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It Gets Worse PSA
As Sen. John McCain stalls to keep “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” alive while his wife Cindy goes on television to counter bullying against LGBT teens, The Daily Show and special guest Sean Hayes create their own PSA with a message for John McCain: “It gets worse.”
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| Renew today to help close the floodgates!
Support the work of People For the American Way today to help take our democracy back for the People. |
The story of this past election is one of unprecedented, unrestricted and undisclosed spending by wealthy corporate interests and their shadowy right-wing front groups.
We cannot allow that to be the story of future elections. PFAW is leading the movement to take our democracy back for the people. But we need your help.
Many of the same newly elected members of Congress who have been bought and paid for by corporate interests share an extreme right-wing agenda to roll back decades of progressive gains in civil rights, religious liberty, women’s rights, LGBT equality and more. This is the result of the reckless judicial activism by the Roberts Supreme Court in its 5-4 Citizens United v. FEC ruling, which overturned long-settled campaign finance law.
That decision opened the floodgates for unlimited corporate spending to influence our elections. And it set the foundation for an unholy alliance between far-right Tea Party candidates and powerful corporations that swept a tidal wave of radical Right Wing politicians into office.
Carmen, there is a solution … one that includes undoing Citizens United with a constitutional amendment and changing the balance on the Supreme Court. PFAW is leading the charge on both of those efforts. But the solution begins with passing the DISCLOSE Act, and we have only a limited window of opportunity to do it.
Americans deserve to know who is behind the mountains of mysterious cash and the often-misleading TV ads that dominate the airwaves in an election year. This election showed that knowing who is behind the spending makes a huge difference. When voters know the agendas behind the messages, they are much more likely to reject them.
The DISCLOSE Act is the first big step in stopping corporations from drowning out the voice of the average voter. We must get it passed and signed into law in the next few weeks, before the Tea Party-dominated Republican majority — the very people who benefited from undisclosed corporate money — takes over the House in January.
Please renew your membership with a contribution right now to help us win this fight.
PFAW has released a series of reports documenting what happened during this election cycle with corporate spending and exposing the sources of the money where we can, and we’ll be issuing a final report within the next few days. We’ve identified the scope of the threat … winning this critical battle on the DISCLOSE Act is the first step toward solving the problem.
Carmen, this is a battle for the soul of our nation and democracy itself, and I need YOU in the fight.
Please renew your membership with People For the American Way now.
Thank you,
Michael Keegan, President
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We need 16 donations from Seattle by TOMORROW. We’re fighting poisonous hate from right-wing groups and on the campaign trail.
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How would you feel seeing this headline on November 3rd?
It’s not farfetched. At a time when anti-LGBT bullying and harassment are already out of control, this election could usher a wave of extremists into Congress and bolster hateful right-wing groups that have already begun urging lawmakers to pass a national ban on same-sex couples marrying.
One prominent candidate founded a “cure the gays” group before running for Senate. Seriously. Last week, another declared he wants to abolish the U.S. Department of Education so students won’t be taught that “Susie has two mommies is an appropriate family situation.”
We’ve already raised more than half of the $250,000 we need by MIDNIGHT TOMORROW to expose illegal electioneering by radical groups and get hundreds of thousands of voters to the polls.
But we need 16 donations from Seattle to get us there. Can you help, Carmen?
With Tea Party funding and groups like the National Organization for Marriage running illegal ads, the risk of a radical takeover of Washington is shockingly real.
So we’re fighting back. Here’s how:
In the wake of so many horrific stories of anti-LGBT hate crimes and bullying, fair-minded supporters across the country – both LGBT and straight – are energized and ready to help. Over a million are wearing purple today in memory of victims of anti-gay bullying. But at the same time, every day brings new examples of right-wing vitriol – and unless we take direct action to fight them, they could soon have an even bigger platform for their hate.
Last week, the president of the extreme, anti-equality Family Research Council wrote in The Washington Post that it’s the “homosexual movement” – not bigotry – that causes feelings of despair among LGBT youth.
His offensive claim comes in the wake of a Mormon leader’s hateful sermon saying same-sex attraction is “impure and unnatural”… the Catholic Diocese of Minnesota mailing a misleading, anti-gay DVD to every single parishioner in Minnesota… and the National Organization for Marriage’s relentless, outright lies.
These groups do real damage with these comments, but hearing the same hate spouted from elected leaders – and seeing it in legislation like a federal ban on marriage equality – is even more dangerous. And that’s the immediate crisis before us now.
Can you help us reach the 16 donations from Seattle we need to fight back?
Election Day is only 13 days away. I hope you’ll stand with us.
Not backing down,
Joe Solmonese
President
P.S. If you’ve already put a check in the mail or given to HRC by some other means, I can’t thank you enough. If you haven’t yet contributed, I hope you’ll join us today. Also, don’t forget to wear purple today! Learn more here.
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The recent suicides of several gay teenagers have made national headlines. Yet this is the moment – of all moments – that a top Mormon leader decides to broadcast a verbal rampage against gays to millions of viewers.
I couldn’t believe it either. Boyd K. Packer, the second-highest leader in the Mormon Church, said in a sermon broadcast to millions last Sunday that same-sex attraction is “impure and unnatural” and can be overcome, and that same-sex unions are morally wrong.
Do we need more proof than the suicides of teens as young as 13 that words like these can do unimaginable damage?
We cannot stay silent. By speaking out together, we can show the Mormon Church hierarchy that it has literally risked the lives of children by inciting their tormentors. And we can ensure that the young people who heard this sermon know that it is scientifically wrong and profoundly misguided.
Speaking before 20,000 people and broadcasting to millions more, Packer said same-sex unions are morally wrong and “against God’s law and nature” – and that the church hierarchy would continue to support marriage bans like Proposition 8 (which was funded largely by Mormons).
It makes me physically sick to think how many young lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender kids had to sit in those pews and listen to that venom.
Comments like these are exactly what makes young LGBT kids think there’s no way out but suicide – that their parents will reject them, that their communities will shun them, and that living openly will bring pain or violence – that even God looks on their very identity as a sin to be “overcome.”
And these lies fuel the bullying, harassment, and violence that plague our schools.
Packer’s lies have been disproven over and over again by science and by the spiritual experience of Americans who know their LGBT neighbors and care about them. We know sexual orientation cannot and should not be changed and that two people falling in love is beautiful, not evil.
But unless we refute these lies whenever groups like the anti-LGBT National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and the Mormon Church repeat them – whether through letters like this or projects like HRC‘s www.NOMexposed.com – we risk another young person hearing them and believing that LGBT people are “defective.” And that belief contributes to violence and suicide.
Americans are sick of the Mormon hierarchy trying to dictate what they should believe. They know commitment and love when they see it. That’s why they are turning away in droves from limitations on their friends’ and neighbors’ freedom to marry.
Thank you for helping take a stand for the truth.
Sincerely,
Joe Solmonese
President
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The recent suicides of several gay teenagers have made national headlines. Yet this is the moment – of all moments – that a top Mormon leader decides to broadcast a verbal rampage against gays to millions of viewers. I couldn’t believe it either. Boyd K. Packer, the second-highest leader in the Mormon Church, said in a sermon broadcast to millions yesterday that same-sex attraction is “impure and unnatural” and can be overcome, and that same-sex unions are morally wrong. Do we need more proof than the suicides of teens as young as 13 that words like these can do unimaginable damage? We cannot stay silent. By speaking out together, we can show the Mormon Church hierarchy that it has literally risked the lives of children by inciting their tormentors. And we can ensure that the young people who heard this sermon know that it is scientifically wrong and profoundly misguided. Speaking before 20,000 people and broadcasting to millions more, Packer said same-sex unions are morally wrong and “against God’s law and nature” – and that the church hierarchy would continue to support marriage bans like Proposition 8 (which was funded largely by Mormons). It makes me physically sick to think how many young lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender kids had to sit in those pews and listen to that venom. Comments like these are exactly what makes young LGBT kids think there’s no way out but suicide – that their parents will reject them, that their communities will shun them, and that living openly will bring pain or violence – that even God looks on their very identity as a sin to be “overcome.” And these lies fuel the bullying, harassment, and violence that plague our schools. Packer’s lies have been disproven over and over again by science and by the spiritual experience of Americans who know their LGBT neighbors and care about them. We know sexual orientation cannot and should not be changed and that two people falling in love is beautiful, not evil. But unless we refute these lies whenever groups like the anti-LGBT National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and the Mormon Church repeat them – whether through letters like this or projects like HRC‘s www.NOMexposed.com – we risk another young person hearing them and believing that LGBT people are “defective.” And that belief contributes to violence and suicide. Americans are sick of the Mormon hierarchy trying to dictate what they should believe. They know commitment and love when they see it. That’s why they are turning away in droves from limitations on their friends’ and neighbors’ freedom to marry. Thank you for helping take a stand for the truth. Sincerely,
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Be a Seed for Change 