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It's been a few days now since we began a conversation that addresses the issue of how frustrated some number of LBGT voters are with the Democratic Party this cycle; this because they find themselves either frustrated at the lack of progress on the civil rights issues that matter to them, or because they see both the Democratic and Republican Parties as unreliable partners in the struggle to assure equal rights for all.
In an effort to practice some actual journalism, I assembled a version of an online "focus group" at The Bilerico Project ("daily adventures in LBGTQ"), with the goal of gathering some opinions on this subject in the actual words of those frustrated voters.
Part One of this story focused on "stating the problem", and today we'll take on Part Two: in this environment, with Election Day staring us in the face, what is an LBGT voter to do?
As before, there are a variety of opinions, including a very informative comment I was able to obtain from a genuine Member of Congress, Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania's 8th District, and that means until the very end you won't hear much from me, except to help "set the stage" for the comments that follow.
You know, it seems like every time I write a letter I have to begin by apologizing for not having written in so long, and that's the case again today.
We only get a few days of real summer up here every year, and I was out having fun at golf tournaments and doing a bit of climbing around the local hills-and you know, I do love doing a bit of nothing at all from time to time-but while I was away, things have gotten even crazier than usual around here...and I'm sorry to say, you've been on the pointy end of the crazy stick, which is something that never should have happened.
Things have been so nutty that you're probably thinking America has something against Islam-in fact, you might be wondering if we have something against our own Constitution.
Well, we don't, most of us, and I'll take a few minutes today to help y'all understand just what is going on in this country.
The airwaves (and the print and blog waves, for that matter) are filled with the news that a Federal Judge in California has declared that State's Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional, which could clear the way for the resumption of same-sex weddings in the State.
Ordinarily, this would be the point where I would present to you a walkthrough of the ruling, and we'd have a fine conversation about the legal implications of what has happened.
I'm not doing that today, frankly, because the ground is already well-covered; instead, we're going to take a look at some of the tactics that were used to pass Prop 8, as they were presented in Judge Vaughan's opinion.
It's an ugly story-and even more than that, it's a reminder of why it's tough to advance civil rights through the political process, and what you have to deal with when you're trying to make such a thing happen.
We are back, just a bit late, to wrap up the discussion we began about the pair of rulings issued in Boston by Federal District Judge Joseph Tauro this week that declare the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional.
In the first half of the conversation, we examined the ruling in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), today we examine the companion case, Gill v Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
I don't usually tell you the end of the story at the beginning, but this time I will: there are a lot of happy Plaintiffs this week, and the Federal Government, as Defendant (whom I will refer to as "the Feds" from time to time), is not so happy at the moment.
As with last time, there's a lot of ground to cover, and the sooner we get to it, the better.
It wasn't but a couple of days ago that we had a conversation about The Fear and the emails that are used to spread it, and I figured with that out of the way we had dealt with the topic, and that we'd move on to new things.
Well, we would be moving on, Gentle Reader, if it wasn't for the fact that an email came in today that was so ugly, so disturbing, and so indicative of what we are about to see as the battle over the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) begins to heat up (ENDA being possibly the next "big contentious thing" that this Administration hopes to accomplish), that I had to interrupt my story schedule to bring it to your attention.
New Hampshire-based gun rights activist Richard Feldman calls it like it is in today's LA Times. The former NRA regional director and author of "Ricochet: Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist" blames both the anti-gun rhetoric of the extreme left and the anti-government rhetoric of the extreme right for hiding the reality of a broad consensus on gun rights.
The majority favors gun policy that is pro-civil rights, pro-security, and pro-keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, kids and the insane. It's the two screaming fringes that make it hard to hear ourselves think.
Says Feldman:
The "crazy" thing about the gun debate in America is how misguided and off-base both sides of the issue are. An example from one side is The [LA] Times' Dec. 1 editorial on the Washington state police officer shootings, "Crazy about guns"; from the other side, we have almost any fundraising appeal over the last year from the National Rifle Assn. Both sides offer little compromise on this issue, making the gun debate one of extremes. Our leaders ignore the important truths needed to formulate and articulate policy proposals that address the reality of life in America in a constructive and collaborative way.
Hard to disagree. Read the rest at the LA Times article here:America's pointless gun fight.
Pride Month has come and gone, Gentle Reader, with no comment from this desk.
It's not that I'm in some way insensitive to the subject; instead it's more of a desire, once again, to stay off the beaten path.
And in that spirit, I do indeed have a story of Gay History...but it's not from the Summer of '69...instead, this story was already well underway before the Summer of '29.
So put on something très chic and let's head on over to Harlem...at the time of the Renaissance...because it's time to meet Gladys Bentley.
"When you change the definition of marriage to any two persons, you are making the distinction men and women are the same in every way," Smith said. "That's undeniably not true from a biological or social standpoint.
"You're also saying that you don't need a mother and father as the ideal way to raise children. This goes against common sense and it goes against social science. The other side wants to say this is about discrimination, but there's already discrimination built into marriage. You can't marry your cousin, you can't marry your cousin's sister, you can have polygamy, and on and on. The whole issue runs hollow if you scratch below the surface."
But seriously: if you find this appointment as jaw-droppingly insulting to the very concept of civil rights as I do, please head over to Granite State Progress, which has an action item up.
The mention of that name, in the right circles, brings back a flood of associations.
Among them: a famous cabaret in Gay Paree, a Nicole Kidman movie rich in costume and set design and...well, a movie, anyway; or, if you really know your films, perhaps the association is with the 1952 John Huston "biography" film of the same name.
The one association that might not quickly come to mind, even though it should: ground zero in a battle that led to the desegregation of Las Vegas.
Today's story will fill in the blanks that you might have regarding that association-and by the time we're done, we'll have covered, just as we promised last time, the 55-year history of a place that began in 1955, lasted for not quite six months, and ended just last week...maybe.
It's another one of those American history stories you never heard before, and it's well worth the telling...so let's get right to it.
Governor Baldacci of Maine has just signed into law Maine's bill on marriage equality. He had been against marriage equality, but came to realize it was a civil rights issue more than it was his personal issue. Make sure to let your representatives, as well as Governor Lynch, know that all of our neighbors now support marriage equality - Canada, Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts! Let's keep our marriage laws in sync - it's a good business practice!
I'm really surprised to hear that you believe you are representing your constituents with your position to date on marriage equality. I write this here, because many of your constituents in Orford, who worked so hard to get you elected, aren't able to get through to leave a phone message and we haven't heard back in response to our e-mails. Many of us have been desperately trying to tell you what we think, but recently you have been completely unavailable. And what we think is that marriage equality is a civil rights issue. No matter how much those who want to perpetuate an injustice scream, it does not make their position the morally tenable one. As a civil rights issue, there is no place for fixing the discrimination and inequity later. Civil unions are not equal. The injustice must be fixed now and legislatively. We supported you because we believed that you would lead. This is not an issue that people need to get used to. Was it ever morally OK to ban interracial marriage because of an ignorant or bigoted majority? Was it OK to keep women from voting until everyone got used to the idea? I think not. Deference to individual religious beliefs is also no excuse for perpetuating discrimination. Now is the time for moral leadership, and I am unable to grasp how continuing to support discrimination is moral leadership. Please do the right thing. Please show us the moral leadership that lead us to work so hard for your election. It is moral leadership that will best serve your constituents.
There may be no more recognizable icon of "Retro-Cool" than that photograph of the Rat Pack standing in front of the marquee at The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas.
They're right there, lined up in front of their own giant names on the marquee: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop.
Night after night they would gather with friends such as Shirley MacLaine, Angie Dickinson, and Johnny Carson, to deliver some of the greatest nightclub performances in entertainment history.
Today's story, however, focuses on what happened after the show: when four of those five could leave the showroom, drink at the bar, gamble at the casino, and go upstairs to their rooms.
In a town sometimes known as the "Mississippi of the West", however, one of those five performers could not do any of those things.
Our Journey In Two Parts literally crosses over to the "wrong side of the tracks", tells a story of segregation overcome, and recounts the six-month history of a Las Vegas hotel that has a 55-year history: the Moulin Rouge.
The latest big three bills have made me wonder, does Gov. Lynch really represent us as a state? He has made it public that he plans to veto the death penalty bill if it ever crosses his desk and the medicinal marijuana bill's future does not look much better. So after thinking about this I had another idea, if Gov. Lynch is not right for us who could do a better job? After thinking about it I decided on Jackie Cilley. Jackie is exactly the progressive force I think our state needs. She has said that as a Senator she will never vote to deny some one their rights. She's against the death penalty, she's pro-gay rights, and she is in support of medicinal marijuana. In my opinion she is exactly what our state needs in a governor. She would make us a leader in our region on human rights. I would just like to make it clear that I do not work for her and she does not plan on running in 2010 (although I wish she would) I'm simply just posting this because I think she should run and I would like to see what everyone else thinks.
This is a slightly altered version of my editorial in the January 16, Conway Daily Sun:
Today our nation will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, when we honor the slain civil rights activist. Tomorrow we will witness the historic inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States, and the first African-American. We've come a long way in my lifetime.
The United States Supreme Court yesterday rendered a decision which I think is one of the worst decisions in the history of this country. ... We are now going to have the courts flooded with so-called, quote, Habeas Corpus suits against the government, whether it be about the diet, whether it be about the reading material.
John McCain does not have a clue what Habeas Corpus is.
Repeat: Not. A. Clue.
Yet that does not stop him from ranting about it in a tone of affronted morality. Who does that remind you of?
And this?!??
so-called, quote, Habeas Corpus suits
What, is Habeas Corpus now some boutique liberal conceit, like soy latte and Birkenstocks, that all the manly men of the GOP are obliged to sneer at? Were the Magna Carta, Blackstone, Hamilton, and the Constitution of the United States of America just some prissy little elitist fairy tales that McCain has decided to trade in for a mess of Neanderthal pottage?
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It is also a call to action for all of us to continue Dr. King's fight for civil rights and equal opportunity for all.
As Dr. King once said, "Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle." As we remember Dr. King, we must commit ourselves to continuing his struggle for justice in our society.
We must commit ourselves to working for equal opportunity. While some individuals in America have unprecedented liberty, an increasing number are facing poor schools, poor health and limited opportunity. Over the last seven years of the Bush administration, our tax system has been skewed toward the rich, while working families have seen the costs of education and health care rise much faster than wages. To make sure that America remains a land of opportunity, we must work toward a fairer tax structure, universal health care, solid public education, and a better system of grants and loans so that students can afford to get the advanced education they need to succeed.
We must commit ourselves to civil rights. Part of the American dream has been the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. For many, this comes from a lifelong committed relationship. Gays and lesbians are an important part of our community - they are our brothers and sisters, our co-workers, friends, and neighbors. Gay and lesbian couples should have the same legally recognized rights and responsibilities of civil marriage that heterosexual couples currently have.
Obviously, we have a lot of work to do. But as Dr. King said in his famous speech the day before he died, "Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation."
Dr. King's life shows that if we work together, we can make change a reality - and I look forward to working with you in the months ahead.
I think there may be some dispute between supporters of different candidates about who has the coolest celebrity endorsement, but for my money, the best one so far this campaign season is the endorsement of John Edwards today by Harry Belafonte.
Belafonte, who became famous in the 1950s by popularizing Calypso music from the Caribbean, has been a long time human rights activist. Among other things, he worked with the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement in the 1960s. He hasn't stopped working for the betterment of humanity since.
As reported on TPMmuckraker, Sen. Barack Obama sent a letter to to Acting Attorney General Peter D. Keisler calling on him to immediately replace John Tanner, the chief of the voting rights section of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, for offensive and erroneous comments he made about minorities.
As Paul Kiel notes, "This is second time this month that Obama has come out hard against a controversial figure from the Civil Rights Division. Earlier, he joined with Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) in blocking the nomination of Hans von Spakovsky to the Federal Election Commission."
Earlier this week, Sen. Obama called on Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey to address how he would reverse the Bush Administration's failure to enforce civil rights, for example, in the cases of the Jena 6 and the Georgia voter photo identification requirement.
The full text of Sen. Obama's letter after the jump...
The standards for Republicans and Democrats are different. The reason is that our expectations about their behavior are different. People who consider themselves Republicans like to follow leaders. This is a safe strategy. Located at the head of the pack, leaders go over the cliff first and, if the followers are sufficiently laggard, they'll be saved from following after. "Over the cliff" is perhaps too stark a description. However, only a little reflection reminds us, with a multitude of recent examples (from Brownie to Rummy to Sanchez and Gonzo), that leaders are perhaps even more fungible than troops.
