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Since then I have
been contacted directly by many people asking what this means
and whether this is something we support. So that you know
our thinking about this at the Pride Agenda, I have decided that
it is important to let everyone know what we’ve been
saying. We do in fact
agree with the Governor that September is the next best
opportunity our community has to pass marriage equality
legislation in the State Senate. The Pride Agenda has
worked with Senators from both sides of the aisle for many
months to determine the best time to bring the bill to the floor
and have it pass. While we would have preferred that the
debate and vote had taken place in June—before the
scheduled end of the regular legislative session—events in
the State Senate that were beyond our control made this
impossible. Even though the
Senate has resolved its stalemate and gone back to work to pass
a few non-controversial bills, we agree with what has been said
publicly by a number of Senators that a “cooling
off” period is needed after the intense fighting that
occurred among Senators during the month-long impasse.
Passing this legislation will require votes from both
Republicans and Democrats. It is clear to us that
we wouldn’t want marriage equality to be among the first
bills they take up because passing it requires Senators to
work together, and right now this is difficult as there are
still many hurt feelings and bruised egos. We need the Senate
to be in a productive place when it takes up marriage equality
so that the bill can be debated based upon its merits and not on
anything else. Our community has
fought for too long and has come too far not to have marriage
for our families treated with careful consideration by the
Senate. This is what would happen if a vote were scheduled
right now. You can be sure though that in the next number
of weeks while the Senate works to come back together we will
continue doing what we have been doing all this year—the
district-by-district work it takes to win. Thank you for your
emails and telephone calls. It is great to know so many people
across our state are eagerly following this campaign. What we
need you to do to keep the momentum up during this time is to
stay engaged and take action when we let you know it’s
necessary. If we keep working together, I know we will
win. In
Solidarity,
Alan Van
Capelle P.S.—I am writing to you specifically about marriage equality because it relates directly to an article that appeared in the New York Times. That said, there are many other issues we are working on—such as the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA). Don’t think for one moment that we are not going to work over the same time period to pass these bills, because our work doesn’t stop until we all have protection under the law. That’s a promise. |
