GAVIN NEWSOM. And then I keep talking, a lot.
I would do anything for that man. I would. Do. Anything.
Even though I was crushed as the results rolled in not only from Prop 8, but from similar propositions across the country, this morning I woke up to this incredibly positive, determined
Dear Mary,
Unfortunate news has dimmed the exhilaration of this historic, life-changing election.
I am deeply disappointed to report anti-LGBT marriage bans passed in Florida and Arizona, and in Arkansas voters voted to bar all unmarried people, LGBT or straight, from adopting children or serving as foster parents.
Meanwhile media outlets have begun to report bad news for marriage equality in California. However, the Human Rights Campaign just participated in a conference call with our coalition partners and we firmly believe that all votes should be counted before calling the race. Several million votes in California have yet to be counted. Now is not the time to speculate on somebody’s fundamental rights. So we are waiting to see the final results from those ballots and will be issuing a statement after the race has been called. Please stay tuned.
While this news certainly put a damper on such a historic election, we should celebrate the fact that our movement came together in an unprecedented way, and worked tirelessly to defeat these amendments, and millions voted with us yesterday.
It is indeed a bitter pill to swallow. But we cannot allow distorted facts or shallow tactics - the foundation on which our opponents built their campaigns - to break our spirits. We are on the right side of history - and we will continue this journey.
Let us not forget that we saw many glimmers of hope for LGBT equality across the country last night. We increased the ranks of pro-equality lawmakers in both the House and the Senate. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO), ringleader of the campaign to write discrimination into the U.S. Constitution, was soundly defeated. Jared Polis (D-CO) became the first openly gay man ever to be elected to Congress as a non-incumbent. Democrats took the New York State Senate, giving us our best chance ever to pass a same-sex marriage law in a legislature. We beat back a ballot question in Connecticut that could have threatened our recent victory there. In fact, marriages begin next week. And we elected Barack Obama as our next President, ending eight years of anti-LGBT policies. I truly believe that despite these setbacks, our nation is moving in the right direction.
After fighting for years, so many victories are now within reach. And thanks to yesterday’s victories, we can now pass critical LGBT equality measures like the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act and begin unraveling the damage of the last eight years.
I vow to you today that HRC will not give up, nor will we retreat. Moving forward, HRC will:
Continue our efforts to win incremental victories for relationship recognition, so that legally married lesbian and gay couples in Massachusetts and Connecticut have full standing under federal law; the same holds true for civil unions and domestic partnerships in places like New Hampshire, Vermont and Oregon.
Use amendments and other legislative vehicles in Congress to establish growing equality for LGBT Americans under federal tax, Social Security, pension, insurance and other laws - piecing together as many of the rights of marriage as we can until the full victory is achieved in years to come.
Work with our allies in New York to make good on the extraordinary opportunity presented by the election of a new fair-minded majority in the State Senate, which paves the way for the nation's first-ever legislatively achieved marriage equality victory. We are also simultaneously working on marriage equality in New Jersey.
Together, like we have done some many times before, we fought the good fight until the bitter end.
In Florida, HRC contributed $120,000 to Florida Red & Blue (backers of the SayNo2 campaign), including $50,000 of early seed money that allowed the campaign to raise significant additional funds and provided high-level fundraising consulting for the campaign. We started building an early base for campaign operations by sending staff to Florida and conducting volunteer trainings during the January Presidential Primary. We held a Camp Equality election skills training in Fort Lauderdale and mobilized hundreds of volunteers. And in the final weeks, four additional HRC staffers and a Campaign College participant were sent to work on the ground in Florida.
In Arizona, HRC contributed $50,000 to Arizona Together for media production and air time. We had three HRC staffers and one Campaign College participant on the ground. We also held a Camp Equality election skills training in Phoenix and mobilized the participants to work on this issue.
In Arkansas, HRC provided half of the funding necessary for the Arkansas Families First campaign to hire a campaign manager. We deployed a Campaign College participant to work on the campaign for 12 weeks, and an HRC staffer to work on the campaign during the final push.
And in California, HRC participated fully as a member of the marriage coalition executive committee, with unprecedented on-the-ground support, and extensive voter mobilization efforts. I am proud that HRC was the second largest funder of No on Prop. 8, behind Equality California, in what ended up being the most expensive campaign in the nation next to the presidential race. When all was said and done, HRC and our members invested nearly $3.5 million directly to the efforts in California. But our messages of fairness and reason were met with appalling messages of fear, distortion and downright hate that our opponents put forth on television, on radio, across the Internet, and in Sunday sermons.
In 2000, a similar marriage ban in California was passed by a margin of 61% to 39%. So the closeness of this race and the positive shift in public opinion underscores that it is only a matter of time before we add more states to the march for marriage equality. As Obama said last night, “That's the true genius of America - that America can change.”
Yesterday, an unfortunate majority of voters stood with the most extreme and negative elements of society to deny the rights of loving and committed gay and lesbian couples. But it’s not the first time that has happened to us, and it won’t be the last. It doesn’t change the fact that we are married. It doesn’t change the fact that we have families. Make no mistake. We are bowed, but not discouraged. We are sad, but not disheartened. We grieve, but not as those who are without hope.
Today we will mourn the losses in Florida, Arizona and Arkansas, but tomorrow let's resolve to lift one another up, and continue our march forward.
Remember, our marriages didn’t begin with a decision of the court, and they will not end with a vote of the people.
Warmly,
Joe Solmonese
President
I can't imagine how hard that must have been to write, but it was amazing to receive.
And just now, my brother burst into the living room to report this, which he heard on KCBS:
Newsom: Separate is Not Equal
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- When it comes to banning same sex marriages, Mayor Gavin Newsom says he won’t take “yes” for answer.
“Separate is not equal,” said Newsom at a press conference on Wednesday. “We would never create a separate tract based upon your gender; we would never create a separate tract based up on your race; how can we in 2008 argue for a separate tract based up on your sex orientation?”
On Tuesday, the hotly debated Proposition 8 was passed with 54 percent of California voters supporting a state constitutional amendment that recognizes marriage between a man and woman.
With 98 percent of the vote counted, the ban is leading by over 500,000 votes-but gay marriage advocates say it’s not over yet.
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera has filed a lawsuit, claiming that the constitutional amendment is itself unconstitutional. Herrera spokesman Matt Dorsey says that gays and lesbians have been deemed a protected class by the state supreme court.
In addition to the city lawsuit, several other lawsuits are pending as well. Members of the "Yes on 8" campaign say they're not surprised that legal challenges have been launched.
Campaign spokeswoman Sonja Eddings Brown says she recognizes the extreme passion on both sides but says it’s important for all of us to respect the will of the voters.
Eddings Brown says support for traditional marriages wasn't just approved by the electorate Tuesday night, it also passed with overwhelming support back in 2000 in the form of Proposition 22.
She believes that at some point, California taxpayers are going to grow tired of these challenges.
Some 18,000 couples have married since the California Supreme Court made gay marriage legal, it is yet to be determined if those nuptials will continue to be recognized by the state.
Source
It's frustrating that there are still so many people who sincerely believe that their religion, or their prejudices, belong in anyone else's life - let alone our laws, our government. But I am constantly awed by the commitment and fire of people who, for example, woke up this morning and was like "Yeah, motherfucker, I'm still here. I hope you're ready." Even in the face of the condescension of referring to the outrage as "sour grapes".
I do find it particularly hilarious, in a horrible, snarly way, that the argument and cornerstone of the Prop 8 proponents was that, as Newsom put it [and they twisted, to their great advantage], they were being "forced" to accept the Supreme Court decision, "whether they like it or not". How unfortunate that they would have to cope with the highest court in the land ruling their discrimination completely illegal! I'm sure I can find someone for them to commiserate with; maybe the disgruntled slave-owners, or anti-suffrage campaigners, or the hissing, spitting crowds in Little Rock that hurled insults and stones at the young black teenagers being escorted to school, or those who raged against interracial marriage with Bible verses in hand. MAYBE YOU SHOULD GIVE THOSE GUYS A CALL, bitch about how lame it is that the government, like, FORCES you to accept its decisions, god it just doesn't understand you at ALL.
And I triple-love that even though he uttered the phrase that was greedily eaten up by the opposing side, and is certainly costing himself the chance of becoming CA Gov, Newsom wouldn't change a damned thing. "Principles transcend time."
An article about the lawsuits being enacted today.
Three lawsuits made, the measure would "subvert the fundamental principle of equal treatment."
"He says the effect on his gubernatorial aspirations is 'trivial' and 'irrelevant.'
And I am so quietly, flutter-excited that Obama will be our next president. Kind of a blushy afterglow on this muted, quiet day. I teared up for the umpteenth time when watching the news this afternoon, as a woman gasped through the hands spread across her face about her experience living in the 1950s and actually having crosses burning on her family's lawn, and now she was watching an African-American man speak as our future president. The news anchor mentioned that many of the older celebrators expressed regret that their parents, grandparents, and friends who fought for so long, or who were forced into segregated bathrooms or not allowed in certain places by virtue of their skin colour, were not alive today to see what they were seeing right then. That they couldn't turn to the people who had been spat on, who had borne hatred and indignity and shame, and say "This is also because of you. Your hard work and your struggle is represented in this moment."
So, clearly, not much going on lately, right? Hot damn, I think I need a) a drink b) pizza? c) to stop writing, right now, and fill my brain-goo with something light and delicious, like Jeopardy! or last week's Ghost Hunters.
Even though I was crushed as the results rolled in not only from Prop 8, but from similar propositions across the country, this morning I woke up to this incredibly positive, determined
Dear Mary,
Unfortunate news has dimmed the exhilaration of this historic, life-changing election.
I am deeply disappointed to report anti-LGBT marriage bans passed in Florida and Arizona, and in Arkansas voters voted to bar all unmarried people, LGBT or straight, from adopting children or serving as foster parents.
Meanwhile media outlets have begun to report bad news for marriage equality in California. However, the Human Rights Campaign just participated in a conference call with our coalition partners and we firmly believe that all votes should be counted before calling the race. Several million votes in California have yet to be counted. Now is not the time to speculate on somebody’s fundamental rights. So we are waiting to see the final results from those ballots and will be issuing a statement after the race has been called. Please stay tuned.
While this news certainly put a damper on such a historic election, we should celebrate the fact that our movement came together in an unprecedented way, and worked tirelessly to defeat these amendments, and millions voted with us yesterday.
It is indeed a bitter pill to swallow. But we cannot allow distorted facts or shallow tactics - the foundation on which our opponents built their campaigns - to break our spirits. We are on the right side of history - and we will continue this journey.
Let us not forget that we saw many glimmers of hope for LGBT equality across the country last night. We increased the ranks of pro-equality lawmakers in both the House and the Senate. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO), ringleader of the campaign to write discrimination into the U.S. Constitution, was soundly defeated. Jared Polis (D-CO) became the first openly gay man ever to be elected to Congress as a non-incumbent. Democrats took the New York State Senate, giving us our best chance ever to pass a same-sex marriage law in a legislature. We beat back a ballot question in Connecticut that could have threatened our recent victory there. In fact, marriages begin next week. And we elected Barack Obama as our next President, ending eight years of anti-LGBT policies. I truly believe that despite these setbacks, our nation is moving in the right direction.
After fighting for years, so many victories are now within reach. And thanks to yesterday’s victories, we can now pass critical LGBT equality measures like the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act and begin unraveling the damage of the last eight years.
I vow to you today that HRC will not give up, nor will we retreat. Moving forward, HRC will:
Continue our efforts to win incremental victories for relationship recognition, so that legally married lesbian and gay couples in Massachusetts and Connecticut have full standing under federal law; the same holds true for civil unions and domestic partnerships in places like New Hampshire, Vermont and Oregon.
Use amendments and other legislative vehicles in Congress to establish growing equality for LGBT Americans under federal tax, Social Security, pension, insurance and other laws - piecing together as many of the rights of marriage as we can until the full victory is achieved in years to come.
Work with our allies in New York to make good on the extraordinary opportunity presented by the election of a new fair-minded majority in the State Senate, which paves the way for the nation's first-ever legislatively achieved marriage equality victory. We are also simultaneously working on marriage equality in New Jersey.
Together, like we have done some many times before, we fought the good fight until the bitter end.
In Florida, HRC contributed $120,000 to Florida Red & Blue (backers of the SayNo2 campaign), including $50,000 of early seed money that allowed the campaign to raise significant additional funds and provided high-level fundraising consulting for the campaign. We started building an early base for campaign operations by sending staff to Florida and conducting volunteer trainings during the January Presidential Primary. We held a Camp Equality election skills training in Fort Lauderdale and mobilized hundreds of volunteers. And in the final weeks, four additional HRC staffers and a Campaign College participant were sent to work on the ground in Florida.
In Arizona, HRC contributed $50,000 to Arizona Together for media production and air time. We had three HRC staffers and one Campaign College participant on the ground. We also held a Camp Equality election skills training in Phoenix and mobilized the participants to work on this issue.
In Arkansas, HRC provided half of the funding necessary for the Arkansas Families First campaign to hire a campaign manager. We deployed a Campaign College participant to work on the campaign for 12 weeks, and an HRC staffer to work on the campaign during the final push.
And in California, HRC participated fully as a member of the marriage coalition executive committee, with unprecedented on-the-ground support, and extensive voter mobilization efforts. I am proud that HRC was the second largest funder of No on Prop. 8, behind Equality California, in what ended up being the most expensive campaign in the nation next to the presidential race. When all was said and done, HRC and our members invested nearly $3.5 million directly to the efforts in California. But our messages of fairness and reason were met with appalling messages of fear, distortion and downright hate that our opponents put forth on television, on radio, across the Internet, and in Sunday sermons.
In 2000, a similar marriage ban in California was passed by a margin of 61% to 39%. So the closeness of this race and the positive shift in public opinion underscores that it is only a matter of time before we add more states to the march for marriage equality. As Obama said last night, “That's the true genius of America - that America can change.”
Yesterday, an unfortunate majority of voters stood with the most extreme and negative elements of society to deny the rights of loving and committed gay and lesbian couples. But it’s not the first time that has happened to us, and it won’t be the last. It doesn’t change the fact that we are married. It doesn’t change the fact that we have families. Make no mistake. We are bowed, but not discouraged. We are sad, but not disheartened. We grieve, but not as those who are without hope.
Today we will mourn the losses in Florida, Arizona and Arkansas, but tomorrow let's resolve to lift one another up, and continue our march forward.
Remember, our marriages didn’t begin with a decision of the court, and they will not end with a vote of the people.
Warmly,
Joe Solmonese
President
I can't imagine how hard that must have been to write, but it was amazing to receive.
And just now, my brother burst into the living room to report this, which he heard on KCBS:
Newsom: Separate is Not Equal
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- When it comes to banning same sex marriages, Mayor Gavin Newsom says he won’t take “yes” for answer.
“Separate is not equal,” said Newsom at a press conference on Wednesday. “We would never create a separate tract based upon your gender; we would never create a separate tract based up on your race; how can we in 2008 argue for a separate tract based up on your sex orientation?”
On Tuesday, the hotly debated Proposition 8 was passed with 54 percent of California voters supporting a state constitutional amendment that recognizes marriage between a man and woman.
With 98 percent of the vote counted, the ban is leading by over 500,000 votes-but gay marriage advocates say it’s not over yet.
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera has filed a lawsuit, claiming that the constitutional amendment is itself unconstitutional. Herrera spokesman Matt Dorsey says that gays and lesbians have been deemed a protected class by the state supreme court.
In addition to the city lawsuit, several other lawsuits are pending as well. Members of the "Yes on 8" campaign say they're not surprised that legal challenges have been launched.
Campaign spokeswoman Sonja Eddings Brown says she recognizes the extreme passion on both sides but says it’s important for all of us to respect the will of the voters.
Eddings Brown says support for traditional marriages wasn't just approved by the electorate Tuesday night, it also passed with overwhelming support back in 2000 in the form of Proposition 22.
She believes that at some point, California taxpayers are going to grow tired of these challenges.
Some 18,000 couples have married since the California Supreme Court made gay marriage legal, it is yet to be determined if those nuptials will continue to be recognized by the state.
Source
It's frustrating that there are still so many people who sincerely believe that their religion, or their prejudices, belong in anyone else's life - let alone our laws, our government. But I am constantly awed by the commitment and fire of people who, for example, woke up this morning and was like "Yeah, motherfucker, I'm still here. I hope you're ready." Even in the face of the condescension of referring to the outrage as "sour grapes".
I do find it particularly hilarious, in a horrible, snarly way, that the argument and cornerstone of the Prop 8 proponents was that, as Newsom put it [and they twisted, to their great advantage], they were being "forced" to accept the Supreme Court decision, "whether they like it or not". How unfortunate that they would have to cope with the highest court in the land ruling their discrimination completely illegal! I'm sure I can find someone for them to commiserate with; maybe the disgruntled slave-owners, or anti-suffrage campaigners, or the hissing, spitting crowds in Little Rock that hurled insults and stones at the young black teenagers being escorted to school, or those who raged against interracial marriage with Bible verses in hand. MAYBE YOU SHOULD GIVE THOSE GUYS A CALL, bitch about how lame it is that the government, like, FORCES you to accept its decisions, god it just doesn't understand you at ALL.
And I triple-love that even though he uttered the phrase that was greedily eaten up by the opposing side, and is certainly costing himself the chance of becoming CA Gov, Newsom wouldn't change a damned thing. "Principles transcend time."
An article about the lawsuits being enacted today.
Three lawsuits made, the measure would "subvert the fundamental principle of equal treatment."
"He says the effect on his gubernatorial aspirations is 'trivial' and 'irrelevant.'
And I am so quietly, flutter-excited that Obama will be our next president. Kind of a blushy afterglow on this muted, quiet day. I teared up for the umpteenth time when watching the news this afternoon, as a woman gasped through the hands spread across her face about her experience living in the 1950s and actually having crosses burning on her family's lawn, and now she was watching an African-American man speak as our future president. The news anchor mentioned that many of the older celebrators expressed regret that their parents, grandparents, and friends who fought for so long, or who were forced into segregated bathrooms or not allowed in certain places by virtue of their skin colour, were not alive today to see what they were seeing right then. That they couldn't turn to the people who had been spat on, who had borne hatred and indignity and shame, and say "This is also because of you. Your hard work and your struggle is represented in this moment."
So, clearly, not much going on lately, right? Hot damn, I think I need a) a drink b) pizza? c) to stop writing, right now, and fill my brain-goo with something light and delicious, like Jeopardy! or last week's Ghost Hunters.