2011 Fusion LGBT People of Color Film Festival March 3-4

One of the highlights of being an openly gay person of color living in Los Angeles is having access to the Fusion LGBT People of Color film festival. I missed most of last year's edition, but attended and reviewed the 2009 and 2007 editions.

I'm not sure I'll be in town this year, currently I'm planning a trip to South Africa for March 2011 but my dates are relatively flexible.

Latina Lesbian Named To Colorado Supreme Court

Monica Marquez, 41, has been  named by Democratic governor Bill Ritter to become the first out lesbian and first Latina to be on the Colorado Supreme Court.

"It is not because Monica is a Latina or because she is gay," Ritter said, according to The Denver Post. "I chose her because of her analytical ability and her keen intellect."

Interestingly, Oregon CURRENTLY has two openly gay State Supreme Court Justices, Virgina Linder and   Rives Kustler.


Hat/tip to Nan Hunter

Q*POC LA Meeting Wed 7/28

Celebrity Friday: Dan Choi

Dan Choi has been officially discharged from the U.S. Army. He has become a leading voice and face for the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

He is in Vegas here for the Netroots Nation conference, in fact I just saw him about an hour ago in the halls of the Rio.

Celebrity Friday: Dan Choi

Lt. Dan Choi was arrested on Thursday after he chained himself to the White House gate. Pam's House Blend has pictures and Joe.My.God has the deets.

SASOD Files Lawsuit Against Guyana Cross-Dressing Law

Official flag of Guyana

Guyana's Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of that country's archaic law against "cross-dressing."

In a series of crackdowns last year between February 6 and 7, the Guyana police arrested a number of male-to-female transgender persons (MtF Trans) and charged them for ‘cross-dressing’ under the archaic Colonial section 153(1)(xlvii) statute. Unrepresented and completely unaware of their rights, the defendants were detained in police custody over the week-end and then hustled through the legal system. When they appeared before Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson on February 9, 2009, they were further ridiculed and told that they are men not women, before being fined by the learned Chief Magistrate. Seon Clarke, also known as Falatama, one of the persons arrested, said: “It was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. I felt like I was less than human.” The motion also pleads that the Chief Magistrate was improperly influenced by irrelevant considerations, discriminated against the MtF Trans on the basis of religion, and violated a fundamental norm of Guyana as a secular state. Vigorous and wide-ranging calls within and out of Guyana for the repeal of these discriminatory laws which facilitate such injustices have been ignored by the government.

Since then, SASOD has forged partnerships with human rights interests in the local and regional arenas who have been working collectively and consistently on a voluntary basis over the past year to assist this marginalized group to obtain access to justice for the atrocities endured at the instance of the law enforcement authorities. The 2009 ‘cross-dressing’ crackdowns and prosecutions provided clear illustrations of how discriminatory laws are facilitating grave human rights’ abuses, in spite of the existence of an entrenched regime of human rights protection in the Guyana constitution. Leading the research initiatives to support strategic-impact, human-rights litigation in the region, Tracy Robinson of the University of the West Indies Rights Advocacy Project (U-RAP) based at the Cave Hill campus’ law faculty in Barbados described the arrests and prosecutions as “an unfortunate embodiment of the patriarchal use of coercive state power for no clear or rational purpose,” highlighting the need for law reform to ensure social justice and gender equity in Guyana and across the region.

SASOD has mobilized support from local and regional human rights attorneys to provide representation in what amounts to a ground-breaking constitutional case. According to Dr. Arif Bulkan, also of U-RAP and one of Guyanese attorneys involved in the litigation, “unless the wide-ranging constitutional reforms conducted in 2001 and 2003 are to be dismissed as pure window-dressing, then the emphasis placed on non-discrimination during that process should guide the High Court to interpret the expanded equality rights generously in order to protect one of our society’s most marginalised groups.”

Veronica Cenac, a St. Lucian attorney who serves as the human rights focal point on the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition board of governors, lauded SASOD for spearheading the case. “For way too long, we have allowed abuses against the most affected populations to go unchallenged,” she said, quoting the closing words of the UN Secretary-General’s message: “Lack of social justice anywhere is an affront to us all.”

At last year's Global Arc of Justice conference at UCLA Law School I met some Caribbean LGBT activists and heard first-hand from them about some of the indignities suffered by members of the LGBT community living in the British Caribbean countries (like Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad, Jamaica, Guyana etc) as well as their plans for redress.

I am glad to see the resistance to institutionalized homophobia in these jurisdictions is starting to reach a heightened level of activity (and even mainstream press coverage!) I will endeavor to keep track of the progress of this lawsuit and other efforts to combat homophobia and transphobia in the Caribbean.

Rhode Island Elects Openly Gay (and Black) House Speaker

Now there are two! Two openly gay, people of color who are the elected heads of state legislative bodies, that is. Earlier this year, MadProfessah's friend John Pérez was elected by the California Assembly Democratic caucus to become the first openly gay, Latino head of a state legislative body (and second openly gay person in history, following Minnesota's Allan Spears).

Now, Gordon Fox, has been elected Speaker of the House in Rhode Island. From the Providence Journal's blog:

Gordon D. Fox was elected as the state's first black and openly gay House Speaker, moments after West Warwick Democrat Willliam J. Murphy relinquished the helm on Thursday.

Fox was elected House Speaker with 51 votes; another 14 went to Rep. Gregory Schadone, D-North Providence, and five to House Minority Leader Robert Watson, R-East Greenwich.

He was sworn in by William R. Guglietta, chief magistrate of the state's Traffic Tribunal.

In his first speech from the rostrum, Fox told colleagues "change is absolutely necessary. We cannot continue [to conduct] business as usual. We must think anew and act anew.''

Fox is the 222nd Speaker in the history of Rhode Island. Rod 2.0 points out that Fox is in a long-term relationship but not married, since Rhode Island and Maine are the only two states in New England where marriage equality is not the law of the land (yet!):

Fox said in an interview with The Providence Journal that he is "in a long-term relationship, but not officially married. ... When I get married, I would like to do it in my home state." Rhode Island and Maine are the only New England states that have not approved marriage equality. Fox says he is "reluctant" to make a commitment to bring the issue to the House floor for a vote after Murphy leaves. Rhode Island's anti-gay Republican governor Donald Carcieri has tried to block even basic rights for LGBT couples.

Fox is biracial—his father is Irish, his mother Cape Verdean—and considers himself black. He does so, the Providence Journal writes, because he hopes to be a role model for black youngsters and black gay youth.

An example of another multiracial politician who is succeeding in America, but who identifies with the marginalized parts of his identity. I also find it fascinating that the two openly gay Speakers of the House currently serving are both people of color.

Eye Candy: Nick Denbeigh

Nick Denbeigh is another hot guy that I have discovered by reading David Dust's fabulous blog. He has featured pictures of this hot, multiracial model/actor on two occasions, and looking above, I bet you can see why!

Rod 2.0 scooped me by posting some newer (even hotter!) pictures of Nick on his blog last week.

Eye Candy: James Guardino

Hot is hawt. Here at MadProfessah.com we do try and showcase models of color (of all races), with a penchant for multiracial specimens like Martin Elkholm and Daniel Norell, or chocolate brown brothas like JR Rolley, Chadwick Johnson, Adem Aluka, and many, many others.

But you gotta admit, the "white boy" featured above, named James Guardino is hawt. He may look familiar to some of you, because he has been featured several times in Undergear® catalogs.

James is a 26-year-old model living in New York City.

"Two Spirits" Movie About LGBT Native Americans

One of my students alerted me to the trailer for the very interesting film about Native American "two-spirited" people, which is the word used to describe people who have both masculine and feminine traits. Generally, we think of such people as part of the LGBT community. The film is called Two Spirits and the trailer is below:


UPDATE FRI 12/18/2009 09:11AM
I heard yesterday that there will be a special screening of Two Spirits on Thursday March 18th at 7pm at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown LA by the Red Circle Project, a Native American HIV/AIDS agency run out of AIDS Project Los Angeles. I plan on attending and seeing this interesting documentary!

John A. Pérez To Be First Openly Gay Speaker in US History

After a few nerve-wracking days, it's now official. Karen Ocamb has the full details of the unanimous vote in the Democratic caucus for John A. Pérez to become the next Speaker of the California Assembly, the first openly gay person to hold such a position in the United States.

Pérez released a statement where he said

“I want to thank the Members of the Assembly Democratic Caucus for the faith they have placed in me. It is a humbling privilege. I will work every day to justify that faith and to earn the enormous honor of having been drafted to serve as Speaker. The other candidates for Speaker, especially Assemblymember Kevin de León, have all shown great leadership for the Assembly and for this state and they have my great respect. As Speaker, I will look forward to working with a united Democratic caucus as we continue tackling our number one priority—helping the state recover from the recession and helping the California families who have been hit so hard by it.”

And the man he vanquished for the job, my local Assemblymember in the 45th District, Kevin de León, said:

“Today, I was proud to stand and nominate my friend and colleague John Pérez to serve as Speaker of the California Assembly. I did so deeply thankful for the strong support and encouragement I have received from members of our caucus, and also mindful of the example of one of the great inspirations of my life and many others–Rosa Parks. Mrs. Parks showed us you didn’t have to have a particular office or title to effect great change. I am proud to be a member of the California State Assembly and I will continue working hard, with my colleagues and with Speaker Pérez, to bring about real change for the people of my district and all the people of California.”

The responses are coming in in droves. Human Rights Campaign:

“We congratulate the selection of Assemblyman Pérez as the new Speaker of the House for the great state of California,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “John’s selection is a testament to his strong leadership after just joining the Assembly in the 2008 election. He is a role model for young people in his Los Angeles district and now for his state and country as the first openly-gay man to hold the Assembly’s top spot. We look forward to working with him as California continues to be an important state in our national fight for equality.”

Equality California:

"Equality California congratulates Assemblymember Pérez on gaining the support of the Democratic Caucus to become Speaker of the Assembly, a truly historic opportunity for our state," said Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors. He will be an outstanding steward for California as Speaker, ably guiding our state through the many challenges that lie ahead. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Assemblymember Pérez whose steadfast commitment to justice has resulted in significant gains not only for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community members but for all Californians," Kors said.

Congratulations to my friend, Speaker of the Assembly John A. Pérez!

Eye Candy: Robert Gonzalez

More stunning work from the lens of John Gress. Last week, we brought you his stunning images of beautiful dark-skinned model Adem Aluka and this week we are bringing you the powerfully muscular physique and masculine (but cuddly) look of Robert Gonzalez. Check out more of his work at www.johngress.com.

Celebrity Friday: Evan Low (26-year-old Gay, Asian Mayor)

More history for LGBT people of color was made on Tuesday night in the Bay Area when openly gay, Chinese-American Evan Low, 26, a member of the Campbell, California City Council was elected the nation's youngest, openly gay Mayor by his fellow colleagues.

Low grew up in San Jose but eight years ago moved to Campbell, where his father, Dr. Arthur Low, is an optometrist and sits on the Chamber of Commerce. Low said he became interested in politics because he felt young people's interests, such as affordable housing and the future of Social Security, were not being addressed.

He first ran for City Council in 2004 and lost, but won when he tried again in 2006. His term ends in 2010.

Campbell seems to be an unlikely city for a young, gay, Asian American politician to gain a foothold in public service. The San Jose suburb is 70 percent white and 11 percent Asian, with a small, quiet gay community.

Low said he received hate mail when he announced his opposition to Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban, as well as threats of a recall.

But he never considered moving to San Francisco or San Jose, which have larger gay communities, he said.

"For me, it's about making a difference in the community I live in," he said. "Campbell is my home."

Go ahead, boyee!

John Pérez Endorsed By Current Speaker Karen Bass

Multiple media sources are reporting that the race for Speaker is all but over, and openly gay John Pérez has apparently won. On Wednesday, current Speaker Karen Bass endorsed Pérez as her successor:

Bass said Peréz has secured support of a majority of the Assembly's Democratic Caucus --including herself -- and will have enough votes (41 are needed) to become speaker. Peréz, a Democratic from L.A., would be the body's first openly gay speaker.

[...]

The speaker, who had made clear her intention to step down by early 2010, didn't lay out an exact time frame for the transition. But she said the Democratic Caucus will vote next week -- and since the Dems control a majority of the Assembly, their choice will rule when it comes down to a floor vote of the full house.

[...]

Peréz, a freshman lawmaker who is the cousin of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, emerged in recent weeks as a contender for the position. He is chair of the Assembly Democratic Caucus and took the lead securing votes during last month's contentious negotiations over water policy. He formerly worked as a political director for a Southern California local of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and is a member of the Democratic National Committee.

Openly Gay ( and POC!) Candidates Win in Atlanta

Simone Bell	Alex Wan

Simone Bell and Alex Wan made history on Tuesday night by winning election to the Georgia House of Representatives and Atlanta City Council, respectively, as openly LGBT people of color.

Bell became the first African American lesbian ever elected to a state legislative position in this country be winning 53% of the votes in her runoff race for the 58th District race while Wan won 60% of the vote in the 6th City Council district, becoming the first openly gay man (and Asian-American) to the Atlanta City Council.

Both candidates were supported by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, whose Gay and Lesbian Leadership institute is hosting the 25th Annual International Gay & Lesbian Leadership Conference in San Francisco this weekend. Last year MadProfessah attended the conference as part of the LGBT Bloggers Initiative, but I am unable to make it this year due to a conflict with a board retreat and work commitments.

The Atlanta Mayoral race I blogged about earlier today is currently too close to call, but Kasim Reed is nursing a slim lead of about 800 votes out of more than 80,000 cast.

Eye Candy: JC Sibala

I was flitting around the web looking for smoking hot models and ran into these pictures of Filipino hottie JC Sibala in a sea of hot white boys (not there's anything wrong with that!) at Gay Body Blog. Is it just me, or is it difficult to find pictures of pulchritudinous people of color online? If you have any tips for sources of Eye Candy of a darker flava, drop them in the comments.

Principles of Comprehensive Immigration Reform Unveiled

The principles of comprehensive immigration reform legislation are being unveiled today and I am happy to report that they are LGBT inclusive:

25 KEY PRINCIPLES TO MEANINGFUL REFORM

1. End policies that rely only on enforcement and deterrence as the sole means of regulating migration.
2. Address the root causes of immigration, and change US policy so that it doesn't foster and produce conditions that force hundreds of thousands of people each year to leave their countries of origin in order to simply survive.
3. Tie all current and future trade, military, and foreign aid agreements to not only worker protections both here and abroad, but also to their ability to foster economic progress and social justice for the working class and poor in sender nations.
4. Formulate a reasonable, humane, fair and practical method for determining the levels of immigration going forward. Establish an independent commission free from the pressures of political expediency and business interests to review all the pertinent data and set admission numbers based on labor, economic, social, and humanitarian needs.
5. Provide a path to legalization for all current undocumented immigrants living and working in the US, free of restrictions based on country of origin, economic status, education, length of residency, or any other “merit based” criteria.
6. Secure the borders by first ensuring that the vast majority of new immigrants have the ability and opportunity to legally enter the country through legal ports of entry by increasing the availability and equitable distribution of green cards. This would curtail the flow of migration through illegal channels. Only after that, should enforcement begin to ensure compliance, or any work to physically secure the border take place.
7. Increase the focus on enforcement of all labor and employment laws. Increase penalties on employers who engage in unfair or illegal labor practices. Increase funding for government oversight and inspection.
8. Opposition to a "temporary guest worker" program on the grounds that it provides no benefit to the American people or the immigrants themselves. It only provides big business with a disposable work force, and prevents immigrants from becoming a viable force in the workplace or full fledged members of society.
9. Foster an immigration policy that strengthens the middle and working class through encouraging unionization, increased naturalization, and immigrant participation in the electoral process.
10. Include the language of the DREAM Act that would allow children and young adults brought here as children, and raised in the US, a conditional path to citizenship in exchange for a mandatory two years in higher education or community service. Undocumented young people must also demonstrate good moral character to be eligible for and stay in conditional residency. At the end of the long process, the young person can have the chance to become an American citizen or legal residency by completing their educations and contributing to society.
11. Included the language of the Uniting American Families Act that would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow permanent partners of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, including same-sex partners, to obtain permanent residency.
12. Include the language of the AgJobs bill that seeks to relieve chronic farm labor shortages by supplying undocumented migrant agricultural workers a legal opportunity to enter the county and a path to legal status and eventual citizenship. It also bolsters labor rights and protects workers from exploitation.
13. Repeal the sections of the 1996 law that redefined vast numbers of crimes as deportable offense when committed by immigrants. Imposing harsh penalties--often permanent exile--on immigrants for minor criminal convictions like shoplifting or possession of marijuana.
14. End permanent detention of all migrants for immigration violations not related to violent crimes.
15. Simplify the immigration system by eliminating and condensing the hundreds of various visa classes into a smaller, more manageable, classification system that allows for not only easier navigation of the system, but better analysis of current immigration needs.
16. End policies and programs that rely upon state and local law enforcement agencies to usurp the role of the federal government and engage in the enforcement of federal immigrations codes.
17. Bring U.S. immigration law in line with international human rights law by reforming asylum and refugee law and strengthening protections for children, crime victims, and victims of human trafficking
18. Modernize and streamline the immigration process and eliminate the backlogs for those already in the queue. Simplify the paperwork process and utilize technology to cut wait times and bureaucratic delays.
19. Make family reunification simpler by expanding the “immediate family” classification to reflect the cultural realities of many non-western or traditional societies from which immigrants come.
20. Allow immigration judges the discretion to treat cases on an individual basis and make decisions based on the specific the circumstances and outcomes of the case.
21. Make punishments of immigration crimes commensurate with comparable crimes in other areas of the law. A misdemeanor or civil violation of immigration law should not carry with it a punishment that would be comparable to a felony in a criminal case.
22. End, or raise, the per-country cap that favors smaller nations with fewer immigrant applicants over larger developing nations and those countries that have long traditional ties to the US.
23. Update the Registry Date in Sec 249 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to reflect the historical pattern of periodic updating. Current date should be updated to 1996.
24. Eliminate 'crimes involving moral turpitude,' an amorphous legal holdover from Jim Crow
25. Recognize that immigration is a vital part of maintaining a healthy and vibrant America. It is what has set this nation apart from all others since its inspection. To close our borders to new immigrants is to cut off the lifeblood that has always made this nation grow and prosper.

You didn't think the heavy lifting would stop after health care reform gets done, did you?

Utah Governor Doesn't Understand Basic Civil Rights

The new Governor of Utah Gary Hebert doesn't even realize how offensive he is being (or maybe he does and just doesn't care?) with the following statements:

In his most definitive comments yet on gay rights, Herbert told reporters he doesn't believe sexual orientation should be a protected class in the way that race, gender and religion are. "We don't have to have a rule for everybody to do the right thing. We ought to just do the right thing because it's the right thing to do and we don't have to have a law that punishes us if we don't," Herbert said in his first monthly KUED news conference.

In Utah, it is legal to fire someone for being gay or transgender. The gay rights advocacy group Equality Utah has been trying to change state law for several years but has always been rebuffed by the Republican-controlled Legislature. Last year, the group got Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman's support for extending some rights to gay people, although none of the bills it backed became law.

But, wait, there's more!

Herbert stopped short of condemning Salt Lake City's proposed anti-discrimination ordinance during his first appearance on the governor's monthly news conference on KUED Ch. 7, but said a fair-housing and employment law for the state's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community would unnecessarily create a new "protected class."

"Where do you stop? That's the problem going down that slippery road. Pretty soon we're going to have a special law for blue-eyed blondes," Herbert said, adding "we get bogged down sometimes with the minutiae of things that government has really no role to be involved in."

The very first follow up question should be whether Governor Hebert supports the current classes protected against employment discrimination under state and federal law in Utah, which are age, race, religion, sex, national origin, color and disability (by virtue of state and federal law) and pregnancy, childbirth or pregnancy-related condition (Utah law only. An esteemed reader wrote in to make sure I made it clear that discrimination on the basis of pregnancy is illegal under federal law as well, but I do believe that Utah's statute goes even further in prohibiting discrimination in this area than under federal law).

If he does not support those laws, then he should be called out for the anti-historical bigot he appears to be. If he does support those laws, but doesn't see any need to expand them to cover sexual orientation and gender identity, he should be educated as to the vast amount of discrimination which openly LGBT workers face all over the United States (and I expect, in Utah) unlike the mythical history of discrimination against blue-eyed blondes the Governor seems so worried about.

And isn't it shocking that it is a wealthy white male who is making these statements of how unnecessary llegal protections for minorities are. Color me surprised. Not.

Sotomayor Clears First Hurdle Easily

The United States Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for consideration by the whole Senate by a vote of 13 to 6 with all 12 Democrats voting in favor and all but one of the 7 Republicans voting against the nomination. The lone Republican endorsing Sotomayor was Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

The nomination should come to a full vote next week, before the Senate goes on a month-long summer holiday without passing a health care bill.

Interestingly, today MadProfessah will be spending some time with one of Sotomayor's rivals for the Supreme Court nomination, California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno. Moreno, you will recall is the only Democrat on the state Supreme Court and was also the only vote to strike down Proposition 8 on the Court. Despite that, Justice Moreno made it to President Obama's short list to fill the David Souter vacancy.

POC LGBT Groups Issue Statement Opposing 2010 Prop 8 Repeal

Jordan Rustin Coalition, HONOR PAC and API Equality LA released a joint statement today endorsed by several other organizations called "Prepare To Prevail: Why We Must Wait In Order To Win" which counsels caution on rushing to the ballot in 2010 to attempt to repeal Proposition 8 with an affirmative ballot proposition to end the ban on same-sex marriage.

Prepare to Prevail:
Why We Must Wait In Order to Win

A public statement on how to win back marriage equality in California

July 13, 2009

Issued by: API Equality-LA, HONOR PAC, Jordan Rustin Coalition

www.apiequalityla.org | www.honorpac.org | www.jordanrustincoalition.org

Unlike Proposition 8 in 2008, any upcoming electoral campaign for marriage equality would be one of choice, not one of necessity in fending off an attack from religious-right foes. Timing is ours to determine. Going back to the ballot to remove the voter-imposed ban on same-sex marriage from the state constitution in 2010 would be rushed and risky. We should proceed with a costly, demanding, and high-stakes electoral campaign of this sort only when we are confident we can win. We should choose to Prepare to Prevail.

We have much work to do before we proceed to the ballot. Many of us, which includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) organizations and progressive allies, have been doing critical educational and organizing work for years, intensified it during the Prop. 8 campaign in 2008, and have continued to communicate with key constituencies after the election. We vow to intensify our efforts until we win back marriage equality in California. We invite all groups and individual leaders to sign on to this statement and join us in building a solid battle plan for equality. We must step up our work, collectively and in concert, as soon as possible.
Prepare to Prevail requires making progress on the following before proceeding to the ballot:

1) Winning requires full LGBT community support and a broad coalition of allies. Only a few segments of the LGBT community have announced their intention to pursue a “vote-yes” campaign next year. Energy and passion are a necessary prerequisite for any effective campaign but are not a sufficient substitute for a broad coalition with a clear strategy backed by ample resources. For California to win back marriage equality, broad segments of the LGBT and progressive community including critically important people- of-color groups, LGBT families, and other allies need to pull together. We should proceed when we have a unified strategy and a massive coalition of progressive non-LGBT allies ready to act in unison. Anything short of a broad coalition of allies would place our campaign in a strategic disadvantage from the onset.

2) We need to build strong majority support before placing the issue before voters. Popular support for marriage equality for same-sex couples has not changed since the last election. Today, California voters’ opinions on a constitutional amendment to overturn the voter-imposed elimination of marriage equality remain evenly split, according to all recent polls. In order to seek major investments of time and money from key stakeholders and allies in an affirmative ballot-measure campaign seeking a “yes” vote from voters, seasoned campaign experts advise against proceeding to the ballot without evidence of a strong majority in favor of the measure. Failure to begin with a sizable majority puts sponsors in a more likely position to lose. More than two-thirds of all ballot initiatives fail to pass on Election Day. Moreover, polls can overstate actual public support for LGBT rights because respondents may be reluctant to reveal their bias to pollsters. In 2008, some polls indicated majority support for marriage equality and against Proposition 8, which was not the result on Election Day. This was also true for Proposition 22, when opponents of the measure thought there was more support for marriage equality than the final vote demonstrated. In Washington State in 1997, some gay-rights activists pushed forward with a pro-active ballot measure aimed at outlawing antigay discrimination in the state. Despite having public opinion narrowly on their side, they lost 60 to 40 at the polls on the measure. It took nine more years for LGBT rights supporters to secure passage of a nondiscrimination law by the Washington state legislature. Proceeding with campaigns seeking a “yes” vote without support from a strong majority of voters holds foreseeable danger.

3) Campaign donors will be constrained given the current unprecedented economic downturn. Over $81 million was raised and spent by both sides in the Proposition 8 campaign, more than in any previous anti-gay ballot initiative. Many of the LGBT nonprofit organizations doing critical work for our communities have suffered layoffs and cutbacks in services. The current economic downturn has also reduced the capacity of campaigns both educational and electoral to amass multi-million-dollar war chests from small, large, and institutional donors. The scope of anxiety and human need in California means that individual donors are making hard choices about charitable dollars. Major donors, including foundations that provided funding for critical educational campaigns, have endured hits to their portfolios, and many are exercising caution. Any successful “vote-yes” campaign will require generous support from pro-LGBT institutional donors. These donors give=2 0based on evidence of likely success, which for 2010 is filled with grave doubts. It is unlikely that we will be able to raise the necessary funds to undertake an effective electoral campaign until after 2010.

4) Educational, voter-ID (not electoral) campaigns with specific goals should begin immediately. To reach a threshold of support for marriage equality suitable to begin an electoral campaign, supporters need a voter-ID campaign aimed at moving an identifiable subset of California voters. Vote-no campaigns typically seek to plant doubts and promote confusion among voters about measures. Several arguments used to pass Proposition 8 have not been widely rebutted and thus retain their appeal as attack strategies with particular currency as part of a vote-no campaign. A campaign of changing hearts and minds of selected groups of voters requires time, diligent research, and targeting of specific communities. The worst time to attempt to educate voters is in the midst of a heated campaign, which makes it difficult to rebut lies and fear-mongering. The voter-ID campaign should precede the electoral campaign aimed at mobilizing support to remove from the state constitution the discriminatory language already approved by voters.

5) We need time to build a coordinated data infrastructure that can support a winning campaign. We need time to establish robust get-out-the-vote (GOTV) data systems and a statewide online voter contact database to make and measure contacts with California voters in a coordinated fashion with participation from the many pro-marriage stakeholder groups across the state. Unlike narrow special interests, our cause is a broad-based movement that will require coordinated data collection among multiple groups working in concert. Many individual groups have started this work, but winning will require buy-in and participation in a singular statewide and coordinated data system. Agreements and accountabilities need to be worked out and trust needs to be rebuilt. Time and true collaboration are vital to developing organizational partnerships and the data systems needed to tap and deploy our grassroots network and measure our progress toward specific voter-contacts goals.

6) Time and greater effort is needed to build trust and relationships in communities that represent the full diversity of California voters, including limited-English-speaking voters and voters of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. The 2008 campaign against Prop 8 did not adequately reach non-English-speaking vot ers and failed to engage or empower allied groups poised to communicate with millions of such voters. The Yes-on-8 campaign, in taking its victory laps, bragged about the many tongues into which it translated its materials and the diverse congregations whom it mobilized. This lapse must be overcome in a future campaign to win back marriage equality. We must learn from our mistakes made during the last campaign and not repeat them. Doing so will require deepened relationships with partner organizations and leaders who can reach diverse racial, ethnic, and non-English-speaking communities. It will require working to increase the ability of LGBT parents and caregivers with children across these communities to effectively communicate the impact of marriage equality on their children. We must establish the communications capacity needed to achieve cultural competency as well as fluency in persuading immigrant, people-of-color, an d non-English-speaking communities to support marriage equality. Most of all, it requires time to build trust and relationships in targeted communities in order to succeed.

7) Labor, religious allies and communities of color are indispensable to winning. More time is needed to convert general support into full organizational backing to secure increased grassroots engagement, resources, and votes. Coordinate d outreach with labor and religious institutions remains crucial to building a strong majority for marriage equality in California. Forging lasting collaboration with and among these organizations must be a top priority for both the education and electoral campaigns. In addition to traditional civil-rights and community groups, as well as entertainment and sports celebrities, the same labor and religious organizations already highlighted will be critical in mobilizing people of color voters to support marriage equality. Rather than simply asking for support from allies, a winning campaign must be prepared to welcome these entities to the planning table and demonstrate reciprocity with them in the course of the long campaign to regain marriage equality. Winning a majority of “yes” votes on a future ballot measure will not be easy. But it will be impossible if we work in isolation or avoid competent and fluent communication with California’s diverse voters.

8) More time means more “yes” votes for marriage equality. The demographics of opinion on marriage equality indicate that natural changes in the state electorate, with new and younger voters replacing older voters, contributes over time to increased support for marriage equality. In weighing the options of presenting a ballot measure on statewide ballots either next year, in 2010, or in a future year, the latterp ortends a much greater capacity by marriage equality supporters to leverage and benefit from the natural shift in voter opinion.

THE UNDERSIGNED COMMIT to PREPARE to PREVAIL. Evidence and data should guide political strategy. Running and winning a statewide ballot-measure for a “yes” vote on marriage equality depends not on haste, but on preparation. Expanding public support and developing the infrastructure to mobilize our communities should be our top priorities. We commit to continuing the hard work of identifying the partnerships, commitments, and resources to launch necessary public education campaigns and setting the foundation for a solid and winning campaign. We call on all interested organizations to join in a collective body to coordinate the critical educational work that we must do. When we go back to the ballot, we intend to be active players to ensure its success just as we have always participated i n the fight for marriage equality. Please join us in winning back marriage equality in California.

WE CHOOSE to PREPARE to PREVAIL

ACLU of Northern California

ACLU of San Diego and Imperial County

ACLU of Southern California

API Equality-LA

API Equality-Northern California

Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team

Asian Pacific American Legal Center

Asian/Pacific Islander Queer Women/Transgender Activists (AQWA)

Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation

Chinese Rainbow Association

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA)

Elections Committee of the County of Orange (ECCO-PAC)

Equality Action Project (Santa Cruz)

Gamba Adisa Quilombo

Gay-Straight Alliance Network

Harvey Milk Stonewall Democrats of Orange County

HONOR PAC

Imperial Court of Los Angeles and Hollywood

Inland Counties Stonewall Democrats

Jordan Rustin Coalition

Martin-Lyon Leadership Institute

Office & Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), AFL-CIO

Our Family Coalition

SATRANG, South Asian LGBT Organization

Robert Chacanaca, President, Monterey Bay Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO*

Kerry Chaplin, Interfaith Organizing Director, California Faith For Equality*

Rev. Dr. Jonipher Kwong, Interfaith Organizer, California Faith For Equality *

Jerry Sloan, President Emeritus, Lambda Community Fund, Sacramento*

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*affiliation listed for identification purposes only.