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Monday, April 4
Ed Fallon Set to Announce Gubernatorial Run This Saturday
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 04 Apr 2005 04:37 PM CDT
 Ed Fallon Set to Announce Gubernatorial Run This Saturday
A message from Rep. Ed Fallon (D-Polk):
Dear Friends,
I will announce my candidacy for the
Democratic nomination for governor at a rally on Saturday, April 9th,
from noon - 2:00 p.m. at the Iowa State Capitol building, first floor
rotunda. Because the 9th is a Saturday, only the east entrance
will be open, and it is handicapped accessible. Please park in the
Lucas Building parking lot just east of the Capitol.
The
response I have received from friends, allies and others has been
consistently positive and encouraging. All across this state I am
encountering a growing understanding that conventional politics -
dominated and funded by corporate interests - cannot be trusted to
address the issues important to the vast majority of Iowans. Iowans are
frustrated with "politics as usual" and are genuinely searching for a
progressive and winning alternative.
Campaign
finance reform is critical to creating a political environment where
real issues are addressed. Because of this, I am relying only on
donations from individuals - no money from PACs, paid lobbyists or
corporate interests. This means I will most certainly be outspent,
although the response from individuals has been excellent (to date over
$100,000 raised and over $250,000 pledged!).
The
great resource of this campaign is people power. Our effort is based on
the small, monthly pledges of support from individuals and the
significant time invested by hundreds - eventually thousands - of
volunteers. In order to defeat big-money politics, I have had to start
early, work hard and gradually build support neighborhood by
neighborhood, county by county and region by region. With the help of a
great staff - part paid, part volunteer - we've been doing that, and
it's beginning to show.
In order
to demonstrate the true grassroots power of this campaign, we are
setting a goal of 500 people for the April 9th announcement rally. With
a turnout of this size I hope to establish increased credibility with
the media and, most importantly, to send a powerful message to the
people of Iowa that a campaign based on principle, determination and
people-power can win.
Our
success at turning out 500 people for the announcement event rests with
you. We ask you to commit to getting five to ten of your friends,
neighbors and co-workers to join us on April 9th. If you can help in
this way, please call our headquarters at (515) 244-3113 and let us
know how many people you can bring to the rally. This information is
important so we can have a baseline estimate of numbers for logistics
and with our communications with media.
Entertainment
at the event will be provided by The Good Time Band from Davenport, a
union band belonging to Local 67 of the American Federation of
Musicians, and Joe Hynek from Rinngold County.
Confirmed
speakers are Mark Johns (Republican perspective for endorsing Fallon),
Dave O'Connor (education), Lynn Heuss (issues of poverty & social
justice) and Carter Woodruff (personal endorsement). My speech will
follow these speakers, probably around 1:15 p.m.
Following the announcement event, there will be a reception at campaign headquarters, 1135 10th St. from 2:00 - 4:00.
Thanks so much for all of your support and I'll see you on April 9th!!
Rep. Ed Fallon
http://www.fallonforgovernor.org/
Civil Rights for Gays and Lesbians: " The Moral Barometer of Our Time"
by
Trish Nelson
on Mon 04 Apr 2005 11:38 AM CDT
 Civil Rights for Gays and Lesbians: "The Moral Barometer of Our Time"
The
following piece by Dave Leshtz, Chair of the Iowa Civil Rights
Commission, was a guest opinion in Saturday's Cedar Rapids
Gazette.
I have three grown daughters. When they were kids, their best baby-sitters were gays and lesbians.
These
gay and lesbian baby-sitters - friends who were born and raised in Iowa
- were the most nurturing, most competent, and most trustworthy of
anyone who looked after my daughters. All three daughters are now
healthy, successful adults with families of their own. All of
them have maintained close ties with those baby-sitting friends.
None of them would hesitate to entrust any of their four children to
the care and attention of gays or lesbians.
So I
have a personal agenda that matches my role as an Iowa Civil Rights
Commissioner. I do not want to see good people suffer simply
because of their sexual orientation. I do not want the pain of
discrimination to be felt by any Iowan. I do not want children to
be punished because of their parents' sexual orientation.
Hundreds
of children in Iowa are being raised right now by loving, capable
parents who happen to be of the same sex. By depriving gay and
lesbian couples of the social and financial benefits and rights that
non-gays and lesbians have been granted, we penalize their children,
too. Policymakers and elected officials who are truly pro-family
should encourage stability and security for all of our children.
The
great civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, who organized the March on
Washington in 1963, said that civil rights for gays and lesbians has
become the moral barometer of our time. We are seeing some of the
same kinds of resistance to gay and lesbian civil rights as we saw to
civil rights for black Americans. Change will eventually come, no
matter how much resistance, no matter how much fear, no matter how much
bigotry remains. National polls consistently show a clear
trajectory: younger people - like my daughters - have far less
discriminatory attitudes than their parents' and grandparents'
generations. These younger people will soon become our legislators, our
policymakers, and our judges.
Nineteen
states ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. Iowa is
not one of them. However, six Iowa cities - Ames, Bettendorf,
Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Des Moines, & Iowa City - and numerous
school boards, colleges, and businesses have adopted non-discrimination
language in their employment policies and local ordinances. The
city of Clinton includes sexual orientation in its affirmative action
policy, and last year the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors voted to
add sexual orientation to its discrimination policy.
Civil
rights for gays and lesbians is an economic issue as well as a moral
one. All of those baby-sitting friends of my family have moved
away from Iowa. They live in Chicago, California, and Minnesota,
where they are responsible taxpayers and useful members of their
communities. Why would the state of Iowa want to discourage
productive citizens from living and working here? If we are to
revive our economic base, we need to ensure a vibrant and diverse
workforce. Promoting discriminatory amendments to the
Constitution tells prospective employers and employees that Iowa is a
land of intolerance.
Let's listen to companies like Wells Fargo
and Principal. They understand that Iowa's fiscal future depends
on being inclusive, fair, and non-discriminatory.
In each
of the last four years, the Iowa Civil Rights Commission has formally
recommended to the Iowa Legislature that sexual orientation be added to
the list of protected classes in the Iowa Civil Rights Act.
Now more than ever, expanding the law is in Iowa’s self-interest.
Let’s proclaim loudly and clearly that we won’t allow anyone in our
state to be treated as a second-class citizen.
And
let's thank those forty-four members of the Iowa House – including
Republicans Jeff Elgin, Doug Struyck, and Chuck Gipp – for their
principled votes against a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex
marriage rights (Des Moines Register, March 15). Regardless of their
feelings about marriage, they refused to go along with a mean-spirited,
divisive, and costly diversion.
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