I swear I have absolutely no connection to the Doug Haines campaign, but I
am getting more and more excited by the fact that I'll be able to vote for him in my local primary, and hopefully general, election.
Georgia is one of the numerous states where the conservatives are trying to do on a local level what Bush wants to do nationally: change the state constitution to enshrine anti-gay discrimination. And check out what Haines posted on his blog this afternoon:
ACTION ALERT!!!
The bill to ban gay marriage in the Georgia Constitution may be going to a floor vote in the Georgia House today. Contact your elected representative and tell him or her to vote AGAINST this bill.
If you don't know who your elected representative is, find out at this site:
http://www.sos.state.ga.us/cgi-bin/locator.asp
This bill is an unprecedented attempt by the conservatives to attack the rights of the citizens of this state. It's shameful for them to be going to such great lengths to deny our gay neighbors the same rights that other healthy families enjoy throughout our community.
This issue is about equal rights. But it is also about having a constitution that does not embody hate and discrimination. Tell your representative that our constutiion exists to guarantee rights, and not take them away.
--Doug Haines
Be it noted that a) this is one of the most conservative states in the nation and Haines is still taking this stand (though, granted, his Athens power base is more liberal than most of GA), and b) Haines's Democratic rival (and fellow blog-advertiser) John Barrow says nothing about this issue on his website, but does have code-word stuff about "protecting our rural heritage."