Equal Marriage & Family Rights for All US Citizens, including those who are Gay & Lesbian

In many ways, the story of America has
been woven together with chapters concerning the pursuit of equal rights. -The
issues of slavery and the rights of African Americans, the journey toward
women's suffrage, the labor movement, the progress toward fairness and equal
access for the specially abled, the voice of the Native Americans... these stand
as some of the notable points of growth in our nation's history.



In recent years, another related issue has emerged: that of Gay & Lesbian Rights, particularly in the arena of marriage and family equality. Since 2004, rigorous legislation has been proposed frequently at both the state and federal level, concerning the banning of gays and lesbians from adopting, from marriage rights and most recently, from health and fertility resources.



In January 2005, the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment was re-introduced by Senator Wayne Allard (Rep., CO), calling for an amendment to the United States Constitution to ban marriage between same-sex partners. Additionally, 25 states this year alone have proposed amendments regulating and further limiting
the

recognition of same-sex relationships; all 25 proposals have been at the state's constitutional level.



Three states currently ban same-sex couples from adopting children, and most other states tend to discriminate against gay or lesbian parents with regard to second-parent adoptions. Only six states in the Union
offer statewide access to second-parent adoptions for gays or lesbians wishing to formalize family ties by adopting their partner's biological or adopted child, even in
cases when the child is a newborn addition.

In October 2005, a bill was proposed in Indiana
to prohibit gays, lesbians as well as singles from utilizing any form of medical science to assist in having a child.

Such legislation is, at its base,
discriminatory. In a broader sense, it is being used as a political means in
distracting focus, time and vital resources away from other, more pressing
issues of national importance.



For instance, in 2004, 33% of all births in the United States were to unmarried
women. In general, the national divorce rate hovers at app. 50%. The most
recent statistics report that, in 2003, app. 906,000 children were reported to
be victims of child abuse or neglect and 79% of the abusers were their
biological parents.*

In October 2005, Congress voted to authorize President Bush to spend an
additional $50 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and in military
efforts against terrorism, raising the total spending for these operations to
$350 billion. And yet 45.8 million American citizens are without health
insurance. 37 million citizens live in poverty.*

These statistics point to the fact that the issue of gay and lesbian

marriage and family rights is not the heart of the matter: the national

divorce rates, birth rates and most other related statistics do not include information about gay and lesbian relationships, as these are not legally recognized and therefore can not be included in the data.

The statistics instead point to the fact that the wellness of our nation's families and domestic life is indeed a serious matter. Further, the data shows that the recent onslaught of legislative proposals based on
discrimination against gay and lesbian couples is irrelevant, with regard to addressing these very
real domestic problems.



This petition brings voice to those citizens throughout the country who instead urge our legislators to maintain focus on the issues that are indeed a national priority: education, national security, general healthcare, poverty issues, disaster relief, environmental wellness. Equal rights of course is always a priority; however, using the issue of equal rights as a political tool in distracting the public and taxing the limits of our legislators' time and resources is not acceptable. The signers of this petition urge our local, state and federal representatives to hereby refrain from proposing any further discriminatory legislation regarding gay and lesbian marriage and family rights. Those who have added their names to this petition stand together in advocacy of insuring the same rights and responsibilities to all citizens of the United States, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

This petition is sponsored by www.RainbowWeddingNetwork.com,
the nation's leading resource for GLBT weddings & families. As always, the
founders and staff of RainbowWeddingNetwork.com applaud businesses and
individuals who stand for non-discrimination, and continue to endorse the
separation of church and state within any legislation passed concerning equal
marriage rights.

*statistical information gathered
from the following sources: Associated Press, US Department of Health and Human Resources, US Census, Human Rights Campaign