EQCA CALLS FOR END OF ATTACKS ON GOVERNOR FOR SUPPORTING EQUAL RIGHTS OIA Newswire
SACRAMENTO – Equality California calls on leaders of the Yes on 8 campaign to end their attacks on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for saying he believes Proposition 8 should be overturned. Prop 8 eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.
In an interview with CNN earlier this week, the governor said he hopes supporters of equal rights never give up in their quest for full equality, including the freedom to marry. He also said the California Supreme Court should repeal the measure, which passed with slim majority support.
"The claim that our governor advocates anarchy simply because he supports the repeal of Prop 8 is not only absurd, it's offensive," said EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors. "Just as they did during the campaign, the proponents of Prop 8 continue to launch lies and assaults at those who oppose writing discrimination into the constitution. These lies and attacks are being used to spread fear and hateful rhetoric against same-sex couples, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and their allies. We welcome the support of Gov. Schwarzenegger and the 44 California legislators who have expressed their support for marriage equality."
Founded in 1998, Equality California celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2008, commemorating a decade of building a state of equality in California. EQCA is a nonprofit, statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to achieve equality and civil rights of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Californians. www.eqca.org [11/17/08]
GAYS, LESBIANS, TRANSGENDER, THEIR FAMILIES AND SUPPORTERS UNITE – LARGE SCALE NATIONAL PROTEST PLANNED FOR NOVEMBER 15 Over the last week, tens of thousands of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT)community and their Supporters have taken to the streets of California to show their outrage with the outcome of California Proposition 8. Prop 8 provides for a Constitutional Amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage rights; Similar amendments and propositions were passed in Arizona and Florida. The outcome of these propositions has angered the national gay community and their supporters. Many feel as if they are now second-class citizens, but, according to the No on 8Campaign, the fight is not over. The final statement released by the No on 8 Campaign stated,"Victory was not ours today. But the struggle for Equality is not over." > Full Story. [11/14/08]
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN PRESIDENT URGES SUPPORTERS TO WAGE A STRATEGIC AND PEACEFUL BATTLE AGAINST PROPOSITION 8 THIS WEEKEND WASHINGTON- In advance of protests against California's Proposition 8 to be held in cities across the nation this weekend, Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, has released the following statement calling for renewed commitment to coalition-building between all oppressed groups. HRC is the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization. Solmonese's statement, which also urges respect and civil behavior during the Join the Impact rallies, was sent to HRC's 750,000 members and supporters. Good afternoon, > Full Story. [11/14/08]
L.A. GAY & LESBIAN CENTER’S WWW.INVALIDATEPROP8.ORG DISTRIBUTES FUNDS RAISED TO PROTECT MARRIAGE EQUALITY LOS ANGELES, November 13, 2008- The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center announced today that its InvalidateProp8.org Web initiative has raised more than $60,000 to support the effort to overturn Proposition 8. More than 2,300 postcards, one for each donation, are being sent to Mormon church President Thomas Monson, acknowledging that a donation has been made in his name to invalidate Prop. 8 and restore fundamental civil rights to all Californians. > Full Story. [11/14/08]
Be part of the next Civil Rights Movement - Be part of history - Join the National Protest / March for Equality on November 15th!
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WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! Now is your chance to be a "community organizer"! Go to the website and post if you are willing to volunteer to help get out the word in your city. We need 3 or 4 dedicated volunteers in each town to contact the clubs and organizations in your area and to print/distribute flyers to get a turnout in your town.
This is not a California issue. This is an issue of equality across America. Stand up and make your voice heard. Visit the website www.jointheimpact.com.]
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SATURDAY NOV 15TH -
10:30AM WEST COAST
11:30AM MOUNTIAN TIME ZONE
12:30PM CENTRAL TIME ZONE
1:30PM EAST COAST
PRINT OUT THE SIGNS - TAKE THEM TO THE PROTEST
Prop 8 Protest: A Call to the LGBTQ Community, Friends, & Family
I’m sure all would agree that with the election of Barack Obama, this week has been one of amazing wins in the world of equality! Still, Tuesday night was a bitter-sweet celebration. We came together to witness the first black man who will become our president, yet watched in sadness as Florida, Arizona, Arkansas, and California all voted down equal rights for all citizens. Pundits and bloggers alike have put their focus on Proposition 8, trying hard to find an explanation for the anti-gay wins in the face of a huge swell of support for equality elsewhere. Some have blamed the voters, others blame religious groups, and even others blame the LGBTQ community for not being able to mobilize on a larger enough scale. And you know what? There is truth in each argument.
As a community, we have to admit to the fact that we are polarized in various ways. Honestly, I’m not sure what community isn’t and I believe that our polarization is proof to our humanity - we are no different than anyone else, regardless of color, creed, or sexual orientation. Still, our polarization has hindered us from mobilizing as one strong voice. We all come together in the month of June to celebrate Gay Pride, but few of us are even aware of why Gay Pride exists. Gay Pride is a celebration to commemorate the Stonewall Riots of 1969. Many say that the Gay Rights Movement began in 1969, which means that we are still a young movement and have accomplished a great deal in such a short amount of time. The generation that fought for us in 1969 deserves our gratitude and respect. This is a generation of amazing people who fought for our ability to hold hands in the street, to speak out against hate, to dance to our own “thumpa thump”, witness television shows with a queer cast, and come together in the streets celebrating for an entire month! This is the generation that opened the doors for us to even have a conversation about gay marriage, and this is the generation that deserves our help and our voices now. On June 27th, 1969, this generation came together in protest, jumping from closets, taking to the streets, and mobilizing in ways this country had never seen before! And what happened? The country was forced to respond. The Queer identity was forced onto the front pages and coffee tables of people’s worlds and people had to once and for all accept that we are human too!
Now, almost 40 years later we NEED to come together again. We need to show this nation that we are ONE LOUD VOICE THAT DEMANDS TO BE HEARD! We need to be one organized unit. Our gay pride shouldn’t be something we celebrate one month out of the year. Our gratitude towards the ones who came before us shouldn’t be ignored and wasted away with one party after another. We beg to be given a right that requires responsibility and commitment, yet we, as one strong community, have not proven to this nation that we deserve to be taken seriously! The gay pride parade has become a great party, but it has lost the memory of Stonewall and therefor given the nation another reason to cast us aside as irresponsible. It’s time we come together for debate, for public recognition, and for LOVE! Let’s move as one full unit, on the same day, at the same hour, and let’s show the United States of America that we too are UNITED CITIZENS EQUAL IN MIND, BODY, SPIRIT AND DESERVING OF FULL EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW!
On the steps of your City Hall on November 15th at 10:30am PST / 1:30pm EST, our community WILL take to the streets and speak out against Proposition 8 and all of the other pro-equality losses that we have faced in our lifetimes, in our parents’ lifetimes, and for many generations before us. WE CAN’T DO THIS ALONE! WE NEED YOUR HELP! We need organizers in every major city to work with us and get out the protest! I know you’re all tired from all of the work you’ve done for this great election year, but I’m asking for one more push! Let the country hear our voices together. Let them see that we are a strong, adamant, and powerful community that deserves equal rights, and CAN’T BE DEFEATED!
Send this post to everyone! We have one week and must react to the pro-hate votes cast against us! Let’s help our LGBTQ friends, families, neighbors, and each other to IMPACT this country with a demand for our basic human rights! Join the cause, join the voice, and JOIN THE IMPACT!
LOS ANGELES (AP) - On the first Sunday after a gay marriage ban passed in California, activists rallied in defiance, including hundreds of protesters outside an Orange County megachurch whose pastor brought Barack Obama and John McCain together last summer for a "faith forum." > Full Story. [11/11/08]
PROPOSITION 8 VOTE DISAPPOINTING, SHOWS GREAT 8-YEAR PROGRESS SAN FRANCISCO – NO on Prop 8 campaign leaders today expressed deep disappointment with the passage of Proposition 8, which takes away the right of same-sex couples to marry in California. Although final ballots still continue to be counted during the next 30 days, campaign leaders do not believe those votes will be enough to overcome the small deficit of no votes needed to prevent Prop 8 from passing. > Full Story. [11/7/08]
GAY MEN'S HEALTH CRISIS CONGRATULATES PRESIDENT OBAMA; LOOKS FORWARD TO DEVELOPMENT OF A NATIONAL AIDS STRATEGY November 5, 2008, New York, NY - Today Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) expressed optimism in response to the election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America. Throughout the campaign, President-elect Obama spoke out on issues of importance to the HIV/AIDS community. As can be seen in GMHC's Presidential Candidates report, President-elect Obama supports a number of GMHC's key federal policy priorities, including: > Full Story. [11/5/08]
STATEMENT BY GLAAD PRESIDENT NEIL G. GIULIANO ON 2008 ELECTIONS NEW YORK, November 5, 2008 – The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today called on the nation's media to examine the intersection of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and issues, the results of the 2008 elections and the post-election landscape. > Full Story. [11/5/08]
SPORTS OUT LOUD CHANGES NAME TO COMPETE, THE GAY SPORTS MAGAZINE Tempe, Arizona-November 4, 2008-- Sports Out Loud, the world's only gay sports magazine, announced today that the groundbreaking magazine will re-launch as Compete, beginning with its January February 2009 issue. > Full Story. [11/5/08]
GLAAD ANNOUNCES $50,000 CONTRIBUTION TO NO ON PROP 8 IN CALIFORNIA Los Angeles, October 23, 2008 – The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today announced a recent $50,000 contribution to NO on Prop 8 and urged its members to support NO on Prop 8 – the campaign to defeat Proposition 8, which if passed would eliminate marriage for gay and lesbian couples in California. The contribution, authorized by GLAAD's National Board of Directors, is in addition to a $100,000 contribution made in August and continuous in-kind services donated to the campaign. > Full Story. [10/23/08]
ELLEN URGES CALIFORNIANS TO VOTE NO ON PROP. 8 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, LOS ANGELES – The NO on Prop 8 campaign, Equality for All, today thanked Ellen DeGeneres for releasing a video message urging Californians to vote no on Proposition 8. Ellen released the public service announcement to confront the false and misleading scare tactics being used by the proponents of Prop 8. > Full Story. [10/15/08]
TRAILBLAZING MINNESOTA STATE SENATOR ALLAN SPEAR HAS DIED WASHINGTON – Allan Spear, who served as a Minnesota State Senator for nearly 30 years, eight of them as president of the Senate, has died at age 71. Spear was the first openly gay state legislator and one of the first openly gay elected officials in the nation. > Full Story. [10/13/08]
PROP 8 CAMPAIGN DEMANDS ADS BE TAKEN OFF THE AIR The NO on Prop 8 campaign today released a memorandum from their law firm to stations throughout California citing the lies contained in the Yes on 8 advertisements currently running statewide, asking them to take the ads down. The memorandum to station managers from Karen Getman of Remcho, Johansen & Purcell, LLP, is attached. > Full Story. [10/13/08]
CALIFORNIA COURT OF APPEALS UPHOLDS $300,000 AWARD TO BULLIED PAIR OF GAY AND LESBIAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS (San Diego, October 10, 2008) --- In a 3-0 decision, the California Court of Appeal (Fourth District) today upheld a jury decision that found that Poway Unified School District officials took minimal or no action at all when two Poway High School students were subjected to relentless harassment because they are gay and lesbian. The ruling upheld an award of $300,000 to Megan Donovan and Joey Ramelli under the state education code. > Full Story. [10/13/08]
OVER 50,000 LATINOS/AS IN SAME SEX COUPLES; RAISING NEARLY 25,000 CHILDREN LOS ANGELES - Today, the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law released a new research study providing demographic and economic information for the more than 200,000 LGB Latino/a individuals and 52,410 Latinos/as in same-sex couples living in California. > Full Story. [10/9/08]
GAY COUPLES OFFERED UP ON THE ALTAR OF ABSTINENCE AT CATHOLIC CONFERENCE (RSM News, Oct 1, 2008) The Rainbow Sash Movement (RSM) issued the following statement concerning Jamie Soto, the coadjutor bishop of Sacramento, who addressed the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Outreach Ministries conference in Long Beach, California on September 18, 2008 concerning his opposition to Gay Marriage. > Full Story. [10/2/08]
BASIC RIGHTS OREGON TO HONOR REGIONAL EQUALITY CHAMPIONS AT 26TH ANNUAL AWARDS DINNER Basic Rights Oregon has announced the recipients of the 2008 Equality Champion awards. The awards recognize local efforts toward ending discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Oregonians. Honorees from seven regions around the state will be presented honorees will be presented with the awards at the 26th Annual Basic Rights Oregon Dinner and Auction in Portland on October 11, 2008. > Full Story. [10/2/08]
PEPSICO, GOLDMAN SACHS AND WILLIAM C. THOMPSON, JR. RECOGNIZED FOR LEADERSHIP ON LGBT WORKPLACE EQUALITY AUSTIN, TX and SAN FRANCISCO, CA – September 15, 2008 – PepsiCo, Goldman Sachs and New York City Comptroller and longtime ally William C. Thompson, Jr. received Out & Equal Workplace Awards (commonly known as "Outies") on September 12 from Out & Equal for advancing fair, safe and equitable work environments for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. > Full Story. [10/2/08]
GOVERNOR SIGNS CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 2008 Laird Measure, Sponsored by EQCA and NAACP, Helps Ensure that Californians Have Nation's Most Comprehensive Civil Rights Protections > Full Story. [10/2/08]
CALIFORNIA BILL TO HONOR HARVEY MILK DAY VETOED WASHINGTON-Yesterday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation that would have officially designated May 22 as Harvey Milk Day in the state of California, honoring the first openly gay man to be elected to office in a major city in the United States.
"The Human Rights Campaign shares the disappointment of Equality California, as well as thousands of HRC members in California and other Californians," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "Harvey Milk is a hero who stood for simple equality and justice, and ultimately gave his life for these principles. It would have been fitting to officially recognize his birthday as a day of special significance in California. However, as everyone who admires Harvey Milk fully understands, we can pay this great man lasting tribute by working to make equality a reality for all Californians."
Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, where he sponsored and worked to successfully pass an ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. He also worked to defeat the statewide Briggs Initiative, which would have banned gay men and lesbians from teaching in California schools.
Milk was assassinated on November 27, 1978 by Dan White, who also assassinated Mayor George Moscone. Thousands attended a spontaneous vigil held the night of Milk's funeral and heard a taped recording of Milk's famous statement that "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door."
A film celebrating Milk's life and starring Sean Penn will be released this fall. > Full Story. [10/2/08]
CIVIC CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE OF DEL MARTIN SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 1, 2008 (San Francisco, California, September 25, 2008) - Family, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, elected officials, community leaders, and performers will honor the life of Del Martin, one of the nation's first and most visible lesbian rights activists, on Wednesday, October 1 at 2:00 p.m. in the Rotunda of San Francisco City Hall. Martin's many contributions shaped the modern lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT), as well as feminist civil rights movements. Martin, 87, passed away on August 27, 2008. > Full Story. [9/29/08]
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