Let's start by saying this: Sen. Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield) is a coward. Sure, on occasion, he broke party ranks to vote for a budget or something. But for well over a decade, he served in the Legislature, consistently voting against any and all bills that protected the LGBT community. And then, as he points out in this confessional published on the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund website, he was outed in a flood of police lights. As I've said before, Ashburn was a slow-motion train wreck. The question was never if he was going to be outed, but when and how. Of course, he then went ahead and made sure it was a big spectacle. Good work, Roy.
But this little piece of work that he published, well, it's a real piece of work.
My past actions harmed gay people. In fact, all people are harmed when there is unequal treatment of anyone under the constitution and laws of our country. I do not believe in discrimination, and yet my votes advanced unequal of treatment of gay people and promoted the suspicion and fear that limits people from being forthright and accepted in society.
Now, from what I have lived and learned, I want to do the best that I can to advance equality and freedom for all people. Given the shame and confusion that many feel over their sexual orientation, perhaps my situation can serve as an example of both the harm that can come from denial and fear, and the opportunity to try to make things right.
Let's run down this timeline. Ashburn gets elected while outwardly proclaiming bigotry. Ashburn legislates consistent with that outward bigotry. Ashburn gets outed at the point of a policeman's MAGlight. And now, finally, Ashburn decides that bigotry was ridiculous.
Well, let's all give Roy a big ol' group hug now, right? Well, I'll just go ahead and skip that. Perhaps you would describe me as bitter, but for my part, I'll pass on all of the mushy stuff. While I praise traditionally conservative parties for taking an enlightened stance on LGBT issues (such as the British Tories), that's not what this is about.
This is about one guy, who lived his life selfishly. He was too much of a coward to come out. And let's be clear, Ashburn was representing himself as a leader. This deception is not how a leader behaves. The lying and the sneaking, are not how a leader behaves. And the suppression of his own supposed fair-mindedness is not how a leader behaves.
Call me back after Ashburn has done some real work to repair some of the damage that he has already done. Maybe then I won't be so cynical about his conversion via police lights.
It's election day in California and several other states. With the exception of one statewide race, (AG) Democrats and progressives won't be compelled to the polls. Republicans will because of the battle of the billionaires (okay, one billionaire two multi-millionaires). We can only hope that enough of us vote(d) to beat back two odious ballot measures put on by twobig corporations.
But there was already big news today in California about "the trial of the century." Judge Vaughn Walker today issued a series of questions for the parties to the federal Prop. 8 trial that began in January and was put on by Ted Olson and David Boies and colleagues and defended by the oxymoronic "Protect Marriage" proponents of Prop. 8.
The questions are stunning in their breadth, complexity and essence. Here are just a few:
What empirical data, if any, supports a finding that legal recognition of same-sex marriage reduces discrimination against gays and lesbians?
What are the consequences of a permanent injunction against enforcement of Proposition 8? What remedies do plaintiffs propose?
If the evidence of the involvement of the LDS and Roman Catholic churches and evangelical ministers supports a finding that Proposition 8 was an attempt to enforce private morality, what is the import of that finding?
The court has reserved ruling on plaintiffs' motion to exclude Mr Blankenhorn's testimony. If the motion is granted, is there any other evidence to support a finding that Proposition 8 advances a legitimate governmental interest?
Why is legislating based on moral disapproval of homosexuality not tantamount to discrimination? See Doc #605 at 11 ("But sincerely held moral or religious views that require acceptance and love of gay people, while disapproving certain aspects of their conduct, are not tantamount to discrimination."). What evidence in the record shows that a belief based in morality cannot also be discriminatory? If that moral point of view is not held and is disputed by a small but significant minority of the community, should not an effort to enact that moral point of view into a state constitution be deemed a violation of equal protection?
What does it mean to have a "choice" in one's sexual orientation? See e g Tr 2032:17-22; PX 928 at 37
I am not a lawyer, but I can without doubt say that never before has homosexuality been on trial in America in this way. The testimony in January, which I liveblogged, was breathtaking and so sweeping, that the defense (the folks who put Prop. 8 on the ballot) were left with only one argument: marriage has always been between a man and a woman so it should always be between a man and a woman. And Professor Cott and other experts even destroyed that argument. Even so, it's a bit like saying that some people were always forced to live in a certain place so they should always be forced to live there.
We launched Testimony: Equality on Trial because this court case has already changed history. As we can see from the Judge's questions - read them and pick your own favorites--the entire scope of the debate has been encapsulated in this trial. But the defense has worked at every juncture to stop you from seeing what happened and will happen in the courtroom. We seek to make this your trial. And soon, we'll seek to hear your testimony.
For now, as voting for initiatives and candidates across the state and country winds to a close, we can see unfolding the true story of human rights in America.
Watch the court. Whatever the ruling, this trial is history.
After the preparations had been made, the tally sheets from our phone calls completed, the carpools worked out, and the volunteers scheduled, I headed to Los Angeles with the hope that after the weekend was complete, there would be no question in the minds of the CDP delegates that Gavin Newsom has the grassroots support necessary to win the Lt. Governor's race against whatever the GOP throws at us in November.
In the weeks prior to the convention, our team of students from all across the state had been talking to delegates, volunteers, and fellow young voters about Mayor Newsom's candidacy and about his bold, new ideas that will be required to dig California out of our seemingly never ending state of economic misery.
The pitch was not hard to make. Young people are drawn to Newsom's campaign. We see public higher education becoming unaffordable to more and more Californians. We fear that in five or ten years our state won't be able to compete in an evolving global economy, and we worry that the living wage jobs that we will need in order to support our families will be harder and harder to find. While we are confident that our state will come to its senses when it comes to Gay Marriage and LGBT rights, we are concerned that the relentless beat of the status quo won't provide the framework necessary to drastically change the way we look at issues like immigration, the environment, and budget & tax reform. We have watched the forces of regressiveness drag our state (and our futures) under the surface, and we are ready and eager to support Gavin Newsom, who has proven time and time again in San Francisco that tangible change is not only possible, but it is also necessary.
This weekend's Camp Courage in Sacramento was a good tonic for the loss in Maine and part of our collective path forward to restoring marriage equality to California. The heart of Camp Courage is learning how to craft your "story-of-self" a personal, emotional version of who you are and why this issue matters so much to you. The goal is to empower activists to use their personal narrative to bring about political change. Stories-of-self can be used to recruit volunteers, to inspire a crowd or to change a persons' vote one door at a time.
It isn't easy to have people open up and share the most painful, scary, raw parts of their lives. But those are the stories that are the ones that need to be told the most. The power of Camp Courage comes from people risking sharing their stories of pain thus forming community and strength.
Adam Bink over at Open Left quotes Harvey Milk's famous "come out come out" speech and writes:
The same tactic Milk used for school employees everywhere must continue to be used in these communities. We have to encourage people in these towns to come out of the closet and say they want the right to marry. State Representative Mike Carey, who represents heavily Catholic downtown Lewiston and voted in favor of marriage equality in the legislature, pointed out to me that in these kinds of votes, the default vote is for fear, and it is a huge barrier to reach one's conscience if they have no personal knowledge of the issue. For all the "gay marriage will be taught in schools" ads our opponents ran in Maine and will run in other states that tap that fear element, we have to counter with people who can give voters that kind of personal touch on the issue.
It isn't just gay people that we need to come out and tell their stories, it is all of our wonderful straight allies. No, there is no application to become a straight ally, just start telling everyone you know your personal story of why you support equality for all.
One of our amazing volunteers that helped put together Camp Courage Sacramento Chris Huack brought his parents to Camp. He blogged about the experience at the Courage Campaign. Here is Chris relaying the three reflections his dad had about Camp. (more on the flip)
1 - He had no idea the pain that LGBT people had felt over discrimination and losing initiatives like Proposition 8 and Question 1 until he saw people speaking about them openly and honestly at the Camp. See, I have always been a more stoic, let's "focus on what we can do in the future" type of person, so for my Mom and Dad, they had never truly appreciated the pain this had inflicted on our community until they heard the stories of personal pain from others.
In just 77 days, Maine voters can set the national agenda for marriage equality. The state legislature passed same-sex marriage earlier this year, but now the right has collected enough signatures to put a referendum ("Question One") on the November 2009 ballot - and has hired the same political consultants who successfully passed Proposition 8. Supporters of marriage equality, however, are determined not to repeat the same mistakes we made in California - and will run an inclusive field campaign with a pro-active and pre-emptive message that (with the right resources) can bring about victory. It does not cost a lot to win campaigns in Maine (only $3 million), and voter turnout is expected to only be about 500,000 people. In other words, the campaign is winnable - but has not yet received the national attention it deserves. While Californians are divided on whether to repeal Prop 8 in 2010 or 2012, they can set aside their differences by helping us win in Maine. If we prevail on November 3rd, it will be easier to take our rights back in California.
It wasn't just hatred that helped Prop. 8 pass. Money and strategy was the real reason Prop. 8 passed. We were out-gunned and out-smarted. We had a full house and got bluffed by two pair. We stood there and couldn't believe that our fellow citizens would belive the lies that were being said about us. And now we've taken to the streets in anger that our right to marry was stolen from us. Well, just because your opponent claims to be Christian, don't expect them to behave Christ-like when they hate you. Television and radio was FLOODED with those hateful ads. "They are going to teach your children about gay marriage in school." "They are going to take away the church's right to free speech." "Children should have one Daddy and one Mommy." No one taught gay marriage to anyone in school. The churches still have their free speech. There are still plenty of single-parent families, double-parent families, and every other combination there of. All that has changed is that same-sex marriage is now outlawed in the state of California. Thanks guys!
Here are my suggestions on how to get back our right to marry:
When will American Jews wake up to the absolute wickedness of the Islamic religion. Every single follower of Islam: man, woman, and child, is taught nothing but such anti-semitism from the second they are born. The death cult of Mohammed is the biggest threat to American Jewry.
It would be a great service if Amir Abdul-Malik Ali would tell us how to recognize a Zionist Jew when wrapped from head to foot like a Muslim terrorist. If someone looking like that emerged out of the restroom on an airplane, it would be comforting to know that it is only some Jewish guy trying to make Muslims look bad. Then I can go back to reading my magazine.
These are just a couple of the many hate-filled comments that can be found on the recent Red County/OC Blog, which have now been "reprinted" at The Liberal OC. Now these folks were accusing the Muslim Student Union at UCI of inciting hatred by inviting a Muslim cleric to speak about the Israeli-Palestinean conflict. However, look at this video and try to find any "hate speech". Maybe they're just looking in the wrong direction.
But look at this. The Orange County Human Relations Commission reported in its 2006 annual report on hate crimes that attacks targeting Arab/Middle-Eastern/Muslim Americans have DOUBLED in the past year. And worse yet, the OC Human Relations Commission suggests that this may be due to the Iraq War.
Wait! Hold on here! Is this why we fight? Follow me after the flip for more...
And if you're interested in reading some fine examples of Environmental Left blogging against the 241 in which the level of exaggeration, misinformation and confabulation is matched only by the certitude with which they are asserted, then visit anyone one of young Andrew Davey's posts on his blog or lefty-blog Calitics. But he tries.
But then, I started thinking about this. I soon realized that Jubal/Matt Cunningham was actually doing us a favor. Follow me after the flip for more as I explain why we should be thanking Mr. Republican Insider for this...
OK, so it's my birthday today...
And I still have so many things to do...
So here's a new weekend tradition that I'm starting here...
Yes, I'm starting it just for you! SURREAL OC WEEKEND!
Want to see how progressives are answering to DeVore's wingnuttiness, and what a prominent GOP consultant gave me for my birthday, and a special birthday surprise that I'm giving you? Follow me after for the flip for more! : )
