Saturday, May 21, 2011
Via AmericaBlog: Alcoa opposes TN hate law, calls on governor to veto bill
Finally some courage. Alcoa is the only company so far to say explicitly that they oppose the Tennessee legislation that would repeal Nashville's civil rights ordinance, and that they want the Governor to veto the bill.
“Alcoa provides equal employment opportunity without discrimination and supports state and local legislation protecting the rights of all community members. We do not agree with the chamber on this issue and would ask that the governor veto the bill."Beautiful statement. Simple, clear, to the point. No semantic games, no trying to have it both ways.
In contrast, AT&T, Nissan and FedEx issued statements that might look like they're opposing the legislation (that's how HRC has apparently interpreted their statements), but when you actually read the statements a few times you realize they're a very well-crafted effort at saying nothing at all (it helps to have a law degree). None of the statements from AT&T, Nissan or FedEx state unequivocally that they oppose the legislation. None of the statements call on the Governor to veto the legislation.
Alcoa is the only board member of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce that didn't play games with their statement. Until AT&T, Nissan, FedEx, Comcast, DuPont, Pfizer, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Caterpillar, KPMG, Whirlpool, Embraer, and United HealthCare all issue statements calling on the governor to veto the bill, they get zero credit for trying to rectify the damage they've done.
Please sign our open letter calling on all of these companies to tell the governor to veto the bill.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Via JMG: National Gallup Poll Shows First-Ever Majority Support For Gay Marriage
Gallup reports: "For the first time in Gallup's tracking of the issue, a majority of Americans (53%) believe same-sex marriage should be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages. The increase since last year came exclusively among political independents and Democrats. Republicans' views did not change."Via JMG: LOS ANGELES: Gay Cop Wins $1M Suit
Los Angeles cop Sgt. Ronald Crump has won a $1M judgment in a lawsuit filed against the LAPD because of retaliation he suffered after complaining about anti-gay mistreatment by a superior. Sgt. Ronald Crump sued the city last year, alleging that his direct supervisor at the Los Angeles Police Department Media Relations Section -- Lt. John Romero -- made derogatory remarks about his homosexuality. Romero, who has since been promoted to captain, allegedly described him as "the new Ruby minus the heels," in reference to the woman he replaced in the unit. On another occasion, Romero allegedly told him, "I was a religion major at Liberty University. Jerry Falwell would roll over in his grave if he knew I had hired you."
Via JMG: Binational Couples Tell Their Stories
Out4Immigration - Binational Couples for Immigration Equality in the US from Devote Campaign on Vimeo.
(Tipped by JMG reader Chris)
Via JMg: TENNESSEE: Major Corporations Back Statewide Ban On LGBT Rights
AmericaBlog Gay reports on the backers of yesterday's ban on LGBT rights in Tennessee.The Tennessee Chamber of Commerce - chaired by Nissan, and whose other board members include such companies as FedEx, AT&T, Comcast, DuPont, Pfizer, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Caterpillar, KPMG, Whirlpool, Embraer, Alcoa, and United HealthCare - actively lobbied for a religious right bill in the Tennessee legislature that would rescind Nashville's civil rights protections for its gay and trans citizens, and which bans every city in Tennessee from passing any civil rights laws, for anyone, ever again. The bill passed yesterday. It's on its way to the state's Republican governor for his signature, unless he vetoes it. And these companies led the way in making it happen.Sign this open letter to the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce demanding that they rescind their support for this hateful bill.
Via JMG: Gillibrand: Obama May Endorse Marriage Equality Before 2012 Election
In an interview with Andrew Harmon at the Advocate, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand speculates that President Obama might complete his "evolution" on same-sex marriage before the 2012 election. Harmon: Do you think it’s possible that he could come out in support of marriage equality before the 2012 election?Read the full interview.
Gillibrand: Definitely. He put the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in his State of the Union address. So there’s no reason why he can’t lean into marriage equality in a public speech or through some action he could do through the White House. I’d be thrilled if he decided to do that. He did take the step of not [defending] DOMA through his Department of Justice, which is a fantastic step because it was one that he was unwilling to do in “don’t ask, don’t tell.” So it shows a shift in his willingness to use the power of the White House — the power of the administration — to change public perception and to change policy. So I think we could get a very strong public statement out of him.
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