Gay Today: World

Bradley Meets NGLTF:
Will Help Defeat Knight Initiative

Compiled By GayToday

Washington, D.C.--Presidential candidate Bill Bradley met Sunday with representatives of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and pledged renewed efforts to defeat the Knight Initiative on California's March 7 ballot.

Bradley said he would continue to use the bully pulpit of his campaign to encourage his supporters to oppose the Knight Initiative, also known as the Limit on Marriages Initiative or Proposition 22.

Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley threw his support into the effort to defeat the homophobic Knight Initiative March 7.

This initiative would ban the state of California from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states. It would also threaten the rights of gay or lesbian couples to visit their sick or injured companion in the hospital or get basic health insurance, and it would endanger inheritance rights.

"We are gratified that Senator Bradley not only recognizes the inherent unfairness of Proposition 22, but will continue to use his campaign as a bully pulpit to organize and get his supporters out to vote against it," said NGLTF Executive Director Kerry Lobel.

"Both Bradley and Vice President Al Gore have spoken out forcefully against the Knight Initiative. Now it is time to translate words into action, and opposition into votes. A victory for fairness on March 7 would send a powerful signal that voters will no longer tolerate mean-spirited and divisive ballot initiatives."

During the meeting in Jamaica Queens, New York, Bradley also expressed his support for equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people in a number of areas, including adoption of children by same-sex couples, passage of domestic partner benefits and implementation of fair immigration policies that do not discriminate against GLBT people.

Other issues brought to Bradley's attention included the need for enhanced funding from Executive Branch agencies to GLBT communities and centers, inclusion of transgendered people in hate crimes and civil rights legislation and inclusion of GLBT communities in research projects undertaken by the federal government.

"Bill Bradley was very interested in the issues we presented to him and consistently underscored his view that GLBT people should not face discrimination," Lobel said after the meeting.

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Related Sites:
Bill Bradley for President

National Gay & Lesbian Task Force

No on Knight

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Attending the meeting with Bradley were Kerry Lobel; Virginia M. Apuzzo, the former White House official who now holds the NGLTF Policy Institute Virginia Apuzzo Chair for Leadership in Public Policy; Paula Ettelbrick, family policy director for the NGLTF Policy Institute; Sean Cahill, research and policy director for the NGLTF Policy Institute; and Blake Cornish, NGLTF federal legislative lawyer. Lobel said NGLTF has issued invitations to all Democratic and Republican presidential candidates to meet with NGLTF staff to discuss the important issues facing the GLBT community