And the claws come out...

I am fond of saying to people, "Snap when you say that." Well, to the American Foundation for Equal Rights, snap when you say this:

The Letter from AFER to NCLR, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU

July 8, 2009

Kate Kendell
National Center for Lesbian Rights
870 Market Street, Suite 370
San Francisco, CA 94102

Jennifer Pizer
Lambda Legal
Western Regional Office
3325 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1300
Los Angeles, CA 90010

Mark Rosenbaum
ACLU of Southern California
1313 W. 8th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Dear Kate, Jennifer and Mark:

On behalf of the plaintiffs and our board, donors and supporters, I am writing to ask that you not intervene in Perry v. Schwarzenegger.

Given our willingness to collaborate with you, and your efforts to undercut this case, we were surprised and disappointed when we became aware of your desire to intervene.

You have unrelentingly and unequivocally acted to undermine this case even before it was filed. In light of this, it is inconceivable that you would zealously and effectively litigate this case if you were successful in intervening. Therefore, we will vigorously oppose any motion to intervene.

In public and private, you have made it unmistakably clear that you strongly disagree with our legal strategy to challenge Prop. 8 as a violation of the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the United States Constitution. Your strident criticism of our suit has been constant:

• May 27, Joint Statement from ACLU, Lambda, NCLR and Other Organizations -- “Now that the California Supreme Court has refused to strike down Proposition 8, we need to go back to the voters. Since we lost Proposition 8 just six months ago, and since a ballot initiative to repeal is likely to require a huge investment in time and money, it is tempting to at least try a federal lawsuit first. But it’s a temptation we should resist.”
• May 27, The Advocate -- “‘This is an attempt to short-circuit the process, to go all the way to the end….To us, that seems like a lot of risk for a long shot when we know that if we worked to establish more of the predicates, we could do this and not be taking such a big risk.’” (Matt Coles, ACLU)
• May 27, New York Times -- “‘We think it’s risky and premature,’ said Jennifer C. Pizer, marriage project director for Lambda Legal in Los Angeles.”
• May 27, New York Times -- “‘Federal court. Wow. Never thought of that.’” (Matt Coles, ACLU)
• June 26, Associated Press -- (Within a story on the filing of the ACLU, Lambda and NCLR amicus briefs): “ACLU attorney Matt Coles said the groups filed their arguments reluctantly because they still believe federal court is the wrong forum for their fight.”
• Even after you filed an amicus curiae brief urging the district court to grant our motion for a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of Prop. 8, you refused to characterize your position as one of “support.” Indeed, Jennifer Pizer of Lambda Legal went so far as to insist that we alter a press release that described your amicus curiae brief as “supporting” our suit. In response, we issued a second release addressing her concerns.

Having gone to such great lengths to dissuade us from filing suit and to tar this case in the press, it seems likely that your misgivings about our strategy will be reflected—either subtly or overtly—in your actions in court.

Despite your well-publicized hostility toward filing suit in federal court, we actively sought out your advice and counsel, and have incorporated it on many occasions. We value your leadership, experience and expertise on the issue of marriage equality. Thus, from the outset, we have sought to stand together with you, shoulder to shoulder, in this battle. Some examples:

• In the fall of 2008, a representative from what would become AFER spoke to Paul Smith, cochair of Lambda Legal’s board of directors, and asked him to play a role in the case. He declined.
• In May 2009, an AFER board member discussed the case in New York with Jon Davidson of Lambda Legal, asking for Lambda’s involvement. Several days later, AFER board members had a conference call with Lambda in which we again asked for Lambda’s involvement.
• On May 14, 2009, a meeting was held in the home of an AFER board member with Ramona Ripston and Mark Rosenbaum of ACLU, and Jennifer Pizer and Jon Davidson of Lambda. Both groups declined to participate in the case and urged AFER to cease its efforts.
• On June 2, 2009, Theodore Olson and other members of the legal team spoke with and solicited the input of Kate Kendell and Shannon Minter (NCLR) via conference call.
• On June 8, 2009, Kate Kendell and Shannon Minter actively participated in a lengthy strategy meeting with our legal team at the Los Angeles offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
• On June 9, 2009, members of the legal team solicited the input of Jennifer Pizer and Jon Davidson of Lambda Legal via conference call.
• Representatives from Lambda Legal, ACLU and NCLR were invited to participate in a moot court exercise scheduled to take place in San Francisco on July 1, 2009 in advance of the first court hearing in this case.
• When the moot court was delayed due to an order by the Judge, representatives of Lambda Legal, ACLU and NCLR participated in a conference call where we discussed the order and potential next steps.
• That call was followed by two subsequent calls that afternoon to discuss how to further integrate Lambda, NCLR and ACLU.

Regrettably, you embarked on a public and private campaign to undermine our efforts to vindicate the federal constitutional rights of California’s gay and lesbian residents. We nevertheless remain willing to work closely with you at all stages of this case and welcome your continued participation in the district court proceedings as an amicus curiae.But we cannot and will not support your motion to intervene. Your intervention would create a complex, multi-party proceeding that would inevitably be hampered by procedural inefficiencies that are directly at odds with our goal—and the goal of Chief Judge Walker—of securing an expeditious, efficient, and inexpensive resolution to the district court proceedings. As a result of your intervention, we could be mired in procedurally convoluted pre-trial maneuvering for years—while gay and lesbian individuals in California continue to suffer the daily indignity of being denied their federal constitutional right to marry the person of their choosing. Such potentially interminable delay is antithetical to the values on which your organization was founded and for which you and your supporters have fought so tirelessly.

Delaying equal marriage rights in California serves none of our interests.

Again, we continue to welcome your input and advice as we move forward in this case. We look forward to working with you to resolve this issue and bring the focus back to the constitutional issues at hand.

Sincerely,
Chad H. Griffin
Board President

The letter is in response to the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the ACLU, and Lambda Legal's recent statement in support of the Boies and Olsen federal lawsuit against Proposition 8 based on the Equal Protections and Due Process clauses of the Constitution. You can read the letter and get an idea about the fight. For the record, I'm against the lawsuit. Rather not create the legal precedent...

...but no one listens to me about these sort of things. I was right, though, on the original Prop8 lawsuit. I still think we should win at the polls in California. Would be more decisive.

I said early on Twitter that we are all trying to claim the legacy of the movement. My thoughts? Well, I'm reading Mists of Avalon, and I have to wonder if we wouldn't benefit from an Arthur like figure (more modern reference: MLKJr) to bring us together as a leader. You know, move us forward. And, also for the record, I do not believe we have yet to see that leader come forward. Even Cleve Jones, as much as I adore him, I do not believe it is him, either. *sigh*

Nods to the Box Turtle Bulletin.

Happy Harvey Milk Day!

Today would be Harvey Milk Day in California -- the anniversary of the politician's birthday, and just days after the anniversary of the White Night Riots -- however, Gov. Schwarzenegger did not sign the bill this year. The Senate, again, has passed a bill designating May 22 as a day of "special significance" for Milk, and it is currently in the Assembly.

Equality California seems to believe that it will pass somewhat easily, as the focus of their site is on contacting the Governator and encouraging him to support the day.

Regardless, Happy Harvey Milk Day!

In sort of related news, check the news coming from the ACLU where a sixth grader in California was censored by not allowing to present her report on Harvey Milk without permission from all of her class mates. Apparently, talking about historically important gay figures is somehow equivalent to sex education. The school sent letters home to all the parents in the class informing them that if they gave their child permission to hear the presentation, it would be held during lunch hour. The sixth grader who made the presentation received a 49 out of 50 points on the written report.

Quick News Round-Up

Just wanted to cover a couple of quick bullet points this morning:

• Washington State's "everything but marriage" law was signed by Gov. Gregoire, giving same-sex couples all the rights of marriage except for the word. It is considered the most sweeping DP law in the country. Per the Governor: “Despite the sameness, the absolute sameness of straight couples and gay and lesbian couples, nonetheless here in the state of Washington we saw discrimination. We saw inequality that had to be addressed.” The law will go into effect in July, though a referendum may occur in November.
• Rochelle Hamilton should win the awesomest teenager of the year. She took on Vallejo City School District over harassment after she came out... and won in a settlement. In the suit, Hamilton states that she was forced to attend a group therapy session that taught kids how not to be LGBT. The settlement includes a requirement for the district to make a more stringent anti-harassment rule, come up with a way to deal with complaints, and provide training for staff and administration. Well done.
• The Assembly of that state Nevada passed a DP law 26-14, will likely pass the Senate, but Gov. Gibbons states he will veto it (unfortunately, we do not have the votes to override). I think I also heard Nevada will be passing a sexual orientation protection bill (no gender), but I can't find the newssource.
• Obama's pick for the head of the CDC, New York's Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Friedan is drawing some heat from AIDS activist. Per Housing Works: "Frieden has simultaneously employed an authoritarian, my-way-or-the-highway approach and an unabashed secretiveness undignified of a public servant. He has excluded AIDS groups wherever possible from having input into life-and-death AIDS funding, testing, and care policymaking decisions."
• More ongoing weirdness in the Florida gay adoption ban: you still can't adopt if you're gay in Florida, but the state must recognize out of state adoptions to same-sex couples.
• And in pop culture, Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon plans to marry long-time girlfriend Christine Marinoni; and Fergie comes out as bisexual.

I know, I know, not a lot and it's real quick. Bad, bad homosexual blogger.

Bill O'Reilly is Confused

Bill O'Reilly apparently has no clue what's going on in the world. He went on and on two days ago about Miss California Carrie PreJean... but apparently doesn't understand why the ACLU and the LGBT community doesn't support her. Watch the video here, but here's some highlights (the quotes are transcribed by another blog, but I accidentally closed it down before I transposed the quotes -- SORRY!):

I also suggest – respectfully – that gay Americans should take the lead in supporting Miss California's right to voice an opinion on gay marriage. After all, gays want freedom of expression too . . . and where are the womens groups on this? Miss Carrie Prejean has been called all kinds of vile names...

I haven't seen one op-ed piece, I haven't seen anybody on television from the gay community or on the radio say, 'You know, we don't agree but the woman is entitled to her opinion and shouldn't be villified...'

Nobody in the liberal community stuck up for her, nobody. No gay people, no feminist people, nobody. Alright, if you guys are the big freedom of speech . . . ACLU. ACLU my butt! Okay? They couldn't care less about her freedom of speech...

You're saying, 'We don't want to be persecuted or denied rights in any way because of our expression of homosexuality,' and that is a legitimate debating point, it is. So this woman says, . . . 'This is what I believe,' and gets killed for it. You guys would have been so smart to say, 'No, no, we're gonna defend her because this is exactly what we want.'

I just want to clarify for my own moral superiority: the ACLU defends your legal right to speech. The woman said what she wanted to say and no one plans on suing her for it; the reason she was looked down on by the Miss California organization, I believe, is because she went on a political bender and ignored her role as Miss CA... oh, and she apparently posed topless several times before becoming Miss California (which the Donald has no problems with).

But no one said she couldn't say what she did. We just aren't real pleased with what she did say.

Just like I'm not pleased with what you have to say 99% of the time, Mr. O'Reilly.

Seriously, though, this is exactly my second full post on Miss Prejean, can we just be done with her now? SRSLY!

Marriage Equality Bill Passes New York Senate

If you aren't living under a rock, you've probably heard that the New York State Assembly passed a marriage equality bill 89 to 52 and sent it on to the state Senate. For the play-by-play, Joe.My.God. followed the hearings today -- and there are some real zingers! (Note for example openly bisexual Assemblyman Micah Kellner slapping down a fellow rep. who said the bill discriminates against bisexuals because they can only marry one person at a time.)

But, I think, the winner who should be become our favoritest new gay den mother is Assemblymember Teresa Sayward (R-Willsboro), who spoke on behalf of her gay son:

The word marriage symbolizes love, commitment and family and why should my son and other sons and daughters around the state of New York [not] have the same opportunity to experience that same commitment, love and family that other heterosexual couples do. It’s time for us to not only reach in our hearts, but to do what we as elected officials in America have done all along and say we will not accept anything but equal rights.

*sniff sniff* This is me dabbing my eyes with a tissue.

Ms. Sayward, is your son single? I think, inadvertantly, he became the country's most eligible bachelor if only to have you as a mother-in-law.

Now, onto the Senate.

PS --> ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero, the first openly gay man to run the organization, has said that same-sex marriage is "sure thing" and is one of the top priorities for them.

Your Morning LGBT News Roundup

Warning! Lots of marriage ahead... with some other stuff sprinkled in.

• The ACLU is threatening to sue Tennessee school districts if they do not restore access to LGBT educational websites. Tennssee has a statewide blanket blocking software that individual districts can click in or out for certain topics. A recent check indicates that upwards of 80% of school districts have blocked non-sexual, gay-themed websites.
• Rudy Giuliani is against gay marriage -- although we're not quite sure if he's making waves for a 2010 run for NY Governor, or a 2012 run for President. Regardless: Giuliani is a loser who could only win an election for NY Mayor. Seriously, folks. His best gay friends, with whom he lived with for six months, thinks that the opinion is ok -- it comes from political and religious views, not personal ones. *raises hand* I have questions!
• The Maine legislators is set to hear arguments from both sides on equal marriage. A poll released yesterday indicates 43.3-49.5-3.3 pro-con-maybe split in the state. Actually, that's not bad.
• Headline-grabbing Republicans endorse gay marriage to the (what we thought was) defunct Log Cabin Republicans (LCR)! Steve Schmidt, former NJ Governor Whitman, and Meghan McCain all said gay is OK this week.
• The NY Assembly has passed the Gender Equality Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA -- clever, folks) that would extend protections to cover gender identity and expression, and expand the current hate crimes statutes the same. Considering the recent announcement by the LCR that the state Republicans would allow representatives to "vote their conscience," people are wondering whether this once defeated bill will cause problems for marriage in the Empire State. (Take them both, I say!)
• Louisiana begins the fight: couples in New Orleans are suing for the right to marry after being denied licenses at their local county clerk's office.
• And Tango Makes Three, a children's book about gay penguins that adopted a pup, remains at the top of the "Challenged" book list by the American Library Association. Really? Really?
• Nevada's Senate passed a partnership bill giving most of the rights of marriage to same-sex couples, and it is expected to pass the Assembly. However, Gov. Jim Gibbons may veto it and the 12-9 vote is not enough to overturn the veto.
• The Church of Scotland has published an opinion asking parishioners to come to terms with gay relationships, noting conservatives' "selective" use of Biblical verses.
• Miss California says that her opinion on equal marriage cost her her crown. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Apparently, God was testing her faith. God does that for people a lot when it comes to two people loving each other, doesn't he?
• In the murder trial of Angie Zapata, which is the first under Colorado's gender-inclusive hate crimes statute, alleged killed Allen Andrade heard his own voice on a voicemail saying, "It's gay. Gay things need to die." It's in reference to a cellphone, btw. Also fun is that they found a vibrator... with Andrade's DNA on it, and not Zapata's. Strange, yes?
• John A. Farrell at US News and World Reports thinks that Reagan would not have spent as much time on social issues as the Republicans who are championing his name, these days, are. Yea, too bad he spent so little time on it that he completely ignored this thing we call "AIDS."
• Another pre-teen -- 11 year old Jaheem Harrera -- has killed himself over school bullying, some of which was focused on his supposed sexual orientation. But, you're right, Day of Silence was completely unnecessary. *rolls eyes* Nobody needs to hear more about bullying in school.
• The Florida Supreme Court hears arguments for and against same-sex partner adoption today. You can hear the arguments online here.
• Despite the US government promising to change the law, HIV+ individuals are still being denied access into this country. No word yet from the Obama administration -- which is something that I'm writing a lot these days.

And now you're all caught up! Don't you feel better?

Day of Silence -- Begins at 6am for me!

Well, here goes.

I'm registered online.

I've got my cards.

I've blogrolled the official blog.

I'll have my tweets going all day (and have added the DoS twitter -- remember to use #dayofsilence or @dayofsilence today for your tweets and to tweet the silence).

Now I just have to be quiet for a day.

Actually, truly... I'm nervous. It's a lot to ask of someone. Congratulations to all who are participating, today. I know I'm scared as hell.

Make sure you check out the excellent legal FAQs from both Lambda Legal and the ACLU. And darling Montgomery has a post up in support of Day of Silence -- check it out.

Trans-Rights Happening... and fast!!!

There are lots of news stories from the last week of huge jumps the "gender identity and expression" movement has made... so quick run down (I'm doing a lot of Google news searching this evening, can you tell? :-)):

• The University of Cincinnati will add gender protections to their non-discrimination policies! Congratulations to GenderBloc for all of their hard work! (George Washington University is trying to do much the same!)
• The ACLU has filed suit in court to have two women's gender appropriately listed on their birth certificate in Illinois. Apparently there seems to be some question as to whether or not they have gone through the surgery, and a case of bureaucrats selectively deciding when they can and can't do certain things.
• Connecticut is looking to become the next state to protect trans-identified and gender variant individuals. I freaking love the source that you have linked there -- it's a Christianist source, and this is my new favoritest (insane) arguments evar:

  "People who have had sex-change operations; people who are cross-dressers," he offers. "Essentially [it means] people who are confused about their gender, their sexual identity, and think they should have been born the opposite sex from the one that God gave them."
  
  The proposal would bar discrimination based on "gender identity" or "gender expression." Similar laws have been enacted in several states, including California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Oregon.
  
  But one critic in the Connecticut House has expressed concern about the effect the measure could have on the state's public schools, saying it would impact the learning environment. For example, a male elementary school teacher could have surgery and return to classes dressed and acting as a female.
  
  "This is something that's still classified in the medical books to this day as a mental illness," Wolfgang reveals. "These folks want to raise their mental illness to the level of a protected class -- like race or sex." And impose acceptance on the rest of society, he adds.

• Massachusetts, apparently, does not already have a transgender civil rights bill, but it's on the plate for this year.

I would like to point out, too, that Cincinnati does protect people based on their gender identity and expression, and "transgenderism" appears in the Ohio Revised Code in such a way as it could be considered as under "sexual orientation."

In short: we're ahead of Massachusetts?

Was anyone else in the world surprised when they found out Minnesota was the first state to pass gender protections? I'm still flabbergasted.

Really? Minnesota? They can't even decide on a Senator.

Larry Craig's Chair for Sale?

Really? Delta tried to buy the toilet seat the Larry Craig was caught soliciting in?? And for only $5000? Please. Put it on eBay. That shit would bring in a gold mine.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Sorry, but it turns out that just as you can’t buy Barack Obama’s seat in the U.S. Senate, you can’t buy the bathroom stall where U.S. Sen. Larry Craig sat or stood and tapped his foot in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. They’re simply not for sale, at any price.

The agency that runs the airport refused an apparently serious offer to buy the men’s room stall made famous by Craig’s 2007 conviction for disorderly conduct in a sex-solicitation sting operation by the airport police. The Metropolitan Airport Commission (MAC) spurned the $5,000 offer, which arrived by certified mail, according to MAC spokesperson Patrick Hogan.

“We would not want to do that to the senator,” Hogan told the Spokesman-Review newspaper of Spokane, Wash., which is just over the state line from Craig’s home state of Idaho. “We’d want to treat this case like we do any other, and we don’t sell fixtures for novelty purposes.”

In related news, the ACLU reports that if only Larry Craig had come out, he might have had a chance at appeal.

Yea, that might happen, and pigs might fly out of my butt.

GAY STUFF: Gay Marriage in California

PS. In regards to gay marriages in California... I don't know if anyone caught the joint statement, posted on the ACLU website, asking people to "Make Change, Not Lawsuits," where they are encouraging people not to go to Cali to get married and then challenge their home states' marriage laws. They want to do this as a coordinated effort.

That's all well and good, politically...

...but it's absurd that you could ask people not to celebrate their love. Couples that have been together for twice more than I have been alive should not be played into some politicking by big, corporate LGBT rights organizations.

No, let them marry. That is their right now.

Marriage is about love, not rights.