News & Events
In the News: Catching Up On The Current State Marriage Equality Efforts
from Think Progress.
This three-day weekend seems like an apropos time to reflect on all the many recent advances in legal recognition for same-sex couples. Here is a break-down of where things stand in each of the states we’ve been following this year:
Legislation
WASHINGTON: With Gov. Chris Gregoire’s (D) signature on Monday, marriage equality became the law of the land in Washington state, though that law does not take effect until June 7. Unfortunately, conservatives had already raised over $1 million to start collecting signatures for a referendum — a “people’s veto” — which will likely delay the law from taking effect until after the November election. To maintain the newly passed law, voters will have to approve Referendum 74.
NEW JERSEY: Both chambers of New Jersey’s legislature approved a marriage equality bill this week, but Gov. Chris Christie (R) vetoed it late Friday afternoon. Aside from a proposal by one Republican senator, there is currently no effort to take the matter to a ballot initiative. The legislature has until January 2014 to override Christie’s veto, but it does not currently have the votes to do so.
MARYLAND: After contentious debate and numerous amendments Friday, the Maryland House narrowly passed a marriage equality bill. Though the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee has held hearings on the measure, it has not yet advanced it to the full chamber, but advocates are optimistic about its passage there. As currently written, the law will not take effect until January 2013, but as in Washington, the law will likely be challenged by a referendum in November.
ILLINOIS: A marriage equality bill was recently introduced in the Illinois House, but it’s unclear that it will have much success. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has said he would support the measure, and Gov. Pat Quinn (D) has stopped short of openly supporting it himself, but has said he’ll help build a majority.
RHODE ISLAND: Advocates are calling for marriage equality to be reintroduced in Rhode Island after last year’s effort led only to the creation of civil unions. Given residents can marry in all neighboring states, it is unsurprising that in the first four months they were available, only 39 couples obtained civil unions.
COLORADO: Colorado is again reconsidering legalizing same-sex civil unions. Just this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the legislation, but like last year, it is in the Republican-controlled House where the bill’s fate will be decided.
WEST VIRGINIA: A lawmaker in West Virginia introduced a bill this week that would create same-sex civil unions. It’s unclear if it has any chance of advancing.
Ballot Initiatives
NORTH CAROLINA: On May 8, North Carolinians will vote on a discriminatory constitutional amendment banning all legal recognition of same-sex couples, including marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships. Pam Spaulding, an LGBT blogger who resides in the state, has a thoughtful take on how detrimental this amendment would be to the state.
MINNESOTA: Minnesota’s marriage inequality amendment isn’t on the ballot until November, but over $2 million have already been raised between both sides of the fight. This week, the Senate Local Government and Elections Committee defeated a legislative effort to rescind the ballot question, allowing the plebiscite to proceed.
MAINE: LGBT activists in Maine have succeeded in advancing a ballot initiative that would legalize same-sex marriage, the first time such a vote has been taken affirming the right instead of denying it. Though referenda on gay rights are frowned upon for the way they can polarize communities and amplify anti-gay stigma, activists point out that a legislative approach was already attempted in 2009, but it was overturned.
CALIFORNIA: Obviously, the Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling against Proposition 8 is an important victory, but California marriage equality will not return until after the Supreme Court decides whether to hear the case later this year. This week, the group Love Honor Cherish announced it has abandoned its attempt to repeal Proposition 8 through a new ballot initiative.
NEW MEXICO: A proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage was defeated in committee this week. Though it has not been tested by the courts, the state’s attorney general issued an opinion last year that New Mexico law allows for the recognition of same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.
Read the article from Think Progress.
Read more In the News.
In the News: Calif. gay marriage opponents appeal Prop. 8 ruling
from USA Today.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The backers of California's same-sex marriage ban petitioned a federal appeals court Tuesday to review a split decision by three of its judges that struck down Proposition 8, opting for now to avoid taking their chances before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Lawyers for the religious and legal groups behind the ban beat a midnight deadline to ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear the 2-1 decision that declared Prop. 8 to be a violation of the civil rights of gay and lesbian Californians.
If they had not sought reconsideration, the three judges could have ordered the ruling to take effect in another seven days, clearing the way for same-sex marriages to resume in the state.
Instead, same-sex marriages will remain on hold at least until the 9th Circuit decides to accept or reject the rehearing petition. The court does not face a deadline for doing so.
"After careful consideration, we determined that asking for reconsideration by the full 9th Circuit is in the best interests of defending Prop. 8," said Andy Pugno, general counsel for the Protect Marriage coalition. "This gives the entire 9th Circuit a chance to correct this anomalous decision by just two judges overturning the vote of seven million Californians."
Legal experts said supporters of the ban could be exhausting all their options before trying to take the case to the Supreme Court.
"It's another procedural opportunity they have, so why give up another bite at the apple?" Stanford University law professor Jane Schacter said about the decision to appeal to the 9th Circuit.
If a majority of the 9th Circuit's 25 actively serving judges agree to reconsider the case, it would be assigned to a panel that includes the chief judge and 10 randomly selected judges. Schacter, however, said the 9th Circuit does not often reverse the decisions of member judges.
Schacter suggested Prop. 8 backers might believe a ruling by a bigger appeals court panel could yield a decision more likely to pique the interest of the Supreme Court. The two judges who rejected Prop. 8 two weeks ago focused their decision exclusively on California's ban, even though the court has jurisdiction in nine western states.
...Prop. 8 amended the California Constitution to outlaw same-sex marriages five months after the state Supreme Court threw out a pair of statutes that limited marriage to a man and woman. The proposition was approved by voters in November 2008 with 52 percent of the vote.
Read the full article from USA Today.
Read more In the News.
In the News: The tide is turning on gay marriage
from The Kansas City Star.
The battle to legalize gay marriage isn't over. But the sooner legalization comes, the better, not just for gays and lesbians but also for the nation as a whole.
The right for gays and lesbians to enjoy the full benefits of marriage expanded this month with a court victory for California gays and the legalization of gay marriage in another state. Gov. Chris Gregoire of Washington signed the bill passed in her state, making it the sixth, along with the District of Columbia, to allow same-sex couples to marry.
Pending legislation or ballot measures in Minnesota, Maryland, New Hampshire and Maine could legalize gay marriage in those states this year. The New Jersey Legislature has passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, but Gov. Chris Christie threatened to veto it.
The ruling against California's Proposition 8 by a federal appeals court earlier this month has been hailed as a landmark victory for gay marriage that might lead to a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court. But legal scholars say this might not be the bill that coerces a comprehensive Supreme Court ruling on the issue.
Proposition 8 was a voter initiative to reverse a decision by the state Legislature to legalize same-sex marriage in California. It passed in November 2008 with 52 percent of the vote.
But in 2010, a federal judge struck down Prop 8, saying it was a violation of the civil rights of gays and lesbians in the state. And on Feb. 7, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the lower court judge had correctly interpreted the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court precedents.
But the appeals ruling was based on a relatively narrow finding. The panel essentially ruled that, because the state already had granted the right to gays and lesbians to marry, Proposition 8 had unconstitutionally deprived them of that right.
"Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite sex couples," according to the opinion written by Judge Stephen Reinhardt, considered to be one of the court's most liberal judges.
But if the Supreme Court agrees to hear this case, justices will have a choice whether to consider the ruling only as it applies to California or to use it to issue a broader ruling regarding the constitutionality of gay marriage nationwide. In other words, this might or might not be the definitive Supreme Court ruling regarding same-sex marriage.
Nonetheless, the tide is turning.
Read the full article from The Kansas City Star.
Read more In the News.
In the News: Military Same-Sex Partner Benefits: “Separate But Not Equal”
from Time.
The impact felt at the ground-level from our troops involved in same-sex marriages is gaining some high-level attention. On Friday of last week, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. issued this controversial letter to House Speaker John Boehner in response to the lawsuits filed this October in my home state of Massachusetts by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. The letter serves to notify Congress that the Executive Branch has determined the provisions excluding same-sex spouses from receiving military benefits to be unconstitutional.
With the state-level advances towards marriage equality we’ve already seen this month – New Jersey’s State Assembly and Washington state, who both passed bills in favor of gay marriage, as well as the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that declared California’s “Prop. 8” unconstitutional – there are some who believe the DoD might be the key to achieving the same results nation-wide, and they might be right. The importance of marriage equality resonates especially deep with gays and lesbians in the military. In addition to these victories, another case has been filed by former Army SGT. Tracey Cooper-Harris and her wife Maggie. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Battleland covered an earlier chapter of her story this past summer.
The lawsuit involving former SGT. Cooper-Harris – a decorated veteran who served honorably in OEF and OIF then separated from the military in 2003 – has been filed against the VA. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which has been linked to her service in the Army. Traditionally the VA will extend additional benefits to married couples for patients like Cooper-Harris, to help ensure the financial stability of the veteran and his/her spouse. In this veteran’s case the marriage entitlements were denied.
The target of the Cooper-Harris suit is to declare the Defense of Marriage Act (commonly referred to as DOMA) unconstitutional. The law has outlined the federal definition of marriage as the union between one man and one woman since it was signed in 1996. In the eyes of the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs, the federal law trumps any state-recognized same sex marriage and as a result they are unable to extend these two the same spousal benefits offered to other married couples, despite the fact that they are legally married in the state of California.
...Since the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, couples can now participate in state-sponsored same-sex marriages. The lack of federal recognition puts the couple in a difficult spot, especially if both partners are actively serving in the military. Normally, a married couple can apply for a “join spouse assignment”, which greatly improves the couple’s chances of being stationed together. Since the average military member experiences a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) approximately every three years, this offers a level of stability for families, especially those with kids. Without this option, it is nearly impossible for a military couple to PCS to the same geographic location.
For couples involving one military member, and one civilian, the hardships are just as harsh. Civilian spouses without a dependent’s ID card can’t get on base, which causes further complications for military members who are required to live in on-base housing. They are also excluded from enrolling in the military’s Tricare program as a dependent, the way other spouses can, which means the responsibility of finding and paying for a parner’s healthcare rests on the family.
The list of less obvious impacts digs even deeper below the surface. There have been instances where a close family member of a civilian spouse has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and the military has approved a humanitarian PCS for the entire family to be reassigned to a base closer to the ill family member in order to help care for them and be with them at the end of his/her life. A same-sex couple would not have this option if the ill family member was on the civilian’s side of the family.
The hurdles of “separate but not equal” treatment faced by same-sex couples all across America are all too reminiscent of the now unthinkable discriminatory sentiments and policies faced by other minorities in the mid-1900s. The lack of options to help same-sex couples has the hands of commanders everywhere tied, and places a substantial burden on the shoulders of our troops in addition to the duties they already perform for this country. Heroes like SGT. Cooper-Harris have done their part to keep this country safe, and I don’t think it’s too much to ask for us to treat them with the same dignity and respect extended to the rest of our men and women in uniform.
In the News: After soul searching, swing votes make difference for same-sex marriage
from The Baltimore Sun.
A former math teacher. A firefighter. A lawyer. A small-business woman. A full-time doctoral student. A congressional aide.
When the legislative session started in January, the six delegates from different cliques in Maryland's clubby General Assembly had this in common: None would have called himself or herself a supporter of Gov. Martin O'Malley's bill to legalize same-sex marriage.
Yet all cast votes Friday in favor of the measure, providing the margin needed to pass the bill, 72-67, in the House of Delegates, which had rejected a similar measure 11 months ago.
Some never let on that they were wavering. Those who did faced the same formidable political and social forces that managed to scuttle the measure last year, including a strong and organized lobby from some of the state's most influential church leaders. One lawmaker, a Catholic, received a phone call from Rome from Cardinal-designate Edwin F. O'Brien, who was elevated to that rank Saturday. All confronted the threat of being unseated by opponents of gay marriage when the delegates face re-election campaigns in 2014.
But this time the faith-driven opposition didn't carry the day. Instead, lawmakers say, they were swayed by the emotional stories of gay couples. Some delegates wanted to be assured that churches would never be forced by the state to preform same-sex marriages. Several were convinced that voters would get the final say. Their decisions pushed the vote count past the 71 needed to pass the measure.
Read the full article from The Baltimore Sun.
Read more In the News.
In the News: Obama DOJ Won’t Defend Constitutionality Of Denying Military Benefits To Same-Sex Couples
from Think Progress.
The Obama administration has announced that it will not defend laws that prevent married same-sex couples from obtaining military benefits. In a letter to Congress today, Attorney General Eric Holder argued, “[t]he legislative record of these provisions contains no rationale for providing veterans’ benefits to opposite-sex couples of veterans but not to legally married same-sex spouses of veterans … Neither the Department of Defense nor the Department of Veterans Affairs identified any justifications for that distinction that would warrant treating these provisions differently from Section 3 of DOMA.”
Currently, the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act prevents federal agencies from recognizing same-sex relationships and Title 38 of the United States Code defines spouses as a person of the opposite sex. Holder added that Congress would “be provided a ‘full and fair opportunity’ to defend the statues in the McLaughlin v. Panetta case if they wished to do so.”
That lawsuit, filed by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network in October on behalf of Maj. Shannon McLaughlin of the Massachusetts National Guard, argues that McLaughlin and her partner Casey are denied benefits that similarly situated opposite-sex couples enjoy, including, “medical and dental benefits, basic housing allowances, travel and transportation allowances, family separation benefits, military ID cards, visitation rights in military hospitals, survivor benefit plans, and the right to be buried together in military cemeteries.” Such treatment “violates constitutional equal protection guarantees,” “the Tenth Amendment and constitutional principles of federalism,” it says.
“Given the military’s ‘zero tolerance’ for discrimination based on sexual orientation, it is unconscionable that DOMA forces the military to engage in the very discrimination that it prohibits its service members from engaging in through its ‘zero tolerance’ policy,” the suit claims.
Since the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the Defense Department has been engaging in “a careful and deliberate review of the possibility of extending eligibility for benefits, when legally permitted, to other individuals including same-sex partners.”
Obama previously announced that he would stop defending the constitutionality of DOMA on February 23, 2011 and has similarly permitted Republicans in Congress to take up that fight.
Read the article from Think Progress.
Read more In the News.
In the News: Maryland’s House Passes Same-Sex Marriage Bill, Sends to Senate
from The New York Times.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Maryland House narrowly passed a law legalizing same-sex marriage on Friday, delivering a major victory to Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, who had proposed it. But its implementation remained uncertain as its opponents promised to take it to voters in November.
The bill, known as the Civil Marriage Protection Act, squeaked by in a 72-to-67 vote, drawing loud applause and cheers from proponents in the House. A similar bill failed in the chamber last year.
The measure still faces a vote in the Senate, where it is expected to pass, before Mr. O’Malley can sign it into law. But opponents have pledged to put in on the ballot for a vote on Nov. 6, a prospect that the bill’s supporters acknowledge is practically a foregone conclusion.
The vote, said Anthony O’Donnell, the Republican minority leader, amounted to “beginning a process, not ending a process. The citizens of Maryland will have the final say.”
The debate stretched for hours in the 18th-century, wooden-domed statehouse, and was punctuated by emotional entreaties by supporters of the bill, including several gay and lesbian delegates, who talked about their own lives, and other delegates who invoked Jim Crow laws.
“This is the civil rights issue of our generation,” said Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr., a Democrat from Baltimore. “I’m overwhelmed,” Luke Clippinger, one of the seven openly gay members of the Maryland House, said after the vote. “My voice is still breaking.”
When asked what the vote meant to him, he said, “It means I’m here.”
After the vote, lawmakers who voted for the bill — mostly Democrats — gathered outside the chamber cheering and hugging. Soon after, Mr. O’Malley arrived to congratulate the delegates. He embraced Mr. Clippinger.
The bill’s passage would make Maryland the eighth state to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. It comes a day after New Jersey’s legislature passed a similar bill, though it was vetoed on Friday by Gov. Chris Christie. New York State legalized same-sex marriage last year, and this month Washington State did so.
Read the full article from The New York Times.
Read more In the News.
In the News: Gov. Chris Christie vetoes N.J. gay marriage bill, as promised
from The Los Angeles Times.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie followed through on his word Friday, vetoing a gay marriage bill passed by the state’s legislature a day earlier.
“I am adhering to what I've said since this bill was first introduced - an issue of this magnitude and importance, which requires a constitutional amendment, should be left to the people of New Jersey to decide," Christie said in a statement.
Christie is urging the legislature to put the measure on the ballot in the form of a referendum.
“This is the only path to amend our state Constitution and the best way to resolve the issue of same-sex marriage in our state,” he said.
Democrats were not surprised by the veto. Christie, a Republican, announced his intentions last month at a town hall meeting.
Yet Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a Democrat, denounced the governor's action and vowed to work to override it.
“Governor Christie's veto is a shameful act hidden behind the guise of a public referendum. Today, he firmly planted his feet on the wrong side of history,” he said in a statement. “He had a chance to do the right thing, and failed miserably.”
New Jersey lawmakers now have until Jan. 2014 to muster a two-thirds majority vote in each chamber to override the governor’s veto.
Gay marriage supporters need three more votes in the Senate to override the veto. Senate Democrats passed the bill 24-16. The Assembly, which passed the bill 42-33, needs needs 14 more votes for a veto override.
On Thursday, the Democratic-controlled Assembly voted 42-33 in favor of gay marriage.
That vote came after emotional speeches from both sides on Thursday.
Seven states and the District of Columbia recognize same-sex marriage.
Read the article from The Los Angeles Times.
Read more In the News.
In the News: Gay marriage: N.J. Assembly approves measure, Christie vows veto
from Los Angeles Times.
New Jersey lawmakers passed legislation Thursday to recognize gay marriage, making the state the eighth to do so and setting the stage for Gov. Chris Christie to veto the measure.
The 42-33 vote in the Democratic-controlled Assembly followed the Senate's approval Monday and came after emotional speeches from both sides.
One lawmaker, Democrat Cleopatra Tucker, said that as a deaconess in her church, she had "struggled over this. ...I really had problems and struggled with this."
But she said she had decided to support the Marriage Equality and Religious Exemption Act. "This bill today is not a religious issue. It's a civil rights issue," she said.
In the visitors gallery overlooking the floor, rival groups either gave standing ovations to speakers or sat in stony silence, depending on their leanings.
Republican Nancy Munoz said she had decided to vote against the measure after comments from her constituents convinced her that they opposed the measure. She said voters should get to make the final decision in a ballot referendum. "I trust the people of New Jersey and I say they should be allowed to voice their opinion," she said as opponents of the act, dressed uniformly in bright red, burst into whoops and applause.
The reaction drew an angry lecture from the Assembly speaker, who threatened to have security evict the next person who violated his demands to stay quiet.
The bill now goes to Christie, presumably to be vetoed. Lawmakers have until the end of the legislative session in January 2014 to muster enough votes to override a veto. In the meantime, Christie has said he'll back a referendum that would let voters decide the issue.
Seven states and the District of Columbia recognize same-sex marriage, and a gay-marriage bill in Maryland advanced to the House of Delegates floor Tuesday, with a vote expected Friday. Gov. Martin O’Malley supports the law, but it is unclear whether it will get the 71 votes it needs to pass. The bill has support from both parties, but the issue has divided state lawmakers along religious and racial lines, with some Christians and blacks opposing the measure.
A similar measure passed in the state Senate last year, but failed to clear the house. Opponents of the bill have announced plans to hold a referendum in November if it passes.
Read the article from The Los Angeles Times.
Read more In the News.
In the News: Retirement Communities Find Niche With Gay Seniors
from NPR.
When Pat Matthews turned 65, her declining health led her in search of a place that could offer increasing levels of care as she grew older.
And Matthews had one other requirement: She wanted to bring Carol Bosworth, her partner of nearly 20 years. At the very first place they visited, that was a problem.
"They didn't say we couldn't come. But they said that we would be best off if we were sisters," Matthews says. "We crossed them off our list, because that's not the way we want to live."
As lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people age, finding suitable retirement housing can be a unique challenge. Some facilities allow only married couples to live together, and many gay seniors fear a cold shoulder from staff or fellow retirees.
But some retirement homes have begun catering specifically to LGBT seniors. Matthews and Bosworth found a more welcoming reception at one such facility, the Rose Villa retirement community in Portland, Ore.
Listen to the story here.
Read the full article from NPR.
Read more In the News.
In the News: N.H. Lawmakers Consider Rolling Back Gay Marriage
from NPR.
As several states debate measures to legalize gay marriage, New Hampshire is considering a repeal of its same-sex marriage law. The repeal has the backing of some top leaders in the GOP-controlled Legislature. But rescinding rights is never easy, particularly in a state that takes its liberties seriously.
Supporters of New Hampshire's 2-year-old same-sex marriage law like to stress its purity, that it was enacted without a court order or the threat of one. So do its opponents. For them it's a reminder that if a Democrat-dominated Statehouse could vote in gay marriage, a Republican-dominated one may be able to vote it out.
Republican state Rep. David Bates, the author of the repeal bill, led a recent rally on the Statehouse steps.
"I think it's time to move back, back to the true meaning of marriage," Bates said.
Listen to the story here.
Read the full article from NPR.
Read more In the News.
One Iowa in the News: Prominent Iowa Marriage Equality Defender -- One Iowa E.D. Troy Price -- Joins Obama Campaign
from Metro Weekly.
In an email to One Iowa's supporters, outgoing executive director Troy Price announced that he was leaving the organization to work for President Obama's reelection:
I am writing to you today with mixed emotions to announce my departure from One Iowa. I have been offered and accepted a position as Political Director with the Obama for America campaign. This was not an easy decision, or one that I made lightly, but I could not turn down the opportunity to help re-elect the President and move our country forward.
The Obama campaign confirmed to Metro Weekly that Price would be working on the campaign in Iowa.
Of note in his goodbye email was his mention of the ongoing effort to preserve marriage equality in the state. He wrote, "We have a great plan to preserve equality, led by our new Why Marriage Matters Iowa campaign."
Obama opposed marriage equality in the 2008 campaign. He said in December 2010 that his position on marriage equality was "evolving" but that he still "struggle[s]" with it. His White House press secretary, Jay Carney, said this past week of Obama's position, "You know his position, where it stands now, on the issue of same-sex marriage, so I really don't have much to add on that."
Obama, Carney said, opposes "divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same-sex couples" -- which would appear to include efforts, thus far unsuccessful, to overturn marriage equality in Iowa by constitutional amendment.
Read the article from Metro Weekly.
Read more One Iowa in the News.
Read more In the News.
In the News: Pelosi wants same-sex marriage plank in 2012 Dem platform
from Politico.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi supports a pro-gay marriage plank in the 2012 Democratic platform, her spokesman Drew Hammill confirms to POLITICO.
Pelosi's office endorsed a push the Freedom to Marry campaign's platform push to the publication MetroWeekly:
The proposed plank states: "We support the full inclusion of all families in the life of our nation, with equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law, including the freedom to marry. Government has no business putting barriers in the path of people seeking to care for their family members, particularly in challenging economic times. We support the Respect for Marriage Act and the overturning of the federal so-called Defense of Marriage Act, and oppose discriminatory constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny the freedom to marry to loving and committed same-sex couples."
Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill tells Metro Weekly, "Leader Pelosi supports this language."
Obama currently supports much of the Freedom to Marry plank language -- outside of the marriage equality language itself. He has endorsed the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA, and opposes "divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same-sex couples." After several requests by Metro Weekly, however, the Obama campaign is yet to provide specific comment on the proposed platform language.
Platform fights often fall into the sideshow category, but this one has the potential to be different; same-sex marriage is perhaps the most prominent issue on which the president's stated views and the official views of the Democratic Party are out of alignment with the party base and many of its prominent liberal officeholders.
One of those officeholders, significantly, is Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a supporter of gay unions who was just named chairman of the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
In the News: Grassley raises objections to the Violence Against Women Act over new LGBT provisions
from Think Progress.
Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act in 1994, and it’s been reauthorized without a hitch twice since then. Now that it’s up for reauthorization again, however, Senate Republicans have suddenly decided to use it as part of an anti-gay and anti-immigrant crusade. Every single Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted against reauthorization, with Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) taking the lead against the bill:
The objections, led by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and a few conservative organizations, are not over the VAWA as a whole, but over a few new provisions in the reauthorization — specifically, protections for LGBT individuals, undocumented immigrants who are victims of domestic abuse and the authority of Native American tribes to prosecute crimes.
The Leahy bill enumerates protections for LGBT victims of domestic violence, forbidding discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity by VAWA grantees.
The VAWA reauthorization also expands the availability of visas for undocumented immigrants who have been victims of domestic violence and may be reluctant to come forward because of the risk of deportation. VAWA has always protected this group of individuals, but the reauthorization would raise the cap on visas for battered women and sexual assault victims from 10,000 to 15,000. The additional visas would come from recaptured visas in previous years that haven’t been utilized.
Call Sen. Grassley and urge him to re-authorize the Violence Against Women Act.
Read the full article from Think Progress.
Read more In the News.
A Bright Future for One Iowa
A message from Interim Executive Director Calla Rongerude
Yesterday, we read the heartfelt goodbye message from One Iowa Executive Director Troy Price, who is leaving the organization to work as Political Director for the Obama for America’s Iowa campaign. As a colleague and a friend, this news was bittersweet. All of us at One Iowa will miss Troy’s leadership, his political instinct, his unwavering commitment to equality, and his hard work. We know that he will do a fantastic job and he will continue to be an advocate for equality in his new capacity.
In 2010, my wife was recruited to work in Iowa. When she asked me if I was open to moving our family from San Francisco, my first instinct was yes because Iowa respects equality.
For years, I worked on marriage equality in California—from the ecstatic day when we won the freedom to marry to the heartbreaking day when a marriage ban passed on the ballot. In the wake of this loss, I read the incredible news when the Iowa Supreme Court handed down the Varnum decision. Iowa changed the course of our movement. Because of that decision, we now live in Iowa and are deeply grateful for the life we now have here.
When I began working with One Iowa, my role was to draft and implement a multi-year public education plan with the goal of moving public opinion and support for marriage equality in the state. Over the past year and a half, our staff has worked tirelessly and just last month we launched Why Marriage Matters Iowa that will transform the conversation about marriage.
Since 2009, politics has dominated the conversation about the freedom to marry. As we wade through news coverage about campaigns and caucuses, the very essence of this issue and has been forgotten—people. Marriage says you’re family like nothing else does. Marriage is about love and commitment. Marriage is about being there for each other in good times and bad, to celebrate joy and mourn loss.
Why Marriage Matters Iowa facilitates conversations about marriage in a way that we all can understand--conversations about how we share the human experience of bonding with the person we love and create a life with each other. We know that by equipping our supporters with the tools they need to have personal and heartfelt conversations, we can reach more Iowans and change more hearts and minds.
Prior to coming to Iowa, I worked as Director of Communications for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, where I oversaw the communications and public education strategies for California’s historic marriage equality case, contributed to the No on Proposition 8 campaign, and the subsequent legal challenge to Proposition 8. My experience in building coalitions, creating public education campaigns, and ties to national partners have contributed to the new direction that we are taking here at One Iowa as our public education work takes priority for the organization.
And the One Iowa Board has already begun a search for our next Executive Director who will have the vision and skills necessary to lead One Iowa into a bright future. During this time of transition, however, we will not waver in our focus. One Iowa’s committed staff continues to work hard every day to protect equality. I am proud to lead this team of passionate and committed staff.
But, as always, we cannot do this without your help. We know that there will be future battles. Bob Vander Plaats continues to attack LGBT Iowans and legislators still have plenty of time to introduce harmful bills. Just today he made headlines for targeting the most vulnerable members of our community, youth, who endure bullying and taunts simply because they are gay or are perceived to be gay. Our work is more critical than ever, especially as we head into a contentious election. I make this promise to you: One Iowa will continue to fight as hard as it can to protect the rights of ALL Iowans.
So, as I begin this new role, I need your help. Please donate today to ensure that One Iowa does not miss a beat over the coming weeks and months.
Without the active engagement of our supporters, we would not be able to protect equality. Without your commitment to protecting equality and fighting for ALL Iowa families, One Iowa simply would not exist.
We have a new direction and a bright future and today I look toward that future with optimism and confidence. We look forward to continuing to build public support for marriage equality in Iowa and the Heartland. We look forward to protecting our crucial gains. And I look forward to working with all of you to make this happen.
Onward,
Calla Rongerude
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