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Speak Out for Gay Rights! Write a letter urging Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign the bill legalizing same-sex marriage in California. Submit your letter on the Governor's web mail (choose "Gender-Neutral Marriage AB00849" from the drop-down list). Then, email your letter to me and I'll add it below. There aren't many here yet, we need your help to get it started! |
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posted 2005-09-15
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,As a gay Californian, I am against Gay Marriage, and against Civil Unions. I am against special rights for homosexuals, or anyone else. I am, however, for Equal Rights, which includes Marriage Equality. Is marriage a religious or a secular institution? If it is religious, by all means, have the churches define it and conduct it to their hearts content, each to its own, but then the government should get out of the marriage business altogether, and only dispense Civil Unions, regardless of the gender of the applicants. So it would seem that marriage is a civil institution, as which it needs to be accessible to everyone, regardless of gender, creed, race, or sexual orientation. There are countless privileges and responsibilities associated with marriage, which no civil union or private contract can emulate. These HAVE to be available to all of your citizens on an equal footing. PLEASE do not hide behind some older proposition about what "the people of California" have decided in the past. The rights of a minority can NEVER be up to the vote of the majority. Otherwise, interracial marriages would still be illegal. No, it takes a true LEADER to defend the rights of the few against the oppression of the many. The legislature has shown that it has those leaders. ARE YOU A LEADER OR A WHIMP? Will you stand up for equal rights and against pressure from hard-core right-wing activists, or fold like an umbrella in strong winds? Californians did not elect you because they wanted a Republican, but because you were an outsider, independent, someone who might not do politics as usual. This is what gave you an edge over Republicans and Democrats alike. And initially, you did not disappoint them. When you started your career as Governor of this Golden State, you made some very independent decisions, and your approval rating was accordingly high. But since then, you have fallen in the party line, and your approval rating has plummeted. Californians do not like party-operatives at their top post. They like independent thinkers who are not afraid to take a stand. HERO or GIRLIE-MAN? You can prove your detractors wrong, and take a stand for justice and equality. Do you think you will be remembered for taking the obvious step and the "easy" way out? I don�t think anyone has ever made history vetoing civil rights. Or are you ready to make history? In the long run, it will be up to the courts to decide the constitutionality of equal rights for all, so why not leave that question to them, and become someone worth being remembered? I hope you will not disappoint the people looking for a true leader, and show that you have both a conscience and a spine. Thanks
posted 2005-09-15
If you veto the gay marriage bill, I will do everything I can, donations - volunteer work, etc., to help defeat you in the next election. You should be reminded that your former compatriots in Austria, when the National Socialists came to power, approved of the persecution gays first, before going after Jews. Vestiges of that same sentiment are still alive today in California. Leaders like yourself have a clear moral and civic choice: to capitalize on bigotry for short term political gain, or to make sure that all of our citizens enjoy equal protection under the law. - Roger
posted 2005-09-14
Governor Schwarzenegger,We have come to a crossroads as a state. With the legislature passing AB00849, we have made a monumental advancement. As I'm sure countless people have already stated, you now have the opportunity to be a leader. A leader does just that - leads. You must help lead this state, and nation, to the future. We are an ever-evolving people. We must learn from our past and continue to advance as a civilization. We have learned that love does not show discrimination. We should end the discrimination; end the idea of "separate but equal"; and remember that in this nation every person is considered equal. California has the opportunity to make a stance. We have the opportunity to be leaders. Our representatives have already done their part. Please, I urge you, do not veto this bill. With the legalization of gay marriages in Massachusetts, we have seen no harm to the institution of marriage. We have only seen loving couples rushing to gain the rights of their fellow people - their straight brothers and sisters. This is an opportunity for you put aside the politics of this issue, and do what is right for this state's well being. And for mine. Mr. Governor, please, do not veto this bill. Sincerely, Carlos San Francisco Resident
posted 2005-09-14
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,I was present at the Assembly yesterday and heard the arguments for and against AB849. I wish you had been there to hear them as well. As a gay man in a committed relationship of almost 12 years, I suppose I am biased. Nonetheless, what I heard were two voices. One said we must be courageous, lead, recognize our differences and embrace them in community, and put our actions where our mouths are as regards equality of human beings; the other expressed fear of any change, advocated exclusion, and quite frankly, minimized the issue to one of nothing more than deviant sexual desire. I believe fear is a feeling we create to protect ourselves from having to look at our responsibility in life situations, or from challenging our world view. Gay people are still relatively easy to demonize and many fear our so-called "agenda". That does not mean that gay people are either bad or undeserving of equal treatment. People just make it easy for themselves to believe it is so. You could be influential in drawing a moral line, challenging those conceptions, and helping protect us, an under-represented minority. I know numerous couples who are leaving this country because US law forbids gay people from sponsoring their life-partners. While AB849 would not affect immigration law, it would send a strong message that, maybe one day, will help undo this terrible wrong that causes tax-paying US citizens to choose between home and love. This is as immoral a situation as I can think of, perpetrated by government no less, and now you, if you veto. You have the choice to take the high ground and honor all your fellow citizens by advocating inclusion. This is not about trampling or hijacking tradition (and how many divorcees trumpet the "sanctity of marriage"?) My ability to plan on a secure future must be subjected to the likes of Mr. Mountjoy and his apparent disgust with the whole issue? Please do not give in to fear. I believe the average Californian, had they been present yesterday, would've been moved by the arguments in favor of AB849 yesterday. Please stand by us. Sincerely, Chris San Francisco
posted 2005-09-13
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger: I am writing you today to express my disappointment in your potential veto of AB 849. I am disappointed that you have chosen not to lift the burden of discrimination for hundreds of thousands of loving and committed families. I realize you believe the people should vote on this, but the people do not always realize what is the difference between right and wrong. Our country has a history of discrimination when left to the vote of the people. For example, it was a mere 50 years ago that 90% of the American public wanted to maintain the ban that prohibited racial marriages. Governor, if it were not for the brave representatives of our government and judicial system, this type of discrimination would have continued. And now, gays are being discriminated against by the people, and it is time again for our representatives to make the RIGHT choice in moving this country forward. The marriage equality bill has yet to reach your desk. I urge you to reconsider your decision. When you go home tonight and enjoy the comforts and protections of marriage, I hope you will consider that my partner and I should have the same legal right to marry as you do. We have been together for six years. We are law abiding citizens. We pay our taxes. We do everything that you do; yet, my partner and I are treated differently. We are treated as second-class citizens, and I do not believe this is fair. It is time for change. It is time to end this discrimination in the great State of California. I voted for you, sir, because I really believed you wanted to do what was best for the State of California and this country. I sincerely believe ending discrimination against gays would be a great step in that direction, despite what any right-winged groups might be barking back at you. Like other great leaders in our history, making tough decisions is not always easy, but it�s the right thing to do. I hope, sir, you will reconsider your support towards AB 849. If you truly oppose discrimination, you have this one opportunity to act. You must make a decision on what you want your legacy to be. Please, sir, do not veto this bill. Sign it, and become one of the great visionary leaders in history. Sincerely
posted 2005-09-13
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,I am writing to you in support of the Gender Neutral Marriage bill which just passed the state legislature. I am a native Californian struggling with whether to stay in the state I love more than anywhere else - the place where my friends, my family, and most of my memories live - or to move somewhere else where I can afford to have the life I want without sacrificing quite so much. For everything this state offers, it certainly costs quite a bit to live here. This year, both of my oldest friends got married, and I stood by as a member of each of their bridal parties. Both weddings were beautiful, and it fills me with joy that I was able to be a part of such an important day for two such wonderful friends. My partner and I, in the meantime, chose to celebrate our union privately because, while our friends and my family support us, her family, along with the government of our state and our country, do not. There are so many elements to a marriage that it is difficult to really say what makes one. There are the private elements that reside in moments between two people, in the decisions they make, the way in which they honor each other and live their lives together. There is the public element that begins with a wedding when the couple publicly pronounces their commitment to each other and asks for the support of their loved ones, and continues through the life of the relationship. And there is the state-sanctioned business aspect of a marriage that binds two people together and treats them as family with all the rights and responsibilities that come along with that. Perhaps you are aware of some of the ways in which domestic partnership doesn't quite equal marriage - perhaps you are not. Most straight people don't think about the inequalities, and many of them are shocked to hear that we pay taxes on domestic partnership benefits as if they were additional salary (whereas my straight, married colleagues do not have to pay taxes on the very same benefits for their spouses). Each year, I receive my social security statement and I remark upon the fact that if I died tomorrow, my partner would not receive a penny of my social security benefits, although it is money I earned; if any of my straight married friends died tomorrow, their spouses would receive social security benefits. Gays and lesbians must pay for lawyers at every step of our relationships in order to ensure we have - if not the same rights, something approximating those that straight married people take for granted. This is not a question of religion - many people choose to get married without the benefit of a religious element at all these days. And this is not a question of raising children - straight couples can marry whether they want or have children or not, and many gays and lesbian couples have children that they raise together. This is a question of equality, of equal rights. And you, our governor, have an opportunity to join this state's legislature and to lead - to forge the way. You might lose the election as a result, I will grant you that. But you will go down in history as someone who chose not to be a bigot and a coward, but instead to take action to grant the same rights to all of your state's citizens, to be a civil rights leader. I started this letter off by telling you that my partner and I are trying to decide whether to stay in California or to leave. When AB00849 passed the legislature, we looked at each other and knew immediately that if you signed it, we would be tied forever to this state, and that the sacrifices that come with living here would be worth it. It is difficult to describe how it feels to always be a second class citizen in your own home, and it is difficult for me to imagine what it would feel like to have my relationship condoned and respected by the leaders of my home state. Right now, the world's attention is rightly focused on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I am all too aware that there are grievances in this world far more worthy of attention than my desire to marry my sweetheart. But I am asking you, in the face of definite risk to your political future, to do what no one has been able to do so far in the face of the flooding of New Orleans - to take a leadership stance and to take action rather than to try and let the responsibility fall somewhere else. Thank you for taking my thoughts and my relationship into consideration as you make this difficult decision. Sincerely, Bessie
posted 2005-09-13
Dear Arnold,Please do not veto the will of the people on same sex marriage as expressed through their elected representatives. If President Lincoln had vetoed the Emancipation Proclamation and left the decision to the popular vote of the voters in the South, he probably would not be remembered as a hero. His legacy might be that of a "Girlie Man". Recall that a "Girlie Man" is one that does not have the courage to do what is right. A "Girlie Man" according to your own definition does what is politically expediant. Please have the courage to do what you know to be right. Support a bill that allows two people in love to marry. Sincerely,
posted 2005-09-12
end of letters
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