and murder them. You can go to the City-County Building on any Thursday that is not a holiday. The lines are outrageously long, and the atmosphere is less than supportive.

The statistics show that the women who are courageous enough to seek an order of protection or exhibit other distancing behaviors risk their lives to do so. Over and over statistics indicate that the most dangerous thing a battered woman can do is leave the batterer. She should not have to be treated like some sort of bovine equivalent, left to stand in long lines to fill out forms, then have her concerns minimized or outright dismissed by a judge who may have been a good judge at one time, but is no longer a credit to the good people of Knox County. There has to be a better way to address the important problems these women and their children face.

Vines also points out that Criminal Court Judge Ray Lee Jenkins is up for reelection. His Republican cohorts are not challenging the long-time judge, however she does point out that a Democrat, Ken Irvine is tossing his hat into the ring. This defense attorney has been, according to Vines, an assistant public defender since 2004. His previous association (current?) is with Eldridge, Irvine, and Gaines. He also heads up the Tennessee Innocence Project.

From their Web site:

The Innocence Project at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, founded by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld in 1992, is a non-profit legal clinic and
criminal justice resource center. We work to exonerate the wrongfully convicted through postconviction DNA testing; and develop and implement reforms to prevent wrongful convictions. This Project only handles cases where postconviction DNA testing can yield conclusive proof of innocence

Whatever your political bent may be, it seems to me that this is a genuinely good cause. Kudos to Mr. Irvine for his involvement in this worthy endeavor.

I also note with interest that Mark Harmon, UT-K Associate Professor of Journalism and Electronic Media and local liberal talk show host, will oppose David Collins for his District 2A seat on the Knox County Commission. Harmon's show, Left Turn, airs weekly on NewsTalk 100 WNOX FM 100.3 from 3:00 to 4:00 pm on Saturdays. Dr. Harmon is active in the local Democratic Party and deserves the support of the moderate and left-leaning folks interested in this race. The Knox County Commission is heavily weighted to the right. More balance and diversity should definitely be on the agenda for this governing body.

Anti-gay Tennessee lawmaker targets home town paper

Bradley News Weekly editor threatened by Rep. Jeff Miller

Tennessee State lawmaker Jeff Miller has hurled fighting words in the face of the Bradley News Weekly's editor Barry Graham. The Washington Post has picked up the story, and folks in Cleveland are talking about a threatening letter intended to scare away the weekly paper's advertisers.

The article quotes the publisher, Susan Shelton, who denies any reduction their advertising accounts.

Barry Graham, the paper's editor, is making waves in Cleveland. The soft-spoken Scotsman, who moved here from points further south, has a clarity of purpose with regard to the whole situation. His obvious disdain for the legislator who touts "family values" while he brings his Nashville girlfriend home to Cleveland with him to sign divorce papers is absolutely refreshing.

We need more Barry Graham's in East Tennessee. After all, this valley was originally settled by Scot-Irish. My ancestors came from that stock. Of course, the rest of the family was here waiting for them when they crossed Cumberland Gap. Maybe we need some more new blood in this valley. Unfortunately every time we get folks like Barry Graham or the myriad others I have known in the last 25 years since I came home from my wanderings in the West, the good ones take in the social climate and hightail it for parts unknown.

Perhaps they just run to the blue states where they can breate a little easier and relax in the knowledge that no one will threaten them because they tell the truth.

ACLU fights for equal time for reproductive freedom in Tennessee

License plates now give one-sided viewpoint

CINCINNATI - The American Civil Liberties Union today asked the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a lower court ruling blocking an anti-abortion specialty license plate in Tennessee, saying that the plate discriminates against opposing viewpoints.

“When the state of Tennessee approved an anti-abortion license plate and failed to do the same for a pro-choice plate, it effectively cut off public discussion,” said Julie Sternberg, Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, who argued the case today before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. “The lower court made clear that the state cannot open up a forum for public debate on abortion without allowing both sides an equal opportunity to express their position. We are hopeful that the appeals court will do the same.”

The law in question makes a “Choose Life” license plate available to motorists for an annual fee of $35 over and above the basic costs of registering a car in the state. Fifty percent of all funds raised, after expenses, go to a private anti-choice organization called New Life Resources. The legislature twice rejected an amendment that would have authorized a “Pro Choice” specialty plate.

On September 24, 2004, a federal district court blocked the state from distributing “Choose Life” plates, saying that the state’s sponsorship of such plates constitutes viewpoint discrimination. The state appealed the case to the Sixth Circuit.

“The real issue at the heart of this case is free speech,” said Hedy Weinberg, Executive Director of the ACLU of Tennessee. “This is not about being on one side or the other of the abortion debate. It is about being on the side of free speech for all.”

Plaintiffs in the case include the ACLU of Tennessee, Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee, Inc., and three individuals. Lawyers on the case include Sternberg and Carrie Flaxman with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project; Roger Evans and Donna Lee of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America; and Susan L. Kay, the ACLU of Tennessee Legal Committee Chair.

The case, ACLU of Tennessee v. Bredesen, #03-1046.