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LGBT
Equality Work in the
States |
Legislative
Updates
Tennessee
Ohio
California
Arizona
Indiana
Campaign
Updates
Washington
Maine
Other
News
Police Raid at Atlanta Gay
Bar
National Day of Action
for Maine
Equality Texas Office
Vandalized
Respect For
Marriage Act
Introduced
ENDA Hearing Held & EQFED
Action Alerts Produce
Co-Sponsors!
Federal Hate Crimes Bill Passes House
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Out Videos from State Equality Groups--and
Support Their Efforts!
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Counter the Anti-Gay National Organization for Marriage's
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Equality Federation
Contact
Information |
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October 2009
From Executive Director Toni
Broaddus |
Dear Friend,
What with the introduction of the
Respect for Marriage Act in the U.S. House of
Representatives and the recent hearing on the federal
Employment Non-Discrimination Act, you might
think that all the action around LGBT equality is happening in
Washington, DC. But there’s even more going
on outside the beltway, and we are pleased to bring you
highlights of some of the great work in the states that you
might have missed.
Over the past month, we have seen
equality advances in Tennessee, Ohio, California,
Arizona, and Indiana. State equality groups have
also come together to support the campaigns to protect
marriage equality in Maine and domestic
partnership rights in Washington. We’ll
update you on all this great work and let you know how you can
help – so keep reading!
Equality Federation has also been busy this
month, as we ramp up our efforts to increase the visibility of
state work and to participate in national conversations about
what strategies are necessary for our goal of achieving
equality. If you haven’t yet seen
my Open Letter to Cleve Jones, I hope
you’ll read it. Cleve has been arguing that
the state strategy is a failed strategy – and I could not
let that erroneous statement go unchallenged! Let me know
what you think.
I have also been hearing, from Cleve and
others, that we should abandon the state strategy to focus on a
single federal solution. While a single solution
for equality sounds like a great idea, in my view it is simply
not possible. Want to know why I think
that? Check out my recent blog posting and see for
yourself.
The truth is, we have to work at ALL
levels of government in order to achieve civil rights
for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. We
need local ordinances, state laws, federal laws, and good court
decisions to ensure and protect our equality. I’m
not interested in ignoring any of the levels of government that
impact our lives.
That’s why the Federation not
only supports state groups working at the state and local
levels, but we also bring the perspective and experience of our
state efforts to strategic planning sessions in
Washington. In fact, the Respect for Marriage Act
and ENDA both benefited from the input of our leaders in the
states – just one of the ways the Federation works behind
the scenes to bring each of us closer to full
equality.
Finally, I am thrilled to announce
that I just hired Lynne Bowman away from her
position as founding executive director of Equality Ohio to
become the Federation’s new Director of Programs
and Services. As a former co-chair of the
Federation and a successful and dynamic state leader, Lynne
brings a wealth of experience and passion to this work. If
you don’t know Lynne, stay tuned – she’s a
leader to watch for in our movement.
Yours
for Equality,
LGBT Equality Work
In The
States |
Legislative Updates
 
Tennessee
celebrated passage of the state's first
non-discrimination ordinance in the Metropolitan
Council of Nashville and Davidson County, which protects Metro
government employees from discrimination based on sexual
orientation and gender identity. Congratulations to
Equality Federation members Tennessee Equality
Project and the Tennessee Transgender Political
Coalition for achieving
this significant advancement for LGBT people in
Tennessee.
Back to top
Ohio
In another historic
vote, Ohio’s House of Representatives passed HB
176, the Equal Housing and Employment Act. This was the
first ever vote on legislation protecting LGBT people in
the Ohio General Assembly – and the vote was bipartisan,
with Republicans voting in favor of the bill. Kudos
to Equality Ohio for making history in Ohio! Now the bill moves
on to the Senate...
Back to
top
California Equality California had another unparalleled legislative
session, passing a record
eleven bills -- out of a total of
seventeen LGBT-related bills in the
legislature. For all the details, check out EQCA's 2009 Legislative Guide. EQCA also raised $75,000 from its members to
support the Maine campaign to preserve marriage
equality; EQCA is sending another ask to their members in
support of the Washington campaign to protect domestic
partnership benefits and protections.
Back to
top
Arizona Arizona Governor Jan
Brewer effectively tossed out the breakthrough domestic
partnership law passed by Equality Arizona and signed into law
by former Governor Janet Napolitano by signing a bill that
redefined “dependents” -- a change that effects not
only LGBT people, but straight unmarried couples, the
elderly, and children of domestic partners as well.
Back to
top
Indiana Indiana Equality's efforts to add protections for sexual
orientation and gender identity to the city of Goshen's civil
rights ordinance cleared its first legislative hurdle
in August but was then defeated by the Goshen City Council on a
4-3 vote. If the ordinance had passed, Goshen would
have a joined a number of progressive Hoosier communities in
ensuring equality for all residents: Bloomington and
Indianapolis have implemented protections against
sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination, while Fort
Wayne, Lafayette, Michigan City, Tippecanoe County, and West
Lafayette ensure non-discrimination based on sexual
orientation. Indiana Equality has held Get Busy Get
Equal workshops around the state to
train more community organizers and advocates to achieve even
more equality victories throughout the state.
Back to
top
Campaign Updates
Maine
With the vote on marriage equality a month away.
Maine Equality and the No on 1 Campaign have been working around the
clock to raise enough money to keep their ads on the air and on
Get-Out-The-Vote
efforts, since the vote is expected to be very close.
You can help on both fronts by (1) making a donation to the No on 1
Campaign and (2) Taking a "Volunteer Vacation" in Maine to work on and
contribute to the success of this extremely important
campaign.
Back to
top
Washington In
Washington State, with less than a month to go before
voters go to the polls to either approve or deny domestic
partnership benefits for more than 12,000
registered domestic partners, the race is still too close
to call. Equal Rights Washington is leading a broad-based coalition, Washington Families Standing
Together, to get a yes vote
on Referendum 71. Equality Federation sent an action alert
to its supporters and member state equality groups throughout
the country, so each group could then forward the alert to
its members and supporters, urging them to support the Approve
71 campaign. A loss of DP benefits would be a huge setback
for the LGBT movement, so pease check out the Approve 71 campaign's website and lend your
support!
Back to
top
 Other News
from the States
Police Raid on Atlanta Gay
Bar
Georgia Following Monday’s press
conference by the Atlanta Police Department explaining that the
recent raid at the Atlanta Eagle bar was the culmination of a
nearly five-month-long investigation, Georgia
Equality now calls
on Mayor Shirley Franklin and Police Chief Richard Pennington to
address additional questions and concerns about the developing
situation.
“Members of Atlanta’s
LGBT community have frequently given Mayor Franklin the benefit
of the doubt for the last eight years, and now we expect some
candor and honesty about the heavy-handed raid that occurred
last week,” said Jeff Graham, executive director of
Georgia Equality. “We call on the Mayor to come forward
and explain how this raid makes the city any safer, and whether
this was really a wise use of the city’s scarce resources
during a economic downtown.”
“A full, unbiased, and
objective investigation of this raid needs to occur quickly
before the Mayor and Chief Pennington leave office in the coming
months,” Graham said.
Back to
top
Equality Federation and Equality Groups
Spearhead National Day of Action For
Maine
Maine Equality Federation and our alliance of 53
equality groups rallied our members and supporters for a
National Day of Action for
Maine with a goal
of enlisting 500 people across the country to participate
in a national virtual phone bank on Sunday, September 27th,
2009. National Day of Action results: The 461 people who
volunteered their time to participate in the phone bank
collectively made 15,262 calls and engaged in 7,235
conversations with Maine Voters, urging them to preserve
marriage equality by voting No on 1. For ways you can help
support the No on 1 campaign, see Maine article above.
Back to
top
Equality Texas Office Vandalized - State Leaders
Offer Help
Texas The offices of Equality Texas were vandalized recently when a
large front plate glass window was broken out. Leaders
from other state equality groups pitched in, by making personal
donations to Equality Texas, to pay the $1,200 cost of repairing
the damage. If you wish to help, please contribute here.
Back to
top
State Equality Groups Uniting to Work for
Equality at the Federal
Level |
Respect For Marriage Act of
2009
Introduced in House with 92 Original
Co-Sponsors
The Respect for Marriage Act of
2009 was introduced in the House of Representatives with 92
original co-sponsors. The Act would repeal the
discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and
require the federal government to recognize the legal marriages
of same-sex couples. Repealing DOMA is critical to ensuring that
ALL marriages are treated equally by the federal
government. Equality Federation and state equality groups
have been working with national allies and members of Congress
for several months to craft the Respect for Marriage Act of
2009. Now we need your
help!
Contact your Congressional Representative
today. Tell them to cosponsor and vote for the Respect
for Marriage Act of 2009. (It's simple, quick and
free!)
Back to top-
Hearing in Congress on Employment
Non-Discrimination Act
Equality
Federation's Action Alerts Produce
Co-Sponsors
On
September 23, the House Education and Labor Committee
held a hearing to debate the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act, a law that
would ban workplace discrimination against lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans. It is
well past time for Congress to pass ENDA -- so please take action NOW and contact
your Representative and Senators to ask them to take swift
action to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
Please do it today. Congress needs to hear that this
bill is our top priority. Just
click here. (It's simple, fast and free!)
Back to
top
Federal Hate
Crimes Bill Passes House, 281 to 146
Earlier this afternoon, the United States House of
Representatives voted in favor of making hate crimes based on
sexual orientation or gender identity a federal crime by
accepting the Conference Committee report on the Defense
Authorization bill
(H.R.2647). The House vote was 281 to
146. The Senate vote on the Conference Committee report is
expected next week.
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