Misty York

Next month we celebrate: Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa or Christmas. Some create our own combinations. A couple of my friends always send Christmukkah cards complete with family photos and clever copy. Most of us also host or attend bashes to ring in the New Year. Whatever our religious or cultural heritage, December is a traditional month for sharing.

This year I’d like to encourage you to share the gift of Fairness. In 2007, the Kentucky Fairness Alliance made unprecedented strides toward building a fair Kentucky. And we couldn’t have done it without consistent and generous support from our fair-minded friends and neighbors.

You can show your support this holiday season in two ways. You can shop our online store – or, to make a bigger impact, give gift memberships in our Friends & Family club to your loved ones.

Larry Dale Keeling, veteran journalist and editor at the Lexington Herald-Leader, was in Frankfort the day a House committee rejected a bill to ban fair healthcare at the University of Louisville. After the meeting, he called the vote a "first victory" for fairness. Never before had an anti-gay bill passed one chamber of the legislature only to die in the other.

This summer the University of Kentucky joined the U of L by implementing its own fair healthcare plan. Also this summer, an attempt to ban fair healthcare in special session passed the Senate but died in the House.

KFA supporters rallied against the fair healthcare bans in impressive numbers. Our February lobby day attracted more than 100 Kentuckians. That afternoon’s rally saw more than 250 participants, shouting "Kentuckians Value Fairness" loudly enough to be heard inside the legislative chambers. We delivered over 1,200 emails to Frankfort from folks who couldn’t be there in person.

We look to 2008 as an opportunity to turn our first victory into a winning streak, and you can help! Share the gift of Fairness this holiday season through our online store or Friends & Family gift program. Contact KFA today for more information.

By Misty York
Kentucky Fairness Alliance Communication Director