NJ legislators plan to rush discriminatory civil unions bill without hearings

[Ian David]

From: Garden State Equality <[e-mail]>
Date: Nov 2, 2006
Subject: LET OUR FAMILIES BE HEARD! Trenton aims to rush through discriminatory civil unions bill. ACT NOW!




LET OUR FAMILIES BE HEARD! Trenton aims to ram through discriminatory civil unions with NO HEARINGS

Through our around-the-clock lobbying, Garden State Equality has learned that the most influential leaders of our state legislature are trying to rush through a discriminatory civil unions bill without any public hearings -- that is, with no opportunity for lesbian and gay families, and our loved ones, to have our say about the need for 100% marriage equality.

This is the second petition in Garden State Equality's campaign for 100% marriage equality over discriminatory civil unions. Even if you've signed previous petitions, this one is different -- please complete it by clicking on the button at the upper right hand corner or below. Then forward this e-mail to everyone you know so this becomes the biggest petition that our leaders have ever seen. We must open their eyes fast!

Sign Here:
http://eqfed.org/campaign/Dont_Rush_Bad_Bill?rk=7d%5fpIBs1vRy5E

THE LEGISLATURE IS TRYING TO SHUT OUR COMMUNITY OUT OF THE PROCESS -- WE, THE ONLY PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES ARE PERSONALLY AFFECTED. THIS IS AN ASSAULT ON THE BASIC HUMAN DIGNITY OF THE ENTIRE LGBTI COMMUNITY IN NEW JERSEY. IT'S BACKROOM POLITICS AT ITS WORST.

IT'S ALSO HYPOCRITICAL: When the Supreme Court announced its decision, the legislature decried that 180 days was not enough time to act. Now when it comes to depriving our families of 100% marriage equality, the legislature intends to act in a fraction of that time. The double-talk at the expense of our basic human dignity is an outrage.

We at Garden State Equality ask you to sign this petition to Governor Corzine, the legislature and key staff members in Trenton asking them to give us our say! We want formal public hearings so our families can talk about their lives and how labels less than marriage have already failed to work in New Jersey and in civil union states like Vermont and Connecticut.

We will present personally this petition to Governor Corzine and the legislature. Please provide all the contact information requested.

And to strengthen Garden State Equality's fight for marriage equality at this unprecedented time for New Jersey's LGBTI community -- and the millions of straight New Jerseyans who insist on equality for all -- please consider a donation. DONATE TO GARDEN STATE EQUALITY NOW
http://www.gardenstateequality.org/donate.htm



Sign this petition and notify:
Mr. Bill Castner
Mr. Tim Lydon
Mr. Troy Singleton
Ms. Heather Howard
Ms. Kathy Crotty
Ms. Maggie Moran
Your Assemblyperson (if you live in New Jersey)
Your State Senator (if you live in New Jersey)

Sign Here:
http://eqfed.org/campaign/Dont_Rush_Bad_Bill?rk=7d%5fpIBs1vRy5E

I am deeply concerned, in fact angry, that the legislature is trying to rush a separate, unequal and disciminatory civil unions bill over 100% marriage equality without any public hearings -- that is, with no opportunity for lesbian and gay families, and their loved ones, to have their say.

I AM APPALLED THAT THE LEGISLATURE IS TRYING TO SHUT THE LGBTI COMMUNITY OUT OF THE PROCESS -- THE ONLY COMMUNITY WHOSE LIVES ARE PERSONALLY AFFECTED IN THIS DEBATE.

I call on you to announce publicly -- by issuing a written statement -- that you oppose the horrible backroom politics of rushing through a discriminatory civil unions over 100% marriage-equality bill without formal public hearings of the community most affected.

Regardless of how you feel about 100% marriage equality, surely you oppose the backroom politics of passing a monumental piece of legislation in the dark like this. The bottom-line question is, do you support open government that involves the group of citizens most affected by a bill?

You have 180 days, according to the Supreme Court -- time to hold public hearings to hear from the community most affected. The Supreme Court gave the legislature 180 days, not 60 days.

Quite frankly, I am astounded that when the Supreme Court announced its decision, the legislature decried that 180 days was not enough time to act. Now when it comes to depriving lesbian and gay families of 100% marriage equality, the legislature apparently intends to act in a fraction of that time. The double-talk at the expense of the basic human dignity of lesbian and gay families is an outrage.

Keep in mind that in New Jersey and in other U.S. states that recognize gay couples -- but do so through contraptions less than marriage, whether civil unions or domestic partnerships -- hospitals, employers and others have too often said, "We don't care what the law says. You're not married. You can't visit your partner in the hospital. You can't make medical decisions for your partner even if she's incapacitated. You can't do a host of other things we would let married couples do."

As the late Lt. Laurel Hester and so many other cases across our state have demonstrated, all that is happening in New Jersey.

I support 100% marriage equality because it's the only way a gay civil rights law will consistently work in the real world.

Again, I ask you to announce publicly -- by issuing a written statement -- that you oppose the horrible backroom politics of rushing through a discriminatory civil unions over 100% marriage-equality bill without formal public hearings of the community most affected.

This issue will not go away in the election year 2007 if the legislature acts to get this issue off the table as soon as possible by rushing through a separate, unequality and discriminatory civil unions bill. In fact, that would make 100% marriage equality the most salient issue New Jersey has ever seen in an election year.

Citizens across New Jersey, not just the LGBTI community but also their legions of straight supporters, would work day and night to keep 100% marriage equality at the forefront of the public debate in an election year.

And that's how we would vote, too.

Sign Here:
http://eqfed.org/campaign/Dont_Rush_Bad_Bill?rk=7d%5fpIBs1vRy5E

What's At Stake:

Through our around-the-clock lobbying, Garden State Equality has learned that the most influential leaders of our state legislature are trying to rush through a discriminatory civil unions bill without any public hearings -- that is, with no opportunity for lesbian and gay families, and our loved ones, to have our say about the need for 100% marriage equality.

THE LEGISLATURE IS TRYING TO SHUT OUR COMMUNITY OUT OF THE PROCESS -- WE, THE ONLY PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES ARE PERSONALLY AFFECTED. THIS IS AN ASSAULT ON THE BASIC HUMAN DIGNITY OF THE ENTIRE LGBTI COMMUNITY IN NEW JERSEY. IT'S BACKROOM POLITICS AT ITS WORST.

IT'S ALSO HYPOCRITICAL: When the Supreme Court announced its decision, the legislature decried that 180 days was not enough time to act. Now when it comes to depriving our families of 100% marriage equality, the legislature wants to act in a fraction of that time. The double-talk at the expense of our basic human dignity is an all-time outrage.

As the New Jersey experience has painfully shown, contraptions short of marriage -- like New Jersey's domestic-partnership law and also civil union laws -- don't work in the real world. Hospitals and other employers have told domestic-partnered couples across New Jersey: We don't care what the domestic partnership law says. You're not married.
So we're not seeking marriage merely for some moral, ethereal victory. We're seeking marriage because New Jersey has proven that marriage is the only way a gay civil rights law can ever work.

Marriage is the only currency of commitment the real world universally understands and accepts.

We at Garden State Equality ask you to sign this petition to Governor Corzine, the legislature and key staff members in Trenton asking them to give us our say! We want formal public hearings so our families can talk about their lives and how labels less than marriage have already failed to work in New Jersey and in civil union states like Vermont and Connecticut.

We will present personally this petition to Governor Corzine and the legislature. Please provide all the contact information requested.

Sign Here:
http://eqfed.org/campaign/Dont_Rush_Bad_Bill?rk=7d%5fpIBs1vRy5E

To ensure that this becomes the biggest petition New Jersey has ever seen, please use the "Tell-a-Friend" link above to forward this e-mail to your family, friends, colleagues and members of your organization and congregation.
http://eqfed.org/campaign/Dont_Rush_Bad_Bill/forward

And to strengthen Garden State Equality's fight for marriage equality at this unprecedented time for New Jersey's LGBTI community -- and the millions of straight New Jerseyans who insist on equality for all -- please consider a donation. DONATE TO GARDEN STATE EQUALITY NOW
http://www.gardenstateequality.org/donate.htm

Campaign Expiration Date:
December 31, 2007

Sign Here:
http://eqfed.org/campaign/Dont_Rush_Bad_Bill?rk=7d%5fpIBs1vRy5E