Equal rights for all

Petition

Sponsor Sponsor

___________________ ___________________
Ryan A. Rush Joe Paone
This petition is to a sign of reflection to get rid of discrimination towards
homosexuals by extending equal rights of marriage to them and give them
the equal opportunity to serve openly in the U.S. Armed Forces. Giving
equal rights to all is a vital need to a nation such as ours, The United
States of America, to be the greatest nation in the world.

REASONS:
1.) Everyone should have equal rights, that is why they are called equal
and rights.
2.) Discrimination and or hate crimes are a federal offense by law, why
should they stop at sexual orientation. There should be no hate crimes
and or discrimination for anyone, regardless of their color of their
skin, where they come from, what name they call god, what gender
they are or consider them self to be, or whom they love. None of these
should prevent equal rights.
3.) Marriage is recognized by the government, not, necessarily, by
religious factors. Therefore the government is not allowed, by law, to
discriminate.
4.) If a church and or religion do not want to recognize a marriage
between two people of the same-sex then that is their right, we do not
want to rewrite and or dictate the religion. However, more and more
religious places of worship are accepting same-sex marriage and
support it, as it is practice of a beneficial monogamous relationship.
5.) Same-sex marriage is not a liberal for and conservative against issue.
Many conservatives are supportive of same-sex marriage, as one of
the basic platform stances of conservatives is freedom.
6.) There are at least 1,049 protections, benefits and responsibilities
extended to married couples under federal law, according to a 1997
study by the General Accounting Office. Gay and lesbian couples in
lifelong relationships pay higher taxes and are denied basic
protections under the law. They receive no Social Security survivor
benefits upon the death of a partner, despite paying payroll taxes.
They must pay federal income taxes on their employer’s contributions
toward their domestic partner’s health insurance, while married
employees do not have to pay such taxes for their spouses. They must
pay all estate taxes when a partner dies. They often pay significant tax
penalties when they inherit a 401(k) from their partner. They are
denied family leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. All
American families deserve these crucial protections.
 7.) Civil Unions are as equal to “Separate but Equal” enough said.
8.) There are an estimate 65,000 Gay, Lesbian, Bisexuals, and
Transgender (GLBT) serving in the U.S. Armed Forces right now. If
they were all “Outed” for being closeted then that would be a major
impact on the armed forces because these people would have to leave.
9.) The “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy has cost the government hundreds
of millions of dollars.
10.) By result of many polls, majority of Americans want openly GLBT
people to be allowed to server openly in the Armed Forces. Including:
80% of Democrats, 66% of Conservatives, and 60% of weekly
churchgoers.
11.) Majority of High Ranking Armed Forces officials support having
openly GLBT people be able to serve openly. In December of 2007,
28 retired Generals and Admirals urged Congress to repeal the policy.
They cited evidence that 65,000 GLBT people serve in the US Armed
Forces and that there are over 1,000,000 GLBT veterans alive today in
the US, who deserve the same respect, benefits, and rights are any
other veteran of war.
12.) GLBT people are as just patriotic as straight citizens, GLBT want to
be able to serve in the army as who they truly are, and not on how the
Government tells them to be.

"When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men
and a discharge for loving one."

LEONARD MATLOVICH

"No government has the right to tell its citizens when or whom to love.
The only queer people are those who don't love anybody."

RITA MAE BROWN

By: Ryan A. Rush