Anti-gay groups aren't able to gather enough signatures
by Brian Leubitz
Quite the day in the gay rights movement today. First the executive director of Equality California abruptly resigns, which was quite a shock considering he was hired only a few months ago. But that's just the beginning, as the referendum intended to block the fair education act, which would include the contributions of the LGBT and disabled community in our curriculum, seems to have gone down in flames.
With just one day left to circulate petitions, organizers of an effort to repeal a new law requiring that California students learn about the historical contributions of gay and lesbian individuals have told supporters that they "would need a miracle to qualify this referendum."
The Pacific Justice Institute and an arm of Capitol Resource Institute have been leading an effort to overturn Senate Bill 48, which requires public school instruction to include the role and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, people with disabilities and members of different cultural groups. They face a Wednesday deadline for submitting to election officials the roughly 505,000 valid voter signatures needed to place a referendum of the law on the ballot.
Despite days of emails calling for a final push in the signature gathering campaign, referendum organizers told supporters in an early morning email that "it is doubtful we will get the number of signatures we need to qualify" the proposed referendum. (SacBee)
To be honest, I was always the skeptic that this would ever qualify, but I guess it did help raise money for some of those LGBT organizations. Given that they were using an all-volunteer effort, it always seemed very unlikely to qualify.
Nonetheless, this is great news for those interested in pursuing equality and fair portrayals of history.
Hi. I'm sure if you're reading this site, your e-mail box must be stuffed by now with pleas to volunteer for the election. But I want to let you know about one more volunteer opportunity that I think is really important, just in case it's a good fit for you.
I volunteer with Equality California, the group trying to repeal Proposition 8 and bring marriage equality back to California. I want to let you know that every weekend until the election Equality California will be holding phonebanks at each of its statewide offices doing get-out-the-vote calls for pro-LGBT candidates like Jerry Brown and Kamala Harris-- and we have a huge need for volunteers right now.
I have a feeling that some folks may get a bit upset with this post. I normally stay far from religious issues when posting anywhere; to each his own, normally. However, when a religious community expects our elected officials to do as they say or else, I am not going to sensor myself; especially true when equal rights for GLBT folks are condemed. It may not be such a surprise that Orthodox Rabbis do not support gay rights. On the other hand, am I the only person on earth that reads and feels pure hatred and a lack of compassion in the latest Ruling, which Orthodox Rabbis indicate is binding on ALL OF MANKIND? For the record, I have the exact reaction to similar actions/comments/positions of other religions and their leaders. NOTE THE LAWS OF NOAH ARE ALSO INCLUDED SO NOT TO LEAVE MANY OTHER RELIGIONS OUT OF THE RULING.
DATELINE: BROOKLYN, N.Y., Jan. 6, In The Year Of Our Lord, 2010. YES, 2010!!!
A panel of rabbis respected as authorities on Torah law issued a sweeping ruling to cut off support for politicians who promote normalizing the sin of homosexuality.
In a strongly worded decision, some of the most prominent Orthodox rabbis advised their communities to "no longer continue to support or elect leaders who have publicly showed their approval for giluyai arayos [immoral unions], activities that stand exactly opposite of all our work as Jews to increase the awareness and influence of Hashem the Almighty in this world... No money, no public displays of approval, and no votes should be given to politicians who have made documented, public statements or who have voted in favor of laws that seek to normalize the[se] forbidden relationships."
The ruling follows last month's vote in the New York State Senate, which the rabbis called "an open miracle," where "Hashem thwarted the will of nearly every top elected leader of the state." The Senate reaffirmed traditional marriage by an overwhelming margin, rejecting proposed changes to the definition of marriage that would legitimize homosexuality.
The rabbis criticized use of the secular government to redefine the language. "Marriage is a word that has a definition accepted by all the world from time immemorial: it means the legalized union between a man and a woman for the purpose of forming a family. Human lives have meaning to the extent that they reflect the values taught by the Torah. No government has the power to create meaning by bestowing new definitions to behaviors that are abhorrent to the Torah."
LOS ANGELES, CA - The Courage Campaign today called for more research and time to change hearts and minds before returning to the ballot to restore marriage for gay and lesbian couples in California. At least one initiative to restore same-sex marriage is currently circulating that, if it qualifies, would appear on the November, 2010 ballot...
"For months, we have laid out the criteria for moving forward. Like the Obama Campaign, we understand that we need a combination of powerful and clear research that informs an expertly run campaign, an unstoppable movement that harnesses the new energy we have seen since the passage of Prop. 8 and the connections through personal stories and outreach in order to win at the ballot box," said Rick Jacobs, the Courage Campaign founder and Chair. "We are taking the lessons learned from last year's Prop. 8 campaign, the campaigns in Maine and other states to understand the fundamental work that must be done before moving forward in California. We also must come together as a community to create a broad coalition and governance structure, put in place a strong manager and secure the resources to win. Right now, the pieces are not all in place to do so confidently."
I am understanding this to mean that the Courage Campaign is no longer on board with a 2010 campaign and will be shifting their resources to a 2012 effort (although the language is oddly vague-- if any Courage Campaign people are reading this, any clarification would be appreciated greatly). At a minimum the clear message of this release is that Courage Campaign does not at this time support the specific 2010 ballot filing by Love Honor Cherish, which they reference in the first paragraph.
Courage Campaign is currently soliciting volunteers for their Prop. 8 repeal and "Equality Team" efforts here. EQCA is also soliciting volunteers to canvass for their 2012 repeal campaign here.
The President is under fire from the LGBT community for slow-walking their issues and turning away from campaign promises. It's getting a little ugly, and the President risks a lot of goodwill for a community that worked hard to elect him, especially in the wake of several victories on marriage equality in the New England area and Iowa and the historic level of activism after the passage of Prop. 8.
Central to this debate is the issue of gays in the military and the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. Obama keeps insisting that he wants to change the policy, and his nominee for Secretary of the Army, Republican John McHugh, reportedly supports this change as well, saying that he has "no interest as either a Member of Congress or as ... secretary of the Army to exclude by some categorization a group of people otherwise qualified to serve." A recent poll shows overwhelming support for allowing gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military, even among conservatives.
But the President could end this policy today by putting a moratorium on implementing the policy of throwing out qualified Americans from serving in the Armed Forces. Two of those Americans, Iraq war vets Dan Choi and CA-10 candidate Anthony Woods, are teaming up, as Choi announces his endorsement of Woods.
"For 10 years, I have known Anthony Woods as a leader and an officer of the highest caliber," said Choi. "From defending our nation abroad, to fighting for our highest ideals here at home, Anthony Woods exemplifies the real world perspective that is needed to bring about real change in Washington, and I am proud to support his candidacy for Congress."
An Arab Linguist, Lieutenant in the New York Army National Guard, and West Point Classmate of Anthony Woods, Choi rose to national prominence earlier this year when he openly declared that he was gay on MSNBC's "Rachel Maddow Show." The Army quickly launched discharge proceedings against Choi, who has vowed to fight his termination from the military under the "Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy," and re-deploy with his unit.
Like Choi, Woods also served in Iraq, commanding 81 soldiers and earning both the Bronze Star and Army Commendation medal during two tours of duty. Woods was also discharged after challenging the military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy, and would be the first openly gay African American ever elected to the United States Congress [...]
Choi will join Woods at two events in Northern California this month---the first on June 26th in Davis, and the second on June 29th in San Francisco.
Obviously, Woods is more than a single issue candidate. But the imagery of someone replacing Ellen Tauscher, who is currently carrying the bill in the House to repeal the DADT policy, who was kicked out of the military using that policy, is undeniable, and can increase pressure on the President and Congress to finally do the sensible thing and remove that layer of discrimination in our armed services.
"If my son, God forbid, if my son put on a pair of high heels, I would probably hit him with one of my shoes. I would throw a shoe at him. Because you know what? Boys don't wear high heels. And in my house, they definitely don't wear high heels."
"You know, my favorite part about hearing these stories about the kids in high school, who the entire high school caters around, lets the boy wear the dress. I look forward to when they go out into society and society beats them down. And they end up in therapy."
We don't have a lot of local media in California, and increasingly, a substantial segment of the population gets their ideas from talk radio outlets like this. And here's what they're hearing.
If Rob, Arnie, & Dawn in the Morning on KRXQ have one advertiser left within a week, something's wrong. GLAAD has an action item for this. According to the comments in this Huffington Post piece, Chipotle and Snapple have already dropped their ad support for the show. Contact the station's general manager here:
John Geary
Vice President & General Manager
KRXQ-FM
(916) 339-4209
jgeary@entercom.com
The Sacramento Bee will host a live webcast discussion with legal experts about the implications of the California Supreme Court's ruling on Prop. 8, on minority rights, the First Amendment, equal protection and even religious freedom. It promises to be a good discussion, and it starts at noon.
But considering that the Court has, for now, given up on its ability to protect the civil rights of the minority in the face of mob rule, the logical arguments must also incorporate the emotional ones, and what must be now taken into account are the personal stories, highlighted here by state lawmakers.
Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, confided in a Capitol press conference that her daughter is lesbian.
"This is a decision that affects all Californians in a very personal way," Skinner said of the ruling on Proposition 8.
"It impacts my family in saying that somehow my daughter's love for the woman who is her partner is not as valid as the love others have for the opposite sex."
Skinner appeared at a news conference with the Legislature's four openly gay members, all Democrats - Sen. Mark Leno, San Francisco; Sen. Christine Kehoe, San Diego; Assemblyman John Perez, Los Angeles; and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, San Francisco.
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, a Republican, spoke briefly at the event, noting that he has one daughter who is lesbian and the other "straight."
"They don't have the same rights today," Sanders said.
I want to add my voice to that personalization by highlighting this section of an LA Times piece on some of the 18,000 married couples, now granted separate rights than their fellow gays and lesbians.
Julie Nice, a University of San Francisco law professor specializing in constitutional and sexuality law, sees the emergence of the legally married gay class as yet another inconsistency in the nation's laws governing same-sex marriage.
"This kind of chaotic patchwork is not sustainable," Nice said of laws recognizing the right of gays to marry in five states, granting recognition to legal marriages conducted elsewhere in a few others and now California's validation of the pre-Proposition 8 marriages while denying the status to other gays [...]
Several gay couples were in attendance as West Hollywood officials sought to chart a path forward in the fight for same-sex marriage rights after the high court's decision. Although Mark Katz, 58, and Robert Goodman, 48, continue to be recognized in the state as legally married, they deemed the ruling "tragic."
"This is as if we were freed slaves living in a slave state," said Goodman, a career counselor. "We were able to keep our marriage, but none of our brothers will be able to marry."
Mark Katz is my cousin. The rhetorical bomb-throwing must run in the family. But they are wonderful people, with an adopted son, and while yesterday's ruling secured some of their civil rights, they are not satisfied with being put on a kind of island, where their friends and fellow citizens must live under a separate system.
The legal ramifications of this are truly troubling, and ought to be examined thoroughly. But my first thought turns to my cousin. And those familial connections, and the new connections forged through organizing, will eventually be how these rights are achieved for everyone.
It's cold comfort to many that history is moving in the right direction, with five states already on their way to marriage equality. But it's our job to make sure history moves faster towards equality here in California.
We must redouble our efforts in California to finally win this fight for equal rights. Please, take a moment today and lend your voice to this just cause.
Let's be respectful. But let's be clear. We must start changing minds today. I know many of my fellow Californians may initially agree with this ruling, but I ask them to reserve final judgment until they have discussed this decision with someone who will be affected by it.
Please talk to a lesbian or gay family member, neighbor or co-worker and ask them why equality in the eyes of the law is important to every Californian. Please talk to local business leaders who know that this will cost jobs and make California less competitive. Please remember we all know someone who is hurt by this decision today. Please reach out to these friends, family members, co-workers and neighbors and discuss why this decision is wrong for California.
California, at its best, is a beacon of equal rights and equal opportunities. If we want to prosper together, we must respect one another.
That's why we must resolve to restore marriage equality to all Californians. Let this work start today. Sign our petition and join the efforts of the Courage Campaign and Equality California.
On Wednesday, after hearing several emotional speeches, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a resolution that "calls upon the government of Iraq to prevent the persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and protect the right to life and the right of all its citizens to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
The resolution, sponsored by openly gay council member Bill Rosendahl, is the first public statement by a city or official government body in the United States condemning the torturous actions and murder of gay men in Iraq. Among the atrocious actions is the rounding up of gay men, gluing their anuses shut and giving them a diarrhetic, causing their digestive systems to shut down, ending in death.
The hearing began with an opening from Rosendahl, stating "While we’re standing here in this great country, right now, in Iraq . . . We are seeing gay people rounded up and killed. As I’m standing here, our people are being murdered. Our government needs to focus on it."
America's Next Top Anita Bryant, Miss California Carrie Prejean, is turning her second place in a beauty contest into a national spokesmodelship for opposition to gay rights. This is an improvement on what you get out of second place in a beauty contest in Monopoly, which is only $10.
What happens when a young California beauty pageant contestant is asked, "Do you support same-sex marriage?" She is attacked viciously for having the courage to speak up for her truth and her values. But Carrie's courage inspired a whole nation and a whole generation of young people because she chose to risk the Miss USA crown rather than be silent about her deepest moral values. "No Offense" calls gay marriage advocates to account for their unwillingness to debate the real issue: Gay marriage has consequences.
Did I miss the memo where her resentment at answering a question poorly (remember "we live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage"? Um, no, that's kind of the point) inspired a nation? I mean, the Republicans really have to do a better job with their folk heroes. For one they have to be, um, heroes, not unemployed plumbers or second-place beauty contest winners.
FWIW, here's the ad from the National Organization For Marriage.
Yes, if we as a country don't stand up for the rights of bigots, we will have shamed ourselves. Won't somebody think of the gay-bashers?
Keep an eye on this Carrie Prejean. If the right tries to do with her what they do with their other presumed victims, she'll have a national speaking tour and a talk show after Limbaugh within a week.
I pledge allegiance
To the Flag
Of the United States of America
And to the Republic
For which it stands
One nation
Under God
Indivisible
With liberty and justice
For all
When was the last time you really thought about the words that you had to speak everyday at the beginning of class throughout your childhood? At that time, after awhile, you spoke it by rote while barely placing your hand over your heart, not really paying attention to what you were saying, giggling with your friend at the next desk over about some joke on the playground. So over time, it lost all meaning.
But suddenly, your rights are stripped away, and you think, "How the hell did this happen?" And then you remember. "Didn't I pledge something, about a Republic?" And suddenly, that droning recital you gave every morning at school has a whole lot of meaning.
U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. has ruled against the Prop 8 campaign in their attempt to hide their donors from public disclosure. I don't yet have a copy of the decision, but I'll hunt it down and get a more detailed analysis.
You can find a great rundown of the case at Melissa's place. She went to the hearing today, so I expect she'll be providing more information on the hearing soon. Basically, the campaign alleged that their donors' first amendment rights were being violated by the disclosure requirement. Their argument was that the potential harassment and boycotts chilled the donors expression via money to the campaign.
The court finds that the state is not facilitating retaliation by compelling disclosure.
Of course, all of this was quite funny, and massively hypocritical, given the context of the Prop 8 campaign's attempted blackmail of equality minded donors. Well, what's good for the goose must surely be good for the gander. We should be getting that full list of campaign donors any day now. I sort of doubt that we'll see anything too major on there.
One more note on Prop 8 disclosure. A Late Contribution document has already been filed, and the Mormon Church itself (not Mormon people, but the actual Church) gave over $30,000 ($30,354.85 to be exact) in the last few days of the campaign. (Downloadable PDF here) Not the huge mega-donation they have used in some other states, but people should know just how instrumental one religious movement was to the passage of this discriminatory measure.
On the "Day Without a Gay", I took the day off from work where I decided to use my time and skills where I was strongest. As a librarian I have a knack of finding sources and providing them to the researcher potential of sources.
So on that day, I headed to a major research library (I work at a community college library that would be limited in resources on what I needed to do), where I would have access to electronic resources, with print sources nearby, if needed.
Already by reading one book and one article, I learned about past Mormon Church activism that defeated the Equal Rights Amendment, but also learned how an anti-gay amendment was defeated in Idaho because the No campaign successfully appealed to Mormons in that state: http://www.dailykos.com/story/...
The idea here is if people do their research, they can make golden discoveries. I believe if activists and a campaign are more information literate, they will be smarter in their outreach, strategies, let alone help the general public become more information literate as well, on the issue of LGBT rights and Marriage Equality.
Last night I had the pleasure of attending the 15th Anniversary Awards Dinner for LAANE (The Los Angeles Alliance For A New Economy), which brought 1,000 people to the Beverly Hilton (including Mayor Villaraigosa, Sean Penn, and more) and raised $500,000 for their cause. I know I get depressed reading about endless budget fights and cutbacks to schools and health care, so it's important to take comfort (and some valuable lessons) in those doing important work - and fighting some of the most powerful and entrenched interests in the city and the country - and winning.
LAANE is a group dedicated to fighting for economic and environmental justice by building coalitions and waging campaigns to improve the lives of people in underserved and at-risk communities. Their success stories include some of the most astonishing victories of the last decade - the living-wage campaign in Los Angeles, the (eventually) successful grocery worker's strike, the campaign to keep Wal-Mart out of Inglewood in 2004, the fight for justice for hotel workers near LAX. More recently, they achieved success with a landmark blue-green alliance of nearly 40 environmental groups, community organizers and labor organizations like the Teamsters, to clean up the Port of Los Angeles, which resulted in a huge victory for clean air and clean water which will also provide good-paying sustainable jobs for truck drivers. The Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports is a model for the nation, to combine economic security and respect for the environment at the ports, and Chuck Mack & Jim Santangelo from the Teamsters were honored last night (sporting leis flown in by a Teamster rep from Hawaii).
Another of their campaigns is the "Construction Career Policy," dedicated to providing local residents in low-income communities the opportunity to get middle-class, union construction jobs on projects happening in their area. This has resulted in thousands of jobs for at-risk and underserved communities of color, and the goal is for 15,000 jobs over the next 5 years. Mayor Villaraigosa presented Cora Davis, a construction business owner and leading advocate for the program, with an award.
Finally, in the wake of the movie "Milk," many are remembering the work of Cleve Jones, an activist in San Francisco during the era and the leader of the AIDS Quilt Project. Today, Jones is a community organizer working for UNITE HERE, and he has worked with LAANE on their campaigns to create living-wage jobs and improve working conditions for the 3,500 hotel workers around LAX Airport. Sean Penn, who became friendly with Jones over the last year working on "Milk," presented him with an award for his service. In his speech, Jones talked about these noble working-class people, many of them immigrants, "the ones who are serving you dinner tonight," and he paid tribute to their struggle and dignity. He also had a few words to say about the passage of Prop. 8, which left him heartbroken and drew eerie parallels to the Prop. 6 campaign he worked on with Harvey Milk in 1978. But, Jones said, the real parallel moment is 1964, a time when civil rights for African-Americans in the Deep South appeared remote. "Now is the time for Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to sign a new Civil Rights Act restoring fundamental rights for every American in this country." It's not the tactic you hear from the leading gay rights organizations, but Cleve doesn't hold much of a brief for them either:
The new (gay rights) activists have impressed some gay rights veterans.
"They've shown a clear ability to turn out large numbers of people," said Cleve Jones, a longtime gay rights advocate and labor organizer. "It's also clear that they are skeptical of the established L.G.B.T. organizations. And I would say they have reason to be."
Overall, it was inspiring to see a community-based organization so dedicated to restoring fairness, justice, dignity and respect to a part of a population that frequently doesn't have a voice in political affairs, and more important, to see them get results. LAANE is doing some great work.
I have visited Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City every winter to see the buildings and trees lit up for the holidays - and I promise it's the most beautiful sight you'll ever see. They won't turn on the lights for another 21 days, but I would have given anything to have been there tonight.
Lots of people are angry about the passage of Prop. 8 and they are just channeling that anger organically. One of the results has been street protests, and today's blocked Santa Monica Boulevard.
Hundreds of people protesting California's new ban on gay marriage demonstrated outside a Mormon temple in Westwood on Thursday, blocking traffic on a major boulevard.
The protesters claim the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spent millions to air deceptive advertisements in support of Proposition 8, which passed on Tuesday with 52 percent of voters casting their ballots to define marriage as a heterosexual union.
If you're unfamiliar with LA, that is a HUGE temple.
There is other talk of boycotting Utah and Marriott hotels, and further street actions. This is how civil rights movements typically mature. And many are correct in the previous thread in saying that rights are not usually put to a vote. This is all being done haphazardly. Will a leader emerge from this movement?
UPDATE by Brian: From the comments, some folks are organizing a similar protest in SF for tomorrow. Protest8 Blog has the information. It begins at 5:30 and goes from Civic Center down to Dolores Park.
The very interesting aspect of the gay marriage debate out here in California is how corporate America has made their bet. Companies like PG&E have donated heavily to the "No on 8" side, and now we see Hallmark, about as conservative (not in their politics, but in their style and outlook) a company as you can find, coming out with same-sex marriage cards (just in time for me to get one for a certain couple in a few weeks!):
Most states don't recognize gay marriage - but now Hallmark does.
The nation's largest greeting card company is rolling out same-sex wedding cards - featuring two tuxedos, overlapping hearts or intertwined flowers, with best wishes inside. "Two hearts. One promise," one says [...]
The language inside the cards is neutral, with no mention of wedding or marriage, making them also suitable for a commitment ceremony. Hallmark says the move is a response to consumer demand, not any political pressure.
"It's our goal to be as relevant as possible to as many people as we can," Hallmark spokeswoman Sarah Gronberg Kolell said.
Corporations have balance sheets and shareholders. They don't make these kind of decisions frivolously. They know that history is bending on the side of justice. They know that equality is on the way.
At this point the judiciary is pretty much the only government entity in this state I have a modicum of belief in; they aren't hamstrung by ridiculous rules that make it impossible to function, so they can simply follow the law. State agencies, when properly run, also can exhibit some independence. Lately, there have been several cases ruled in favor of reformers at the expense of malign protectors of the health care status quo.
After a series of investigations from the California Department of Public Health, 18 hospitals have been fined for substandard care.
Violations included an improperly inserted catheter, a ventilator that was not turned on and surgical tools left inside patients after operations [...]
The hospitals were fined $25,000 for each violation - the latest of dozens of penalties the state has issued in recent years to more than 40 hospitals.
"The number of penalties will decrease and the quality of care will dramatically improve as hospitals take action to improve," said Kathleen Billingsley, director of the health department's Center for Healthcare Quality. "The entire intent of these fines is to improve the overall quality of care in California."
As care is improved, so must access for treatment. The proposed cuts to Medi-Cal by the governor would have decimated the ability for the poor to find a doctor. The cuts never made it through district court.
A federal judge has ordered a temporary halt in the state's 10 percent reduction in Medi-Cal reimbursement rates, improving access to care for 6.5 million low-income patients but throwing a new wrench in already difficult budget negotiations.
The U.S. District Court decision forces the state to reimburse most Medi-Cal providers at rates prior to the 10 percent cut, which lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made effective July 1 as a cost-cutting measure to help resolve a $15.2 billion budget shortfall this year.
The move increases reimbursement rates the state pays to doctors, dentists, pharmacists, adult day-care centers and other providers who serve Medi-Cal patients. It excludes some hospitals who do not contract with the state and do not provide emergency care.
This just shows the fallacy of a cuts-only budget, which runs into all kinds of voter mandates and constitutional demands. The good news here is that reimbursement rates will be sustained, albeit at a level low enough that half of the state's doctors will still probably reject Medi-Cal patients. The Democratic budget would also have rescinded the Medi-Cal rate cuts.
In a separate decision in the State Supreme Court, the justices ruled that doctors cannot deny care to gays and lesbians based on moral objections.
Justice Joyce Kennard wrote that two Christian fertility doctors who refused to artificially inseminate a lesbian have neither a free speech right nor a religious exemption from the state's law, which "imposes on business establishments certain antidiscrimination obligations."
In the lawsuit that led to the ruling, Guadalupe Benitez, 36, of Oceanside said that the doctors treated her with fertility drugs and instructed her how to inseminate herself at home but told her their beliefs prevented them from inseminating her. One of the doctors referred her to another fertility specialist without moral objections, and Benitez has since given birth to three children.
Nevertheless, Benitez in 2001 sued the Vista-based North Coast Women's Care Medical Group. She and her lawyers successfully argued that a state law prohibiting businesses from discriminating based on sexual orientation applies to doctors.
Of course, we cannot rely on the courts to shape public policy. But they set the boundaries - the lines that lawmakers cannot cross. And those boundaries are leading to increased access and improved care.
I went to the HRC protest event in San Francisco last night. I will say that I was pretty anti-HRC before it was cool. I mentioned in my last post that they don't represent a good value proposition in attaining full equality. There are other more efficient and effective groups. But, the failure of HRC to support an inclusive version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) was the breaking point for many others. And by failing one part of the LGBT community, they fail the entire community.
The event itself outside the hotel went quite well. The keynote speaker, LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, canceled this week as he didn't want to cross a picket line. The protest was covered by the local media and made a few stories outside of the Bay area.
In the comments of the previous thread, janinsfran noted that there was a bit of controversy inside of the dinner. I'll see if I can find any information on that.
We have a number of tough fights this year, marriage not being the least of them. However, we can't drop some issues because there are others on the front burner. You can give to the Equality for All campaign (No on 8) here, and find out more about the United ENDA campaign here. We can walk AND chew gum!
(Just about an hour... - promoted by Brian Leubitz)
I'm not a huge fan of the Human Rights Campaign. I think they soak up a percentage of gay rights dollars that is far larger than their utility. And they endorse Republicans who happen to vote with us on a few issues, but that vote for virulently anti-gay leadership in the House and Senate. (I'm looking at you Mary Bono Mack.)
But what has many LGBT activists mad at HRC these days is their support for a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that does not include protection for transgendered individuals. This is unfortunate. We have learned from state laws that it isn't simply a matter of a few more years to get that protection added in a different piece of legislation. Gender queers deserve the same protection as gay, lesbian and bisexuals, and it will be a long, long time coming if we don't pass it at one time. I understand that not everybody feels that we need to stand together (like HRC chief Joe Solmnese), but it is through our unity that we can achieve our goals. HRC fails to recognize this, and chooses to leave the gender queer behind.
If, like me, you find this troubling, you should boycott the HRC Gala in San Francisco this Saturday. But don't worry, you can still have a great time. Pride at Work and some other great groups are organizing a "Left Out of HRC" Party in Union Square across the street from the St. Francis where the HRC gala will be held.
