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Local gay newspapers in Chicago are running ads warning that the casualties of the war would include lost funding for HIV/AIDS services as well as loss of life. One ad, paid for by the Chicago Anti-Bashing Network, states: "A new US war will indirectly kill people in our community here at home by diverting necessary funds away from already scaled-back social service programs." From Los Angeles, the director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Lorri Jean, has said: "In the aftermath of September 11, we have grown increasingly alarmed that under the guise of a nation at war, the Bush Administration has eviscerated many of the fundamental principles upon which this nation was founded and which are at the very core of our free and democratic society." The Lavender Green Caucus of the Green Party of the United States has issued a sharp critique opposing plans for war on Iraq. Its statement reflects, say its authors, the opinion of the Lavender Green Caucus and is not necessarily the opinion of the national Green Party. The caucus is stressing those special dangers that the war would pose to human rights in general as well as the hypocrisy of the Defense Department's discriminatory 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. It says: The Lavender Caucus of the United States Green Party stands united in opposition to military aggression and war against Iraq and her people, for the following reasons:
As the Lavender Caucus, we call upon the people of the United States to stand together in a united front against the war machine of the Bush-Cheney Administration. We urge the United Nations, as the sole international body mandated to protect the legal and human rights of the several nations of this world community, to resolve to reaffirm the integrity, sovereignty, and the right to self-determination of Iraq and her people. We call on the United Nations and the world community to oppose and stand strong against United States unilateralism. We call on Congress and the President to focus resources and attention to the deepening domestic crisis. The United States stands at a unique moment in history, and we call on the United States, as the world's sole superpower, to stand as a symbol of peace, justice, and democracy. |
Following a recent statement opposing George W. Bush's war plans and issued by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, strong anti-war sentiment and activity is clearly on the rise in America's gay communities.