At 10:09 PM 2/14/2005, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I have been up for around 48 hours so I cannot comment in detail on the Stonewall DFL endorsements and the Mayor's race. But I will say this.Speaking of Green Party Candidates, did Robert Halfhill ever get a response from Natalie Johnson Lee when he wrote to ask her whether Bob Battle's editorial supporting Michele Bachmann - and quoting Natalie Johnson Lee supporting his point of view - from Bob's letter.
Sometime in the early 90's (I"ll find the exact year later), a proposal was introduced before the County Board that anyone who came into any Hennepin County medical facility for ANY kind of treatment, even a session with a psychologist, would have to take an AIDS test (actually an HIV antibody test) to prevent patient to physician transmission. ACT-UP lobbied against this proposal and I was heavily involved with the lobbying. Mark Andrew was, of course, one of our strongest supporters but I soon realized that Peter MacLaughlin was an even stronger supporter. They were both excellent but MacLaughlin was even better.
I hope we have a Green candidate for Mayor so I won't have to settle for a DFL'er. But lacking that, although Rybek has positive qualities (although I have the impression I may find some negatives on further investigation), I, at the moment, intend to vote for MacLauughlin if there is no Green in the race.
Robert Halfhill Loring Park [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Natalie never gave me an email clarification, though I talked with her on the phone before Christmas about this. I described this here:
http://mapnp.geeks.org/pipermail/mpls/2004-December/037401.html
Did Natalie ever respond to you Bob?
Bob Halfhill's letter:
The following letter was sent to Natalie Johnson Lee.
Robert Halfhill Loring ParkThe Reverend Bob Battle has claimed in an article in the St. Paul PIONEER PRESS that you are supporting his battle against same sex marriage. I hope that Battle's claim is false since the Green Party platform supports same sex marriage.
It was my impression that the initial disagreement between us concerning domestic partners and same sex marriage had been resolved since you subsequently voted for domestic partners ordinances when they were brought before the City Council.
As I explained to you at the time this matter came up, one of the main reasons I support African American rights is because I had been subjected to bigotry for being a Gay Person, particularly during adolescence. Because I had experienced bigotry against myself, I know
what it is like to be discriminated against. It is precisely because of my own experience of being the object of bigotry that I go into a rage whenever I hear about anyone being mistreated, whether the reason for mistreating them is because they are Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgender-Intersexed, African American, a woman, or any other reason.
Later, I sent a letter the the City Council members, the Mayor and various newspapers about police brutality. Your aide called to thank me for this letter. I had written it after becoming increasingly enraged over a series of incidents of police brutality that had happened both before and after the question of domestic partners and same sex marriage came up. Although I was aware of the connections between the two matters, the letter about police brutality developed mainly independently as an outgrowth of my mounting rage as I read news accounts of incident after incident of police brutality.
It was my impression after your aide's phone call to me that we understood each other and that you understood how I could become just as enraged after reading about someone being killed ot imprisoned because they are Gay, or of a man being denied the right to visit his lover in the hospital because they had not been permitted to get married, or of the relatives of a deceased lover being able to take their joint property away, again because they had not been permitted to marry, as you become enraged upon learning about someone being murdered, unjustly imprisond, brutalized by the police, or denied a job or the right to vote because they are African American. And I also had the impression that you understod how my own experience of anti Gay bigotry also had caused me to beome enraged when I learned about African Americans being mistreated because they are African American.
I hope my impressions were and are correct.
Presently, Darrell Gerber has posted an email saying that Green Party members have contacted you and that you have told them that you do not support Reverend Bob Battle's opposition to same sex marriage. Eva Young, on the other hand, says that you have not been willing to give her a clear answer about your position on same sex marriage. I think that, given this situation, the best way for you to clear up any questions about your position on same sex marriage would be to issue a public statement that could be reported in the press and thus provide a documented record that people could cite when responing to any future allegations about your position on same sex marriage.
I hope that my impression that we are both opposed to ALL forms of bigotry is the correct impression.
Robert Halfhill
125 Oak Grove, Apt 41
Minneapolis, MN, 55403-4308
Phone: 612-870-8026
Email: <http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/mpls>rhalfhill at juno.com
Eva Young Near North Minneapolis [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lloydletta.blogspot.com
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