Folk superstars Peter, Paul and Marry have written a letter to the National Organisation For Marriage requesting they stop using their recording of Woodie Guthrie’s ‘This Land Is Your Land’.
The National Organisation for Marriage is against the rights of homosexual couples to marry and they played the recording on their "Summer for Marriage" tour at their rallies.The band issued a letter, dated July 27, to the organisation saying:
"We would like to respectfully request that you refrain from playing the Peter, Paul & Mary recorded version of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" at your public rallies. We respect your right to hold and advocate for any position you wish, but the philosophy of the "National Organization for Marriage" is directly contrary to the advocacy position Peter, Paul & Mary have held for decades, and so we do not want our recording of this song played at your rallies.
"We strongly support the rights of all gays and lesbians to enjoy the rights and rituals of marriage that are enjoyed by their straight counterparts, and consider the abridgement of this right contrary to the sense of equal protection and fairness inherent in, and implied by, the law, of the Constitution of the United States.
"Please honor our request by confirming that you will cease to play our recording. If you continue to do so, we will certainly do our best to make it clear to those who are aware of your rallies that we strenuously object because of our very strong opposition to the philosophy of your organization, as noted above. Further, we will see if there is any legal action that we might be able to take to restrain you from playing it. However, it would be more respectful of our wishes if you were simply cease to play it."
The letter was signed by Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary. Mary Travers passed away on September 16, 2009.
The songs use was brought to the attention of Peter Yarrow after Kathleen Perrin of the Courage Campaign contacted him. You can add your name to a thank you letter by heading over to the http://www.couragecampaign.org website.
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