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Bush at the time for writing the letter, criticizing her for
supporting gay and lesbian civil rights.
"Unlike the far Right activists who attacked her, Barbara
Bush knows that true family values should include love,
understanding and support, not hatred, stereotyping and
discrimination," said Robert Bray, public information director of
the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute.

But Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, has announced his support for same-sex marriage, and advocates believe they have enough votes in both chambers for a bill to pass this year.

"New York is one of our priority states," Guequierre said.

Barbara Bush's advocacy for gay marriage is a sharp departure from her father's position on the issue.

The former president was an opponent of same-sex marriage and in 2004 announced his support for a proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw it.

[Press release: Barbara Bush supports gay family values] Page: 1 of 2

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I
N A T I O N A L G A Y & L E S B I A N T A S K F O R C E
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Robert Bray, (202) 332-6483
BARBARA BUSH SUPPORTS GAY FAMILY VALUES:
FIRST LADY ADDRESSES GOP CONVENTION ON FAMILY ISSUES
Washington, D.C., August 20, 1992...First Lady Barbara Bush
delivered a major "traditional family values" speech at the
Republican National Convention August 19, which Republican
activists hailed as "Family Values Day." While "traditional
family values" is often used as a short-hand phrase by
conservatives to indicate opposition to gay and lesbian civil
rights, Mrs.

Bush has in fact expressed support for gay rights
and "compassion for all gay Americans and their families."
In 1990, Paulette Goodman, the national president of the
Federation of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, requested
in a letter that Mrs. Bush "speak kind words to some 24 million
gay Americans and their families, to help heal the wounds, and to
keep these families in loving relationships." In her May 10,
1990 response, Mrs.

Bush wrote, "Thank you so much for your
letter and for sharing your work with the Federation of Parents
and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Inc. You sound like a caring
parent and a compassionate citizen. But his wife, former first lady Laura Bush, has said she supports gay marriage as does former Vice President Dick Cheney, whose daughter Mary is gay.

Spokesman David Sherzer said the former president had no comment on his daughter's video.

Advocates say they approached Bush to appear in the video after she attended a fundraiser for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, an organization created to challenge California's Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot initiative that struck down gay marriage in that state.

"New York is about fairness and equality and everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love."

Paul Guequierre, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, said the video was produced to help promote efforts to win same-sex marriage rights in New York. Meghan and her father have also disagreed over the recently ended "don't ask don't tell" policy that prevented gay and lesbian members of the military from serving openly; she supported its repeal, while he did not.

Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Vice-President Dick Cheney, is thought to have greatly influenced her father's thinking on the subject.

The group was founded by attorney Ted Olson, a prominent Republican who with Democratic attorney David Boies challenged Proposition 8 in federal court.

Barbara Bush's twin sister, Jenna Bush Hager, has not indicated her position on gay marriage.

___

Online:

http://www.hrc.org

.

"For
Mrs.

I firmly believe that we
cannot tolerate discrimination against any individuals or groups
in our country. I appreciate so much your
sharing the information about your organization and your
encouraging me to help change attitudes.

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This text can be searched. Bush to now be assigned to participate in the Republican
'family values' assault--fomented by her husband, President Bush-
-is especially ironic given her past statements."
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barbara bush gay

"New York is about fairness and equality. He went from supporting the Bush administration's backing of the Federal Marriage Amendment to supporting gay marriage, provided it didn't run afoul of state and federal law.

And even George W. Bush's wife, Laura, has voiced her own support for same-sex marriage, saying in a May television interview that, "When couples are committed to each other and love each other," that they should have "the same sort of rights that everyone has."

NEW YORK (AP) - Former President George W.

Bush's daughter Barbara has announced her support for gay marriage, breaking with her father on a key social issue but joining her mother and other prominent Republicans who back same-sex unions.

The Human Rights Campaign, a national gay rights organization, released a video Tuesday featuring the 29-year old Bush, a New York resident who runs Global Health Corps, a nonprofit public health organization.

"I'm a New Yorker for marriage equality," Bush says in the video.

A bill legalizing gay marriage passed the New York state Assembly in 2009 but was defeated in the state Senate that year. And everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love."

As the video concludes, Bush - who lives in Manhattan - urges other residents of the state to "join us."

The Human Rights Campaign plans to show the video at its annual gala in New York this weekend, according to the New York Times.

In an interview with the Times, Brian Ellner, who oversees the HRC's campaign for same-sex marriage in New York, said that a generational shift seemed to be aiding his organization's efforts.

"No matter what party they belong to, young Americans believe in basic fairness and equality," he said.

As president, George W.

Bush advocated for the Federal Marriage Amendment - a proposed constitutional amendment that would limit marriage to heterosexual couples and ban civil unions and domestic partnerships.

But like Meghan McCain and Mary Cheney before her, Barbara Bush has now publicly embraced an issue that has become divisive in Republican circles and set several of the GOP's royal families at odds.

While a presidential candidate in 2008, Sen. John McCain opposed gay marriage but both Meghan and her mother, Cindy, posed for the No H8 Campaign, a movement opposed to California's Proposition 8 which banned gay marriage in the state. Your words speak
eloquently of your love for your child and your compassion for
all gay Americans and their families."
Right wing activists within the Republican Party assailed
Mrs.

Such treatment always brings with it pain and
perpetuates hate and intolerance. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.

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Barbara Bush, one of the twin daughters of former President George W.

Bush, plans to endorse same-sex marriage in New York state Tuesday, setting up a high-profile split with her father on the issue.

In a video taped for the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay rights group, Bush calls on the legislature to legalize gay marriage, which it did not do when a bill was presented and defeated in Albany in 2009.

"I am Barbara Bush, and I am a New Yorker for marriage equality," she says in the clip.