Oppose Arizona Constitutional Amendment to define marriage

If you contacted your state Senator please post your letter to them here so others can have some letters to copy and modify.

I used the first four lines from http://eqfed.org... and added my own more pointed commentary for the last two paragraphs. Feel free to copy and resend it.


tbee@azleg.gov; paboud@azleg.gov; aaguirre@azleg.gov; callen@azleg.gov; marzberger@azleg.gov

Dear Tim Bee, Paula Aboud, Amanda Aguire, Carolyn Allen, and Marsha Arzberger

As your constituent, I am writing to urge you to oppose SCR 1042 as amended, which would put on the ballot another constitutional amendment to define marriage.

The House of Representatives has already addressed this issue during this session. It's now time to take care of the business of the people and of the state, and not waste any more time on this divisive issue.

At a time when you and your colleagues in the Legislature are dealing with a budget crisis, you should be able to focus your energy on finding real solutions to real problems.

As a supporter of equality, I call on you to oppose SCR 1042 as amended.

From my limited understanding of government, I understand that the government is basically the employee of all tax-paying US citizens. There is no caveat regarding personal beliefs, individual life-style choices; nor is there a restriction on the direction a soul?s heart can go within the shelter of constitutional liberty. If we are to show our faces to the world, chin up, we cannot accept discriminatory changes to our constitution, which defines and protects the freedom of all citizens.

Your position is not composed only of management and process, but it is also a bottle-neck of leadership. If you allow revisions to squelch the rights of individual citizens, you should lower your face in shame when you enjoy the choices you help refuse to others.

Thanks Sincerely
[your name]

Please oppose SCR 1042, the effort to amend the Arizona State Constitution to define marriage.

This effort has a religious motivation and genesis and its purpose is to insert religious dogma into law. As such it is a clear violation of personal conscience, liberty, and perhaps a violation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Such efforts are un-American and un-Arizonian.

Supporters of this amendment are aware of the constitutionally tenuous nature of current Arizona state law which states "marriage between persons of the same sex is void and prohibited". By defining marriage in their image in the Constitution they seek to shield current law from future potential legislative action or from a court finding it unconstitutional.

In fact, last week on May 15, the California Supreme Court struck down a similar law in their state as unconstitutional.

To make a suspect law constitutional by changing the Constitution so that it is constitutional is a potentially dangerous precedent, especially when individual liberties are at stake. Once liberties are gone they are difficult to win back.

The use of the electoral and legislative process to enshrine theological beliefs in law must be resisted. Our democracy is not to be used as a latter to theocracy. I for one do not wish to be coerced by law to live by religious dogmas which have no secular purpose and of which I do not believe.

At the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Ben Franklin was queried by a citizen as he left Independence Hall as to what type of government we had, "a republic or a monarchy"? his answer; "a Republic, if you can keep it."

Can we keep it?

Regards,

In addition to contacting your state Senator also contact the President of the Senate Timothy S. Bee. He has control over scheduling bills for floor deliberation and vote. Urge him NOT to put SCR 1042 on the schedule.

This is a method to block the bill.

Done!

Done!

UPDATE:

SCR 1042 passed the AZ Senate last week and is headed to the November ballot. This constitutional amendment effort moves from a legislative process to a process within the court of public opinion. Once this issue starts to play out in this years election process please contact your local news papers and other media to make them aware that this proposed amendment has religious motivation and genesis and its purpose is to insert religious dogma into law. As such it is a clear violation of personal conscience, liberty, and perhaps a violation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

05/12/08: Passed AZ State House of Representatives 33-25.
06/25/08 Failed AZ State Senate 14 Ayes, 11 nays, 5 No vote
06/27/08 Passed AZ State senate 16 Ayes, 4 nays, 10 No Vote

AZ House and Senate voted in favor of referring a state constitutional amendment on the definition of marriage to the November ballot. The following proposed constitutional amendment will be placed on the ballot:

"Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state."


Below is the list of how your Senator voted.

Yes

Sylvia Allen (R-5)
Robert Blendu (R-12)
Robert "Bob" Burns (R-9)
Pamela Gorman (R-6)
Ron Gould (R-3)
Chuck Gray (R-19)
Linda Gray (R-10)
Jack W. Harper (R-4)
John Huppenthal (R-20)
Karen Johnson (R-18)
Barbara Leff (R-11)
Tom O'Halleran (R-1)
Jay Tibshraeny (R-21)
Thayer Verschoor (R-22)
Jim Waring (R-7)
Timothy S. Bee (R-30)

No

Paula Aboud (D-28)
Meg Burton Cahill (D-17)
Ken Cheuvront (D-15)
Jorge Luis Garcia (D-27)

Not Voting (Absent)

Amanda Aguirre (D-24)
Carolyn S. Allen (R-8)
Marsha Arzberger (D-25)
Albert Hale (D-2)
Leah Landrum Taylor (D-16)
Debbie McCune Davis (D-14)
Richard Miranda (D-16)
Charlene Pesquiera (D-26)
Rebecca Rios (D-23)
Victor Soltero (D-29)

http://www.equalityar...


I emailed GLAAD and they informed me that this group in AZ will be actively opposing in November. Are any of you members of this group? There's strength in numbers!

Your list is a mix of Senators and Representatives. There's one Senator per legislative district. For my district (LD 16), you list my Senator, Leah Landrum Taylor, who was a cowardly no-show, and one of my two Representatives, Rep. Ben Miranda (though for some reason you have him as Richard Miranda), who was also a cowardly no-show. How did my other Representative, Cloves Campbell, vote?

I do not take responsibility for the accuracy of the above list. I copied it from a site. Please go to AZleg.gov summary page or accurate info.