(Someday this won’t be an issue, but until then, it’s good to see stats like this. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

Based on Monday’s post about the Capitol Resource Institute’s attacks on EQCA legislation, Alice Kessler, our legislative advocate, pointed out to me something else about the anti-LGBT extremist lobby’s legislative score card.

If you compare theirs to ours, you’ll notice that both rate the legislators based on their performance on key votes. EQCA only endorses candidates who score 100% on our scorecard, which means they support the entire LGBT community 100% of the time—they go all the way on the freedom to marry and trans inclusivity.

Even though we refuse to compromise, we’ve still managed to get 100% scores for 61 legislators on our last scorecard. The Capitol Resource Institute only gave 18 legislators a 100% score.

Obviously one side is doing better. This is testament to the work EQCA has done in the legislature making sure that our issues are front and center, that senators and assemblymembers get the facts about how their votes will affect their LGBT constituents, and that LGBT supportive candidates get elected to office and keep their seats.

This is why we rate legislators and endorse LGBT-supportive candidates, to help educate voters and empower them to vote for equality, every time. Go to www.eqca.org/legislation to learn more about this year’s legislative package.

In other good news, Curren Price won the Democratic primary in my district Tuesday, taking this EQCA-endorsed, LGBT ally another step to office.

–Reposted from the California Ripple Effect

Now Announcing… Capitol Resource Institute versus EQCA!!

Arch-conservative anti-LGBT lobbyist Capitol Resource Institute is all in a tizzy over EQCA-sponsored legislation. Their Legislative Scorecard is much like EQCA’s own guide.

But it’s an uncanny mirror image in terms of values and priorities, scoffing at the real needs of our community and describing LGBT people in offensive, retrograde terminology.

Their framing is really quite breathtaking in its bald defamation.

Wanna go for a spin?

Now Announcing… Capitol Resource Institute versus EQCA!!

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Laird’s Civil Rights Act of 2007 which expands existing nondiscrimination protections to include LGBT people: “Changes over 50 areas of state law to grant privileged status to homosexuals.”
• Leno’s groundbreaking marriage bill, AB 43, which made California’s the first legislature in the country to grant the freedom to marry: “Legalizes homosexual marriage. Bypasses the people's decision in 2000, via Prop 22, to preserve marriage between one man and one woman.”
• Levine’s AB 394, which prohibits discrimination and provides resources for education about LGBT people: “monitoring of student attitudes on sexual orientations.”
• Leno’s Harvey Milk Day Bill: “A resident of the infamous Castro district in San Francisco, Milk was one of the first homosexual elected officials in America, and is considered a martyr for the homosexual cause.”
• Migden’s Senior healthcare bill which helps address some of the unique concerns facing LGBT seniors: “establishes a special class of patients based on sexual choices.”
• And the granddaddy of them all, Safe Schools legislation, the target of a pending federal lawsuit, the alleged ban on “Mommy and Daddy” in public schools, Kuehl’s SB 777, which actually is a relatively minor clarification of existing laws:”normalizes homosexuality, bisexuality, and transsexuality in public and private schools. Bans all teaching and activities that ‘promote a discriminatory bias against’ these lifestyles. Likely to impact textbooks, instructional aids, restroom use, gender-specific sports teams, and more.”

I get it, LGBT people are SICK, and public schools should let them know it. In fact, schools have no obligation to protect students from discrimination or bullying. Maybe teachers should take the first swing? Sheesh…

What this all begins to show is that for our detractors, it’s NOT just about marriage, and marriage is not where they’ll stop. They want to round it out by taking away jobs, civil rights, proper healthcare, safe schools, you name it. Know thy enemy.

Marriage is such a hot topic right now that these other sorts of bread and butter issues often get left out of the discussion. EQCA’s legislation isn’t about wheeling and dealing at the Capitol, but about problems facing real LGBT Californians.

The guide also includes some bizarre objections to sensible legislation protecting youth, saying that a ban on cell phone use by teen drivers “Suggests that the state sees itself as better equipped than parents to make family decisions” and that a bill to prevent minors from going to cancer-causing tanning salons “displaces their parents with a ‘nanny government’.”

Wingnuts. I’d love ‘em if they weren’t so dangerous.

–Reposted from The Ripple Effect

( – promoted by Be_Devine)

Two months ago, when Del Martin died, we all lost a beacon of light and Phyllis Lyon lost her wife and companion of 56 years.

Upon Del's death, Phyllis said, “Ever since I met Del 55 years ago, I could never imagine a day would come when she wouldn’t be by my side. I am so lucky to have known her, loved her, and been her partner in all things. I also never imagined there would be a day that we would actually be able to get married. I am devastated, but I take some solace in knowing we were able to enjoy the ultimate rite of love and commitment before she passed.” 

But that's not how those who support Prop 8 saw it. This is how they saw it, as captured by the amazing photographer Bill Wilson at Del Martin's memorial service at City Hall in San Francisco.

These people who hide behind the euphemism of “family values” protested Del's memorial with signs like “MOURN FOR YOUR SINS,” “DON'T WORSHIP THE DEAD,” and “YOU'RE GOING TO HELL.”

The public face of those who support Prop 8 is not their real face.  This is who they are.  Narrow minded, hateful bigots who interrupt a memorial service to tell an 83 year old widow that her wife is going to hell for having loved.

These are the people who want to tell Phyllis that she was never really married to Del.  The ones who want to forcibly end my marriage to Brian.  The ones who think they are wise enough to decide who other people can and can't love.

And just where do these people come from that have donated $4,499,258.05 from 10/27-10/30? It's not surprising that the vast, vast majority of the money donated to the Yes on 8 campaign is from out of state.Take a look at the donations from this week alone.  Only a quarter of the donations to Yes on 8 came from California.  The biggest chunk came from Utah.  Texas had a sizable chunk as well.  Take a look at the graph compiled my by lovely husband, Brian Leubitz.

We need to fight these out-of-state hatemongers with all of our power.  Stop the lies!  Stop the hatred!  Walk, knock, call, e-mail, tell everyone you know that we need to protect our residents and our Constitution.  NO ON 8!!!

This is very preliminary right now, and we’re still working on getting all of the details. That being said, it appears that the No On 8 website has been hit with some sort of attack coordinated with an attack on website opposing the Constitutional Amendment against marriage equality in Florida, No on 2.

Obviously, if such an attack did occur, it would be illegal and highly unethical. While nothing has been proven yet, the facts surrounding this case, with the dual attacks, points toward a hack.

We’ll attempt to get more details about this when we get them. If you have any information, please post in the comments.

UPDATE: The No on 2 Website is back for the time being. A similar pattern occurred with the No on 8 site as well, with the site coming online and then being attacked again. As of 11:26PM, No on 8 is still down.

UPDATE 2, 11:31: I’ve now received confirmation from the No on 8 campaign, that they are currently the victim of a Denial-of-Service attack.  The internet folks are working on it, but these things are tough to defend against, especially when you have a dedicated opponent.

UPDATE 3, 11:46 (Lucas): Before this attack hit, No on 8 was on pace to hit its final stretch fundraising goals. It was ambitious, but it’s required to go toe-to-toe through election day. Difficult to quantify how many dollars are being lost while the site is down, but this is simply where things are now. We must double down and keep this campaign rolling in spite of and to spite these attackers. Equality for All is on the Calitics ActBlue page. Throw in now (again). A November ramen diet is good for the mind, body and soul. Leave it all on the road.

Cross posted at Big Orange.

A week or so ago, the legislature held a hearing regarding Proposition 8, the anti-marriage measure. These hearings are required by law to be held for every proposition, but this one, of course, was a bit more interesting.  A future Assemblyman, John Perez, an openly gay community and union leader running to replace the termed out Fabian Nunez, spoke of the inherent discrimination of seperate but equal. Samuel Thoron spoke of the importance to families of marriage equality.

On the other side, you had Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse basically said, “Why do you hate the children? THink of the Children who will be forced to grow up in a loving stable home where two parents love and support them?”

Ok, maybe not so much with the second part of that quote.  I’ve dutifully captured that video (after much labor with a corrupted DVD…let’s just say I spent way too much time on this) and offer it up to you.  Sincere Kudos go out to Assemblyman Dave Jones (D-Sac) who absolutely put Dr. Morse in her place. Exposing her argument as completely devoid of logic, and that is essentially a pretext.

Asm. Dave Jones:  Would you then tell the older heterosexual couple that they should not get married.

Dr. Morse: No, no I would not say that they shouldnt get married, but what I would say is that if the only kind of couples we had in society are elderly couples who are sterile we wouldnt need an institution of marriage.  You know, we wouldnt need it. So the point is, there are ways to solve–the problems that those couples face as elderly persons who arent going to have any kids

Jones:  Well, why didnt you craft this legislation to allow older gay couples to marry, if kids are the only concern

Morse:Well we thought it was simpler just to go back to the old man-woman definition.

Jones:  Or maybe this isnt about children after all

Morse: Right after this thereès some crazy stuff she gets into about in vitro fertilization becoming an entitlement.  The Rep asks her if she would outlaw In Vitro if the child knowing the biological parent is so important, and she says no.

Jones:  So let me sum this up.  You wouldnt ban infertility centers even though the children there wont know who their biological parents are, you dont agree with baning adoption even though in those circumstances children are not necessarily being raised by their biological parents, youre ok with, um, the adoption of children by gays and lesbians, you dont believe in banning divorce, even though by your own arguments theres been all sorts of analogous studies that indicate that divorce is very very harmful on children.  Um, its hard for me not to conclude that this isnt about protecting children…  I am utterly unconvinced that thats whats going on here.  What s going on here is fundamentally, I believe, an effort to discriminate against a class of people and deprive them of something that everybody else has.

But this is what Prop 8 supporters are attempting to sell both to the loyal flock of the Mormon Church and to the greater state of California.  An argument only thinly veiling its real purpose: to discriminate against one group of Californians, to only exclude those whom you don’t like.  And the lies only continue. The proponents argue that a failure of Prop 8 will lead to churches rocking house remixes of Madonna every Sunday because they have to let the gays take over. And not the good Madonna stuff…the new stuff! Boogy-Boogy-Boogy.

In fact, the Yes on 8 Campaign has gone through and come up with 6 Whole Ways Gay Marriage Will Ruin Your Life and the Life of All Straight Couples With Children. It’s basically a run down of everything you’ve seen in their commercials. You know, children will get taught gay marriage in schools, churches will be forced to marry teh gayz, Churches won’t be able to say anything about teh gayz being evil, and it will cost you tons of money (huh?).

Well, I’m sure I could go through point by point on this ridiculous list. But fortunately, it’s already been done.  Morris Thurston, a lifelong Mormon, long-time partner at Latham & Watkins (a big LA-based law firm), has already gone through point by point and taken them all down.  You can find a mini-post at Mormons for Marriage with the full PDF here or over the flip.

Mr. Thurston goes through each point, and completely rebuts them legally and also from a general logical standpoint. Take Reason #2, for example, churches will lose tax-exempt status if they don’t do same-sex marriages. Nope, says Mr. Thurston:

2. Churches may be sued over their tax exempt status if they refuse to allow same-sex marriage ceremonies in their religious buildings open to the public.  Ask whether your pastor, priest, minister, bishop, or rabbi is ready to perform such marriages in your chapels and sanctuaries.

Response:  This false “consequence” is based on the misrepresentation of a case in New Jersey involving an association affiliated with the Methodist Church. In considering that case, it is important to remember that New Jersey does not permit gay marriage, so that case had nothing to do with Proposition 8.  

*  *  *(More info on the New Jersey lawsuit)*  *  *

The California Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage cannot have any federal tax consequences, and the Court so noted explicitly in its decision.  The Supreme Court also noted that its ruling would not require any priest, rabbi or minister to perform gay marriages, which should be self-evident because of the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of religion.    

I’ll let you read the full smack-down of the “6 Reasons” but suffice it to say there’s not much left of the “Reasons” to argue with.  Which isn’t to say that you won’t be seeing them repeated over and over again on TV commercials and from silly talking heads like Dr. Morse, the Right isn’t really known for bowing to the reality of logic.

So, on this Sunday, consider giving to Equality for All, No on Prop 8, through the Calitics ActBlue Page, where we are just $1,500 from hitting $50K. (We’ve also given $2,000 from the Calitics CaliPAC, and another $5K+ from other Calitics pages). You can also do so over at Big Orange, where the Hell to Pay fundraisier has now raised well over $100K to fight back Prop 8.  Thanks to every who has given money to oppose Prop 8. And to everybody who hasn’t, time is of the essence. If you are considering, please do it as soon as possible.

mat-responses-to-six-consequences-if-prop-8-fails-rev-1-1

(W00t! We made the $2500 Challenge on Be_Devine’s Match Page alone, with plenty of time to spare.  But don’t let that stop you from giving to the great campaigns on our Calitics ActBlue page. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

UPDATE by Brian Leubitz: This is working, and I don't want to cut people off. So, the Calitics CaliPAC will match up to another $1,500. You can donate on either the page below or on the Calitics ActBlue Page.  Keep giving folks, we need it.  And while you are at the Calitics ActBlue Page, you might want to think about dropping a few bucks for the Campaign for Teen Safety, No on Prop 4.

We need to step up the fundraising for No on Prop 8, so it's time for another weekend challenge.

I will match all contributions up to $1,000 through Sunday.

Use this page to contribute to the challenge.  The money goes directly to Equality for All.

Economic times are tough, I know. But this is important. There are fewer than four weeks left before the election. We're down in the polls and the Yes Campaign is taking in bags of money from bigots in other states who think they should be allowed to decide who Californians are and are not allowed to marry.

Spread the word and make me pay.

I’ve been despondent since Monday morning, friends and neighbors.

That’s when the new polls started coming out about California Proposition 8 – the anti-marriage equality proposition. Just as my pastor feared, the attack ads from the Mormon Church and other backers of Prop 8 have had an effect. Prop 8 is now leading in the polls by about 5 percentage points.

Tomorrow, I start phone banking against Proposition 8. Come with me over the jump for the points I plan to make.

Just in the four months since the court decision went into effect, about 11,000 same-sex couples have married in the state of California. That’s 22,000 people who have exercised their right to marry the person they love. I am one of those 22,000 people.

The new ads plant a bunch of unfounded fears in people who are on the fence. For the uninformed and the afraid, these are powerful fears. They MUST be refuted at all costs.

First, the ads claim that if Proposition 8 fails, people will be sued and/or open to criminal prosecution over their personal beliefs about homosexuality and same-sex marriage – namely, their religion. This is not true. California law already prohibits discrimination against people due to sex, race, religion, national origin or orientation. The passage of Prop 8 has nothing to do with it. Proposition 8 is about one thing, and one thing only: who has the right to get married and who does not.

The second thing these advertisements claim is that Proposition 8 will keep churches from losing their tax-exempt status, if their pastors or administrators refuse to marry gay people in their churches. This is nonsense. First of all, tax-exempt status is federal, not state. Secondly, the court decision In Re Marriage Cases, which decided that a ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, specifically exempts churches from having to perform wedding ceremonies that are against their beliefs, and I quote:

“no religion will be required to change its religious policies or practices with regard to same-sex couples, and no religious officiant will be required to solemnize a marriage in contravention of his or her religious beliefs.”

Another objection the advertisements have is that the non-passage of Proposition 8 will force children in schools to be taught that same-sex marriage is normal (and, by extension, that homosexuality is, too). This is utter nonsense. The schools are already enjoined by state law that parents have the right to pull their children out of any class in which sex ed, health, or family issues are being taught. The defeat of Proposition 8 will not change that law.

Another smear that these ads are promoting is that it’s about controlling activist justices. That’s simply untrue. The justices have a job. Their job is to compare a law with the standards set by the state constitution; if it does not qualify, the law is overturned. The job of the justices is to protect our rights and freedoms by making sure that laws do not fall short of the constitutional standard.

This isn’t about judicial activism. It’s about people who hate gays. Let’s be clear about this. All these lies are just that – lies. And they’re excuses. They’re ways to give people who would otherwise vote to protect rights and freedoms an excuse to vote to eliminate them.

There’s one further thing that most people who would vote for this amendment haven’t thought about. It’s the unexpected consequence of passing Proposition 8. Here it is: It sets a precedent whereby the government of the state of California can prohibit certain religious practices. By enacting this law, the people of the state will have said that they should be able to regulate the free exercise of religion by religious groups who support marriage equality. And the big argument I keep hearing from the anti-gay crowd is that marriage is about procreation – biological procreation. So what’s next? A law saying that only marriages that have produced biological offspring are legal? A law saying that you have three years to produce at least one child in a biological manner, or your marriage is annulled? That would undermine adoption as a method of having children, as well as making marriage impossible for infertile people, elderly people, and those who have chosen not to have children.

If we allow one group’s religious beliefs to limit the choices of every group, if we enshrine that into law, well, members of most minority religions can kiss their rights good-bye. Do we want that?

Finally, and edited to add this: if this passes, it sets a precedent that the government can take away anyone’s civil rights at any time by legislating them away. Do we want that? I don’t think so.

Please donate to Equality California. EQCA is running the ad campaign, so donate to them. If you can’t do that, please phonebank here: http://noonprop8.com/page/?id=… .

Please help us turn those polls around and get enough ads on the air in enough places that we can defeat this amendment before it nullifies the rights of at least 22,000 gay people in this state, me included. My goal is for us to raise $15 million so we can out-spend the haters. Help me do it?

Thank you.

Crossposted to Daily Kos.

Two new polls have emerged showing Prop 8 leading. One is a poll commissioned by the No on 8 Committee, the other is from Survey USA:

Earlier polls had shown Proposition 8, which would eradicate the right for same-sex couples to marry in California, trailing by about 5 percentage points. This week, a Lake Research poll paid for by the campaign of 1,051 likely voters showed the proposition winning, with 47 percent saying they supported the measure and 43 percent saying no. The polling period was Sept. 29-Oct. 2. That finding is reinforced by a SurveyUSA poll of 670 likely voters showing the proposition winning 47 percent to 42 percent. That poll was taken Saturday and Sunday. (Boston Edge 10/07/08)

So, can you spot the flaws in these two polls? Well, as somebody who has followed polls for a while and has taken a class or two in statistics, a couple of things jump out. On the Lake Poll, you’d generally like to see the poll completed in three days rather than four. But that’s a quibble compared to SUSA taking their poll on a weekend.  A weekend audience will get you a far older, and far more conservative audience.

None of that is to say that we shouldn’t be worried.  The article quotes the campaign as blaming two reasons here. First is the massive spending of the Yes campaign, with most of that being from the Mormon community.  It seems the Mormons liked persecution so much that they want to inflict it upon others.  At any rate, Yes is outraising No by about $10 million. That’s Bad.  Very Bad.

Which leads us to the “complacency” reason. Specifically, the No on 8 campaign is saying that queer and queer-friendly communities are now expecting to win and are not working and contributing enough to see this thing through.  So people, let’s get on this.  

Do you want to do something? Why not Fast 4 Equality? Skip a snack for marriage equality!

The LA Times’ Meghan Daum takes a crack at the “gay indoctrination in the schools” thing the right-wingers are trying to convince Californians.  Funny thing here, the real world and our popular culture pretty much made that moot:

And, wait a second: If gay marriage would have to be taught, is heterosexual marriage already in the curriculum? Do teachers say “Today, boys and girls, we’re going to learn about passive aggressive behavior related to laundry”? Are there workbook exercises called “Ten things I’m accusing you of that really have to do with my own insecurities”? And don’t those lessons already cross over to gay marriage?

As it turns out, the only thing in the education code related to marriage has to do with teaching “the legal and financial aspects and responsibilities of marriage and parenthood.” Moreover, it’s only a requirement for school districts seeking state funds for health education, which not every school does.

***

As for the Proposition 8 supporters who apparently fear that such discussions would be tantamount to promoting gay marriage — how can I say this without hurting your feelings? Perhaps your invitation to the popular culture’s collective and ongoing celebration of same-sex matrimony has been lost in the mail, because I don’t see how you could think that kids haven’t already been “indoctrinated.”

As she points out, any Californian, or really any American, would have to be blind to miss the changes of the past few months.  While it probably goes back to 2004 and the Massachusetts ruling, when it happened in California, the center of creativity and popular culture, it became nearly impossible to miss. You see it on daytime tv with Ellen. You see it in the aisles of the grocery store. It’s not indoctrination, it’s people simply living their lives.

So, at some point, these people will take their heads out of the sand.  We’ll be waiting for them, cocktail in hand.