PETITION FOR TEXAS

THE FOLLOWING IS THE PETITION THAT I PROPOSE FOR ALL TEXANS WHO WISH TO IMPROVE THEIR STATE (IT WILL ALSO WORK FOR OTHER STATES):

DEAR SENATOR/REPRESENTATIVE____________________,

I, (NAME)__________________________________,
RESIDING AT THE ADDRESS OF , (ADDRESS)__________________________________,
ATTEST THAT I AM YOUR CONSTITUENT.

I AM SIGNING THIS PETITION TO IMPRESS UPON YOU MY CONVICTION THAT PERSONS BELONGING TO THE GAY, LESBIAN, BI-SEXUAL, AND TRANS-GENDER COMMUNITY, HENCEFORTH REFERRED TO AS THE GLBT COMMUNITY, ARE DESERVING OF ALL THE RIGHTS THAT SHOULD BE RESPECTED UNIVERSALLY.

I SUPPORT, GENERALLY, LEGISLATION THAT WOULD ENSURE GLBT INDIVIDUALS ARE NOT DISCRIMINATED AGAINST IN SUCH THINGS AS EMPLOYMENT, HOUSING, HEALTH CARE, VISITATION, MARRIAGE AND ADOPTION RIGHTS.

MORE BROADLY, I AM OF THE CONVICTION THAT RIGHTS THAT ARE ENJOYED BY SOME, SHOULD BE ENSURED FOR ALL. AND THAT NO GROUP SHOULD BE UNDULY EXCLUDED FROM THE RIGHTS NECESSARY TO ALLOW FOR THE PARTICIPATION IN SOCIETY, THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, AND THE BETTERMENT OF ONE'S FAMILY (USING THE BROADER DEFINITION OF THE WORD).

MY SIGNATURE AFFIXED HERE:________________________
DATE:_______________

THE GLBT PETITION FACE BOOK PAGE.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

HB 3678 School Prayer

HB 3678

HB 3678 Relates to School Prayer in Public Schools. It amends the Education Code.

HB 3678 has been enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas. This Act is called the "Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act," or, the "Schoolchildren's Religious Liberties Act."

HB 3678 was authored by Rep. Charlie Howard, and, it was signed into law by Governor Rick Perry August of 2007.

The American Atheists of Texas are having a Texas Freethought Convention. It will be in Austin, Sunday, October 26.

David and Shannon Wallace Croft are suing to have the mandatory moment of silence law in the Texas State Education Code removed. Their attorney, Dean Cook, filed the petition on March 10th, 2006. This petition seeks to have the law ruled unconstitutional. They lost this suit, but, appealed on May 27th, 2008.

A link to David and Shannon Wallace's informative website is below. It mentions Wallace v. Jaffree, 1985, a lawsuit setting a precedent that will hopefully help their case. The US Supreme Court ruled in 1985 that this Alabama law, similar to the one we now have in Texas, was unconstitutional.

Interesting Web Sites:

American Atheists

Moment of Silence: David Wallace Croft

About.com Atheism Story

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Tea Party

"Indeed, the rightward tilt of the state's GOP electorate permitted another Tea Party insurgent to mount a respectable run without serving as a spoiler to Perry's similarly themed campaign. Debra Medina, a darling of the far right, recently made headlines for questioning the government's involvement in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but came in with about the same 16 percent showing that polls registered prior to her gaffe. -http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100304/ts_ynews/ynews_ts1213

The rightward slant of the Republican party in Texas portends ill for its citizens and residents alike. A state already gerrymandered to the Republican's advantage, allowing a comfortable margin for incompetence, is being pulled toward a radical part of the political spectrum.

The Tea Party rejects any workable form of federalism where the Federal government plays a necessarily central role in funding large projects, such as roads and dams, and provides funding for necessary functions, such as public education.

"But by the time Republican voters went to the polls here in a primary on Tuesday, the political ground had shifted under Senator Hutchison, who lost in a three-way race to Mr. Perry." -link to NY Times Article.

The Tea Party candidates posit themselves as outsiders. But, Rick Perry has been governor for over 10 years.

http://www.billwhitefortexas.com/

If you really want change, elect someone who hasn't been governor for 10 years. Bill White handily beat several other Democratic challengers, and, Bill White doesn't have to hide under a false agenda.

The Tea Party is a mis-informed tax revolt married to a wild-eyed dream of secession. All States require federal money to complete big projects because this is the tax money not hijacked by regional petty thievery, and, back-stabbing. It provides the wealth to the communities too poor to educate their own children or pave their own streets. And it provides a necessary counterweight to local lapses in judgment.

Don't leave the future of Texas in the hands of a movement that would send us back into the Dark Ages; where a decent education is a luxury, and a decent life is a far-off dream. This is the movement that would deny you your unemployment benefits. In fact, Governor Perry already has.

Texas Employment Law

"Texas employment law does NOT prohibit workplace discrimination and/or termination based upon sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status." -Equality Texas

"The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), federal legislation that would add sexual orientation as a protected class against discrimination, has been proposed but failed in the past few years. But it is expected that President Obama and the a stronger Democratic majority in Congress will pass and enact the law in 2009." -HRHero.com

http://www.hrhero.com/topics/sex_discrimination.html

One Struggle One Fight

http://onestruggleonefight.com/

This is an organization based in California.

"One Struggle, One Fight began two days after the November elections. We were thrilled that Barack Obama had been elected as our next President, but we were blindsided and brokenhearted when Prop 8 passed, revoking our rights through a constitutional amendment."

- One Struggle One Fight . com Read more on their website.

-I was visiting the Castro in San Francisco and spoke to an HRC volunteer who was standing on the sidewalk during the Castro Street Fair trying to educate people about Prop 8.

Values of GLBT Petition

1. Equality for all persons, including members of the GLBT community.
2. Equality for all genders (as generally stated in value 1 above)
3. To take action to make the words in the constitution meaningful.
4. To work to make the economy work for all of us.
5. To reverse dis-investment in the public sphere.
6. Defend the principle conveyed in the Bill of Rights.
4. Advocate for free, accessible, and quality education.
5. "Raise the Bar" of public discourse.
6.*
*These are my values. People have been asking. So, I thought I would go "on record.". See the Face Book Page GLBT Petition, and JOIN!

Initiative 64

"Proposition 64 was a proposition in the state of California on the November 4, 1986 ballot. It was an initiative statute that would have restored Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) to the list of communicable diseases. "

The LaRouche movement was a proponent of initiative 64 in California. "Activists associated with Lyndon LaRouche formed the "Prevent AIDS Now Initiative Committee" (PANIC) to place what became "Proposition 64" on the California state ballot.' -see the wikipedia article. "

Larouche Problem

The LaRouche movement has a follower who won the Democratic nomination in one of the parts of Texas that is deep red Republican. It is my opinion, the author of this blog, that if this candidate's ideology is inconsistent with the Democratic party, then, we should have had a screening process to remove this person from consideration before he/she was allowed to run in our primary. Now that the voters have voted, we should honor the will of the voters, acknowledge that their votes are indeed important, and back this candidate as though they were anyone else. We have an obligation, and, our word should mean something. We need stronger and more consistent participation in the Democratic party. This is a party structure that lends itself to grass-roots participation. I think we can neutralize the "LaRouche" effect with our own participation.

California's Prop 8 Appeal

(Spring 2010)

I was recently reading a TruthOut Article on the latest news on California's Prop 8 Federal Appeal.

California's Prop 8 is being challenged in Federal Court to reverse the decision of the California voters which resulted in taking away the right of same-sex couples to marry. Prop 8 is a California Ballot Measure passed in November of 2008. It represents the latest tyranny of plebiscite government; The California voters have become the lawmakers making a mockery of representative government. A California Supreme Court ruling legalized same-sex marriage, however, the voters stripped same-sex couples of this right by voting for prop 8 which won with 52% of the voters. A subset of a subset of the population thereby eliminated the rights of an entire group of people.

ENDA Employment Non-Descrimination Act

A proposed law that would prohibit sexual orientation discrimination in the work place.

Link to a human resources page for employers: hrhero enda

"The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is a proposed bill in the United States Congress that would prohibit discrimination against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity for civilian nonreligious employers with over 15 employees."
wikipedia enda entry

"...Congressmen Barney Frank (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Deborah Pryce (R-OH), Christopher Shays (R-CT), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and 62 other Congressional co-sponsors reintroduced H.R. 2015. "

jacksonlewis

"I’m running for President to build an America that lives up to our founding promise of equality for all – a promise that extends to our gay brothers and sisters. It’s wrong to have millions of Americans living as second-class citizens in this nation. And I ask for your support in this election so that together we can bring about real change for all LGBT Americans."

-From and open letter from then Senator Obama.

H.R. 3017, Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009

Full Committee Hearing 10:00 AM, September 23, 2009 2175 Rayburn H.O.B
Washington, DC

Legal Precedence

Gitlow V. New York
The 14th Amendment extends to States. Provisions in the Bill of Rights apply to federal as well as state governments.

Due Process
A.K.A. Due Process of Law. Has its origins in the Magna Carta Dating from 1215 in England. Citizens are no longer mere vassals of the king; the Will of the State (in the person of the King) is moderated by the rule of law.

Fundamentals of American Law
This is a Google Book. It has an overview of The Bill of Rights, an Introduction by Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., and an explanation of the Common Law Justice system.

Abington_School_District_v._Schempp
The Separation of Church and State Advanced in the 1960s.
"The Abington case began when Edward Schempp, a Unitarian Universalist and a resident of Abington Township, Pennsylvania, filed suit against the Abington School District in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to prohibit the enforcement of a Pennsylvania state law that required his children, specifically Donna Schempp, to hear and sometimes read portions of the Bible as part of their public school education." -Read about it in Wikipedia.

Petition for Texas

The following is the petition that I propose for all Texans who wish to improve their State:

Dear Senator/Representative____________________,

I, (name)__________________________________,
residing at the address of , (address)__________________________________,
attest that I am your constituent.

I am signing this petition to impress upon you my conviction that persons belonging to the Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, and Trans-gender Community, henceforth referred to as the GLBT Community, are deserving of all the rights that should be respected universally.

I support, generally, legislation that would ensure GLBT individuals are not discriminated against in such things as employment, housing, health care, and securing credit.

More broadly, I am of the conviction that rights that are enjoyed by some, should be ensured for all. And that no group should be unduly excluded from the rights necessary to allow for the participation in society, the pursuit of happiness, and the betterment of one's family (using the broader definition of the word).

My signature affixed here:________________________
Date:_______________

Visit the following Yahoo group:

Group name:		GLBTtexas
Group home page:		http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GLBTtexas
Group email:		GLBTtexas@yahoogroups.com