Press

Washington, DC - The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) today announced its opposition to the possibly impending war against Iraq by joining the new coalition called: "Keep America Safe: Win Without War." On December 11th, a broad coalition of major progressive civil rights, business, religious, and environmental leaders announced the launching of this group whose founding members include: the NAACP; the National Organization for Women; Move On; the Sierra Club; the National Council of Churches; Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities; Working Assets; the Leadership Conference of Women Religious; Physicians for Social Responsibility; the Rainbow Push Coalition; and Women's Action for New Directions.

The "Keep America Safe: Win Without War" statement is as follows:

"We are patriotic Americans who share the belief that Saddam Hussein cannot be allowed to possess weapons of mass destruction. We support rigorous UN weapons inspections to assure Iraq's effective disarmament. We believe that a preemptive military invasion of Iraq will harm American national interests. Unprovoked war will increase human suffering, arouse animosity toward our country, increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks, damage the economy and undermine our moral standing in the world. It will make us less, not more, secure. We reject the doctrine -- a reversal of long-held American tradition -- that our country, alone, has the right to launch first-strike attacks. America is not that kind of country. We can achieve the valid U.S. and UN objective of disarming Saddam Hussein through legal diplomatic means. There is no need for war. Let us instead devote our resources to improving the security and well being of people here at home and around the world. As the Bush Administration prepares for battle, religious, civil rights and citizen organizations have banded together to promote disarming Iraq without war."

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director, Lorri L. Jean, echoed the sentiments of the founding members of the group: "The goal of this coalition is to mobilize a broad cross section of American society in opposition to Bush Administration calls for a unilateral invasion. That is a goal that the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force wholeheartedly supports. In the aftermath of September 11th, 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. Without the constitutional rights and protections now being gutted by this Administration, our GLBT movement would not be where it is today. All of us are endangered by the behavior of this Administration — especially its use of the post-9/11 climate of fear to advance their broader political goals."

NGLTF urges its sister GLBT organizations at the national, state and local level to join the Keep America Safe coalition and encourage elected leaders to support U.S. action that is designed to meet global challenges with an emphasis on peace, while acting in harmony with others, and with strong alliances and international consensus. NGLTF joins Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President Jimmy Carter in believing that, "The objective of any who sincerely believe in peace, clearly must be to exhaust every honorable recourse in the effort to save the peace."

–30–

The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from the ground up. We do this by training activists, organizing broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and by building the organizational capacity of our movement. Our Policy Institute, the movement’s premier think tank, provides research and policy analysis to support the struggle for complete equality and to counter right-wing lies. As part of a broader social justice movement, we work to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., we also have offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and Cambridge.