AN OPEN LETTER TO ROBERT WAGNER AND DIANE GRAMLEY: STOP BULLYING TRANSGENDER PEOPLE

This past August, Coudersport, PA resident Robert Wagner convened a “Bible Believing Christian” forum at the Coudersport Public Library at which he threatened to violently attack transgender individuals with a baseball bat.

Forum “special guest” Diane Gramley, whose Venango County-based American Family Association of Pennsylvania regularly plants seeds of suspicion about the dangers posed by “men who think they are women,” Gramley's disparaging term for transgender females, condoned Wagner's incitement without a word of protest.

(The American Family Association, parent organization of the AFAofPA, was recently designated a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit civil rights organization.)

A video of Wagner's verbal assault, which attracted national media attention, can be viewed here:



Each November, the world commemorates the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a time to mourn and honor the many transgender lives tragically cut short by hatred, fear, and violence.

We are writing this open letter to call on Wagner and Gramley to take responsibility for the consequences of their rhetoric, publicly apologize for their remarks, and denounce anti-transgender bullying, discrimination and violence.

We also urge readers to raise their voices with others in the community to express support for the right of all people to live free of fear and discrimination, with dignity and respect, regardless of their actual or perceived gender identity and expression.

Please let your voice be heard by writing a letter-to-the-editor of your local paper and sharing news of your action here, on the Out In The Silence blog or the Out In The Silence website.

Thank You,

Joe Wilson & Dean Hamer
OUT IN THE SILENCE Campaign

Oil City Council Proclaims Day of Recognition for "Fair and Equal Treatment for All People"

© OIL CITY, PA. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

Fairness and Equality Proclamation Signed by Oil City Council

City council members signed a proclamation Monday night that designated the day (Sept. 13) as Joe Wilson Day. The tribute refers to former Oil City resident Joe Wilson who with his partner Dean Hamer, directed and produced the award winning film “Out in the Silence.”

The film celebrates diverse lifestyles and was shot in Oil City and the surrounding area.

“Joe Wilson’s film shows Oil City to the rest of the country as a town capable of positive change and documents progress in fair and equal treatment for all people in this community,” notes the proclamation.

Council was asked in June by local resident George Cooley to adopt a formal human rights policy and to embrace Wilson’s film on tolerance in small towns. The documentary tells the story of a gay high school student and explores small-town reaction to same-sex marriage.

"Many important topics were discussed at last night's City Council meeting," said Colley, "but we were proud to see the Oil City Council sign the proclamation. This is a first step in a marketing attitude toward our city. It is also a step towards a progressive Human Rights Initiative."

"A Special Blend of People"

SURPRISE - Another "Family-Values" Hypocrite Resigns

It's surely only a matter of time till a similar ax falls on the head of one or several of the self-righteous "family-values" extremists operating in Venango County.

from The Huffington Post:


Mark Souder To RESIGN Over Affair With Aide

Mark Souder, a Republican congressman from Indiana, has announced that he will resign his seat over an affair with a female aide.

Souder is a former House staffer who was elected to Congress on a "family values" platform in the Republican takeover of 1994. He won a tough contested primary challenge last week, 48 percent to 33 percent, and his Democratic opponent in the general election, Tom Hayhurst, held Souder to 54% of the vote in 2008.

"I believe that Congress must fight to uphold the traditional values that undergird the strength of our nation," Souder says on his official website. "The family plays a fundamental role in our society... I am committed to preserving traditional marriage, the union of one man and one woman."


UPDATE: Souder released the following statement: "It is with great regret I announce that I am resigning from the U.S. House of Representatives as well as resigning as the Republican nominee for Congress in this fall's election. Diane and my family were more than willing to stand here with me. We are a committed family. But the error is mine and I should bear the responsibility. I sinned against God, my wife and my family by having a mutual relationship with a part-time member of my staff. I am so shamed to have hurt those I love."

Fox News noted:

Souder was absent from Washington most of last week, missing multiple votes and only voting on Thursday. While the rumors had been flying, Souder claimed that he was at home tending to his ill wife.

All the way through his election, Souder tried to knock down the affair story, calling it revenge politics at play. But the backroom chatter in Indiana and among the GOP on Capitol Hill became too much to survive. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels was informed as late as Monday night that Souder would give up his post.

Fishermen's Net -- From Gay Bashing to Immigrant Bashing

It seems that anti-gay baiting and bashing are not enough for Fishermen's Net, Venango County's self-proclaimed Christian network.

The group's web site, managed by Jane Richey, the esteemed manager of local "Christian" radio station WAWN, is now trying to mobilize support for Pennsylvania State Representative Daryl Metcalfe's Arizona-modeled legislation aimed at providing "Pennsylvania law enforcement with full authority to apprehend illegal aliens" and several other sweeping reform measures.


We kid you not!


Here's a link to the Fishermen's Net web site to see the ugliness for yourself: http://www.fishermensnet.org/oldnews.html

And a recent article about the legislation from The Interfaith Alliance of PA:

Interfaith Advocates Call for Rejection of Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric and Legislation

HARRISBURG- With renewed fervor in the immigration debate after the passage of extreme legislation in Arizona, The Interfaith Alliance of Pennsylvania today called on state and federal legislators to be part of the solution on immigration and to reject rhetoric and legislation that divides people based on race and ethnicity.

“This is a matter of human dignity,” said Rabbi Carl Choper, the chair of The Interfaith Alliance of Pennsylvania. “We cannot promote laws in this state that demand that certain people be looked upon with suspicion simply because of their race or national origin.”

The organization’s statement came on the heels of a press conference held today by state Representative Daryl Metcalfe and four other state representatives to announce their intention to introduce legislation that mimics Arizona’s new law.

The law in Arizona has drawn criticism from around the country and the announcement of a federal civil rights challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Immigration Law Center, and the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Rabbi Choper noted that there already is too much tension in Pennsylvania around immigration issues, as evidenced by the brutal murder of a man of Mexican origin by teen-agers in Shenandoah only two years ago. “This law will not help,” he said.

“The Arizona law will inevitably lead to racial profiling,” Choper said. “And that’s a betrayal of both American values and the values of people of faith. Why would we want to import a flawed law into Pennsylvania?”

Choper noted that The Interfaith Alliance of Pennsylvania stands with marginalized communities in their civil rights struggles. “We stand for inclusivity in American society. That was the point of the Commonwealth Interfaith Service which we held only last night,” he said, referring to the Second Annual Commonwealth Interfaith Service which The Interfaith Alliance of Pennsylvania convened on Monday, May 3 at Pine Street Presbyterian Church in Harrisburg. The service included Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Bahais, Unitarians and others of many ethnic and national origins.

“We believe in an America where everyone gets a fair shake,” Choper said. “We stand with those who face discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression.”

The Interfaith Alliance of Pennsylvania is a statewide, grassroots network of people of faith and good will that advocates for social justice and religious liberty and that protests when religion is manipulated for political purposes or to oppress others.