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Celebrate Your Own Independence Day
There’s a revolution happening and we’re lucky enough to be right in the middle of it. But like so many other social movements, the magnitude remains almost hidden until an historical perspective puts it neatly in a timeline.
So for all of us living in this moment, perhaps a look at recent landmarks and mileposts will help us see the general direction we’re headed.
July brings the first vote on the proposed Federal Amendment to define any legal marriage as only possible between a man and a woman. Not since Prohibition has there been an Amendment that limits, rather than expands the rights and privileges of U.S. citizens. It would also be the first codified challenge to the idea that “all men are created equal” and would effectively relegate all LGBT individuals to a second class status.
We’ve also faced our own challenges in New York State. For once a late budget may have actually worked in our favor, as the proposed Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unable to reach the Senate floor. However, the controversy over the proposed legislation was in no small part due to the hundreds of voices challenging the sponsors of the DOMA with phone calls, letters and e-mails.
With two of the sponsors of New York’s DOMA coming from right here in Western New York, many of you took the charge of your Pride Center and called Senators Volker and Maziarz to communicate your opposition to the bill. In the end you claimed your independence from tyranny, and truly strengthened our resolve as your Community Center – and for that, we thank you.
- Jim Ver Steeg, Pride Center Director
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