The language in Initiative 166 has not changed from last year's Initiative 608. The only difference is that 166 is an initiative to the legislature, while 608 was an initiative to the people. Since it was felt that the Washington Committee for Equal Rights Not Special Rights had crafted reasonable, constitutionally acceptable and accurate language (preventing government from lavishing special, protected minority status based solely on claimed conduct, and preventing public schools from presenting homosexuality as a healthy, alternative lifestyle), no change was necessary.
WTV is absolutely convinced that there is an out-of-control situation in Washington state and is dedicated to being part of the solution.
In the the (Federal) U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals May, 1995 Cincinnati decision, one can see the reasoning of the jurists on their favorable Equal Rights Not Special Rights Decision, their citation of the 1986 US Supreme Court Bowers-v-Hardwick decision, wherein lower courts were specifically directed NOT to create "new rights," and the court's remark that since Bowers, not one lower court has found any justification for granting minority status based on claimed behavior.
We have a difficult time conjuring an image of these judges gathering their robes up into pickup trucks and driving around with baseball bats, looking for homosexuals to terrorize and injure. Don't you?
It is especially frustrating to us that in our state, not only are the above important constitutional interpretations being ignored, the will of our elected representatives in the legislature is being trampled. Governor's executive orders and renegade agency policies are being used to advance a radical political agenda, and those of us who notice and object are called hatemongers, bigots and extremists.
Documents from the Alma Kidd case demonstrate what happens when special rights, status, privileges and considerations become part of the policies and activities of government.
The mother, Alma, wrote anguished appeal letters to everyone involved with her case from the caseworker's supervisors up the chain of command to Governor Mike Lowry in a desperate attempt to rescue her daughter from a predatory female homosexual who was operating with the full knowledge of the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) Division of Child Protective Services (DSHS head Jean Soliz has just resigned under fire because of such cases).
When we at WTV were successful in eliminating "sexual minority" status throughout the bureaucratic behemoth that is DSHS, Lowry insisted on reinstating one feature: the one that calls on the state to recruit "successful sexual minority" adults to enter the Division of Juvenile Rehabilitation and counsel or "mentor" minor children. These mentors are then to help the children "transition" back into their communities and "establish alternative lifestyles."
This means that what is happening to Alma Kidd and her daughter, Hope, is now official Washington State policy. DSHS, Lowry and his "liaison" will attempt to eclipse the importance of this very real situation by pointing to old (resolved) accusations of child abuse in the state of Kentucky. They should not be allowed to distract from the reality of this present, nightmarish public policy debacle.
All signatures must be turned in to the Secretary of State’s Office by the end of December, 1995. For I-166 petitions, contact WTV immediately:
WTV-PAC
PO Box 6189
Vancouver, WA 98668-6189
FAX 360-693-2784
E-Mail WTV: blarimer@e-z.net