Senator James Lankford and Representative Steve Russell

Two Oklahoma Congressmen up for RE ELECTION this YEAR

BOTH CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN 

BOTH MEN OPPOSE ALL THINGS LGBTQ RELATED

David Moorman

10/31/2016

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Once again I have heard back for these two men on an issue I sent into their offices. 

James Lankford - NO RESPONSE only a form letter stating my letter was received.

Steve Russell - RESPONSE that of course had NOTHING to do with the letter I sent him.

Both of these men have CONSTANTLY OPPOSED all LEGISLATION that had anything to do with the LGBTQ COMMUNITY. THEY both have made it very CLEAR that they have utter disgust for people LIKE ME who are LGBTQ.

The most recent HATEFUL thing STEVE RUSSELL has done was try to SNEAK in an AMENDMENT to the Defense Budget.

A necessary defense bill has become a loaded issue after Republican lawmakers attached a provision that allows federal contractors to discriminate against employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. 

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is a very basic federal law which creates the budget for the Department of Defense. It is reauthorized every year, along with any amendments that get attached to it. However, this year the NDAA has taken on a more controversial role, due to the attached Russell Amendment that many see as legalizing discrimination against the LGBT community.

The Russell Amendment, named after it was introduced by Representative Steve Russell (R-Oklahoma), was attached to the NDAA in the middle of the night and was passed by the House without a hearing, NBC reported.

In a letter to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, 42 Democratic senators urged the committee to remove the section, saying it “would vastly expand religious-affiliated organizations receiving federal funds to engage in discriminatory hiring practices.”

It is not only LGBT employees whose jobs would be at risk due to the Russell Amendment. The letter explains that the amendment “would also allow religiously-affiliated contractors and grantees to inquire about and discriminate against employees or potential employees based on an individual’s religion.”

The language of the amendment “would give legal grounds for an employer to prevent a gay man from having their husband added to their health insurance,” David Stacy, government affairs director for the Human Rights Campaign, explained to NBC. “Trans people could be fired from their job upon announcing their intent to transition."

Senate Democrats are pushing for Republicans to drop the provision and have reached out to Chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee John McCain (R-Arizona) to remove the provision from the Senate version of the NDAA.

Stacy encouraged McCain to “stand with the majority of fair-minded Arizonans – and Americans all across the country – and drop this discriminatory provision,” The Washington Post quoted.

However, the likelihood of McCain crossing party lines for the issue is unlikely to happen anytime soon. He was quoted by NBC as saying, "I think it's pretty obvious that we're going to have to go to lame duck," meaning it would not be resolved until after Election Day.

Democrats seem to be prepared to put up a fight over the religious liberties act. While no Democrat has outright threatened to filibuster the NDAA if the Russell Amendment is included, Senator David Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) told NBC: "We will have to consider all the options.”
However, supporters of the amendment claim that military chaplains need the Russell Amendment in order to use vendors that meet their religious standards. But if President Barack Obama’s 2014 executive order that prohibits federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT workers is not given a religious exemption, chaplains would be forced to disregard their religious beliefs while choosing vendors for prayer rugs, music, and other tools they use.

However, the Russell Amendment is not limited to military chaplains, especially because out of the more than 1.4 million active military members, less than 3,000 are military chaplains.

In this letter you can see that I was asking both these men to work with the rest of Congress to ensure that funding for the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS {HOPWA} does not get cut. The letter was concerning PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS. You can read the letter here and then read the response I received below from Rep. Steve Russell.

 Letter to Sen. James Inhofe, Sen. James Lankford and Rep. Steve Russell

 

In Rep. Steve Russell's response you will NOT FIND any MENTION of HOPWA. You want to know why? It is because Rep. Steve Russell does NOT care for PEOPLE living with HIV/AIDS. Rep. Steve Russell is one of the Conservative Republicans that believe ONLY GAY MEN get HIV/AIDS. Rep. Steve Russell needs to be VOTED out of OFFICE on November 8th along with Sen. James Lankford. OKLAHOMA NEEDS CONGRESSMEN who will REPRESENT ALL OKLAHOMANS and NOT USE THEIR RELIGION TO WRITE BILLS TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST people like me [HIV POSITIVE and GAY] and the rest of the LGBTQ COMMUNITY in OKLAHOMA. 

Here is the letter I received back from Rep. Steve Russell. Oh yeah remember I receive only a FORM LETTER from Sen. James Lankford saying he received my letter. I almost forget to mention that my letter went to Sen. James Inhofe too and I got NO RESPONSE at all from his office as of today 10/31/2016. Again, Sen. Inhofe is a Conservative Republican that has VOTED AGAINST ALL THINGS concerning the LGBTQ COMMUNITY so I can only image what kind of response I will get over this letter, if I get one. I have written several letters to these men and everytime I get a FORM LETTER back from Sen. James Lankford saying he will be in touch soon. I have NEVER heard back from Sen. Lankford. I just figured it is because he KNOWS that I am GAY and he does not want anything to do with the LGBTQ COMMUNITY.

Letter from Rep. Steve Russell  

As you can see once again Rep. Steve Russell has NOT addressed my CONCERNS over the HOPWA budget cuts. Rep. Steve Russell and Sen. James Lankford have both once again proven to me that they DO NOT REPRESENT me or the LGBTQ Community of OKLAHOMA and therefore they MUST GO!!

I will be be VOTING ALL BLUE ALL NEW on NOVEMBER 8th and I pray that everyone who agrees with me that the LGBTQ COMMUNITY does NOT deserve to be DISCRIMINATED against will VOTE BLUE ALL NEW in CONGRESS TOO!!!

Thank you and God Bless America,

David Moorman