No more back of the bus

Posted on October 1, 2007 by David

Update: Everything you could possibly want to know about efforts to insure an inclusive ENDA, all in one place: www.unitedenda.org

Correction: Rep. Tammy Baldwin did NOT add her name to the new version of ENDA introduced by Rep. Barney Frank.

Equality Virginia today joined a list of 90 national and regional GLBT advocacy organizations in a statement opposing any “substitute legislation” designed to replace the trans-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act. See the statement and list of signatories. Rep. Barney Frank, in cooperation with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Tammy Baldwin, in the misguided belief that incremental progress is better than a united front, has introduced a new version of ENDA that only refers to sexual orientation (and oh, by the way, another unnamed afterthought of a bill that would provide employment protection for transgender people, if it were ever voted on.) Frank claims that this is the way the civil rights movement did it, but let’s be clear. This is not sending the transgender community to the back of the bus. This is throwing the transgender community under the bus.

This, in part, is what one of those 90 organizations had to say about it to their members:

With not an ounce of equivocation and with fury over this potential Congressional disgrace, Garden State Equality hereby declares that we will work passionately to oppose any form of ENDA that excludes the transgender community. We wish to emphasize what our opposition would mean. We would not merely be silent or neutral on an ENDA that excludes the transgender community. We would actively oppose the bill.

I concur. I will actively work to defeat this version of ENDA, should it get to that point. As a friend just told me, “I’m disgusted. I’ll take my workplace discrimination protections when we ALL have them, thank you.”

HRC has signed on to a different statement from another list of civil rights organizations.

I know that Frank and Co. believe they are taking the pragmatic course, but there is a very good pragmatic reason that they are wrong. Discrimination against gay and lesbian people is frequently based on their gender expression, not their sexual orientation. According to Lambda Legal executive director Kevin Cathcart, under the “new” ENDA, “[y]ou can’t be fired for being a lesbian or a gay man, but you can be fired if your boss thinks you fit their stereotype of one.” In other words, an employer sued for sexual orientation discrimination can claim that their conduct was actually based on gender expression, and is therefore not a violation of ENDA. In addition to the moral vacuity of betrayal it represents, this bill would be toothless even with regard to sexual orientation.

In spite of this, here is a summation of what Frank apparently thinks is important:

He acknowledges that the transgender version is not likely to come up for a vote in Congress any time soon.

“It comes down to three choices,” Frank said Friday. “We vote on a bill with the transgender [clause] and we lose, we pull the bill altogether, or we pass the one with sexual orientation.”

“If we hold it back, the headlines will say, ‘Democratic Congress withdraws gay rights bill.’

So what? Our headlines will say “Equality advocates get a clue, learn from the past, and refuse to abandon part of community.”

You can take action at Lambda Legal and National Center for Transgender Equality.

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Where were the Republicans?

Posted on September 26, 2007 by David

Leesburg Today
September 26, 2007
By Russell Muños
Vice President, Equality Loudoun

Because the illegal immigration issue in Loudoun County has evolved into drama-based politics, I thought I would, well, try and get some facts on the subject by attending the American Dream Alliance Civic picnic in Algonkian Park Sept. 23.

The mission of the alliance was stated as thus; “The mission of the Alliance is to support New Americans in Virginia by creating a welcoming and positive environment for all people through dialogue and reconciliation that will transform our neighborhoods and communities with a spirit of inclusiveness, offering everyone an equal opportunity to live the American dream.” I thought to myself, well, that sounds very noble, since I myself am a second generation American. And facts about immigration, both legal and illegal, I did get at a table set up at the event which had some very interesting statistics based upon studies done here in Northern Virginia by our centers of higher learning.

This being an election year, there were two facts that were hard for me to ignore. One was the presence of hopeful candidates seeking re-election or challenging an incumbent. Their presence made sense to me as illegal immigration is something that obviously needs addressing, so it was obvious that I would hear their thoughts on the issue.

More»

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An interesting development

Posted on September 23, 2007 by David

From our neighbors at Too Conservative.

I’ve tried in vain to get our Republican members and friends to participate in their local party process. Something keeps getting in the way.

These folks, according to the comments, “are working to take back the Republican Party from the unholy alliance of the Patrick Henry College fundamentalists and the developers.”

Don’t be too put off by the person who says “Social Conservatives are fine with me.” He doesn’t really mean it 😉 . It is entirely possible to have a Republican party in Loudoun County that is more like this, rather than this. It depends on who shows up.

Update: Talk is ongoing at Living in LoCo, also.

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This is courage

Posted on September 21, 2007 by David

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders abruptly changed his position on full marriage equality Wednesday, after receiving a resolution from the City Council that he had pledged on Tuesday to veto. The council had voted to join with several other cities in an amicus brief asking the California Supreme Court to overturn discriminatory state law and rule in favor of marriage equality for same sex couples.

In an emotional statement to the press, and with his wife by his side, Sanders explains why he changed his mind when actually faced with vetoing the resolution.

I just could not bring myself to tell an entire group of people in our community they were less important, less worthy or less deserving of the rights and responsibilities of marriage than anyone else, simply because of their sexual orientation.

Watch the video of his moving statement.

Sanders’ public position since 2005 has been that civil unions would be a fair compromise, but his view has evolved over time. He now says that “the concept of a ‘separate but equal’ institution is not something I can support.”

I have close family members and friends who are a member of the gay and lesbian community. Those folks include my daughter Lisa, as well as members of my personal staff.

I want for them the same thing that we all want for our loved ones — for each of them to find a mate whom they love deeply and who loves them back; someone with whom they can grow old together and share life’s experiences.

And I want their relationships to be protected equally under the law. In the end, I couldn’t look any of them in the face and tell them that their relationships, their very lives, were any less meaningful than the marriage I share with my wife, Rana.

Sanders launched his reelection campaign yesterday. He does have an opponent, and I’m quite sure that opponent will try to use his courage and honesty against him. As members of our community decide which candidates to support this fall, we have a standard against which to judge, and the bar has been set high. Mayor Sanders, you rock.

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Tell it: Don’t be Silent

Posted on September 19, 2007 by David

As opponents of equality struggle to come to terms with being on the wrong side of history, and lash out in frustration, this documentation is more important than ever.

From Equality Virginia:

Discrimination and Hate Violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people does happen in Virginia. However, these acts often go unreported because people are afraid to report them or they do not know where to report them.

You can report acts of discrimination and hate violence confidentially to Equality Virginia at www.equalityvirginia.org/tellit.

The LGBT community must start telling our stories of discrimination and hate violence and demand equal protection for ourselves and our families under the law. Here are just two stories that were reported to EV over the past few months:

A bisexual male in Richmond reported that his apartment door was spray painted with anti-gay slurs. The police had to be called three times before they would even report this as a crime. This incident is not considered a hate crime under federal or state law.

In Vienna, VA, a young man went to a dermatologist for a benign skin irritation and the doctor told him that her staff would not treat his kind. When the patient asked “what’s my kind?” the doctor told him “HIV positive individuals and homosexuals.” The patient was neither gay nor HIV positive but a straight ally and reported this to EV.

You can report instances of discrimination based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression at www.equalityvirginia.org/tellit

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American Dream Alliance Civic Picnic

Posted on September 16, 2007 by David

If you’ve been following the immigration issue locally, you’ve seen the same kind of divisive rhetoric used against these communities in Loudoun as has been directed against the GLBT community in the recent past. (Yes, the more temperate spokesmen insist that this is only about illegal immigrants, sort of like when the more temperate anti-gay spokesmen insist that our existence isn’t the problem – it’s the “gay agenda”. But when the more candid complaints about salsa music and the racial epithets begin, that claim suddenly seems less credible.)

The ‘gay boogeyman’ strategy for motivating voters has been used at our expense over and over, with African-American churches on marriage equality and hate crimes legislation, with appeals to ‘traditional values’ in the Muslim community, and on and on. This divide-and-conquer nonsense needs to end. How about ending it here and now?

An afternoon of fun and friendship – and civic awareness – and it’s FREE!

Voter Registration * Electoral Education * Solidarity

Sunday, September 23, 2007, 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Algonkian Regional Park – Shelter 1
(47001 Fairway Drive, Sterling, Virginia 20165)

Algonkian Regional Park is located 3 miles north of Rt. 7 on Cascades Parkway.

American Dream Alliance is a body of individuals, organizations and businesses which share the vision of a Virginia welcoming to all and actively engaged in creating an inclusive Commonwealth. The mission of the Alliance is to support New Americans in Virginia by creating a welcoming and positive environment for all people through dialogue and reconciliation that will transform our neighborhoods and communities with a spirit of inclusiveness offering everyone an equal opportunity to live the American dream.

Participants: Asian American Justice Center, Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center, El Pueblo Unido, Equality Loudoun, La Voz de Loudoun, LULAC-VA, NAACP Loudoun, National Capital Immigration Coalition (NCIC), Tenants and Workers United, Unity in the Community, Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations (VACOLAO)”¦

Sponsor: Virginia Muslim Political Action Committee (VMPAC). Contact: Mukit Hossain at mhossain@vmpac.org or 703-507-7223

If you are a registered voter, please bring your voter registration card and enter a raffle to win a mystery prize!

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The fact that we exist is “propaganda”

Posted on September 16, 2007 by David

You really have to wonder about these people. Do they ever actually stop and think about what they say? This is from Family Research Council, which is in a snit over the film “That’s a Family!” being shown to exactly the audience it was intended for.

That’s Propaganda!

Another example of how pro-homosexual propaganda is appearing in schools–and in lower and lower grades–was reported today in The New York Times. Evesham Township, New Jersey is embroiled in controversy over a film called “That’s a Family!” which shown [sic] to a class of third-graders. Produced in 2000 with an obvious agenda to indoctrinate kids, the movie celebrates diverse “families.” It includes a child who boasts that having “two dads” is “really cool.” Interestingly enough, the film is promoting homes headed by same-sex couples–a union that, with the exception of Massachusetts, doesn’t even exist as marriage in American law.

What a weird thing to say. The film, produced by the award-winning Women’s Educational Media, isn’t about what kinds of “unions” are recognized by law as marriages.

It is about the kinds of families that real children have. This topic is in fact required to be part of the curriculum by New Jersey state law. The New York Times reports that the film introduces “children of interracial families, children of divorce, children who had been adopted “” and that did not seem to cause a ripple,” but at the inclusion of children with same sex parents “some parents complained that they should be able to decide whether their third-grade children should learn about same-sex couples in the classroom.” [Emphasis added]

At the end of the article, a parent of one of the third graders made a remark that really caused the FRC to go ballistic:

“People who don’t want the school to show the video say, ‘We can teach our own kids.’ Sure you can. But who’s going to teach you?”

This is a very good question. These people apparently need help figuring out that the film was made because it reflects the lives of the peers that their kids are already in the classroom with. They don’t have the option of “deciding” when or if their kids will learn that they have peers with same sex parents. That’s reality.

They have been lied to and told that reality = “propaganda,” and that ignorance = “truth.” What will they want to do next – forbid kids with gay parents to ever talk about their families?

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