Senate Majority Leader Reid announces support for National Equality March
From a press release:
(Las Vegas) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is supporting the National Equality March (NEM) saying in a letter addressed to steering committee members, “I write to join in your commitment to ensure equality under the law.” The letter was delivered on September 30.
“We are honored that …
Senator Harry Reid Says Obama Should Sign Order on Gay Troops, SLDN Also Joins Call for Executive Option
SANTA BARBARA, CA — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has called on President Obama to sign an executive order suspending the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, according to the Advocate magazine.
Referring to the repeal of the ban, Reid told Advocate reporter Kerry Eleveld that, “My hope is that it can be done administratively.” Eleveld added that, “A Democratic aide later clarified that Reid was speaking about the possibility of using an executive order to suspend discharges or perhaps halting enforcement of the policy by changing departmental regulations within the Department of Defense.”
As well, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) has called on President Obama to sign an executive order. In a letter to the New York Times yesterday, SLDN Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis wrote that, “President Obama should consider all viable options he can take on his own to get rid of this discriminatory law, including issuing a ’stop-loss’ order.” For more than a decade, SLDN has been the largest and most influential group in the country working on the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
The idea of ending the ban by executive order gained momentum after the release last month of a Palm Center study showing that the president has the authority to suspend “don’t ask, don’t tell” via a stroke of the pen. Before that time, many argued that only Congress or the courts could lift the ban on service by openly gay troops.
Others calling for the President to sign an executive order include the New York Times editorial page, the Human Rights Campaign, Knights Out, an organization of gay and lesbian alumni of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center CEO Lorri Jean, and former Clinton White House official Richard Socarides.
Palm Center Director Aaron Belkin said that awareness of the executive option has changed the conversation about “don’t ask, don’t tell” substantially. “Obama used to duck the issue by blaming Congress for the inertia. Now it’s clear that he has unilateral authority to fulfill his campaign promise.”
The Palm Center is a research institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Center uses rigorous social science to inform public discussions of controversial social issues, enabling policy outcomes to be informed more by evidence than by emotion. Its data-driven approach is premised on the notion that the public makes wise choices on social issues when high-quality information is available. For more information, visit www.palmcenter.ucsb.edu.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/senator-harry…
The Church and Gay Marriage: Are Mormons Misunderstood?
Last November, Jay Pimentel began hearing that people in his neighborhood were receiving letters about him. Pimentel lives in Alameda, Calif., a small, liberal-leaning community hanging off Oakland into the San Francisco Bay. Pimentel, who is a Mormon, had supported Proposition 8, the ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage. And that made him a target. “Dear Neighbor,” the letter began, “Our neighbors, Colleen and Jay Pimentel” — and it gave their address — “contributed $1,500.00 to the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign. NEIGHBORS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THEIR NEIGHBORS’ CHOICES.” The note accused the Pimentels of “obsessing about same-sex marriage.” It listed a variety of local causes that recipients should support — “unlike the Pimentels.”
Pimentel, a lawyer and a lay leader in the small Mormon congregation in Alameda, is markedly even-keeled. Yet the poison-pen note still steams him, even though in May the California Supreme Court validated Prop 8 as constitutional. He is bothered less by the revelation of his monetary contribution, which he stands by, than the fact that the letter’s author didn’t bother to find out that every other Saturday for 15 years, he or someone else from Alameda’s 184-member Mormon ward has delivered a truckload of hot meals to the Midway Shelter for Abused and Homeless Women and Children — one of the organizations the Pimentels allegedly wouldn’t support. “The church does a lot of things in the community we don’t issue press releases about,” he says. “And when people criticize us, we often just take it on the chin. I guess you could say I’m not satisfied with the way we’re seen.”
Across the country, that’s the dilemma facing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. With 13 million members worldwide (by its own count), the LDS is the fourth largest church in the country, the richest per capita and one of the fastest-growing abroad. The body has become a mainstream force, counting among its flock political heavyweights like former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Democratic Senate majority leader Harry Reid, businesspeople like the Marriotts and entertainers like Glenn Beck and Twilight novelist Stephenie Meyer. The passage of Prop 8 was the church’s latest display of its power: individual Mormons contributed half of the proposition’s $40 million war chest despite constituting only 2% of California’s population. LDS spokesman Michael Otterson says, “This is a moment of emergence.”
See The Church and Gay Marriage: Are Mormons Misunderstood?
TIME
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/church-and-ga…
If we don’t act decisively, America’s next Proposition 8 could happen in Iowa.
If we don’t act decisively, America’s next Proposition 8 could happen in Iowa.
While key Iowa leaders have been defending this decision, successfully staving off a marriage ban for now, it’s critical that they hear public support as the right-wing onslaught continues – fueled by this week’s marriage victory in Vermont. Send a message thanking Iowa’s leaders and urging them to resist right-wing pressure.
But the right wing campaign isn’t stopping – and if it happened in California, it can happen in Iowa.
They are reportedly out-emailing us two to one in Iowa. They’ve held rallies in front of the state capitol. And with every email, phone call, editorial, or ad, it becomes more politically difficult for lawmakers to stay strong. That’s why we need to act now.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/04/if-we-dont-ac…
For Supporters of Gay Marriage, a Dashing of Great Expectations
When Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith spoke to a hotel ballroom in Manhattan packed with hundreds of gay-rights advocates, fund-raisers and politicians on Saturday night, his mere mention of the words “marriage equality” roused the crowd. So when Mr. Smith got to the question on everyone’s mind — whether New York would legalize same-sex marriages — he was greeted with a burst of cheers and applause before he could even finish his thought. “Hold up,” Mr. Smith, a Democrat, said, trying to temper the excitement. “Although we do not have the number of votes at this time needed to pass the marriage equality gender bill this legislative session, we are committed to pursuing its passage.” With that, Mr. Smith sent a clear signal that same-sex marriage in New York did not stand a good chance of becoming law this year. His assessment was a sobering dose of reality for supporters of gay rights, who with their money and support helped Democrats win control of the Senate for the first time since 1965 and hoped to quickly knock down the last remaining obstacle to gay marriage in New York. “It’s very disappointing,” said Matthew Titone, a Democratic assemblyman who represents Staten Island and who listened to Mr. Smith’s speech, which was delivered at a fund-raiser for the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay rights organization. “Even if they don’t have the votes, that’s really no excuse for the leader not to crack the whip, get them in line and remind them that the only reason they’re in the majority is because of the gay community,” Mr. Titone said. Expectations that the Senate would act this year have run high. To secure their victory in November, Senate Democrats relied on hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from supporters of gay and lesbian rights across the country. A gay marriage bill, which passed the Assembly in 2007 and has the backing of Gov. David A. Paterson, was among the issues that Democrats were expected to press once they took the majority. Mr. Smith himself said in 2007, “We’re going to make sure that happens in ‘08, when we take over the majority.” See For Supporters of Gay Marriage, a Dashing of Great Expectations
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/for-supporter…
Smith says NY Senate lacks gay marriage votes
ALBANY, N.Y. - New York Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith said Saturday that his Democratic conference lacks enough votes to legalize gay marriage this year, but he’s committed to passing a gay marriage bill soon.
Smith said in remarks prepared for a Human Rights Campaign event in Manhattan that he strongly supports equal marital rights for gay couples.
“Although we don’t have the number of votes at this time needed to pass the marriage equality and gender bill this legislative session, we are committed to pursuing its passage when we have the votes,” said Smith, of Queens.
But his confirmation that he lacks enough votes is likely a disappointment for gay rights advocates, who had hoped gay marriage would pass after Democrats took control of the Senate in the November elections. See Smith says NY Senate lacks gay marriage votes
Newsday, NY
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/smith-says-ny…
Gay ally new NY senate leader
(Albany, New York) Malcolm Smith has been elected New York State Senate Majority Leader, ending more than a month of intense negotiations with conservatives who threatened to scuttle Democratic control of the state upper house over Smith’s support for same-sex marriage and other gay issues.
In November, Democrats took control of …
Tags: Albany New York, Ally, Conservatives, Democratic Control, Democrats, Gay Issues, Intense Negotiations, Malcolm Smith, marriage, New Albany, New York State, New York State Senate, Ny Senate, same sex marriage, Senate Leader, Senate Majority Leader, Upper House, York State SenateGay Marriage Bill Likely to Come up in NY State Senate
Newly elected state Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith says it’s only a matter of time before a bill to legalize gay marriage comes up for discussion - see Gay Marriage Bill Likely to Come up in State Senate
WNYC - New York,NY,USA
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/01/gay-marriage-…
