Florida GLBT Group Moves Headquarters

Compass, the gay and lesbian advocacy group, has moved its headquarters into temporary offices in Lake Worth and is spending $1.5 million to renovate the former Mid-County Senior Center building on North Dixie Highway.

Read the rest and more at Treasure Coast Trends!

Florida Rules Against Gay Adoption Ban

A Miami Dade Circuit judge has ruled that a gay man and his partner should be able to adopt the two foster children they have been raising for four years.

Circuit Judge Cindy S. Lederman stated, “These children are thriving. These words we don’t often hear within these walls. That’s uncontroverted.”
The judge added, “They’re a good family. They’re a family in every way except in the eyes of the law. These children have a right to permanancy.  The only real permanancy is adoption in the home where they are thriving.”  Lederman continued by saying, “There is no rational basis to preclude homosexuals from adopting.”

The state made has fought hard to keep adoption illegal by gay parents. They used every repulsive and discredited tactic they could to justify a blanket ban on adoption by gay people and no one else. Gay people, Florida says, are “more prone to alcohol and drug abuse, are more likely to be depressed and suicidal, and are more likely to have unstable relationships. We, the state insists, are more likely to engage in domestic violence, and our children are more likely to be gay and to be psychologically damaged by abuse from people who are homophobic.”

Makes me wonder who the homophobic ones really are?

Iowa Court to Take a Look at Gay Marriage

According to Justin Uebelhor, the directory of communications for One Iowa, “It could be a big step forward for Iowa and something Iowa could be proud of. It is important for Iowa to take the lead on this.”

What he is talking about is the legalization of same-sex marriage in the state of Iowa which will be heard by the Iowa Supreme Court coming beginning December 9th.

Six same-sex couples in Iowa, including a family from Iowa City, are listed as plaintiffs in Varnum v. Brien. If the court rules in favor of the plaintiffs, same-sex marriage will be legal in Iowa.

Uebelhor, and others have noted the passage of California’s Proposition 8 was a setback, but on the upside, it has motivated supporters of same-sex marriage across the country.

Lisa Hardaway, a media relations director for Lambda Legal, has stated that despite of archaic decision made in California, Florida and Arizona, public opinion is starting to swing in support of equal rights.

“I think time is on our side,” Hardaway said. “I think progress is in our direction. The broader view is we have to take it in steps.”

Dennis Johnson, co-counsel for the Iowa case with Lambda Legal stated “If this was not so controversial, this is not a close constitutional question.”

Johnson also believes his clients stand a good chance to win if the court takes a legal approach to the case rather than an ideological one.

“I think we will get a fair shake,” he said.

A Letter in Response to Critics of the HRC

I found several blogs recently that have been questioning (to put it politely) the validity and efforts of the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC’s) efforts in the face of the past election where constitutional amendments passed in 3 stated banning same-sex marriage.  Prop 8 in California, Amendment 2 in Florida and Amendment 102 in Arizona.  Below is an excerpt from a blog posted by Andrew Sullivan entitled; The Day The Music Died For The Human Rights Campaign.

Like so many other models of political organization, like the top-down Clinton campaign, the special interest group politics of an institution like the Human Rights Campaign is finished. They are no longer even faintly relevant to the struggle for gay equality. Markos Moulitsas:

The Human Rights Campaign … is being rendered irrelevant by current events, and with irrelevance, it will shrivel up and die on its own. … The anti-Prop 8 campaign was an exercise in frustration. What we’re seeing now … is brilliant. … These nationwide protests are a watershed moment of sorts — the moment when the gay community realized that it had the power to fight for change on its own, and didn’t require any of its so-called, self-appointed ‘leaders’ to give them permission to engage.

I’ve been dreaming of the death of this useless, fearful, money-vacuum ever since I saw the potential for marriage equality and they wouldn’t. Rex Wockner:

You don’t have to listen to the gay “leaders” who failed you anymore, you don’t have to give them any more money, you just have to figure out what you want to do next with the power that now is yours — to get what you want: Full equality.

I decided to contact the HRC, as I have been a dedicated supporter for years in order to get their response to such criticism.  Below is their reply.

Dear James,

Several bloggers have questioned the leadership of the campaign as well as organizations involved in various aspects of the campaign. A few bloggers who have posted comments criticizing the Human Rights Campaign specifically are individuals who have had a long standing anti-HRC stance. They are indeed entitled to their opinions about the organization, but we believe it is important to make sure that our community has a full accounting of the facts behind critics’ claims, especially when it comes to such an important issue as the Prop 8 campaign and HRC’s work for full marriage equality.

Below are several general questions raised that are directly or indirectly asked of HRC and our responses:

Q1. The protests that sprung up across the country were created from the grassroots and not organized by any national or state organization. Our larger institutions did little or nothing to support these protests, other than highlight them after the fact. How can our larger institutions claim to be leaders?
A1. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is proud to be our nation’s largest organization working for LGBT equality.

We are a membership-based organization that relies on a volunteer structure that has always believed that the power of our community lies in the strength of LGBT individuals and their allies throughout the country. HRC has almost three dozen volunteer-led committees across the country, each helping to engage and fight for LGBT equality in their own unique way.
HRC’S local committees seek to support HRC’s federal work at the local level, as well as working with local LGBT and allied groups to support local efforts that impact their LGBT community.

The HRC website, along with an email letter from HRC President Joe Solmonese to our entire membership, promoted the Join the Impact protests that happened last Saturday. We actively encouraged our members to attend and, in some cities, HRC’s volunteer structures helped organize the protests.

After the protests, on Monday morning HRC’s Backstory blog ran pictures and personal accounts from protests held throughout the country.

And just as we, like all supporters of Equality for All, had our resolve strengthened by seeing the tens of thousands of activists take to the streets across the country in the aftermath of the vote on Prop 8, HRC was also proud to not only see but have had a leading role in helping to organize and mobilize 44,000 Californians who volunteered on the No on Prop 8 campaign over the preceding nine months.

Q2: Why didn’t HRC and other organizations fund the campaign earlier and with more money?
A2: The simple fact remains that our movement is, and has always been, underfunded when compared to the right wing. In fact, if you look at the major right-wing organizations like the Family Research Council, the Heritage Foundation and others you will see that their annual budgets dwarf the size of HRC’s. When you add in worldwide religious denominations like the Mormon and Catholic Churches, it isn’t really a fair fight. We certainly wish this wasn’t the reality we lived in, but unfortunately it is.

That being said, the Human Rights Campaign was the second largest funder overall for the No on 8 campaign. We were one of the first organizations to put forward $100,000, as well as six field staff, early on in the signature gathering process to try and stop the amendment from reaching the ballot. When the campaign against Prop 8 was formed, HRC’s early contribution of $1 million helped provide the campaign with one-third of the cost of their first media buy. Because it was an early buy, the campaign was able to purchase premium television spots at efficient rates. When all was said and done, HRC contributed $3.4 million directly to the Equality for All campaign.

By the end of the campaign the No on Prop 8 campaign raised more money than our opponents.

Q3: Why were our leading organizations not focusing enough on California and the fight for marriage in general? Did HRC do a poor job in this campaign?
A3: HRC has been and remains in the forefront of the battle for partnership recognition and marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples, both at the national and local levels.

· HRC was involved in many of the marriage amendment battles across our country over the years;

· The Human Rights Campaign has spent millions of dollars to effectively defeat a Federal Marriage Amendment, twice;

· HRC provided the first funds for the then fledgling Massachusetts state group – MassEquality – and over several years contributed over $1 million, as well as staff, to help preserve marriage equality in that state. HRC is proud of our close partnership with MassEquality and provided support to them – while not directing them;

· In 2006, HRC was proud to have been the largest organizational donor to Arizona Together, helping them become the first group to defeat a marriage-related ban. We funded them early and like MassEquality, worked in close partnership without directing them;

· In California, HRC funded the Equality for All Coalition. We were proud to partner with them and to fund them early, be one of the leading funders throughout the campaign and to have staff on the ground donated to the campaign. However, HRC did not direct their work.

As a national organization we work hard to find the correct balance between our entire membership’s interests and giving proper deference to local leadership.

Q4: Will there be a post-mortem done on this campaign so the public can see for itself how resources were allocated and when?
A4: We could not agree more that there should be a full accounting of the way the Prop 8 campaign was waged and it is our understanding that the campaign will seek out an independent audit.

Q5: What did HRC do to help elect Barack Obama? Was it enough?
A5: HRC is proud of its strong support for Barack Obama for President. Several HRC leaders held key positions in the campaign and/or were Obama delegates to the convention. In addition, every election year HRC spends significant resources on mobilizing our members to volunteer on campaigns as well as getting out to vote. On top of this, HRC helped raise over $1.6 million directly for the Obama campaign.

HRC conducted 17 Camp Equality campaign activist trainings this year, arming over 500 campaign activists with key campaign skills and sending them to targeted campaigns throughout the country. Camp Equality locations included the swing states of CO, IN, MN, NV, NM, NC, OH, and VA.

HRC sent more than 50 full-time staff in the final week (or more, in some cases) to many states including the swing states of FL, MN, MO, NV, NH, NM, OH, PA and VA. While most of these staff members worked for congressional candidates, turning out HRC members and other progressive voters helped the Obama campaign as well.

Q6: Why did HRC not give money from its general fund, but solicited donors to contribute to the campaign? How did the Mormon church raise so much?
A6: We established the HRC California Marriage PAC to raise funds specifically for defeating Prop. 8, as required by California law. HRC solicited contributions, both small and large, specifically for the initiative, and all of the $3.4 million we raised went directly into the No on 8 campaign. State law limits our use of general funds from donations and membership dues for California political purposes. However, we did supplement the many contributions made to our California PAC with certain HRC income that we were legally permitted to use for this purpose.

HRC donated staff time to the No on 8 campaign, including 8 staff who spent significant amounts of time on the ground throughout California. Some staff were on the ground for several months. Tracking and calculation of expenses associated with Prop. 8 was done by in-house counsel and accountants, and reported in accordance with California law, which requires the disclosure of in-kind contributions of goods and services.

Note: The LDS church did not make any cash contributions to Prop 8 nor did the church directly raise money via its own PAC as HRC did. The Mormon church encouraged its members to contribute to the campaign.

Q7: How could HRC take credit for one of their donors who gave $1 million to their California fund?
A7: Almost all the money HRC raises, either for our general work or for California-specifically, comes from our donors. We are just as proud to take credit for our members who contribute $10 as we are of members who can afford much larger contributions.

Q8: Has HRC just dropped the ball on the fight for marriage equality?
A8: From our work in Vermont, helping to re-elect Governor Howard Dean in his razor-thin re-election victory shortly after signing the historic civil unions bill into law, to helping to build and maintain the group that defended historic marriage equality in Massachusetts, to providing seed money and becoming the largest organizational donor to the historic successful defeat of a marriage-related ban in Arizona to our $3.4 million contribution to the California effort, HRC is deeply proud of our strategic work to move our country forward to equality for all.

While the stripping away of marriage rights is a gut-wrenching blow, we are not down. We lost the similar California battle of Prop 22 in 2000 by 22 percentage points. Earlier this month we lost by four points. We are making progress and HRC is committed to doing all that it can to win back the right to marry in California and win that right in key states over the next several years.

One of those key states is New York. HRC spent $120,000 there this fall to help elect a fair-minded state Senate that we hope will lead to the Empire State becoming the first in our nation to enact marriage equality purely through legislative means.

We are winning, slowly, but surely. By working together, we will see victory sooner.

Respectfully,
The Human Rights Campaign

Eliza Skinner’s Official Gay Marriage Rant

After the dust from the presidential election cleared, us sane straight folks looked around for the gay unicorns on our arc of Hope and Change, they were no where to be found. Prop 8 in California, Prop 102 in Arizona, and Florida Amendment 2 - all opposing gay marriage - all passed in state elections. I think that, just like the 2004 election, most of us with brains hadn’t worried too much about these initiatives passing because, like Bush, they seemed too retarded for people to actually vote for. Again, we were wrong.

I did a lot of research on line to try to figure out why anyone would support this kind of legislature. The argument seems to be ”Gay marriage undermines the value of marriage”. That makes no sense. How does one person’s marriage reflect or define the quality or meaning of someone else’s? I mean, do people opposed to gay marriage also equally oppose marriage between criminals? Mentally challenged people? Celebrities? Are they OK with any “undermining” those types of marriages might do? You know what it is? CRAZY. And bigoted.

And that’s the real truth - there IS no rational argument against gay marriage. It is biggotry, plain and simple. It is dirty and ugly and anyone who supported any of these propositions should be ashamed of themselves. I don’t care if you’re my friend, my family, or my fan. If you support this, F*ck You. I can’t even be funny about this - it makes me sick.

Read the rest at elizaskinner.net!

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