Nine Utah Cities and Counties Now Ban Anti-LGBT Bias

There is progress to report on ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity in the state of Utah. Recently, the city councils of Moab, UT and Murray, UT unanimously have enacted local ordinances prohibiting discrimination in housing or employment against LGBT people.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports:

There are now nine cities and counties in Utah with such ordinances. Equality Utah hopes the number will reach 10 before the start of the next session of the Utah Legislature, where the group has pushed for a statewide anti-discrimination law.

In addition to Moab and Murray, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Park City, Summit County, Logan, West Valley City and Taylorsville ban housing and employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

This means that Equality Utah is just one city away from having reached its goal of having 10 local jurisdictions enact "gay rights laws" before the Utah legislature convenes again and considers a similar statewide measure.

Of course these piecemeal efforts would not be necessary if the 111th United States Congress has passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act--although even then that legislation would just ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression and not address discriminations in housing, public accommodations, credit, education and government services. All of these are areas which are protected under California state law, for example.

There is almost no chance that under Republican control the 112th Congress will pass ENDA, or frankly any LGBT-supportive legislation.

Hat/tip to Trans Griot.

Mississippi Black Corrections Officer Fired For Being Gay

André Cooley, a corrections officer in Forrest County, Mississippi, was fired recently after his employer discovered he was gay. 


The Clarion-Ledger reports on a lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of Cooley against the Sheriff's Department, Sheriff Billy McGee and other jail employees.

The incidents pertinent to the lawsuit began with a 911 call placed by Cooley on June 14, requesting help in a domestic disturbance.

A Hattiesburg Police Department report lists Cooley as the victim and describes his male companion as the assailant. The complaint states Bolton also responded to the call and ordered Cooley to report to his immediate supervisor before returning to work after learning of the two men's relationship.

McGee on Monday said he stood by the decision to fire Cooley.

"He got in a fight with his boyfriend, and the police were called to his house for a domestic disturbance," McGee said. "Those kinds of incidents don't speak well for people in law enforcement." 

[...]  

According to the complaint, Cooley obtained a copy of the police report on June 15, saw he was listed as a victim acting in self-defense and began trying to reach Bolton. He instead reached Brannon, and Brannon told him he was to be terminated because of the "type of situation" in which he was involved.

The complaint also states Brannon told Cooley he was fired because of his sexual orientation, and that Brannon later told Cooley's former co-workers that he was fired because he "turned out to be a faggot," according to the lawsuit, which represents one side of a legal dispute.

The Sheriff's Department also contested Cooley's application for unemployment benefits. A decision from the Mississippi Department of Employment Security dated July 21 says Cooley "displayed inappropriate conduct and behavior while off-duty, unacceptable for any officer."

[...].

"What makes things particularly difficult in Mississippi is that there's no federal or state law forbidding discrimination (on grounds of sexual orientation)," [Cooley's lawyer] Atwood said.

Here is a video of an interview with Coooley discussing the lawsuit.

State of the LGBT Movement's Advocacy Organizations

Chris Geidner at Metro Weekly has done the LGBT community a great service by writing the article "State of Play," continuing the great tradition of the Washington Blade in listing and summarizing the staff sizes and annual budgets of the largest or most visible LGBT organizations in the country.

Unfortunately, he only focused only on the organizations which are involved in the fight over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," not every LGBT organization of national significance like the Washington Blade used to.

The main things to note are the relative sizes of Human Rights Campaign ($37 million, 142 employees), Lambda Legal ($15.6 million, 85 employees) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force ($8.6 million, 47 employees) which are probably the three largest LGBT advocacy organizations in the country, with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation either in 3rd or 4th place.

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

Senator DeMint (R-SC) Calls For Employment Discrimination Based On Sex

United States Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, has started taking a more prominent role as the standard bearer for ultra-conservatism in America. Recently, DeMint has called for openly gay or lesbian people and sexually active unmarried women to be barred from working as public teachers.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) says that even though "no one" came to his defense in 2004 after he said that gay people and unwed mothers should be banned from teaching, "everyone" quietly told him that he shouldn't back down from his position.

He also implied that not banning gay people and women who have sex before marriage from teaching would be an attack on Christians, and defended his position on banning gay teachers because he holds the same position on women who have sex outside of marriage.

"[When I said those things,] no one came to my defense," he said, the Spartanberg Herald-Journal reported. "But everyone would come to me and whisper that I shouldn't back down. They don't want government purging their rights and their freedom to religion."

So, basically Senator DeMint is calling for public employment discrimination on the basis of sex and sexual orientatiom.

Needless to say, he has been roundly criticized for these bigoted beliefs.

"Sexist bigots like Sen. Jim DeMint don't belong in the United States Congress," said National Organization for Women President Terry O'Neill. "He thinks gay women and men and sexually active single women should be banned from teaching, but he said nothing about sexually active, single straight men."

"It is salt in the wound in our community," said Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "It's irresponsible for Sen. DeMint to reassert this position in this day and age. I would ask him to apologize."

"What matters in the workplace is your ability to do your job, yet you can be fired for your sexual orientation in 29 states and for your gender identity in 38. I can't imagine what people think is 'moral' about job discrimination," said the Human Rights Campaign in a statement.

Beliefs like DeMint (and his people who support him) are exactly why the Employment Non-Discrimination Act needs to become federal law.

The Top 30 List of Obama's LGBT Achievements

As LGBT pride season approaches and legislative votes on important parts of the LGBT equality agenda (DADT, DPBO, ENDA) seems stuck in molasses, former DNC Treasurer Andy Tobias has compiled a list of the top 30 achievements of the Obama administration of interest and benefit to the LGBT community.

Here is the list:

1. Reversed an inexcusable US position by signing the UN Declaration on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
2. Extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees
3. Endorsed the Baldwin-Lieberman bill, The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009, to provide full partnership benefits to federal employees
4. Signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act
5. Lifted the HIV Entry Ban effective January 2010
6. Released the first Presidential PRIDE proclamation since 2000
7. Hosted the first LGBT Pride Month Celebration in White House history
8. Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Harvey Milk and Billie Jean King
9. Appointed the first transgender DNC member in history
10. Issued diplomatic passports, and provided other benefits, to the partners of same-sex foreign service employees
11. Committed to ensuring that HUD’s core housing programs are open to all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity
12. Conceived a National Resource Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Elders -- the nation's first ever -- funded by a three-year HHS grant to SAGE
13. Testified in favor of ENDA, the first time any official of any administration has testified in the Senate on ENDA
14. Signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expanded existing United States federal hate crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability -- the first positive federal LGBT legislation in the nation's history
15. Supported lower taxes for same-sex couples who receive health benefits from employers
16. Hired and appointed a record number of qualified LGBT Americans, including more than 10 Senate-confirmed appointments
17. Sworn in Ambassador David Huebner
18. Changed the culture of government everywhere from – among others – HUD and HHS to the Export-Import Bank, the State Department, and the Department of Education
19. Appointed Sonia Sotomayor, instead of a conservative who would have tilted the Court even further to the right and virtually doomed our rights for a generation. To wit (quoting McCain): "I've said a thousand times on this campaign trail, I've said as often as I can, that I want to find clones of Alito and Roberts. I worked as hard as anybody to get them confirmed. I look you in the eye and tell you I've said a thousand times that I wanted Alito and Roberts. I have told anybody who will listen. I flat-out tell you I will have people as close to Roberts and Alito [as possible]"
20. Named open transgender appointees (the first President ever to do so)
21. Banned job discrimination based on gender identity throughout the Federal government (the nation's largest employer)
22. Emphasized LGBT inclusion in everything from the President’s historic NAACP address (“The pain of discrimination is still felt in America. By African American women paid less for doing the same work as colleagues of a different color and a different gender. By Latinos made to feel unwelcome in their own country. By Muslim Americans viewed with suspicion simply because they kneel down to pray to their God. By our gay brothers and sisters, still taunted, still attacked, still denied their rights.”) . . . to the first paragraph of his Family Day proclamation (“Whether children are raised by two parents, a single parent, grandparents, a same-sex couple, or a guardian, families encourage us to do our best and enable us to accomplish great things”) and his Mothers Day proclamation ("Nurturing families come in many forms, and children may be raised by two parents, a single mother, two mothers, a step-mom, a grandmother, or a guardian. Mother's Day gives us an opportunity to celebrate these extraordinary caretakers") . . . to creating the chance for an adorable 10-year-old at the White House Easter Egg roll to tell ABC World News how cool it is to have two mommies . . . to including the chair of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce along with the Secretary of the Treasury and the President of Goldman Sachs in the small audience for the President’s economic address at the New York Stock Exchange . . . to welcoming four gay couples to its first State Dinner
23. Recommitted, in a televised address, to passing ENDA . . . repealing Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell . . . repealing the so-called Defense of Marriage Act
24. Spoken out against discrimination at the National Prayer Breakfast ("We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are -- whether it's here in the United States or, as Hillary mentioned, more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed most recently in Uganda.")
25. Dispatched the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to call on the Senate to repeal Don't Ask / Don't Tell, in the meantime dialing back on discharges
26. Launched a website to gather public comment on first-ever federal LGBT housing discrimination study
    
27. Appointed long-time equality champion Chai Feldblum one of the four Commissioners of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
28. Eliminated the discriminatory Census Bureau policy that kept our relationships from being counted, encouraging couples who consider themselves married to file that way, even if their state of residence does not yet permit legal marriage
29. Produced U.S. Census Bureau PSAs featuring gay, lesbian, and transgender spokespersons.
30. Instructed HHS to require any hospital receiving Medicare or Medicaid funds (virtually all hospitals) to allow LGBT visitation rights.

What do you think? The haters over at Americablog.com are most definitely not impressed. (Color me surprised. Not!)

Visualizing ENDA Support in the Senate

Courtesy Joe.My.God comes the above graphic depicting the geographic distribution of support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, H.R. 3017/ S. 1584, in the United States Senate as of 4/29/2010. Dr. Jillian Weiss has also posted a Google docs spreadsheet which shows the position of all members of the Senate on this LGBT civil rights bill. Her spreadsheet shows 51 definite votes in the Senate, which along with roughly 203 sponsors in the U.S. House indicates we are very close to getting this done this year.

Of course, President Obama has promised to sign the bill.

Pass ENDA Now!

The following statement was released today by over 236 LGBT and allied organizations:

“Pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act NOW.”

Here's the list of organizations:

Equality Federation, Toni Broaddus, Executive Director
Family Equality Council, Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director
Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), Lee Swislow, Executive Director
Human Rights Campaign, Joe Solmonese, President
National Black Justice Coalition, Sharon J. Lettman, Executive Director/CEO
National Center for Lesbian Rights, Kate Kendell, Esq., Executive Director
National Center for Transgender Equality, Mara Keisling, Executive Director
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund, Rea Carey, Executive Director
National Stonewall Democrats, Michael Mitchell, Executive Director
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays National, Jody M. Huckaby, Executive Director
Pride at Work, AFL-CIO, Peggy Shorey, Executive Director
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, Selisse Berry, Founding Executive Director
Transgender Law Center, Masen Davis, Executive Director
CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers, Terry Stone, Executive Director
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, Shawn Gaylord, Director of Public Policy
A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), Clayola Brown, President
Advocates for Youth, James Wagoner, President
African American Ministers in Action, Rev. Timothy McDonald, Chairman
AID Gwinnett, Larry M. Lehman, Executive Director
AIDS Action Council, William D. McColl, Political Director
Alabama Gender Alliance, J. D. Freeman, President
Alaska Together for Equality, Inc., Elias Rojas, Board President
Aleph: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Debra Kolodny, Executive Director
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Gerald W. McEntee, President
American Federation Of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, President
American Humanist Association, Karen Frantz, Communication and Policy Director
Arizona Stonewall Democrats, Erica Keppler, Chair
Arizona Trans Alliance, Erica Keppler, Co-Chair
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), Amado Uno, Executive Director
Association of Flight Attendants - CWA, Patricia Friend, President
Atlanta Stonewall Democrats, Tim Cairl, President
Basic Rights Oregon, Jeana Frazzini, Executive Director
Baystate Stonewall Democrats, Claire Naughton, President
Bi Writers Association, Sheela Lambert, Founder
Bisexual Resource Center, Ellyn Ruthstrom, President
Black Pride Los Angeles, Milton Smith, Board President
California Council Of Churches/IMPACT, The Rev. Dr. Rick Schlosser, Executive Director
California Faith for Equality, Kerry Chaplin, Interfaith Organizing Director
Celtic Circle Church of US and Scotland, Rev. Lord Arteo MacAiken Sneath, Founding Elder Clergy/CEO
Central City AIDS Network, Inc, The Rainbow Center, Johnny Fambo, Executive Director
Cleveland Stonewall Democrats, Robert F. Rivera, President
Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), Karen J. See, President
COLAGE, Beth Teper, Executive Director
Colorado Stonewall Democrats, Karen Bachman, Vice-Chair
Communications Workers of America, Annie Hill, Executive Vice President
Community Alliance and Action Network, Tim Pierce, President
Community Health Awareness Council, Monique Kane, Executive Director
Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, Rabbi
Consortium for Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals, Debbie Bazarsky, Co-Chair
Coqsure, Cris Land, Founder and Administrator
DC Trans Coalition, Sadie-Ryanne Baker, Leadership Committee Co-Chair
Democratic Party of Oregon, Meredith Wood-Smith, Chair
Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE), Paul Almeida, President
DignityUSA, Marianne Duddy-Burke, Executive Director
Empire State Pride Agenda, Joe Tarver, Interim Executive Director
Equal Rights Washington, Joshua Friedes, Executive Director
Equality Alabama, Lori Stabler, Board Co-Chair
Equality Arizona, Mike Remedi, Co-Chair Board of Directors
Equality California, Geoff Kors, Executive Director
Equality Florida, Nadine Smith, Executive Director
Equality Hawaii, Paul Gracie, Co-Chair
Equality Illinois, Bernard Cherkasov, Esq., CEO
Equality Iowa, Sandy Vopalka, Founder
Equality Maine, Betsy Smith, Executive Director
Equality Maryland, Morgan Meneses-Sheets, Executive Director
Equality North Carolina, Ian Palmquist, Executive Director
Equality Ohio, Sue Doerfer, Executive Director
Equality South Dakota, Robert Doody, Chair
Equality Texas, Chuck Smith, Interim Executive Director
Equality Toledo Community Action, David Mann, President
Fair Housing of Marin, Nancy Kenyon, Executive Director
Fair Housing Partnership of Greater Pittsburgh, Peter Harvey, Executive Director
Fair Wisconsin, Katie Belanger, Executive Director
Fairness West Virginia, Stephen Skinner, President
Families United Against Hate (FUAH), Gabi Clayton, Board President
Female-To-Male International, Rabbi Levi Alter, President
Fight OUT Loud, Waymon Hudson, President
Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus, Michael Albetta, Caucus President
Florida Together, Ted Howard, Executive Director
FORGE, Michael Munson, Executive Director
Forum For Equality, SarahJane Brady, Managing Director
Forward Montana, Matt Singer, CEO
Freedom to Marry, Evan Wolfson, Executive Director
FTM International Albuquerque, NM Chapter, Adrien Lawyer, Leader
FTM International Atlanta, GA Chapter, BT, Leader
FTM International Bay Area, CA AFLOAT-SOFFA Chapter, Genie Moore, Leader
FTM International North Texas Chapter, Clay Rieber, Leader
FTM International Ohio Chapter, Jake Nash, Leader
FTM International Sacramento, CA Chapter, Marty Diaz, Leader
FTM International San Buenaventura, CA Chapter, Seth Mwansa, Leader
FTMI International San Diego, CA Chapter, Connor Maddocks, Leader
Garden State Equality, Steven Goldstein, Chair and CEO
Gay And Lesbian Labor Activist Network
Gay & Lesbian Medical Association, Rebecca Allison, MD, President
Gay City Health Project, Fred Swanson, Executive Director
Gay Grassroots of Northwest Florida, Doug Landreth, Founder
Gay Liberation Network, Andy Thayer, Co-Founder
Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools, Cindy Crane, Executive Director
Gays and Lesbians United Against Discrimination, Caleb Laieski, Executive Director
Gay-Straight Alliance Network, Carolyn Laub, Executive Director
Greater Seattle Business Association GSBA, Louise Chernin, Executive Director
Gender Justice LA, Latrice Johnson, Executive Director
Gender Rights Advocacy Association of NJ, Barbra Casbar Siperstein, Director
Gentle Spirit Christian Church, Rev. Paul M. Turner, Senior Pastor
Georgia Equality, Jeff Graham, Executive Director
Georgia Rural Urban Summit, Larry Pellegrini, Executive Director
Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, Jeffrey D. Richardson, President
GetEQUAL, Kip Williams, Co-Founder
GLBT Bar Association of Washington, Cynthia Buhr, President
Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, San Francisco, David Waggoner, Co-President
H.E.R.O., Meg Sneed, Co-founder
Holy Sprit Ecumenical Church - Largo, FL, Rev Steven M. Rosczewski, Pastor
Housing Opportunities Made Equal, Inc, Scott W. Gehl, Executive Director
Human Rights Campaign of Vanderbilt University, Luis Munoz, President
Immigration Equality, Julie Kruse, Policy Director
Ingersoll Gender Center, Marsha Botzer, Co-President
Integrity USA, John Clinton Bradley, Acting Executive Director
Interfaith Coalition for Transgender Equality, The Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge, Co-Chair
International Court Council, Coco LaChine, President
International Federation of Black Prides, Inc, Earl Fowlkes, President/CEO
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, AFL-CIO, James A. Williams, General President
Jacksonville Now, Jeremy Gould, CEO
Jefferson County, Colorado, Democratic Party, GLBT Caucus, David Reaser, Chair
Jewish Family & Career Services - The Rainbow Center in Atlanta, Gary Miller, CEO
Juxtaposed Center for Transformation, Inc, Tracee McDaniel, Executive Director
Kalamazoo Gay Lesbian Resource Center, Antonio David Garcia, Executive Director
Kentucky Fairness Alliance, Travis Myles, Chairperson
Keshet, Idit Klein, Executive Director
KnoxBoyz of East Tennessee, BEAR A-M Rodgers, Founding Executive Director
KnoxGirlz of East Tennessee, Deirdre Radcliffe, Executive Director
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), Hector E. Sanchez, Executive Director
LaGender Inc, Dee Dee Chamblee, Executive Director
Lambda Legal, Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director
Lavender Caucus SEIU, Eastern Region, Tony Fernandes, President
Legal Aid Services of Broward County, Anthony J. Karrat, Esq., Executive Director
Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center, Joan M. Graff, President
Legal Voice, Lisa Stone, Executive Director
Lepoco Peace Center, Nancy Tate, Executive Director
Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens (LGBDQ), Bruce Friedman, President
Lesbian and Gay Family Building Project, Claudia E. Stallman, Project Director
LGBT Stonewall Caucus of the Democratic Party of Virginia, Roland Winston, Chairman
Long Island Housing Services, Michelle Santantonio, Executive Director
Love Makes a Family PAC, Martin L. Heft, Chairman
Lutherans Concerned/North America, Ross Murray, Interim Executive Director
Maine Transgender Network, Inc, Alex Roan, Executive Director
Massachusetts Lesbian & Gay Bar Association, David Eppley, Co-Chair
Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, Gunner Scott, Executive Director
Mautner Project: The National Lesbian Health Organization, Leslie J. Calman, Ph.D., Executive Director
MEGA Family Project, Kathy Kelly, Executive Director
Metropolitan Community Churches, The Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, Moderator
Miami Valley Fair Housing Center, Inc., Jim McCarthy, President/CEO
Michigan AIDS Coalition, Detroit, Michigan, Craig Covey, Operating Officer
More Light Presbyterians, Michael J. Adee, Executive Director
NAACP, Hilary O. Shelton, Director NAACP Washington Bureau & Senior VP for Advocacy and Policy
National Caucus SEIU, Tom Barbera, President
National Coalition for LGBT Health, Rebecca Fox, Executive Director
National Council of Jewish Women, Nancy Ratzan, President
National Fair Housing Alliance, Shanna L. Smith, President and CEO
National Marriage Boycott, Laura Wadden, Executive Director
National Organization for Women - Alabama, Shirley Ann Rawls, President
National Student Genderblind Campaign, David Norton, Executive Director
National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC), Gregory Varnum, Executive Director
New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition, Mo Baxley, Executive Director
New Mexico GLBTQ Centers, David Stocum, Executive Director
New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA), Pauline Park, Chair
New York Transgender Rights Organization (NYTRO), Joann Prinzivalli, Executive Director
Northwest PA Trans Group, Joanne Lynn Benjamin, Founder
Office & Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), Nancy Wohlforth, Secretary-Treasurer Emerita
One Colorado, Lea Ann Purvis, Interim Executive Director
Our Family Coalition, Judy Appel, Executive Director
Out4Immigration, Amos Lim, Founding Board Member
OutFront Minnesota, Amy Johnson, Executive Director
Outlet Program, Eileen Ross, Director
Outright Vermont, Melissa Murray, Executive Director
PA Diversity Network, Liz Bradbury, Executive Director
Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, Rand Hoch, President and Founder
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual and Transgender Individuals of Jacksonville, FL, Frieda Saraga, President
People For the American Way, Michael B. Keegan, President
Perpetual Transition, Casey Lanham, Co-Founder
PFLAG-Vero Beach, Carl Burns, Treasurer
Pikes Peak Gay & Lesbian Community Center, Ryan Acker, Executive Director
Pride At Work, Martin Luther King County WA Chapter, Mike Andrews, Secretary-Treasurer, Chapter Lead
Pride Tampa Bay, R. Zeke Fread, Executive Director
PROMO (Missouri), A. J. Bockelman, Executive Director
Religious Institute, The Reverend Debra W. Haffner, Executive Director
Respect Resource Group, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Randy Kammer, Executive Sponsor
Rockway Institute, a unit of the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, San Francisco campus, Robert-Jay Green, Executive Director
Room for All (Reformed Church in America), Rev. Robert D. Williams, Founding Co-President
RU12? Community Center and Vermont TransAction, Kara DeLeonardis, MSW, LICSW, Executive Director
S. U. R. E. Foundation, Dr. Mekah Gordon Ph.D., Founder/CEO
Safe Schools Coalition, Kyle Rapinan, Co-chair
San Francisco LGBT Community Center, Rebecca Rolfe, Executive Director
Santa Cruz County Task Force for LGBTIQ Youth, Stuart Rosenstein, Chair
SEIU 509 Lavender Caucus, Tom Barbera, President
Service Employees International Union, Anna Burger, International Secretary Treasurer
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS), Joseph DiNorcia Jr., President and CEO
SOFFAs of East Tennessee Transgenders, Valerie Knight, Executive Director
South Bay Transmen, Lance Moore, Organizer
South Carolina Equality, B. Dean Pierce, Chair, Board of Directors
Stonewall Democratic Club of New York, Joseph G. Hagelmann, III, President
Stonewall Democratic Club of Southern Nevada, Derek Washington, Chair
Stonewall Democrats of Volusia & Flagler, Larry Glinzman, President
Stonewall Democrats of Pasco County, Jocelyn A. Dickman, President
Sunshine Social Services, Inc/SunServe, Mark Adler, MPH, Executive Director
Tennessee Equality Project, H.G. Stovall, Board President
Tennessee Equality Project Foundation, Randy Cox, President/Chair
Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, Marisa Richmond, Ph.D., President
Tennessee Vals, Vickie Davis, Chair Woman
The American Institute of Bisexuality, Denise Penn MSW, Director
The Center (Des Moines, Iowa), Sandy Vopalka, Administrator
The Center for HIV Law and Policy, Catherine Hanssens, Executive Director
The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry (CLGS), Bernard Schlager, Ph.D., Executive Director
The Crystal Club, Barbie Rogers, President
The Family Tree LGBT Community Center, Jim Van Riper, Co-Chair
The Institute for Judaism and Sexual Orientation, Hebrew Union Collage-Jewish Institute of Religion, Dr. Joel Kushner, Director
The Pride Center at Equality Park, Paul Hyman, Executive Director
Trans/Giving Arts Showcase, Kalil Cohen, Lead Organizer
Trans-Action Initiative of Bard College, Kira Gilman, Club Head
TransActive Education & Advocacy, Jenn Burleton, Executive Director
Transgender at Work, Mary Ann Horton, Chair
Transgender Education Network of Texas, Lisa Scheps, Executive Director
Transgender Equality Rights Initiative (TERI), Jacqui Charvet, Co-Administrator
Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, Michael Silverman, Executive Director
TransOhio, Shane Morgan, Founder & Chair
Triangle Community Center, Norwalk, CT, Christopher J. Spiegelman, Board President
Triangle Foundation/Michigan Equality, Alicia Skillman, Executive Director
Tucson GLBT Chamber of Commerce, Sheldon Fishman, President
UNITE HERE International Union, John Wilhelm, President
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries, Rev. M. Linda Jaramillo, Executive Minister
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry, CA, Rev. Lindi Ramsden, Executive Director
Vermont Freedom to Marry Action Committee, Beth Robinson, Chair
Washington Gender Alliance, Rory Gould, President
Western Mass Pride at Work, David James, President
WKJCE TLGB Radio, Alanna Maneer, Co Founder
Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER), Mary E. Hunt, Executive Director
YouthPride, Inc, Terence McPhaul, Executive Director

(236 Organizations)

Presidential Memo On Hospital Visitation Rights

Last night the big news was that President Obama signed a memorandum ordering the Secretary of Health & Human Services to derive a rule which will prevent hospitals which get Medicare and Medicaid funds from preventing same-sex partners from visiting their spouses or partners in hospitals.

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

SUBJECT: Respecting the Rights of Hospital Patients to Receive Visitors and to Designate Surrogate Decision Makers for Medical Emergencies

There are few moments in our lives that call for greater compassion and companionship than when a loved one is admitted to the hospital. In these hours of need and moments of pain and anxiety, all of us would hope to have a hand to hold, a shoulder on which to lean -- a loved one to be there for us, as we would be there for them.

Yet every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindnesses and caring of a loved one at their sides -- whether in a sudden medical emergency or a prolonged hospital stay. Often, a widow or widower with no children is denied the support and comfort of a good friend. Members of religious orders are sometimes unable to choose someone other than an immediate family member to visit them and make medical decisions on their behalf. Also uniquely affected are gay and lesbian Americans who are often barred from the bedsides of the partners with whom they may have spent decades of their lives -- unable to be there for the person they love, and unable to act as a legal surrogate if their partner is incapacitated.

For all of these Americans, the failure to have their wishes respected concerning who may visit them or make medical decisions on their behalf has real consequences. It means that doctors and nurses do not always have the best information about patients' medications and medical histories and that friends and certain family members are unable to serve as intermediaries to help communicate patients' needs. It means that a stressful and at times terrifying experience for patients is senselessly compounded by indignity and unfairness. And it means that all too often, people are made to suffer or even to pass away alone, denied the comfort of companionship in their final moments while a loved one is left worrying and pacing down the hall.

Many States have taken steps to try to put an end to these problems. North Carolina recently amended its Patients' Bill of Rights to give each patient "the right to designate visitors who shall receive the same visitation privileges as the patient's immediate family members, regardless of whether the visitors are legally related to the patient" -- a right that applies in every hospital in the State. Delaware, Nebraska, and Minnesota have adopted similar laws.

My Administration can expand on these important steps to ensure that patients can receive compassionate care and equal treatment during their hospital stays. By this memorandum, I request that you take the following steps:

1. Initiate appropriate rulemaking, pursuant to your authority under 42 U.S.C. 1395x and other relevant provisions of law, to ensure that hospitals that participate in Medicare or Medicaid respect the rights of patients to designate visitors. It should be made clear that designated visitors, including individuals designated by legally valid advance directives (such as durable powers of attorney and health care proxies), should enjoy visitation privileges that are no more restrictive than those that immediate family members enjoy. You should also provide that participating hospitals may not deny visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The rulemaking should take into account the need for hospitals to restrict visitation in medically appropriate circumstances as well as the clinical decisions that medical professionals make about a patient's care or treatment.

2. Ensure that all hospitals participating in Medicare or Medicaid are in full compliance with regulations, codified at 42 CFR 482.13 and 42 CFR 489.102(a), promulgated to guarantee that all patients' advance directives, such as durable powers of attorney and health care proxies, are respected, and that patients' representatives otherwise have the right to make informed decisions regarding patients' care. Additionally, I request that you issue new guidelines, pursuant to your authority under 42 U.S.C. 1395cc and other relevant provisions of law, and provide technical assistance on how hospitals participating in Medicare or Medicaid can best comply with the regulations and take any additional appropriate measures to fully enforce the regulations.

3. Provide additional recommendations to me, within 180 days of the date of this memorandum, on actions the Department of Health and Human Services can take to address hospital visitation, medical decisionmaking, or other health care issues that affect LGBT patients and their families. This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

You are hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA

This is a pretty dramatic step since it will impact the rights of LGBT citizens in every single state (including you, Alabama!) and should quiet down some of the grumbling by LGBT activists unhappy at the glacial progress at passing ENDA and ending DADT.

Ari Shapiro on NPR pointed out that after President Johnson signed Medicare into law in 1965, he had to issue a similar memorandum prohibiting hospitals which received federal funds from discriminating on the basis of race.

Obama Names Chai Feldblum to EEOC In Recess Appointment

President Barack Obama, fresh off his stunning political success with enacting national health care reform, on Saturday announced 15 recess appointments bypassing Senate confirmation. Openly lesbian Chai Feldblum ("Godmother of ENDA") was one of the 15:

Chai R. Feldblum: Nominee for Commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Chai Feldblum is a Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center where she has taught since 1991. She also founded the Law Center’s Federal Legislation and Administrative Clinic, a program designed to train students to become legislative lawyers. Feldblum previously served as Legislative Counsel to the AIDS Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. In this role, she developed legislation, analyzed policy on various AIDS-related issues, and played a leading role in the drafting of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and, later as a law professor, in the passage of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. She has also worked on advancing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights and has been a leading expert on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act. As Co-Director of Workplace Flexibility 2010, Feldblum has worked to advance flexible workplaces in a manner that works for employees and employers. Feldblum clerked for Judge Frank Coffin and for Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun. She received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and B.A. from Barnard College.

The White House press release notes:

• President Obama currently has a total of 217 nominees pending before the Senate. These nominees have been pending for an average of 101 days, including 34 nominees pending for more than 6 months.
• The 15 nominees President Obama intends to recess appoint have been pending for an average of 214 days or 7 months for a total of 3204 days or almost 9 years.
• President Bush had made 15 recess appointments by this point in his presidency, but he was not facing the same level of obstruction. At this time in 2002, President Bush had only 5 nominees pending on the floor. By contrast, President Obama has 77 nominees currently pending on the floor, 58 of whom have been waiting for over two weeks and 44 of those have been waiting more than a month.
  

I don't relations between Obama and the Senate Republican caucus are gonna get any better, especially if Justice Stevens announces his retirement next month!

Celebrity Friday: Nancy Pelosi

Today, Friday March 26th is the 70th birthday of Speaker of the U.S. House Nancy Pelosi. On Sunday night, she presided over the final passage of the most sweeping social justice legislation in over 40 years, Obama's national health care reform bill. Let's hope she has a good celebration of her 70th birthday!

Pssst, Nancy! We still expect ENDA and DPBO to pass before November. Don't let us down.

Top 10 Most Significant LGBT Events of the Decade

Following up on my recent post detailing the most significant LGBT-related events of 2009, I have decided to try and compile a list for the entire decade of the "aughts," from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2009.

By most significant, I mean the events that either had the most impact on the lives of the most number of LGBT people or that are likely to be remembered as the most significant by historians in the future.

Here we go:

10. The Vermont legislature enacts nation's first civil unions law, signed by Governor Howard Dean, in response to the Vermont Supreme Court's Baker v. Vermont ruling, 2000.

In late December 1999 the Vermont Supreme Court issued its unanimous ruling in Baker v. Vermont, deciding that there was discrimination in the differing ways that the state's laws treated same-sex couples relative to opposite-sex couples, and although it also ruled that under Vermont law the legislature had intended to have marriage be a union between a man and a woman only (and could legally do so), the Court compelled the State to come up with a statutory remedy to address the disparate treatment of same-sex and opposite-sex couples. The Vermont Civil Unions bill, modeled after European civil partnership legislation, attempted to provide "civilly united" same-sex couples all the rights and responsibilities that married couples had under Vermont law. It was signed by Governor Howard Dean on April 26, 2000 and went into effect on July 1, 2000. (Me and my other half got a civil union on August 8, 2000 in Burlington, VT.) Thus Vermont became the first state to attempt to end state-sanction discrimination in relationship recognition in the United States, leading to full marriage equality on September 1, 2009.

9. California legislature passes Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg's AB 205, the first comprehensive domestic partner statute granting almost all the rights and responsibilities of marriage in state law (signed by Governor Gray Davis, went into effect January 1, 2005), 2003.

In summer of 2003, California became the second state (after Vermont) to enact legislation that tried to provide same-sex couples with as much of the rights and responsibilities of marriage while still reserving the word marriage to the exclusive domain of heterosexuals. In April 2000, California voters had passed Proposition 22 by 61%-39% which re-affirmed that state law banned recognition of same-sex marriages. Unlike in Vermont, the California legislature was not reacting in response to a state Supreme Court ruling. Instead, the state legislature was specifically expanding a bundle of rights to an existing statutory entity, the registered domestic partnership, instead of creating something new from whole cloth, like the Vermont civil union. California's comprehensive domestic partnership law would become the model that other (mostly Western) states would follow later in the decade: Oregon, Washington and Nevada. At the time there was much heated debate in the LGBT community about "settling" for domestic partnership in the midst of a pitched battle for equal marriage rights that would be repeated time and again with echoes present even today. Domestic partnerships and civil unions (commonly lumped together as "everything but the word marriage" laws) became overwhelmingly popular with the general public so that even during the backlash against marriage in the middle of the decade voters repeatedly defended such measures in elections (Arizona, 2006 and Washington, 2009).

8. Democrats retake congressional majorities in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, 2006.

After losing control of both Houses of Congress in 1994, fueled by the energy and organizational skills of the progressive blogosphere and under the leadership of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Rahm Emmanuel and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee head Charles Shumer the Democrats were able to shock political observers by wresting back control of the entire legislative branch of the federal government in 2006 despite losing two consecutive national Presidential elections. The return of the Democrats to the helm of the federal legislature meant that draconian measures like the Federal Marriage Amendment that would have banned legalization of marriages for same-sex couples in all the 50 states would now be unable to advance. However, with Republicans in control of the executive and judicial branches of government, there was very little positive change the Democrats would be able to enact until a change was made in the occupancy of the White House. The 2006 election were an augur of progressive change to come in the country.

7. Voters pass ballot measures amending 11 state constitutions to ban recognition and validation of same sex marriages while re-electing President Bush, 2004.

In 2004, George W. Bush chief political strategist Karl Rove together with the (closeted) head of the Republican National Committee Ken Mehlman instigated the most coordinated attack on the LGBT community in history in an attempt to boost conservative evangelical turnout for Republican candidates (especially the top of the ticket) nationwide. Their evil strategy worked, although if a mere 60,000 voters in Ohio had voted for Senator John Kerry instead of the incumbent, there would have been another historical discrepancy between the winner of the presidential popular vote and the electoral college vote. The eleven states that voted to amend their state constitution to ban marriage for same-sex couples were: Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah. In all the states but Oregon the measures were supported by more than 60% of voters and resulted in harsh anti-gay language being constantly repeated during state and local electoral campaigns. 2004 was the political nadir for progressive election results in the decade, with LGBT issues caught in the downturn.

6. U.S. House of Representatives passes Employment Non-Discrimination Act prohibiting discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation nationwide after gender identity protections are dropped, 2007.

Federal gay civil rights legislation was introduced for the first time in May 1974 by New York City-based U.S. Representatives Bella Abzug and Ed Koch as a bill that would add "sexual orientation" to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. However, it was not until November 7, 2007 (a full generation later) that a version of a federal gay civil rights bill passed a single chamber of Congress. Unfortunately, the version passed in the U.S. House by a vote of 235-184 was not only watered-down to an extent that it only covered discrimination in employment (and not public accommodations and housing like the corresponding landmark civil rights legislation of the 1960s) but it also was stripped of the gender identity protections. The passage of the trans-exclusive version of ENDA in the U.S. House of Representatives was significant for the historical precedent it set as well as the internal community it sparked over transgender issues in the LGBT civil rights movement. Even among openly gay Congressmembers Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank there was disagreement about whether it was better to pass ENDA with sexual orientation and gender identity protections or not. Frank was in favor, Baldwin opposed. For practical purposes, the issue of which measure should be law became moot because the measure died in the United States Senate after President Bush issued a veto threat. However, the passage of ENDA by the House augured well for the passage of other LGBT civil rights legislation in the future.

5. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules marriage for same-sex couples is a fundamental right that can not be constitutionally denied, 2003.

In November 2003, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health became the first high court in the United States to rule that opposite-sex only marriage laws were unconstitutional and that the remedy required was to allow same-sex couples full marriage equality. The Court deemed that the state did not even have a rational basis for denying such an important fundamental right to a class of its citizens on both equal protection and due process grounds. On May 17, 2004, the 50th anniversary of the United States Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, the Goodridge decision went into effect and the first legal marriages between same-sex couples occurred on U.S. soil. Although the marriage of the lead plaintiffs Julie and Hilary Goodridge did not survive the decade, Massachusetts marriage equality did, and the 4-3 Goodridge decision was the harbinger of positive marriage equality decisions in California (In Re Marriage Cases, 2008; 4-3) Connecticut (Kerrigan v. Department of Public Health, 2008; 4-3) and Iowa (Varnum v. Brien, 2009; 7-0). Through intensive political organizing, the LGBT community and its allies were able to prevent the state legislature from allowing a constitutional amendment from going to the voters and by the end of the decade Massachusetts marriages were considered safe and the state was suing the federal government for discriminating against its legally married same-sex couples in the disbursal of federal recognition and benefits.

4. United States Supreme Court overturns the homophobic Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) precedent, ruling that sodomy laws are unconstitutional, in Lawrence v. Texas, strengthening privacy rights for all Americans, 2003.

For nearly two decades the Bowers v. Hardwick ruling of the United State Supreme Court was used as a legal club to eliminate any claims for civil rights for gay men and lesbians in a number of different contexts. In a 5-4 majority opinion written by Justice Byron White, the court contemptuously dismissed the notion of "a fundamental right to homosexual sodomy" and affirmed the state of Georgia's law criminalizing oral or anal sex between consenting adults--even in the privacy of their own house. The indisputable fact that the highest court in the country had decided that the act which defines homosexuals makes them criminals was used over and over again to refute the concept of equal rights for gay men and lesbians. This all changed on June 26, 2003 when Justice Anthony Kennedy read part of the majority decision in Lawrence v. Texas before assembled court reporters and teary-eyed LGBT legal advocates which declared that the Court's previous sodomy decision in 1986 "was not correct when it was decided, and it is not correct today. It ought not to remain binding precedent. Bowers v. Hardwick should be and now is overruled." The Court's action struck down sodomy laws in 13 states including four states (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri) that had restricted their laws to homosexuals only. The court ruled that the sodomy laws violated due process and equal protection laws. By decriminalizing homosexuality nationwide, the decision in Lawrence dramatically reduced stigma against gay men and lesbians and was a significant legal and cultural advance in the movement for full LGBT equality.

3. Proposition 8 is passed by California voters, stripping the recently-granted right to marry after an $83 million electoral campaign filled with lies and deception, 2008.

In May 15, 2008 the California Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling In Re Marriage Cases which not only ruled that California's marriage laws discriminated against same-sex couples but also declared that sexual orientation was a suspect classification deserving of strict judicial scrutiny on par with race and sex and ordering civil marriage licenses to be issued to gay and lesbian couples in 30 days, on June 15th. 173 days after that, on November 5, 2008, California voters passed a ballot measure 52.3% to 47.7% to amend their constitution to strip away the recently granted right and banned gay marriage. The electoral battle to pass Proposition 8 became the most expensive ballot measure over a social issue in the nation's history with an estimated $83 million ($40 million by Yes on 8, $43 million by No on 8). Many LGBT activists felt that the No on 8 campaign squandered what public polls said were double-digit leads through an overly safe television campaign which did not feature images of gay or lesbian people. However, internal polls never showed the campaign ahead and no public poll ever showed majority support for the concept of marriage equality in the state. The battle over Proposition 8 was a political coming of age for an entire generation of LGBT activists. After Proposition 8 passed an incredible outpouring of rage and disappointment resulted in demonstrations (primarily organized online) in dozens of cities around the country which were estimated to have been attended by over 1 million people. In California, several brand-new grassroots organizations were formed and statewide gatherings of LGBT activists were held in Los Angeles, Fresno and San Bernardino to organize, inform and strengthen the community activists who attended. The lessons of Proposition 8's passage (that majorities would vote to strip away the right to marry from their fellow citizens even in a presumably progressive state like California) were repeated in 2009 when Question 1 in Maine was passed by an even larger margin. Currently Proposition 8's constitutionality is being challenged under Federal law by the legal dream team of super-litigators David Boies and Ted Olson after the California Supreme Court refused to strike down the measure under the state constitution with a full trial on the merits set for the beginning of the next decade, on January 11, 2010.

2. President Barack Obama signs the federal hate crimes bill, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act, into law, 2009.

Despite the carping from some corners that the legislation only gives rights to LGBT people only after they are victimized or dead, the historic echoes of the President's signature on H.R. 1913 should not be under-estimated. The federal hate crimes bill became the first piece of federally enacted legislation to ever include the words "gender identity" and only the second to expand rights based on sexual orientation. Yes, the measure was attached to a "must-pass" piece of legislation, the Defense Reauthorization Act of 2009, instead of a stand-alone bill. But this did not make Republican opposition any less fierce or morally questionable. After the federal hate-crimes act was enacted it could never be said again that there were no protections in federal law for the LGBT community. The binding precedent of the legislative action meant that it would not be unthinkable to pass other LGBT civil rights laws in the future.

1. George W. Bush is (s)elected president after U.S. Supreme Court intervention in Florida recount results in defeat of Vice-President Al Gore, 2000.

The presidential election of 2000 was the most pivotal political moment of the decade as a 2-term Democratic president was going to be replaced by either his Vice President who would maintain and mainly continue Bill Clinton's relatively pro-gay policies or by Texas Governor George W. Bush, the "compassionate conservative" attempting to restore the Bush family name to the highest echelons of power in the country. That Al Gore would get more than half a million more votes than George W. Bush but the presidency of the United States would come down to a few hundred votes in Florida (a state where the candidate's brother was the Governor) was something a Hollywood screenwriter would have been discouraged from including in a political thriller as too far-fetched and simply unbelievable. But, thanks to intervention from the United States Supreme Court in the case of Bush v. Gore where David Boies and Ted Olson were on opposite sides, Bush was declared the winner. Instead of governing like he had just won the closest presidential election in U.S. history, Bush proceeded to dismantle as much of the Clinton legacy as he could as rapidly as possible. Thanks to Bush's election (and re-election) we now have two relatively young arch-conservative jurists on the United States Supreme Court (Chief Justice John Roberts, 54 and Samuel Alito, Jr., 59) along with hundreds of other conservative federal judges in lifetime appointments on District and Appellate Courts throughout the country. Additionally, Bush being president for most of the decade meant that federal progress on enacting LGBT civil rights was stymied at every level, with attention moving to state-based legislative, judicial and administrative action. The low point came in 2004 when President Bush endorsed the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have explicitly stripped the fundamental right to marry from same-sex couples, an unprecedented and maximalist attack on a particular minority group that would have incorporated discrimination in to the founding document of the country which has been only amended 27 times in 222 years. The main impact of having a Republican in the White House was the aid and comfort the Bush Administration gave to virulent homophobes and the political cover it provided for other Republican politicians to express and implement counterfactual and prejudiced views and policies towards LGBT citizens.

Top 10 Most Significant LGBT Events of 2009

It's that time of year! No, I'm not talking about Chrismuhkwanzakkuh, I'm talking about the annual ritual of making of Top 10 lists. Herewith is my list of the Top 10 Most Significant LGBT Events of 2009 in the United States.

10. Sonia Sotomayor is confirmed to the United States Supreme Court: August 6, 2009.

Hey, the United States Supreme Court doesn't get new members every year. Lots of presidents don't get to appoint any justices, and their influence can extend far beyond a presidential quadrennial or octennial term of office. So it must have been music to the ears of former University of Chicago Law School professor Barack Obama when Associate Justice (and confirmed bachelor) David Souter announced he wanted to return to New Hampshire and leave the nation's highest court. With 60 votes in the majority caucus, Obama could have forced almost anyone through the Senate (including openly gay law school deans Elana Kagan and Kathleen Sullivan) but he chose the person at the top of everyone's short list: Sonia Sotomayor, the New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent who went to Princeton and Yale Law School and went on to become the the first female, Hispanic justice. Although she was asked (and politely declined to answer) her thoughts on LGBT issues there's no question that Sotomayor's vote will be key to achieving full equality under the federal constitution for LGBT Americans in my lifetime.

9. The Vermont Legislature overrides the Governor's veto to enact marriage equality: April 7, 2009.

In a breathtakingly brief period of a few weeks late this Spring, the legislatures of Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont all passed marriage equality measures.Vermont was particularly stunning, because the Republican governor had the temerity to veto the measure and the Legislature was able to achieve a two-thirds majority in both Houses (by a margin of one vote in the lower body) to enact the law ending discrimination against same-sex couples having their relationships recognized by civil authorities in the Great State of Vermont.

8. The District of Columbia becomes the first Southern jurisdiction to pass marriage equality legislation: December 18, 2009.

Just squeaking in before the end of the year, the District of Columbia, which has a population slightly larger than the state of Wyoming and slightly less than the state of Vermont, passed a marriage equality ordinance through its unicameral legislature, the DC City Council 11-2. What makes the action so significant is the fact that the District of Columbia is below the Mason-Dixon line, which means that it is the first jurisdiction in the Southern United States (which also has a majority African American population) to affirm the principle that equality for all includes gay and lesbian couples access to civil marriage.

7. Barack Obama becomes 2nd sitting President to address LGBT rights fundraising event, reiterates promises to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell": October 10, 2009.

After an increasingly impatient LGBT community complained that the Obama administration's moves towards institutionalizing LGBT progress were distressingly slow, the President agreed to attend the Human Rights Campaign's annual DC gala, which this year was occurring a few hours before hundreds of thousands of LGBT citizens would walk the streets of DC for the National Equality March. At the dinner, Obama gave a typically stirring speech where he reiterated his opposition to Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act and called for Congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the Domestic Partner Benefits and Obligations Act and the federal hate crimes act for his eager signature. Obama became the first president to attend an LGBT fundraising event in the first year of his first term (Clinton attended in 1997 after his re-election the year before) but it was not enough. LGBT critics complained that Obama did not layout a timeline for when his legislative accomplishments would be achieved.

6. Openly lesbian Annise Parker is elected mayor of Houston, the nation's 4th largest city: December 12, 2009.

After being elected by her hometown six consecutive times statewide in races for City Council and as City Controller, Annise Parker built up a resume and reputation that one would expect for a leading contender to be elected mayor of the nation's fourth largest city. That she was also openly gay and had been so for her entire electoral career gave the race against African-American Gene Locke extra media attention. In the end, Parker was elected handily. Whose to say that she will stop at Mayor? What her election does show is that there is no lavender ceiling for openly LGBT politicians in electoral politics.

5. California Supreme Court refuses to strike down Proposition 8 but affirms marriages of same-sex couples entered into prior to its passage: May 26, 2009.

Almost exactly one year after the California Supreme Court released its landmark ruling In Re Marriage Cases (which struck down Proposition 22 and the state's 1974 marriage statute, legalized marriage for same-sex couples and elevated sexual orientation to a category receiving the highest level of judicial analysis) the same court disappointed millions of people by refusing to exhibit similar judicial courage to invalidate Proposition 8. In a 6-1 vote (only Justice Carlos Moreno, under consideration by President Obama for the United States Supreme Court at the time, was willing to strike down the constitutional amendment which stripped same-sex couples of the right to marry) the Court upheld the legality of Proposition 8 under the California constitution. The Court also unanimously upheld the legal principle that all people married during the 173 days between June 15, 2007 and November 3, 2008 had all the rights and responsibilities of civilly married couples. This will not be the last word on whether Proposition 8 will remain in the California Constitution, however, the legal superduo of Ted Olson and David Boies have filed a federal lawsuit against the measure, and a full trial has been scheduled for January 11, 2010.

4. The Iowa Supreme Court unanimously rules in favor of marriage equality: April 3, 2009.

In the last three years all of the half-dozen or so state Supreme Court decisions which have decided marriage equality prior to Iowa's unanimous Varnum v. Brien decision had been 4-3-vote majorities (Favorably: Massachusetts, 2004; California, 2008; Connecticut, 2008. Unfavorably: New Jersey, 2005; New York, 2006; Washington, 2006; Maryland, 2007). That's what makes the ruling by the Iowa State Supreme Court so significant. The logic that there is no rational basis or legitimate state purpose for preventing same-sex couples from being issued civil marriage licenses is unassailable. The decision went into effect three weeks later, and same-sex couples have been getting married ever since without much publicity. In Iowa, the state constitution can only be amended by passing through the state legislature and the Democratic majority is refusing to consider such a measure. Iowa puts paid to the idea that gay marriage is an idea that is a purely liberal or geographically centered. If same-sex couples are getting married in Iowa, can Kansas be far behind?

3. On election day, Maine voters reject marriage equality law while Washington voters retain "everything but marriage" comprehensive domestic partnership statute: November 3, 2009.

The weeks and months leading up to election day were dominated by the "Proposition 8-redo" in Maine called Question 1 where heterosexual supremacists again forced a public vote on whether private relationships would be treated equally by the state. Another public vote, another devastating loss. For the 31st time in 32 tries, the public voted against marriage equality for LGBT couples, this time by a margin of 52.75% Yes to 47.25% No (even larger than Proposition 8's 52.3 Yes to 47.7% No in 2008). However, thousands of miles away in Washington State, voters overwhelmingly Approved Referendum 71 (by a margin 0f 53.15% to 46.85% or 113,00 votes) to retain a recently enacted comprehensive domestic partnership law modeled after California's landmark AB 205 from 2003. (Interestingly, Nevada was able to enact their comprehensive domestic partnership act over their Republican governor;s veto on May 31, 2009.)

2. John A. Pérez is named the next Speaker of the California Assembly, the first openly gay person of color to head a state legislative body: December 10, 2009.

John A. Pérez is someone I have hung out with at parties and sat next to at banquets and stood next to at rallies. He is also the first LGBT person of color ever to be elected to the California legislature (in 2008). In January 2010, he will become the Speaker of the Assembly, one of the Top 3 positions in California politics. Yes, he's the cousin of the Mayor of Los Angeles and had to defeat my own Assemblyman Kevin de Leon in order to win over a majority of the California Democratic caucus as a first-term legislator in order to have up to 4 years of eligibility to serve as head of the lower body of the California Legislature, the first gay and third Latino to do so. His elevation among his peers, along with Annise Parker demonstrates the assimilation of sexual orientation into the mainstream of Democratic politics. It is more likely John's sexual orientation helped him rather than hurt him in becoming Speaker of the California Assembly and that speaks volumes for the trajectory of the LGBT civil rights movement in the future.

1. President Barack Obama signs the federal hate crimes bill (the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act) into law: October 28, 2009

Despite the carping from some corners that the legislation only gives rights to LGBT people only after they are victimized or dead, the historic echoes of the President's signature on H.R. 1913 should not be under-estimated. The federal hate crimes bill became the first piece of federally enacted legislation to ever include the words "gender identity" and only the second to expand rights based on sexual orientation. Yes, the measure was attached to a "must-pass" piece of legislation, the Defense Reauthorization Act of 2009, instead of a stand-alone bill. But this did not make Republican opposition any less fierce or morally questionable.

MAP Report on LGBT Right Progress 2000-2009

There's an interesting report out this week called "A Decade of Progress on LGBT Rights" written by one of the smartest (and least well-known) LGBT organizations, the Movement Advancement Project, (with funding from the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr Fund) which puts where the LGBT community is now in a useful historical context.

* Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation: The number of states outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation increased 83 percent, from 12 to 22, between 2000 and 2009. The percentage of the U.S. population living in states banning discrimination based on sexual orientation soared from 24.5 percent to 44.1 percent, an 80 percent increase. In other words, today 134 million Americans are now living in states where discrimination based on sexual orientation has been outlawed, an increase of 65 million over the decade. (When local nondiscrimination laws passed by cities without statewide protections are included, the figure is over 50 percent of the U.S. population.) Fortune 500 companies that protect workers based on sexual orientation grew from 51 percent to 88 percent.

* Discrimination Based on Gender Identity: There was an even more remarkable increase in states outlawing discrimination based on gender identity and expression, which rose from just 1 state in the year 2000 to 14 states representing nearly 30 percent of the population in 2009. The percentage of Fortune 500 companies that protect workers based on gender identity jumped even more, from just 0.6 percent to 35 percent.

* Relationship Recognition: Similarly exceptional gains were made in the area of family recognition. In 2000, no state extended the freedom to marry to same-sex couples; one state gave broad recognition to same-sex relationships and one offered limited recognition. Now in 2009, five states extend marriage to same-sex couples (with New Jersey and the District of Columbia pending at press time), six offer broad recognition, and seven offer more limited recognition. Overall, the number of Americans living in a state that offers some protections to same-sex couples nearly tripled, from 12.7 percent to 37.2 percent.

* Protection from Violence: The 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is the first federal law to specifically protect LGBT people.

* LGBT Elected Officials: The number of openly LGBT elected officials in America rose 73 percent between 2000 and 2009, from 257 to 445.

* Public Opinion: The percentage of the public supporting the right of openly gay and lesbian people to serve in the military grew from 62 percent to 75 percent. Support for marriage equality has grown from 35 percent in 2000 to 39 percent today; there has been an even larger increase in support for relationship recognition that involves many of the rights of marriage, from 45 to 57 percent.

* Safer Schools: In 2000, only one state had a safe school law that specifically cited sexual orientation *and* gender identity/expression for protection; by 2009 that rose to 13 states. The number of Gay-Straight Alliance Clubs in high schools grew from 700 to 4,700, a nearly six-fold increase.

The report also includes data on areas with mixed or negative results.

· Marriage Opposition: In 2000, 5 states had blocked marriage equality through a statewide vote; today, 31 have done so, including 29 states amending their constitutions to prohibit the recognition of same-sex marriages.

· Homophobia in schools: The percentage of LGBT students reporting hearing homophobic remarks in school has remained above 99 percent and LGBT students who report experiencing harassment in school edged up (up from 83.2 percent to 86.2 percent.)

· HIV/AIDS: New HIV infections among adolescent and adult men who have sex with men grew 10 percent, from 28,000 to 30,800, as did the percentage of new HIV infections overall that occurred among men who have sex with men, which rose from 51 percent to 53 percent.

· Military Service Ban: In spite of overwhelming public support for the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the U.S. military continued to discharge hundreds of gay and lesbian service members, with the cumulative number of discharges under the 1993 policy nearly doubling during the past decade. The only "positive" note was that the number of annual discharges decreased from 1,241 in 2000 to 619 in 2008 (the most recent year for which data are available), apparently because of the urgent need for soldiers to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002.

I hope that some of the people who have been screaming obscenities at our friends in power take a sobering look at how far we have come, and think about where we want to be in 2019.