Blue Collar Common Sense

I grew up in a union household. My father was welder and a member of the local pipefitters and steamfitters union. My mother was a union welder too until she became a stay at home mom. They both built troop transports in Oregon during World War II. She was Rosie the Riveter.

My grandfather was a union organizer in the coal fields of southern West Virginia during the 1920's, so my union roots go pretty deep.

Today I read something that made me proud of those roots. In an Executive Council Action the AFL-CIO has issued a statement of Support for the Full Inclusion and Equal Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People in the Workplace.

Now I generally think of myself as a moderate. During my campaign for the State House of Representatives I followed the party line of trying to avoid the issue and saying the people were going to decide at the polls. This was the weasel way out, for which I deeply regret my complicity.

My opponent labeled me a liberal and an opponent of Kentucky's constitutional amendment. Like I said before, I consider myself a moderate, but in Fayette County, Kentucky this view will class me as an ultra-liberal that wants to destroy families. Nothing could be further from the truth, but I do know this form of legalized descrimination is not right.

I know that what is legal is not necessarily fair or moral and I agree with the AFL-CIO statement:

"The FMA (Federal Marriage Amendment) and its state counterparts threaten the rights of working people by creating an environment across the nation that is hostile to the rights of domestic partners, regardless of their sexual orientation."

This amendment, the same can be said for state versions, does not protect families or marriage, it demeans and marginalizes both.