From: kpm@druhi.ATT.COM (Kevin Malloy (DoD #106))
Newsgroups: soc.motss,alt.politics.homosexuality,co.general,co.politics
Subject: Re: Response to a Colo 4 Family Values person (LONG)
Date: 21 Nov 92 00:11:56 GMT

in article <1992Nov19.233659.20698@col.hp.com>, vanm@col.hp.com (Van Martin) says:
> Xref: drutx co.general:2134 co.politics:566
> 
>   Many of the people I talk to are also surprised, and delighted, that
>   Colorado voters were willing to stand up to the media and activists'
>   bullying of voters and vilifying of CFV.  

Oh?  Who.  I have yet to talk to anyone who admits that 1) they voted
YES on #2 and 2) they knew that what they were doing was stripping
civil rights protections for gay and lesbian people.  No one.  But I've
talked to lots of people who voted YES on #2 and have said that they
didn't realize what they were voting on and they wish they'd voted NO.
And I haven't limited my discussions to any particular group -- not
just Bell Labbies, not just lesbians and gays, and not just Denver and
Boulderites.

And exactly who was bullying the voters?  Exactly what "activists" are
you talking about?  Governor Romer?  Mayor Wellington Webb?  Maria
Garcia-Berry (EPOColorado Treasurer and wife of Colo. House Speaker
Chuck Berry, R-Colo Spgs)?  The Colorado Council of Churches?  The
Colorado Municipal League?  The Arvada, Westminster, Boulder, Denver,
Aspen, and Crested Butte city councils?  The mayors of Thornton, Ft.
Collins, Greeley, Dillon, Silverton, Durango, Two Buttes, Aspen,
Telluride, and so on?  The East Denver Ministerial Alliance?  The
League of Women Voters?  The Colorado Democratic Party?  Activists
bullying indeed.  CFV picked this fight.  All we are asking for is to
be able to live where we can afford, work where we are qualified, and
have free access to public accommodations with out fear of being
harrassed or discriminated against, solely because of our sexual
orientation.

CFV villified?  Please.  How else should an organization be treated
that seems to think that I am the biggest threat to the American
family, that distributes statewide an 8-page newspaper that has one
truthful statement, that it was printed by CFV of Colorado Springs
(they didn't even print their mailing address or phone number), a
newspaper that slanders all lesbian and gay people by playing on the
fears and myths about them, that distorts facts and sites wholly
discredited studies (especially by that Dr. Paul Cameron).  How else
should an organization be treated that hid their real agenda -- to
enshrine and protect discrimination against a minority of our
population in the constitution -- and did so behind the smoke screen of
"quotas" (which have NEVER been asked for), "special rights" (a slap in
the face of all minorities), and "minority status" (which was NEVER
defined).  Villified indeed.  Since when did spreading the truth become
villification.

>   CFV (yes, I carried petitions; no, I'm not homophobic) drafted the

An oxymoron if I ever heard one.  How can someone claim that they are
not homophobic while they are trying to make it legal for people to
fire me, legal for people to kick me out of my home, legal for people
to deny me a seat in a restaurant or theater, simply because I have the
gall to admit that I am homosexual?  

There are basically three types of people who wish to deny me equal
access to employment, housing, and public accommodations; the
homophobic, the ignorant, and those who hate lesbian and gay people.
You say your not homophobic?  Hmmm.

>   Amendment, with the help of Constitutional lawyers, being as
>   explicit and concise as possible.  They left no question as to the
>   intention of the Amendment - No "Gay Rights," i.e.  being a homo-
>   sexual entitles one to more protection under the law than any other
>   white male under 40 no disabilities.

Bull.  The so-called "Constitutional Lawyers" were people like Lynn
Watwood, a raving homophobe and "right-to-lifer" who proports to be
a constitutional lawyer with an outfit called the American Constitutional
Law Foundation (ACLF).  But the ACLF is really an organization that tries
to be the antithesis of the ACLU, and is an arm of the religious-right.
Some of their "constitutional" lawyers are also arguing for a theocratic
state.  And the point is that I, a 36 year old gay white male with no
disabilities have less civil rights protections than a straight white 
male under 40 with no disabilities.  CFV's goal is to make me a second-
class citizen.

Yes I take this personally!

And do try to understand the difference between civil rights protections
and affirmative action.  Civil rights protections make it illegal to 
discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, age, physical
and mental abilities, national origin, marital status, military status,
and, in some places, sexual orientation.  They don't mention which race,
which ages, which national origins, which genders, and the ones that
mention sexual orientation don't mention which orientation you can't
discriminate against.  The straight white under 40 male is protected just 
as the lesbian Asian 55 year old woman.  (Well, not in Colorado anymore!)

>   For those outside the state who don't know what the campaign really
>   looked like (don't expect NBC Nightly News to give you an accurate
>   picture) it was basically comprised of the media, EPOC and various
>   homosexual activist groups/sympathizers running around calling
>   CFV/Will Perkins/anyone remotely associated with any other thought
>   pattern besides "if it's in the Gazette, it's so" a hate-mongering
>   nazi.  Will Perkins received an average of 2 to 3 hate/death threat
>   faxes and calls a day since about July (I'm not exaggerating).  I
>   know Will personally and he is one of the most gentle and generous
>   men in Colo.  Spgs.  He has had homosexual employees who enjoyed
>   working for him.  Most have moved on/up to better positions.  Not
>   one was fired.  Will knew their sexual preference.  Of course we
>   wouldn't expect that to matter would we ;-(.

Don't believe this for a minute.  CFV took every low road they could
find to promote their narrow-minded and dare I say bigoted view of
what the "homosexual lifestyle" is.  And it was all a bald face lie.
Some analysis shows that the main reason #2 passed is that 1) CFV was
able to turn the issue into a referendum on "special rights and quotas"
for "homosexuals, lesbians, and bisexuals" and 2) the #2 opponents
ran a conventional, high-road campaign on issues of compassion and
fairness when they needed to unmask CFV for what it really is, a
Colorado mouthpiece for the Christian Coalition, the Traditional Values
Coalition, the American Family Coalition, and other right-wing types,
and they needed to expose the smoke-screen of "special rights, quotas,
and minority status" that was used to cover up what CFV was really
promoting: discrimination against lesbian and gay people.  

And Will Perkins is a friend of yours?  How special.  That means you
must be a white fundamentalist "Christian" wealthy right-wing
Republican.  Most gentle and generous men in Colorado Springs?  Well
that says a lot about Colorado Springs, in my mind.  He's about as kind
and gentle as Pat Buchanan.  And Perkins received some FAXed death
threats?  Right.  Don't most FAXes have an originating phone number?
So he's gotten some threatening phone calls?  Welcome to the real
world, dude.  I've had my life threatened _in person_ by the people
empowered by Perkins' and CFV's victory, the neo-Nazis, Skinheads, and
other hate groups who believe they now have PERMISSION to bash.

>> "Isn't it amazing how peaceful Jesus was and how pushy Christians are?"
> 
>   It is amazing how peaceful CFV was and how pushy EPOC and other "my
>   way or the highway" organizations are.

Yea.  CFV is peaceful.  They gave Colorado such a civilized way to bash
gays and lesbians -- in the privacy of the voting booth.  By passing
this amendment, they changed _nothing_ in Colorado Springs, but in
Denver, they managed to repeal a law that the voters of Denver voted
to keep, a law that only affected Denver.  And in Boulder, they managed
to repeal a law that the voters ENACTED BY REFERENDUM, a law that only
affected Boulder.  All by using a statewide constitutional club against
home-rule cities.

It is CFV, along with Barbara Sheldon of the Traditional Values
Coalition, Colorado Chapter, the Rev. Pete Peters of Laporte (who calls
for the legal codification of the biblical penalty for homosexual
behavior, DEATH), Operation Rescue, and others who have the "my way or
the highway" mentality.  But I'll tell you this right now.  This faggot
isn't about to leave Colorado, the state where my mother's mother was
born, and where my fathers parents are buried, to the fundamentalists.
It's too beautiful a place for them to have for their own little
kingdom of narrow-mindedness.

And now look at what Colorado for Family Values has brought Colorado.
A hurt, bitter, and angry lesbian and gay community that previously had
only asked for the right to live their lives as they see fit, free from
discrimination.  A hopelessly damaged reputation, and the distinction
of being the first state since the days of slavery to constitutionally
relegate a portion of its citizenry to second-class citizenship.
Boycotts that will economically harm the state and permit the nation
to pick at the collective black eye Coloradans gave themselves on
election day.  A national reputation as a beautiful place full of
intolerant if not hateful people.  Embarrassment and shame.  Even Kevin
Tebedo, director of CFV, said, "Colorado voters have made their
decision and now they have to live with it."

But I'll tell you what CFV also gave Colorado.  They gave the state the
equivalent of Gov. Wallace standing at the classroom door.  All of the
hundreds of thousands of people who thought "this couldn't happen here"
are now coming out of the woodwork and saying "WE MUST FIX THIS!" The
passage of Amendment #2 in Colorado will, after some time, pain, agony,
embarrassment, and economic loss, spark the greatest movement for the
cause of justice this state has ever seen.  In short order, Amendment 2
will be rendered unenforceable by the courts, and then repealed by the
people.  There will be a greater, factual understanding of lesbian,
gay, and bisexual people and we'll eventually have statewide (and
national) civil rights protection against discrimination based on
sexual orientation (which includes heterosexuals as well as homosexuals
and bisexuals), with no "quotas", no mention of "minority status" or
"special rights." And, we'll see (are seeing!) the greatest scrutiny of
right-wing fundamentalist so-called Christian group activities so that
they can never, ever, do this kind of thing using a stealth, under the
radar (Tebedo's words) campaign again.  Hell, I'll even go so far as to
say that this is the beginning of the repeal of Colorado's
"English-Only" constitutional amemdment, the beginning of the repeal of
Colorado's constitutional ban on state monies for abortion, and the
beginnings of the downfall of the Colorado Republican party, which will
be reduced to being the voice of the El Paso County "crazies" and the
fundamentalists working to make the US a theocratic state, and little more.

Amendment #2 is our Selma, our Soweto riots, our Tiennamen (sp?) Square.
It will become the second "defining moment" in the quest for Lesbian,
Gay, and Bisexual equal protection, the first being the Stonewall Riots
of 1969.  CFV and the passage of Amendment #2 is going to prove to be
the spark that lit the match that lit the fuse to the bomb that is going
to explode into the biggest advancement for justice and civil rights this
country has seen since the '60s.  Mark my words.

On election night, Denver Mayor Wellington Webb asked, "Did you think
this was going to be easy?"  It isn't.  And it's not going to be pretty.
But it's going to happen.  Just try to hide and watch.

				     	Kevin

Kevin Malloy  kpm@druhi.att.com  AT&T Bell Labs, Denver  (303) 538-3511
633 E. 11th Ave.					 1991 BMW K75RT	  
Denver, CO  80203	_NOT_ a 2nd Class Coloradoan!	       DoD #106
(303) 830-2937	 With liberty and justice for all, NO EXCEPTIONS!
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