Date: Sat, 19 Jun 1999 00:15:13 -0500 Subject: Same-Sex Marriage Debate From: "Jes=?ISO-8859-1?B?+nMgTGVicvM=?=n" Hello, On behalf of Marriage Equality, I would like to invite you to our Pride Week deabte on Same-Sex Civil Marriage. There is no cost to anyone who wishes to attend what is sure to be an engaging and educational evening. LGNY and Marriage Equality ( http://www.marriageequality.com ) are sponsoring an event on Same-Sex Marriage entitled: "For Better or For Worse?: A Debate on Same-Sex Marriage" Tuesday, June 22nd, 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. Lesbian & Gay Community Servoces Center 1 Little West 12th St., off Hudson St. New York City A panel of 6 individuals representing various beliefs on marriage within the lesbian and gay community, will square off on this hot topic. Audience participation will follow. The panelist are: School Board Member Doug Robinson, Sex Panic! Member Chris Farrell, Rev. Pat Bumgardner of Metropolitan Community Church, Paula Ettelbrick, Esq., Assemblymember Dick Gottfried, and Leonard Green, Publ., Right Angel. Moderating will be editor of LGNY Paul Schindler. Why a Debate on Same-Sex Marriage? Consider the following reasons: *Same-Sex Marriage is not a done deal in the lesbian and gay community. While some political/community organizations have officially adopted same-sex civil marriage as a cause, many, if not most of us are either sitting on the fence, misinformed, or upset that marriage is drawing considerable attention at the expense of other concerns, namely an increasing conservatism in the City as evidenced by Giuliani's new sex zone regulations, a hyped up end to the AIDS crisis, failed Anti-Hate Crime Legislation efforts, etc. *A number of gay and lesbian marriage advocates have argued that regardless of how flawed the institution of marriage is, fighting for civil marriage rights for gay people will in effect transform the institution as a whole for the better of everyone. *the State Supreme Court of Vermont will be making a decision on same-sex marriage any day now. This decision can really go either way. In fact, a Vermont judge presiding on the case(s) was quoted as saying "some state's got to go first." This could potentially be the breakthrough marriage advocates have been waiting for. *There are exactly 1, 049 reasons why we might consider supporting the fight for civil marriage rights. According to the federal General Accounting Office, that is the total number of rights afforded legally married heterosexual couples. Marriage Equality is a new organization that began less than two years ago. We ( http://www.marriageequality.com ) are solely dedicated to ensuring lesbians and gays have the right to civil marriage and the 1,049 benefits which marriage affords. Hope To See You There! Jesús Lebrón queerlib@earthlink.net