LOUISIANA bigots win big; 11 more states need YOUR help now!

AP says:

Louisiana voters approve gay-marriage ban
9/19/2004 [Sunday morning],
7:08 a.m. CT

By KEVIN McGILL
The Associated Press  

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana voters overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional amendment Saturday [9/18] banning same-sex marriages and civil unions, one of up to 12 such measures on the ballot around the country this year.

 With 99 percent of precincts reporting, the amendment was winning approval with 78 percent of the vote, and support for it was evident statewide. Only in New Orleans, home to a politically strong gay community, was the race relatively close, and even there the amendment was winning passage. Turnout statewide appeared to be about 27 percent of Louisiana's 2.8 million voters, somewhat low for a state election.

Christian conservatives had conducted an intense grassroots lobbying campaign for the amendment, which had been expected to pass easily. The civil rights group Forum for Equality had already promised legal action against it.
[.........]

John Rawls, a lawyer for Forum for Equality, reiterated the group's contention that the amendment does far more than stop gay marriage and that it could affect many private contracts between unmarried couples, gay or straight — a claim its supporters dispute.

"I am disappointed that so many Louisianians either did not read the amendment or are so afraid of gays that they voted for this amendment anyway," Rawls said.

Louisiana already has a law stating that marriage can be only between a man and woman, but supporters of the amendment want to protect that law in the Constitution. The amendment also would prohibit state officials and courts from recognizing out-of-state marriages and civil unions between homosexuals.
[......]

Similar amendments to ban same-sex marriage are on ballots in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah. Petitions in Ohio are still being verified.
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Copyright © 2004 Associated Press
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For the full AP story, please see:

[ http://www.nola.com/newsflash/national/index.ssf?/base/national-31/109559604454630.xml&storylist=national ]

More detailed Louisiana reporting should soon appear in
http://www.nola.com/
(the mainstream New Orleans Times-Picayune);
and in NOLA Express (alternative newspaper)?
.........
For the queer viewpoint,
please visit
"Forum for Equality"
and
"Equality Louisiana".
To find their websites.
please visit:

http://www.loveisloveislove.com/state_organizations.htm

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[Comment by SUN:
In Missouri and Louisiana, freedom lost.
Now, for the November state elections, please donate to anti-amendment groups in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah;
and possibly Ohio.
You can find them thru
http://www.loveisloveislove.com/state_organizations.htm
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