Senators of North Dakota,
I am member of the United States Air Force. I am a community volunteer. I am citizen. And I am gay.
I am a gay North Dakotan, and how you vote on SB 2252 directly impacts me.
But I am not writing this to you for me. I'm not even writing this to you
for my LGBT friends, roommates, or coworkers. I am writing this to you, I am
pleading with you for the children of this great state. By passing this bill
and ensuring its success through ALL levels of the North Dakota Legislature
you have the opportunity, no the priviledge, to show every youth in this
state that they are wanted and that they belong and that they are not second
class citizens in this state. To proclaim to them that it gets better! That
is your charge and your responsibility. To send a strong and powerful
message to every kid, teen, youth, adult, and traveler that here in North
Dakota it does not matter what you look like, who you pray to, or who you
love you are wanted and respected and deserving of protection.
I urge you to vote in support of SB 2252 and let the LGBT youth of North
Dakota know there is hope.
-Jacob Thomas, SSgt, USAF
Grand Forks, ND
But I am not writing this to you for me. I'm not even writing this to you
for my LGBT friends, roommates, or coworkers. I am writing this to you, I am
pleading with you for the children of this great state. By passing this bill
and ensuring its success through ALL levels of the North Dakota Legislature
you have the opportunity, no the priviledge, to show every youth in this
state that they are wanted and that they belong and that they are not second
class citizens in this state. To proclaim to them that it gets better! That
is your charge and your responsibility. To send a strong and powerful
message to every kid, teen, youth, adult, and traveler that here in North
Dakota it does not matter what you look like, who you pray to, or who you
love you are wanted and respected and deserving of protection.
I urge you to vote in support of SB 2252 and let the LGBT youth of North
Dakota know there is hope.
-Jacob Thomas, SSgt, USAF
Grand Forks, ND
Jacob - In response 2 ur vid & ltr, I sent this to ND Senate - I hope you don't mind:
ReplyDeleteLt. Governor Drew Wrigley
President, Senate, 63rd Legislative Assembly
600 E Boulevard Ave Dept 150
Bismarck, ND 58505-0520
701.328.2205: fax
Dear Lt. Governor Wrigley,
I would appreciate you presenting this to the Senate members on my behalf:
Dear Senators:
How you, as senators, vote on SB 2252 will directly impact many of your residents. If SB 2252 is passed as originally introduced (13.0758.01000), it will protect ALL North Dakotans – equally and justly. If the marked-up version (13.0758.01003) is passed and becomes law, it will negatively impact a class of your populace, and may even cause physical and/or mental harm to members of that class to occur, without any consequence.
Knowing persons living in North Dakota, I am writing this letter to you as a reminder of the Oath of Office you swore/affirmed to when you became a senator. To remind you that the state motto is “Liberty and union, now and forever: one and inseparable”; that the ribbon on North Dakota’s flag states: “E Pluribus Unum” - of many, one, not of some, two (classes).
SB 2252, as marked-up, will specifically exclude a class of children and adults of your great state from being legally protected, leaving that class without the legal protection freely given to the rest of North Dakota’s residents. SB 2252, as marked-up, would undermine the existing laws on non-discrimination and send a demeaning, repugnant message to North Dakotans that acts of discrimination against persons of a class of their fellow citizens are not wrong, and no one will call anyone to task for causing such acts!
By voting to pass this bill, as introduced, and ensuring its success throughout its passage through the Sixty-third Legislative Assembly of North Dakota, you will have shown every youth, every resident, in your state that they are wanted, that they belong, and that no one is a second-class citizen.
I urge you to vote in support of SB 2252, as introduced, and let the LGBT youth and other LGBT residents of North Dakota know there is hope for them in the state where they live. Show all North Dakotans that you support and protect them as one people, equally.
Sincerely, James O'Connell