"Know" Project - New Yorkers Against Religion-Based Bigotry - 2009 Manhattan Gay Pride

Support marriage equality now!

Please contact your State Senator ASAP!

There’s still a possibility that the marriage equality bill might come up for a vote during a special session of the New York State Senate these next few weeks. If the marriage equality bill isn’t passed during the special session, it's dead for this year and will need to be introduced all over again next year, from scratch, through Senate committees. So, please ask all your friends to contact their state senators as soon as possible. Let the New York State Senate see overwhelming support for marriage equality for New Yorkers! Here’s how:

First, find out who your State Senator is, and find out the phone numbers of your State Senator’s offices, by entering your street address and ZIP code in the text fields at the top left corner of the following page:

www.nysenate.gov/

(Be sure to press ENTER after typing both your street address and your ZIP code in the appropriate text fields.)

Then, call at least one of your State Senator’s offices and leave a message asking him or her to vote “Yes” for S4401, “an act to amend the domestic relations law, in relation to the ability to marry.” The text of the bill is here:

www.tomduane.com/Legislation/S4401.html

In your phone message, please include your street address and ZIP code (to show that you are in the relevant State Senate district). And, if you are registered to vote, please say so. Please be polite.

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Who are the haters who oppose marriage equality?

The religious right wing is now very active, here in New York State, against the marriage equality bill in the State Senate.

♦ We have a local religious right wing here in New York, with leaders such as NY State Senator Rúben Díaz, Sr., from the Bronx.

♦ Our local religious right wing is now getting lots of help from the same national religious right wing organizations (such as the so-called “National Organization for Marriage,” based in New Jersey) that poured money into California’s Proposition 8

♦ The religious right wing is still a formidable enemy, with lots of money for slick TV commercials to scare the many latent homophobes, as they did in California.

New Yorkers tend not to be aware of the power of the religious right wing. Over and over again these past few decades, pundits have pronounced the religious right wing to be dead. But it always comes back to life, and it never really died.

We must not let ourselves be discouraged. The GLBT rights movement has won many victories and can continue to win. But let’s learn what we are up against.

New Yorkers Against Religion-Based Bigotry

"Know Your Enemy" Project - dinner meeting in Manhattan

Thursday, July 9, 2009, 7:30 PM

At this meeting, we will (1) learn about the religious right wing and its activities here in New York, and then (2) brainstorm ways to educate New York area GLBT people about the religious right wing and our need to fight back. We will meet at a diner on 23^rd Street, near 6^th Avenue. Please see details and RSVP on our Meetup site:

meetup.com/nyarbb/ nyarbb.com/kyep/