Roots of Equality

Though my wife can be a terror at times, I still like keeping her around as my spouse. This is also despite the fact that Andy Pugno of “Yes on 8” fully expects us to divorce: “if California goes as Massachusetts did after legalizing gay marriage, a substantial portion of the still-recognized gay marriages will be dissolved by divorce within a few years.”

No, I want don’t want a divorce; I want to return my marriage license. I’m now an owner of a document and a part of a system that specifically excludes a segment of the population, specifically my queer brethren. I’m ashamed to be a part of the California marriage system, and I want nothing to do with it until this discrepancy is fixed.

You see, my wife and I got illegally married back in 2006, and for all intents and purposes, that is our wedding date. When the California Supreme Court in all their wisdom opened their door to same-sex marriage, we of course jumped at the opportunity to claim the equal rights, responsibilities, and recognition that had been due to us.

Us and our legal paperwork.

We were proud to be two of the 18,000 gay married folks that made it before the election. After the election, we were naturally devastated and out for justice. It has never been just about our individual marriage, it was always about the larger ideals involved. So when the decision came down Tuesday morning that upheld inequality yet left our marriage intact, I was still disgusted. I remain disgusted and find no solace in the “well at least you’re still married” comments.

I want out, and I want out now. I will not be a part of a system that separates me from others because of identity and I will certainly not be a part of a system that makes me one of the lucky few just because I filed my paperwork before the election.

We’re sending my marriage license back to the state with “Return to sender. Broken system. Please send back when fixed.”

(This is done with the permission of my terror of a wife Melissa.)

Speaking as a legally gay married person, the fact that my marriage still stands doesn’t mean shit to me unless everyone else can be married too.

We have a war to win now, the first step is today, get to the streets and PROTEST!: www.dayofdecision.org

Stay tuned for the next steps after today

The Decision will come down regarding Prop 8 at 10:00 am Tuesday from the CA Supreme Court. Here’s what you need to do in chronological order (Win or Lose!):

Too lazy to read? See Matt’s video guide:

1. 10:30am Lambda Legal Press Conference. The legal team will brief us on the results, what it means, and what we need to do next. Lucy Florence Cultural Center, 3351 W. 43rd Street, L.A., CA 90008.

2. 12-3:00pm Rally at the L.A. County Marriage License Office. The Latino Equality Alliance is hosting this rally and civil disobedience act (if the decision is negative). 4716 East Ceasar Chavez Avenue, L.A., CA 90022

3. 7:00pm Rally & March in West Hollywood. A big ‘ol rally reminiscent of the rally the night after the election. Corner of Santa Monica & San Vicente, March to Hollywood & Highland. (if you can’t make it to WeHo in time, meet us along the march or at Hollywood & Highland around 9:30 pm.)

Bring:
- White Ribbon to tie White Knots all along our march
- White Flowers to lay in Matthew Shepard Human Rights Park
- White Chalk to write messages in the road and on the sidewalks
- Wear White to show our unity in supporting same-sex marriage
- Signs and bullhorns and anything else to make noise

Stay informed by becoming a fan of the facebook feed.

4. Go to Fresno on Saturday! Meet in the Middle 4 Equality. We’re all going, and you should too. 1:00 pm, Fresno City Hall. For more information on where to stay, and what to do, see the MITM site.

And bring cans of food to donate to Fresno’s tent city!

You can kick off your road trip with a free gas card thanks to FAIR at the LA Launch Event & Rally. 7:30 am Saturday at the Los Angeles County MTA, One Gateway Plaza, L.A. 90012. Behind Union Station, Downtown.

What are you waiting for? GO!

Yesterday, I went to the Council Chambers at City Hall to support Councilman Bill Rosendahl’s resolution to denounce the brutal torture and killing of gay or perceived gay men in Iraq.

“In a story largely ignored by the media, death squads are rounding up Iraqi gay men, sealing their anuses with powerful glue, then inducing diarrhea, which leads to a painful and agonizing death.”

The room was packed full of Airport workers on one side and orange clad SEIU workers on the other. Councilman Rosendahl spoke passionately about the atrocities happening in a country which we occupy and was followed by Hossein Alizadeh of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission who read a moving letter from a 25 year old Iraqi man.

Alizadeh was followed by public comment which included Dahlia Ferlito and Philip Minton. We all stood in support including the whole side of the room with the Airport workers.

One guy who spoke mentioned that he overheard someone in that very room say, “kill them all” referring to the gay men in Iraq. This highlighted how pervasive homophobia is even in Los Angeles. Public comment closed with Jose Morales, a board member of a local SEIU chapter speaking in support.

Other council members then spoke up in support of the resolution.. except for Bernard Parks. The present council members then unanimously voted yes in support of the resolution putting Los Angeles on record as a city who demands that something be done about the atrocities in Iraq.

The next order of business was presented by council woman Janice Hahn. Hahn was introducing the first step to creating health insurance for low wage workers at LAX. We stood in solidarity with the workers who stood for us. One woman tearfully told her story of her son who was bit by a dog in the face. He was refused treatment by the first hospital because she did not have insurance and was delayed treatment. She now holds the burden of a $14,000 medical bill on a $18,000 annual salary.

Council members (except for Bernard Parks) spoke up in favor of the motion and unanimously approved.

Tuesday night, the New York Assembly approved a bill introduced by Governor David Paterson supporting Gay Marriage. The bill passed overwhelmingly 89-52. Five Republicans voted “yes” including Janet L. Duprey who credited her shift from a “no” vote in 2007 to neighbors who are a lesbian couple.

Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times

These brave Republicans defied party lines despite threats by the Republican Party:

The Conservative Party is also applying pressure: it has threatened to strip its party affiliation and its ballot line from any politician who votes for same-sex marriage.

“We can’t look the other way,” said Michael R. Long, the party’s chairman, who added that he had informed the Republican leaders of the Senate and the Assembly of his threat to take away the Conservative ballot line — which in some elections can mean the difference of thousands of votes — from anyone who votes yes on the bill. - New York Times

This time, a veto from the governor is not what we’re worrying about, it’s the State Senate. The original bill passed in the assembly in 2007 and died in senate. Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith has stated that he will only introduce the bill if he knows he has the votes for it to pass. They need 32. So it appears that the timeline for New York is up in the air depending on how much support Smith thinks the bill has in senate.

Taking bets: Who’s next for marriage equality - New York or New Hampshire?

PS - Mad props to Empire State Pride Agenda who is doing the hard work including a new ad campaign starting tomorrow.

“Don’t ask don’t tell” has become a hot issue in the past week with two Asian Americans featured as brave victims of this ridiculous policy.

On March 19th this year, First Lieutenant Daniel Choi, a West Point graduate, infantry platoon leader, and officer in the National Guard, came out on national television. Choi went on the Rachel Maddow show to discuss the “don’t ask don’t tell” (DADT) policy after becoming a founding member of Knights Out, a group for GLBT military academy alumni.

Choi’s statement prompted action from the military who dismissed him on Wednesday for:

moral or professional dereliction… Specifically, you admitted publicly that you are a homosexual, which constitutes homosexual conduct… Your actions negatively affect the good order and discipline of the New York Army National Guard.

They fired a valuable trained leader who even spoke freakin Farsi because he said he’s gay. So lame.

Daniel Choi having a jam session with these fellas.

So Thursday, fiery Laura Kanter of the OCEC stayed up all night to throw together a protest of DADT and of Lt. Choi’s treatment. The protest garnered support, attention, and media coverage including the OC Register and the Daily Pilot.

Miguel Vasconcellos, The Orange County Register

Choi then made a live appearance on the Rachel Maddow show again describing his feelings after being dismissed and announcing that he is going to fight it. Most importantly, he illustrated how his “homosexual conduct” did not threaten the cohesiveness of his unit or freak his fellow soldiers out. In fact he was praised by subordinates, peers, and commanding officers. Why? Because they’re grown men who don’t need the government to protect them from the gay.

In other DADT news, on Chinese New Year, Second Lieutenant Sandy Tsao wrote a letter to President Obama saying, “Today is Chinese New Year day. I hope it will bring good fortune to you and your newly elected office. Today is also the day I inform my chain of command of who I am.” She then urged Obama to repeal DADT: “Even if it is too late for me, I do hope, Mr. President, that you will help us to win the war against prejudice so that future generations will continue to work together and fight for our freedoms regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin or sexual orientation.” - GLAAD Blog

And unlike all our letters to Santa Claus, Tsao got a response:

Sandy - Thanks for the wonderful and thoughtful letter. It is because of outstanding Americans like you that I committed to changing our current policy. Although it will take some time to complete (partly because it needs Congressional action) I intend to fulfill my commitment. — Barack Obama. - GLAAD Blog

So how is Obama doing on this? After revising his promise from “repealing” to “changing” and then back to “repealing” DADT on the White House website, we await his “sensible” timing.

The Huffington Post recently ran an editorial by Aaron Belkin calling out Obama to issue an executive order to stop investigating the sexuality of service members.

Is that the right call? Belkin claims that an executive order would effectively kill DADT making it easier to repeal altogether at a later date. Some others claim that the most prudent way to go would be garnering public and legislative support and attention giving Obama the momentum to repeal DADT without setbacks.

Either way, these two soldiers have given up their careers to bring this issue to the forefront and we have to keep the momentum going. I for one believe DADT will be the first federal victory the LGBT movement will have under Obama, we have to just keep pushing.

What can you do? The usual, call your congressman/woman, your senators, and your president. Make a stink about it, and as usual, do something on facebook about it by joining this group.

Approximately 12,500 otherwise qualified service members have been dismissed due to DADT.

Gretchen Robbins, of Winthrop, Maine, smiles while hugging Sarah Reece of Los Angeles, after Maine's House members gave final approval to a same-sex marriage bill at the State House in Augusta, Maine, on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. ( AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach)

After LD 1020 passed in Maine’s Senate 20-15 and then the House 89-57, the Governor, John Baldacci, decided to stand on the right side of history and sign the bill into law. Baldacci stated that, “I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage.” - CNN

Equality warriors in Maine will now prepare for a possible challenge if grouchy residents put this on the ballot to be overturned.

Maine now becomes the fifth state after Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont, and Connecticut to legalize gay marriage. So far none of these states have been plagued with locusts or fallen off the continent due to their gayness

New Hampshire is next. Their bill is poised to be sent to the desk of Governor Jon Lynch.

Happy Cinco de Main-o!

On Top Magazine

After the Maine State Senate approved LD 1020, the gay marriage bill in Maine, the House approved it with an 89-57 vote today.

The house rejected an amendment which would have brought the issue to voters.

The bill now heads back to the Senate for final approval before heading to the desk of governor John Baldacci who has been publicly undecided on this issue.

Washington D.C. will now recognize gay marriages from other states thanks to a unanimous 13-0 12-1 vote by the D.C. Council. Marion Barry wanted to redo the vote because he didn’t realize what he was voting on before (wtf?) and changed his yes vote to the sole no vote.

“No offense”
No offense my ass. Miss California and the National Organization for Marriage doesn’t see the big deal. They have their opinion and they don’t mean any offense, they just don’t think you should be allowed to get married. No big deal right? Why would we take that personally? Gee we’re sooo sensitive.

Fuck you Prejean, and fuck you NOM. Maybe people we should launch a campaign to deny people with fake boobs their right to marriage. Let’s see if you take offense. But even then, at least you choose to make your boobs fake.

I’m sure you’ve all seen Miss California’s brilliant “opposite marriage” answer in the interview portion of the Miss USA pageant. Well then maybe you’ve heard that she’s giving up her crown in order to be a spokesperson for NOM. They started with this ad:

So many things wrong with that commercial I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

Well a couple of us gals got together, drank, wore wigs, and put together this little diddy: