State Green Party Press Release

Pennsylvania Green Party

Prindle to the Hateful: 'I do not want your vote'

Eric Prindle for State Representative

P.O. Box 214
Selinsgrove, PA 17870-0214
570-372-0503, prindle@greens.org
http://home.ptd.net/~prindle

For immediate release: Aug. 19, 2002

SELINSGROVE Eric Prindle, Green Party candidate for state representative in the 85th District, released the following statement today.

"There are many rules politicians are supposed to follow. We are supposed to speak only in vague generalizations. We are not supposed to offend anyone. We are supposed to grub for votes until our knees are sore. We are supposed to convince each voter, no matter how much his or her positions on the issues differ from ours, to vote for us.

"Well, I'm not always one to follow the rules. And upon reading the slew of hate-filled missives in response to a series of stories about the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) members of our community on the letters page of the Aug. 18 Daily Item, I feel compelled to break all the rules and express my moral outrage toward the sentiments expressed.

"Having gone this far, I might as well put it bluntly: If you have hate in your heart toward GLBT people, I do not want your vote.

"If you participate in the great collective lie that you don't hate anyone but rather only hate a 'lifestyle,' I do not want your vote. You're just saying that as long as people don't 'act gay,' you won't brutally beat them and leave them for dead as happened in our community last year.

"If you cop out by saying that you're not a homophobe but you don't think GLBT people should 'flaunt' themselves so much, I do not want your vote. Nobody accuses heterosexuals who walk around holding hands of 'flaunting' anything.

"If you intend to condemn your children to a life of ignorance by hiding the truth about human relationships from them, I do not want your vote. Passing on ignorance to another generation is one of the worst crimes of all.

"It's time for the GLBT community and its allies and supporters in the Central Susquehanna Valley to stand up and be counted. We've had enough talk about 'tolerance,' and it's not enough; now is the time to say that we are proudly 'intolerant' of hate. Speak up when you hear someone make a homophobic remark, and speak up with your vote this November and every year."