Monday, June 29, 2009

'Gayby boom': Children of gay couples speak out

CNN -- Jesse Levey is a Republican activist who says he believes in family values, small government and his lesbian mothers' right to marry.

Jeff DeGroot on hiking trip with his mothers, Elisabeth, on his left, and Meg Grear, on his right.

Levey is part of the "gayby boom" generation. The 29-year-old management consultant is the son of a lesbian couple who chose to have a child through artificial insemination. He's their only child.

Critics of same-sex marriage say people such as Levey will grow up shunned and sexually confused. Yet he says he's a "well-adjusted heterosexual" whose upbringing proves that love, not gender, makes a family.

"You can imagine what my parents thought when I was 13 and listening to Rush Limbaugh everyday," Levey says. "But my family had strong family values. I was raised in a loving, caring household that let me be a free thinker."

For the rest of the story at CNN go to: Gay Boom

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Empire State Building Goes Gay

Thanks JMG!

Before we get to the best posts from this week on the Bilerico sites, don't forget to e-mail 50 ENDA-shy Democrats!

The Power marks Pride with a Press Conference at Stonewal

If you are in New York, please join us for a press conference with Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Civil Rights. If you are in New York on Monday, join us at Stonewall to make history again. Bring signs that say "LGBT Rights=Civil Rights." We'll announce some exciting endorsements of our petition and send a message to Washington that the time for equality is now, no delays, no excuses.

See the cover story in this week's New York Blade for more information. http://theblade.net/.

Please circulate this to all your friends in the media. Blog it, retweet.

MEDIA ALERT: Press Conference at Historic Stonewall Inn to Announce New LGBT Civil Rights Agenda and Present U.S. Congressman Jerrold Nadler With Signed Petition from all 50 States.

As President Obama prepares to host a cocktail reception at the White House for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender leaders, prominent activists and fundraisers return to the Stonewall Inn on the 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots to announce a new comprehensive LGBT civil rights agenda. At that time they will also present U.S. Congressman Jerrold Nadler with signed petitions from all 50 states and 36 countries supporting expansion of the Civil Rights Act to include LGBT people, marking the official launch of The Power’s nationwide petition drive and campaign demanding full equality now.

The Power (http://www.thepoweronline.org) is an online organizing network that empowers grassroots and netroots activists from every state in the country and from all over the world to fight for equal rights for LGBT people, not on some arbitrary and convenient schedule created by politicians and lobbyists, but right now.

Speakers will include Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Civil Rights, Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, civil rights attorney Liz Abzug (daughter of feminist, anti-war, and LGBT activist and Congresswoman Bella Abzug), former Jerry Falwell ghostwriter and Soulforce founder Rev. Mel White, and others.

WHAT: A press conference convened by The Power (http://www.thepoweronline.org/) launching a national movement to pass comprehensive LGBT civil rights legislation.

WHO: Jeffrey H. Campagna, founder of The Power, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, a representative of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, and civil rights attorney and daughter of Congresswoman Bella Abzug, Liz Abzug.

WHEN: 10 a.m., Monday, June 29, 2009, 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots

WHERE: Outside The Stonewall Inn, 53 Christopher St. @ Sheridan Square, New York, NY

WHY: With a self-proclaimed "fierce advocate" of LGBT rights in the White House, and Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, the federal agenda for gay rights does not include full equality. It is time for LGBT people and their allies to seize this historic moment to pass comprehensive civil rights legislation now.

SPEAKER BIOS:

• Jeffrey H. Campagna is the founder The Power. Campagna is also an attorney who has worked in the civil rights bureau of the New York State Attorney General's Office, and a fundraiser for Democratic causes who was on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's LGBT steering committees. He is also a co-author of The Dallas Principles (www.thedallasprinciples.org), a call to action demanding full equality now. Campagna and The Power's organizing efforts have been cited by The New York Daily News, The New York Blade, The Washington Blade, The San Francisco Examiner, Edge (the largest web portal of LGBT news and entertainment), Huffington Post, TimeOut New York, http://www.towleroad.com/, and others.

• Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) is Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Civil Rights, and lead sponsor of the Uniting American Families Act.

• Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum is the leader of the largest LGBT congregation in the world, New York's Congregation Beth Simchat Torah.

• Liz Abzug is a civil rights attorney, a public affairs consultant, and adjunct professor of urban studies at Columbia University; she is the daughter of the late Congresswoman Bella Abzug who introduced sweeping gay rights legislation three times in the 1970's.

• Rev. Dr. Mel White, former ghost writer for clients including Jerry Falwell and Pat Roberston, founder of Soulforce, a national organization of religious leaders fighting religious based bigotry, and author of "Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay And Christian In America"

QUOTES AND INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON REQUEST
Contact:
Melissa Miller
P.R. Director
917-640-6965
press@thepoweronline.org
--------------------

Ruben Navarrette Jr.: Gays, lesbians have found post-election Obama's no ally

By Ruben Navarrette Jr.

Published in the Sacramento Bee: Sunday, Jun. 28, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 5E

Many supporters of President Barack Obama have gone "all in" on this administration. Considering it too historic to fail, either they can't see this White House's shortcomings and mistakes or they simply refuse to acknowledge them.

With one notable exception: gay and lesbian activists who are, as they say, so over that.

The relationship got off to a rocky start. Many gays and lesbians were so eager to help put an end to Republican control of the presidency that they enthusiastically became part of the coalition that helped elect Obama – even though he opposed gay marriage.

But before being sworn in, Obama irked gay rights advocates by choosing pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration.

Warren is an outspoken critic of gay marriage and supporter of California's Proposition 8, which banned same-sex unions.

Since taking office, Obama has been criticized by gay and lesbian activists for not addressing the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy that allows for a service member to be dismissed if discovered to be gay or lesbian. Obama has said that he opposes the policy but he has yet to do anything about it.

It gets worse.

Obama is also on record saying that he opposes and would like to repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act – which essentially denies same-sex married couples the protection of the "full faith and credit" clause of the Constitution by preventing the federal government from recognizing such unions. Obama has said that the law is discriminatory and that it infringes on states' rights.

So imagine the surprise, and even disgust, on the part of gay activists when the Obama Justice Department recently filed a motion in support of the Defense of Marriage Act. The administration opposed a lawsuit brought by a married gay couple in California seeking to have their union recognized in all 50 states.

And in making their argument that not all marriages ought be recognized as lawful, Obama's lawyers cited as precedent cases involving, of all things, pedophilia and incest – the same sort of obscene comparisons that some religious conservatives have, in the past, drawn to argue against gay marriage.

All of this has incensed gay and lesbian pundits and activists.

They include prominent blogger Andrew Sullivan and the Joshua Blog.

The rift has prompted editorials in the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, both of which were critical of Obama. In response, many of Obama's gay and lesbian supporters have recently pulled out of Democratic fundraisers and some have already threatened to withhold political contributions to Obama's re-election campaign in 2012.

What's more, the activists aren't in any hurry to mend fences with the White House.

When Obama recently signed an executive order granting benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees, some activists dismissed the gesture as a feeble attempt at pacifying critics in the gay and lesbian communities – and not an original one at that since, according to a federal employee quoted by CNN.com, such benefits are already available to gay couples who work for the federal government.

Things are so touchy that when Obama recently made a gay-themed joke, some gays and lesbians were not amused.

At the 2009 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Obama noted that he and senior adviser David Axelrod "have been together for a long time." In fact, Obama said, years ago, he called Axelrod and said, "You and I can do wonderful things together." Then, Obama joked, Axelrod "said to me the same thing that partners all across America are saying to one another right now. Let's go to Iowa and make it official."

The president's critics noted that when the Iowa Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in April, Obama didn't really acknowledge it.

And now he makes a joke out of it? The deteriorating relationship between Obama and the gay and lesbian community is no laughing matter. It never is when a group of voters feels written off by one party and taken for granted by another. And it never is when a group of voters feels completely let down by a political leader in whom they put their trust.

Gays and lesbians put their trust in Barack Obama assuming that he would join in their fight for dignity and equal rights. The shame of it is that they're still waiting.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

The Foot Wore A Spiked Heel

It was June 28th, 1969.

The day that the fags, dykes, and queens of New York City finally said "Enough!" For some historical perspective, I'm posting the story that the New York Daily News ran that week about the Stonewall Riots. Note how the story drips with condescension and ridicule. We've come a long, long way in 40 years and we've still got some distance to cover, but today we should all offer up a shout, a snap, and a silent prayer of thanks to the people who started us down this road.

For the article and rest of the story see: JMG

MEDIA ALERT: Press Conference at Historic Stonewall Inn to Announce New LGBT Civil Rights Agenda

MEDIA ALERT: Press Conference at Historic Stonewall Inn to Announce New LGBT Civil Rights Agenda and Present U.S. Congressman Jerrold Nadler With Signed Petition from all 50 States.

As President Obama prepares to host a cocktail reception at the White House for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender leaders, prominent activists and fundraisers return to the Stonewall Inn on the 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots to announce a new comprehensive LGBT civil rights agenda. At that time they will also present U.S. Congressman Jerrold Nadler with signed petitions from all 50 states and 36 countries supporting expansion of the Civil Rights Act to include LGBT people, marking the official launch of The Power’s nationwide petition drive and campaign demanding full equality now.

The Power (www.thepoweronline.org), is an online organizing network that empowers grassroots and netroots activists from every state in the country and from all over the world to fight for equal rights for LGBT people, not on some arbitrary and convenient schedule created by politicians and lobbyists, but right now.

Speakers will include Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Civil Rights, Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, civil rights attorney Liz Abzug (daughter of feminist, anti-war, and LGBT activist and Congresswoman Bella Abzug), former Jerry Falwell ghostwriter and Soulforce founder Rev. Mel White, and others.

WHAT: A press conference convened by The Power (www.ThePowerOnline.org) launching a national movement to pass comprehensive LGBT civil rights legislation.

WHO: Jeffrey H. Campagna, founder of The Power, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, a representative of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, and civil rights attorney and daughter of Congresswoman Bella Abzug, Liz Abzug.

WHEN: 10 a.m., Monday, June 29, 2009, 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots

WHERE: Outside The Stonewall Inn, 53 Christopher St. @ Sheridan Square, New York, NY

WHY: With a self-proclaimed "fierce advocate" of LGBT rights in the White House, and Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, the federal agenda for gay rights does not include full equality. It is time for LGBT people and their allies to seize this historic moment to pass comprehensive civil rights legislation now.

SPEAKER BIOS:

· Jeffrey H. Campagna is the founder of The Power. Campagna is also an attorney who worked in the civil rights bureau of the New York State Attorney General's Office, and a fundraiser for Democratic causes who was on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's LGBT steering committees. He is co-author of The Dallas Principles (www.thedallasprinciples.org), a call to action demanding full equality now. Campagna and The Power's organizing efforts have been cited by The New York Daily News, The New York Blade, The Washington Blade, The San Francisco Examiner, Edge (the largest web portal of LGBT news and entertainment), Huffington Post, TimeOut New York, Towleroad.com, and others.

· Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) is Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Civil Rights, and lead sponsor of the Uniting American Families Act.

· Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum is the leader of the largest LGBT congregation in the world, New York's Congregation Beth Simchat Torah.

· Liz Abzug is a public affairs consultant and adjunct professor of urban studies at Columbia University, she is the daughter of the late Congresswoman Bella Abzug who introduced sweeping gay rights legislation three times in the 1970's.

· Rev. Dr. Mel White is former ghost writer for clients including Jerry Falwell and Pat Roberston, founder of Soulforce, a national organization of religious leaders fighting religious based bigotry, and author of "Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay And Christian In America"

QUOTES AND INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

Contact:
Melissa Miller
P.R. Director
917-640-6965
press@thepoweronline.org

Stonewall of the Nones: The Revolution Won't be Homogenized

What would “a tranny hustler,” peeking through a rip in the stocking of space-time, think of our world 40 years later? What will the next Consciousness Revolution look like?

A Stonewall-era crew runs through the streets.

Imagine this: a tranny hustler, mascara streaking her cheeks, peers into a wee rift in the time-space continuum as the angry crowd in front of the Stonewall Inn on Sheridan Square flings beer bottles and fistfuls of spare change at a retreating phalanx of NYPD officers. Nearby, candles flicker at makeshift shrines to Judy Garland, whose farewell performance at an uptown funeral home ended mere hours ago.

Through that snag in the cosmological stocking, our draft-dodging tranny spies an America exactly 40 years on from the Stonewall riots—and two generations removed from the young queerfolk pushing back against the agents of heterosexist conformity and the blackfolk who are setting ablaze the last pillars of Jim Crow.

What does our heroine behold?

A Harvard-educated black man in the White House who defends a vast surveillance apparatus controlled by an Orwellian-sounding entity called Homeland Security and a restive coterie of gays and lesbians who disdain nonconformity and clamor for the right to get married and enlist in the Marines.

“Oh Mary,” our wide-eyed tranny rasps, “I’m gonna need a cocktail to get my head around this one.”

The Stonewall riots of late June 1969—as well as the Summer of Love two years earlier, the Woodstock music festival two months later and the debut of the Cockettes at the Palace Theater in San Francisco the following New Year’s Eve—are examples of what Hakim Bey, a queer anarchist social critic, calls the Temporary Autonomous Zone.

“The TAZ is like an uprising which does not engage directly with the State,” Bey writes, “a guerilla operation which liberates an area (of land, of time, of imagination) and then dissolves itself to re-form elsewhere/elsewhen, before the State can crush it.”

Bey’s idea trades on the observation that orthodoxy of any kind—legal, social or religious—is essentially a living fiction, a collective hallucination. Groups that participate in this illusion take its abstractions for reality, and within that margin of error the TAZ springs into being.

And before it can be captured or commodified, the TAZ vanishes, leaving behind an empty husk. Think of Burning Man (or perhaps the Jesus Movement).

The anarchic spirit of the TAZ inevitably calls forth a violent response from those who tend the shadow-fires of orthodoxy. Crucifixions, witch-hunts, and inquisitions embodied this impulse in our historical past, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the Consciousness Revolution of the late 1960s also bore its mark.

As did the 50,000 deaths that Ronald Reagan abided before he uttered the word “AIDS” in public.

Today, queer culture is not so much a vector of this spiritual enlivenment as it is a passive beneficiary of it. Rather than dismantling the master’s house, many of us prefer to beseech the master to loan us his tools so that we can construct a tasteful adjoining cottage and two-car garage.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I should hasten to add. Stability has its virtues.

But we have lost sight of something that the most keen-eyed queerfolk of the Stonewall era clearly had in view: the circumstances under which human beings can flourish are innumerable, and cultivating an orthodox view of human flourishing inevitably leads to the oppression of nonconformists and the spiritual degeneration of the culture that oppresses them.

I suspect the next Consciousness Revolution will be sparked not by an uprising of the kind of readily identifiable groups that energized the social changes of the 1960s—women, African-Americans, and queerfolk—but by some as yet unfathomable configuration within the rapidly growing, spiritual-but-not-religious cohort that we’re now haphazardly calling the “Nones.”

Sexual tricksters like our tranny hustler will definitely figure into the mix, as will humanists and other proponents of ethical and moral heterodoxy. The catalyst for the Stonewall of the Nones will likely be some form of revolt against the aforementioned surveillance culture, the perniciousness of which mainstream progressives just don’t seem to grok, even as more radical social critics like Bob Ostertag have already started to sound the alarm.

“The TAZ is…a perfect tactic for an era in which the State is omnipresent and all-powerful” observes Bey, “and yet simultaneously riddled with cracks and vacancies.”

So agitate for same-sex marriage if you feel you must—like I said: there’s nothing wrong with that. But don’t imagine that ipso facto you’re carrying the torch of Stonewall forward.

Just please don’t take up a pitchfork when the real revolutionaries appear.

thanks to Religion Dispatches

I am gay Lt. Dan Choi, for Courage Campaign [info@couragecampaign.org]

Dan Choi, a native of California and an Army Lieutenant, asked us to share this message with the Courage Campaign community.

An amazing 141,262 people signed Lt. Choi's letter to President Obama a few weeks ago. Now he needs your help again. Please forward this message to your friends and spread the word before Tuesday.

Rick Jacobs
Chair, Courage Campaign

Dear Daniel --

On Tuesday at 8 a.m., I will stand trial for speaking three truthful words: "I am gay."

On Tuesday, I will face a panel of colonels who will decide whether or not to fire me -- to discharge me for "moral and professional dereliction" under the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

On Tuesday, I will try to prove that it's not immoral to tell the truth.

As an infantry officer, an Iraq combat veteran and a West Point graduate with a degree in Arabic, I refuse to lie to my commanders. I refuse to lie to my peers. I refuse to lie to my subordinates.

My case requires that I provide personal testimony from people who can attest to my character. That's why several members of my military unit have written letters of support and offered to testify on my behalf.

Now I need your help. ANYONE who believes the Army should not fire me can take a stand right now. I am bringing a statement of support to Tuesday's trial and I need you to add your signature to it. Will you support me by signing this statement before Tuesday?

http://www.couragecampaign.org/SupportDan

I want to thank the 141,262 people who have signed the "Don't Fire Dan" letter launched a few weeks ago by the Courage Campaign and CREDO Mobile to President Obama, asking him to take leadership to bring this tragic policy to an end.

The momentum is building. This week, 77 members of Congress signed a letter to the President citing my service as an example of why DADT should be repealed. And a Gallup poll was recently released showing that 69 percent of Americans -- including 58 percent of Republicans - favor allowing openly gay men and lesbian women to serve their country .

As I learned at West Point, deception and lies poison a unit and cripple a fighting force. That's why more than 70 of my fellow West Point graduates have also come out of the closet to join Knights Out, the organization I co-founded to build support for the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".

The only way we will eventually overturn "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is by speaking up together. You can help me fight back right now by adding your name to my statement of support. On Tuesday morning, I will bring your signature -- and thousands of others -- to my trial as a demonstration of your collective support:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/SupportDan

National security means many things, but the thing that makes us secure in our nation and homes is love. What makes me a better soldier, leader, Christian and human being is love. And I'm not going to hide my love.

Love is worth it.

Thank you for your support.

Daniel W. Choi
1LT, IN
New York Army National Guard

Courage Campaign Issues is part of the Courage Campaign's online organizing network that empowers more than 700,000 grassroots and netroots supporters to push for progressive change and full equality in California.

To power our campaign for full equality, please chip in what you can today:

Friday, June 26, 2009

Michael Jackson: Goodnight, Sweet Prince...or Princess

Filed by: Patricia Nell Warren

It was an amazing night, with recession, war, torture and politics put on hold as people all over the world turned out for Michael Jackson. Even conservative CNN news anchor Wolf Blitzer turned to mush before our eyes as he confirmed news of the artist's shocking death and remembered how "we all grew up with Jackson and his music."

Anybody who thought the King of Pop had been dethroned by criminal allegations and financial disaster had to think again. All over the world, young people who weren't even born when MJ unleashed those first dance moves had gathered in the streets to play his music and tell the news crews how they grew up with the late star-- how personally they took his life and death and art.

As one who grew up with Elvis Presley, and came out with Elton John, and grows old with Lady Gaga, I've got Jackson looming big in my own lifeline. Like many of us, I've wondered. Was he gay or transgendered? Some of us have tried to claim him. But Jackson was never one who could be nailed down with an orientation or gender label...or any label, for that matter.

As one of Jackson's business associates said in last night's interviews, "With Michael Jackson, you never knew for sure."

Yet onstage and in music videos, MJ gave us ongoing glimpses of his inner world. He was the shapeshifter -- now this, now that, in the blink of an eye. "Beat It" had him looking quasi-macho and trying to deal with tough guys. But "In the Closet" had him looking just like a young tomboy dyke as he romanced a lipstick lesbian. For that song, I found his choice of title interesting. And I always had the feeling that the teen girlfriend Jackson pursued through so many songs was really that elusive female side of himself that he finally decided to reveal through cosmetic surgeries. Yet establishing himself as a father of three children kept one moon-walking foot firmly in the camp of men.

Michael's music had several messages with a powerful appeal for older children and teens. One -- the battle to figure out who you really are. Two -- the battle with all those adult powers that try to take control of your life and crush you. Three, the battle against violence, to protect the weak and vulnerable among those you love. Those are powerful messages with young people all around the world, and I think they explain a lot about Jackson's enduring appeal with four generations of fans -- even those fans who are now older adults themselves. Burning teenage questions have their own habit of shapeshifting -- coming back in a new incarnation, when adults find they have to struggle to further re-define their old definitions.

Jackson's messages come stunningly clear in "Thriller," that most popular and influential music video of all time. It starts out by spoofing B horror movies, then suddenly veers into a hair-raising exploration of how to deal with terror by transforming yourself into the terror. The teen kid promises to protect the girlfriend from the fiendish undead who corner them. But is he a fiend himself? That moment when the zombies fall into a machine-perfect pop-and-lock chorus number with Jackson is a turning point in the modern history of music and dance. Is he? Isn't he? At the end, as the fiends crawl back into their graves and the teen hero walks her home, he gives us a fiendish grin over his shoulder, and the viewer is in on the secret -- for now, anyway.

In short, Jackson's career one of those cases where impact and image are amped by leaving the definition in the eye of the beholder.

As that career got mired ever deeper in issues around debt, health problems and allegations of sex offenses, that volcanic fire and anger and electricity of his earlier performances began to wane. Before our eyes, he changed into a tired old lady...yet he still seemed to have a hold on that gentle kid who sang "We Are the World." A low point in his image timeline was that moment during the 2005 trial in Santa Barbara, when he arrived late in rumpled jacket and pajama bottoms, looking uncombed and ill.

A few months ago, as Jackson announced his final "This Is It" concert series in London, it seemed hard to believe that he could re-light enough of that old fire, day after day, to get through a contract commitment for 50 appearances. But fans believed him -- and rushed to spend $85 million on a ticket sell-out. Days before his death, Michael was actually rehearsing at Staples Center in L.A.

For the moment, the media world is upside down. Yesterday Google and other major websites crashed with the Jackson search overload. Farrah Fawcett's death and the "Bruno" premiere got pushed into the crawl on the bottom of the TV screen, along with the Gov. Sanford scancal, the Iraq war, the Iran revolution, global warming, and President Obama's ongoing efforts at "change."

In a couple of days, "news" will be back to "normal." Meanwhile, investigation of Jackson's death, along with custody battles over his children and lawsuits over the aborted concert series, will surely drag out the drama for weeks, even months. No doubt Fred Phelps will picket Jackson's funeral and try to convince us that Michael is dancing with the demons in Hell.

Meanwhile, losses suffered by the concert promoters will surely be made up by new music sales. "Thriller" is back at #1 on the iTunes chart, and other Jackson albums have crashed the top 40 as well. The fans are speaking loud and clear.

Good night, sweet prince...or princess...whichever you are...were...are. Or maybe it's good morning, since your music will go on thrilling millions of us for new generations to come.

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The Equality Ride: LGBT visits to conservative college campuses

The riders hope to show the humanity and spirituality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, ... Some have started Gay-Straight Alliances on their campuses to keep the ...

www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=2841

LGBT Community Still Reeling From Setbacks and Obama Centrism -- A BuzzFlash News Analysis

LGBT Community Still Reeling From Setbacks and Obama Centrism

Submitted by meg on Thu, 06/25/2009 - 12:17pm.

Analysis

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Meg White

These days it seems each faction of the progressive movement claims to be more betrayed than the next. Defenders of civil liberties, those who call for torture accountability, single-payer advocates and many others were surprised and bitterly disappointed by the centrist approach of the Obama Administration.

Perhaps the most disappointed group, however, is the LGBT community. First it's important to recall that a day which was a victory for many progressives was a step back for them, with the passage of Prop 8 in California last November.

Then came Rick Warren's prominence at the inauguration celebration. And then, Obama's promise to continue the federal funding for faith-based groups, some of which actively discriminate against the LGBT community. His position on keeping Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT), a policy that almost everyone disagrees with, was especially baffling. Now the administration's extreme support of the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is an especially stinging blow that has resulted in protests and a withdrawal of funding and support for Obama from the LGBT community.

Andrew Sullivan describes the injurious nature of the Obama Administration's DOMA defense:

To file an actual brief re-stating some of the worst and most denigrating arguments against gay civil equality is just bizarre. They could have argued for a narrow ruling or kept the "reasonable" arguments to a minimum. What they did -- without any heads up to any of their gay supporters and allies -- is unconscionable. Citing incest precedents? Calling gay couples free-loaders? Arguing that our civil rights are not impinged because we can marry someone of the opposite sex? Who on earth decided that that was a great idea?

This week I watched the 1997 film Ma Vie En Rose (I know I'm a little behind in my film viewing, but c'est la vie). The movie title translates to "My Life in Pink" in English, and is about a seven-year-old Belgian boy who prefers dresses to pants and repeatedly says he wants to marry his male classmate once he is able to turn into the girl he knows he's meant to be.

The main character, named Ludovic, keeps getting tiny tastes of what his heart desires, only to have his pretty dresses, jewelry, lipstick and long-ish hairstyle ripped from his grasp. At one point his family is so exasperated with his cross-dressing that they take the advice of his grandmother to just indulge him for a moment in order to remove the novelty -- and hopefully Ludovic's desire to wear girls' clothing -- simultaneously. This backfires, however. The community members pretend to understand, all but dripping with acceptance, but then take the family's livelihood from them. Ludovic's father is laid off from his job and his new house is painted with homophobic graffiti.

While the surrounding community is regarded distastefully for their duplicity by the family, Ludovic is ultimately seen to be at fault for the family's eventual relocation to a less-desirable location and economic status. Every time it seems like a family member or friend finally understands Ludovic and might let him simply be himself, the poor child is pulled back from a fantasy-land of acceptance into the cruel world at hand.

Ludovic is told that his desires are unnatural so many times that he sinks into a deep despair. Seeing the pain caused by his once-sympathetic mother shaving off his dark, shiny hair is so painful that one wonders if it would have been better if Ludovic had never been allowed to grow it out at all.

Sony Pictures, the company that distributes the film in the U.S., misleadingly says the ending of Ma Vie En Rose is "profoundly optimistic." But the idea that optimism features in Ludovic's apparently dim near future is an improbable thought, and indicative of the low expectations our culture harbors for the happiness of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.

Which brings me back to the way same-sex couples have been treated in this country over the last couple of years. In their fight for the right to marry, nearly every time they get their hands on something tangible it's minimized, if not completely ripped away from them. The promises floated by the Obama Administration and the Democratic Party have been ratcheted down in a callous lowering of political expectations. The best example of this is the manner in which partners of gay federal employees got a tiny hand-out.

Earlier this month, Obama extended some benefits, such as long-term care coverage and family leave, to same-sex partners of federal employees. Coming on the heels of the administration's support for DADT and DOMA however, the president's signature appeared to be more of a hollow appeasement of the LGBT community. In fact, DOMA itself curtailed the applicability of the extension, preventing the government from offering benefits such as health insurance to same-sex partners of federal employees.

Joe Solmonese, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, sent a letter to Obama in the wake of the administration's defense of DOMA:

Although I and other LGBT leaders have introduced ourselves to you as policy makers, we clearly have not been heard, and seen, as what we also are: human beings whose lives, loves, and families are equal to yours. I know this because this brief would not have seen the light of day if someone in your administration who truly recognized our humanity and equality had weighed in with you.

Solmonese goes on to poke huge holes in the pro-DOMA argument using well-reasoned legal points, ending on this poignant question:

As an American, a civil rights advocate, and a human being, I hold this administration to a higher standard than this brief. In the course of your campaign, I became convinced -- and I still want to believe -- that you do, too. I have seen your administration aspire and achieve. Protecting women from employment discrimination. Insuring millions of children. Enabling stem cell research to go forward. These are powerful achievements. And they serve as evidence to me that this brief should not be good enough for you. The question is, Mr. President -- do you believe that it's good enough for us?

Granted, the uproar over DOMA does seem to have had an effect on the administration, which has recently put into motion incremental changes such as new protections for transgendered federal workers and allowing gay couples to change their last names on their passports.

Also, some have argued that the outrage from the LGBT community may do better to concentrate on Congress -- which bears more responsibility for DOMA and is freer to reverse its course -- than on the judicial or executive branches. A spokesman for the Obama Administration recently supported a legislative fix, insisting that "the president remains strongly committed to signing a legislative repeal of DOMA into law."

Optimism may yet prevail, thanks perhaps to dark humor. Take, for example, Jed Lewison's attempt at a bright side on DOMA: "at least the legal brief didn't compare same-sex marriage to bestiality."

Maybe it is possible to be at once hopelessly cynical and at the same time be "profoundly optimistic."

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash.com

State Class Action Lawsuit Filed in California Challenging New Constitutional Amendment Limiting Marriage to Heterosexuals

SAN FRANCISCO, June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- A class action lawsuit Burns v. State of California Case No. CGC-08-481908 was filed on behalf of unmarried gays and lesbians in San Francisco Superior Court today, Friday June 26, 2009, one day before San Francisco's gay pride festival. This will be the first case in California's State Court challenging California's new Constitutional amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples. The Plaintiffs are represented by attorney Waukeen McCoy who successfully argued In Re Marriage Cases in 2008, which briefly allowed homosexuals the right to marry in California.

Last year, the California Supreme Court decided that California's statutory law denying same-sex couples the right to marry violated the privacy, due process, and equal protection provisions of the California State Constitution as it then read. Shortly after the decision, California's voters, by initiative, changed the text of the California Constitution by adding a new Section 7.5 to Article I. The new section reads "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."

This lawsuit claims that section 7.5 of Article I violates the equal protection clause of the State Constitution. McCoy said, "we chose to bring this lawsuit in State Court rather than in Federal Court because sexual orientation is a protected class under California State Law and it is not recognized in Federal Law."

Website: http://www.waukeenmccoy.com

HRC Weekly Update from Joe Solmonese Joe Solmonese, Human Rights Campaign President [hrc@hrc.org]

Dear Daniel,

On Sunday we'll mark forty years since our community said "enough" and began what became known as the Stonewall riots. The 40th Anniversary of Stonewall inspires us to look back and form a picture of how far we've come. Yet as I write this, this week has shown us that our history, and with it our destiny, has been accelerating.

In just the past few months, we've witnessed marriage victories in Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, seen the Department of Justice defend DOMA, and read the President’s Memorandum on federal employee benefits. Late today, we learned that the Administration has moved another step forward in repealing the discriminatory HIV travel ban. HRC worked hard to pave the way in Congress for this regulation, and has been pressing the President to act. The impending end of this shameful and harmful ban is one more example of history moving forward, this time in the direction of fairness.

History is clearly moving faster than I can snap a picture. The subject won't sit still.

Nonetheless, it's an important moment to reflect on this journey. Forty years ago, being caught in a police raid of a gay bar was all it took to destroy a person's life. The June 28, 1969 police raid at the Stonewall Inn was one indignity too many. Riots ensued, but just as importantly, our community found its voice.

It was a voice that for many years rang out unaccompanied. Through those early years, we built community. We came out. We formed social and political networks. Then with the 80s came what some were calling "gay cancer," and we now know as HIV / AIDS.

And so for over a decade, until the creation of free-standing AIDS service organizations, advocacy groups and government support, every organization and every person in our community did nothing else but fight to keep people alive. Everyone was dying and relatively few were paying any attention. Again, we were alone. Even President Reagan, who would lose his good friend Rock Hudson to AIDS, wouldn't say the word, let alone react in a responsible way to this national and -- ultimately -- global tragedy. But we stood together, we harnessed the power of our anger, our commitment to each other, and our will to survive, and we made ourselves heard.

In the 90s, we had a friendly ear in the White House for the first time, but we also experienced the power of our opponents when "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and the Defense of Marriage Act passed overwhelmingly, and were signed into law by the same president who had brought us new hope.

We faced 12 years of congressional leadership and eight years in the Oval Office when we were used as a political whipping post: whether through DOMA, the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA), or blocking every measure designed to protect us -- including hate crimes protections supported by the overwhelming majority of the American people.

But by then we were less alone. We pushed state and local governments for non-discrimination laws and saw increasing numbers of us protected from being fired for who we are. We reached out to Corporate America, setting a new standard for equal treatment in family benefits and non-discrimination policies. Today, many state and local law enforcement officials support inclusive hate crimes legislation, and more than 60 major employers endorse a fully-inclusive ENDA. The broader civil rights movement stood up against the FMA, and supports us in our current work. In Congress, there is an LGBT Equality Caucus that includes both openly-gay members and straight allies.

We are no longer alone. Forty years after Stonewall, our lives are bound up in a larger community. It is not only new supporters and alliances, but a renewed understanding of our commitment to the great unfinished work of civil rights and social justice for all people.

As Dr. King famously wrote, "we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality." In this new era, our ties to one another are both valuable and inescapable. Within the LGBT community, this means that we do not rest until no one can be fired because of their gender identity. We do not rest until we have ended the discharges in the military. And we do not rest until every LGBT person can marry, and the federal government honors our marriages equally.

Our network of mutuality includes our neighbors, our co-workers, our families, and the American public at large. As people get to know us, they support us. We must show them who we are, but also hear their stories. Our country has fallen upon hard times, and we will all rise or fall together, but no one should feel a sense of double jeopardy simply because of who they are.

And finally, the 69 million voters who elected Barack Obama bound our destiny up in this presidency. To pass Hate Crimes and ENDA, repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell and DOMA, and promote the health of our community, we have to engage this Administration, and educate it about who we are. That is why I wrote the President expressing our community's deep disappointment in the Administration's defense of DOMA, and calling for action to repeal the law.

While we continue to press the President and Congress forward, we must also acknowledge each development that makes our lives better. HRC pushed hard on behalf of LGBT federal civilian employees and that's why I stood next to Frank Kameny, who was fired from his government job in 1957 because he is gay, as the President signed a memorandum protecting all LGBT employees from discrimination and improving the lives of many families in the civil and foreign services.

Forty years ago at Stonewall, our community made its voice heard as never before. Today, we must not squander a single opportunity to engage those with whom our destinies are intertwined. Our voices must sound out in our own communities, in state legislatures, in the halls of Congress, and, yes, in the White House. We honor Stonewall by never forgetting the work ahead and never missing an opportunity to tell our stories.

Warmly,
joe_solmonese_signature_150
Joe Solmonese
President, Human Rights Campaign

CNN Discusses The 'Federal Hate Crimes Bill' With Matthew Shepard's Family

The Shepards On The Hate Crimes Act

Today U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to move immediately on the hate crimes bill. The bill is reportedly going to be attached to a defense appropriations bill, a tactic which failed the last time it was attempted.

Thanks to JMG for this

Pass the Federal Hate Crimes Bill!

Dear Friend of NCLR,

The Federal Hate Crimes Bill, also known as the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act / Matthew Shepard Act is currently before the US Senate and we need you to act NOW to help pass this crucial piece of legislation.

The Federal Hate Crimes Bill would give the federal government the power to investigate and prosecute hate crimes—crimes committed against an individual based on their actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. Federal legislation is a crucial tool for protecting the LGBT community against hate-motivated crimes by giving the federal government jurisdiction over these crimes where the current law is inadequate. It also sends a clear message that hate-motivated crimes are taken seriously by our government.

The Federal Hate Crimes bill has been passed nine times in Congress but has failed to be enacted. The legislation was reintroduced this session and passed the House on April 29, 249-175. Now the bill is pending before the Senate.

We need a united Congress to stand up and pass this piece of legislation to send a clear and unequivocal message that hate violence is NOT an American value.

We need you contact your Senators NOW and urge them to support the Federal Hate Crimes Bill.

Find your Senator here or you can call the capitol switchboard and have them connect you with your Senators at 202.224.3121. Tell them to support the Federal Hate Crimes Bill!

Then, forward this email onto your friends and family and have them do the same. Congress needs to hear from us that passing hate crimes legislation is absolutely crucial.

Thank you for all that you do.

In solidarity,

kate signature
Kate Kendell, Esq.
Executive Director
National Center for Lesbian Rights

Thursday, June 25, 2009

My Congresswoman is the best!

From the Office of Congresswoman Matsui
Congresswoman Doris O. Matsui [imaca051@mail.house.gov]

Sent:	Thursday, June 25, 2009 2:27 PM
To:
Attachments:

June 25, 2009

Dr. Daniel C. Orey

Sacramento, California

Dear Daniel:

Thank you for contacting me regarding your support of H.R.1024, the Uniting American Families Act of 2009. I appreciate hearing from you on this important piece of legislation.

The Uniting American Families Act amends current immigration law to afford homosexual couples the same immigration rights currently enjoyed by heterosexual couples. By defining adults in committed, intimate relationships as "permanent partners," the legislation extends the rights currently available to legally married individuals to all life-long partners, regardless of sexual orientation. You will be pleased to know that I am an original co-sponsor of this important piece of legislation aimed at eliminating discriminatory provisions within our immigration laws, and that I will continue to advocate for equality among all people.

H.R. 1024 was introduced on February 12, 2009, and has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law, where it is pending further action. As a co-sponsor of the legislation, I will keep your thoughts in mind should the legislation reach the House floor for a vote.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding this important piece of legislation. To learn more about my work in Congress, or to sign up for periodic e-mail updates, please visit my website at www.house.gov/matsui.

Sincerely,

DORIS O. MATSUI
Member of Congress

Note: Please do not respond directly to this e-mail. To serve my constituents most effectively, I have dedicated a portion of my website to constituent e-mails. To write me, please visit http://matsui.house.gov/email.asp.

URGENT!! Save Hate Crimes bill NOW!

I just got a phone call from a well placed source on Capital Hill that confirmed that the hate crimes bill currently before the Senate will be added to the Defense Authorization Bill. Remember how well that worked out for us last time?

Congressmembers can use our lives to bargain for bombs and defense spending instead of simply affirming our dignity as human beings worthy of safety from persecution and violence if hate crimes are added to the defense authorization.

You need to call your Senator NOW and ask them to save the hate crimes bill from certain death! If it's added to the defense authorization bill it will be the death of hate crimes this year.

You can look up your Senator's direct phone number here or call (202) 224-3121 and tell them to SAVE THE HATE CRIMES BILL.

http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://www.bilerico.com/2009/06/urgent_save_hate_crimes_bill_now.php
--------------------

To reply to this message, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?inbox/readmessage.php&t=1018416119480&mid=adcfedG2c4faed8G1e1748bG0

Is the Mormon Church Funding the National Organization for Marriage?

Is the Mormon Church Funding the National Organization for Marriage?

Californians Against Hate began requesting your 990s (IRS non-profit tax filings) over three months ago, Maggie. You have not responded as required by law. We visited your national office in Princeton , N.J. twice to view the Form 990s, and sent our requests there by certified mail.
Someone at that address signed the US Postal Service receipt on April 25, 2009. You then had 30 days to comply with our request, but you still have not sent us your federal tax flings for 2007 and 2008.

We have also been to your “office” in Manassas , VA , and no forms there either, Maggie. It looks to be the home of your Treasurer, Neil Corkery. The Corkerys are apparently traveling around the world, and again, the forms are not available for public inspection as required by federal law.
Are you trying to hide all the involvement by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) who we believe created and funded the National Organization for Marriage, Inc.? That is exactly what the California Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating (Case # 08/735) right now.

As you are probably aware, the IRS fine for noncompliance is $20.00 per day for every day that you do not turn over your records up to a total of $10,000. For the 92 days so far, you owe the United States Treasury $1,840. While that won’t put much of a dent in the national debt, it is what you owe the government so far in fines. Frankly, Maggie, we are tired of waiting, and are exploring other actions to force the release of your filings.

In another very interesting development, we received a letter from the IRS last week in response to the request that we filed with them on May 6, 2009 for your Form 990s. The IRS said that, “we have no record of any organization by the name (National Organization for Marriage, Inc.) or address ( 20 Nassau Street, Ste. 242 , Princeton , N.J 08542). Now, can you explain that?? They do have a record of your Educational Fund, the 501(c)3, but that apparently was just established last year. NOM, Inc. was established in May 2007 to get Prop 8 on the ballot, so there should be 2 annual filings available on NOM, Inc.

Maggie, why don’t you do the right thing and release your 2007 and 2008 form 990’s? Just what is in there about your funding and expenditures that you don’t want people to see?

A recent Washington Post story had this to say about the Mormon Church’s involvement in the same-sex marriage battles in six Northeastern States.

Mormon officials have tried to stay out of the controversy that followed the California vote, when the church's prominent role in the marriage fight became clear. A spokeswoman in Salt Lake City declined to say whether the church is involved in debates going on in states such as New Jersey and New York , except to say that leaders remain intent on preserving the "divine institution" of marriage between man and woman. The faith holds that traditional marriage "transcends this world" and is necessary for "the fullness of joy in the next life."

That Admission by the Mormon Church Raises Many More Questions.
Who is paying for your multi million dollar TV campaign? Who is funding your $500,000 New York State PAC? Your California PAC? Who is paying for all the direct mail robo-calls and millions of direct connect calls in New York alone? Where did you get the $6 million that you admit to spending as reported this week in your hometown newspaper, The Journal News: LoHud.com ?

How much are you and your executive director Brian Brown getting paid? Is the Mormon Church paying you directly or through another one of your other organizations like the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy
Is the Mormon Church producing all of your slick new commercials? Your controversial and often maligned A Gathering Storm commercial that was made using actors pretending to be real people was chock full of Mormon actors, mostly from Arizona . Most of the bad actors on your audition tapes appear to be Mormon as well. We have that documented.

Just how much money is the Mormon Church spending now to fight same-sex marriage in at least 7 states? Mormon families spent close to $30 million in California to pass Proposition 8 last year. The Mormon Church has likely spent tens of millions of dollars directly throughout the country on all their efforts to stop gay marriage since they hired the world’s largest PR firm, Hill and Knowlton, in 1988. It even appears that the Mormon Church, through its Public Affairs Committee, was monitoring same-sex marriage activities and involved in Canada as well.

We know that the Mormon Church has not been truthful about all of its involvement in opposing same-sex marriage for 20 years. We have seen ample evidence of this in the Church documents that we received.
When we filed our complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission last November, Mormon Church officials first said they spent “zero dollars on Prop 8.” Then 3 months after the election, they finally admitted to have made $190,000 in non-monetary contributions. Nearly all of that was supposedly spent the week before the election.
They later changed their story again, saying that the $117,000 reported in Salt Lake City staff time ($96,000) and facilities’ usage ($20,500) was not actually spent just on election day as they had reported to the California Secretary of State. According to Church spokesman Scott Trotter, the staff time included work between August and November. Well, then shouldn’t there have been other expenditures in August or even July and September? Come on Maggie, tell the truth!

The Mormon Church announced its active participation to pass Proposition 8 in the now famous letter read from Thomas S. Monson, President of the Church. This rare act took place on June 29, 2008, and was read to every Mormon in the Western United States. President Monson called on all Mormons to give of “your time and your means to pass Proposition 8.”

Well, it worked. As we now know, the Mormon Church took over every aspect of the Yes on 8 campaign, and was largely responsible for its passage.

Please, Maggie, tell America the truth for once about where your millions of dollars are coming from. We are a country of laws, and we have the right to know.

Please Help Us Keep Up the Fight Against NOM
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