Press

A Statement by Matt Foreman, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director:

MEDIA CONTACT:
Roberta Sklar, Director of Communications
media@theTaskForce.org
646.358.1465

“Enough. For the last two days, the Bush/Cheney campaign has succeeded - yet again - in using a gay matter to distract voters from the real issues facing our nation.

“Simply put, there is nothing wrong with being a lesbian, let alone saying that an out lesbian is a lesbian. It wasn’t a story in the first place, and continued focus on it is insulting to any thinking person.

“Can we talk about something real, not the patently bogus hurt and anger of Dick and Lynne Cheney? After all, for the last 18 months, these folks have supported using gay people and our families as a wedge to divide the electorate. They have not said one word while their allies have aggressively pushed the ‘Federal Marriage Amendment’ on the grounds that allowing couples like their daughter and her partner to marry would undermine Western civilization. Not a peep when it was revealed that the GOP is paying for egregiously anti-gay campaign mailings in at least two states. Not a whisper while their buddies in the religious and political right have engaged in an unprecedented, national campaign of fear-mongering and demonizing of gay people. Now, they're offended? Come on.

Folks, let's move on.”

Download the latest Task Force Policy Institute report, “Facts About Mary Cheney's Sexual Orientation in U.S. Political Discourse” by clicking here: http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/MaryCheneyFacts.pdf

Visit the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Election Center.

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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.