Vince Avedon of Ellwood City knows bigotry when he reads about it. So he took a moment to call out President Bush's intent to veto the extension of hate crimes legislation to include homosexuals. 

President Bush said he will veto any bill that would include gays and lesbians in this existing hate crime law. His position is that there are already protections in place.
If that were the case, then why is there special legislation protecting race, color, religion, or national origin? Aren't there already laws on the books protecting people of race, religion, or national origin? The answer is pure bigotry from this administration against gay and lesbian Americans.

You nailed it, Vince.  Bush is in hot water and needs something to shore up his eroding popularity with the base. So, of course, he's going to clamber back up on the backs of the gays. 

Thanks for writing Vince. 

Sometimes, people do pay attention.  I just now received a call from a legislative staffer with State Representative Chelsa Wagner's office.  My post to the Run, Baby, Run email list about Democratic Committee reps caught his eye, particularly the part where I stated that Pgh City Councilwoman Tonya Payne is the only elected official I've seen at a community meeting since I moved to Manchester.

Pat wanted me to know that Representative Wagner is very interested in meeting with Manchester residents, but there have been some scheduling snafus with the meeting organizers, Manchester Citizens Corporation.  He was very tactful about it, of course. 

I'm not so tactful, of course.  MCC does a lousy job of organizing meetings and informing community residents with enough advance notice to get it on our calendars.  That's not Representative Wagner's fault.  But the end result is that MCC's organizational challenges are directly squashing the community's access to our elected officials.  And that's not okay. 

Pat asked me if there are other groups he could contact to keep abreast of community meetings.  I gave him a few thoughts, but it is really slim pickings around here.  So then I offered to hold a meeting myself.  I figured I should put my money where my mouth is. 

I'm impressed that 1) they read the email list, 2) they responded to the challenge and 3) they are proactive and positive rather than defensive.   I'm impressed.

I invited Rep Wager to PrideFest which is just a hop, skip and jump out of her district but definitely draws a lot of Manchester residents. 

Today is June 4, which marks the end of Stephen Glassman's five year term as chair of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.  Governor Ed Rendell is expected to nominate Glassman for another term.  Diane Gramley and her bastion of bigots are hopping mad about this and have churned out the hate literature fast enough to make Big Daddy Dobson proud.  Their goal?  To stop the insidious promotion of the gay agenda by Glassman and his ilk.

According to their website, the mission of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission is to administer and enforce the PHRAct and the PFEOA of the Commonwealth of the Pennsylvania for the identification and elimination of discrimination and the providing of equal opportunity for all persons. (BTW, acronyms stand for Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and Pennsylvania Fair Educational Opportunities Act.)

Gramley is not pleased that Glassman is openly gay and actively working for progress in protecting the rights and civil liberties of LGBTQ Pennsylvanians, as well as others.  See that's the part Gramley wants folks to forget -- Steve Glassman is not stepping on other victims of discrimination and bias to lift up the homos.  He is working to make Pennsylvania a fair place for all residents.  It is Gramley and her patrons that want to keep an entire group of residents down and out because we don't fit into her world view. 

Read up on the good work of the PHRC.  Contact your State Senator and let them know what you think about Stephen Glassman's confirmation.  If you are inclined to do nothing, remember that Diane Gramley's minions will be all over this.

Ledcat informs that the ACDC has returned my telephone call and left the names of my comitteefolks on our voice mail.  One is the lady I identified in my earlier post.  I'll learn the other person's identity tomorrow when I get back to da 'burgh.

I am going to call them back and find out what their version of the committeefolks responsibilities are to date.  So they did call.

You know who didn't call?  The probation officer of the dude on house arrest two doors down from me.  The one who throws his vodka bottles all over our property among many other infractions.

You know who hasn't been helpful with that situation?  Our elected Democrats.  Except for Brenda Frazier.  The one who wasn't endorsed by the ACDC.  She's being helpful. 

So now I want to know if quality of life issues factored in the committefolks votes.