FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANUARY 24, 2006
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CONSTITUTION PARTY OPPOSES GRANTING RIGHTS
ON BASIS OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION
The Constitution Party of Washington has come out in opposition to a bill currently pending in Olympia dealing with "gay rights." The party contends that while HB 2661 purports to protect persons from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, including homosexual, bisexual, and gender expression, it would have quite another effect. The party states that if the bill were to pass, for the first time in our state's history, civil rights would be assigned on the basis of a person's chosen sexual conduct. The party believes that passage of the bill would result in the violation of the civil rights of those who hold moral and religious views that oppose homosexual and bisexual acts.
The party's chairman, Robert Peck, pointed out that the bill would use "Police Power" under the state human rights commission to compel employers, landlords and others to hire, rent to and otherwise engage in business with persons on the basis of their identifying themselves with, and willfully engaging in, various "deviant sexual acts." "For those of the Christian faith, among others, the passage of this bill would force individuals to choose between their moral conscience and the law, between forsaking their religious convictions or facing possible fines or imprisonment," Peck said.
"They say you can't legislate morality or enforce religious views through law," Peck went on to say. "The fact is that government always has and always will enforce a set of morals on society and legislate from a religious point of view, it's only a question of whose morals and whose religious views. Prior to the last 50 years engaging in homosexual acts was not only considered immoral, but was punishable by law in all 50 states. Now we are talking about declaring it immoral and even making it illegal to hold and act upon the belief that such acts are a crime against nature and a sin against God."
"This is not about hating homosexuals," Peck said, "this is about protecting society from moral degradation. God loves the homosexual and so do we, but that doesn't change the fact that such acts are unnatural, unhealthy, immoral and if tolerated, will eat away at the foundations of our society."
The party believes it is the government's duty to use the force of law to protect society from degrading influences, which it believes homosexuality and other so called alternative lifestyles to be.
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