Angie Paccione

CO-04 (Map)

Democrat Angie Paccione (CO-04) is running against religious right darling, Republican Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave, the chief architect and sponsor of the Federal Marriage Amendment, the effort to write anti-gay discrimination into the US Constitution.

Musgrave was also recently included on a list of the 20 “most corrupt members of Congress” by a lead ethics watchdog group.

If we take down Musgrave, we send a clear message to every politician in Congress that the embrace of bigotry and corruption will no longer be tolerated.

The New York Times reports that the race is now rated “highly competitive,” and an upset by Paccione is considered a real possibility.

Musgrave is the radical right’s favorite candidate in the Congress. She has no qualms saying that gay marriage is the most important issue in America today:

“As we face the issues we’re facing today, I don’t think there’s anything more important out there than the marriage issue.”

Musgrave made that outrageous claim at the far-right homophobe Family Research Council’s “Values Voter Summit’ in September, 2006.

Angie Paccione isn’t just against the Federal Marriage Amendment, she supports equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples. She’s not just on the right side, she’s a fighter who is willing to stand up for what’s right:

Two Colorado lawmakers got into a shouting match when one of them marched into a news conference the other was holding to denounce same-sex marriage. Rep. Kevin Lundberg (R-Berthoud) and Rep. Jim Welker (R-Loveland) called the news conference to tout their proposed amendment to bar gays and lesbian from marrying. Colorado already has legislation that blocks same-sex marriage. But, Lundberg said that it could be overturned by judges. Lundberg called it “the most significant domestic issue of the decade.”

At that point, Rep. Angie Paccione (D-Fort Collins) had enough. “We have over 700,000 Coloradans without health care,” she said, her voice rising, she yelled as she marched up the podium. “How could we possibly say that gay marriage is more important than health care?” Paccione, who is half black, also reminded him that interracial marriage used to be illegal in Colorado. She said denying gay people the right to marry is no different.

Here is what Paccione had to say about Musgrave and the amendment:

“Just whose marriage will be saved by Marilyn Musgrave? This is utterly disingenuous, discriminatory, and dishonorable. Marilyn needed a scapegoat, someone she could lay the blame on for all of her shortcomings and all the nation’s problems. Once again, she chose decent, hardworking Americans minding their own business. Musgrave is making a mockery of the Constitution to satisfy her personal obsession with gay marriage. The proposed amendment would be the only constitutional amendment that actually permits discrimination.”

Here are some of Musgrave’s other radical views:

In addition to the marriage amendment, she has introduced bills or resolutions this year to require parental notification for minors’ abortions; to declare 2007 as “National Year of the Bible”; and to amend an appropriations bill to prohibit the use of funds to enforce a requirement that trigger locks be sold with all handguns.

Let’s send a message to all the homophobes, to all the religious right bigots, to all the enemies of freedom and civil liberties and the rights of Americans to live their lives and control their bodies as they please. Please join us in supporting Angie Paccione against religious right surrogate Marilyn Musgrave.

Learn more about Angie Paccione from her profile at NOW’s Web site.