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VICTORY AT THE LEGISLATURE
The Forum for Equality is proud to inform you that we prevailed on all bills of concern to the LGBT community. Some of the victories were ugly and all had surprises. But this is our best legislative session in the last 12 years!
A number of Legislators took courageous stands against the bills we were opposing and the Forum extends its deepest gratitude to those who supported our community in the LA Senate and House of Representatives. We ask that you send a thank you note to each of them by clicking the thank you note box. It will only take 30 seconds, thanks to the Forum's advanced software that makes contacting an elected official easy.
Everyone who met with, sent an email to, or made a phone call to a legislator played an important role in this phenomenal outcome. The Forum thanks you and especially extends its thanks to our staff and key volunteers in the legislative session. Our organization's and the community's gratitude goes out to all of you.
We also extend thanks to our allies who helped the Forum during the session. Our partnerships with these community organizations are of great importance to the Forum and we are honored to work with each of them.
PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL OF THANKS to selected Legislators. These courageous legislators did the right thing in opposing these bills despite the enormous pressure by the extreme fundamentalists. They need to hear thanks from you, because they will certainly be hearing from our enemies.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Thank you
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
In an era where political courage is a rare commodity, I wish to personally thank you for standing with us in opposition to HB 60, HB 517, and HB 340. Your leadership and efforts during this session mean a lot to me.
Thank you for remembering how hard fought our freedoms and privileges are in this country and for your continued support of civil rights for all of Louisiana's citizens.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
June 26, 2009
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Here is the final result on the bills.
HB 60 (Birth Certificate) VICTORY The bill was effectively filibustered by Senators JP Morrell, Dan Claitor and Butch Gautreaux. After it became obvious that they intended on speaking until the clock ran out, the bill was returned to the calendar. It could have been pulled from the calendar had 2/3 rds of the senators voted to do so, but this did not occur, and the bill died.
HB 340 (Constitutional Amendment) VICTORY Since the Senate & House passed 2 different versions of the same bill, a conference committee was appointed to work out differences. The Speaker of the House appointed Representatives Cameron Henry, Tim Burns, and John Edwards and the Senate President appointed Senators Nick Gautreaux, Dan Claitor, and himself. The bill died in conference committee.
HB 517 (Patient Abandonment) PARTIAL VICTORY This bill started out as an awful bill that would have allowed medical care providers and pharmacists to refuse treatment to anyone for anything as long as they claimed a moral objection. This would have left many HIV patients without medical care in some areas of the state. It was amended several times and what was passed allows a health care provider (including pharmacists ) to refuse to perform an abortion, physician assisted suicide, euthanasia, human cloning, and stem cell research, or to dispense 'abortifacient drugs.' Basically the only change in Louisiana law is that a pharmacist can refuse to fill a prescription for the morning after pill. While this is still a bad result, it is not as bad as the original bill.
Gay Adoption Ban --- COMPLETE VICTORY! Late last year we learned that the extreme fundamentalists intended on introducing a bill to ban any adoptions by lesbians and gays. In response, the Forum began an education campaign focused on elected officials and members of the press on this important issue. Our efforts were so successful that no such bill was introduced and no attempts were made to amend a bill to create such a ban. Our opponents conceded defeat on this issue in Gambit, saying that they didn't have the votes to create such a ban.
Go to the ISSUES page of the Forum For Equality website for more information.
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