PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Lang, Co-Director, KnowThyNeighbor.org
(978) 335-0477
Contact: Aaron Toleos, Co-Director, KnowThyNeighbor.org
(978) 821-4620
Oregon’s Anti-Gay Petitioners to Have Names Posted Online at KnowThyNeighbor.org
Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA, September 5, 2007 – KnowThyNeighbor.org, the gay rights organization that drew national attention for posting online the names of over half a million anti-gay petition signers in Massachusetts and Florida, announced today that it will be expanding its efforts to Oregon where anti-gay rights groups are seeking to overturn two new laws: one granting domestic partnership benefits to same-sex couples and the other expanding the state’s anti-discrimination laws to include sexual orientation.
The petitioners have until September 26 to collect about 55,000 signatures on each of two petitions. If they are successful, the new laws will not go into affect as scheduled on January 1 and could be overturned by voters on the November 2008 ballot. KnowThyNeighbor.org will post the names of those that sign these petitions on their website sometime next month.
“This is about responsibility,” said KnowThyNeighbor.org co-director Aaron Toleos. “Petition signers are making a choice to be directly responsible for a discriminatory and dehumanizing attack on fellow taxpaying citizens and should not be allowed to do so under the cover of darkness. Our website hopes to drive home the gravity of this situation and encourage potential signers to be fully connected to the very real and hurtful consequences their actions will have on gay individuals, couples, and their children.”
As in Massachusetts and Florida, KnowThyNeighbor.org expects that Oregon’s pro-equality citizens will visit the website, discover the names of people they know, and make an effort to confront those people about their actions. "These conversations can be uncomfortable for both parties,” explained Toleos, “but they are desperately needed if people are to understand how important these basic rights and protections are to the gay community."
Tom Lang, a gay married Republican, and Aaron Toleos, a straight married Democrat, founded KnowThyNeighbor.org in July 2005 to counter a proposed anti-gay marriage amendment in Massachusetts. That amendment was defeated with over 75% of the state legislature voting it down. The organization expanded to Florida in 2006 where it partnered with Christ Church of Peace in Jacksonville to post almost 400,000 names online. The Florida battle continues and another 300,000 names are scheduled to be posted in the next few months.
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