I just watched a really powerful online video that I think you should see. Judy Shepard talks about losing her son Matthew to anti-gay hate violence and her ten-year fight for a federal hate crimes law that would honor his memory.
The House just passed the bill and we need the Senate to act soon. The right wing is spreading absurd lies, claiming it would send pastors to jail for giving anti-gay sermons. We need to fight back with the truth, and we don't have much time.
Please watch the video, and write your senators.
Thank you.
Sent by a reader.
UPDATE: Here's a video of Rep. Virginia Foxx on the floor of the US House showing an example of the push-back by those in opposition to the bill.
Until just a few minutes ago, there were no comments to this post, and I hoped that you were writing to your senators, even though you were not commenting here. When Fr. Bob's comment came in, I was in the act of watching the Foxx video, which includes a correction to her statements by Media Matters.
If you have not sent your letter to your senators, I'm nagging you to do it right now.
By now I imagine that you have seen the video of my Congresswoman, Virginia Foxx, delivering her diatribe yesterday in which she called the proven homophobix nature of Matthew's death a HOAX ! This, while Judy was sitting in the visitors' gallery.
ReplyDeleteFoxx is an embarassment to most North Carolinians and is the darling of the extreme right. In this event even she stooped to a new low. I have e-mailed the bishops of the three North Carolina dioceses, asking them to make a join public condemnation of her behavior. Stay tuned.
Fr. Bob, synchronicity! When your comment came in, I was watching the video of Rep. Virginia Foxx with the intention of posting the video as an update, adding that although no one was commenting, I hoped that they were, indeed, clicking the link and sending the letter. Her words are despicable.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting and leaving a comment.
Alright already! Stop nagging! I sent it in!
ReplyDeleteSenator Foxx is shameless.
ReplyDeleteThere's no scoundrel like a pious scoundrel.
Counterlight, thank you. That's exactly the point of nagging. See. It worked.
ReplyDeleteOK I sent an e-mail to Senators Collins and Snowe, the only two intelligent Republican senators left.
ReplyDeleteI sent to my Senators, but don't hold much hope there. Blanch Lincoln and Mark Pryor are Dems in name only much of the time.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Amelia and Hillbilly.
ReplyDeleteAs for mine, David Vitter? No comment. Mary Landrieu? She's a Blue Dog Dem, but she could be possibly be persuadable, but probably not. I like them to know that all of their constituents are not of a piece, and I like to tweak them a little with my missives.
I wrote my home state senators to thank them for their continued support of this act.
ReplyDeleteI watched Matthew's mother talking but I couldn't bring myself to watch that Foxx woman. Some news clips I watch from the States really get me wondering.
How can she do that right on the floor of the US House of Representatives?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, Grandmère, I wrote my two senators yesterday. A waste of time I already know, Kaye Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn are two pod-mates if ever there were two. Occasionally I've got to write them, though, because some issues mean too much to me to stay silent.
ReplyDeleteLandrieu as a Blue Dog Democrat, ya know I came down and campaigned for her during the run-off? I really hoped she would be what I wanted her to be. But Blue Dog Democrat is a perfect description. It's still nicer than what I call the both of mine.
TheJanet, I've been disappointed in her votes many times. I vote for her, because the alternative would be much worse.
ReplyDelete