Friends,
There is 9 days before we find out who the next President will be. Regardless of who wins, the choice will be historical. We will either get the first female Vice President or the first African-American President. No one would have guessed this four years ago. No one.
I am writing this to ensure you get out and vote. Yes, some of you are on many mailing lists and are getting the same bombardment of E-mails as I am. But, I’m writing for another reason.
I am a proud Democrat, so you know where my loyalties lie. This E-mail is going out to all of my transgender friends and allies in Georgia because we can make a difference. Why should we vote for Senator Barack Obama, you may ask? He understands us more than all the previous Presidents put together. He sponsored and pushed for various trans inclusive legislation in his home State of Illinois when he was a State Senator there. He has stated multiple times he is in support of a fully-inclusive Employment N-Discrimination Act and Hate Crimes Bill.
Many of you have faced unemployment and have lost jobs for being trans or gay. Some have looked for so long for work that if has become a job unto itself. Some have given up. And some, like Alice Johnston, took their own lives after becoming homeless. Let’s face it. Georgia will NRVER pass a fully inclusive State ENDA. Even if the Democrats controlled the State Assembly and the Governorship, we would still have enough blue-dog Democrats to keep it from passing.
Our only hope in breaking the chains of oppression is to ensure a friendly President sits in the White House. That is Obama.
I apologize to any Republicans on this E-mail. Yes, Republican LGBT people do exist. But, McCain will never allow us to be free. And if he died in office, Palin would make our lives even worse. In my opinion, a Republican vote by a LGBT person is the most illogical move one can make.
And, for those crossdressers out there, don’t think you’re safe. Just remember what happen to truck driver Peter Oiler when Winn Dixie fired him for crossdressing OFF the job. That was in Louisiana, a state that has the same attitudes as here in Georgia. None of us are truly safe and even if ENDA passed and was signed by Obama, there would still be a lot of problems for us. But, we would at least have legal action available to us that we don’t have now. Our families deserve to have a chance.
So, my friends, as a concern transgender citizen of Georgia, I would like to see future generations of LGBT Georgians have a better world then we do. Let’s give them that world by voting for Obama. We can put him over the top here in Georgia. The latest poll shows him at a one point lead. One point! There are enough LGBT people in Georgia to give him another point. Let’s do that, for the future. And, pass this onto your friends.
Monica Helms
Marietta, GA