LGBT POV

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Late Thursday afternoon, Bill May, Chair of Catholics for the Common Good, sent out a breathless alert urging his followers to immediately contact their Assemblymember to STOP Senate Bill 906, authored by openly gay state Sen. Mark Leno (pictured).

“[S]o far it has failed to get the 41 votes needed to pass. They are holding the vote open for the rest of the day to twist more arms for its passage. We don’t know who has voted or not. To be safe, please contact your Assembly member right away and ask him or her to vote “NO”.

The bill is very deceptive. It appears to be harmless and well intentioned, but it is really a Trojan horse sponsored by the opponents of Prop 8. It is another slap at the 7 million voters who passed it. The outcome of this bill is important as we are confident the current legal defense of Prop 8 will be eventually successful.”

How deceptive and harmless is it? Please click inside to see – plus an update from Bill May.

California Assembly Speaker John A. Perez, the nation’s highest ranking openly gay state official, was honored by Equality California at their annual gala at the Ritz-Carlton hotel downtown on Saturday. EQCA executive director Geoff Kors said the lobbying group changed venues from the Century Plaza Hotel because that hotel is part of the Hyatt chain under boycott by the Unite Here! union. The gay conservative group GOProud recently crossed the picket line by holding a reception at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego.

Perez comes out of both the labor and Latino political movements and powerfully explained to the EQCA audience why the LGBT community needs to build coalitions with the two groups. Perez is also a prodigious fundraiser and like former state legislator Sheila James Kuehl and current state Senator Mark Leno, he judiciously contributes funds to political candidates who he deems will be good on LGBT and progressive issues.

Here’s an excerpt from his EQCA speech:

“We have to recognize that effectively fighting for our rights is not simply a matter of holding press conferences or sponsoring legislation, or even precinct walking and phone banking; although those are important. It’s a matter of connecting to people on an emotional, personal and visceral level. This is something the Labor Community understands clearly.

One worker cannot stand up to the Corporation alone.  But every worker, standing together, presents a united front that cannot be ignored. Building on that, by recruiting allies, that Union’s strength and value is only magnified.

That’s a lesson Harvey Milk learned early on. How fundamentally different would our world be if labor leaders in San Francisco never made the decision to approach Harvey Milk about the Coors boycott.
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We still see the results of that early partnership today.  In a majority of states in this country, most of us in the room could be fired for simply being gay, lesbian or bisexual. And in almost every state, a transgender person could be fired for being transgender. There is nothing in the laws of those states protecting LGBT people.

But in every one of those states a union contract guarantees that protection. Wherever you find a union contract, you find a de facto ENDA.  That is a living, breathing example of the need for us to rededicate ourselves to those early lessons of coalition building.”

If that whet your political whistle – please click inside for the transcript of the entire speech. Video to come.

While the nation focused on the victories of Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, two corporate Republican women who spent millions to win their gubernatorial and Senate primary campaigns, respectively, LGBTs were focused on statewide and local races that boosted the fight for equality in California.

As of midnight, with more than half of the precincts reporting, Victoria Kolakowski, a transgender administrative law judge and attorney for over 20 years is leading in her race for Alameda County Superior Court Judge with 46.11% of the vote, compared to her nearest competitor with 31.52% of the vote. While she will likely have to face a run-off, her lead is significant and her win would be historic.

In Southern California, openly gay Ricardo Lara, a founding member of HONOR PAC, appears to have won his race in the 50^th Assembly District in the East LA area. He becomes the second openly gay Latino in the state Legislature in California history.

And in what openly gay Assembly Speaker John A. Perez described as a “huge win,” pro-gay Democrat Matt Gatto beat National Organization for Marriage favorite Sunder Ramani who “used H8 card with the Armenian community,” which backfired. Perez called the special election for Assembly District 43 a “bell-weather” for November since it was the only race where a Democrat went head-to-head with a Republican. As of midnight, Gatto was up almost 56% to Ramani’s 44%.

Perez also noted that Gatto won in a primary election where there was high Republican turnout. “It’s a very strong indication of what people want this year. They want elected officials who are committed to making the state work by investing in education and jobs and not turning their back on the needy, especially in this time of such a big economic crisis.”

Please click inside for more on the California primaries, with comments from Assembly Speaker John A. Perez, Equality California’s Geoff Kors, and Log Cabin Republican’s Scott Schmidt. UPDATED WITH NEW RESULTS.

Equality California has posted Voter Guides for both Northern and Southern California, which may be useful as LGBT voters try to navigate the spectrum of LGBT and pro-LGBT candidates. For Los Angeles area Democrats, the Stonewall Democratic Club has also posted their list of endorsements, including Betsy Butler, longtime EQCA board member who fought hard against Prop. 8 (pictured here with her friend West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tem John Duran), candidate for the 53rd Assembly District, as well as Mike Gatto, Assembly candidate for the 43rd District, and openly gay Richardo Lara, candidate in the 50th Assembly District. Also – please pay attention to their picks on judges – an overlooked category that is critically important. As San Diego blogger Mike Tidmus reports, the radical religious right is angling to take over the courts in San Diego.

There are several critical statewide offices with good pro-LGBT candidates from which to choose. The race for the office of Attorney General, for instance, is crowded with Ted Lieu, Rocky Delgadillo and Kamala Harris, the three top contenders right now. Equality California’s Political Action Committee recently hosted debates with candidates for Lt. Governor (Gavin Newsom and Janice Hahn), Superintendent of Public Instruction, Attorney General and Insurance Commissioner (Assemblymembers Dave Jones, endorsed by the Democratic Party and some AIDS activists, and Hector de la Torre, endorsed by EQCA and Stonewall) which you can watch online to make up your own mind.

UPDATE: Please note: the Log Cabin Republicans have posted their endorsements on this Facebook page.

Here’s video of the critical Attorney General’s race:

We’re all so busy trying to figure out how to get federal equality bills passed – such as the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) – some of us forget about the everyday need for equality, safety and the right to be happy of our transgender sisters and brothers. But unity and camaraderie will be especially important in the next few weeks as the Religious Right and their right wing lapdogs in Congress try to kill ENDA over transgender protections. Expect some nasty language utilized in a crafty legislative fashion to peel off support from wobbly Democrats.

Transgender activists, in conjunction with Equality California and the Transgender Law Center held the first ever Transgender Lobby Day in Sacramento on Monday. They met with lawmakers to educate them on the need for good jobs and healthcare in the transgender community. (See news story below)

And in Los Angeles, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center is holding the free 11^th annual Trans-Unity Pride from June 3-6 at the Village in Hollywood. Trans-Unity Pride is also on Facebook.

Please click inside for more info and links.

Grasp this: on Saturday, for the first time in American history, an openly gay man will be officially recognized for his accomplishments by the state of California. May 22 marks the birthday of the late LGBT martyr Harvey Milk, who will be honored with an official State Day of Recognition – Harvey Milk Day.

Openly gay San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk was assassinated on Nov. 27, 1978, along with his ally, Mayor George Moscone. Last September, when his when his Equality California-sponsored Harvey Milk Day bill passed the Assembly, openly gay Sen. Mark Leno said:

“[Harvey Milk] is an inspiration to people worldwide who believe in fairness and equality and he fought for many of the issues we value today, including access to education, public transportation, affordable housing and protecting the environment.”

EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors says, “I am truly thrilled that after several years of hard work we have succeeded in making Harvey Milk’s Birthday an official State Day of Recognition.”

Today begins a weeklong series of posts about Harvey Milk, including a calendar of events happening on Harvey Milk Day on Saturday so LGBTs and allies can more easily find a commemoration to attend. But who better to kick off the series than Harvey Milk himself, here speaking about the antigay Briggs Initiative that he helped defeat:

And here is a promo for the excellent documentary Times of Harvey Milk by Rob Epstein – which can be seen in its entirety on Hulu and purchased on Amazon:

A hearing will be held in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case on Wednesday, April 28 at 10:30 a.m. in the courtroom of Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, in San Francisco.

The hearing had originally been planned to deal with the outstanding discovery issues – Equality California and the ACLU argued that internal communications between organizations should be protected, as well as those specified by Walker and upheld by the 9^th Circuit. With that “clarification,” EQCA, one of the lead No on Prop 8 campaign groups, turned over internal strategy documents to the Yes on 8 defendant-interveners. The hearing is now expected to clear up unfinished case management business. Since Walker has pushed for a speedy trial, it is very possible that he could set a date for closing arguments that could bring the historic federal challenge to Prop 8 to a conclusion.

Please click inside to read press releases from both the American Foundation for Equal Rights and Equality California about the activity today.

UPDATED:Remember all that brouhaha when CNN anchor Krya Phillips featured an “ex-gay” named Richard Cohen on her show? She later apologized , saying he was not an “appropriate guest. But the point of the show was to “debate’ California Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal’s AB 2199, which cleans up language in a state code that instructs the state to research a “cure” for homosexuality.

Well, that bill unanimously passed the Assembly Monday – with bipartisan support – and is now headed to the state Senate.

According to Equality California, which sponsored the bill and asked Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) to carry it, AB2199 would repeal the offensive section of the California Welfare and Institutions code, which instructs the State Department of Mental Health to conduct research into the “causes and cures of homosexuality.”

EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors says:

“Sexual orientation is not a matter of choice any more than one’s height, and neither can be changed. We are thrilled with the passage of this vital bill, as all Californians regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, deserve to be treated equally and with dignity and respect.”

Lowenthal points out that the code, which implies that being LGBT is harmful and should be “cured” – contradicts substantial research that says otherwise. 

“It’s discriminatory, it’s insulting and it has to go,” Lowenthal said. “Sixty years is more than long enough.”

Go here for more information about Equality California legislation.

UPDATE: Equality California sent out an advisory saying the Traditional Values Coalition is working hard to defeat the bill in the Senate.

EQCA’s Geoff Kors writes:

The Traditional Values Coalition has made defeating this bill a priority — they want the state to support their dangerous position that sexual orientation can be changed. The Traditional Values Coalition has added this bill to their “Target List” of bills to be defeated saying:

“AB 2199 would forever strike from the Welfare and Institutions code the requirement that the State Department of Mental Health conduct research on the ’causes and cures of homosexuality.’ Right now, this is required in the law. But homosexual advocates do not want the state to study ways to help people leave the homosexual lifestyle. They want the world to think that people are ’born gay.’”

Sign our petition to the Governor urging him to support repealing this offensive law! And please forward this email to everyone you know asking them to contact the Governor today!

We must remove this blatantly false, offensive and dangerous language from California Law and educate Californians that sexual orientation is not a choice. People no more choose to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender than they do to be straight. And when people learn the truth, they move to support equality.

Grassroots activists GetEQUAL have generated national headlines by drawing attention to the lack of progress on federal LGBT equality bills such as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. But the other side of the equation is to GetSMART and elect leaders who are good on LGBT and HIV/AIDS issues. With that in mind, Equality California’s Political Action Committee is hosting a free public forum on Sunday, April 25 at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood for candidates running for statewide office.

Several candidates will attend, including San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. At the event, candidates will take questions from a panel composed of members of the press – including me – and community leaders. Submit your questions before the event to mythoughts@eqca.org. The forum will also be broadcasted live online at eqcapac.org/forum/online. Attendees will be able to meet the candidates at receptions after both the morning and afternoon sessions. PLEASE COME, MEET THE CANDIDATES AND ASK QUESTIONS!

WHERE: Pacific Design Center, Blue Building, 8687 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90069

I will be a panelist along with EQCA’s Geoff Kors during the morning session.

Morning Session

Welcome: 10:30am – 10:40am

Insurance Commissioner: 10:40am – 1:20pm Candidates Included:

• Assemblymember Dave Jones
• Assemblymember Hector De La Torre (Pictured)

Attorney General: 11:25am-1:25pm Candidates Included:

• Rocky Delgadillo, former Los Angeles City Attorney
• Kamala Harris, San Francisco District Attorney
• Chris Kelly, Chief Privacy Officer of FaceBook
• Ted Lieu, current Assemblymember from Manhattan Beach
• Pedro Nava, Assemblymember from Santa Barbara
• Alberto Torrico, Assemblymember from Fremont

Lunch Reception: 1:30pm – 3:30pm

Afternoon Session

Superintendent of Public Instruction: 3:30pm 4:30pm Candidates Included:

• Larry Aceves, former President of the Association of California School Administrators
• Gloria Romero, State Senator from East Los Angeles
• Tom Torlakson, Assemblymember from Contra Costa County

Lieutenant Governor: 4:30pm-5:15pm Candidates Included:

• Los Angeles City Councilmember Janice Hahn
• San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom

Evening Reception: 5:30pm – 7:00pm

Location: Eleven Restaurant and Bar around the corner at 8811 Santa Monica Blvd.

Georgetown Law Professor Nan Hunter, who is currently a visiting professor at the UCLA School of Law and the Williams Institute, has a piece on her blog Hunter for Justice this morning about how the Ninth Circuit has rejected an appeal by the ACLU and Equality California to turn over No on Prop 8 internal documents to proponents of Prop 8 in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the federal challenge to the constitutionality of the antigay marriage law.

In early March, District Court Judge Vaughn Walker ordered the two groups to turn over documents, while limiting the discovery to specific computer-search code words and specifically naming “core groups” that could be excluded. Not included among the named “core groups” are journalists such as myself and AP’s Lisa Leff who fairly regularly exchanged confidential emails with No on Prop 8 leadership. Those emails are now subject to discovery. Lisa told me that she has been advised by the Yes on 8 campaign that her email exchanges with their members were turned over during that discovery process. On March 22, Walker denied motions appealing that ruling but issued a stay until the Ninth Circuit could consider the appeals. The Ninth Circuit rejected the arguments – which is what Nan writes about.

Walker wants to move the case along and set a date for final arguments in the case. He set Friday as the deadline for final appeals on discovery motions.

A new Los Angles Times poll published Tuesday reported much the same results as a similar Public Policy Institute of California poll two weeks ago – that the majority of California voters now support same sex marriage. But the new trend does not automatically translate into support for a repeal of Prop 8.

The new poll found that 52 percent of registered voters in California support legal marriage for same sex couples – compared to 40 percent opposed.

But Equality California Marriage Director Marc Solomon says there is still work ahead to repeal the antigay Prop 8 in 2012 and they are asking for the community’s help. Under the auspices of the Let California Ring coalition, EQCA is holding “messaging roundtables” in Los Angeles on April 12, Riverside on April 13, and San Francisco on April 8 – tomorrow.

Please click inside for more info.

A new Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) poll released Wednesday says that for the first time in PPCI Statewide Survey, California residents are more likely to favor (50%) than oppose (45%) same-sex marriage. PPIC says “support among all adults has never surpassed 45 percent since the question was first asked in January 2000. There are clear partisan divisions: majorities of Democrats (64%) and independents (55%) are in favor, and most Republicans (67%) are opposed.”

Equality California’s Executive Director Geoff Kors said:

“We are very pleased that the more than 700,000 conversations about marriage that Equality California has initiated over the past year with Californians across the state, alongside our tireless volunteers and coalition partners, are making a remarkable difference. We are seeing the tremendous impact of reaching out, one-on-one, to change hearts and minds toward equality and fairness. Moving forward, we are committed to having more than 1 million conversations with voters in order to achieve solid majority support by 2012, when we will return to the ballot to restore the freedom to marry.”

Thursday at 5:30 Pacific time, Let California Ring coalition member Freedom to Marry will conduct a briefing on an analysis of messaging on same sex marriage conducted in California by the Equality California Institute and across the country by Freedom to Marry. That will be followed by a question and answer period from roundtable call participants.

Here’s the coalition’s report on messaging and here’s the report on lessons learned about messaging. Click here for info on how to participate in the roundtable.

Marc Solomon is director of Equality California’s Marriage Project and is here asking for the LGBT community’s help in figuring out good and appropriate messaging to advance the movement for marriage equality. LGBT POV was on a conference call about Let California Ring’s latest report and will post several stories in the coming days. – Karen Ocamb

Messaging on Marriage – We Need You!

By Marc Solomon

Monday, Let California Ring—the coalition of 50-plus organizations hosted by the Equality California Institute to do education work on the freedom to marry —embarked on something not often seen in our work together. We’ve publicly released our findings on messaging and we’re asking the community of LGBT people and allies for their best ideas to help us take our messaging work to the next level.

Why are we doing this? While experts can be very helpful and we’ve learned a great deal from them, it is our community of marriage equality supporters who are actually changing minds on this issue every day. They’re doing this work in all aspects of their lives, in communities throughout the state. They’re having conversations at church and synagogue, at the family dinner table, in the workplace, at the park, making the case about why they (or their children, siblings, or friends) should be able to marry. Through these real, tough conversations with those who are not yet with us,they’re changing minds and they are learning what works in making the case and what does not. We really want the benefit of this learning so that we can try out some new, innovative approaches, and then bring back to the community what’s most effective….

Please click inside to read more of Marc’s post and how you can help.

Despite being among those considered by President Barack Obama to fill a vacancy for the U.S. Supreme Court, Los Angeles native Moreno stuck to his principles and was the lone dissenting voice when the California high court voted to uphold Prop 8. Obama picked federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor instead.

Saturday night, Equality California honored Justice Moreno at a gala at City Hall in San Francisco.

Please click inside to read Justice Moreno’s remarks.

As Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors notes in his remarks at EQCA’s Awards gala Saturday night, last year was an amazing legislative year for LGBT bills and resolutions in California. EQCA sponsored an unprecedented 63 pieces of legislation and among the 11 bills that passed was state Sen. Mark Leno’s Harvey Milk Day bill which created the first ever annual day of recognition for an openly LGBT person.

Please click inside to read Kor’s remarks.

San Francisco Bloggers: Come Canvass for Equality!

Guest post By Matt Baume, freelance journalist, and Michael Kaiser-Nyman, Bay Area Regional Field Manager, Equality California

(Photo from canvassing in East Los Angeles)

Bloggers: are you a little too tied to your keyboard? Want another way to help restore the freedom to marry in California?

Where: Visitacion Valley Playground at Leland and Cora

When: Saturday, Feb 13 at 10am

Duration: 3-4 hours (or however long it is)

RSVP: Facebook

Bay Area bloggers are hitting the streets this weekend to build support for marriage equality. If you can make it out, please join us at 10:00 am this Saturday in San Francisco. The canvass is a great excuse to meet and mingle with a crowd of awesome online writers, and learn about some of the work being done to restore marriage for same-sex couples in California. Non-bloggers will also be there and are highly welcome. Please click inside to read more about the canvassing.

Monday morning, come rain or shine – probably rain – LGBT people will join in the annual parade in Los Angeles celebrating the contributions of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr..

Milton Davis, LA Field Manager for Equality California, told LGBT POV that EQCA will march with a contingency with groups that include Here to Stay Coalition, Black Lesbians United, the Jordan Rustin Coalition, and the Courage Campaign.

Davis says:

“We will be wearing white tops in a gesture symbolizing peace and unity between the Black and LGBT communities. There were dozens of signs made yesterday indicating that is a pro-LGBT contingency. The signs provided will relate to the groups involved as well as general slogans related to peace, justice, etc.”

The group is meeting at the Lucy Florence Cafe – owned by openly gay twin brothers Ron and Richard Harris – (3351 W. 43rd St., LA, 90008) in Leimert Park at 9:00am where coffee will be served. Water and snacks will be provided as well. Shuttles will take people from Lucy Florence to the starting point of the march.

For more info, call Milton Davis at 626-394-1002.

One would think that the Miss California USA Pageant might have had just about enough talk about gay marriage after the brouhaha raised by former Miss California, Carrie Prejean. But that’s not the way pageant director Keith Lewis saw it – before Prejean sued him and the pageant and before her sex tapes surfaced and the subsequent settlement.

The new Miss California USA pageant airs today – check their website or your local listings for broadcast on the CW network or you can watch the live webcast of Miss California USA on Ustream. The broadcast will feature a 30 second ad on same sex marriage produced by Equality California. Carrie Prejean was invited to also tape an ad for the broadcast – but she declined. Click inside for comments from Lewis and NOM’s Maggie Gallagher about where Carrie is post-sex tapes. And here is the EQCA ad that will air today:

Election Night one year ago was simultaneously thrilling and devastating with the election of America’s first African American president and the passage of antigay Prop 8.
Click inside to read my contemporaneous story summing up the No on Prop 8 campaign. (Protest stories coming up).

Masen Davis, the highly regarded head of the Transgender Law Center – he was the 2008 recipient of Christopher Street West’s Berman/Schafer Award – says many transgender people are “saddened and angered” by Gov. Schwarzenegger’s veto of two bills that would dramatically impact the lives of transgender people in California. Click inside for his comments.