Five Races to Watch This Election Day Regarding LGBT Rights
Published November 03, 2009 @ 06:17AM PT
Off-year election cycles usually don't have the same high pitch drama as their big brother and sister -- mid-term elections and Presidential year elections. But Election Day 2009 is shaping up as a year where, at least in regards to LGBT rights, a lot is at stake.
From marriage to domestic partnership benefits to anti-discrimination ordinances, there's a hefty amount of LGBT rights issues that will be determined today, based on how folks from Maine to Washington state vote. Below are our five races to watch this Election Day. And though it's kind of cliche to say that history will be made at the ballot box today (cue the "Duh!" comments), today's vote really has the chance to uproot a legacy of bigotry at the ballot box.
Maine and Marriage Equality: This one has the eyes and ears and hearts and minds of the entire movement behind it, simply for this reason: if Maine voters reject Question 1 today, Maine will become the first state that has ever approved marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples at the ballot box. More than 30 states have put same-sex marriage on a ballot, and each time same-sex marriage has lost. But that all could change today. The No on 1 campaign has been, in many respects, brilliant. They've got a superior ground game, great advertisements, and the most authentic, heartfelt supporters around. The race is tight, and the opposition is flush with cash and national in scope. This one is going to come down to the wire, and it's all about who has the better field game at this point.
Washington and Referrendum 71: At the polar opposite end of the geographic spectrum, Washington state has its own ballot question where voters will get to decide whether to approve Referrendum 71 or not. Unlike Maine, where a "NO" vote is a victory, here a "YES" vote is critical. If approved, Referrnedum 71 will enact a series of domestic partnership benefits for lesbian and gay couples in the state that are wide in scope. They're not full marriage rights, of course, but they are certainly a step in the equal rights direction. Polls show Referrendum 71 winning slightly.
Kalamazoo's Anti-Discrimination Ordinance: Earlier this year, the Kalamazoo City Council unaninmously approved a resolution outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in regards to public housing, accommodations and employment. Seems like a no-brainer, but it didn't stop a group of anti-LGBT residents from placing a repeal measure on the ballot. Today, Kalamazoo voters will hit the polls to decide whether to repeal Ordinance 1856 or keep it. Yeah, that's the technical name for it, but really here's the question Kalamazoo voters will face: "Would you like to keep Kalamazoo a city free of discrimination, where LGBT people have the right to eat in a restaurant, stay in a hotel, or not be fired from their job, simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity?"
Sir Ian McKellen's Grudge with Leviticus
Published November 02, 2009 @ 03:48PM PT
How's this for the premise of X-Men 4: Magneto decides that instead of seeking world domination, he's just going to wage battle against radical right-wing religious folks who use the Bible as a means of beating up on LGBT people.
Well, it might hit a little close to home for Sir Ian McKellen, the out British actor who plays Magneto. As it turns out, he's been quietly waging a war against the use of religion as a weapon of oppression against LGBT people all along in his real life. His method? At every hotel he visits, he rips out a page in Leviticus that fundamentalists use to label LGBT people as sinful.
McKellen tells Details magazine that he's not intending to vandalize the Bible. He just thinks the world would be better off if people took the passages in Leviticus a little less literally.
"I'm not proudly defacing the book, but it's a choice between removing that page and throwing away the whole Bible," McKellen says.
For those not familiar with Leviticus 18:22, it might be interpreted as the most homophobic verse in the Bible. It starts with the familiar refrain, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind," and finishes up with a powerful "it is an abomination" punch. But the passage is often misunderstood, and all too often used to justify hatred and violence toward LGBT people -- as was the case earlier this month in New York, where the friend of a gay basher said that attacking gay people was justified because the book of Leviticus approved.
Tomorrow, Maine Voters Have the Next Say on Marriage Equality
Published November 02, 2009 @ 05:04AM PT
Maine voters head to the polls tomorrow (that is, if they havent already participated in 'early voting') to determine whether a state law that recognizes marriage equality can stay on the books. Thousands of volunteers have poured into Maine for the final stretch, working a Get-Out-the-Vote (GOTV) campaign that is as impressive as it is important. But this is still going to come down to the wire.
A new, and very humbling, poll was issued by Public Policy Polling (PPP) today showing that supporters of Question 1 (a "Yes" vote on Question 1 will rescind marriage rights for gays and lesbians) are slightly ahead of opponents of Question 1. It's still within the margin of error, but 24 hours before polls open, it's always a bit shocking to see the good guys losing.
PPP has the race at 51 percent of Maine voters rejecting same-sex marriage, and 47 percent supporting it. With results that close, this thing is going to come down to turn-out, turn-out, and then more turn-out.
By any stretch the No on Question 1 campaign has run a far more superior campaign, praised by everyone from the Governor of Maine to national newspapers. Anti-LGBT folks have resorted to fear once again -- like they did in California, and like they've done in more than 30 other states that have passed laws banning same-sex marriage. Their campaign has known no shame, but unfortunately elections aren't always determined by integrity and honor. They're determined by who gets their asses out and votes.
The No on 1 campaign has released their final television commercial for the campaign, and it lays things down on the line. "Maine has a clear choice," the ad says. "We can choose to treat some Maine families differently. To make these families feel shame. To deny them basic protections like health care, or making sure their children are cared for if a parent dies...or we can choose equality."
Hope, pray, and for sure if you have the means, get up to Maine and help equality win at the ballot box for the first time in regards to marriage equality.
Watch the No on 1 campaign ad after the jump.
Catholic Church Goes After Straight Allies of Marriage Equality
Published November 01, 2009 @ 08:39AM PT
Though it's no fun seeing same-sex marriage rights placed on a statewide ballot, one of the best things to come out of the Maine vote on marriage equality is the fact that progressive-minded Catholics are starting to speak out for the rights of gays and lesbians to marry. Through groups of "Catholics for Marriage Equality" and other venues, ordinary Catholics are speaking up in new ways arguing that love should win out over hate.
It's just too bad that the institutional Catholic Church can't let go of their anti-LGBT agenda. Maine is an interesting case study here. Despite the fact that the Bishop of Maine (Richard Malone) has had to close more than a half dozen parishes this year because of financial constraints, the Catholic Church in Maine has pumped out more than half a million dollars to urge Maine residents to vote for discrimination against gays and lesbians. Worse yet, Bishop Malone has said that giving equal rights to gays and lesbians is a dangerous sociological experiment and that same-sex marriage would be a threat to children.
But what's even scarier is that the Catholic Church in Maine is now punishing straight people who support the rights of gays and lesbians. Look no further than the ironically named Prince of Peace parish in Lewiston, Maine. There, a Eucharistic Minister and lector (the person who volunteers to read the weekly scriptures) was removed from her position because she said publicly that she supports the rights of gays and lesbians to get married.
The Catholic Church has had some real lows this year when it comes to LGBT rights. From the Pope saying that LGBT people were as big a threat to the world as climate change, to the U.S. bishops prepping a document to be released later this month that will say that same-sex marriage will harm the intrinsic human dignity in every person. Add to this list now a possible witch-hunt to identity straight allies of same-sex marriage, and to remove these straight allies from any positions within the Church.
An Intolerant Republican Party Just Killed a Moderate Candidate
Published October 31, 2009 @ 08:52AM PT
Dede Scozzafava, the actual Republican nominee for the U.S. House seat in New York's 23rd Congressional District, was forced to suspend her campaign three days before Election Day because of a coordinated campaign by consevative activists to brand her a liberal because she supports, among other things, marriage equality.
Major anti-LGBT Republican superstars, from Rick Santorum to Sarah Palin to Steve Forbes, rallied around one of her opponents, third party candidate Doug Hoffman, who they saw as more conservative. For them, the issue was less about Scozzafava's background as a state legislator, and more about the fact that she's a moderate Republican. And moderate Republicans are being purged from the GOP like pariahs.
Obama's Best Gay Week Ever
Published October 30, 2009 @ 09:11AM PT
The last week of October certainly looks like it's going to go down as President Obama's best week yet in regards to LGBT rights. While it's not high time to call up the Vh-1 casting department to pitch a new 'Best Week Ever' show, this week has finally seen some progress on issues at the heart of the LGBT rights movement -- most notably hate crimes legislation and the imminent end of the HIV travel ban.
History was made this week when President Obama signed expanded hate crimes legislation into law, which will now include protections for sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability status. It's a law that has been fought over for more than ten years, and a law that despite its fierce opposition by the radical right -- notice Pat Robertson's freak out about the law, saying that it will place a noose around the necks of right-wing Christians -- becomes the first piece of civil rights legislation signed in a pretty long time.
President Obama earned some brownie points this week for delivering a hell of a commentary as he signed the law. "We must stand against crimes that are meant not only to break bones, but to break spirits — not only to inflict harm, but to instill fear," Obama remarked during the signing ceremony. "No one in America should ever be afraid to walk down the street holding the hands of the person they love. No one in America should be forced to look over their shoulder because of who they are or because they live with a disability."
<chills>Wow. Such a good line.</chills>
With hate crimes legislation finally passed, it's now time for other important LGBT rights measures to move their way to the head of the class. Today, we could get a second piece of extremely good news: word has it that the Obama administration is about to lift the HIV travel ban, which for years has prevented non-U.S. residents from traveling to or immigrating to this country if they were HIV-positive.
Argentina's Quest for Marriage Equality
Published October 29, 2009 @ 03:49PM PT
We've got one country and six U.S. states in North America that recognize marriage equality. But on the other end of the hemisphere, wedding bells aren't necessarily ringing.
That may all be about to change, as Argentina moves forward with debate over whether to recognize marriage equality. The country's parliament is holding hearings concerning a possible change to Article 172 of Argentina's Civil Code. That may sound like drab law speak, but it could have massive implications: the hope is to change the current phrasing which recognizes marriage as only between a "man and woman," to making it so that marriage means "spouses," regardless of gender.
LGBT rights advocates are championing the change, and some of them think they have the momentum to make it a reality.
