This week a good friend - heterosexual - and supportive of GLBT issues told me she did not know about Diane Gramley until she read this blog. I felt great sadness that we actually brought this woman and her hatred to anyone's attention. I have come to believe that these people are small in number yet dangerous in their loudness. I wish to dismiss and ignore them, however, I also believe it is important for some voice to point out their misinformation and total misrepresentation of the truth.
On her website, Ms. Gramley says the following:
Last week’s decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to uphold the November 2007 ruling by the Commonwealth Court to declare the hate crimes law unconstitutional is being applauded by the original plaintiffs in the constitutional challenge. In June 2003 Diane Gramley, president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, and Frances Bevan, president of the Pennsylvania Eagle Forum, as individuals, were named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the way in which H.B. 1493 was passed. In July 2005 the court ruled Bevan and Gramley did not have ‘standing’ to sue. Shortly after that, the lawsuit advanced with the names of seven members of the Philadelphia Eleven who were arrested in October 2004.
“The PA Supreme Court made the right decision in upholding the Commonwealth Court’s decision. The seven petitioners were all arrested in October 2004 and charged with a ‘hate crime’ for singing choruses and reading scripture at a homosexual event in Philadelphia. No crime was committed and their First Amendment rights were infringed,” commented Gramley.
Please follow the link to a true account of this event listed above and here.
http://www.civilrights.org/assets/pdfs/HRC-Philly-One-Pager1-24-07.pdf
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