LGBT Advocacy Group Swarms Albany And Its Legislators

As anyone who's been to Albany for the sake of a particular cause, Tuesday is lobbying day (for the regular folk). The LGBT community and its supporters took head and took action by going 2,000 people strong up there to advocate for equal rights and same-sex marriage. With important legislation in committees now deciding the fate of equal rights in New York, their presence was timely to say the least.

From The Times-Union:

This year the event sold out and calls were pouring in of people trying to get tickets. “It was bigger than a Madonna concert,” said ESPA Executive Director Alan Van Capelle in an interview before he took the stage.

Van Capelle noted that most of the buses that brought supporters up were paid for by labor unions. “Organized labor recognizes that you can’t support economic justice without social justice,” he said.

The convention center is filled with cheering supporters, sitting by Senate District, who will meet with individual legislators. It is a concertedly organized affair — Empire State Pride Agenda has arranged for trained “meeting facilitators” to sit in on every meeting between advocates and Senate members and staff. Not every meeting with the Assembly will have similar facilitators. The Assembly passed the gay marriage bill in 2007 and is expected to pass again this year.

Van Capelle said that they have targeted particular Senate districts — Republican and Democrat. They have been polling in the district, organizing residents to talk with particular Senators and advocate.

More and more New Yorkers, whether gay or straight want equal rights across the board. The enthusiasm for the bill cannot be denied and the Republican leadership in the Senate's decision to let Senators vote their conscience was an affirmation of that. Now let's see if all those ESPA supporters can change the minds of just a few Republicans to join the majority of Dems in passing same-sex marriage rights.

While Obama Wins, Equality For All Americans Fails

Make no doubt about it, last night was a tremendous turning point in our nation. Barack Obama's overwhelming victory was a testament to our nation's democracy. However, not everything went well for those that must seek to be seen as equals in our society. Across the country, numerous propositions were put onto the ballots of states such as California, Florida, Arizona and Arkansas to restrict the rights of the GLBT community. I didn't expect much from Arizona, Arkansas and Florida (sorry to those that do support equal rights there but clearly you aren't the majority) but I was hoping California could overcome. I was sadly mistaken about having that hope.

From The LA Times:

In San Francisco on Tuesday night at the packed headquarters of the "No on 8" campaign party in the Westin St. Francis Hotel, supporters heard from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, whose decision to issue same-sex wedding licenses in his city led to the court ruling that made gay marriage briefly legal in the state. .

"You decided to live your life out loud. You fell in love and you said, 'I do.' Tonight, we await a verdict," Newsom said, speaking to a roaring crowd before final returns were in.

Elsewhere in the country, two other gay-marriage bans, in Florida and Arizona, also won. In both states, laws already defined marriage as a heterosexual institution. But backers pushed to amend the state constitutions, saying that doing so would protect the institution from legal challenges.

Proposition 8 was the most expensive proposition on any ballot in the nation this year, with more than $74 million spent by both sides.

The measure's most fervent proponents believed that nothing less than the future of traditional families was at stake, while opponents believed that they were fighting for the fundamental right of gay people to be treated equally under the law.

Obviously the ridiculous belief that restricting rights of the gay community made the "traditional" families safer. Shame on the majority of California's voters for denying people their rights as human beings.

Well, while their ignorance and bigotry may have the proponents of these bills cheering, they must know the fight isn't over. Just as the country's attitude on race is slowly changing as new voters come into the system and the older ones fade out, so too will the ability to treat people the same regardless of their sexual orientation. It took a long time to get where we are on race (and we still have a long ways to go) and hopefully we can get equal rights for all within a smaller amount of time. Maybe not this year and years past, but the future will ultimately be better.

Support Rep. Marty Meehan Today!

At 2pm eastern standard time, Congressman Marty Meehan will introduce a bill to end the inequality in the military. After many years of a failed 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' recruitment policy, we have the power to end the systematic revokement of gays in the armed forces.

The Military Readiness Enhancement Act will be re-introduced by the Democratic Representative from Massachusetts. The bill (H.R. 1059) was originally brought to the house with 122 co-sponsors, yet it still failed to become law. Backed by the new Democratic majority, this time around things look more positive to end this ridiculous policy that our military imposes on its troops, including the $250 million to $1.2 billion that has been spent to enforce it.

The Service Members Defense Network has been a huge supporter of revoking the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy and is standing behind Congressman Meehan tomorrow. Here is part of their press release:

WHO: Congressman Meehan will be joined by C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), as well as by BG Evelyn “Pat” Foote, USA (Ret.), a member of SLDN’s honorary board, and SLDN client and Former Marine Sergeant Brian Fricke, an openly gay veteran of the war in Iraq. Another participant will be an Iraq war veteran from Texas who lost his right leg in combat and will be coming out of the closet publicly at the press conference in his support for the repeal of the law. Other military veterans will also join Congressman Meehan as he announces re-introduction of the bill.

WHY: Since 1993, the Department of Defense has fired more than 11,000 service members under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” On average, 2 - 3 people are dismissed under the law every day. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) at least 800 of those had skills deemed ‘mission-critical’ by DoD, including more than 300 linguists, of which at least 55 were proficient in Arabic.

WHEN: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 ● 2pm

WHERE: House Armed Services Committee Hearing Room 2216 ●
Rayburn House Office Building ● Washington DC

Despite the issue of how our President has misused our troops in Iraq and his war on terror, it is a travesty to deny Americans the chance to serve based on their sexual orientation. The old policy perpetuates a culture of fear in the military of being outed and in many cases, being thrown out of something that one is thrilled to be a part of. The stories of these servicemembers in hiding is incredibly moving, such Serena Storm.


Here is a small portion of her story:

A few years ago, I met Audrey* who was my girlfriend for two years. She was a smart and caring woman who I could talk to about anything; she was also my first relationship with a woman. I learned so much from her about functioning in an intimate relationship; (I was ignorant when it came to committed relationships since the majority of my previous relationships failed miserably or ended before it could get started) from communication to appreciation; from compromise to acceptance. I often spoke of her at work with my co-workers by using a male name by referring to her as Aidan* vice Audrey.* Our relationship ended over our careers and the fact that she had met someone who had more in common with her and could meet her needs. Despite all that I learned from her, I know it was hard on her to deal with deployments, extended hours, and other demands of the military life just as it was hard for me to understand and empathize with the demands of being a nurse. Audrey* and I are still friends; I would rather have her in my life in that capacity than not at all. That don’t ask, don’t tell policy limits everything. It’s hard being in a committed relationship with someone whose picture you can’t put on your desk while everyone else is able to just because they’re straight. I’d love to be able to put my lover on a pedestal and show her off just like my co-workers do with their significant others. Unfortunately I can’t; I’ve learned to accept it and keep my professional and private life separate...to the point of having it down to a science and creating my own language.

That is only one tale of thousands. The damage to people that live in this state-sanctioned hiding is atrocious. A human being should not be forced to be ashamed of their sexual preference while serving their country. This is why Marty Meehan needs all the support he can get from us to tell our representatives to pass this bill so it will not have to be re-introduced for a second time.

Check out the Human Rights Campaign position on why this bill should be passed and then contact your member of Congress today!