Cali Bill Would Include GLBT’s on Gov Forms

Introduced by Assemblymember Ted Lieu, the bill would enable the state to gather vital data about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community

Sacramento – Equality California is sponsoring a new bill that would require the state to add questions about sexual orientation, gender identity and domestic partnership status in the voluntary demographic section of California’s government forms, enabling the state to gather vital data about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community’s use of public services. With such data, the state can then deliver the appropriate level of services to the community.

The bill, AB 1878, was introduced by Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) Tuesday.

“This bill will improve the state’s ability to measure the community’s needs for such crucial public services as job training, and it will ultimately enable California to ensure that LGBT Californians, especially those living in poverty, receive the services they need to take care of their families and to lead healthy lives,” said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California. “Currently the state collects little data on the LGBT community, and this bill would help close the information gap.”

The UCLA Williams Institute has found that California’s same-sex couples are raising children with significantly less economic resources than married parents.

Data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) shows that 13.4 percent of lesbian and bisexual women and 7.2 percent of gay and bisexual men live in poverty.

Nationally, children of LGBT people are twice as likely to live in poverty as the children of heterosexual couples.

“AB 1878 will help ensure that the needs of the LGBT community will not be excluded so that state services can be appropriately targeted,” said Assemblymember Lieu. “This bill is also about dignity and the recognition of the diversity of California.”

Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender-rights advocacy organization in California. Over the past decade, Equality California has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for LGBT individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil rights protections in the nation. Equality California has passed over 60 pieces of legislation and continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, electoral work, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org



Key Committee Passes Resolution on DADT

From Equality California:

On January 12th, the State Assembly Judiciary Committee officially endorsed a resolution calling for the repeal of the discriminatory federal policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Sponsored by Equality California (EQCA) and introduced by Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego), the resolution calls on the United States Congress to pass and President Barack Obama to immediately sign the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009, which would end the unfair policy and allow gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans to serve openly in the armed forces.

During the committee hearing, EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors was joined by two former service members, Zoe Dunning, retired US Navy Commander and Service Members Legal Defense Network (SLDN) Board Co-chair, and Joseph Rocha, retired US Navy Master at Arms, 3rd Class, as well as SLDN Board member Julian Chang and West Hollywood Councilmember Jeffrey Prang in supporting the resolution.

“We applaud our lawmakers for taking a stand for equality in the military,” said EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors. “I am confident the state of California will soon join the growing chorus of current and former service members who have called for the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.’ We urge President Obama and Congress to fulfill their promise to protect the rights of all Americans and to overturn this discriminatory policy immediately.”

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was first authorized in 1994. Since that time, more than 13,500 service members have been discharged under the policy, including more than 800 specialists serving in ‘critical operations,’ such as counterintelligence, medicine, and translation. According to a General Accounting Office report, 323 language specialists have been discharged, resulting in a critical shortage of qualified translators in intelligence gathering posts. Currently, 186 members of the U.S. House have signed on as co-sponsors to the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which would repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and replace it with a policy of non-discrimination across the armed forces. Last year, 77 members of Congress sent a letter to President Obama requesting he immediately suspend discharges under the discriminatory policy.

“A soldier must display courage, patriotism, commitment and ability — none of which have anything to do with sexual orientation,” said Senator Kehoe. “Overturning this shameful policy will help ensure that gay and lesbian Americans will be afforded the same opportunities as any other American who wants to serve our country.”

More than 24 other nations currently allow gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals to serve openly in their militaries, including Canada and the United Kingdom, alongside whom American forces have served in combat. Recent public opinion polls show that a majority of both the American public and active service members believe the policy should be overturned and that gay and lesbian Americans should be allowed to serve openly in the military.

To find out more information about EQCA’s legislation, visit http://www.eqca.org/legislation.

Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender-rights advocacy organization in California. Over the past decade, Equality California has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for LGBT individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil rights protections in the nation. Equality California has passed over 60 pieces of legislation and continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, electoral work, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org 

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 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.

EC Waiting for LGBT Equality in 2012

A major announcement came down yesterday from a major player in the rights business (and yes, with the millions being spent, it is a business), Equality California (EC), in the debate over when to repeal Proposition 8.

As you may know, there is a federal lawsuit challenging the ban on marriage equality, yet EC, says it’s too early.

Being that EC was the biggest monetary contributor to the fight against Prop 8, I’m a little confused by their hesitation to push forward.  For one, why do you want to tie up the next presidential election with this issue?  This is not something that needs to dictate an election.  This isn’t even something that should be voted on.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, if Civil Rights would have been left up to popular vote state by state, there would still be people of color drinking from separate water fountains in certain Southern states.

After all, what message does this send to our opposition or people in general?  That it’s OK,for us to wait for our rights until everyone is on board?  That we’re not deserving because some people say we’re not?  No!  These are basic human rights and I am a human.  I don’t need the approval from someone who believes I’m an abomination because of their religious beliefs to be considered an equal citizen of this country…which is just as much my country as it is anyone else’s…in other words…equality!

These are rights…rights of tax paying citizens that we are talking about.  This can’t be left up to a vote.  And furthermore, why wait another 3 years?  What is Equality California, or any other civil rights group going to accomplish in that amount of time.  Why not wait until 2016?  Surely by then even more homophobes of the older generation will have passed and attitudes will be different and the world will be a better place for all of us…right?  WRONG!

How many decades has it been since the women’s suffrage movement and what about the Civil Rights movement?   And yet today, women and people of color are still discriminated against.  Has it improved?  Sure it has, but there are still a great number of challenges that face both of these demographic segments of our population.

We can NOT leave rights up to a vote and we can NOT sit around and wait for people to change their views.

I understand that you can talk to people and help sway them.  I understand the power of dialogue and the impact it can have.  But as we (the LGBT community) are working diligently to persuade those against us that we are as human and deserving of equality, our opposition, those on the religious right’s side, that more than slightly outnumber those of us in the LGBT community, are doing the same.  Come on people, we are outnumbered, and that is why we are commonly referred to as a minority.

The time is now.  Not tomorrow, not a year from now, not during the next presidential election.  Rights should not be the nationwide debate tied into an election process that determines our country’s leader.

I commend those who are moving forward for equality now, not resting on their laurels, waiting for public opinion to change.  We need action swiftly while momentum and support is abundant.  People easily become distracted and let’s not put this issue, our rights, on the same plate with everything else that goes with a general election.  If marriage equality is the only thing on the plate, it will get attention.

We need resolve to this issue, and we need to resolve it yesterday.  I am a human.  I am a tax paying citizen.  I deserve equal rights.  As pointed out time and time again by the opposition, a majority of Americans do not support marriage equality.  That’s why Prop 8 passed. With that being said, I don’t want my rights voted on, I want them mandated by the government I pay taxes to and is built on the idea that all men were created equal.  What Equality California doesn’t seem to understand, this isn’t about California.  It’s much bigger than that.  This is about every LGBT citizen in every state.  If Prop 8 is overturned in a Federal Court, then that paves the way for those of us outside of California.

The sooner that happens, the sooner we can start moving forward, because even if we gain total equality tomorrow at noon, we still have decades of discrimination ahead of us.  Just ask the women and people of color.

Equality now!

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