DC Council preparing to pass Marriage Equality!

YEY D.C. I am so glad I live in a city that recognizes equality!!! If only the rest of the country could be so enlightened.

Catania said he is buoyed by the fact that he has a super-majority standing with him.

"For me, I have to be honest, it's a particularly satisfying point in time to have a community and the council that is so committed to marriage equality," Catania said in an interview Thursday. "The debate is almost over here. The acceptance, while not universal, is substantial."

Story here.

Crossing Borders from Advocate.com

The Advocate has published a story this month about same-sex partner immigration.

Bills addressing immigration rights for gay couples have been percolating in Congress for almost a decade, but none have gained traction on Capitol Hill until now. One of the movement’s newest allies is California representative Mike Honda, a Bay Area Democrat who in June introduced a bill that includes gay couples in expediting immigrant family reunification. “I couldn’t say I was working for all families if I didn’t include a category of committed partners whom I would certainly consider to be equal,” Honda says.

What the hell is wrong with republicans?

Joe My God published survey results today that shows that, while democrats and independents have increasingly approved of marriage equality, republicans have gone in the opposite direction, becoming more OPPOSED to marriage equality. Yet another of numerous signs that republicans are completely out of step with the mainstream of American culture.

Fucking hateful idiots.

That's So Emma & Julia!

Maine Marriage Equality at Risk.

We all know that this movement is not about marriage, it never has been. Its about hating gay people and wanting to destroy them. We all know that to be true.

Tell Congress how DOMA affects YOU!

HRC has initiated a campaign to repeal the 'Defense of Marriage Act.' They are asking people to go to their web page to fill out a 5-minute survey to show how DOMA has affected you. They will forward all responses to Congress and the White House. Link here.

Over the past few weeks, we've helped build unprecedented momentum to repeal DOMA. But President Obama has yet to take action against DOMA, and Congress still isn't getting the message. We need to keep up a constant stream of pressure if they're going to act.

Until DOMA is repealed, gay and lesbian married couples will be denied the federal rights straight married couples enjoy, like Social Security survivors' benefits, putting a spouse on a health plan without tax penalties, the right to take family and medical leave to care for a spouse, and equal treatment under U.S. immigration laws... The list goes on.

It's up to us to make sure Congress understands the impact of their inaction on thousands of married couples who remain strangers under federal law.

OBAMA: does he or doesn't he?

Washington Post article on Obama's stance on same-sex marriage:

Even if Obama does in fact believe in marriage equality, he hasn't done -- and is unlikely to do -- much to forward the cause. And apart from some toothless sniping from a handful of gay activists and donors, he seems to be getting away with it. In this way, the presumed (yet secret) good intentions of Democrats can wind up doing more harm than good: They tell the gay community that Democrats are at least better than the GOP, thus providing an excuse that can be employed endlessly while they stall.

For some time, liberal politicians have taken a largely wink-and-nod approach to gay issues. They've done so with the excuse that the culture must catch up before any progress can be made (an excuse that conveniently doesn't apply to other liberal interest groups, such as unions and trial lawyers, that do very well when Democrats are in power). Obama paid tribute to this timeworn tactic recently when he told gay activists at the White House: "I want you to know that I expect and hope to be judged not by words, but by the promises my administration keeps. By the time this administration is over, I think you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration."

U.S. Census Bureau WILL report married same-sex couples in the 2010 census.

In Reversal of Bush Policy, U.S. Census Bureau announced that they would report married same-sex couples in the 2010 census!

This is an important step forward, and one we hope signals the federal government's burgeoning commitment to including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in data and reporting on a broad spectrum of critical matters, such as those related to our community's health, economic issues, safety and life circumstances.

Story here.

Good Blog About LGBT Immigration Issues

I found a great blog for reading about and sharing the stories and the nightmares that same-sex bi-national couples face:

As gay and lesbian Americans, many laws and rights do not apply to us, but this is especially so when it comes to immigrating our family members or loved ones. Once we are put in a position of having to choose between the love of our lives and the love of our country we are left with very few options. When the lack of immigration equality becomes apparent, what comes next is a dark road for many who choose to stay in the country---not knowing when the day will come when they are found out, their loved one deported, fined or put in jail. Many of us take our hopes, our money and our dreams and pack up and move in order to have some sense of normalcy. But, a simple task of returning home to visit our families for a special occasion can quickly become a nightmare when we are cruelly separated from our partners who are held or detained without reason. This site showcases our immigration nightmares as same-sex binational couples and reveals how our lives and the lives of our families are being outright and openly discriminated against on the federal level by the United States government. Same-sex binational couples deserve immediate remedy and restitution for the deliberate pain and suffering caused by psychological abuse and undue hardships caused by our lack of immigration equality in US immigration law and policy. We will be happy just to have our lives back.

Check it out here.

Amsterdam mayor marries U.S. gay couples

The mayor of Amsterdam married five American-Dutch gay couples on Saturday in an implicit criticism of the lack of same-sex marriage and immigration rights in the U.S.

Full story here.

The problem is that Americans can't be shamed into doing the right thing. They won't do it until they're forced to.

Hastings Explains How White House is Thwarting DADT Repeal

Rachel Maddow asks Congressman hastings how and why the White House is keeping DADT from being stopped and eventually repealed.

What the hell is going on?

DADT Delayed Again

Looks like the lies continue, and despite repeated polling that shows overwhelming support across all demographics for repealing "Don't Ask Don't Tell," Congress and the White House just WILL NOT MOVE on this, and are in fact deliberately delaying repeal. Story.

Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings has withdrawn an amendment that would have prevented the military from using money to carry out the provisions of its Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, which prevents gays from serving openly in the military.

The Democrat said he pulled the measure under pressure from the White House and colleagues.

"What is the holdup, then?" he said. "Last month, 76 of my colleagues and I sent a letter to President Obama urging him to take leadership on this issue and to work together with Congress to repeal this law. More than a month later, I have yet to receive an official response."

Just what the fuck is up? Why the delay on something so overwhelmingly supported? And what does this portend for how likely it is that we will EVER get a repeal of DOMA, which has wide support but not nearly the level of support yet that DADT has?

Do the democrats have any spine?

Polling Data Shows Growing Support for Same-Sex Marriage

According to a comprehensive new analysis of public opinion surveys conducted over the last 15 years, support for the legalization of same-sex marriage has grown substantially in the United States.

According to the analysis, the growth in support of gay rights is accelerating. Roughly half of the change in support nationwide has occurred in the last four years alone.

Washington State gay haters turn in signatures

Yet another state where the haters are turning back our rights.

You CANNOT put the rights of people up to popular vote. This is exactly why the state-to-state process will not work. This has to go to the supreme court. Our rights cannot be bargained or voted away. This is SICK.

Nadler & DOMA Repeal

Interview in Bay Area Reporter with Congressman Jerold Nadler. He will be authoring the repeal of DOMA. He is also the author and original sponsor of the Uniting American Families Act.

"We have got to repeal DOMA and have got to make sure it accomplishes for federal purposes allowing the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages," said Nadler, who led the fight to defeat a Federal Marriage Amendment that would have enshrined the same-sex marriage ban in the U.S. Constitution. "The time for dumping DOMA is long overdue."

Full Story.

AFSCME Nurses urge Congress to support President Obama and pass H.R. 3200. Now.

Consequences of Gay Marriage

Blind Hatred.

Just as Janice Langbehn and her partner Lisa Pond were about to depart from Miami on a family cruise with their three children, Lisa suddenly collapsed. From the moment Janice and the children arrived at Jackson Memorial Hospital, they encountered prejudice and apathy. The hospital also refused Janice and their children visitation for nearly eight hours, telling her that she was in an antigay city and state, and could expect no information or acknowledgment as family.

Sick fucks in that hospital, and these are supposed to be health care workers and social workers. How can people be so hateful?

Another First for Same-Sex Couples in DC

I'm so proud of my city!!!

Lesbians in the District will no longer have to adopt children born to their partners through artificial insemination with their written consent under a new law that went into effect on Saturday.

The name of a consenting spouse or unmarried partner will appear on the child's birth certificate as the legal parent -- a status that previously had to be obtained by same-sex parents through a complicated adoption process.

The Domestic Partnership Judicial Determination Parentage Act of 2009 puts the city out front when it comes to children born of same-sex parents.

Complete story is at the Washington Post - I can't paste the link because Blogger is saying it has illegal characters (Could it be the 'sex'?) Here is the link, copy and paste:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2009/07/another_first_for_same-sex_cou.html?hpid=news-col-blog

GO OBAMA!

Immigration Reform: Include Same-Sex Couples

Steve RallsDirector of Communications at Immigration Equality has written a column on Huffington Post about Steve & Joe.

The Washington, D.C. couple, who have been together for almost a decade, recently bought a new home in the city's Columbia Heights neighborhood. Two weeks ago, they were married in Connecticut. And in early August, they will celebrate their life together with friends and family who will gather to toast the couple and salute their commitment to each other.

But there will be no gifts at Steve and Joe's Washington celebration. Instead of registering at Macy's or collecting appliances and furnishings, they have asked guests to make a contribution that, they hope, will help them stay together. Despite their strong commitment to each other, and the life they have built together, Steve and Joe face separation before year's end because of the country's blatantly discriminatory immigration policies.

Full article here.

Should We or Shouldn't We? We Should.

David Mixner wrote a great post yesterday on his blog regarding the apparent encouragement by the entrenched GLBT organizations to slow down in our push for equality. Specifically, a group of these organizations is trying to push Californians to keep a repeal of Prop 8 off the ballots until at least 2012, hoping that by then we will have won the hearts and minds of enough Californians to be assured of victory. These are some of the same people who pushed back against the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the organization formed to bring a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of Prop 8.

I'm amazed that these organizations want us to wait until people like us! I'm also amazed that they are misreading the tenor of this movement so terribly right now - the movement has finally been framed by the grassroots, and accepted by the civil mainstream, as a civil rights movement, nothing less. Being denied our rights just because some people don't like us goes against everything this country is supposed to be about. The fact that our activist organizations are still trying to make us wait until people like us, instead of fighting along side those who are making the push we need toward equal rights, makes me think that these organizations have served their purpose and should move on.

We deserve the rights NOW, not in ten years, And the only way we are going to get these rights is to fight for them NOW, to march and organize and to stand up to those who don't like us. It has been 40 years since Stonewall and much longer since gay activists started this movement in the 50s, and we have NO MORE rights now than we did then. We can still be fired in most states for being gay. The federal government does not recognize us in ANY way, nor our families. We are barred specifically in federal law and most state laws from enjoying the simple freedoms that everyone else enjoys - it IS, as David Mixner coined it, gay apartheid.

How long should we wait for people to like us? How much longer should we be denied our basic freedoms in the United States? How long do we let the hypocrites and haters ruin our lives?

The gay activist organization have done well at laying groundwork, but they need to get with the program now and get to work. The money we send them is no longer to be spent trying to make people like us, its to get us our rights NOW.

In the Name of God

From Joe.My.God.

Gay Marriage and the Constitution

Column in the Wall Street Journal by David Boies, attorney challenging prop 8 in federal court:

Countries as Catholic as Spain, as different as Sweden and South Africa, and as near as Canada have embraced gay and lesbian marriage without any noticeable effect -- except the increase in human happiness and social stability that comes from permitting people to marry for love. Several states -- including Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont -- have individually repealed their bans on same-sex marriage as inconsistent with a decent respect for human rights and a rational view of the communal value of marriage for all individuals. But basic constitutional rights cannot depend on the willingness of the electorate in any given state to end discrimination. If we were prepared to consign minority rights to a majority vote, there would be no need for a constitution.

...There are those who sincerely believe that homosexuality is inconsistent with their religion -- and the First Amendment guarantees their freedom of belief. However, the same First Amendment, as well as the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses, preclude the enshrinement of their religious-based disapproval in state law.

Gays and lesbians are our brothers and sisters, our teachers and doctors, our friends and neighbors, our parents and children. It is time, indeed past time, that we accord them the basic human right to marry the person they love. It is time, indeed past time, that our Constitution fulfill its promise of equal protection and due process for all citizens by now eliminating the last remnant of centuries of misguided state discrimination against gays and lesbians.

The argument in favor of Proposition 8 ultimately comes down to no more than the tautological assertion that a marriage is between a man and a woman. But a slogan is not a substitute for constitutional analysis. Law is about justice, not bumper stickers.

Full article HERE.

Obama to NAACP: Anti-Gay Discrimination Has No Place in America

Now lets back that up with some ACTION! It isn't hard to do.

Stampp Corbin: Counting all forms of discrimination against LGBTs

Former Co-Chair of the Obama LGBT Leadership Council during the 2008 campaign, Stampp Corbin, contributed this essay on Pam's House Blend. Check it out.

Stampp Corbin: Counting all forms of discrimination against LGBTs

Shared via AddThis

Cruel Countdown for Bi-National Couple

Will O'Bryan at Metro Weekly has written a very good article about the plight of one particular same-sex bi-national couple. The article highlights the unfair cruelty that we face in this country as gay bi-national couples. Full article here.

Nadler doesn't pull punches in characterizing the current laws, the ones that are forcing Steve and Joe to consider separation and immigration among their few options.

"This is simply gratuitous cruelty," Nadler says. "It serves no interest of the United States to be cruel to these people."

Howard Dean and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in Discussion of Marriage Equality and 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

Senator Gillibrand is going to be a big supporter of marriage equality - looks like she will be a big advocate. For the impatient among us, marriage and DADT discussion begin at 4:50.

"I support full marriage equality. To me, it's the civil rights march of our generation."

National Equality March, October 10-11

Plans are moving forward for a national march for GLBT equality. See their updated homepage.

Join us in DC this October as we march with one simple demand: full equality for all LGBT people in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states. Now.

Dumb Hateful Republican Motherfuckers are at it again

Two congressional repugincans have submitted two separate bills intended to reverse the recognition of same-sex marriages in the district and to invalidate our domestic partner protections. Full details at the Blade.

This is a waste of time and money, and it is not expected to go anywhere in the democratically-controlled congress. It is just another in the continuing saga of the constant spewing of hatred from the conservative right wingnuts.

How much power do they have to lose before they'll stop wasting our taxes creating hate and misery?

Changing Congress -- One Letter at a Time

We have to keep pressuring our representatives and senators to support repeal of DOMA and DADT. Its the only way they will know that we care about these issues. And they DO pay attention to letters and phone calls.

Remind them: No other federal laws mandate discrimination against a group of U.S. citizens.

Changing Congress -- One Letter at a Time by Deb Price

Shared via AddThis

Assholes in Maine Push Hatred onto the Agenda of Yet Another State

The Asshole coalition in Maine says it has collected enough signatures to put our human rights to a vote in that state. Hatred keeps on following us wherever we think we've won a victory for our human rights.

Massachusetts Sues the U.S. Government over DOMA

Massachusetts is suing the Federal government for federal marriage rights for ALL of its married citizens, calling DOMA unconstitutional.

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders are also working on a lawsuit to challenge DOMA

Complete story at Towleroad.

Isn't it a shame that we have to waste so much money and energy fighting a blatantly unconstitutional law that was passed as a legacy of hatred?

Love Story

Rex Wockner Interviews Steve Hildebrand

Openly gay Steve Hildebrand was Barack Obama's deputy national campaign director. Rex Wockner interviews him on his blog:

I would encourage gays and straights alike to put pressure on President Obama, on his administration, to call for action -- immediate action on the laundry list of items that the gay community deserves for true equality in this country...and if people want things done, they should demand action from Congress, they should demand action from the president, they should demand action from their school boards, from their city council members, their mayors, their legislators, their governors, everybody.

A (Federal) Case for Marriage | Advocate.com

As an all-star legal team mounts an ambitious federal challenge to California's Proposition 8, the future of national marriage equality weighs heavily on its shoulders.

A (Federal) Case for Marriage | Advocate.com

Shared via AddThis

DC Marriage Law Goes Into Effect Tomorrow!

Tomorrow, DC begins recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states. In the fall of this year, the DC Council is expected to pass a same-sex marriage law here. Yey!

Washington Post.

Make It Equal

Via Joe. My.God., this flag represents the states where we have achieved equality in marriage rights.

See the flag on its page, along with the backstory, here.

Still waiting to lift the ban

Can you believe that in this day and age, we're still waiting for the HIV ban to be lifted? Its typical of the slow pace at which social justice comes to the U.S. these days, as compared with the rest of the world.

Newsday article, here

Brazil: Government lawyer moves to legalize same-sex unions

Wow, we have Obama and a democratic majority in Congress, and are no closer to the rights that Brazil's president has supported for years and that now their attorney general is seeking to make legal. We suck.

WalesOnline - News - World News - Brazil: Government lawyer moves to legalise same-sex unions

Shared via AddThis

Don't Even Think About It

Thanks Jeff!

NO LGBT in the democratic surveys

From Pam's House Blend

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent out a survey to help to determine which topics the Democrats in the House should prioritize in the coming year or so. LBGT issues are NOWHERE to be found. See the survey at Pam's.

The signs are everywhere and abundant - we were used in the campaign and we are being forgotten now. We will not get anywhere with the democrats unless we start demanding results. I agree with those who have said that we need to take some kind of action - sit-ins, protests, SOMETHING!

Our 'activist organizations' are not going to lead on this. They may have had a role in helping to get visibility for us in the media and in Washington, but now a grassroots movement is the only thing that will get us anywhere with regard to REAL equal rights.

40 years later, no change...

Frank Rich in last Saturday's NYT

...gay issues are no longer a third rail in American politics. Gay civil rights history is moving faster in the country, including on the once-theoretical front of same-sex marriage, than it is in Washington. If the country needs any Defense of Marriage Act at this point, it would be to defend heterosexual marriage from the right-wing “family values” trinity of Sanford, Ensign and Vitter.

Letter to Obama

Letter to Obama from a mom.

To be able to bring equality to a group of people should be seen as not only a duty of justice but an honor of the highest level. You must be the one to lead our country by setting an example of excellence in treating all Americans with equality in all areas of life.

Happy Stonewall Anniversary, Texas.

The Democrats Will Not Help Us

Pam's House Blend is reporting what many of us have begun to realize - that the administration and congress are not going to do anything for LGBT's. See Pam's post here.

Excerpt:

The blogs are closer to the truth than the party wants us to know. They used the blogs to their advantage during the election, and now they're trying to figure out how to control what's become a nuisance for them.

Based on everything I have been reading and seeing, not just the White House but also Congress is afraid to do anything to help us.

I think the only way we're going to get anything from this administration and congress is if we have some kind of uprising. We are dealing with people who are hostile to us in a different way than the republicans. While the republicans declared all-out war on us, the democrats are just afraid to help us.

I don't think we can expect anything from them unless we take some kind of action to show that we will no longer sit on the sidelines and wait, wait, wait. We are not ONE step closer today than we were 40 years ago in terms of federal recognition or protection.

Obama is an utter disappointment - he made it sound like he would be decisive and would do the right thing - it was bullshit. If he wants to wait until every single person likes us to give us the rights we deserve, we'll all be gone from this world before that happens.

But he alone is not the problem - we have an equally fearful and leaderless congress. They just don't care, and I don't think anything we can do will change that. Our only recourse is the courts, and thats scary given that the supreme court is polluted with right-wing zealots.

We are going to have to accept that we were lied to by this president and by the democratic party - they will not help us unless forced to. They are no different than the republicans as far as gay people are concerned.

REPEAL DON'T ASK DON'T TELL

Lt. Dan Choi is being fired from the military for refusing to lie about who he loves.

Help him keep fighting by signing the letter to Speaker Pelosi asking her to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Sign the letter HERE.

Why Gay Apartheid?

David Mixner wrote a post on his blog today that spoke to me about what has happened to me and my gay brothers & sisters in this country in the last 10 years. We find ourselves increasingly subjected to a separate set of laws. We are limited in most of what we do in this country. The new administration and the new democratic majority in congress are doing very little to change that.

Here is David Mixner's post in its entirety:

Yesterday, I listened with hope to the President Barack Obama's words at the historic White House celebration of Gay Pride. Instead, when he was done, I found myself very depressed.

As our elected officials search for new words, new institutions and new arrangements to avoid giving us full equality, it is important for people to remember that right now all we have amounts to basically a system of separate but unequal. We have a set of laws at the national, state and local levels that separates LGBT folks from the rest of America.

Let's call it what it is - Gay Apartheid.

Now some of you might think that is a loaded and unfair word. I have chosen the word very carefully and deliberately. Apartheid is when a group of citizens of a nation is by law separated from all other citizens and the rights, benefits and protections all others are granted.

Having DOMA and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" as laws of the land are apartheid laws. They set us apart from all other American citizens. State after state has singled us out in their Constitutions to create a separate body of law for LGBT citizens. States have created laws to forbid us from adopting or participating in the foster care system. Those of us who have foreign national partners are refused to right to co-habitate in America. Creating civil unions and domestic partnership laws to avoid marriage is a failed attempt to sustain a system of 'separate but equal' that didn't work in the segregationist South and won't work for us. So lets be honest about this as we see an enormous number of laws on the books specially denying LGBT Americans the rights, benefits, privileges and protections granted to all other Americans: we have created and are continuing to expand on a system of Gay Apartheid. There is no other way to look at it.

Despite the President's warm words and the lovely trappings at the White House, he continues to buy into this system and allows it to continue. In fact, it was a carefully worded warm, fuzzy speech that failed to answer many questions. The use of the words 'domestic partnership' seems like out of the 1980's. He couldn't even say the words 'civil unions'? He again mostly addressed Federal employees concerns and repeated his campaign promises to overturn DOMA and DADT. There was no attempt to stop the horrific destruction of the careers of our LGBT military personnel with the announcement of a "stop-loss" order. In fact right after the event Press Secretary Gibbs basically said it isn't going to happen and threw the entire issue to Congress without Presidential leadership. Marriage? Civil Unions? The President said not a word. Adoption and Foster Care? Not one word was uttered by the President. Immigration for partners of American citizens? Not one word.

We did not hear the answer to the most important question: When?

The fact that the President might feel our pain or understand our impatience or even wants to socialize with us just is not important any more. Quite honesty, I don't care if he likes us, has us to dinner or even if he believes marriage is between a man and women. I don't want to hear any more promises or caring words about our future. Please don't tell me one more time I have to change the hearts of Americans before I am allowed to have my freedom. For me to be a free man doesn't mean I have to make everyone in America like me. In fact the Constitution protects an unpopular minority from the tyranny of a majority.

The only thing important to me now is when! That is the question. When will these oppressive and horrendous apartheid laws be overturned? When will the President show the powerful leadership shown by President Kennedy and President Johnson in the 1960's? When will he insist Congress take up and immediately repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell?" When will the President address the nation in a powerful speech saying that the time of inequality, injustice and yes, apartheid against the American LGBT community must come to an end. Mr. President, the only question we have for you is when?

The notion that the President feels we might be happy with his term at the end of seven and a half years was depressing. For those who understand the political process, that when might be never happen given the changing nature of the presidency. No one in their right mind believes that he will have credibility, the powerful Congress and the good will of the American people more than he has now. First Lady Michelle Obama wouldn't tolerate living under the laws of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" for two days and he expects us to live under them until maybe into his second term? Hell, no. Not acceptable, Mr. President.

So there is only one acceptable answer to the question of when the President should seriously begin to deal with ending the system of Gay Apartheid in America.

Now, for God sakes. Now.