Sign the Petition to President Obama for Equality NOW!

The time has come for President Obama to stop talking and start acting. The President needs to stand with us and honor his pledge to oppose state constitutional amendments banning marriage equality.

Sign our petition to President Obama urging him to file a brief stating that the constitution prohibits the majority from taking away the rights of any minority. It’s basic constitutional law.

President Jimmy Carter, Governor Jerry Brown and former Governor Ronald Reagan spoke up and stood with us when we fought the Briggs initiative in 1978. Now, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown are speaking out and standing with us by telling the Court that Prop. 8 cannot be defended under the United States Constitution.

No voice would have more of an impact on the case than President Obama’s. It is time for him to stand up and act.

Sign our petition: eqca.org/StandUpObama.

Schwarzenegger Honors Harvey Milk in Cali

We have just learned that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill into law that names May 22, as a state day of recognition for Harvey Milk.

Last year, Schwarzenegger vetoed similar legislation saying it should be up to local communities whether or not to provide a day of honor to Milk. But this morning, his office announced the signing of this year’s bill.

No statements have been released as to why the change of heart.

Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. He was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in a major U.S. city. He was assassinated in 1978.

In other news from Cali, Schwarzenegger also signed a bill into law that will “provide the same legal protections that would otherwise be available to couples that enter into civil unions or domestic partnerships out of state. In short, this measure honors the will of the people in enacting Proposition 8 while providing important protections to those unions legally entered into in other states.”

Schwarzenegger to Induct Milk into Hall of Fame

From Equality California:

Governor Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced that Harvey Milk will be inducted into the California Museum’s California Hall of Fame in honor of his work to advance civil rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.

“Harvey Milk is truly deserving of this honor – his tremendous legacy is still felt today worldwide,” said Geoff Kors, Equality California (EQCA) executive director. “We urge Governor Schwarzenegger to take the next step in recognizing Harvey Milk’s courageous work championing equal protections for all, just as President Obama has, and to sign the Harvey Milk bill into law as a tribute to his invaluable contributions to our state and nation.”

The California Hall of Fame, conceived by First Lady Maria Shriver, was established in 2006 to honor legendary people like Jackie Robinson, Cesar E. Chavez, and Billie Jean King who embody California’s innovative spirit and have left a mark in history.

Last month, President Obama posthumously honored Harvey Milk with the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Governor Schwarzenegger also honored Harvey Milk in January to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), California’s principal civil rights non-discrimination law.

Despite the national and international recognition Harvey Milk has garnered, the Governor’s Secretary of Education recently sent a letter opposing the Harvey Milk Day bill that reads:

“As you know, the Governor vetoed a substantially similar bill last year. The veto message stated that Harvey Milk’s contributions should continue to be recognized at the local level by those who were most impacted by his contributions. Since this bill is nearly identical, the veto message remains applicable.”

Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) re-introduced the Harvey Milk Day bill, sponsored by EQCA, earlier this year. The bill calls for a “day of special significance” in honor of slain civil rights leader Harvey Milk and seeks to educate Californians about the former San Francisco City Supervisor, the nation’s first openly LGBT person elected to political office in a major city.

“This month I had the privilege to meet and talk with President Obama who bestowed the nation’s highest honor upon my uncle for his enduring ‘message of hope – hope unashamed, hope unafraid’ as the President stated in his public comments,” said Stuart Milk, nephew of Harvey Milk. “I am hopeful that Governor Schwarzenegger will also take the time to meet with me along with others whose lives are touched by Harvey Milk. Although the California Secretary of Education doesn’t yet understand my uncle’s global impact, I do believe the Governor can see the President’s perspective when the President said, ‘Harvey Milk was here to recruit us – all of us – to join a movement and change a nation,’” Milk added.

Harvey Milk’s groundbreaking service helped bring LGBT people out of the closet and into civic life. During his time in office, he was responsible for both passing San Francisco’s first gay-rights ordinance and helping to defeat the controversial Briggs Initiative, which sought to ban gay and lesbian teachers from public schools. Milk, along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, was assassinated in November 1978.

The Harvey Milk Day bill was originally introduced last year by Senator Leno, but Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the measure at the time, claiming Harvey Milk was not well known enough beyond San Francisco. Since that time, however, Harvey Milk has become a focal point of national conversation following the release of the successful biographical film Milk, for which both actor Sean Penn and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black received an Academy Award. In March, Penn joined Equality California’s campaign publicly advocating for the bill while Black testified before a Senate committee on the need to appropriately honor the civil rights leader. The bill has already passed the State Senate by a 24-14 vote, including bipartisan support. The bill now moves to the Assembly floor for a concurrence vote and then the Governor’s desk, where, this year, supporters hope he will sign the bill into law.

The 2009 California Hall of Fame inductees are: entertainer Carol Burnett, former Intel CEO Andrew Grove, governor and U.S. senator Hiram Johnson, decathlete and philanthropist Rafer Johnson, industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, philanthropist and peace activist Joan Kroc, film-maker George Lucas, football commentator John Madden, artist Fritz Scholder, author Danielle Steel, fitness and bodybuilding pioneer Joe Weider, and Air Force test pilot General Chuck Yeager. The California Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Tuesday, December 1, 2009, at the California Museum in Sacramento.

Schwarzenegger Under Attack for Prop 8

Our community and our supporters continue to be the victim of outrageous, relentless attacks by proponents of Prop 8.

Now they are claiming that Governor Schwarzenegger supports anarchy—anarchy—for saying that he hopes Prop 8 is overturned in court and for encouraging us to “never give up.”

In a recent email urging supporters to attack the Governor for his comments, Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council had this to say:

“Since Election Day, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has made statements supporting demonstrations against Proposition 8, and urging California ’s Supreme Court to block the amendment’s enforcement…Condoning street protests and supporting judicial activist scams to overturn a popularly approved state constitutional amendment approaches advocacy of anarchy. Gov. Schwarzenegger is playing a dangerous game, and it needs to stop. Now.”

What needs to STOP NOW is the hateful rhetoric and continued assaults from the leadership of the Yes on 8 campaign who used lies and deceit to write discrimination into our constitution and eliminate our equality.

Email Governor Schwarzenegger, and the 44 members of the California Legislature who signed a friend of the court brief to overturn Prop 8. Encourage them to stand strong in the face of these outrageous attacks.

If you are registered with EQCA’s Action Center, reply to this email. Or register today at www.eqca.org/ActionCenter. Taking action is simple and free.

Prop 8 must be overturned and we need to let the leaders who are standing with us know how much we appreciate their support.

The other side is flooding them with critical emails. It is up to each of us to make sure they get more emails from those who support equality than from those who continue to attack us.

Please, email our elected leaders who are standing with us today. And urge everyone you know to do so as well.

In solidarity,

Geoff Kors
Executive Director
Equality California

Schwarzenegger on Prop 8: It’s NOT the End

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California has said that a statewide ballot measure to ban gay marriage that passed last week is not the end of the matter.  Schwarzenegger voted against Prop 8.

100% of votes cast at polling stations have been counted, 5,424,916 (52.4%) voted in favor of a constitutional definition of marriage being between a man and woman. 4,832,086 (47.6%) voted against.

There are still more than 2 million postal and absentee votes have yet to be counted. However, the campaign to stop Prop 8 has conceded defeat.

In an interview with CNN, the Governor said:

“It’s unfortunate, obviously, but it’s not the end.

“I think that we will again maybe undo that, if the court is willing to do that, and then move forward from there and again lead in that area.”

Let’s not give up hope yet!

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