In recent months, Yountville and St. Helena's Council's voted on and approved Equality Resolutions and Napa (the first in the group to take on this topic) ended up backing down and not even putting it up for a vote.
[Update, 6:30p: the Napa Register reports on the play by play in the AmCan Council Meeting, explaining:
Councilman Ed West moved to table the resolution, calling it an abuse of the City Council’s authority, noting the majority of the people in American Canyon voted in favor of Proposition 8 in the November 2008 election.
“It does not belong before us,” West said before a packed council chambers.Bennett, a devout Catholic, said she believes in the separation of church and state, adding she won’t pass judgments on people. “These should be individual choices,” she said. Mayor Leon Garcia, who said he felt it was the right thing to support, seconded the resolution calling it a matter of social justice before West moved to table the matter.
West, along with councilmembers Cindy Coffey and Don Callison, voted to table the matter, while Bennett and Garcia voted to deal with the issue Tuesday night.]
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I sent a letter to each of the council members and 2 came back as undeliverable. Cindy Coffee and Ed West. No reply or notice from the mayor or others.
ReplyDeleteThe Am Canyon Eagle article dated yesterday says they will vote on it on Tuesday, with no date, but that is what the Register said last week. I posted the letter on the eagle today, but it hasn't gone up yet. It says:
"Establishing and affirming community standards of equal protection and non discrimination has a direct impact on the health and safety of the members of the community.
Dr. Chris Beyrer, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health and Human Rights, said denying same sex couples the right to marry harms community health: "We know for certain that lesbian and gay individuals suffer harm to their physical and psychological health, and to their relationships and quality of life, as result of the shame, isolation and stigma accrued from their social and legal disenfranchisement."
The American Psychological Association recognizes that "Prejudice and discrimination have social and personal impact." "The widespread prejudice, discrimination, and violence to which lesbians and gay men are often subjected are significant mental health concerns. Sexual prejudice, sexual orientation discrimination, and antigay violence are major sources of stress for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. Although social support is crucial in coping with stress, antigay attitudes and discrimination may make it difficult for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people to find such support."
The California Supreme court stated: "the exclusion of same sex couples from the designation of marriage works a real and appreciable harm upon same-sex couples and their children." (p.117)
Please do not perpetuate that harm just to appease the negative beliefs of some, whether they are a majority or not.
I hope the city council will affirm the American ideals of equal rights and protections for all citizens by supporting the non discrimination resolution."
I'm also thinking about sending it to the Calistoga City Council and paper. Any suggestions for revisions, etc. ?
Correction: The Am canyon eagle article is dated today, but contains much of the same info as last week's NVR article. It does say Amcan will take it up next Tuesday, but doesn't say anything about last night.
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