U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE BOB CASEY MAY WANT TO BACK AWAY FROM BIG LABOR ENDORSEMENT

American Family Association of Pennsylvania

http://www.afaofpa.org

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 22, 2005

CONTACT: Diane Gramley 1.814.271.9078 or 1.814.437.5355

SENATE CANDIDATE BOB CASEY MAY WANT TO BACK AWAY FROM BIG LABOR ENDORSEMENT

(Harrisburg) – The recent endorsement by the AFL-CIO of Senate candidate Robert Casey, Jr. will cause great concern among those holding traditional values in Pennsylvania, a pro-family group said today. The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA) reports that on March 3, 2005 the Executive Committee of the AFL-CIO voted to condemn all efforts to protect one-man, one-woman marriage through constitutional amendments.

“The AFL-CIO’s endorsement of Bob Casey is of major concern to all who view marriage as only between one-man and one-woman. Those holding traditional values are concerned with more than just the abortion issue,” declared Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA.

The AFL-CIO’s resolution is out of the mainstream with the rest of America and any candidate who receives their endorsement may want to reconsider those close ties with such an anti-family organization.

The resolution states: http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/thisistheaflcio/ecouncil/ec03032005g.cfm

“(T)hrough the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA), some members of the U.S. Congress want to amend the U.S. Constitution to deny important rights to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families, such as the right to hospital visitation, inheritance, and health care rights for partners. On November 2, 2004, eleven states passed similar marriage amendments to their state constitutions.

…The FMA and its state counterparts threaten the rights of working people by creating an environment across the nation that is hostile to the rights of domestic partners, regardless of their sexual orientation.”

…The AFL-CIO reiterates its longstanding support for the full inclusion and equal rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the workplace and in society.”

A Gallup/CNN/USA Today poll in March 2005 reported that 68 percent of Americans “think marriages between homosexuals…should not be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriage.”

The same Gallup Poll found that by a 57 to 37 percent margin (and growing), Americans “favor…a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as being between a man and a woman, thus barring marriages between gay or lesbian couples.”

“As with the rest of the nation, the vast majority of Pennsylvanians support one-man, one-woman marriage. This is a fact that Mr. Casey needs to keep in mind as he runs for the Senate with an AFL-CIO – anti-family – endorsement,” Gramley reiterated. # # #

Vice Chairman of Voter Education

http://www.ycop.org

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/YCOP/

http://www.InformedPA.com