The Civil Rights Bill will be intro-
duced into the legislature once again this
biennium. The Vermont Coalition of Les-
bians and Gay Men will be holding Steer-
ing Committee meetings to help chart the
course of this bill. Information on other
bills of interest will also be passed on at
these meetings. The Steering Committee
meetings will be held on Tuesday evenings
at 7:00 p.m. at the A.C.L.U. office on State
Street in Montpelier.

It is vitally important that our commu-
nity be aware of what is happening in the
House and Senate chambers. Even publish-
ing monthly, Out in the Mountains cannot
keepusasuptodateaswewillneedtobe.
Anyone unable to to get to a Steering
Committee meeting should call one of our
liaisons on Wednesday evenings to be
brought up to date on the progress. (Phone
numbers for the liaisons, Holly Perdue and
Keith Goslant, are listed on the Resources
Page.)

While the Civil Rights bill will be our
top priority this session, we also need to

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Civil Rights Bill Update

watch for other bills of interest. You should
begin now to maintain ongoing communi-
cations with your senators and representa-
tives. A phone call or letter to them on any
issue that is important to you is a start. Then
calling or writing for their support on the
Civil Rights Bill won’t be so difficult later.

Some Helpful Lobbying Points

Below are some facts that you can use
in discussing the anti-discrimination bill
with your local Senator or Representative:

U‘ Discrimination is a problem in
Vennont The issue is not whether one's
sexual orientation is “right," but whether
discrimination is tolerable! No person
should be denied a job, a home, an educa-
tion, or the use of a public place because of
his or her sexual orientation.

It This bill does nothing to “pro-
mote" homosexuality or bisexuality.
People can support this bill and retain their
personal views or beliefs about homosexu-
ality or bisexuality. This is a civil rights
anti-discrimination bill.

It Over 90% of all sexual offenses
involving children are committed by adult

 zFebruary1991

heterosexual men. There are laws and regu-
lations that cover misconduct by all per-
sons, whatever their sexual orientation,
including criminal laws against child mo-
lestation. This bill would not change any
such law or existing age of consent statute.

'9 Supporting this bill is not a politi-
cal liability. No legislator who has sup-
ported civil rights for lesbian, gay, and
bisexual people has ever been defeated on
this ground alone.

It Vermont has a long tradition of
protecting equality for all of its citizens.
The state constitutionally prohibited slav-
ery before any other state. Our advocacy for
civil rights is no different from the struggle
against bigotry and ignorance that African
Americans have fought in the South.

If Bear in mind that most people do
not know that rights for lesbian, gay, and
bisexual people are unprotected by either
state or federal law.

If This bill does not create new laws
or grant “special" rights to homosexuals. It
amends existing anti-discrimination stat-
ues by adding “sexual orientation" to the
protected categories already named (i.e.
race, religion, gender, national origin,
handicap, age, etc.).

 

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