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TOP6NEWS - September 29, 2004 1-NEWS: DeLay: FMA won’t pass House tomorrow 2-NEWS: New MA House Speaker a major problem for m amendment 3-NEWS: VA judge awards sole custody to former lesbian 4-NEWS: ACLU launches toolkit for ssm 5-OP-ED: Lambda launches campaign for safer schools for LGBTQ youth 6-OP-ED: R. Hagelin: The Smart Vote on m ________________________________________________________ 1-NEWS: DeLay: FMA won’t pass House tomorrow House leader: Ban on gay marriage will fail But he insisted that he would go forward with a vote on the amendment anyway. ... ________________________________________________________ 2-NEWS: New MA House Speaker a major problem for m amendment Prospects shift as DiMasi takes over for Finneran A key legislative backer of the proposed amendment to ban same-sex marriage and establish civil unions yesterday all but declared defeat, saying that Finneran's exit from Beacon Hill was the final straw in an effort that already was in trouble because the state has legalized same-sex marriage with little of the uproar predicted by opponents. "It is pretty much over," said Senate minority leader Brian P. Lees, a Springfield Republican who cosponsored the amendment with Finneran and Senate President Robert E. Travaglini. The House and Senate, sitting in a constitutional convention, must vote a second time in the next session before it could go to the voters on the 2006 ballot. "In fact, there will be a question as to whether the issue will come up at all," Lees said. He said the issue has faded to the "back burners of Massachusetts politics," because few problems have surfaced with the implementation of the Supreme Judicial Court's decision to legalize gay marriage. "With the fact the law has been in effect for a number of months and with the change in the House leadership, it would appear any change in the constitution to ban marriage is quickly fading," Lees said. ... ________________________________________________________ 3-NEWS: VA judge awards sole custody to former lesbian Judge grants full custody to birth mother The women were a couple in Virginia when they decided four years ago to enter into a civil union in Vermont. They then went back to Virginia and decided Lisa Miller-Jenkins would conceive a child through artificial insemination. Isabella was born and the two women moved to Vermont before they ended their civil union. Lisa Miller-Jenkins took the child and moved back to Virginia, where civil unions are not recognized, and sued for full custody. ... ________________________________________________________ 4-NEWS: ACLU launches toolkit for ssm ACLU Launches Online Toolkit for Activists Fighting for Marriage for Same-Sex Couples "The constitutional amendments proposed in 11 states this November are aimed at preventing legal recognition of same-sex couples for good, before people even have an opportunity to think the issue through," said Matt Coles, Director of the ACLU’s Lesbian and Gay Rights Project. "Once Americans have a chance to see how these amendments would harm families, the country will reject them. That’s why it’s up to all of us to help show America that same-sex couples make the same commitments to each other that heterosexual couples do, and suffer terribly when society treats them as if they were strangers." The online resource provides all the tools necessary to run a persuasive grassroots campaign in support of marriage equality and to block attempts to make same-sex couples legal strangers. Some of the resources included in the toolkit are: • Talking points in support of marriage equality and against anti-gay relationship amendments; ________________________________________________________ 5-OP-ED: Lambda launches campaign for safer schools for LGBTQ youth Website: A national survey1 of LGBTQ students found that 77.9% heard remarks such as “faggot” or “dyke” frequently at school and that 39.1% had been physically assaulted at school because of their sexual orientation. Of those same students, 64.3% felt unsafe in their school because of their sexual orientation. “Many of our nation’s schools simply aren’t safe for gay students – we know that from the research but mostly from calls we get every day from young people all across the country,” said Kevin Cathcart, Lambda Legal’s Executive Director. “We’ve won powerful court rulings in recent years that make it absolutely clear that schools have to protect gay youth and treat them equally. This campaign is putting those court victories to work in schools nationwide by telling students what their rights are and what to do to make sure those rights are enforced.” LGBTQ students having knowledge of their legal rights has proven to be a key factor in creating safer schools. Lambda Legal’s new campaign, “Out, Safe and Respected,” provides in-depth information on a range of rights, along with specific steps to take to make sure those rights are respected. Areas covered include: • Tips to ensure basic safety at school ... ________________________________________________________ 6-OP-ED: R. Hagelin: The Smart Vote on m The smart vote Well, is it? So what is the smart vote? Well, as is the case any time we're considering big, important national questions, we have to answer that question with this one: What are the goals? When we think of what the American government's policy toward marriage should be, we need first to establish what it is we want that policy to encourage. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that the goal of marriage policy is the same as the goal for most other policies – to make the lives of most Americans better. If that is the case, one need only check out what the research says about the significance of marriage. To get a quick snapshot, take a look at the new database from the Heritage Foundation on marriage and family issues. Social-science experts here at Heritage have taken a long look at the research to date on various households, particularly the traditional family – one which consists of a man married to a woman and living with their children. And the data is overwhelming. It suggests that, at this fragile time in the history for families, for faith and for other forces for good in society, this is no time to experiment with the basic family form or with the institution of marriage. Those in Europe, and on a limited basis elsewhere, who have undertaken such experiments, have found that granting same-sex partnerships the status of marriage is not strengthening the institution of marriage nor improving children's chances of growing up with a married mother and father. Either way, the Heritage research came at it from the other angle. What good comes from standing up for the traditional family? What makes it worth defending? Let's remember our policy goals. The husbands in such families are happier, less likely to endure depression, healthier, wealthier and far more stable mentally. The wives are happier, healthier, wealthier and less likely to experience both depression and physical or mental abuse. The children of such marriages – the future of our country – grow up to earn more, learn more, live healthier, more active, more outgoing, more happy lives than those in other family models. They are less likely to become depressed, to repeat a grade in school, to get in trouble with the law, alcohol or drugs or to fail in their own relationships. Stability begets stability. And again, if the question is: Which decision – for the amendment or against the amendment to protect the institution of marriage – will produce the most happiness among Americans, let's consider all this data. ... Rebecca Hagelin is a vice president of the Heritage Foundation, a research and educational think-tank whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values and a strong national defense. She is also the former vice president of communications for WorldNetDaily and her 60-second radio commentaries can be heard on the Salem Communications Network. |
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