11.25.08
Florida Ban On Gay Adoptions Ruled Unconstitutional
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman Tuesday declared Florida’s 50-year-old ban on gay adoptions unconstitutional — a ruling state lawyers immediately said they would challenge.
11.24.08
Separation of Sundance and State
In 2009, Sundance will celebrate 25 years of bringing together international cinema and a variety of cultures in Park City, Utah. But with California’s gay community reeling from the passage of Prop. 8, activists and filmmakers are suggesting a boycott of the festival and theater chain Cinemark, whose CEO donated a substantial sum to the marriage ban’s campaign.
Arguably the most important film festival in the United States and one of the most celebrated in the world, Sundance turns 25 when it opens on January 15, 2009. For fans of LGBT cinema, the festival that introduced queer classics including The Times of Harvey Milk and Longtime Companion and helped them become box office successes has always been a must-attend. But this time around, Sundance finds itself at the center of the backlash created by the passage of California’s Proposition 8.
Besides being the home of Sundance, Utah is the central hub of the Mormon Church, which organized its followers to support the amendment banning same-sex marriage in the Golden State and encouraged them to give generously to the cause. With many gays and lesbians enraged by Prop. 8’s passage, boycotts of all shapes and sizes have popped up, encouraging LGBT consumers to financially punish Prop. 8 supporters and their businesses.
Boycott Cinemark, a movie theater chain.
The boycott is also an issue for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which has a major presence at Sundance with its Queer Lounge, a networking venue and meeting place that’s become a major festival destination.
Neil Giuliano, GLAAD’s president, said his organization has no plans to pull out of the festival.
“We think that Queer Lounge and GLAAD have to be more visible than ever,” Giuliano said. “We have to ensure the LGBT community has a voice at Sundance. These film festivals are a critical way to achieve the goals of fair and accurate inclusion in the media, especially in the entertainment media.”
11.19.08
Obama posts campaign pledges on LGBT rights
President-elect Barack Obama has laid out his commitment to LGBT civil rights in an eight-point plan posted on his transition Web site.
It calls for passage of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act; a gender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act; repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell; repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act; opposition to any attempt to reintroduce an amendment to the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, support for inclusive adoption rights; and an expanded war on HIV/AIDS.
The program is identical to Obama’s positions during the campaign and LGBT rights groups said it shows that the president-elect is committed to keeping his word.
The Matthew Shepard Hate Crime Act would add sexual orientation to the list of categories covered under federal hate crime law. It passed the House in 2007 and the White House threatened to veto it. In an effort to get around a veto, the Senate version was tied to the 2008 defense authorization bill. It passed but then went to conference, where it was stripped out.
Obama was a co-sponsor of the bill. On his transition Web site, Obama notes that in 2004, crimes against LGBT Americans constituted the third-highest category of hate crime reported, making up more than 15 percent. As a state senator in Illinois, Obama helped pass tough legislation that made hate crimes - and cthe onspiracy to commit them - against the law.
Obama, in his eight-point plan, also supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and says it must include gender identity.
ENDA passed the US House in 2007 without protections for the transgendered, but was not taken up by the Senate.
The legislation would make it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in hiring, firing, promoting or paying an employee.
ENDA as originally introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) included transpeople, but Frank removed those protections in committee, saying it would be impossible to pass the bill if it included gender identity.
More than a dozen LGBT groups immediately distanced themselves from the legislation. Frank has since said he would fight to ensure an inclusive ENDA is passed.
Obama’s support for an inclusive ENDA virtually assures it will include gender identity when it is reintroduced in the next session of Congress.
“While an increasing number of employers have extended benefits to their employees’ domestic partners, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace occurs with no federal legal remedy,” Obama says on the transition site.
Legislation to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the ban on gays serving openly in the military, was taken up in committee this year for the first time, but did not make it to a vote.
DADT was enacted in 1993. Since then more than 12,000 servicemembers have been dismissed when it was learned they are gay. According to statistics from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which advocates for gays in the military, an average of two service members each day are dismissed under the law .
“The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve. Discrimination should be prohibited,” the Obama transition site says.
“Obama will work with military leaders to repeal the current policy and ensure it helps accomplish our national defense goals.”
The Web site also touts Obama’s commitment to same-sex families, but he remains reluctant to support gay marriage.
“Barack Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples.” the transition site says.
“Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights,” the Web site says.
He also supports adoption rights for all couples “regardless of their sexual orientation.”
Obama’s plan also offers a comprehensive plan for combating HIV/AIDS.
“In the first year of his presidency, Barack Obama will develop and begin to implement a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies. The strategy will be designed to reduce HIV infections, increase access to care and reduce HIV-related health disparities,” the Web site says.
Part of that plan would see a diminished role for the Bush administration’s dependence on abstinence education, as well as distributing contraceptives in prisons and lifting the federal ban on needle exchanges.
11.17.08
Schwarzenegger won’t petition court on Prop 8
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will not submit a legal brief to the California Supreme Court arguing for the overturn of Proposition 8, the voter initiative that bans same-sex marriage, nor will he join a group of state lawmakers in their brief despite making statements he believes the court should declare the measure illegal.
Appearing on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” Schwarzenegger said that he believes marriage is between opposite-sex partners, “but I don’t want to ever force my will on anyone.”
But he rejected a call to enter the legal challenge to Prop 8.
A day after voters agreed to amend the constitution to bar same-sex marriage three separate notices were filed with the high court arguing the proposition was illegal because it conflicted with existing portions of the constitution.
The American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed a writ petition before the California Supreme Court on Wednesday, a preliminary move to a suit. They were the lead groups that successfully argued the original marriage case before the court.
The second notice came from Dennis Herrera the attorney for the City of San Francisco. The third was filed by Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred on behalf of a couple married in that city.
The petitions charge that Proposition 8 is invalid because the initiative process was improperly used in an attempt to undo the constitution’s core commitment to equality for everyone. They also say that Prop 8 improperly attempts to prevent the courts from exercising their essential constitutional role of protecting the equal protection rights of minorities.
Last week Democratic state legislators filed a “friend of the court” brief supporting the challenge.
The Republican governor on Sunday told ABC that the state law banning same-sex marriage, which the California Supreme Court overturned this spring, was akin to the legal battle over interracial marriage. In 1948 the state high court declared a ban on interracial marriage unconstitutional.
“So the Supreme Court, you know, I think ought to go and look at that again. And we’ll go back to the same decision. … I think that they will. And I think that the important thing now is to resolve this issue in that way,” he told Stephanopoulos.
Schwarzenegger also said that he will meet this week with Attorney General Jerry Brown, a Democrat, over the legal issues involved with the estimated 18,000 gay marriages already conducted in California.
11.13.08
March for LBGTQ Rights Saturday 11/15
This Saturday, thousands of LGBT community and its allies across the country, spontaneously organizing themselves in a truly grassroots movement, will convene to raise the call for equality.
This Saturday Nov. 15, cities in every state.
11.11.08
Utah Leaders Push Forward on LGBT Rights Legislation
In the wake of Proposition 8, pro-gay Equality Utah is taking the comments of Mormon Church elders as a signal to move forward with legislation that will expand the rights of gays and lesbians in the state, reports The New York Times.
Defending their members’ estimated $20-million contribution to the passage of California’s gay marriage ban, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said they are not antigay and wouldn’t deny certain legal protections to gays and lesbians.
11.10.08
Schwarzenegger: Fight For Gay Marriage Continues
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said that the fight for gay marriage was not over in California and suggested the state supreme xourt may in fact overturn Proposition 8.
“It’s unfortunate, obviously, but it’s not the end,” Schwarzenegger said of the measure’s passage.
“I think that we will again maybe undo that, if the court is willing to do that, and then move forward from there and again lead in that area.”
11.04.08
Florida Proposition 2
Florida Proposition 2 is a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution that would define marriage as between one man and one woman, effectively banning same-sex marriage in the state. The proposition text reads, “”In as much as a marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.”
Doesn’t Florida Already Have A Statute That Prevents Gay Marriage?:
Yes, Florida statutes already define marriage as between one man and one woman. However, if Proposition 2 is passed neither the state legislature or judiciary could alter the definition of marriage within the state.
Does This Mean Homosexuality Will Be Taught In School?:
No, there is no language in the proposition about education. Supporters of Proposition 102 (those against gay marriage) are using this argument to convince voters that allowing gays to marry in the state will affect their children’s education.
How Does Prop. 2 Affect Heterosexuals?:
If passed, Proposition 2 could strip heterosexual domestic partners of health care and pension benefit plans.
11.03.08
Obama opposes Prop 8, McCain in favor
They both oppose same-sex marriage, but Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain differ over Proposition 8, the ballot measure that would ban gay marriage in California.
“I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage. But when you start playing around with constitutions just to prohibit somebody who cares about another person, it just seems to me that’s not what America’s about,” he said. He added, “Usually, our constitutions expand liberties, they don’t contract them.”
Obama has previously stated he would oppose a federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and supports repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal benefits to same-sex couples.
He also has suggested civil unions as a means of granting rights to gay pairs.
McCain also opposes amending the U.S.Constitution, but for different reasons. McCain says it is a state issue. He is on record supporting constitutional bans on gay marriage in both California and his home state of Arizona where a similar measure is on Tuesday’s ballot.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden has spoken out against constitutional bans, both federally and state, but Republican Sarah Palin takes a stand stronger than that of McCain. Palin has called for an amendment to the US Constitution.
Public opinion polls show that proposed constitutional bans on same-sex marriage are too close in call in California, Arizona and Florida - the third state with a proposed ban on the ballot.