This Week in Lesbian News

The first few days of 2009 came and went this week and left behind hangovers and days off work in their wake. For those lesbians out there who were busy partying in the new year, Cherry Grrl is here to catch you up on the latest news from our community.

ACLU sues Arkansas over adoption ban
The November measure to ban all unmarried co-habitating adults from adopting children, including gay and lesbian couples, in Arkansas won’t go unchallenged. Arguing that the adoption of children should be decided on a case-by-case basis by what is in the best interest of each individual child, the Arkansas chapter of the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of 29 Arkansans to strike down the recently approved measure on Tuesday, December 30, 2008.

Arrests made in California lesbian gang rape
Richmond, California police have arrested three suspects in the 12/13 kidnapping and gang rape of a lesbian, and have issued a $1 million warrant for a fourth man still at large. The victim is a 28-year-old woman who police say is openly gay. The attack occurred when the four suspects approached her as she walked to a house, struck her with an object and took her somewhere away from the street where they assaulted her. The suspects made comments about her sexual orientation during the attack. Police arrested one man and two teenagers Wednesday in connection with the assault, which detectives are investigating as a hate crime. Humberto Hernandez Salvador, 31, was arrested at his Richmond home on suspicion of kidnapping, carjacking, rape, probation violations and other felony crimes. Detectives believe he was the ringleader.

New Jersey lesbian couple win key ruling
Harriet Bernstein and Luisa Paster were denied access after they requested to rent an ocean front space from Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (a Methodist organization) for their civil union ceremony. The couple sought redress through the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, under the state’s public accommodations provisions of the Law Against Discrimination. The Division ruled decisively in the couple’s favor Monday, December 29. The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona based anti-gay group representing the New Jersey church organization, has filed a federal lawsuit asking that the case be decided on a federal level rather than through the state’s Division on Civil Rights. The case is before a federal appeals court currently, after a lower federal court ruled the issue should be decided by the state.

This Week in Lesbian News…

Holidays or no holidays, there was no stopping the world of lesbian news and events last week. President Bush reminded us that he is still around by signing a new law that actually helps the gay and lesbian community, the American Family Association continued their hateful ways right through the holiday season, and Caroline Kennedy supported equality – all in a week of lesbian news.

New Law Protects Retirement Savings for Lesbian and Gay Couples. The Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 (WRERA), signed by President Bush on Tuesday 12/23, contains technical corrections to the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA). PPA made it possible for employers to allow any nonspouse beneficiary of an employee’s retirement plan—including an employee’s same-sex partner—to roll inherited retirement benefits directly to an individual retirement account (IRA) and avoid immediate taxation. WRERA requires that all employers provide this rollover opportunity to nonspouse beneficiaries.

Before 2007, partners who inherited retirement plan savings typically faced immediate taxation on inherited benefits, unlike different-sex spouses, who could roll savings over to an individual retirement account (IRA) with no tax penalty. Under the PPA, as of January 1, 2007, qualifying plans could permit any nonspouse beneficiary—including a domestic partner, parent or sibling—to roll over inherited retirement benefits paid as a lump sum directly to an IRA. Qualifying plans include defined benefit plans (pensions), 401(k) plans, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), profit-sharing plans, money purchase plans, 403(b) plans and governmental 457(b) plans.

Unfortunately, this provision of the PPA was subsequently interpreted to be optional for employers, meaning each company had to affirmatively adopt this protection for partners under each qualifying plan. Under the WRERA, all qualifying plans that pay lump sum benefits to nonspouse beneficiaries are required to provide the rollover opportunity as of January 1, 2010.

AFA Shows Their Holiday Spirit with Attack on Ad with Lesbian Moms. A new Swanson broth ad depicting Café Forant owners Carolyn and Lea with their son, Eli, called “Home for the Holidays,” that shows the family at home in their kitchen, is apparently too shocking for some (homophobic) people. The ad touts Swanson broth as a key element in the dishes for the family’s annual Feast of the Seven Fishes Christmas Eve celebration. It’s one of a series of ads produced by Swanson featuring professional chefs’ favorite holiday recipes. But according to the anti-gay American Family Association, the ads require an immediate response from constituents in the form of emails and phone calls to Campbell Soup Company, which owns Swanson.

Their reasoning is that the ads ran alongside those of many other companies in The Advocate, a national LGBT news magazine, and that the parents happen to be a lesbian couple and their son.

The AFA posted an alert saying: “Campbell Soup Company has openly begun helping homosexual activists push their agenda. Not only did the ads cost Campbell’s a chunk of money, but they also sent a message that homosexual parents constitute a family and are worthy of support. They also gave their approval to the entire homosexual agenda.”

Thankfully, according to Ad Age,

Campbell made no apologies for the series of ads, which it said is its first in any LGBT publication, and instead took a decisive stance on the criticism. “Our position on this is pretty straightforward,” said company rep Anthony Sanzio. “Inclusion and diversity play an important role in our business, and that fact is reflected in our marketing plan. For more than a century, people from all walks for life have enjoyed Campbell’s products, and we will continue to try to communicate in ways that are meaningful and relevant to them.”

He added: “Our plans for the Swanson brand include additional placements in The Advocate.”

To contact Campbell’s and thank them for fairly and accurately depicting our lives – and for not giving in to the demands of anti-gay organizations write to Campbell Soup President Douglas Conant and follow up with a phone call to the Campbell Soup Company and Swanson, and include Director of Corporate Communications Anthony Sanzio (who is quoted above in the Ad Age interview) in your thank-you. Let them know you appreciate their strong support for LGBT families. Douglas Conant, President, douglas_r_conant@campbellsoup.com. Anthony Sanzio, Dir. of Corporate Communications, anthony_sanzio@campbellsoup.com.
Campbell Soup Company: 1-800-257-8443. Swanson: 1-800-442-7684.

NY Senate Hopeful Caroline Kennedy Supports Marriage Equality. Caroline Kennedy’s spokesperson told The New York Times in written answers to questions submitted by the paper that she “supports full equality and marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.” Kennedy, daughter of assassinated President John F. Kennedy, is seeking Hillary Clinton’s New York Senate seat.

This Week in Lesbian News…

Babies in New York can now officially have two moms, Obama kind of likes gay people, Hong Kong celebrates it’s pride, lesbians in Phoenix can visit each other in the hospital, Milwaukee is getting a LGBT school, and a 22-year-old study finds children raised with lesbian parents are just as healthy as those raised with in heterosexual households - in a week in lesbian news.

Baby Owning Equality
New York state officials will now let married same-sex couples list both their names on their children’s birth certificates. The change would apply statewide except in New York City, which is considering changing its own birth certificate forms to include same-sex couples. The decision is one of a number of changes made in the state since May, following an order from Governor David Paterson to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages.

The Good and the Bad of Obama’s Week
Although President-elect Obama’s naming of Nancy Sutley, an open lesbian, to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality was seen as a positive move by the LGBT community – making her the first prominent member of the LGBT community to gain a senior role in the new administration – his choice of anti-LGBT reverend Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the 56th Presidential Inauguration has not been well received by his gay and lesbian supporters. HRC President Joe Solmonese penned a letter to President-elect Obama, urging him to reconsider his selection. Warren was a vocal supporter of Proposition 8, which ended marriage equality in California, and has publicly equated homosexuality with pedophilia.

Hong Kong Pride a Success
Nearly 1,000 people participated in Hong Kong’s first official gay pride parade last week. Last year, Hong Kong’s top court struck down the final portions of a century-old law against sodomy. LGBT rights activists are hopeful the parade will become an annual event.

Domestic Partner Rights in Phoenix
The Phoenix, Arizona City Council and Mayor Phil Gordon voted last week to enact a domestic partner registry for city residents. The registry will allow unmarried same and opposite-sex couples to register as domestic partners and receive hospital visitation rights. Phoenix joins more than 70 other cities and counties nationwide with domestic partner registries.

LGBT-Friendly Middle School
The Milwaukee Public School System has signed off on the nation’s first explicitly LGBT-friendly middle school. A subcommittee of Milwaukee’s Board of Education unanimously approved a proposal to expand services at its existing LGBT-friendly high school to sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. The Alliance School was created for LGBT bullied youth as well as non-LGB students seeking a safe learning environment.

Report Finds Lesbian Families Equally Healthy
The Williams Institute, a research center on sexual orientation law and public policy at UCLA School of Law, recently announced two new reports from the “The U.S.A. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS),” published in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry and Journal of Lesbian Studies. The NLLFS—the longest-running study ever conducted on American lesbian and gay families—finds the children as healthy and well-adjusted as children raised in heterosexual families.

This 22-year study has been following planned lesbian families with children conceived by donor insemination since 1986. The results released last week are based on interviews that were conducted when the children were 10 years old. The NLLFS confirms the findings of over 40 other studies on the children of lesbian and gay parents, and supports the positions of all major professional associations on the well-being of children growing up in lesbian and gay families.

The NLLFS finds that although the parents’ sexual orientation doesn’t harm children, discrimination does; the researchers report that the adverse effects of discrimination were significantly reduced when the parents, schools and communities encouraged an appreciation of diversity.

“The findings of our research conclude that children raised in lesbian parent households are healthy, happy, and high-functioning,” said Dr. Nanette Gartrell. “The parents created healthy, loving and safe environments where their children were able to grow and thrive. Even the negative effects of homophobia were largely mitigated when their parents were active participants in the lesbian community and when the children attended schools that taught an appreciation of diversity.”

The NLLFS was spearheaded by principal investigator Nanette Gartrell, M.D., Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. The NLLFS examines the social, psychological, and emotional development of the children as well as the dynamics of alternative families and children of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) parents. For 22 years, this study has been generating information for specialists in healthcare, family services, sociology, feminist studies, education, ethics, gay marriage, and public policy on matters pertaining to LGBT families. Dr. Gartrell’s research documents the thoughtful and innovative parenting styles of lesbian mothers; the effects of homophobia on planned lesbian families; the children’s growth and development; and the impact of childrearing on lesbian mothers’ relationships, careers, and community activism.

Dr. Gartrell’s co-investigator, Henny Bos, Ph.D., University of Amsterdam, is the principal investigator of a Dutch longitudinal study modeled after the NLLFS. The Dutch comparative study examined parenting experiences, couple relationships, social supports, childrearing goals, and child adjustment in 100 lesbian-led, two-parent families and 100 heterosexual, two-parent families. The Dutch study is also documenting homophobia in planned lesbian families. The study aims to determine whether family structure or the quality of the parent-child relationship is most important in the development of children.

For more information about these studies, please visit the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS) website at www.nllfs.org.

This Week in Lesbian News…

From a mainstream magazine’s controversial cover story in defense of gay marriage, to the long overdue approval of a legal challenge to the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, critical acclaim for a film about a LGBT civil rights hero, an upgrade from civil unions in New Jersey, and the first meeting between LGBT rights leaders and the Obama administration, gays and lesbians have once again been a hot topic in the US this past week.

Newsweek Cover Story Angers Religious Right
The December 15th issue of Newsweek featured a cover story called “Gay Marriage: Our Mutual Joy” that focuses on the biblical justifications that the right-wing have typically used to defend their anti-equality stance. The author, Lisa Miller, talked to the Human Rights Campaign last week about the religious right’s reaction to her article debunking popular myths about the Bible’s stance on marriage. Visit www.hrc.org to hear what Lisa had to say and to send a letter to Newsweek letting them know that you and millions of others support their story and that the religious right can’t drown us out.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Challenge Proceeds
A full panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that a legal challenge to the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy can proceed. The panel said the case should be considered on the basis of a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Texas criminal statute penalizing homosexual conduct. The lawsuit is on behalf of Major Margaret Witt, who was discharged in 2006 under the policy after 20 years of service.

Critics Like “Milk”
“Milk,” the film about LGBT civil rights hero Harvey Milk, has been nominated for eight Critics’ Choice Awards. “Milk” received nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor for Sean Penn, Best Supporting Actors for Josh Brolin and James Franco, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director for Gus Van Sant, Best Writer for Dustin Lance Blank, and Best Composer for Danny Elfman. Additionally, the New York Film Critics Circle has named it the best film of 2008.

Civil Unions Are So Two Years Ago in NJ
New Jersey’s Civil Union Review Commission has concluded that state legislators should allow same-sex couples to marry. The commission’s final report notes that the state’s two-year-old civil union law does not do enough to give to same-sex couples the same protections as opposite-sex married couples. Governor Jon Corzine has said he would sign a bill supporting marriage for same-sex couples.

Obama Administration Meets With National LGBT Rights Leaders
Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese attended a meeting last week between LGBT community leaders and President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team. During the meeting, they had a fruitful discussion that focused on a number of key issues of concern to our community and how they will be handled by the incoming Administration. HRC submitted a list of recommendations a new administration can pursue to improve federal policies that affect the LGBT community and undertook an exhaustive survey of federal laws, policies, and agencies and identified several key areas where the president has the authority to alter policies for the better. To read the document, visit www.hrc.org/blueprintforchange.

“Working with the incoming Administration and the ability to have a voice in the process on behalf of the LGBT community is exciting and HRC is using these opportunities to make positive change,” explained Solmonese.

This Week in Lesbian News…

The Human Rights Campaign continued their efforts to end discrimination against LGBT citizens last week after an ad in a leading newspaper sought to do the opposite; marriage remains a hot topic from Prop 8 resolutions and musicals to protests of a straight governor’s wedding and surprising equality efforts from a city in the south; and a lesbian soldier in England is awarded big money following her sexual harassment lawsuit win.

HRC Responds to More Lies. The Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Religion & Faith Program launched a response last week to an untruthful advertisement about Prop 8 in the NY Times. A full-page ad in the paper implied there is an organized attempt by the LGBT community to foment mob intimidation and violence toward the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church recently ended a $40 million campaign that dehumanized lesbian and gay people in fighting for the passage of Proposition 8, which stripped gay families of the right to a civil marriage in California. The ad was sponsored by NoMobVeto.org, a project of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

“Several signatories to the ad are generals in the culture wars,” said Rev. Susan Russell of All Saints Church (Episcopal) in Pasadena, CA. “They lied about gay people in the campaign, and now they are lying again when they say we are in favor of mob intimidation and violence. I personally talked legitimately angry demonstrators in California out of such action and every credible LGBT organization called for peaceful resistance to the Prop 8 travesty. Many of the leaders cited in this ad preach hate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, then look the other way when LGBT people are the victims of hate crimes. This ad is an act of individual and corporate hypocrisy.”

Human Rights Campaign is urging people to take action online. By visiting the website www.hrc.org/DemandTheTruth, supporters can write a letter to the New York Times; send an email to the Beckett Fund, the organization that paid for the misleading New York Times advertisement; and share their personal story with NoMobVote.org and let them know how the passage of Prop 8 affected their life.

Lesbian Soldier Wins Lawsuit. In England, a lesbian soldier has been awarded over $380,000 in a sexual harassment lawsuit. Lance Bombardier Kerry Fletcher was the subject of long-term harassment from a sergeant who wanted her to have sex with him. The payout was the largest ever imposed by a workers’ rights board in Britain, though the amount was half of what Fletcher sought.

A Different Kind of Marriage Protest Planned in Florida. LGBT rights activists are planning a peaceful demonstration outside Governor Charlie Crist’s wedding to fiancé Carole Rome on December 12th. Governor Crist endorsed Amendment 2, which banned same-sex marriages and civil unions in the state. Organizers say the purpose of the demonstration is to inspire Floridians to question what constitutes a marriage.

Prop 8 News From California. Last Tuesday, the California Legislature’s LGBT caucus and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg introduced a resolution opposing Proposition 8. If passed, the resolution would put the Legislature on record as saying Proposition 8 was an improper revision of the state Constitution. The resolution also argues that the measure required a two-thirds vote of the Legislature before being placed on the ballot.

Prop 8 News From Hollywood. Some of Hollywood’s biggest comedians have come out against the passage of Proposition 8 in an online video called “Prop 8: The Musical.” The video (which can be found on the Cherry Grrl home page) is directed by Tony Award-winning composer Marc Shaiman and features performances by Jack Black, John C. Reilly, Margaret Cho, Neil Patrick Harris, Maya Rudolph, and others.

Southern City Supports Gay Marriage. In North Carolina, a historically LGBT-friendly city has passed a resolution supporting marriage for same-sex couples. The Carrboro city council introduced the motion following the passage of Proposition 8. The city council also sent copies of the resolution to state and federal government officials to urge support for marriage equality.

This Week in Lesbian News…

Thanksgiving has come and gone but it certainly didn’t slow down the world of LGBT news last week. From a powerful politician’s lesbian sister letting the world know how she feels about her brother to major gay adoption updates and New York and Australia both taking a step toward marriage equality it was a busy start to the holiday season.

Newt Gingrich’s sister speaks out. Candace Gingrich, the Human Rights Campaign’s youth and campus outreach senior manager and sister of Republican politician New Gingrich, made an appearance last week on MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” to continue the dialogue on Prop 8 and the fight for marriage equality. Candace also published a must-read letter to her brother Newt Gingrich that has been viewed over 260,000 times since it was recently posted on Huffington Post. In the letter, Candace stated, “I recently had the displeasure of watching you bash the protestors of the Prop 8 marriage ban to Bill O’Reilly on FOX News. I must say, after years of watching you build your career by stirring up the fears and prejudices of the far right, I feel compelled to use the words of your idol, Ronald Reagan, ‘There you go, again.’ However, I realize that you may have been a little preoccupied lately with planning your resurrection as the savior of your party, so I thought I would fill you in on a few important developments you might have overlooked. The truth is that you’re living in a world that no longer exists. I, along with millions of Americans, clearly see the world the way it as - and we embrace what it can be. You, on the other hand, seem incapable of looking for new ideas or moving beyond what worked in the past.” She went on to say “What really worries me is that you are always willing to use LGBT Americans as political weapons to further your ambitions. That’s really so ‘90s, Newt. In this day and age, it’s embarrassing to watch you talk like that. You should be more afraid of the new political climate in America, because, there is no place for you in it. In other words, stop being a hater, big bro.”

Florida judge rules adoption ban not rational. A decision by a Miami, Florida judge last week now allows a man who has since 2004 acted as a foster parent to two boys to move forward with proceedings to adopt them. Florida currently bans adoption by lesbians and gays through one of the strictest laws in the country. Miami Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman ruled that the ban has “no rational basis.” Attorneys for the state of Florida say they will appeal the ruling.

The fight for adoption rights gets stronger. On November 25th, All Children - All Families, a program of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation Family Project, held a press conference at the HRC building to launch a new awareness campaign aimed at increasing LGBT foster parenting and adoption. All Children – All Families, launched in 2007, also seeks to enhance LGBT competence among child welfare professionals and educate LGBT people about opportunities to become foster or adoptive parents to waiting children. Thirty-four agencies from across the U.S are currently participating in the initiative, and more than a dozen agencies are close to earning the seal of recognition. Check out www.hrc.org/acaf for more information.

Marriage discussions continue. Australian lawmakers have approved legislation that amends family, health, and taxation laws to extend rights to LGBT people, but have stopped short of granting full marriage equality. Members of the Australian Senate amended 100 current laws to give LGBT couples access to the same services as different sex domestic partners, including benefits under the state-run health care program and parental rights. The Legislation now moves to the House of Representatives, where it is expected to pass.

And in New York, HRC and Marriage Equality New York hosted a forum in Manhattan last week to discuss strategies to achieve marriage equality in the state. HRC National Field Director Marty Rouse, Marriage Equality New York President Cathy Marino, and State Senator Tom Duane all spoke at the event.

This Week in Lesbian News…

From the ongoing issues surrounding gay marriage to equality in the world of online dating, a halted plan for a gay school in Chicago, the first signs of commitments fulfilled by the President-elect, and a reminder from former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee of how happy we are his party lost on November 4th, it has been a busy week in the world of gay and lesbian news.

California’s ongoing battle. The California Supreme Court has agreed to hear several legal challenges to the state’s new ban on same-sex marriage. On November 5, 2008, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit challenging the validity of Proposition 8 in the California Supreme Court on behalf of six couples and Equality California. The City of San Francisco, joined by the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, and Santa Clara County, filed a similar challenge, as did a private attorney in Los Angeles. The court will decide whether Proposition 8 is invalid because it is a revision of, rather than an amendment to, the California constitution, and whether the ban violates the separation of powers doctrine. The court will also clarify what effect the ban will have on the couples married before Proposition 8 passed.

Over the past 100 years, the California Supreme Court has heard nine cases challenging either legislative enactments or initiatives as invalid revisions of the California Constitution. In three of those cases, the Court invalidated those measures.

Online dating for all. EHarmony.com, the popular online dating site that claims to match you like no one else can, will finally begin offering same-sex matchmaking services to members by March 2009. EHarmony was sued in California Superior Court in May 2007 for not extending its services to gay and lesbian customers, which, the plaintiff claims, violates California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act. A similar case had been pending in New Jersey since 2005. EHarmony announced Wednesday that it had settled that case out of court and feels that deal makes the California case moot.

As part of the settlement to a discrimination lawsuit, eHarmony will provide services for members identifying themselves as “male seeking a male” or “female seeking a female.” E-Harmony resisted the change, claiming that it had not done the same amount of research on same-sex matchmaking as it has done on heterosexual matchmaking and that eHarmony is about marriage, and that same-sex marriage is illegal in most states.

Even more marriage news. Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, a Boston-based LGBT rights group, has unveiled a new plan to achieve marriage equality in all of New England by 2012. The group said it will work with a number of allied groups to win same-sex marriage rights in New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island. The group, which helped fight for marriage equality in Massachusetts and Connecticut, announced its new campaign on the fifth anniversary of the Massachusetts court ruling that led to marriage equality in that state.

School’s out in Chicago. Backers of a high school for LGBT and bullied youth in the windy city have withdrawn their proposal. The plan was pulled Tuesday night, just hours before it was scheduled for consideration by the Chicago Board of Education, amid claims by the proponents of the school that they wanted to spend another year to finalize their plans and that the original plan had changed too much. The school’s intended start date remains fall 2010, planners said.

He really does like us. President-elect Barack Obama has continued to show his commitment to LGBT civil rights post election day. In an eight-point plan posted on his presidential transition web site, he calls for the passage of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act, repeals of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act, and support for inclusive adoption rights. January 20th can’t come soon enough!

The HRC on Huckabee. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization, issued a statement last week on the insensitive remarks made by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee while appearing on ABC’s The View. In a discussion on marriage equality, the governor implied the rights of LGBT people are not civil rights because the LGBT community has not had violence inflicted upon it.

“Unlike Governor Huckabee, we know that hate crimes tear into the fabric of our society and fragment communities because they target a group and not just the individual victim. The purpose of our government, first and foremost, is to protect all of our citizens — whether they are black, Christian, gay or transgender,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “From advocating that people with HIV/AIDS should be locked up to comparing gay sex to bestiality, Huckabee is merely a mouthpiece for homophobia.”

You Lose Three, You Win One

Marriage, marriage, marriage…it’s all anyone in the gay community is talking about these days and it’s for good reason – obviously the recent bans have created a lot of reactions from Americans from coast to coast. This past Saturday, November 15, 2008 thousands of protesters gathered together in cities and states throughout the country as part of Join the Impact, a movement that seeks to encourage the LGBTQ community not to look towards the past and place blame, but instead to look forward to what needs to be done now to achieve one goal: Full equality for ALL. The website, www.jointheimpact.com, enabled all those interested in taking part in protests against Proposition 8 to find out where and when they could combine their efforts and make a large scale statement about our community’s outrage.

Despite the still very serious issues surrounding what happened in California, Arizona, and Florida however, last Wednesday the state of Connecticut began granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples, following last month’s state Supreme Court decision that found barring gays and lesbians from marrying unconstitutional. Now, only Connecticut and Massachusetts offer marriage equality for same-sex couples in the United States (for a complete worldwide list see The Fresh Ten).

“It’s a joyous day in Connecticut as hundreds of loving, committed couples prepare to receive the ultimate recognition of their relationships by receiving civil marriage licenses. And it’s a historic day for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people all over the nation, who may have suffered a setback last Tuesday, but know that our fight for equality goes on,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese on Wednesday November 12th. “Today’s actions in Connecticut signal a new and hopeful day.”

The victory in Connecticut has empowered those in the LGBT community – those who took part in the events with Join the Impact and beyond – to continue the fight for marriage equality. The Mormon Church played a huge role in the passing of Proposition 8 and in response there have been protests at churches. Likewise, the Roman Catholic Church has been pointed out for its having pursued a campaign of deceit and misinformation in support of Prop 8. Both the Catholic and Mormon Churches told lies - that marriage equality would require children to learn about homosexuality in school and that priests would be required to solemnize marriages of same sex couples – and the supporters of equal rights have been tireless in their efforts this week in pointing out these actions.

Marriage will continue to be the hot topic among our community and the leaders and advocates behind the protests and organizations that have pledged to bring every state in our nation to the levels of Connecticut and Massachusetts. They are asking our community and its allies to remain strong and focused and, as stated on www.jointheimpact.com, “to engage our opposition in a conversation about full equality and to do this with respect, dignity, and an attitude of outreach and education.”

As Joe Solmonese explains, “our anger is just; our goal is alive. We must remain worthy of the cause we fight for. Our cause is love; and only through love can we win the freedom to marry. In the streets and over coffee, our message must be consistent. We love our soul mates and our families; we love and respect our neighbors; we expect love and respect in return. To reverse the outcomes of November 4th, we must embrace our passion and anger, and redirect them to tasks that have as yet gone undone.”

For information about joining the fight for equality visit http://www.jointheimpact.com.
Featured photo (second from top) and top photo by Bob Bobster. Tabber photo and bottom photo by Kelly B. Huston.

The Passing of Prop 8 - This is Not Over

OP-ED FROM HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN PRESIDENT JOE SOLMONESE

You can’t take this away from me: Proposition 8 broke our hearts, but it did not end our fight.

Like many in our movement, I found myself in Southern California last weekend. There, I had the opportunity to speak with a man who said that Proposition 8 completely changed the way he saw his own neighborhood. Every “Yes on 8” sign was a slap. For this man, for me, for the 18,000 couples who married in California, to LGBT people and the people who love us, its passage was worse than a slap in the face. It was nothing short of heartbreaking.

But it is not the end. Fifty-two percent of the voters of California voted to deny us our equality on Tuesday, but they did not vote our families or the power of our love out of existence; they did not vote us away.

As free and equal human beings, we were born with the right to equal families. The courts did not give us this right—they simply recognized it. And although California has ceased to grant us marriage licenses, our rights are not subject to anyone’s approval. We will keep fighting for them. They are as real and as enduring as the love that moves us to form families in the first place. There are many roads to marriage equality, and no single roadblock will prevent us from ultimately getting there.

And yet there is no denying, as we pick ourselves up after losing this most recent, hard-fought battle, that we’ve been injured, many of us by neighbors who claim to respect us. We see them in the supermarkets, on the sidewalk, and think “how could you?”

By the same token, we know that we are moving in the right direction. In 2000, California voters passed Proposition 22 by a margin of 61.4% to 38.6%. On Tuesday, fully 48% of Californians rejected Proposition 8. It wasn’t enough, but it was a massive shift. Nationally, although two other anti-marriage ballot measures won, Connecticut defeated an effort to hold a constitutional convention ending marriage, New York’s state legislature gained the seats necessary to consider a marriage law, and FMA architect Marilyn Musgrave lost her seat in Congress. We also elected a president who supports protecting the entire community from discrimination and who opposes discriminatory amendments.

Yet on Proposition 8 we lost at the ballot box, and I think that says something about this middle place where we find ourselves at this moment. In 2003, twelve states still had sodomy laws on the books, and only one state had civil unions. Four years ago, marriage was used to rile up a right-wing base, and we were branded as a bigger threat than terrorism. In 2008, most people know that we are not a threat. Proposition 8 did not result from a popular groundswell of opposition to our rights, but was the work of a small core of people who fought to get it on the ballot. The anti-LGBT message didn’t rally people to the polls, but unfortunately when people got to the polls, too many of them had no problem with hurting us. Faced with an economy in turmoil and two wars, most Californians didn’t choose the culture war. But faced with the question—brought to them by a small cadre of anti-LGBT hardliners – of whether our families should be treated differently from theirs, too many said yes.

But even before we do the hard work of deconstructing this campaign and readying for the future, it’s clear to me that our continuing mandate is to show our neighbors who we are.

Justice Lewis Powell was the swing vote in Bowers, the case that upheld Georgia’s sodomy law and that was reversed by Lawrence v. Texas five years ago. When Bowers was pending, Powell told one of his clerks “I don’t believe I’ve ever met a homosexual.” Ironically, that clerk was gay, and had never come out to the Justice. A decade later, Powell admitted his vote to uphold Georgia’s sodomy law was a mistake.

Everything we’ve learned points to one simple fact: people who know us are more likely to support our equality.

In recent years, I’ve been delivering this positive message: tell your story. Share who you are. And in fact, as our families become more familiar, support for us increases. But make no mistake: I do not think we have to audition for equality. Rather, I believe that each and every one of us who has been hurt by this hateful ballot measure, and each and every one of us who is still fighting to be equal, has to confront the neighbors who hurt us. We have to say to the man with the Yes on 8 sign—you disrespected my humanity, and I am not giving you a pass. I am not giving you a pass for explaining that you tolerate me, while at the same time denying that my family has a right to exist. I do not give you permission to say you have me as a “gay friend” when you cast a vote against my family, and my rights.

Wherever you are, tell a neighbor what the California Supreme Court so wisely affirmed: that you are equal, you are human, and that being denied equality harms you materially. Although I, like our whole community, am shaken by Prop 8’s passage, I am not yet ready to believe that anyone who knows us as human beings and understands what is at stake would consciously vote to harm us.

This is not over. In California, our legal rights have been lost, but our human rights endure, and we will continue to fight for them.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all. Visit http://www.hrc.org.

Photos, from top by: Todd Page, Bob Bobster.

Increase in Hate Crimes Based on Sexual Orientation in 2007

Rise in Hate Crimes Based on Sexual Orientation Underscores Need to Elect Leaders Who Support Federal Hate Crimes Legislation

FROM THE HRC. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, recently responded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation report which showed the incidence of bias-motivated crimes based on sexual orientation increased by 6 percent in 2007. Hate crimes based on sexual orientation remain the third most common type of hate crimes, behind race and religion. This increase comes as the Hate Crimes Statistics, 2007, also reported that the overall incidence of bias-motivated crimes decreased in 2007.

“The FBI’s 2007 hate crimes report shows once again that hate crimes protections for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community are long overdue,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “We are hopeful that after next week’s election we will finally have a President and a Congress that will enact federal hate crimes legislation into law.”

The FBI report shows the continuing crisis of hate violence in America. Last month marked the 10th anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard from hate violence. In those ten years, the FBI has documented over ten thousand hate crimes based on sexual orientation alone. A decade after Matthew’s death, federal hate crimes legislation protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens has yet to be signed into law.

Last year, Congress passed federal hate crimes legislation in both the U.S. House and the Senate in a bipartisan vote. Unfortunately, President Bush’s veto threat blocked enactment of the legislation.

Federal legislation is crucial to ensuring local law enforcement is given the tools they need to combat hate violence in our communities. If signed into law, the Act would give the federal government expanded jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute violent crimes based on a person’s race, color, religion or national origin as well as their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender, and disability. It also provides assistance to local law enforcement to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence. Existing federal hate crimes law covers only certain hate crimes that are based on a victim’s race, color, religion and national origin.

BACKGROUND: Historical Pervasiveness of Bias-Motivated Violence

Each year the FBI releases statistics of bias-motivated crime in the United States. While thousands of crimes are reported by hundreds of jurisdictions each year, the Human Rights Campaign believes this is only a fraction of the actual number of bias-motivated crime that occur in any given year. Reporting by state and local authorities to the FBI is voluntary and many jurisdictions lack the time and training to effectively report each incident of bias-motivated violence that occurs in a year.

While the FBI statistics provide a glimpse of the pervasiveness of bias-motivated violence in the United States, these statistics should be used as a starting point, not a comprehensive number. The Human Rights Campaign compiles media reports of hate crimes throughout the United States, in 2007 alone the media reported dozens of incidents of violent, bias-motivated crime that were clearly not reflected in the FBI report. While not authoritative, the Human Rights Campaign was able to match up several jurisdictions that reported zero incidents and non-reporting jurisdictions with media reports of bias motivated violent crime towards the LGBT community.

FBI statistics show that since 1991 over 100,000 hate crime offenses have been reported, with a slight decrease in the number of hate crimes reported in 2007. In 2007, 2,025 law enforcement agencies reported 7,624 hate crime incidents involving 9,006 offenses. This is a decrease from the 2006 report in which 2,105 law enforcement agencies reported 7,722 incidents involving 9,080 offenses.

Violent crimes based on race-related bias were by far the most common, representing 51 percent of all offenses for 2007. Violent crimes based on religion represented 18 percent and ethnicity/national origin, 13 percent. Violent crimes based on sexual orientation constituted 16.6 percent of all hate crimes in 2007, with 1,265 reported for the year. This is an increase from the 2006 report where hate crimes based on sexual orientation totaled 15.5% of incidents reported (1,195). The FBI does not report hate crimes based on gender identity.

In contrast, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), a non-profit organization that tracks bias incidents against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, reported 1,833 incidents for 2007 from only 14 regions, compared to the 2,025 agencies reporting to the FBI in 2007.

The historical trend regarding hate crimes based on sexual orientation is unclear. While violent hate crimes based on sexual orientation declined from 2004 to 2005 according to both FBI statistics and the NCAVP, the NCAVP records show that one-year decline merely dropped the levels back to the pre-2003 levels.

*Each NCAVP report is a two year snapshot of a dozen or so reporting jurisdictions-for example, the 2005 numbers are paired with the 2004 numbers from the same selection of reporting jurisdictions. The NCAVP collects these statistics by gathering client data from the local anti-LGBT violence assistance programs in these jurisdictions. It is important to read the NCAVP reports not as the latest in a continuing series of linked reports, but as the latest in a series of year-to-year analyses of anti-LGBT incidents in participating regions, in part because the cities and regions represented in each year’s report is slightly different.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all. For more information visit http://www.hrc.org.

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