GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE January 21, 2000

letters tothe editor

Taft's deletion was pandering

The following was sent to Ohio Governor Robert Taft.

Governor Taft:

As a citizen of Ohio and an ordained minister, I am alarmed at your action in deleting sexual orientation from the list of groups protected from employment discrimination in state positions.

The official explanation of your actions is that you are against discrimination against anyone for any purpose. Your press secretary explains that you don't want a laundry list of groups from which any group may be excluded. This is a laudable goal. I only wish it were possible in our society today.

Your action in deleting sexual orientation as a class protected from discrimination is a flagrant denial of the daily discrimination and intimidation endured by gay and lesbian Ohioans, by their families and friends. If there is no discrimination or fear of discrimination, why must gays and lesbians hide their identity?

Why does the deletion come at this time? It is a political gesture, pandering to one

section of the electorate who believe that their religious views give them permission to curtail the civil rights of gays and lesbians while they intimidate and vilify gay and lesbian men, women and teens.

I am shocked and saddened at the cowardice of your action.

The Psalmist (94) asked, “Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will rise up when my voice can not be heard?"

Today we ask, what politician will protect the civil rights of gay and lesbian people in Ohio? Our state government denies that antigay discrimination exists, even while we as a nation remember the shock at the brutal killing of Matthew Shepard merely because he was gay and the chilling recognition that it is considered normal in most of American society to hate and attack gays.

By removing "sexual orientation" from the list of protected groups, you send a clear message to gay and lesbian Ohioans that they are not safe. You send a clear message to their friends, neighbors, and family members that their government does not have the moral courage to say no to the wicked religious bigots who try to dictate who is safe (and saved) in our state.

GAY PEOPLE'S

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Your action does not further civil rights in the state of Ohio. Your action is a clear message to those who attack gays and lesbians that their arrogant and dangerously antidemocratic actions are not criminal and will not be challenged or curtailed by our state government. Your action makes me ashamed of my state government.

Rev. Mary E. Grigolia Lakewood, Ohio

Rev. Grigolia is pastor of Oberlin Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Oberlin, and Urban Hope Congregation in Cleveland.

Tell officials to stop marriage ban bill

To the Editors:

Enclosed is a copy of a letter that I sent to State Sen. Jay Hottinger and State Rep. Jim Jordan about their bill to deny recognition of same-sex marriages. I have also mailed similar letters to over 100 other members of the Ohio House and Senate.

Please encourage your readers to call or write their senators and representatives. Their telephone numbers and office addresses may be obtained by calling the Ohio Legislative Information Office at 800-282-0253, or by visiting the state web site at www.ohio.gov. Name withheld by request

Dear State Rep. Jordan and State Sen. Hottinger:

This letter is written in regards to your plan to introduce legislation that would ban same sex marriages. I am in disagreement with your plan to introduce a bill to ban same sex marriages in Ohio.

Your personal belief system or your vision of what a traditional or non-traditional family is does not belong in politics and definitely not in the law.

This type of law would only demonstrate ongoing discrimination toward homosexuals. It only reminds me of how Jews were treated by Nazis and southern politicians treated African-Americans.

It is my opinion that all citizens in the United States are entitled to the same civil rights. This type of legislation is non-American. It is unfair to exclude certain minority groups from certain civil privileges.

Enclosed is a picture of my family (including me, my female partner and our child), which is a very traditional family to me. Denying same sex marriages does not hurt your family. It only hurts my family and similar families. The latest data on American "families" range from single parents, divorced families to families like mine.

If you are so worried about protecting families from non traditional values then why don't you introduce legislation that would protect children from parental abuse (i.e. sexual, physical and emotional). Or, introduce tougher laws against parents that don't provide financial support or abandon their children. You could also worry about domestic violence.

I hope you will reconsider introducing your discriminatory legislation.

GAY PEOPLE'S

Chronicle

Volume 15, Issue 30

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Publisher: Martha J. Pontoni Business Manager: Patti Harris Editorial Boards Brian DeWitt, Christine Hahn, Patti Harris, Martha Pontoni

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Jeffrey Newman, Kirk Read, Eric Resnick, Bob Roehr,

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