I first found out about this rally in church last weekend, and again in an email from our local interfaith group. My first impulse was to post about it on the various blogs I frequent, to help spread the word. Because, well, that’s just what I do. For one reason or another I often can’t make it to these events, but I hope that I can make at least some small difference by making sure word gets out.
Here is the web site of Equality Ohio, and below the fold is the event information I received via email. Equal rights for all Americans is an issue near and dear to my heart, and I was greatly saddened by the passage of Issue 1 in November, and I very much want to see Ohio move in the direction of being more fair and inclusive. I have bold-faced the part of Equality Ohio’s vision that concerns me, because I think it could be a stumbling block.
Homecoming Rally with Equality Ohio.
Equality Ohio is an organization which advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) citizens. A gathering will take place at Ohio’s statehouse in Columbus on October 1, 2005 at 3:30 pm to declare a stronger vision for our state, including: Equal civil rights and protections for all Ohioans and families including LGBT and straight Ohioans, statewide Employment Non-Discrimination Act Foster parent and adoption laws that do not discriminate against loving LGBT parents, a Safe Schools bill that protects all our children, a Hate Crimes Act that protects all our citizens, and the legal right for an individual to amend a birth certificate after sexual reassignment if they so choose.
At the Homecoming Rally the Equality Ohio and the Equality Ohio Education Fund will be officially launched. For more information on Equality Ohio, visit www.equalityohio.org
I understand that coalition isn’t pretty, and when you have a group advocating for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Americans, all of those groups want to have their voices heard. But that last goal just threw me for a loop. So often we say that this isn’t about “special” treatment, but about equal treatment under the law (or some words to that effect). The legal right to change your birth certificate really seems more like a “special” right, and one that will seem unreasonable to many people who support the other goals on that list.
