OGALLA for Merkley!

by George Eighmey, Mary Overgaard, Lee Coleman, & Charlie Hinkle

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Dear friend and fellow OGALLA member,
For a moment let’s block out all of the noise in politics. Let’s take a breather from the impending Presidential primary, and focus on how OGALLA members can make a difference in a different Federal race of equal importance.
Jeff Merkley, current Speaker of the Oregon House, is running for U.S. Senate against the last standing Republican on the West Coast, and we feel it is very important to remind you of why you should support his candidacy.
In the 2007 Oregon Legislative Session, Speaker Merkley put Oregon on the map for civil liberties. He has been a leader in the fight since he entered the legislature in 1998. In 2005, Republican Speaker Karen Minnis went so far as to turn off Jeff’s microphone and threaten to have him taken off the House floor in handcuffs, due to his protesting of Republican tricks meant to keep the Domestic Partnership bill from coming to a vote. Finally, after fighting for almost 10 years, Jeff was proud to oversee the passage of several key pieces of legislation that immediately improved the lives of gay and lesbian individuals across the state.
Wouldn’t it be great if Jeff could take what he did in Oregon to the national level?
• Jeff was a co-sponsor of The Equality and Family Fairness Act, which grants legal rights to same-sex couples who register their partnerships with the state. It affords them nearly 500 rights under the law to which they would otherwise not be entitled.
• And to ensure those families have access to all their rights under the law, Jeff also co-sponsored the Oregon Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination against Oregonians on the basis of real or perceived sexual orientation.
As leaders and advocates of the GLTB community, now is the time for us to speak up and speak out for a man who has done the same for us. We need to help Jeff Merkley get to Washington DC so that he can continue to champion and forward our causes.
We, the authors of this letter, have each pledged our support for Jeff Merkley by becoming both active voices and proud donors to his campaign. Our support is not a matter of gratitude for what he has done, as much as it is a matter of anticipation for what he will do in Washington DC. We feel that as a U.S. Senator, Jeff Merkley will bring new life to the effort of achieving full equality under the law across the country.
Please join us in supporting Jeff Merkley. He is a man with extraordinary integrity and he is an inexhaustible fighter. Your support now, before the May 20th primary, is needed. We have enclosed an envelope with this letter that would like you to return it with a contribution.
Think big, think about $250 or $500. If that is not feasible for you right now, then send $100 or whatever is right for you. We need to extend ourselves for him, the way that he has – and will – for us.