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Washington's
Jewish Community To
Support Gay
Civil Rights Bill
by 365Gay.com
from the Web, June 1, 2005
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Seattle, Washington -- A
coalition of temples and Jewish groups have announced their support for an LGBT
civil rights bill in the state of Washington. The coalition of 15
organizations, mainly from the Seattle area, criticized the legislature for not
passing a bill this year to protect gays and lesbians in jobs and housing.
The legislation, which gay rights groups had fought for nearly 30 years to
achieve, fell by only one vote last month in the state Senate. It had already
passed the House.
"We want to make clear to all Americans that people of faith do support justice
and equality for all," Rabbi Jonathan Singer, of Seattle's Temple Beth Am, told
a news conference.
The coalition is made up of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, the
Pacific Northwest region of the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish
Committee and several Reform and Conservative congregations. Orthodox Jews
were absent from the coalition.
Speakers at the news conference said the coalition would target three senators
who voted against the bill this year and who represent largely Jewish areas.
The move comes after a conservative Christian minister claimed he had convinced
Microsoft, the state's largest employer, to pull its support for the bill.
Rev. Ken Hutcherson said he had threatened the giant computer software company
with a nationwide boycott if it did not distance itself from the gay rights
bill.
The decision by Microsoft is blamed for the defeat of the bill and led to
outrage by LGBT civil rights groups. The company later said it would
support the reintroduction of the bill next year. Microsoft also severed
ties with Ralph Reed, a conservative Republican lobbyist who once headed the
Christian Coalition.
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