EQCA Laws Going Into Effect 1/1/11

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 31, 2010

CONTACT: Vaishalee Raja, Equality California
PHONE: (916) 284-9187 EMAIL: vaishalee@eqca.org

Four Equality California Sponsored Bills go into Effect Tomorrow
Legislation expands fundamental protections and freedoms for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Californians

Sacramento – On January 1, four new Equality California sponsored bills will go into effect, advancing key rights and protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Californians.

“Each of these bills brings us closer to realizing our goal of achieving full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Californians,” said Jim Carroll, Equality California Managing Director. “In 2011, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Californians, especially LGBT and questioning youth will enjoy important new protections with greater equality and dignity under the law.”

The following legislation takes effect tomorrow:

Mental Health Services for At-Risk Youth (SB 543), authored by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), enables at-risk youth to access mental health services without parental consent, which will help young people get the care they need before they are in crisis. Current parental consent requirements for mental health services create a barrier to treatment that is especially harmful to LGBT youth who may be put at risk of emotional or physical abuse by coming out to their parents prematurely or without support. 

Repeal of Discriminatory Code, (AB 2199) authored by Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) calls for the repeal of a section of the California Welfare and Institutions code that instructs the State Department of Mental Health to conduct research into the “causes and cures of homosexuality,” with the implication that lesbian, gay, and bisexual Californians are sexual deviants, potential sex offenders and a threat to children. The code, which was originally authored in the 1950s, implies that lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals can and should be cured, in direct contradiction with an enormous body of research that demonstrates otherwise.

Separation Equity Act, (AB 2700), authored by Assemblymember Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco) will amend the state's family code, allowing for couples who first registered as domestic partners and who legally married thereafter to dissolve both contracts through a single, uniform procedure. The current system forces couples to go through a separate process for each, which can take an extra one to two years for each case to be resolved and unnecessarily burdens the judicial system. 

Unemployment Benefits Act (AB 2055), authored by Assemblymember Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate), ensures that same-sex couples in California have access to unemployment benefits. Currently, couples who are engaged to be married are eligible for unemployment benefits if one of the partners must leave his or her job in order to move closer to his or her future spouse. This bill would extend the same rights to couples who plan on entering into a domestic partnership. The bill is especially beneficial for same-sex couples because they are prohibited from legally marrying and therefore unable to receive these benefits.

Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights advocacy organization in California. Over the past decade, Equality California has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for LGBT individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil rights protections in the nation. Equality California has passed more than 70 pieces of legislation and continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, electoral work, public education and community empowerment.www.eqca.org 

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Executive Director of EQCA Announces 3/31/2011 Departure

Geoff Kors, Equality California's

 Executive Director from 2002-2011

Geoff Kors, the longtime head of the nation's largest state's largest LGBT political advocacy organization, Equality California, has announced that he will leave EQCA on March 31, 2011.

Here's the message that went out to EQCA supporters:

It is with a very real sense of gratitude for all you are doing to advance equality that I am writing to you this morning. Today I informed our Board of Directors that I will be stepping down from my position as Executive Director of Equality California at the end of my ninth year. I will formally step aside on March 31, 2011. However, I will never forget our milestones together nor put aside our unfinished mission.

It has been a true honor and a privilege to lead Equality California and serve the state’s LGBT community. When you think back to how far we have come in less than a decade, it is breathtaking.

Nine years ago, California's same-sex couples had access to fewer than 15 of the more than 400 state rights and benefits we now enjoy. Transgender individuals could legally be fired from their jobs, discriminated against in housing, refused public accommodation and denied the most routine health care. Domestic partners were charged thousands of dollars more than married couples for the same insurance. LGBT youth were not allowed to see a therapist without their parents’ consent. State contractors could deny equal benefits to their employees in same-sex relationships. And more than 60 percent of Californians opposed marriage equality. Today, all that has changed, and I want to thank each and every one of you for your support and dedication. You truly made all of this possible.

What we have accomplished together has been phenomenal.

::Legislative Record
Working in partnership with the LGBT Legislative Caucus, allied legislators and our coalition partners, a national record of 71 pieces of Equality California-sponsored legislation have been passed by the State Legislature, including bills providing same-sex couples with all the rights heterosexual married couples receive under state law, protecting LGBT youth and seniors, requiring equality in insurance and ensuring the strongest protections for transgender individuals in the nation. We also helped make history in 2005 and 2007 when the state legislature twice passed bills that would have allowed same-sex couples to marry. This is a stunning achievement, resulting in groundbreaking rights for LGBT Californians, including many sweeping protections that don’t exist anywhere else in the nation. This success would not have been possible without your support. Your phone calls, emails and lobbying visits have a profound impact on delivering equal rights under law.

::Electoral Record
We could never have achieved our legislative and policy successes without steady partners and heroic leaders in elective offices. Nine years ago, it was nearly impossible for our community to hold elected officials accountable and to demand that they support LGBT equality. But thanks to your vital support, and our policy of only supporting candidates who are 100 percent in support of equality for 100 percent of the LGBT community, we’ve demonstrated that when politicians who support true equality stand up, they are rewarded at the ballot box. Together, we played a critical role in helping make history by electing a governor, attorney general and other statewide officials who support full equality for every LGBT Californian -- this means supporting marriage equality, equal access to health care for transgender individuals and protections for LGBT youth and seniors. For the first time in our history, every statewide elected official will be on record as supporting true equality for LGBT Californians.

California will also now have the most pro-LGBT legislature in history. And a record of seven openly LGBT individuals will be sworn into the Legislature on Monday, making California the first state with more than 5 percent of its legislature being openly LGBT. This year Equality California also worked hard to help elect the nation’s first transgender judge.

::Marriage Equality
I am particularly proud of the role that Equality California played as the organizational plaintiff in the California Supreme Court’s decision to end the state's discriminatory ban on marriage for same-sex couples, and I'm proud of the Court's crucial finding that LGBT people are a “suspect class” for discrimination. And I am particularly saddened by the slim majority that has temporarily banned marriage for all. Although California came closer than any state to defeating a ban on marriage equality -- closing the gap from 23 percent in 2000 when Prop 22 was passed to 4 percent in 2008 with the passage of Prop 8 -- we still fell short. However, your generosity resulted in Equality California serving as the leading donor to the No on 8 campaign. Since November 2008 we have added more than 350,000 supporters of marriage equality to our membership, and together we are moving public opinion. This year, for the first time in history, more than 50 percent of California voters now support marriage equality.

::Health and Human Services
I am proud of our efforts to create and lead the California LGBT Health and Human Services Network, a coalition of more than 50 organizations working to improve the wellbeing of LGBT Californians. This year the Network successfully obtained state funding to assess the mental health needs of the community, and I’m confident that this collaboration will result in improved services for all LGBT Californians.

::Our Future
While we have achieved historic results many of us thought impossible during our lifetimes, we still remain unequal under the law. But thanks to your support and the results of the November election, we have not only made incredible progress, but we have unprecedented opportunities to achieve true equality, to grow greater acceptance and to improve the lives of LGBT Californians.

And with your continued support in the years ahead, Equality California and all of us will do just that.

This weekend, I will be working with the Board of Directors at our annual end-of-year meeting on our 2011 goals, including an aggressive package of legislative and administrative reforms designed to make schools safer, ensure transgender individuals have access and coverage for all needed health care, and obtain funding for LGBT health and human services. We also will work to prepare for special elections in 2011 and for our statewide redistricting process, which could dramatically change the make-up of the legislature after the 2012 elections. We are also working on plans to make sure more LGBT individuals are appointed and elected to the judicial bench.

Within our organization, we now will discuss the process to ensure a smooth transition to our next Executive Director. I am committed to working closely with the board, staff, key stakeholders and the community to help make this transition as seamless as possible.

Equality California today is an unmatched team of people -- a dedicated and hardworking board of directors, the most talented staff an Executive Director could ever hope to work with, and donors, members and volunteers who have made achieving equality a priority and who have done so much to bring us this far. I have been truly fortunate to work with so many wonderful people.

As Executive Director I know firsthand the impact our members have had on advancing equality and improving the lives of LGBT people. Your generous financial support has allowed Equality California to continue its critical work and to enjoy unprecedented success. Your activism has helped move legislators, the governor and the public to be more supportive of our rights.

While I will miss coming to work at Equality California each day, I look forward to joining you as a dedicated supporter, knowing that it is Equality California’s members who truly fuel our work and make the difference.

Together we will create a world where equality and justice prevail.

With heartfelt appreciation,

Geoff KorsExecutive Director
Equality California

:: :: ::

"I want to personally extend my gratitude to Equality California and to Geoff Kors who has done so much to advance equality and justice in our state and who was instrumental in mobilizing LGBT Californians to support my candidacy for governor. When I take office, I look forward to continuing my partnership with Equality California as I work to meet the many challenges our state faces."

-Governor-Elect
Jerry Brown

:: :: ::

"I thank Equality California for its ardent support and Geoff Kors, who is an outstanding leader and will be greatly missed. As our state’s next attorney general, I am looking forward to working with Equality California to ensure that every Californian is treated with dignity and equality under the law."

-Attorney
General-Elect
Kamala Harris

:: :: ::

“I have truly enjoyed working with Geoff both in San Francisco and in Sacramento to advance LGBT equality. His razor-sharp strategy skills and sheer commitment to civil rights have often helped propel legislation forward in some of the toughest debates and battles we have waged together. He will be missed.”

-Senator Mark Leno
(D-San Francisco)

WATCH: EQCA Tries To "Shame" Whitman and Cooley

In light of statements by Republican candidates Steve Cooley and Meg Whitman that they would defend any court ruling in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case striking down Proposition 8 as unconstitutional, Equality Califorina is launching the following television ads.

Whitman's gubernatorial opponent, Jerry Brown, is the current Attorney General and has refused to defend Proposition 8, as has current Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris is running against Cooley for Attorney general and has said she would not defend Proposition 8 in court because she feel it is unconstitutional.





The ads are set to begin airing on Monday, September 27, and will run on the CNN, FOX and MSNBC affiliates in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego and Palm Springs metropolitan areas

EQCA Has 7 LGBT-related Bills On Governor's Desk

Equality California has sponsored several bills which have made it through both houses of the California legislature this year and will be on Governor Schwarzenegger's desk, which he has to sign or veto by September 30th.

They are:

• The Mental Health Services for At-Risk Youth bill (Leno) will increase LGBT youths’ access to counseling.
• The Repeal of Discriminatory Code bill (Lowenthal) will end California’s search for a “gay cure.”
• The Civil Marriage Religious Freedom Act (Leno) will codify freedom of religion in relation to civil marriage.
• The LGBT Prisoner Safety Act (Ammiano) will reduce violence against LGBT people in the state prison system.
• The Separation Equity Act (Ma) will allow same-sex couples to dissolve their domestic partnerships and civil marriages at the same time.
• The Hate Crimes Protection Act (Saldaña) will prohibit contracts from requiring a person to waive their right to sue if they are the victim of a hate crime.
• The Unemployment Benefits Equality bill (De La Torre) will give individuals entering domestic partnerships the same rights as those getting married to obtain unemployment benefits

You can click on each bill name to take action to write the Governor and let him know what you think his position on each bill should be.

State Senate Passes Bill Excising Anti-Gay Language From CA Code

Equality California sends out a press release touting the State Senate's passage of Bonnie Lowenhal's AB 2199 by a rare unanimous vote of 36-0. The bill had previously passed the State Assembly in April.

AB 2199 removes language from the Califgornia Welfare and Institutions Code which instructed the California Department of Mental Health to conduct research into the "causes and cures of homosexuality."
The language is a relic from the 1950s when homosexuality was linked with sexual deviancy such as pedophilia and homosexuals were considered threats to children. Of course, nowadays we know that the vast majority (90+%) of child molesters are heterosexual men.

From EQCA:

“It is outrageous that California law requires the state to expend scare resources in a futile attempt to ‘cure’ homosexuality,” said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California. “Every reputable study has demonstrated conclusively that it is an immutable characteristic that cannot and should not be changed. This offensive code must be stricken from the books immediately.”

The code, which was originally authored in the 1950s, implies that lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals can and should be cured, in direct contradiction with an enormous body of research that demonstrates otherwise.

“Support for this bill has been fantastic,” said Assemblymember Lowenthal. “That speaks volumes about how far we've come since 1950.”

This bill, Repeal of Discriminatory Code, heads back to the Assembly for a concurrence vote and will then go to the governor’s desk.

Another win for the good guys.

Field Poll Confirms Majority Support for Marriage Equality

New polling from the Field Poll confirms that a majority of Californians support marriage equality, 51% to 42%.

Saturday Politics: Laird is In; EQCA's Statewide Picks

Photo by Gloria Nieto

Today's edition of Saturday politics has a "blast from the past" and big moves by the state's largest LGBT political organization.

SD-15. John Laird was an Assemblymember from 2002-2008 representing the 27th district which included Santa Cruz. This week the 60-year-old openly gay politician announced that he is running to fill the 15th District State Senate seat vacated by Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado. The special primary election will be on June 22, and (if needed) the general election will be on August 22nd. The winner will be be filling out the rest of the term which expires in 2012. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is being sued by some of the counties in the 15th Senate District because, by refusing to set the calendar so that the general election could coincide with the statewide general election on November 2nd he is sticking them with an extra bill estimated to be 2-3 million dollars. Democrats would like the elections combined because larger turnout should favor the Democratic candidate in this competitive, Republican-leaning district.

EQCA. Equality California PAC announced their endorsements in statewide races.

• U.S. Senate: Senator Barbara Boxer
• Governor: Jerry Brown
• Lieutenant Governor: Gavin Newsom
• Secretary of State: Debra Bowen
• Treasurer: Bill Lockyer
• Controller: John Chiang
• Insurance Commissioner: Hector De La Torre
• Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tom Torlakson

Notice any race missing? Only, the most interesting and hotly contested race of them all: Attorney General! After getting all six Democratic candidates in a room two weeks ago, the EQCA PAC board apparently could not pick only one, unlike MadProfessah, who has picked San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris. Curious result from EQCA.

Remember, there are now exactly 30 days until the Statewide Primary election on Tuesday June 8th.

UNANIMOUS Vote(s) on Gay-related Bills in CA, IL

Interesting news! Not even Assembly Republicans in California still believe homosexuals should be labeled "sexual deviants" in state law. AB 2199 (Lowenthal) has unanimously passed the State Assembly by a vote of 62-0. Could this be a sign of a thaw in the Neanderthal levels of homophobia that have been witnessed from California Republicans over the last decade or so due to the presence of openly gay Speaker John Pérez ?

What's also interesting about this result is that it's the second unanimous vote on a gay-related bill in as many weeks. In Illinois, an anti-bullying bill (SB3266) was passed 108-0 by the House of Representatives on Friday April 23rd. This legislation requires schools to adopt policies against bullying of students that are inclusive of protections for LGBT students.

The times they are a changin'!

AB 2199 Passes Public Safety Committee Vote

Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal's AB 2199 (Repeal of Discriminatory Code) has been getting press recently because it has focused attention on the fact that the California Legal Code still contains vestiges of patently discriminatory language against homosexuality.

The text of the bill is:

An act to repeal Section 8050 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to mental health.

 LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2199, as introduced, Bonnie Lowenthal. Sexual deviation:
research.
Existing law requires the State Department of Mental Health,
acting through the superintendent of the Langly Porter Clinic, to
plan, conduct, and cause to be conducted scientific research into the
causes and cures of sexual deviation, including deviations conducive
to sex crimes against children, and the causes and cures of
homosexuality, and into methods of identifying potential sex
offenders.
This bill would repeal those provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1.  Section 8050 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
repealed. 
8050.  The State Department of Mental Health, acting through the
superintendent of the Langley Porter Clinic, shall plan, conduct, and
cause to be conducted scientific research into the causes and cures
of sexual deviation, including deviations conducive to sex crimes
against children, and the causes and cures of homosexuality, and into
methods of identifying potential sex offenders.  

On Tuesday AB 2199 passed out of the Public Safety Committee of the Assembly with all Democrats except Anthony Portantino (AD-44) voting for the bill and the Republicans merely voting present (which has to be regarded as an improvement on Republicans generally voting no on any legislation Equality California sponsors).

Anyway, the bill moves on to the Assembly floor, where presumably openly gay Speaker of the Assembly John Pérez will ensure its passage, and the official call to cure homosexuals and treat them in the same way as "sexual deviants" and people who commit "sex crimes against children" will be relegated to the shameful past of The Great State of California.

POLL: 50% of Californians Support Marriage Equality

A brand new poll (pdf) from the Public Policy Institute of California shows majority support for marriage equality for the first time with 50% of Californians supporting marriage for same-sex couples while 45% oppose equality under the law. The margin of error is +/- 2 percentage points.

Equality California has released a statement from executive director Geoff Kors in response to the new information:

"We are very pleased that the more than 700,000 conversations about marriage that Equality California has initiated over the past year with Californians across the state, alongside our tireless volunteers and coalition partners, are making a remarkable difference. We are seeing the tremendous impact of reaching out, one-on-one, to change hearts and minds toward equality and fairness.

"Moving forward, we are committed to having more than 1 million conversations with voters in order to achieve solid majority support by 2012, when we will return to the ballot to restore the freedom to marry."

It should be noted that marriage equality in California has reached 50% support once before, in the May 28, 2008 Field poll (pdf) released less than two weeks after the In Re Marriage Cases California Supreme Court ruling but before marriages had actually begun happening on June 16th.

The new poll is unusual in that it shows that difference in support for marriage from Democrats (64%) is basically the same as the opposition from Republicans (67%). Generally, Republicans oppose marriage at a much higher rate than Democrats support it, so that even though there are more Democrats than Republicans in California, the overall result usally ends up tipped to the opposition side of the scale. Let's look at the internals:

Majorities of Democrats (64%) and independents (55%) favor allowing same-sex marriage, while a majority of Republicans (67%) oppose it. Since last March, support is up a slight 4 points among Democrats, 8 points among independents, and 6 points among Republicans. Support is far from unanimous across regions and demographic groups. Central Valley residents oppose allowing same-sex marriage (51% oppose, 42% favor), while San Francisco Bay Area residents favor it (64% favor, 30% oppose). Residents are divided in Los Angeles (46% favor, 48% oppose) and Other Southern California (47% favor, 49% oppose). Most whites (55%) express support, while Latinos are more opposed (51%) than in favor (43%). Support declines with older age, but rises as education and income increase. An overwhelming majority of evangelical Christians are opposed (75%). Since last March, support jumped 17 points among Californians age 18 to 34 (49% to 66%) and rose modestly among Latinos, whites, men, residents with lower household incomes, and those without college degrees.

Will YOU be ready to join the fight to restore marriage equality in 2012?

Governator Signs Harvey Milk Day Bill Into Law

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger surprisingly signed into law Equality California's Harvey Milk Day bill, AB 2567. This means that "the governor proclaim May 22 each year as Harvey Milk Day. It would encourage public schools and educational institutions to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on that date (which was Harvey Milk's birthday).

The Governor vetoed similar legislation last year, but that was before the movie Milk was released and was nominated for 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and won Oscars for Sean Penn (Best Actor) and Dustin Lance Black (Best Original Screenplay). It was one of MadProfessah's Top 10 movies of 2008.

As State Senator Mark Leno said earlier his year: "If there's one thing Arnold Schwarzenegger understands, it's box office. And Harvey Milk now has box office."

Indeed.

Celebrity Friday: Harvey Milk

Legislation that would declare May 22 "Harvey Milk Day" in California passed the California legislature for the second year in a row on Thursday. Last year, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill but this time there will be a lot more attention given to how he deals with SB 572.

A few weeks ago, Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, announced that Milk would be one of a dozen men and women -- including pilot Chuck Yeager, entertainer Carol Burnett and "Star Wars" filmmaker George Lucas -- inducted into the California Hall of Fame this year.

In July, Obama awarded Milk a posthumous Medal of Freedom. And in February, Sean Penn won a best actor Oscar for the title role in the critically acclaimed film "Milk."

A spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger said the governor has not taken a position on Leno's bill. But the senator feels bullish, given Milk's burnished image in Hollywood and beyond.

"If there's one thing Arnold Schwarzenegger understands, it's box office," Leno said. "And Harvey Milk now has box office."

To encourage the Governor to sign the bill, go to http://www.eqca.org/harveymilkday

AD-51: Bradford Wins Easily; Defeats Homophobic Baiting

Steve Bradford won Tuesday's Special Election to replace now-State Senator Curren Price in the State Assembly by getting the most votes in the 51st district Primary election.

Los Angeles County - Assembly District 51

100.00% (158 of 158) precincts partially or fully reporting as of Sep 1, 2009, 10:52 p.m.

Candidate	Votes	Percent
Steven Bradford (Dem)	7,145	52.93%
Mervin Leon Evans (Dem)	164	1.21%
David Coffin (Rep)	2,308	17.10%
Thomas Jefferson Cares (Dem)	626	4.64%
Robert Pullen-Miles (Dem)	666	4.93%
Gloria D. Gray (Dem)	2,591	19.19%

Although the result was widely expected (and Bradford was endorsed by Equality California, Stonewall Democrats and MadProfessah) in recent days before the election there had been rumors and press stories that Steve Bradford was backtracking on his previously vocal position supporting marriage equality (despite the fact that the 51st Assembly District voted overwhelmingly in favor of Proposition 8 in November 2008).

In fact, MadProfessah was quoted in an article at The Daily Breeze last week urging Bradford to stay strong:

Ron Buckmire, a gay black activist who blogs under the name the Mad Professah, recently endorsed Bradford, noting his support for gay unions.

"The gay community definitely thinks it's a big deal," he said. "The black community's position has been of particular interest to both sides."

Buckmire also said he knew several volunteers who were supporting Bradford because of his stance on gay marriage.

"I think Steve Bradford has made it clear that he's in favor of equal rights for all people, including marriage for same sex couples," Buckmire said. "I think it is important for a legislative leader, as he intends to be, to lead his community to see that's the right position to take."

Let's hope that Assemblymember-elect Bradford lives up to his promises to be a champion for equality for all people.

LA TIMES Joins Chorus Uring 2012 Prop 8 Repeal

The big dog of California newspapers has finally weighed in on the question of when people who support marriage equality and opposed Proposition 8 should attempt to pass a constitutional amendment to that effect.

In "Outsmarting Proposition 8," the Los Angeles Times editorial board says:

The most important objective should be a decisive victory, sending a clear message that this state no longer will tolerate separate but not-quite-equal status for families based on sexual orientation. Given the opinion polls, the lack of a coherent campaign strategy and the current makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court, this most likely means an unfortunate wait. A loss at the ballot box or in the nation's high court could set back same-sex marriage for years.

Equality California, the organization that led the campaign against Proposition 8, wisely decided to hold off until 2012 before attempting a ballot initiative to repeal the marriage ban. A successful campaign will require $50 million in funding, an extensive outreach program to black and Latino voters, who largely favored the ban, and, most important, an infusion of young voters, the group most sympathetic toward same-sex marriage. Waiting until 2012 gives Equality California a demographic advantage.

But another gay-rights organization, the Courage Campaign, is eager to use the momentum of recent gay-marriage advances in other states and has announced that it will go forward with a 2010 ballot initiative. Both Equality California and some major donors who tried to defeat Proposition 8 have indicated that a 2010 campaign cannot expect their active support.

Though this page will back same-sex marriage no matter what the year, we hope the Courage Campaign will rethink its timing. Gay-rights activists must recognize that their lackluster campaign did little to sway the public, especially considering the misleading ads by gay-marriage opponents. So far, the Courage Campaign has not articulated a sophisticated strategy for changing this. Without other gay-rights groups by its side, its low chances are further weakened.[emphasis added]

It's not as though waiting three years means idly letting injustice prevail. There is plenty to do between now and 2012 -- forging alliances with minority groups, lining up financial support and vetting the best campaign managers. Advocates of same-sex marriage already have a just cause; coupled with campaign smarts and money, they also will have voter support.

This is one of the smarter editorials I have seen since Jordan/Rustin Coalition and other groups released the Prepare to Prevail statement on July 13th calling for the LGBT community to join together to do the hard work necessary to produce a state in which a popular majority supports equal marriage rights for everyone.

Multiple Northern CA Newspapers Support 2012

Following in the footsteps of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Sacramento Bee is also editorializing in favor of waiting until 2012 to repeal Proposition 8.

Here's some good news: It now appears that Californians might be spared another bitter, divisive fight over the definition of marriage next year.

One of the state's leading gay rights groups – Equality California – announced this week that it will not sponsor a ballot measure next year to try to repeal Proposition 8, the initiative voters passed last November banning same-sex marriage in California.
We opposed Proposition 8 and we, too, would like to see it repealed. Like the leaders of the gay rights movement, we believe it is only a matter of time before Californians restore the right of same-sex couples to marry. Younger voters overwhelmingly support this position, and as they become a bigger and bigger part of the electorate, equal marriage rights for gays will become the law of the land.

The question is how and when to ask the voters to reconsider their recent decision. Understandably, gay rights leaders don't want to wait. They see Proposition 8 as an injustice that must be overturned, either at the ballot box or in the federal courts. And they already are pursuing a legal strategy that could eventually bring the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court.

But waiting until 2012, as Equality California has decided to do, makes sense. It will give voters more time to reflect on the passage of the gay marriage ban and to see what is happening in other states that are taking the lead on this issue. Most importantly, the pause will allow the gay rights movement to engage in a low-key, grass roots campaign to communicate their message to Californians on a personal level, in a way that cannot be done in the heat of a ballot battle.

Equality California does not speak for the entire movement, and it's still possible that another group will push a ballot initiative in 2010. We hope not. California needs a calm and civil discussion of this issue to prepare for what is sure to be another high- decibel fight when the question is next posed to the voters

The Other Half calls my attention to an editorial in the San Jose Mercury News titled "Waiting til 2012 on gay marriage? Wise move":.

Advocates of same-sex marriage can't afford another loss with state voters, and political experts agree that there's a better chance of success in 2012 rather than 2010. Polls show support for the right of gays to marry is growing, and two more years provide advocates with time to build on that trend. In addition, younger voters tend to support marriage equality, and they're more likely to vote in the 2012 presidential election.

[...]

But if waiting another two years means a surer victory, then it's the right thing to do.

I wonder when the Los Angeles Times (and other Southern California papers) will weigh in?

SF CHRONICLE (& Mark Leno & Mayor Gavin) Support 2012!

The San Francisco Chronicle printed an editorial in support of the Prepare to Prevail position on when to repeal proposition 8: 2012.

It's regrettable that the restoration of marriage rights to gays and lesbians has to be subject to strategic political calculation. But it's also hard to argue with the conclusion reached by Equality California, the state's largest gay-rights group, that the repeal of Proposition 8 would have a better chance in 2012 than in 2010.

Other gay-rights groups plan to push forward with a ballot measure in 2010.

Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said he agrees with the decision to wait. "There is much work to be done in winning the hearts and minds of California voters," he said, citing polls that showed public opinion has not shifted notably since November.

However, polls show an unmistakable correlation between voters' ages and their support for marriage equality, and each election cycle brings another wave of young voters. The issue also is advanced as Californians who may be instinctively uncomfortable with the idea of same-sex marriage consider the effect of this discrimination among neighbors and colleagues who are denied the rights, responsibilities - and societal reverence - of marriage.

The delay is wise in giving advocates of marriage equality the time - and resources - to educate and motivate voters to remove this vestige of discrimination from the state constitution.

Openly gay State Senator Mark Leno was the chief sponsor of the marriage equality bill passed by the California Legislature in 2005 and 2007 and vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.

San Francisco Mayor (and gay marriage champion) Gavin Newsom also does not support rushing to the ballot in 2010.

Newsom said today he believes that a 2012 ballot initiative makes sense, considering the fragmented state of the same-sex marriage coalition.

"In a perfect world we'd go forward next year, but the reality is we're not united," Newsom said.

"Time is definitely our ally," especially with thousands of younger, liberal Californians registering to vote, he said.

It will be interesting to see the 2010 proponents rebut these arguments from same-sex marriage supporters with data and analysis, instead of emotion and "magical thinking."

EQCA Supports 2012; Courage Campaign 2010

As expected, in a detailed plan with accompanying press conference, Equality California came out in favor of targeting November 2012 to repeal Proposition 8 by an affirmative marriage equality ballot measure.

The Courage Campaign reiterated their support for continuing to aim for November 2010, citing their success in raising well over $100,000 by today's August 13th goal.

Interestingly, Marc Solomon (EQCA's Marriage Director) sat down with Unite The Fight blogger Phillip Minot and gave them an exclusive interview in which he strongly cites the Prepare to Prevail statement as influential in making EQCA's decision. An excerpt:

"When I first got out here, I thought, 'Of course we’re going back in 2010. We can’t wait.' And I heard people say, 'Well are you sure? Does that make sense?" From funders and more."

Marc paused. "And then I really started listening. I listened carefully. I think the people need to listen carefully to the POC LGBT groups who feel they are being steamrolled. I think they felt steamrolled when we first came out for 2010.

"There’s this feeling that when it’s convenient, that people will listen to what [the POC groups] have to say and when it’s not, they won’t. I think we all have to think about that. Think about what these communities went through after Prop 8 passed and the blaming of POC communities. I think it’s important that people listen to that perspective, that they're thinking 'Our communities got blamed for Prop 8.' And after, people said a lot of work will happen, and now the work hasn’t happened and we’re saying we’re going right back to the ballot. That’s an important perspective to keep into account."

Marc rebuffed the claim that those who support 2012 are wanting to "wait."

"We all want to win back marriage as quickly as humanly possible. The question is, 'Can we get it done by 2010 or not?'"

Marc then addressed the philosophy of returning to the ballot each election year until we win.

"We [EQCA] don’t believe we can go back to the ballot in [2010 and 2012] - it’s one or the other. If we lose, it will be very hard to go back to the ballot before 2014, 2016 or 2018. The thought of spending 150 million dollars three election cycles in a row is totally unrealistic.

"If you keep going back to the ballot over and over, you appear to the movable middle, to the people you need to persuade, as a zealot. Regular people will say, 'Oh my god, they’re back again. Haven’t we already decided this?' And we say, 'We’re fighting. We’re fighting to win.' But we have to think about who needs to come our way and who we need to move."

If people are curious about what they can do to win marriage back NOW there's a Joint EQCA-JRC-VFE Canvass this Saturday from 10am-3pm in South Los Angeles. We'll be talking to real voters door-to-door about marriage equality. Join us!

VOTER CANVASS
Saturday, August 15th, 10am-3pm
Holy Faith Episcopal Church
260 N Locust St
Inglewood, CA 90301

RSVP@jordanrustin.org

We're not waiting until 2012, we're working until 2012!

2010 vs 2012 To Be Clarified In Next Two Days

Equality California is set to release their plan on how to win back marriage in California today.

MEDIA ADVISORY: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 12, 2009

CONTACT: Vaishalee Raja
PHONE: 916-284-9187 EMAIL: vaishalee@eqca.org

Equality California today Releases Roadmap, Recommended Timeline to
Restore Freedom to Marry for Same-Sex Couples

What: After many conversations with community members across the state, coalition partners, donors and political strategists, Equality California (EQCA) will hold a teleconference to discuss its “Winning Back Marriage Equality in California: Analysis and Roadmap,” with a recommended timeline on returning to the ballot to restore the freedom to marry for same-sex couples. EQCA will also discuss the achievements of its Win Marriage Back: Make it Real! effort, an on-the-ground, statewide organizing campaign launched almost 100 days ago.

When: Wed., August 12th at 11 a.m. PDT; 2 p.m. ET

Who: Geoff Kors, Executive Director; Marc Solomon, Marriage Director; Andrea Shorter, Deputy Director of Marriage and Coalitions; Amy Mello, Field Director

How: Dial-in (866) 213 - 7648; Note: participants must also provide the following conference ID number: 24283655. Lines are limited and will open at 10:45 a.m. PDT.

This call is for reporters and bloggers.

Equality California will continue soliciting feedback from community members and will hold a virtual town hall via livestream moderated by Bay Area Reporter Editor Cynthia Laird on Thursday, August 13, from 5 to 7 p.m. PDT. To join the town hall, visit www.livestream.com/equalitycalifornia at that time.

Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender-rights advocacy organization in California. In the past decade, EQCA has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for LGBT individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil-rights protections in the nation. EQCA has passed over 50 pieces of legislation and continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org

Unfortunately, MadProfessah will miss the fun because I will be on a plane to Pittsburgh for Netroots Nation. However, a little bird told me that it is very likely that EQCA will be Preparing To Prevail.

Tomorrow, Courage Campaign will be releasing the results of their fundraising appeal of raising $200,000 by August 13 to move forward with the necessary ballot language testing and message research to get ready for the September 25th deadline to submit initiatives to the Secretary of State (and Attorney General) for the November 2010 statewide ballot. They are widely expected to have raised their half of the money--the big question is did they get partners to raise the other $100K?

We'll know by Friday, folks. Stay tuned!

MA Gov Deval Patrick Speaks On Marriage Sun Aug 2

The Struggle for Marriage Equality:
What I’ve Learned on the Front Lines

Massachusetts Governor Deval L. Patrick

Sunday, August 2
2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Home of Danny Gibson and Bill Weinberger
829 Keniston Avenue
Los Angeles

Sponsored by the Jordan/Rustin Coalition, Equality California Institute,
and the Liberty Hill Foundation

Optional contributions to the Jordan/Rustin Coalition encouraged

Dear Friend,

Please join us for a very special gathering Sunday August 2nd.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick will join us for reflections and discussion on the struggle for marriage equality for same-sex couples. From his first day in office, Governor Patrick put his personal reputation and political capital on the line to protect marriage equality. His leadership allowed Massachusetts to avert a referendum fight similar to the Proposition 8 battle.

As only the second African-American governor elected since Reconstruction, and as the Clinton Administration’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, Governor Patrick will offer his unique perspective on the subject.

Please RSVP to Milton Davis: Milton@eqca.org

Governor Deval Patrick—Biography

Hoping for the best and working for it, as his grandmother used to counsel him, Deval Patrick’s life has traced a trajectory from the South Side of Chicago to the U.S. Justice Department, Fortune 500 boardrooms, and now the Massachusetts State House, where he was elected Governor in 2006, one of only two African-Americans elected governor since Reconstruction.

Having grown up in poverty on the South Side of Chicago, Patrick was selected to attend boarding school at Milton Academy in Massachusetts, and then went on to Harvard, the first in his family to attend college. After spending a post-graduate year working on a United Nations youth training project in the Darfur region of Sudan, Patrick returned to Harvard where he earned his J.D. in the fall of 1979.

Following law school, Patrick served as a law clerk to a federal appellate judge before joining the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and later the Boston law firm of Hill & Barlow. In 1994, President Clinton appointed Patrick Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, the nation's top civil rights post, where he worked on a wide range of issues, including prosecution of hate crimes and abortion clinic violence, and enforcement of employment discrimination, fair lending and disabilities rights laws. During his tenure, Patrick led the largest federal criminal investigation before September 11th, coordinating state, local and federal agencies to investigate church burnings throughout the South in the mid-1990s.

In 2001, Patrick joined The Coca-Cola Company as Executive Vice President and General Counsel. He was elected to the additional role of Corporate Secretary in 2002, and served as part of the company's senior leadership team as a member of the Executive Committee.

As governor, Deval Patrick has done more to advance equality for LGBT people than any other chief executive in the country. Immediately after his election, Governor Patrick expended tremendous political capital to persuade legislators to vote down a ballot initiative to undo marriage equality. Without his unwavering leadership, Massachusetts would have faced a referendum fight similar to the Proposition 8 battle.

In addition to marriage equality, Governor Patrick has been a pioneer on health care reform, ensuring Massachusetts’ lowest-in-the-nation rate of uninsured people. He also has championed clean energy laws; passed and implemented an historic Life Science Initiative; and extended the buffer zone to protect the safety of women seeking reproductive health services. Among the cadre of governors, Governor Patrick is one of President Barack Obama’s most trusted advisors and closest confidantes.

Diane and Deval Patrick have been married for over twenty-five years and have two adult daughters, Sarah and Katherine. In June of 2008, with her father by her side, Katherine—then 18—came out of the closet publicly. The next weekend, Deval, Diane and Katherine marched together in Boston Pride.

Ocamb Reports On LGBT Leadership Summit

Reporter Karen Ocamb has posted her extensive report on what REALLY happened at the LGBT Leadership Summit on Saturday July 25th (that MadProfessah attended and was part of the Prepare To Prevail faction) to Bilerico.com and tries to set the record straight:

A blog for the San Francisco Chronicle came out fairly quickly after Saturday's statewide LGBT "Leadership Summit" in San Bernardino, California with the results of a non-binding straw poll about when the LGBT community wants to return to the ballot to repeal Prop 8: "93 people voted to go in 2010, 49 in 2012 and 20 undecided."

I was there. The count's accurate but it's far from the whole story. What really happened was that a vote was taken around 5:00pm - an hour after the meeting was supposed to end and a good number of people had left - and 93 people voted for 2010 and 69 opposed that idea. The count was justified as being taken among those who cared enough to show up in San Bernardino in late July ("sweltering" is one word that comes to mind) and stay until the bitter end.

Let's look at the demographics.

At its height, the over-heated church hall was filled with about 250 grassroots activists, mostly from the San Diego and Los Angeles area - a point loudly noted by leaders from Northern California who were receiving text messages from friends watching the Unite the Fight streaming video. Their online votes on a question just prior to the straw poll about how to best create a campaign structure had been discounted.

Additionally, before the two votes, when the room was about at 200 people, I counted the number of people of color and came up with 37. I asked both a grassroots activist and an "institutional" leader - stretching the number to 40 in case I missed a couple of people in the way back or outside - and they both independently concurred.

So while the straw poll accurately reflects the wishes of that late audience, the 162 people whose votes were counted do not necessarily reflect the wishes of the California LGBT community.