INTEGRITY LABELS MAINE VOTE A WAKE UP CALL TO COUNTRY: TAKING AWAY RIGHTS IS UNACCEPTABLE

INTEGRITY LABELS MAINE VOTE A WAKE UP CALL TO COUNTRY: TAKING AWAY RIGHTS IS UNACCEPTABLE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

November 4, 2009
“Yesterday’s election results in Maine are a wake-up call to this country,” said the Rev. David Norgard, President of IntergityUSA. “It signals for the 31^st time in this country, that voters have rejected marriage equality. The Maine vote signals that a majority of voters can take away the rights of a minority group. We must wake up and speak out against this discrimination. It is an outrage and unacceptable to those of us who believe in equality and justice for all, not just a few."

“Integrity grieves with those same sex couples and families in Maine whose lives and relationships have been marginalized one more time by lies and deception. The politics of fear prevailed in the voting booth. A campaign of well-funded lies and deception blinded the moral compass of good Americans.

“As a person of deep faith and an Episcopal priest, I believe in respecting the dignity of every human being. And the Episcopal Church at its General Convention in 2006 passed a resolution in favor of equal civil marriage for all Americans. As the newly elected President of Integrity, I recommit our time and resources to working with our interfaith partners outside the Episcopal Church and our LGBT faithful within to change the hearts and minds of those who cannot understand or celebrate our lives or relationships.

“Same sex relationships in Maine and throughout the country are not a threat to traditional marriage. They are role models of love, commitment and fidelity, They are our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers, our parents, our brothers & sisters, our children.  Separate but equal is not an acceptable concept in this country.

“Integrity knows that marriage equality will come soon. We will work hard to change the idea that it is okay or acceptable for same sex couples, to have a separate status. The arc of history bends toward justice and while justice was denied in Maine yesterday, our work will not stop until liberty and justice for all, really means ALL.”

                                                           

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For further information contact:
Louise Brooks, Communication Director
Integrity USA -- 626.993.4605
lebrooks@earthlink.net