Date: Sun, 12 May 1996 09:34:03 -0700 From: EWLLDEF@aol.com (by way of Jim Fagelson ) Subject: Fighting the Federal Anti-Marriage Bills TO: National Freedom to Marry Coalition Members, Partners, and Friends FROM: Evan Wolfson DATE: May 12, 1996 RE: Federal Anti-Marriage Legislation Proposed 5/8 By Senator Dole and Others This is just a quick note to urge people to get in NOW and fight this proposed federal legislation. Our success in beating it will in part turn on how quickly it gets understood as RADICAL, as UNPRECEDENTED, as VICIOUS, as UNCONSTITUTIONAL, and as a desperate POLITICAL ATTACK. NOW is the time to act against this unprecedented national attack on gay people. U.S. law often discriminates against us by omission and exclusion. But, with the exception of the 1993 law codifying military discrimination, this federal anti-marriage legislation would be the first outright "Second-Class Citizenship" law, an affirmative and across-the-board act of discrimination -- and it is sweeping and violent. Because it is so radical, and does such violence to the Constitution, we can beat it. We can and must fight it. Whatever people feel so far about equal marriage rights for gay Americans, there are many neutral and powerful reasons to be against these bills. They are not just "anti-'gay marriage'," they are ANTI-MARRIAGE. The proposed bills get the role of the federal government wrong in both directions: proposing for the first time ever to have a federal definition for marriage (an area traditionally and constitutionally left to the states and individual couples), while at the same time attempting to circumvent the Constitution's guarantee of Full Faith and Credit. They would stick the government in where it doesn't belong, while withdrawing the government (in violation of the Constitution) from its proper role of assuring that this is one country, and if you are married, you are married. ONE DOES NOT HAVE TO SUPPORT EQUAL MARRIAGE RIGHTS FOR GAY PEOPLE TO BE AGAINST *THESE* DESPERATE, DANGEROUS BILLS. By speaking out now, and encouraging politicians, community leaders, and others to speak out now, we make it easier for others we need to speak out -- or at least act -- when they are needed. So far there has not been a stampede of support for the bills, but it is early and our enemies are moving fast; hearings are scheduled in the House for May 15. We have to get the word out to friends, and ask them to speak up (letters, e-mail, calls, and visits to Senators and Representatives). NOW is the time to be getting people out there, and giving cover to the legislators we will need, and to the President, should we need his veto. By Monday, May 15, Lambda will have a preliminary memorandum analyzing the legal and constitutional defects of the proposed federal bills. If you feel you need that kind of 20-pp. analysis (as opposed to talking points), contact my assistant, Brian Jacobson (lldefmarry@aol.com) with full contact info. Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has excellent talking points, sample letters to Congress, and other materials. Contact them: 202-628-4160. Other Coalition members: the ACLU, Log Cabin, and NGLTF have put out statements and will be working against these bills on the Hill. Contact them and offer support. More information will follow. Please get into this fight now. We must shape the public's understanding of what is at stake in this election-year attack NOW. Evan Wolfson Director The Marriage Project Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund 666 Broadway, 12th Floor NY, NY 10012 212-995-8585-voice 212-995-2306-fax