Box Turtle Bulletin

A Beautiful Ad Supporting Marriage

The ad Equality California should have ran a year ago.

The Current Status of Marriage Equality – 5/5/09

Green = marriage; Yellow = needs Governor signature

With marriage equality issues changing so very quickly, here’s where the current status stands (my apologies for any inaccuracies):

California – the State Supreme Court has until June 6 to announce whether Proposition 8 is constitutional and, if so, what impact it has on the 18,000 same-sex couples who married between June and November 2008. There are mixed opinions on what the court will decide.

Colorado – The legislature passed a Designated Beneficiary Agreement Act, which has been signed by the Governor.

Illinois – a bill has been introduced to enact Civil Unions. The bill is currently waiting for a House vote.

Maine – The House and the Senate have both passed a marriage bill. Tomorrow it goes before the Senate for final approval and then to Gov. John Baldacci, who is “keeping an open mind”. Anti-Gays will immediately seek a “People’s Veto”, a process by which an enacted bill can be placed before the voters for an up or down vote. They would need about 55,000 valid signatures by the first of September. It would be led by Michael Heath who has established his reputation in Maine as an extremist and a homophobe.

Nevada – The Senate passed a bill to provide Domestic Partnerships with all the rights and obligations of marriage. It will go before the Assembly Judiciary on Friday. The Governor has promised to veto the bill but some sources say that there will be a compromise crafted before the legislature disbands in a month.

New Hampshire – The House and Senate have both passed a marriage bill. The Senate version had specific religious protections that were not in the House bill. The House Judiciary has approved the changes and they will go before a House vote tomorrow. The Governor has stated that he is opposed to gay marriage in the past but has not addresses this specific bill.

New York – A marriage bill has been introduced in the house. Log Cabin Republicans announced that they have found additional Republican support in the House for marriage. Senate Majority Leader Smith will not bring marriage to a vote in the Senate until adequate votes will assure its passage, which probably means that four to six Republicans will need to be convinced. Empire State Pride is doing polling in Republican districts and seeking to give them assurance that a vote for equality will not result in an election defeat.

Washington – a bill to upgrade the state\’s Domestic Partnerships to provide all the rights and obligations of marriage has passed the Senate and House with large margins and will be signed by the Governor. A petition has been filed to put it to the voters.

District of Columbia – the Council voted to recognize out of state marriages. This bill will be signed by the Mayor and then Congress has 30 days to review and possibly overturn it by a majority vote in both houses and the signature of the President. A same-sex marriage bill is expected later this year.

Also see our last synopsis on April 9

California Marriage Drive to Include Religious Protections

The Courage Campaign, currently the most vocal activists seeking to organize an overturn of Proposition 8 in either 2020 2010 or 2012, say that things will be different this time around. The parties who spearheaded the opposition to Prop 8 will not be involved in the effort.

The two main differences may be

1. in deflating the spurious claims of NOM and other anti-gay activists

To address voter concerns about the impact that state-sanctioned gay marriage could have on religious institutions, the Courage Campaign is considering possible ballot language that would guarantee the right of any two unrelated consenting adults to marry, while simultaneously stating that churches have a right to decide for themselves whom to marry.

“In order to win, we have to remove fear because that’s all the other side has left,” Jacobs said.

2. showing the face of gay marriage

Jacobs is convinced that the “No on Prop. 8” campaign erred by not showing gays or lesbians in any of its ads.

“There were no pictures of gay people. The ads were all about fairness,” Jacobs said. “This time, we’re going to make it clear you’re talking about real people.”

The campaign will also seek to make inroads into the African American community and other communities that were not adequately targeted last year.

Anti-Gay Slavs Voted Out of Student Government in Sacramento Community College

In October, the student government of American River College in Sacramento endorsed Proposion 8. It was the only student government association in the state to do so. This engendered a recall effort but most students didn’t bother to vote and the anti-gay students remained in power.

We learned that these students were a coalition of five Slavic students associated with the virulently homophobic evangelical movement in Sacramento and three Mormon students who had joined forces to turn out voting blocks and advance socially conservative positions through student government. And their anti-gay activism was not limited to Proposition 8.

Last Friday the Sacramento Bee reported:

Student leaders at American River College passed a resolution Thursday opposing today’s nationally organized demonstration in support of gay rights.

The resolution asserts that “the Day of Silence has been used to silence and harass religious students at local public schools for expressing their viewpoints,” and instead calls for a “peaceful discussion of controversial issues instead of intimidation and censorship of opposing viewpoints.”

That may just have been too much for the students at American River College. They may have become too embarrassed about representatives that seemed anti-gay, anti-science, and anti-culture and they have voted the religious coalition out of office.

In elections held Wednesday and Thursday, American River College students ousted several conservative council members in favor of a slate that said it wanted the student government to stop focusing on divisive social issues.

Fourteen of 17 student representatives elected are part of the “ARC Students for Change” slate, including David Fisher, who won as student association president.

Congratulations to Fisher and his alliance of students.

State Marriage Equality Update

There has been a lot of movement recently in various states on the issue of recognition for same-sex couples. Here is a brief synopsis (I apologize if I missed anything):

Arkansas – on March 27, a bill was killed that would have banned cities and counties from creating domestic partner registries.

California – the State Supreme Court is deliberating on whether Proposition 8 is constitutional and, if so, what impact it has on the 18,000 same-sex couples who married between June and November 2008.

Colorado – at least two initiative drives are underway to either change the constitution to allow for gay marriage or alternately to statutorily create civil unions. The legislature has just passed a Designated Beneficiary Agreement Act, which has been signed by the Governor.

Connecticut – last week codified – with bipartisan support – marriage equality in the state\’s laws to agree with the decision of the state Supreme Court.

Delaware – proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage defeated in the Senate in the last week in March.

Hawaii – Civil Unions bill was tied up in committee. Although the bill has a strong majority of support in the Senate, they voted not to pull it from committee.

Illinois – a bill (HB 0178) has been introduced to legalize same-sex marriage along with a bill (HB 2234) to enact Civil Unions. The marriage bill is resting in the Rules Committee but the Civil Unions bill passed out of committee in March and now faces a House vote.

Iowa – last week the Supreme Court found that the state must recognize same-sex marriage. It will go into effect on April 27. The Governor, the Senate Majority Leader, and the Speaker of the House have all announced that they will oppose efforts to change the Constitution. Iowa has no initiative process so it would require a change in leadership and several years before it would be possible to revoke this right.

Maine – both a marriage bill and a civil unions bill are before the legislature. The Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing on April 24. Gov. John Baldacci is “keeping an open mind”.

Maryland – on April 7, the State Senate upgraded benefits offered to same-sex couples in domestic partnership relationships but do not allow for official state recognition of those relationships.

Minnesota – there is a bill before the legislature to provide new marriage equality. It is unlikely to pass.

Nevada – a bill to provide Domestic Partnerships with all the rights and obligations of marriage has passed out of committee and is before the Senate.

New Hampshire – at the end of March the House passed a bill to allow for gay marriage. It will be considered by the Senate, where Democrats have a 14-9 advantage (a dozen Republicans in the House supported the bill). Governor John Lynch has not stated whether he will veto the legislation, should it pass.

New Jersey – a commission has found that civil unions are inadequate and polls have found that residents favor gay marriage but a bill before the legislature appears not to be moving.

New Mexico – in March the Senate defeated efforts to enact Domestic Partnerships.

New York – the Governor has announced that he will push for a vote in the Senate on gay marriage. Although marriage equality has passed in the House, without support from some Republicans, the votes do not appear to be there in the Senate.

Rhode Island – a gay marriage bill is unlikely to make it out of committee. A “reciprocal beneficiary agreements” bill, a darling of anti-gays who want to label gay couples as identical to roommates or cousins, has been proposed as a “compromise”.

Vermont – this week the legislature overrode the governor\’s veto to pass marriage equality.

Washington – a bill to upgrade the state\’s Domestic Partnerships to provide all the rights and obligations of marriage has passed the Senate and will come before the House soon.

West Virginia – last week the House of Delegates defeated a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage.

Wisconsin – the Supreme Court is being asked to review the constitutional ban on marriage. The Governor, in his budget, has proposed Domestic Partnership benefits.

Wyoming – in February the House defeated a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

District of Columbia – the Council voted unanimously to recognize out of state marriages. Same-sex marriage bill expected later this year.

From Kampala to Temecula: Scott Lively To Speak At California Republican Club

Casey Sanchez reports that Holocaust revisionist Scott Lively will speak at the The Murrieta-Temecula Republican Assembly on April 3. The group is a local chapter of the conservative GOP activist group California Republican Assembly. They’re pretty proud of their guest speaker, who they describe as “The Pastor Vilified by the Newspapers as a Hater Because of his stand Against the Promotion of Homosexuality in our Culture”.

Lively called Temecula home for many years before relocating himself and his Abiding Truth Ministries to Springfield, Massachusetts last year.

Update: The golf clubhouse where the Murrieta-Temecula Republican Assembly was to hold its meeting has cancelled the group’s reservation. The group will now probably meet in a private home.

Irony Alert

Congressman Dan Lungren (R-CA) is outraged over Congress passing a special 90% tax for those who at A.I.G who received large bonuses.  Rep. Lungren Says that not only is the special tax unconstitutional, but it’s inherrently unfair because “you can’t punish a group because you don’t like them.”

Let me tell you if we overturn the Constitution to show our outrage, no single American is safe. Because in the future what we will do is say, we have a precedent that when we have an unpopular group, when we have a group that deserves some punishment, we won’t go through the real laws.

Lungren voted for Prop 8.

[Hat tip: Rum, Romanism and Rebellion]

Californians Against Hate: Mormon-Established “Front Group” Handled Early Prop 8 Finances

Fred Karger of Californians Against Hate has been leading the legal battle to force the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) to reveal its full involvement in California’s Yes on 8 campaign as required by state law. Karger filed a supplemental complaint on Wednesday with California’s Fair Political Practices committee charging that the Mormon church failed to reveal its earlier involvement in Prop 8, particularly through a front organization they had set up called the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) in the summer of 2007. This front group is similar to one the LDS church set up in Hawaii ten years earlier.

Karger charges that while early donations by several prominent Catholic doners were reported as required by law (Including hotel owner Doug Manchester [125,000], Terry Caster and his family who own A-1 Self Storage [$283,000], car dealer [Robert Hoehn [$25,000] and the Knights of Columbus [$250,000]), none of the early Mormon contributors are listed. Karger asks:

Did they do polling as they did in Hawaii? Did the Church incur legal bills as they did in Hawaii? How about travel expenses, as in Hawaii? What about staff time, as they reported after the fact in California? These expenses should be easy to identify as a part of the current investigation.

The Mormon Church engages in extensive record keeping. All requests for funds are assigned an 11 digit Cost Center Number (i.e. 123-4567-899). Cost Center records should be readily available for 2007 and 2008, which would show all the money spent to create NOM. Additionally, the Mormon Church maintains records on its “Historical Material Management System” (HMMS).

Mormon Elders M. Russell Ballard, Quentin L. Cook and L. Whitney Clayton were all working on California’s Proposition 8 and their files and records should be able to substantiate these charges.
The Mormon Church should have disclosed all non monetary contributions made during the relevant reporting periods.

Documentation related to the LDS church’s activities have been uploaded to a new web site established by Fred Karger at Mormongate.com.

Karger filed his original complaint on November 13, 2008, charging that the LDS church had failed to report its monetary and non-monetary contributions to the passage of Proposition 8. The following day, the Mormon Church spokesman Scott Trotter responded through the LDS-owned newspaper, the Deseret News, that the allegations were “false” and that the complaint had “many errors and misstatements.” But on January 30, 2009, the Mormon church revealed that it was they who had lied about their financial involvement in the Prop 8 campaign.

Why Do Gays Think Christians Hate Them?

Maybe because this is the most visible face of Christianity. From the dualing protests outside of the California Supreme Court on Thursday:

What Was No on 8 Thinking?

I don’t know if the folks running California’s No on 8 campaign saw this letter. They should have. It’s been on the Internet since July 29, 2008:

As the Democratic nominee for President, I am proud to join with and support the LGBT community in an effort to set our nation on a course that recognizes LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. That is why I support extending fully equal rights and benefits to same sex couples under both state and federal law. That is why I support repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy, and the passage of laws to protect LGBT Americans from hate crimes and employment discrimination. And that is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states.

For too long. issues of LGBT rights have been exploited by those seeking to divide us. It’s time to move beyond polarization and live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. This is no less than a core issue about who we are as Democrats and as Americans.

Finally, I want to congratulate all of you who have shown your love for each other by getting married these last few weeks. My thanks again to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club for allowing me to be a part of today’s celebration. I look forward to working with you in the coming months and years, and I wish you all continued success.

Barack Obama had spoken against Proposition 8 during his campaign, while hedging that he was not “for” same-sex marriage. That last position was exploited by the Yes on 8 campaign in ads targeting the African-American community which implied that Obama opposed Prop 8.

The Bay Area Reporter quotes Steve Smith of DeweySquare, a Democratic consulting firm, as saying yeah, they screwed up:

Smith also acknowledged that the campaign should have used then-presidential candidate Barack Obama’s stated opposition to Prop 8. Instead, little use was made of Obama’s opposition in a letter last June to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, and right before Election Day the Yes on 8 campaign sent out a mailer featuring Obama’s image and quotes that he is opposed to same-sex marriage.

“That was a close call,” Smith said. “Maybe we should have.”

Smith said that people outside the Bay Area wouldn’t know what the Alice Club was, but club Co-Chair Susan Christian spoke up and said that in fact, Obama’s letter to the club been widely reported, including in the New York Times.

“I think we lost this campaign because of an approach that didn’t recognize ‘we are everywhere,'” Christian said.

Yes on 8 didn’t win the election. No on 8 lost it.

[Hat tip: Michael Petrelis]

LA Times: Prop 8 Will Likely Be Upheld

The California Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments over a lawsuit challenging Proposition 8 this Thursday. The court is then required to rule within ninety days. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the Court may rule as early as Thursday to uphold the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage:

Reporting from San Francisco — The California Supreme Court may reveal Thursday whether it intends to uphold Proposition 8, and if so, whether an estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages will remain valid, during a high-stakes televised session that has sparked plans for demonstrations throughout the state.

By now, the court already has drafted a decision on the case, with an author and at least three other justices willing to sign it. Oral arguments sometimes result in changes to the draft, but rarely do they change the majority position. 

The Times reports that Chief Justice Ronald M. George is the one to watch on this. He wrote the May 15, 2008 majority opinion which originally granted same-sex marriage. That ruling was a narrow 4-3 decision. According to The Times, most analysis expect the court to have just votes to uphold Prop 8, since only one justice is needed to shift from the original decision. The three dissenting justices from the 2008 position already held that the votors should decide.

A large outdoor jumbo screen will be erected outside the San Francisco Civic Center, where large crowds are expected to gather to watch the live hearings taking place at the nearby Supreme Court headquarters.

NAACP Calls For Prop 8 to Be Overturned

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has joined the California chapter in calling for Proposition 8 to be overturned:

“The NAACP’s mission is to help create a society where all Americans have equal protection and opportunity under the law,” said President [Benjamin Todd] Jealous. “Our Mission Statement calls for the ‘equality of rights of all persons.’ Prop. 8 strips same-sex couples of a fundamental freedom, as defined by the California State Supreme Court. In so doing, it poses a serious threat to all Americans. Prop. 8 is a discriminatory, unprecedented change to the California Constitution that, if allowed to stand, would undermine the very purpose of a constitution and courts – assuring equal protection and opportunity for all and safeguarding minorities from the tyranny of the majority.”

…”The NAACP has long opposed any proposal that would alter the federal or state constitutions for the purpose of excluding any groups or individuals from guarantees of equal protection,” said Chairman [Julian] Bond. “We urge the legislature to declare that Proposition 8 did not follow the proper protective process and should be overturned as an invalid alteration that vitiated crucial constitutional safeguards and fundamental American values, threatening civil rights and all vulnerable minorities.”

The NAACP statement urges passage of House Resolution 5 and Senate Resolution 7, which would put the legislature on record as viewing Prop. 8 as an improper alteration of the California Constitution. The question is currently before the California Supreme Court, which is expected to hear arguments on March 5.

San Diego Firefighters Win Harassment Suit

A San Diego jury yesterday found that four firefighters were sexually harassed after being ordered to participate in a gay pride parade. The jury awarded the four $34,300 in damages, which must be split between the group. That works out to a little over $8,500 per firefighter, before attorney fees. Plaintiff’s attorney Charles LiMandri has indicated he will ask the judge to have the city of San Diego pay his legal fees.

The firemen claimed that they faced “faced pervasive or severe harassment from spectators and participants” while riding a fire engine in the July 2007 Gay Pride parade. The experience, they said, made them suffer stress-related problems such as headaches, anxiety and irritable bowel syndrome. But an examination of their original complaints revealed that their sense of being offended came from two fronts:

• Even the most innocuous of calls (“Hey, Honey”, or “look at the big firemen”) were viewed as insults, affronts, or harassment. 
• They were offended that they were lectured by anti-gay protesters. Since they were not gay, they felt that they didn’t deserve to be lectured — as if anyone deserves such a lecture, gay or straight.

The Jurors deliberated for about two and a half days before reaching the verdict. During an earlier trial last September, that jury was not able to reach a verdict. Plaintiffs’ attorney Charles LiMandri had asked for up to $1 million for each of this four clients. He didn’t ask for an award during the second trial.

Attorneys for the city have indicated that they will appeal the verdict. The San Diego Fire Department has since changed its policy, which now calls for volunteers to participate in parades.

Bill Clinton Will Cross A Picket Line To Collect His Speaking Fees

We asked yesterday whether Clinton will honor a boycott of the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, or speak before the International Franchise Association which is holding a convention at the hotel. The other alternative, of course, would be to move the venue for his talk as others have done.

The Manchester Hyatt boycott began when it was revealed that Doug Manchester contributed $125,000 to the Yes on 8 campaign to strip thousands of Californians of the right to marry. Manchester owns the Manchester Grand Hyatt as well as the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina, which are also being boycotted. Yesterday, eight prominent supporters of organized labor and gay marriage released an open letter to Clinton requesting that he call off or move the speaking engagement.

But a spokesman for the former president said yesterday that Clinton will speak at the Hyatt. I wasn’t aware that franchisees were one of his favored causes. It can only be his exorbitant speaking fees. Money before principle.

Former Pres. Clinton To Break Manchester Hyatt Boycott?

Former President Bill Clinton makes a lot of speeches and gets paid a lot of money to speak. This Sunday, he’s scheduled to speak before the International Franchise Association in San Diego, which just happens to be meeting at the Manchester Hyatt.

The Manchester Hyatt has been under a boycott ever since it was learned that Doug Manchester contributed $125,000 to the Yes on 8 campaign to strip thousands of Californians of the right to marry. Manchester owns the Manchester Grand Hyatt as well as the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina, which are also being boycotted.

A coalition of advocates and community leaders have signed an open letter asking President Clinton to move his speech so as to not violate the boycott.