JUNE 9, 1995 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE
11
COMMUNITY GROUPS
Our churches and synagogues must respond to the Coalition
by Judy Byrd
In case you missed it, or heard about it and thought it had no application to your personal life, a take on one of many historic press conferences lately is in order.
On May 18, Ralph Reed, child prodigy and darling of the Extreme Right, held a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., together with 40 state leaders of the Christian Coalition and a number of Congressmen to present the new "Contract with the American Family." Reed, the director of the coalition, is the man who gave his operatives instruction and training for "stealth" candidacies to school boards across the
passage of their proposed legislation.
The first one he mentioned by name was the Traditional Values Coalition. TVA is Lou Sheldon's organization stridently opposed to abortion and all civil rights for gays. Sheldon is getting lots of pats on the head and attention in the halls of Congress for his extremist views and assistance from his network of 31,000 churches. It's been said that Newt Gingrich has promised his ear on the issue of federal funding to schools that offer programs "promoting homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle."
STONEWALL
country, but before the election accidentally shot his mouth off to a reporter about it.
According to Reed, the ten-point document "is a blueprint for how to address the most pressing issues facing America-the fraying of the social fabric, the coarsening of the culture, the breakup of the family, and the decline in civility. . . Our purpose is not to legislate family values, it is to ensure that Washington values families."
"The economic and the cultural issues are a seamless web, and part of our broad agenda of limiting government is to turn power back to parents and families and local schools," Reed continued.
I'll not repeat the ten points here, as you can find them in many newspapers and magazines, or in bookstores soon. Although Reed said, "These are the ten suggestions, not the ten commandments,” he also let newly-elected Republican congressional members and the country know that the Christian Coalition, with this set of demands, is calling in the debts owed for their participation and expenditures for the Republican sweep last year. He also said that after these points have been considered, they will be back with the next list.
Do you see yourself in here yet? The $1 million spent by the Christian Coalition gives them, according to Ralph Reed, “a step in gaining a voice in cultural issues such as crime, pornography, and encouraging adoption." Their new Contract is a "public policy document, not a theological statement . . . a reasonable mainstream approach on a cultural agenda for Congress."
Reed said that they will not do to the Republicans what the "unions, feminists, and gay lobbies did to Bill Clinton when he took office, by presenting unreasonable demands and the extremist agenda, which forced the administration out of the mainstream, from which the administration has never recovered."
They are, however, just going to spend $2 million on ads, mailings, and so forth, including sending out 5 to 10 million petitions and postcards to pressure Congress on this newly presented agenda.
And yes, Ralph Reed thanked other friends and organizations for their assistance in the elections past and for their commitment to
AKRON
As fans lined up, Phil Gramm agreed that efforts to "dictate culture in America" should be defunded. Newt Gingrich said that 70 to 75 percent of the public agrees with these items, and that he commits to bringing all this legislation to the House floor. Senator Dan Coats, R-Ind., said that social policy should be on the front lines, not the sidelines of political debate. Rep. Mike Parker, D-Miss., will present a bill which would permit use of corporal punishment by parents, and judicial review of the relationship between governmental agencies and parents.
And two of our own representatives from Ohio lined up to chant along. John Boehner said, "We must deal with the moral crisis in this country, and that this agenda is a step toward the American dream."
John Kasich said that the "culture has slipped," and we've had a collapse of the family, and that we must return to the values of a Judeo-Christian society, knowing right values from wrong values.
When a reporter asked Reed if any Jewish organizations had joined with their efforts, he said no, but that he had run into a Jewish lobbyist who had promised to look for some.
As details and the text-of the Contract "on" the American family unfold before our eyes, and as various personalities of the Extreme Right continue to push for introduction of these legislative goals, it will become even more apparent that among their targets are those of us in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered community.
Following the Reed press conference was one held by other religious folks who are clearly opposed to the political agenda of the Christian Coalition in its "Contract with the American Family.” Fourteen representatives of a wide range of mainstream religions stood clearly in opposition to agenda items such as the "religious equality" constitutional amendment or the audacity of the Christian Coalition claims to represent all moral and religious people.
Among the groups represented were the American Jewish Congress, the Presbyterian Church USA; the Episcopal Church of America; the United Methodist Church; Reform Judaism; the American Baptist Churches, USA; the Church of the Bretheren; the American Ethical Union (Humanists); Friends Committee on National Legislation; the Interfaith
Alliance (35 groups); and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Several of the religious leaders talked of how members of their sects had come to America to escape religious persecution. Others addressed the desire of the Christian Coalition and their friends to "build a wall and make all of us live inside it," and the Coalition concepts which mean a "Just Us" society.
Do not believe the rhetoric and charges that "Christians" are a persecuted minority-they have faced none of the discrimination or persecution that many of the rest will in actuality suffer if these agenda items are passed-and when they come back with the next list of demands.
If you see your denomination listed above, and you haven't spoken to your rabbi or minister for a while, maybe a call or visit would be appropriate. These struggles will not be won or lost only in the Capitol. Religious leaders, like politicians, need to be able to put faces with names of their congregants and parishioners— and of those who long ago left the church or synagogue.
COMMITMENT Vows
I perform ceremonies outside the traditional fold with sincere respect for each couple who love, honor & cherish each other.
Please call Rev. Renee Goodman 216/247-2772
They need to know that the struggle for dignity and pluralism goes on in the heartland of America, too. Whether you've had an abortion, you are gay and want the blessing of your church for your loving relationship, you've been battered, you've gone hungry, your religious leaders should know that the claims of evil, laziness, or immorality by the Christian Coalition and the extremists are wrong.
Has your denomination stepped beyond Saturday night or Sunday morning services? ♡
Judy Byrd is the chair of Ohio National Organization for Women lesbian issues task force and a board member of Stonewall Akron.
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