On Same-Sex Marriage, full social equality and ending "Gay Shame" in Nevada.

Citizens of Nevada,

As you know, we have here, in Nevada, the Defense of Marriage Amendment (DOMA).

If I am elected Governor of Nevada, in 2006, I will work to remove this unjust law (NEV.CONST. art.I, sec,21.) from impeding the human rights of Gay and Lesbian families in the state of Nevada who opt to marry. As your Governor, I will go before our State Legislature and get all members to state (for all Nevadans to see -- minus the clever language that mask the actual homophobia those elected to power in the third millennium of the human race should be free of) that Gays and Lesbians, are in their minds either human beings entitled to full social equality like every other American, or that Gays and Lesbians are sub-human beings, not entitled to that which all other Americans are free to do.

If the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution requires all states to acknowledge the marriage of under age heterosexual teens from states where such unions are legal but not legal in other states, how, in good conscious can we here in Nevada enact statutes and instill language into our state constitution that limits marriage solely to "a union between a man and woman" and even refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of same-sex unions deemed legal in another state.   (Personally I find the separate but equally, insulting half measure called 'Civil Unions, Domestic Partnerships' and even the 'Reciprocal Beneficiaries' legislation being offered by some states to be just as intolerable).

Put plainly, same-sax marriage is a human rights issue in my mind, and if elected Governor of Nevada in 2006, the full humanity of every gay and lesbian Nevadan and what should be their legal rights to do as all others are free to do legally, will not be abridged.

How can gays and lesbians be prevented from marriage in Nevada while others whose humanity is not one iota the greater not face these same prohibitions regarding their rights to marry whomever they choose -- so long as their choice is of the opposite sex.   The inaneness on the part of New Right Conservatives (both statewide and nationally) that say same-sex marriages "degrade" the institution of marriage is absurd.  If anyone is guilty of degrading the institution of marriage, the blame falls squarely on the heterosexual community alone -- not the homosexual community that has been denied their legal human rights to marry whomever they see fit. How can one degrade a process they've been legally denied full participation in?

Gays and Lesbians wish to marry for precisely the same reasons as heterosexuals want to get married. Marriage, be it of the heterosexual or homosexual variety isn't just legal, marriage is a binding commitment (for personal and social reasons as well) between two people that no society calling itself a civil one has the right to interfere with.

All states will eventually see the light and recognize same-sex marriages when Americans wrestle our psyches away from the ultra right wing nationalism that has gripped our republic.

Nevada has gone further than simply lagging behind by writing what is blatant bigotry and legalized discrimination into the Constitution of our state. The right or wrong of DOMA should be an open an shut decision to all people who stand against narrow mindedness in regard to the pressing social issues of our time.

Nevada is known the world over for being the first in many regards (first in quickie divorce and legalized gambling in 1931, quickie marriage and legalized prostitution) -- it is a glaring hypocrisy for The state of Nevada to stand in the way of any two human beings who seek to marry.   They shouldn't need the permission from anyone to do so.

We, here in Nevada, who are respectful of the equal humanity of others must stand up and be counted and denounce the 'Gay Shame' of yester-year --there will be no state sponsored Gay Shame in Nevada if I'm elected Governor in 2006.

The national government as well must recognize same-sex marriages, in spite of the New Right Conservative machine that tries to disregard the Constitution of our republican form of Government by advancing a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

I ask that you stand with me (in what may be a very long battle) and work together to make same-sex marriage legal in Nevada, and lead the way for the rest of the nation (caught in the grips of the New Right nationalism) in denouncing legalized discrimination not seen since the civil rights movement of the 50's and 60's.

Nevadans must either fully recognize (morally and legally) both forms of marriage (hetero and gay) as equal by striking down the DOMA, or recognize neither. The next person you hire in November to be Governor of Nevada, must rise to the occasion by working tirelessly, and accepting nothing less than the complete and total restoration of every Nevadans civil and human rights as a resident of the State of Nevada, and as a citizen of these United States. And to those who object to same-sex marriage, "don't have one".

Sincerely,

Leola McConnell

Liberal Democrat for Governor of Nevada, 2006

If by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal." - John F. Kennedy