[lavender] Fwd: [usgp-dx] GREEN RELEASE Support urged for Green Mayor to be tried for same-sex weddings

Wed Jun 8 11:12:50 EDT 2005

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Scott McLarty <scottmclarty at yahoo.com>
Date: Jun 6, 2005 3:30 PM
Subject: [usgp-dx] GREEN RELEASE Support urged for Green Mayor to be
tried for same-sex weddings
To: natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org, media-states at lists.gp-us.org,
lavender-caucus at green.gpus.org

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Monday, June 6, 2005

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624,
mclarty at greens.org
Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576,
nallen at acadia.net
Jason West, Mayor of New Paltz, N.Y.,
845-255-1413, mayor at villageofnewpaltz.org
Kathy Schmidt, Chairperson of the New Paltz Green
Party, 845-883-6102, karcher at peoplepc.com

GREENS URGE SUPPORT FOR MAYOR JASON WEST OF NEW
PALTZ, N.Y., AS HE FACES PROSECUTION FOR SAME-SEX
MARRIAGES

Green Party leaders see political motivation as
West is singled out for solemnizing same-sex
weddings.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders appealed
to all Americans and organizations who value
human rights to speak out in support of Mayor
Jason West of New Paltz, New York.

Mr. West, a member of the Green Party, will face
prosecution for violating domestic relations law
for officiating at the weddings of 24 same-sex
couples in 2004, according to a ruling on May 27
from New York's highest court.  Mayor West, whose
case will be heard in a New Paltz town court,
performed the ceremonies to champion the rights
of gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans.

"The State of New York wants to punish an elected
Green Mayor for performing same-sex marriages and
defending the constitutional guarantee of equal
protection," said Chaia Lehrer, who was married
in New Paltz and is a member of the Green Party.
"While Democrats and moderate Republicans have
backtracked on gay rights during and since the
2004 election, the Green Party has
enthusiastically endorsed equal marriage rights
for same-sex couples."

"The West prosecution is more than a court case.
It's a measure of the willingness of political
leaders, parties, and elected officials to stand
up for freedom and human rights," added Ms.
Lehrer, who noted that New York Gov. George
Pataki and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer have
claimed that same-sex marriages violate state
law.  "Mayor West's defense should be a national
cause célèbre for gay rights."

Mayor West, who faces a maximum of 24 years in
prison and thousand of dollars in fines for
multiple misdemeanor counts if convicted, will be
represented in court by E. Joshua Rosenkranz of
Heller, Ehrman, White, McAuliffe.

"By performing same-sex marriages, we are
upholding the U.S. and New York State
constitutions, as well as our party platform
which defends human and civil rights," said
Rebecca Rotzler, New Paltz Deputy Mayor, who has
also performed a same-sex marriage.

Greens have called the prosecution of Mayor West
politically motivated.

Greens noted that two Unitarian ministers
conducted more than a dozen same-sex weddings in
s New Paltz.  But when a New Paltz judge threw
out the charges against the ministers, Ulster
County District Attorney Don Williams did not
seek reinstatement of the charges.

Furthermore, Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco
conducted a few thousand weddings, but even
though the weddings themselves were held to be
invalid and were ordered to be stopped, no
charges were filed against Mayor Newsom, who
happens to be a Democrat.

Greens observed that D.A. Williams ran for office
on the Republican, Conservative, Democratic, and
Independence party lines (New York allows fusion
candidacies), and that the Ulster County
Democratic Party nominated Mr. Williams as their
own candidate and gave him their ballot line.

Greens also noted that the initial legal effort
against Mayor West was led by an organization
called the Liberty Counsel <http://www.lc.org>,
which serves as the the legal arm of Jerry
Falwell ministries.  Liberty Counsel offers an
online store
<https://www.lc.org/Store/index.html>, where a
percentage of every purchase -- from companies
such as Avon, Barnes & Noble, Eddie Bauer, Lands
End, LL Bean, Old Navy, and The Gap -- is donated
to Liberty Counsel <http://www.lc.onecause.com>.

"Americans who support human rights should know
that some of their favorite brands are
contributing to Jerry Falwell's vicious antigay
witchhunt against heroes like Jason West," said
Jason Jones, Louisiana Green and chair of the
national Lavender Green Caucus.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

Lavender Green Caucus
http://www.lavendergreens.org

Green Party of New York State
http://www.gpnys.org

~ END ~

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