Love is love is love is love -- but not at Florida's Father Lopez Catholic High School

Below is an e-mail I sent to Father Lopez Catholic High School President Pat LaMorte in Daytona Beach, Florida. It's in response to Mary Kate Curry's "resignation under duress" at the school when it became public that she was engaged to a woman. To read more about this, go to the New Ways Ministry web site at https://www.newwaysministry.org/2017/10/23/catholic-school-teacher-fired-gender-engagement/. Thanks to fellow Lopez alum John Bartelloni (Class of '70) for alerting me about this.

My letter:

Dear Pres. LaMorte:

My Father Lopez High School education taught me that the Catholic Church should be alleviating pain and suffering in the world, not adding to it.

I just read about Mary Kate Curry's "resignation under duress" as a theology teacher and the school's decision to forbid her from coaching (even volunteering to coach) the FLHS girls' basketball team. 

Curry's letter was heartbreaking. She obviously loved her jobs as teacher and coach. To take those away from her is the worst kind of cruelty. 

And the reason? She publicly outed herself as a member of the LGBT community, someone who loves someone of her own gender. She couldn't live a lie any more and you punished her for it. Shame on you, the school and the diocese. Shame.

I attended Father Lopez from 1965-69. I was president of the National Honor Society and lettered in basketball, part of the team that went to the state tournament in 1969. I am proud of being a Lopez alum. 

Make us all proud. Alleviate the pain you caused in this young woman's life by reinstating her as a teacher and coach. 

Some 50 years from now, a 2018 Lopez grad will look upon his or her time in the classroom or on the court with Ms. Curry and say, as I do today, that I learned how to be a honorable human being at Father Lopez. 

Do the right thing.

Sincerely,

Michael Shay

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Wyoming Unites for Marriage launches campaign

The tall guy in the middle is yours truly. I'm flanked by Robin Van Ausdall, director of the Wyoming Democratic Party, and Rodger McDaniel, fellow prog-blogger and pastor of Highlands Presbyterian Church. We joined 100 or so others at the Wyoming State Capitol on Monday for the launch of the Wyoming Unites for Marriage campaign. Four Wyoming LGBT couples, joined by Wyoming Equality, filed a lawsuit earlier this month in an effort to help the state live up to its "Equality State" motto. Sign the Wyoming Unites pledge here.

Surfer Patrol sez: "Let the Gay Scouts in!" w/update

I can't speak for the rest of Surfer Patrol, but Patrol Leader Mike Shay says it's OK with him if openly Gay Boy Scouts are allowed into our hallowed fraternity. LGBT leaders, too, although that's a long shot -- for now.

I can't remember the number of our troop, but we met in a church in Ormond Beach, Fla, in the 1960s. While the troop's other patrols bore names of Florida's wild animals such as Panther, Rattlesnake and Gator, my brother Dan and Bobby C. and I all voted to become the Surfer Patrol. As usually happens with surfers, our patrol was typecast as the troublemakers, which rarely happened in real life. Yes, we almost got out troop kicked out of Camp Lanochee. And yes, we did teepee another patrol's tent. And yes, our patrol members were much better surfers than we were Boy Scouts. We could shred, and did. But we were loveable. And we rarely caused any real damage.

When I hear reports that some church congregations have gathered together this evening to pray for continuing a policy of a non-Gay Boy Scouts of America, I say: "Bring it on!" Or maybe "Cowabunga!" Make all troops welcoming to all people, gay or straight. The Mormons say it's OK with them -- and hardly any of them surf. The United Methodists and the Unitarian Universalists and national Jewish leaders say its OK with them. As always, the Catholic Church is a problem. My brother Dan and I were Catholic school boys, outcasts in Baptist-heavy Florida. We all grew up in a time of vicious names, "queer" as a nasty slur, and "faggot." I don't think I used them, but I may have. I was a jock in the South before it became the New South. Let's face it -- even in the 21st century, gay-bashing still exists in Dixie. And in surfless Wyoming.

Let the sun shine in, B.S.A.! Surfer Patrol would dig that.

Update: Boy Scouts of America sez yes to admitting openly gay youth. Fundies freak out.

Bitchin'!

This week at the Wyoming State Legislature: Guns, gays and abortion

Monday begins an emotional week at the Wyoming State Legislature. No less than five gun-oriented House bills will be considered. These bills are over and above the gun bill that's already been a hot topic, whether to allow silencers on hunting weapons. In case you missed it, silencers are still not allowed. Game wardens testified that the sound of gunshots is what allows them to catch poachers. The bill didn't make it out of committee.

Security has been beefed up at the Capitol as these emotional gun bills enter the fray. Today's Casper Star-Tribune reports that threats have been made in the lead-up to the debate. The main threat seems to have come from someone on Facebook who threatened the family of Rep. Kendall Kroeker, the source of several of these bills. The threat said that Kroeker has the blood of children on his hands and opined that someone should shoot the Rep and his family. Other threats were reported as "uncivil" and were from gun owners who thought that the House was trying to kill all the gun bills by bundling them together.  These bills call for the arming of teachers and make it OK to bring a weapon to government meetings. HB105 allows people with concealed carry permits to have guns at schools. Utah has a similar law. The idea is that armed teachers can be an effective counter-measure to lunatics with automatic weapons. I'm not a gun guy but this bill doesn't bother me. In Wyoming, I'm surrounded by guns. I don't feel safe and I don't feel threatened. This is Wyoming.

There are some gun bills that do bother me. HB103 aims to let local governments overrule any federal gun laws. This is just wild-eyed, anti-Obama paranoia. HB104's goal is to punish federal agents if they try to enforce gun laws that ban "semi-automatic guns, limit magazine sizes or other limitations on firearms." More NRA-inspired lunacy.

I'm looking forward to the discussion around HB168 and HB169. The first allows "people in domestic relationships the same rights as a spouse." The second "defines marriage as a contract between two natural persons, not between a man and a woman." These bills have Democratic sponsors but Republican co-sponsors. Coming on the heels of the 2012 election, these bills may have more legs than they have in previous legislatures. Wyoming is conservative but not fundie conservative. Its live-and-let-live traditions may trump right-wing religious tendencies. For supporters, the ACLU of Wyoming has up-to-date into on its web site, including e-mails for the members of the Corporations committee and other info on bringing marriage equality to the Equal;ity State. Wyoming Equality in staging a rally at 11 a.m. on Monday at the Capitol in support of the bills.

As expected, there's a an anti-abortion bill in HB97. That should go down in flames as both women and men are growing weary of old guys interfering in a woman's right to choose.

Outlaw Saloon bans same-sex couples at Wednesday night promotions

Welcome to the Equality State! Cognitive Dissonance out of Laramie carried this photo of a sign posted at the Outlaw Saloon in Cheyenne. Read the inside story at http://cognitivedissonance.tumblr.com/post/34689072166/hey-folks-do-you-live-in-or-near-cheyenne-wyo

"Love Can Build a Bridge" concert July 12 in Laramie, July 13 in Denver

From the Matthew Shepard Foundation:

The Matthew Shepard Foundation is proud to present Love Can Build a Bridge featuring the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and the Denver Gay Men’s Chorus. July 12 the choruses will present a concert in Laramie, WY at the the University of Wyoming at the Fine Arts Building, 1000 E. University Ave, 8PM. You can by your tickets for that concert here. July 13 they will perform at St. Johns Episcopal Cathedral in Denver, CO, 1350 Washington Street, 7:30PM. You can buy tickets for this concert in our store. If you have any questions about tickets or the event, please call (303) 830-7400 ext 16

Note that a portion of ticket proceeds will go to Wyoming Equality, an organization that works tirelessly for LGBT equality in our state. Check out the WY Equality web site.

Cheyenne Pride Day: BBQ by day, dance by night

Cheyenne Pride takes place on Saturday, June 9.

Lions Park Gazebo. Free hot dogs and hamburgers from 12:00 - 4:00 pm

Dance at Suite 1901 from 8:00 pm - 1:00 am. Admission: $5.00 members, $10.00 non-members

Sponsored by Wyoming Equality. 

Forrest King holds art show and sale of his "The Pink Triangle" series to benefit Wyoming Equality

Available for the first time -- the original oil paintings from Forrest King's line, “The Pink Triangle.” Art show and sale at the Rotten Apple Ink, 218 W. 17th St., Cheyenne, on Friday, May 11, 6:30-9 p.m. Complimentary wine and refreshments. Special signed prints will be for sale too, plus other artwork by Forrest King. There will be lots of fine art prints for sale and auction. 100% of the proceeds from prints – and 50% of original arts sales -- go to Wyoming Equality! Wine, food, magic by Aiden Sinclair. Artwork: 50x70-inch woven blanket.

Biased statements (and proposed legislation) don't just scare away gay people -- they scare away everyone

Some Republican Legislators talk up economic development but also sponsor and support anti-gay legislation. They may want to rethink that strategy.

Interesting article by Melissa Maynard in stateline.org about the crucial role that businesses play when it comes to the gay marriage debate.

Washington state recently passed a gay marriage bill that had support of the governor, key Republican legislators and high-profile businesses such as Microsoft, Boeing and Nike. Bill sponsor Sen. Ed Murray, a Democrats, said this is "how we got moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats to vote for this."

LGBT activists have been successfully lining up business support for years. It's paid off in Washington, Maryland and New York. There's now a looming battle over the issue in North Carolina. On May 8, voters will decide whether to further codify the state's gay marriage ban by putting it in the state constitution.

These are all big states with a strong corporate presence. These businesses want to attract the young workforce and "fear being left behind in places seen as backward by gay workers and other young employees who feel strongly about the issue."

While Wyoming is not exactly a hipster destination (with the possible exception of Jackson), it runs a risk that its biased attitudes may hinder attempts to land new businesses. None of us lives in a vacuum. Outrageous statements travel like wildfire in our social media age.

Stephen Dull V.P. with North Carolina-based VF Corp. (a Fortune 500 company) put it this way: "If you're sending a signal to the world that you're biased, it just doesn't scare away gay people. It scares away everyone."

Wyoming Sen. Al Simpson talks about new biography and his longtime support of LGBT rights at "Out West at the Autry" in L.A.

Wyoming U.S. Sen. Al Simpson of Cody will be featured at "Out West at the Autry" Feb. 27 at the Autry in Griffith Park in Los Angeles. Some of you may not know this, but Sen. Al is a longtime proponent of LGBT rights. While Wyoming Republican politicians traditional defend individual rights, they don't always declare their support of everyone's rights. But Big Al does this on a regular basis and talks about it in the new authorized biography by Donald Hardy, "Shooting from the Lip: The Life of Senator Al Simpson." In a Feb. 7 post on the Autry blog, writer Gregory Hinton, who grew up in Cody and just finished a research fellowship at the BBHC, muses on how he found common ground with Sen. Al on the issue of being gay in Wyoming. Read the Autry blog post here. Biographer Hardy also appears at the event. Hinton will act as host for Sen. Al's Feb. 27 presentation. 

Out West at the Autry -- "Saving the LGBT Story: Preserving Personal History Collections"

This event is in L.A., located several miles away from Cheyenne. However, it's being organized by Gregory Hinton, who grew up in Cody and is in the midst of a research fellowship at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center (BBHC) in his hometown. Some of you may remember Hinton from the staged reading of "Beyond Brokeback" that he put together for the April 2011 Shepard Symposium in Laramie.

Here's the event:

The Autry National Center in L.A. presents "Saving the LGBT Story: Preserving Personal History Collections" on Saturday, December 10, 2–3:30 p.m. 

This is a discussion featuring archivists and experts who will provide personal collectors with information about caring for their photographs, documents, and ephemera and raise awareness about institutions that might be appropriate future repositories for their collections. The event is part of the acclaimed program "Out West at the Autry," a series of public events focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) history and culture in the West with gallery talks, film screenings, lectures, performances, and other cultural events. 

“Whistling at the past comes with its risks and rewards," said Hinton, producer of Out West at the Autry. "It is our duty to be good stewards of our histories. The Autry Library has shown remarkable vision by including the archives of the International Gay Rodeo Association in its permanent rodeo collection. By doing so, the Autry has recognized the significant contribution of the gay and lesbian Western community to the sport of rodeo, a first for any major Western cultural institution.”

The presenters for the December 10 event are Liza Posas, Autry Archivist and Head Librarian, Braun Research Library, Autry National Center; Greg Williams, Vice President, Board of Directors for ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives and Director, Archives and Special Collections, Archives/Special Collections at CSU Dominguez Hills; and Angela Brinskele, Director of Communications for the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives. 

This event is made possible in part by a generous grant from HBO.

Out West at the Autry is a series of public programs that explores the contributions of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community to Western American history by bringing together scholars, authors, artists, politicians, musicians, and others for gallery discussions, performances, and screenings. Conceived by independent curator Gregory Hinton in 2009, Out West at the Autry was inspired by the Autry’s installation of the iconic shirts worn by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in the film "Brokeback Mountain," on loan from collector Tom Gregory, as well as the permanent inclusion of the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA) archives to the Autry library (both facilitated by Hinton).

Vote now for Matthew Shepard Foundation in Chase American Giving Awards competition

From the Casper Star-Tribune:

The Matthew Shepard Foundation is one of five nonprofits competing nationally Dec. 1-8 to win grant money from the Chase American Giving Awards. A total of $2 million will be awarded based on participants' voting on Facebook.

The Foundation is the only Wyoming nonprofit and only LGBT organization competing. It reached the final round of competition based on semifinals voting in the fall.

With the winnings, the foundation plans to develop an interactive online program, similar to a video game, that would use expert advice to teach youth how to cope with bullying and harassment, according to a media release.

The nonprofit with the most votes will receive $1 million, with second place winning $500,000, third place $250,000, and two runners-up $125,000.

Voters can visit www.VoteMatthewShepard.org to cast their ballot.

Gregory Hinton receives fellowship for his program "Out West at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center"

You remember Gregory Hinton.

I wrote about Greg and his staged reading in Laramie of “Beyond Brokeback” on these pages in April.

Greg Hinton is returning to Cody, Wyoming, this fall. It’s where he grew up. He sent this news release:

I am very proud to announce that the Cody Institute of Western American Studies at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody has selected me for a Resident Fellowship for my abstract "Out West at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center." “Telling stories, sharing culture, and staking claim to the mother lode of Western American history for all diverse cultures is the mission of Out West. 

In particular, scholarship before the twentieth century in the area of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender western studies is incomplete and therefore underserved. A survey of the hidden histories of these communities through the examination of the vast assets of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center will lay an important foundation for future scholars in this unique, fascinating, and expanding area of Western American Studies." 

This award was highly competitive and I am honored and frankly humbled to be included. I hope to take my residency in November/December of 2011 and report my findings with an article and/or documentary and a public presentation in the fall of 2012. I am particularly grateful to the Autry National Center for their early generosity and vision. Thanks to you all for your interest and encouragement in the Mission of Out West. 

ACLU and WY Equality present "Out in Silence" Sept. 15 in Laramie

Out in Silence Poster (via Jeran Artery at Out in Wyoming):

Bachmann’s Husband Calls Homosexuals ‘Barbarians’ Who ‘Need To Be Educated And Disciplined’

Bachmann’s Husband Calls Homosexuals ‘Barbarians’ Who ‘Need To Be Educated And Disciplined’

When trying to figure out where presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) gets her stringent, anti-gay views, you only have to look as far as her husband. Dr. Marcus Bachmann, who has described himself as his wife’s “strategist,” runs a Christian-based counseling center in Minnesota that has been rumored to offer reparative treatment for those looking to “ungay” themselves.

Guest blogger: I am not "an abomination." I am Wyoming.

This "Letter to the Community" was written by Cheyenne's Troy Rumpf and posted on Facebook. It appeared in this morning's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle under the headline "Legislative actions against gays are 'simple bigotry.' " It's poignant and angry and exceedingly well-written. That's no surprise. Troy is a multi-talented actor, director, writer and PIO. He is also a great human being. I asked -- and he gave permission -- for me to reprint his letter. So here's Troy's guest blog:

I am not “dry rot.” I am not “incapable of making policy decisions.” I am not “an abomination.”

Who I am is a tax-paying professional, a guy who grew up in Wyoming, a man who has spent years volunteering for social agencies and serving on boards to help improve our community and our state, someone who has been in a monogamous relationship for 15 years, a person who happens to be born gay.

Let me begin by saying how grateful I am to the many in our Legislature who continue to take the time – regardless of party – to consider issues thoughtfully and vote against discrimination and hate.

The absolute vitriol from many other legislators and the horrific lies told by some of their supporters are shocking in their ignorance, and simultaneously not terribly unexpected. I question whether many of these people took the time to research the issues with legitimate sources, to talk with people in the gay community, to get a real feel for the impact of these decisions outside the confines of their own comfort zone.

It seems so hypocritical to hear regular usage of the phrases “this is the Equality State” or “Republicans are in favor of less government.” These words are empty and meaningless to those that are anti-gay, unless they want to use them for their own self interests.

This isn’t about homophobia – it’s not as if these people are afraid of those who are gay. Let’s call it what it is: it’s discrimination; it’s about hating a group of people in the community; it’s simple bigotry.

Believe it or not, there are gay people in all walks of life in Wyoming, impacting you in numerous positive ways. They are legislators, chefs, executives, nurses, politicians, librarians, truck drivers, doctors, teachers, construction workers, lawyers, administrators, and more. Many of them you probably don’t even know are gay, and you would never think of trying to hurt them when you know them directly. It seems that people only find their hatred when they deal with “gay people” as an abstract idea.

Gay people are not a stereotype, and it’s the stereotype that scares the bigots. We need to change this way of thinking, and you can see that younger generations are even more willing to understand the folly of discrimination. We can and must work together – straight and gay alike – to find true equality for the citizens of our great state.

We are individuals. We are people with much to contribute to society. We are Wyoming.

Rep. Childers: Wyoming promotes modern-day version of South's anti-miscegenation laws

The Casper Star-Tribune provided this tally of Wyoming House votes on HB74: Bill to promote discrimination against LGBT citizens (that's my translation of this legislation):

Here's how members of the Wyoming House voted Monday on House Bill 74, which would stop recognition of same-sex marriages and civil unions performed outside Wyoming.

In favor (32): Blikre, Bretchtel, Botten, Buchanan, Burkhart, Campbell, Cannady, Davison, Edmonds, Eklund, Gay, Greear, Harshman, Harvey, Hunt, Jaggi, Kasperik, Kroeker, Krone, Lockhart, Loucks, Lubnau, Madden, McKim, Miller, Peasley, Petersen, Quarberg, Semlek, Shepperson, Stubson, Teeters.

Against (28): Barbuto, Berger, Blake, Bonner, Brown, Byrd, Childers, Connolly, Craft, Esquibel, Freeman, Gingery, Greene, Illoway, McOmie, Moniz, Nicholas, Patton, Pedersen, Petroff, Roscoe, Steward, Throne, Vranish, Wallis, Zwonitzer (Dan), Zwonitzer (Dave).

Excused: Goggles.

I am glad to see that my Rep., Mr. Nicholas, voted against this ridiculous bill. He's brand new and I didn't vote for him in 2010 but I may next time.

Many of the yay votes come from the expected sources, especially Amy Edmonds of Cheyenne. Very disappointed with the anti-gay vote by usually moderate Rep. Tim Stubson of Casper. What was he thinking?

Here's another telling snippet from the CST article:

State Rep. Pat Childers, R-Cody, who has been one of the leading opponents of anti-gay marriage bills in the House, compared HB74 to Jim Crow laws in place when he was growing up in Texas in the 1950s. 

"What we're doing with this law is basically the same situation that the state that I grew up in and many other Southern states did -- they denied the right of a black person to marry a white person," Childers said. "Now what we're doing here is with gays."

In the heat of argument, Rep. Childers talked about Jim Crow laws when he meant anti-miscegenation laws, which prohibited marriage between whites and blacks. Or maybe it's a reporter error. You can look it up.

Google "equality and Wyoming" and see what you get

I just Googled "equality and Wyoming." It got 1,670,000 hits. Most are about the current battle being waged for real equality in Wyoming. Equality for all, including gays and lesbians and bisexual and transgendered people, as well as immigrants from south of the Borderlands. The Wyoming State Legislature thinks it is O.K. to discriminate against all of "these people." They have another think coming.

There are some links to "equality and Wyoming" which show that equality exists here. Wyoming Equality is first on the list. Its motto: "Connecting Wyoming's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community." It just sponsored a dance in Casper, but the year's main event is "Rendezvous." Here's a description for this summer's event:

Rendezvous (Aug. 3-7, 2011) is a 5-day campout at Medicine Bow National Forest, between Cheyenne and Laramie.

The Rendezvous Event provides a friendly, safe, GLBT-affirming environment for everyone, from everywhere.  Pitch a tent or bring an RV and join us for a week of making new friends, entertainment, and outdoor adventure.

Rendezvous is an experience you will not forget.

From laughing around the campfire with friends, old and new, and enjoying the crisp air and bright stars while cooking out, you'll have fond memories for years to come.  That's why so many people return to Rendezvous year after year.

See you at Rendezvous 2011!

"Equality" is also part of the name of the state's Medicaid program:

EqualityCare is the name chosen by the Wyoming Department of Health for its Medicaid Program. Medicaid is a joint federal and state government program that pays for medical care for some low income and medically needy individuals and families.

The issues of Medicaid and health care are also being discussed in the current legislative session. The Repubs want to make it a crime to enact the Affordable Health Care Act in the state. The legislature says that the state doesn't cotton to any federal interference and wants to come up with its own plan which they will discuss at a later date. More important to get rid of that darn Obamacare.

More talk of equality from the Equality State. The Equality State Policy Center blog issues weekly reports on progress (or lack thereof) in the legislature. As Director Dan Neal says on the blog, this week "ended on a low note," equality-wise. Read the entire post at http://equalitystatewatch.blogspot.com/2011/01/second-week-ends-on-low-note.html

As Dan notes, there's more equality to come Monday:

The House Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee will take up HB 94 - Illegal immigration, at 7:30 am. The bill mirrors Arizona’s controversial measure.

One equality-named literary organization that I've been involved with is the Equality State Book Festival in Casper. I'm a member of the planning committee and we've been promoting books and writers and reading since 2006. The Equality State Book Festival has featured a whole slate of quality writers from all over: Annie Proulx, Robert Wrigley, Ravi Shankar, Kim Barnes, David Romtvedt, C.J. Box, Michael and Kathleen O'Neal Gear, Alyson Hagy, Mark Jenkins, Mark Spragg, Gerry Spence, Tim Sandlin, Lori Van Pelt, Lee Ann Roripaugh, Robert Roripaugh, Laura Pritchett, Rosemary Daniell, Lily Burana, Nina McConigley, and many others. Children's author and memoirist Jack Gantos has conducted workshops and presentations for hundreds of Casper students in 2008 and 2010. Olympic champ Rulon Gardner (now a reality show star) brought his book and his rousing speeches to Casper students in 2006. Noted children's author/illustrator Ray Troll traveled from Alaska to bring his passion for dinosaurs to the bookfest and to schools.

Reading and writing knowledge is crucial to good citizenship. Good citizens know about a state's core values, and work hard to promote them.

I'm not saying that our legislators aren't knowledgeable. I am saying that they are putting narrow-minded interests before the health of the state. And the world is watching.

Go ahead, Google "equality and Wyoming." See what you get. Lots of bad news, but certainly some gems in the mix.

Guest blogger: HB 74 is not legislation that reflects our history as The Equality State

Don't have too many guest blogs on these pages. But this is a great one from Emily Cram (pictured at right), a doctoral student at the University of Indiana in Bloomington. Way back when, Emily worked as an intern for me at the Wyoming Arts Council. A writer and champion forensics student at University of Wyoming, Emily has gone on to bigger things.

However, she is a daughter of Wyoming -- a native. As such, she is free to weigh in on anything she damn well wants to. So say I. Emily gives permission for anyone and everyone to borrow her fine words and send them to his/her legislator. She hopes for wide distribution.

Emily speaks:

Just recently, past and present Wyoming governors gathered to discuss how to govern Wyoming’s future, while taking care to be sure that governance was in the spirit of Wyoming’s political attitudes and culture. As I watched Governors Mead, Freudenthal, Geringer, and Sullivan, I was moved by the sense that Wyoming is a place where our disagreements never foreclose the way that we feel a deep sense of obligation towards each other in times of need. I believe Governor Geringer was the one who said: at one moment you may fight with another on the capital floor, but the next day that person just may be the one pulling you out of a snowdrift. 

The movement of HB 74, or the “Validity of Marriages” Bill out of the House Education Committee to the full consideration of the House and Senate is more than a snowdrift. It is a bill that cuts against the core values of Wyoming’s political culture: the belief that the government should not impinge on the ways in which a person desires to conduct their personal life and the families they wish to consensually create and ethically sustain. HB 74 invalidates the legal marriages of those who have committed no legal offense. Rather than commit to building and supporting Wyoming’s families, diverse in organization as they may be, HB 74 destroys the kinds of support lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender couples ought to be able to access, just as any other human being who desires to faithfully participate in the institution of marriage. Acts that authorize only particular partnerships (i.e. the “males” and “females” that HB 74 validates), yet withhold the access to legal rights such as hospital visitation, fair housing, among others, marginalize people in Wyoming. 

HB 74 is not legislation that reflects our history as the Equality State. As the daughter of parents from Casper and Riverton, I am proud to have grown up in a place like Wyoming and still call it home. But HB 74 harms families and perpetuates the problematic belief that only certain kinds of families are valuable. I encourage the people of Wyoming to embrace our ability to disagree with each other yet always feel the need to pull others out of a snowdrift. Please support Wyoming’s families and vote against HB 74.

Sincerely,

Emily Dianne Cram

Welcome to the Equality State (and don't forget to read the fine print)

Credit goes to Meg Lanker of Laramie for this newly-revised banner for the non-equality state heretofore known as the Equality State. Don't forget to read the fine print! And don't forget to read the text of House Bill No. HB0074: Validity of Marriages. You can post a comment or a note at Meg's Facebook page. Go to http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=482738442965&id=686730787. You can also make comments here. Better yet, write your Rep or Sen and tell them there are better ways to spend their time and the taxpayers' money. Find contact info at the Legisweb site.