Methinks the President Doth Protest Too Much

 
A person's sexual identity is not all they are as human beings,
but it is a part. Homophobia is running rampant in this country,
and the government is fueling it.

What is this, the McCarthy era?  There is such a thing as free
speech.  And guess what?  There are homosexuals in this world.
They are like all of us, striving to do the best they can with
what they've got.  They fall in love, they dream of better
futures - they are human beings, no less and no more than their
heterosexual brethren.

What is it that radical fundamentalists and the Bush
Administration want?  What is their ultimate aim?  
To strip anyone who is not heterosexual of all legal
rights and protections?

To make them less of a citizen?  What's next?  Who's next?

To vilify and try to dehumanize any sector of our society
goes against the Constitution.  More importantly, it is the
unChristian thing to do.  You who seek to persecute and
strip homosexuals of their basic rights -
I accuse you of doing far worse than them.

They have committed no sins.  They are attracted to others
who you judge to be unacceptable.  Who are you to judge?  
Who are any of us?

Homophobia has proven a convenient distraction provided by
the government to try to keep you from seeing that the Bush
Administration is losing the war in Iraq.

The decisions the President is making are hurting the economy,
not helping it, and he doesn't care one whit about the average
American.  He wouldn't just sell you out in a heartbeat -
he already has.  All you have to do is take a look at the
deficit and read the legislation he'd like to have pushed
through Congress to see that.

There are moments in American history when the population
at large finally opens its eyes to the truth that's been
there all along. We need one of those moments now.

We are taught as children the difference between
right and wrong.  Ostracizing little Johnny
for being different has always been wrong.  When did
the rest of you start thinking it was okay?

Hello colleagues and friends,

Recently, I was asked to help present a workshop on suicide
prevention among GLBT individuals, at the third in a series
of five regional conferences on suicide prevention in the
U.S. This particular conference covers Public Health Regions
9 and 10 (basically, the entire west coast). Following is a
statement my co-presenters and I have prepared outlining
recent chilling events surrounding our workshop. One
interesting thing to note the two previous conferences, one
in New Orleans and the other in Denver, contained workshops
very similar to ours and were not a problem. The difference?
Both were held PRIOR to the last election.

We give permission to forward this to whoever you believe
needs to read it:

Please distribute as widely as possible:


Statement of Concern and Protest

Government funders within the Bush Administration at SAMHSA
(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
notified the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) that
SAMHSA Administrator, Charles Curie, would not be allowed to
attend a SPRC regional conference on suicide prevention if
conference organizers went forward with a workshop title
that included the words "gay," "lesbian," "bisexual", and
"transgender". The conference is scheduled to take place in
Portland, Oregon, February 28-March 2. The original title of
the workshop was "Suicide Prevention Among Gays, Lesbians,
Bisexuals, and Transgender Individuals."

On January 31, Lloyd Potter, SPRC Center Director, contacted
workshop presenters Ron Bloodworth, Joyce Liljeholm and Reid
Vanderburgh and requested that we come up with alternative
wording for the workshop so that the words
"gay","lesbian","bisexual", or "transgender" did not appear
in the workshop title or descriptor.

We worked with SPRC to create alternative wording so that
the workshop could continue to be offered but we expressed
deep concern about government intrusion to remove any
reference to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people
in the workshop title and descriptor. After agreeing to the
title "suicide Prevention in Vulnerable Populations", we
were told that the new title would be acceptable to SAMHSA
and that we could use the term "sexual orientation" in the
workshop descriptor but that the term "gender identity"
would "not fly with SAMHSA."

We are still planning to offer the workshop as originally
planned even though the workshop title and descriptor had to
be changed but we will not be quiet about the heavy handed
efforts of SAMSHA to render gay, lesbian, bisexual, and/or
transgender people invisible. The action of our government
in this regard is the very reason a workshop on suicide
prevention with gay,lesbian, bisexual, and/or transgender
individuals is needed. How ironic! The discriminatory and
intimidating actions of SAMHSA and the Bush administration
should not go unchallenged and should be of concern to all
Americans.

It's important to note that Oregon Senator Gordon Smith is
scheduled to attend the conference as part of his support
for suicide prevention efforts in the U.S. We urge you to
use the attached contact information to express your concern
to SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie, Secretary of Health
and Human Services, Mike Leavitt, Oregon Senator Gordon
Smith, and other members of Congress from your state that
represents you.

Thank you for your concern and support.


Ron Bloodworth, MA, LPC, Portland, OR
Joyce Liljeholm, MEd, Portland, OR
Reid Vanderburgh, MA, Portland, OR

Contact Information for Government Officials:

Charles Curie
Office of the Administrator
SAMHSA
Rockville, MD 20850
Tel: 240-276-2000
charles.curie@samhsa.hhs.gov
Secretary of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Ave. SW
Washington, D.D. 20201
Tel: 202-690-7000
Fax: 202-690-7203

Senator Gordon Smith
404 Russell Bldg
Washington, D.C. 20510-3704
Tel: 202-224-3753
Fax: 202-228-3997
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
president@whitehouse.gov