Date: Fri, 3 Mar 1995 15:00:13 -0600 (CST) From: LesBiGay Services of Kansas Subject: Compton "comes out"... in a bad way Hi folks... Well, it's been a rough week for the supporters of the Simply Equal proposal here in Lawrence. First we had the Tuesday primary, in which the 13 candidates for city commission were narrowed down to six. As the current commission had agreed to wait until after the election to vote on whether to add sexual orientation to the city human relations ordinance, the outcome of the commission elections will pretty much be determining our fate. The results weren't very good. The Freedom Coalition had endorsed three candidates who were viable, electable supporters of Simply Equal: John Nalbandian, Allen Levine, and Lena Johnson. The results were: 1) John Nalbandian: a Simply Equal supporter and current commissioner up for re-election. 2) Bonnie Augustine: a Simply Equal opponent. 3) Jo Barnes: another Simply Equal opponent. 4) Doug Compton: has long been considered our "swing vote". He's currently a commissioner and he's the one who said he would abstain from voting until after his many questions about Simply Equal were answered by city staff in April. More about good ol' Doug in a minute. 5) Carl Burkhead: not ONLY a Simply Equal opponent, but a psycho-Christian Mustard Seed Faith extremist who has publicly admitted that his ONLY reason for running is to oppose Simply Equal. *2,498* people voted for this guy!!! Scary. 6) Allen Levine: a Simply Equal supporter. Nobody has ever come from 6th place in the primary to make it in the general election - let's try to make this a first! On Thursday, Compton released a statement to the press saying that he has decided not only to oppose Simply Equal but also that he's going to press for a vote on it by the commission as soon as possible. If he is able to force a vote before the election then he as well as Commissioners Schulte and Moody will vote no, and Mayor Andersen and Commissioner Nalbandian will vote yes. Our ONLY hope at this point is to get the commissioners to stick to their word - that this would be put off until after the election - and get Nalbandian and Levine elected to the commission. So, you ask, what can I do? Those of you who live in Lawrence (yes, even people who live in the residence halls!) *must* register before March 20 to vote in the April 4 election. We will have voter registration tables next week in Hashinger and Lewis halls and also one day in the Kansas Union and one night at the HideAway (I will send out the exact times and days as soon as these are confirmed!). You can also register by calling the County Clerk's office at 832-5267; tell them you need to register and they'll ask for your name and address and send you a form to fill out. If you will be unable to make it to the polls on April 4, then by all means vote absentee. Absentee ballots should be ready to pick up from the County Clerk's office by March 15, and after filling an absentee ballot out you have until noon on April 3 to get it in. Vote for Nalbandian and Levine if you want Simply Equal to pass! The other thing you can do is support the Lawrence for Levine campaign (and the Nalbandian campaign as well but we feel very confident about him). You can send a tax-deductible contribution to: Lawrence for Levine, P.O. Box 1338, Lawrence, KS, 66044. People who live outside of Lawrence can send a contribution as well (please consider doing this - we'd *really* appreciate it!). And if you have a yard and live in Lawrence, call Lawrence for Levine and request a yard sign - they can be reached at 841-7817 or 843-9189. And finally, I encourage everyone who can to go to the city commission meeting this Tuesday, March 7, at 6:35 p.m. in City Hall (6th and Massachusetts) and *demand* that there be a public hearing before this issue is decided. We need to pack this commission meeting more than ANY other commission meeting before. Thanks for everyone's continued support and encouragement through this whole thing. We in Lawrence really appreciate it. Sincerely, Chris Hampton LesBiGayS OK Email Coordinator ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ Lesbian, Bisexual, and Gay Services of Kansas ~ ~ The University of Kansas ~ ~ Director: Eric O. Moore * Email Coordinator: Chris Hampton ~ ~ lbgsok@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu ~ ~ 400 Kansas Union Box 13 * Lawrence, KS 66045 * (913) 864-3091 ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ____ "Every act of visibility is an act of resistance." ~ \ / - Suzanne Pharr ~ \/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~