[NASW Alaska Chapter Listserve] FW: HRC responds to Foley controversy

[Sandy Kleven]

Response to Foley issue by Human Rights Campaign.  Looks pretty good with
links to clips and the letters they wrote.


Sandra L Kleven
3978 Defiance Street
Anchorage, Alaska 99504
907 332 6735

-----Original Message-----
From: field at hrc.org [mailto:field at hrc.org]
Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2006 3:26 PM
To: Sandra Kleven
Subject: HRC responds to Foley controversy

Because you are a valued supporter of HRC, we wanted to share this important
update regarding HRC's response to the events of the past week in Congress.
 Action Alert








Dear Friend,
With all that's going on in Washington this week, I felt it was important to
update all of you on the role that HRC has played in this unfolding story
concerning Mark Foley.
Congressman Mark Foley's sexually-charged communications with young
congressional pages was reprehensible and we have strongly condemned it. We
have also been equally quick to condemn some in the GOP for their attempts
to blame this scandal on the GLBT community.

Just hours ago, following Speaker Hastert's press conference, I sent a
letter to him expressing outrage at the efforts of some in his party to
scapegoat gay people for this unfortunate situation.  You can read the full
letter here. <http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/ct/sdM6cK91-mmm/>
At the beginning of the week, I issued the following statement to the press:
"Gay or straight, Democrat or Republican, it is completely inexcusable for
an adult to have this kind of communication with a minor. Congressman Foley
brought shame on himself and this Congress by his horrible behavior and
complete lack of judgment. We strongly condemn his behavior."
On Tuesday, we issued a press release condemning the Republican leadership
for avoiding responsibility and for trying to blame our community. You can
read the press release here.
<http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/ct/s1M6cK91-mmj/>

On Wednesday, HRC Vice President, David Smith, appeared on MSNBC to combat
Charmaine Yoest of the Family Research Council. Her group has been saying
that the House Republican leaders were afraid to investigate the Foley
matter because they were afraid of being labeled "homophobic." That's
right! - the same members of Congress who have been trying to write our
community out of the Constitution were supposedly unwilling to stop Foley
because they were worried about their image as gay bashers. This is some of
the most convoluted nonsense out there. David did an excellent job of going
after FRC's illogical and inflammatory statements. You can watch the clip
here. <http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/ct/wpM6cK91-mmu/>
Yesterday, I also submitted an editorial to Huffington Post, the popular
online website run by Arianna Huffington. We need to get the focus of this
debate back on topic. It has nothing to do with Mark Foley's sexual
orientation and everything to do with the fact that the pages were teenagers
entrusted to the care of Foley and the entire House of Representatives. You
can read my column here. <http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/ct/s7M6cK91-mmE/>
Last night, I continued HRC's full-on offense against the scapegoating and
half-truths permeating this debate, when I appeared on CNBC's "The Big Idea
with Donny Deutsch." Donny had an excellent show looking at how the media
continues to perpetuate and exacerbate the more outlandish excuses for the
scandal. (Foley was molested as a child; he was in the closet; and, so on.
All of these issues are beside the point.) Click here to watch a clip of the
show. <http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/ct/spM6cK91-mmU/>
Keep up-to-date on developments and HRC's aggressive response to the
smearing and vilifying of our community by visiting www.hrc.org
<http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/ct/w7M6cK91-mm7/>  and please feel free to
forward this message.
Sincerely,

 Joe
Solmonese signature




Joe Solmonese
President, Human Rights Campaign
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