Out for Dean Volunteers continue to amaze me. So many of you are taking your passion and energy from the Dean campaign and doing amazing work on State and Local campaigns. Just one example is Brian Muller, of Out for Dean Georgia. He is now putting his time and energy into supporting Mary Squires. Find out more.... and please consider getting involved. Make a donation to the Mary Squires campaign here.

Mary H. Squires has had a lifelong affiliation with community service and civil rights issues (she was the 2003 recipient of the NAACP’s Rosa Parks Award) – including making distinctive stands in support of glbt citizens.

As the leading Democratic candidate in the U.S. Senate race to replace the retiring Zell Miller, Squires, currently a state senator for Georgia in the 5th district, also has a lifelong affiliation with the U.S. military, and remains the candidate with the most military service among both Democratic and Republican candidates in this race. As a former Captain in the Georgia Army National Guard and Reserves Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Warfare Corps, Mary Squires has made numerous public stands in support of gays in the military during the 80’s, 90’s, and as recently as the Georgia Senate in February 2004.

“Any American should be able to serve their country in the Armed Services if they so desire and they meet physical qualifications,” Squires said in a recent interview. "There have always been gay people in the military. They have served in every war and during every peace time. I trained alongside several gay and lesbian soldiers in the heat and the dust of south Georgia summers, and the accomplishments our National Guard and reservists made were not based on sexual orientation one way or the other. On the battlefield and on the home front we are all the same.”

A University of South Florida graduate, a paralegal and the mother of two boys – James (14), and Patrick (10), Mary Squires was elected to two terms in the Georgia House of Representatives in 1998 and then to the Georgia Senate in 2002. She has consistently supported, sometimes at great political peril, civil rights for the gay community.

Mary Squires was a leading and vocal opponent of S.R. 595 – the current effort to ban same-sex marriage through a constitutional amendment in Georgia – when it was in the Georgia Senate in February.

“I have no doubt that this issue was brought up at this time to serve as a wedge issue going into this election season, and I find it repugnant that Republican leaders would use tactics such as culling out a segment of our population to discriminate against at the expense of the crises facing our state, including record budget deficits, record job losses, and unparalleled strife overseas,” Squires told the Atlanta Journal and Constitution.

Additionally, Mary Squires has always strongly supported civil unions.

“I believe same-sex couples should be granted full and equal protection under the law. I have always believed in extending equal protections and equal rights to all Americans without regard to race, religion, creed, or sexual orientation,” Squires said.

“I also supported the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling allowing same-sex unions in the state. I believe that gay men and lesbians should be assured equal protection and the same benefits that all families deserve – including health benefits, survivor benefits and hospital visitation rights. While I am a supporter of civil unions, I support the Court’s call to the Massachusetts state legislature to finally take action to ensure equal protection for glbt couples, and I support all state’s rights to decide this question for theirselves.”
In addition to her support for gays in the military and civil unions, Squires was one of the few political candidates – and a first time candidate for a Georgia House seat in a majority Republican district - to publicly condemn the anti-gay Defense of Marriage, or DOMA, when it was passed in Georgia in 1996. “It was gay-bashing, pure and simple,” Squires said at the time. “We will not move forward as a state or as a nation until we all come together, and this kind of political exploitation serves only to divide us. We should be better than this.”

When elected Mary Squires will add her name to her distinguished colleagues from Georgia as a co-sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA. She is also a supporter of the Permanent Partner Immigration Act which seeks to even the playing field for glbt partners of American citizens.
Squires has also been a strong opponent of the Bush administration’s HIV/AIDS policies –specifically attempts to favor abstinence-only programs over scientifically based prevention programs.

“My position on the current administration’s health policies is the same as my position on every other issue, that we should approach the problem from a place of tolerance, with sound scientific reasoning, and with solid problem solving,” Squires said. “With that approach we can weather any storm, and move our country together as a group. That is my hope for our country.”
Mary H. Squires

A note from Brian Muller, former Director of Out For Dean Georgia:
It’s time to get excited about these senate races. Give to the $100 equality drive! Come on, you can do it. Remember all that energy we used to have? I remember the sleepless nights working on the Out For Dean Georgia website. I remember the long drive to Columbia, SC to Get Out The Vote. I remember the energy. Most of all, I remember the people. Let's move that same energy to the Senate Races. A President can't do much if the Republicans have the Senate! We need your help! Not only is Senator Squires the most GLBT friendly candidate, she will also be the FIRST female Senator to EVER be elected to the Senate from Georgia! In addition, one of her recent endorsements came from Women of DFA which you can check out at www.womenofdfa.org. I'll get off my soapbox now and prepare for more sleepless nights in the Senate Races. Support Mary Squires for U.S. Senate. Contribute to the $100 equality drive here: http://www.marysquires.us/contribute.html

Posted by David at March 27, 2004 11:59 PM | TrackBack