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Equality Federation
Contact
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November 2009
From Executive Director Toni
Broaddus |
Dear
Friend,
I write to you, two
days after the elections, with a heart still heavy from the
broken promise of marriage equality in Maine.
It is so hard to understand how so many Americans can
vote to continue discrimination against people based on who they
love.
But I will not submit to the
tyranny of the majority. I continue to believe in
the promise of equality and justice for all
Americans. That is why I came back to work this
morning, and it is why I will continue to do everything in my
power to support the work of courageous and selfless advocates
on the front lines of this battle in Maine, in Washington, in
Michigan, in Texas, and in every state and community in this
nation.
Now, more than
ever, we need your help. The loss in Maine was
heartbreaking, but it is not the whole story. At least 50
lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender Americans won
seats Tuesday on school boards, city commissions, state
legislatures and other elected offices. In Kalamazoo,
Michigan, we successfully defended a law banning discrimination
against LGBT people. The returns from Washington state
suggest that we will also have a victory there, protecting
domestic partnership rights for LGBT people and our
families.
We must build on our victories
and continue to insist that we deserve full equality.
We must support our LGBT organizations on the ground, as
they continue the necessary work of public education and
organizing. We must give our time and our money
to make change. Because, slow as it may seem, we are
making change. With your help, we will win our equal
rights.
Just last week,
I was honored to attend the White House celebration of
the signing of the Hate Crimes law. It was the
first time I had ever been in the White House and I confess I
felt awed to walk through those halls. I loved seeing the
casual photographs of the First Family on the walls as we
entered, and I also loved the portraits of the First Ladies who
have always inspired me. Interestingly, many of the folks
who live and work in DC were not so inspired and I was surprised
by the cynical comments about the invite list and ongoing
organizational disagreements. I was once again
thankful that Equality Federation is not headquartered inside
the Beltway, as I prefer the hope and determination that rings
much clearer throughout the rest of this great
country.
While the evening was a
celebration of the passage of the first significant federal law
to offer protections to Americans based on their sexual
orientation and gender identity, it was also an amazingly
poignant moment. I was four steps away from the
President as he spoke, but I found myself watching Judy Shepard
instead. This amazing woman has fought
relentlessly for passage of this legislation since her son was
brutally murdered for being gay over a decade ago. I could not imagine how she must feel
next to the President in this moment, but she was clearly trying
to hold back her tears while he spoke.
I had one of those moments of
clarity, then. This was a celebration – but it was
not worth the loss of this woman’s child, or of any
child. And this is why I do this
work. This is why state leaders all across this
country do this work. No one should die for being gay or
transgender. No one should lose their jobs, their housing,
their chance at an education because of who they love. No
one’s family should be denied equal treatment under the
law.
Discrimination and
bigotry are wrong. This is not the America I want for my
children or my children’s children. And if
we do not fight this discrimination and bigotry, who
will?
Equality Federation’s
member organizations do the hard work every day in every
state. Our leaders are agents for change –
won’t you join us? Together, we will achieve
equality – and leave a lasting legacy for future
generations of Americans. Let’s swear off
cynicism, and instead fuel this great campaign with
hope.
Yours for
equality,
LGBT Equality Work
In The
States |
Campaign Updates
Maine -- Despite No on 1's very professional and well-run
campaign, Maine voters went to the polls on Tuesday and
narrowly decided to repeal the state’s new marriage
equality law, with 47% of voters
supporting equal marriage rights and 53% approving the repeal,
thus ending an expensive and emotional fight that was
closely watched around the country as a referendum on the
gay-marriage movement.
In a defiant speech to several
hundred lingering supporters late Tuesday night, No on 1 campaign manager Jesse Connolly
pledged that our side “will not quit until we know
where every single one of these votes lives.”
“We’re not
short-timers; we are here for the long haul,” Connolly
told the crowd, some of whom wiped away tears as he spoke.
“Whether it’s just all night and into the morning,
or next week or next month or next year, we will be here.
We’ll be fighting, we’ll be working. We will
regroup.”
Back
to top
Washington -- Congratulations
to Equal Rights Washington and the Washington Families Standing
Together campaign! Washington state's new
"everything but marriage" law passed 51.65 percent to 48.35
percent. Referendum 71
asked voters to approve or reject the final expansion to the
state's domestic partnership law, which grants registered
domestic partners additional state-granted rights currently
given only to married couples.
Michigan
-- Congratulations also to the One Kalamazoo campaign! Voters in
Kalamazoo have approved a measure banning discrimination based
on sexual orientation or gender identity. With all
precincts reporting, the ordinance had 7,671 votes in favor to
4,731 opposed.
The ordinance will add gays, lesbians, bisexuals
and transgender individuals to an existing Kalamazoo city
ordinance banning discrimination in housing, employment and
public accommodations. There are about 72,000 residents in
the southwestern Michigan city.
News from the
States
California -- A coalition led by Equality
California announced plans to invest more than $15 million in an
educational campaign to build support for same-sex
marriage. The three-year
effort, Let California Ring, will
partner paid advertising with a grassroots community outreach
campaign with the goal of "(enabling) hundreds of thousands of
Californians to learn first-hand why marriage matters so much to
same-sex couples."
"The idea is to have television, radio and other
means of delivering a message, combined with on-the-ground field
work so there's a a groundbeat of information and discussion of
the issue," said. Equality California Marriage Director Marc
Solomon. "The more people talk about the issue and get to know
gay couples either on TV or in person, the more they come our
way."
The campaign will focus on generating support among
African-American, Asian Pacific Islander and Latino voters as
well as various faith-based communities, according to a press
release issued today.
"We're in a state that's majority people of color and
that's just a really important place to start," he said, adding
that field organizers are "having discussions with older voters,
with Republican voters, with all sorts of voters, all sorts of
citizens, all sorts of Californians and the idea is to engage
them."
Back to top
Oregon --
Basic Rights Oregon launched a campaign
on Monday, November 1, to persuade Oregonians they should
reverse their vote of five years ago and support same-sex
marriage. BRO aims to put on the Oregon ballot as early as 2012
an initiative asking voters to lift the constitutional ban on
gay and lesbian marriage that passed in 2004.
The first phase of a public education campaign kicked off
with rallies Monday night in Portland, Tuesday night in Bend and
Wednesday evening in Eugene.
BRO will
encourage gay and lesbian couples to reach out to their
neighbors in a conversation on "why marriage matters and how it
impacts their daily lives to be excluded from the freedom to
marry," said Jeana Frazzini, executive director of Basic Rights
Oregon.
They
also expect to send representatives to speak to churches
and civic groups, and have hired two organizers who will travel
the state and make 1,000 short, two-minute videos featuring gay
and lesbian Oregonians talking about why marriage is important
to them.
Back to
top
Wisconsin -- Fair Wisconsin celebrated the Wisconsin
Supreme Court’s decision on November 4, 2009 to reject a
lawsuit brought by Wisconsin Family Action, an antigay group
attempting to strip away newly enacted domestic partnership
protections for same-sex couples and their families.
Fair Wisconsin, the
statewide LGBT advocacy group and Federation member, along with
national and regional allies, recently helped enact the
important domestic partnership protections for same-sex couples.
Fair Wisconsin, vigorous opponents of the 2006 amendment banning
marriage equality and civil unions, is defending the new
domestic partnership law. Lambda Legal filed to intervene in the
lawsuit on behalf of Fair Wisconsin and its members to protect
the few but fundamental protections granted to same-sex couples
through the domestic partnership law. After reviewing the case,
Wisconsin Supreme Court dismissed the
lawsuit.
“We are
elated with this decision from the State Supreme Court,”
says Fair Wisconsin Executive Director Katie Belanger.
“Over 15,000 same-sex couples in our state need the basic
protections domestic partnerships provide.”
Back to
top
Washington, D.C. --
Round two of the D.C. Council's hearing on legalizing same-sex
marriage hit an emotional moment when one of the witnesses
stopped, turned to his partner, and proposed.
The Council
members seemed to approve and offered their congratulations. But
others in the hearing were outraged.
More than 150
people signed up to speak -- both for and against the measure --
but the majority of witnesses were in favor of marriage
equality. That's in addition to the more than 100 people who
spoke at a hearing last week about the bill.
Currently,
District law only recognizes same-sex marriages legally
performed outside the city. A committee vote on the bill
is set for Nov. 10. A final vote on the bill could come as soon
as December 1.
Back to
top
State Equality Groups Unite to Work for
Equality at the Federal
Level |
ENDA is Moving Quickly Through Congress
Equality Federation Groups Take Action to Increase
Support
The
Employment Non-Discrimination Act is moving quickly through both
houses of Congress. The Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held its
hearing on ENDA today, Thursday, November 5. The
House of Representatives markup on ENDA is expected to take
place as early as next week--and the full House may vote on ENDA
before Thanksgiving.
Please join us to pass ENDA! Our contacts on
Capitol Hill tell us they are not hearing enough from
equality-minded people who support the bill, and that we do not
yet have the votes needed to pass ENDA.
Equality
Federation created an Action Alert, which it sent to over 40
statewide equality groups, urging them to forward the Alert
on to their constituents. The Action Alert provides
constituents a simple and quick way to contact
their Representative and Senators to urge them to support
ENDA and take swift action to pass the bill. Take Action now!
Back to top-
Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act Becomes
Law
Equality Federation E.D. at White House
Signing
The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes
Prevention Act, which will add sexual orientation and gender
identity to federal hate crimes laws, was passed by the U.S.
Senate on October 22, 2009 as part of the Defense Spending
Authorization Bill. The legislation, passed by the House
earlier last month, is the first law at the federal level
that specifically includes protections for lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans. President Obama
signed the bill into law on Wednesday, October 28, during a
special White House ceremony attended by Judy Shepard, Matthew's
mother, as well as representatives of organizations who helped
pass the bill, including Equality Federation Executive Director
Toni Broaddus.
Back to
top |
