EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors: “Prop. 8 destroys the fundamental principle of equal protection”
“By taking away a fundamental right from one group, Prop. 8 destroys the fundamental principle of equal protection – a principle codified in our Constitution and intended to protect minority groups from the oppression of the majority. Without the right to equal protection, every Californian risks discrimination at the ballot box.
“Equality California has sued on behalf of our members to invalidate Prop. 8. Today, our team of attorneys, led by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU, argued that Prop. 8 usurps the guarantee of equal protection and bypasses our legal safeguards. More than 300 leading civil rights organizations, legal scholars, and faith leaders submitted amicus briefs to the court, indicating their support of our argument. And this week, the state Assembly and state Senate passed resolutions stating their belief that Prop. 8 is an invalid revision to the Constitution.
“But victory in the courts is far from certain and no matter the outcome, the work to achieve acceptance and understanding must continue. Prop. 8 showed how much work there is left to be done and invalidating that discriminatory, unconstitutional amendment is just the beginning.
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Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender-rights advocacy organization in California. In the past decade, EQCA has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for LGBT individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil-rights protections in the nation. EQCA has passed over 50 pieces of legislation and continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/03/eqca-executiv…
Backers Of Calif. Gay Marriage Ban Face Backlash
Since California voters passed a ban on gay marriage, some supporters of the measure have found themselves squarely in the bull’s-eye of angry gay rights activists.
It’s no secret who gave money for and against the controversial amendment to the state’s constitution, known as Proposition 8. California’s secretary of state publicized the lists of contributors, which were picked up by local media and Web sites.
And in the aftermath of a contentious campaign, protests followed. In Los Angeles, would-be patrons of a popular Tex-Mex restaurant were greeted by furious protestors like John Dennison.
“El Coyote — millions in gay margarita money funding hatred,” Dennison yelled during the protest. “Boycott El Coyote!”
The restaurant owner’s daughter, Margie Christofferson, a faithful Mormon, had made a modest $100 contribution to the “Yes on 8″ campaign — and the restaurant’s gay patrons, like Edward Stanley, felt betrayed.
“I won’t be eating here,” Stanley said.
Business dipped about 30 percent at the height of the protest, and it still hasn’t returned to pre-protest levels. Several members of the restaurant’s staff — including many of its gay employees — have seen their hours cut back in response. And Christofferson, who managed the restaurant, has resigned.
Others Feel The Heat
In Sacramento, the owners of Leatherby’s Family Creamery found themselves part of the backlash when The Sacramento Bee printed the list of contributors. Dave Leatherby, a devout Roman Catholic father of 10, says he was responding to a direct request from his bishop to give generously.
“We gave $20,000 for Yes on Proposition 8,” he says.
And once that was known, retaliation was swift. “We soon started getting very nasty e-mails and letters and phone calls by the hundreds,” he says.
Leatherby says he was mystified, because the Creamery had always enjoyed good relations with the gay and lesbian community.
And he says something interesting happened when demonstrators arrived outside his shop: Business went up, instead of down. “The day they picketed us, there were about 15 picketers, and that day we had people waiting two hours to get into our restaurant for four or five hours,” he says.
Not every backlash story ends that way.
Richard Raddon, director of the Los Angeles Film Festival, and Scott Eckern, director of the California Musical Theater in Sacramento, are devout Mormons. Both made contributions to Yes on 8, and both got demands for their resignations from gay rights protestors. They quit so their organizations wouldn’t face further controversy. Ironically, the film festival has been instrumental in introducing works by gay and lesbian filmmakers to a broader audience — and the musical theater included works by gay playwrights and composers.
See Backers Of Calif. Gay Marriage Ban Face Backlash
NPR
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/03/backers-of-ca…
Gay marriage fault lines in San Mateo County
Proposition 8, the State Constitutional Amendment recently passed by California voters, was arguably one of the most divisive pieces of public policy placed before the voters since Proposition 187, the anti-illegal immigrant initiative which was passed by voters in 1994.
Proposition 8 is the Constitutional Amendment that eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry in California and established that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.
Proposition 8 passed by the narrow margin of 6,838,107 votes in support, or 52.3%, to 6,246,463 votes against, or 47.7% in the State. In San Mateo County, Proposition 8 failed by a wide margin of 114,695 votes in support, or 38.3%, to 185,127 votes against, or 61.7%.
Since its passage, many of those of donated in support of the measure have been subject to unpleasant phone calls and letters, some of which contained foul language and physical threats. Web sites like AntiGayBlacklist.com posted donors’ names and home addresses on Google maps and there have been calls for boycotts of the businesses of donors.
See Gay marriage fault lines in San Mateo County
Examiner.com -
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/gay-marriage-…
Gay marriage fault lines in San Mateo County
Proposition 8, the State Constitutional Amendment recently passed by California voters, was arguably one of the most divisive pieces of public policy placed before the voters since Proposition 187, the anti-illegal immigrant initiative which was passed by voters in 1994.
Proposition 8 is the Constitutional Amendment that eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry in California and established that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.
Proposition 8 passed by the narrow margin of 6,838,107 votes in support, or 52.3%, to 6,246,463 votes against, or 47.7% in the State. In San Mateo County, Proposition 8 failed by a wide margin of 114,695 votes in support, or 38.3%, to 185,127 votes against, or 61.7%.
Since its passage, many of those of donated in support of the measure have been subject to unpleasant phone calls and letters, some of which contained foul language and physical threats. Web sites like AntiGayBlacklist.com posted donors’ names and home addresses on Google maps and there have been calls for boycotts of the businesses of donors.
See Gay marriage fault lines in San Mateo County
Examiner.com -
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/gay-marriage-…
“Will of the Voters” must be obeyed – unless it embarrasses those thin skinned Marriage Ban Donors
SAN FRANCISCO — In many ways it is a typical map, showing states, highways, cities and streets.
But also dotting the online display are thousands of red arrows, marking spots from Bryn Mawr, Pa., to Jamacha, Calif., identifying the addresses of donors who supported Proposition 8, which outlawed same-sex marriage in California.
It is exactly those arrows that concern supporters of the measure, who say they have been regularly harassed since the election — with threatening e-mail messages and sometimes boycotts of their businesses.
“Some gay activists have organized Web sites to actively encourage people to go after supporters of Proposition 8,” said Frank Schubert, the campaign manager for Protect Marriage, the leading group behind the proposition. “And giving these people a map to your home or office leaves supporters of Proposition 8 feeling especially vulnerable. Really, it is chilling.”
So chilling, apparently, that supporters have filed suit in Federal District Court in Sacramento seeking a preliminary injunction of a state election law that requires donors of $100 or more to disclose their names, addresses, occupations and other personal information. In particular, the suit seeks to stop the final filing for the 2008 election, which is due Jan. 31. That filing includes donations made in the closing days of the campaign, when the proposition surged to victory.
James Bopp Jr., a lawyer from Indiana who filed the lawsuit on the behalf of Protect Marriage, said the harassment of Proposition 8 supporters violated their constitutional rights of free speech and assembly.
“The cost of transparency cannot be discouragement of people’s participation in the process,” said Mr. Bopp, who has argued several prominent cases challenging campaign-finance laws in California and other states. “The highest value in the First Amendment is speech, and some amorphous idea about transparency cannot be used to subvert those rights.”
The election law in question, the Political Reform Act of 1974, was approved by California voters as Proposition 9, and gay rights advocates say there is rich irony in supporters of Proposition 8 opposing the earlier ballot measure.
“They believe in the will of the people if it’s in tune with what they believe,” said Jennifer C. Pizer, marriage project director with Lambda Legal, the gay rights legal organization, in Los Angeles.
Opponents of Proposition 8 are also suspicious of the intent of trying to prevent donors from being identified. “Do they want to hide something?” said Shannon P. Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco. See Marriage Ban Donors Feel Exposed by List New York Times
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Opponents of Kalamazoo city ordinance are fighting a losing battle …
The Kalamazoo City Commission has backed off, at least temporarily, on its new ordinance outlawing discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgender individuals.
But even if the commission doesn’t come back with a reworked proposal any time soon, my sense is that ordinance opponents are on the wrong side of history.
The tipping point has been reached on the issue of gay rights. Sure, California voters passed Prop 8 in November. Yes, President-elect Obama is hedging on supporting same-sex marriage. True, the American Family Association of Michigan was able to get 1,300 Kalamazoo residents to sign petitions protesting the new ordinance.
See Opponents of Kalamazoo city ordinance are fighting a losing battle …
MLive.com
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Activists say there are lessons to be learned from ‘Milk’
Movies may be just entertainment. But the film “Milk” has taken on another role — that of a rallying point for gays and lesbians dismayed by California voters’ rejection in November of gay marriage.
The Focus Features release starring Sean Penn as groundbreaking homosexual politician Harvey Milk is viewed by some in the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender community as a textbook on gay activism, one that should be studied and emulated to prevent further setbacks.
In many locations, activists have used the opening of “Milk” as an occasion to pass out literature on upcoming city, state and national legislation.
In Rhode Island, Susan MacNeil saw “Milk” as an opportunity to demonstrate for gay rights. The executive director of the state’s marriage equality effort, MacNeil expected 20 people to show up for a rally on a recent rainy night in Providence.
“We got 500,” she marveled. “We’re feeling this groundswell of urgency to protect our civil rights. If the gay community can have its marriage rights ripped away in California, then who’s next?”
“Lots of people I’ve spoken to in recent weeks are eager not just to see the film but to bring family members, neighbors, fellow worshippers to a screening,” said Hans Johnson, president of the political consulting firm Progressive Victory and a contributing editor to the Web magazine In These Times. “The movie reinforces their sense of engagement and connection to the broader LGBT community, and it seems to give permission for further activism.” See Activists say there are lessons to be learned from ‘Milk’
Kansas City Star, MO
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NY Timed Editorial: Civil Unions are “Separate and Not Equal”
Civil unions are an inadequate substitute for marriage. Creating a separate, new legal structure to confer some benefits on same-sex couples neither honors American ideals of fairness, nor does it grant true equality. The results are clearly visible in New Jersey, which continues to deny same-sex couples some of the tangible civil benefits that come with marriage.
Gov. Jon Corzine of New Jersey has long said that he would sign a measure granting the right to marry to couples of the same sex. We are heartened that he has declared that that should happen sooner rather than later.
We hope Mr. Corzine intends to prod legislators into passing such a law early in the 2009 session. That would make New Jersey the first state to legalize marriage for same-sex couples through legislative action. Three other states — Connecticut, Massachusetts and California — have done so through the courts. Unfortunately, California voters approved a ballot measure in November rescinding that right, at least for now.
Mr. Corzine made his statement after a state commission released its final report on New Jersey’s two-year-old civil union law. The commission noted the hurt and stigma inflicted by shutting out gay people from the institution of marriage. It also found that civil unions do not assure gay couples of the same protections, including the right to collect benefits under a partner’s health insurance program and to make medical decisions on behalf of a partner who is unable to do so. The panel concluded unanimously that the state should enact a law to remove the inequities.
We regret that the leaders of the state’s Democratic-controlled Legislature do not view this issue with the same urgency. Senate President Richard Codey, for instance, said recently that progress in civil rights areas “is typically achieved in incremental steps.” We suspect that political expedience is clouding Mr. Codey’s sense of fairness. Next year in New Jersey, the governorship and all seats in the Assembly are up for grabs in an election. Some Republicans already are talking about making their opposition to same-sex marriage a campaign issue.
Governor Corzine typically takes the right side on important issues, but he has been known to retreat in the face of opposition. We hope that’s not the case here. It’s past time for him and for the Democrats in Trenton to find the political courage to extend the right to marry to gay couples.
See Separate and Not Equal
New York Times, United States
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/ny-timed-edit…
Gay Marriage Ban Inspires New Wave of Activists
SAN FRANCISCO — They’re calling it Stonewall 2.0.
Outraged by California voters’ ban on same-sex marriage, a new wave of advocates, shaken out of a generational apathy, have pushed to the forefront of the gay rights movement, using freshly minted grass-roots groups and embracing not only new technologies but also old-school methods like sit-ins and sickouts.
Matt Palazzolo, 23, a self-described “video artist-actor turned gay activist,” founded one group, Equal Roots Coalition, with a group of friends about 10 days ago. “I’d been focused on other things in my life,” Mr. Palazzolo said. “Then Nov. 4 happened, and it woke me up.”
Often young and politically inexperienced, the new campaigners include an unlikely set of leaders, among them a San Francisco chess teacher, a search-engine marketer from Seattle and a former contestant on “American Gladiators,” who jokingly suggested that he had become involved in the movement as a way of making up for his poor performance on the show.
“We’re a gay couple in West Hollywood, neither of us involved in activism, but we just wanted to help,” said Sean Hetherington, 30, a stand-up comic who was the first openly gay contestant ever to do battle, however briefly, in the Gladiator Arena. “And we were amazed at what happened.”
Mr. Hetherington and his companion were among several people surprised by the strength of positive reaction after starting Web sites geared toward a demonstration planned for Wednesday, “Day Without a Gay.” Its organizers are asking gay rights supporters to avoid going to work by “calling in gay” and volunteering in the movement instead.
Many grass-roots leaders say the emergence of new faces, and acceptance of tactics that are more confrontational, amount to an implicit rejection of the measured approach of established gay rights groups, a course that, some gay men and lesbians maintain, allowed passage of the ban, Proposition 8.
See Gay Marriage Ban Inspires New Wave of Activists
New York Times, United States
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/gay-marriage-…
Same Sex Couple Walks From Los Angeles to San Francisco
SALINAS, Calif. – Following November’s voter-approved passing of Proposition 8, the protests and rallies in support of gay marrriage continue statewide.
One couple is taking their protest peacefully to the streets, walking from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Valerie Paget and Tracie Jones met in 1998 and were married earlier this year. The two are walking to spread the message of civil rights, and what was lost after California voters ruled against gay marriage.
On Monday, the couple traveled by foot through the City of Salinas. During their march, they carry with them sandwich board style signs, and a petition for supporters to sign. That petition is in conjunction with the Courage Campaign and has gained near 300,000 signatures.
See Same Sex Couple Walks From Los Angeles to San Francisco
KCBA, CA -
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