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Box 17 Fitzwiliam, NH 03447 on Route 12, 3 miles south ofjunction of 12& 119 Open seven days a week 10 am to 5 pm 603-535-6638 Auctioneers License No. 2410 Gary Taylor Robert (Samara /.\VED/.\ (W a full service salon I508 Churrh St - 802.864.2088 The Real Gay Agenda BY RoN BERNARD My infant daughter was sleeping peacefully in her crib. I stood over her and thought about what father- hood meant. Emotions stronger than any I’d ever experienced came over me. She depended on me to keep her safe. I allowed myself to think about what I’d do if anyone ever purposefully harmed her. I’d use any force necessary to protect my child. I would fight to protect her. I was capable of killing to save her life. My intellect was shocked by the raw emo- 6 tion. Parenthood is primal. All animals have an over- whelming instinct to protect their children. Humans are no different. Anti—gay groups talk about the “gay agenda” which paints homosexuals as a dan- ger to children. The “gay agenda” claims that gays want to eliminate all age-of- consent laws so that gay men can have sex with boys of any age. It paints a picture of gay men threatening to rape the straight sons of America in the name of gay rights. Anti—gay groups play on the fears of every parent and try to lead parents to the conclu- sion that they must oppose any rights for gay people if they want to protect their children. Our community will even- tually succeed in gaining full equality, ‘but we must chal- lenge the lies that are being spread about the gay agenda. We need to reach out to par- ents and help them under- stand that it is anti-gay prop- aganda that is putting their children in danger. Promoting tolerance and acceptance for gays and les- bians can help keep their children safe. Whenever we are criticized for “recruiting” in the'schools, we need to help our neighbors under- stand that we are saving lives. A study published in 1999 by the American Medical Association found that students who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or not sure of their sexual orientation are 3.41 times more likely to report a suicide attempt. The children most likely to attempt suicide are gay or lesbian students who grow up in families that brainwash their children into believing that gays and lesbians have no value. They are children _ who feel that they have failed their families. They have no one to turn to, no one to tell them that being gay is OK, and no one to tell them that they have every reason in the world to live. I was one of those children who grew up in an anti-gay family. I thought that they were right and that I was .- wrong. I believed them even when I shouldn’t have. It is easy for me to understand how a child trapped in those circumstances might consid- er killing themselves because they don’t want to disap- point their parents. It is iron- ic that Outright Vermont may be saving the lives of the children of the people who attack them most loudly. US. 5. Working to protect lesbian health by educating officials and lobbying for funding. 6. Electing fair- minded leaders by contribut- ing over $1,000,000 to deserving candidates, pro- viding voter guides, ‘and turning out the GLBT vote. 7. Igniting the grassroots by registering people to vote, training grassroots organiz- ers, and educating people on the need to participate in the political process. 8. Supporting Statewide GLBT organizations with grants and -We need to reach out to parents and help them understand that it is anti- gay propaganda that is putting their - ‘ children in danger. 0 Every parent will do every- thing they can do to keep their children safe. We need to educate parents that their children are more likely to survive if they hug them and tell them that all people deserve respect regardless of their sexual orientation. We need to educate parents that they are putting their chil- dren’s lives in danger if they try to force their children to be straight when they are not. We need to let parents know that anti-gay groups talking about the “gay agenda” are the real danger to their chil- dren. My own parents would have never made anti-gay comments around me if they had known that I was gay. nWe also need to help peo- ple understand what makes up the real gay agenda because the real gay agenda is a positive expression of the hopes and dreams of our people. The Human Rights Campaign (www.hrc.org) has published a gay agenda that is worth reading. The HRC’s gay agenda is paraphrased below: 1. Ensuring fairness in the workplace by lobbying Congress on the Employee Nondiscrimination Act and working with business lead- ers to create fair workplace policies. 2. Protecting. our community from hate vio- lence by documenting hate incidents and organizing sup- port among law enforcement and elected officials. 3. Helping fight HIV/AIDS by working for adequate fund- ing and comprehensive med- ical coverage. 4. Protecting families from discrimination by working to ensure that same-sex and married cou- ples receive equal treatment and working to change immi- gration laws so that loved ones can be reunited in the technical assistance. 9. Opening hearts and minds across America by building support for GLBT issues. My own personal gay agenda is that we should always have total equality in everything. Whenever any- one starts talking about how many rights gays and les- bians should’ or shouldn’t have, it strikes a very primal chord inside me. How can any American argue that some Americans deserve more rights than others? Haven’t they read the Declaration of Independence that says that this country was founded on the principle- of equality? How can any American argue that their religion requires them to lobby the government to pre- vent me from getting rights that they enjoy? Doesn’t their teach them to love their neighbor as themselves? Aren’t they violating the core of their own religion when they are trying to bash me? How can any American recite the Pledge of Allegiance if they don’t believe in what it says? I’ve created a new Pledge of Allegiance for anti-gay peo- religion ' ple so that they can tell the truth when they recite the ' pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republicans for which it stands‘, one nation, under George W. Bush, gays invisi- ble, with liberty and justice for all straight people. Being anti-gay is really being anti-American. The real gay agenda is nothing more than asking for the rights that we deserve because we are Americans.