As usual, The Task Force rocks. People may or may not know that the upcoming US Census will not be counting us, & so they’ve created a sticker with which you can seal your census after you fill it out. It looks like this:
and you can order yours through The Task Force’s Credo page.
Andrew Sullivan Leaves the Right
This is kind of amazing news, really: Andrew Sullivan, gay conservative, has not only left the right but articulated, in list form, what exactly is wrong with “the Right” in this country, and in so doing, managed to put together a list that explains the current Republican platform:
I cannot support a movement that claims to believe in limited government but backed an unlimited domestic and foreign policy presidency that assumed illegal, extra-constitutional dictatorial powers until forced by the system to return to the rule of law.
I cannot support a movement that exploded spending and borrowing and blames its successor for the debt.
Oakeshott I cannot support a movement that so abandoned government’s minimal and vital role to police markets and address natural disasters that it gave us Katrina and the financial meltdown of 2008.
I cannot support a movement that holds torture as a core value.
I cannot support a movement that holds that purely religious doctrine should govern civil political decisions and that uses the sacredness of religious faith for the pursuit of worldly power.
I cannot support a movement that is deeply homophobic, cynically deploys fear of homosexuals to win votes, and gives off such a racist vibe that its share of the minority vote remains pitiful.
I cannot support a movement which has no real respect for the institutions of government and is prepared to use any tactic and any means to fight political warfare rather than conduct a political conversation.
I cannot support a movement that sees permanent war as compatible with liberal democratic norms and limited government.
I cannot support a movement that criminalizes private behavior in the war on drugs.
I cannot support a movement that would back a vice-presidential candidate manifestly unqualified and duplicitous because of identity politics and electoral cynicism.
I cannot support a movement that regards gay people as threats to their own families.
Senator Diane Savino: What Really Threatens Marriage
& for those who like to group all Catholics into one huge monolith, I will put money on Senator Savino being Catholic.
(h/t to Megan for this one)
LGBT Athletes & Soldiers
I missed it, & maybe you did too, but here’s Jeff Sheng’s Fearless photography series, which is a collection of photos of out LGBT athletes.
I discovered it via The LA Times’ blog and Sheng’s new series called Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
= Amazing work.
What amazes me particularly about the first set is how images of LGBT people tends to focus on white people in particular, & then too on men. Gathering their photos based on this other part of their identity – their atheleticism – gives a much larger range of racial & ethnic identity, & a much larger range of genders, too.
Call for ENDA
Tomorrow, Congress needs to hear from us very clearly about why LGBT people need protection from the widespread discrimination that we continue to face in the workplace. In the Transgender Discrimination Survey we conducted with The Task Force, we found that 97% of the respondents had been harassed or mistreated on the job and 26% had been fired. This cannot continue. Taking action to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is a critical step in making it the law of the land that this kind of discrimination must never be tolerated. We need you to work with us to pass ENDA now and ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace.
NCTE is participating with a wide range of civil rights groups in the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights call in days in support of ENDA. Our day to call is Wednesday, November 18. We hope you’ll be a part of this important effort and you’ll encourage your friends to call. We need your voice to be heard on Capitol Hill as you tell your lawmakers to pass ENDA now!
From NCTE: Act on ENDA
From NCTE:
“Now is the time that we must take action for ENDA! Whether you have never contacted your members of Congress or if you are a frequent visitor in their offices, we need you to call this week if this bill is to pass.”
-Mara Keisling
NCTE is participating with a wide range of other LGBT groups in the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights call in days in support of ENDA.
Our day to call is Wednesday, November 18. We hope you’ll be a part of this important effort and you’ll encourage your friends to call.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Next Wednesday, Nov. 18, or whenever is convenient for you, call the Capitol Switchboard at 202.224.3121 and ask to speak to your Representative (have your zip code handy and they’ll help identify your member of Congress).
When you are connected with your Representative’s office, give your name and your city and then let them know:
I am calling in support of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (H. R. 3017/S. 1584), which will protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from job discrimination. No one deserves to be fired from their job because of who they are. Please vote yes for ENDA.
Today, Chairman George Miller (D-CA) of the House Committee on Education and Labor announced that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) will take its next steps when the committee marks up the bill next Wednesday, November 18; this is one of the final steps that precedes a vote by the full House. House leadership is optimistic about the bill that would ban from the workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, although they stress the importance that advocacy efforts for ENDA remain strong. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) is the principle sponsor of the bill, joined by 189 co-sponsors, and along with Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) has been a strong champion of this legislation.
The Senate is also considering the bill and held a hearing in committee last week on the matter. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-WA) is the lead sponsor and strong advocate for the measure. When asked at a press conference last week whether there was any chance that gender identity would be stripped out of the bill, he answered simply, “No.”
For Veterans’ Day, Equality Please
This message just came in from AVER (American Veterans for Equal Rights) and TAVA (Transgender American Veterans’ Association):
American Veterans For Equal Rights president Danny Ingram and Transgender American Veterans Association president Monica Helms have made a joint YouTube video appeal to President Obama and Congress to Lift the Ban on LGBT military service by repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
On this Veterans’ Day, as President Obama considers sending more patriotic American troops to Afghanistan, AVER and TAVA remind the President of his campaign promise to repeal DADT.
Go to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QkRcAcya30
Send the link to others and your Congressional reps.
Danny Ingram
President AVER
Monica Helms
President TAVA
Thank you, veterans, for your service.
Victory in Kalamazoo
Woohoo! Kalamazoo Michigan got it’s non-discrimination ordinance! One down, two to go! Here’s One Kalamazoo’s press release:
ONE KALAMAZOO DECLARES VICTORY IN BALLOT FIGHT
Kalamazoo residents approve nondiscrimination ordinance
“Our campaign started with a very basic idea, and today voters confirmed that we are One Kalamazoo,” said Campaign Manager, Jon Hoadley.With only absentee ballots outstanding, 65 percent of Kalamazoo voters have approved Ordinance 1856 by a vote of 6,463 to 3,527, adding protections for gay and transgender people to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance. This margin is larger than the number of outstanding absentee ballots that are currently being counted. Continue reading “Victory in Kalamazoo”
Pam’s House Blend Guest Post
I’ve got a piece up at Pam’s House Blend about the passage of the new & improved Hate Crimes Act. It’s part of a series about the passage by people from the trans communities.
Bea Arthur Still Rocks
Bea Arthur left the Ali Forney Center $300k:
The Ali Forney Center, the nation’s largest organization dedicated to homeless LGBT youth, announced at Bea Arthur’s Memorial Service on September 14th that they planned to purchase a building to house 12 youths and name it her honor.