I wonder what it would take for those who support this kind of measure to
realize that discrimination DOES occur against GLBT persons (and those
perceived as members of the GLBT community as well) and that is why civil
rights measures like the ones we have in MN are necessary?
I don't expect people like Tom Pritchard to send my partner and me
anniversary cards every June but I really would appreciate him just leaving
GLBT people alone. I really would appreciate it if the MN Family Council
and the Republican Caucus would discontinue seeking the repeal of laws which
simply let GLBT people know we won't be denied a livelihood, medical care,
and restaurant service in Minnesota because of who we are.
I say "who we are" because as Sen. Dibble noted, the bill even goes so far
as to strike "sexual orientation" from the definition of "Holocaust
survivor" and "Holocaust victim" in MN Statute 60A.053, the law that
provides state assistance to Holocaust victims and heirs in settling
insurance claims improperly denied or processed. The law defines survivors
and victims as:
(a) "Holocaust survivor" or "Holocaust victim" means any person who was
persecuted, imprisoned or liable to imprisonment, or had property taken or
confiscated during the period of 1933 to 1945, inclusive, by Nazi Germany,
its allies, or sympathizers based on that person's race, religion,
ethnicity, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, or similar
class or group-based animus;
http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/cgi-bin/getbill.pl?number=HF0341&session=ls83&version=latest&session_number=0&session_year=2003
Deleting "sexual orientation" wasn't an afterthought on the part of the
people who sponsored this bill. This was the first law listed in a march of
statutory extractions that might even be humorous if we were living in a
less tense time.
I hope that as in 1993, in addition to flamingos with power tools,
republican allies and conservative democrats will be at the ready to help
defeat this, or at least not let it pass. Karen Clark and Scott Dibble must
not be made to do all the heavy lifting.
Amy Draeger
Audubon Park
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