May 1, 2009
Kelly McGillis came out as a lesbian yesterday (here’s the video), eliciting a gigantic yawn from yours truly, followed by: “Well, it’s about damned time.” Not that we dismiss such a thing — on the contrary, we salute McGillis and welcome her to the Out Wing of the Club. But, seriously, are people actually surprised by this revelation? (And if you ask why we’ve never mentioned McGillis’ orientation before, if we’ve supposedly known about it all these nigh-unto-several decades, the answer is simple: for the same reason we don’t flatly state what we know about certain other “Well, duh!” Hollywood lesbians: l-a-w-s-u-i-t.)
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Posted by: Sapphocrat
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Filed Under: California, Celebrities, Democrats, Mark Leno, Outing & Coming Out
December 17, 2008
Via email:
Please join us on Tuesday, February 17 in Sacramento for Equality California’s Marriage Equality Lobby Day.
www.eqca.org/2009lobbyday
It is critical that elected officials hear from you about why nothing less than complete equality will ever be acceptable.
We will meet with elected officials to urge them to support SR 7 (Leno) and HR 5 (Ammiano), EQCA-sponsored resolutions making it official state policy that Prop 8 is an invalid revision to the California Constitution since significant changes to the Constitution must first be passed by the legislature before being placed on the ballot. These resolutions also set forth that any change to the Constitution that would eliminate a fundamental right from any minority group must use the more deliberative revision process.
We will also ask elected officials to speak out in support of marriage equality and seek their guidance on how to change the hearts and minds of their constituents who voted for Prop 8.
Register today at www.eqca.org/2009lobbyday.
EQCA’s Marriage Equality Lobby Day is part of a series of coordinated marriage equality actions over President’s Day weekend to raise awareness, visibility and support.
Here’s what’s happening so far:
• Thursday, February 12: Freedom to Marry Day (Nationwide) Take action locally (details forthcoming).
• Monday, February 16: Love and Marriage Rally (Sacramento) Gather together at the Capitol to demonstrate that the LGBT community and our allies will settle for nothing less than equality. Sponsored by Equality Action NOW.
• Tuesday, February 17: Marriage Lobby Day (Sacramento) Meet with elected officials and urge them to actively support the effort to win marriage back.
Marriage Lobby Day is free and open to all who support equality. You will receive training, materials, and join a group of activists with an experienced team leader before heading off to meetings at the Capitol.
www.eqca.org/2009lobbyday
Your voice is critical to making sure we secure the necessary votes to pass the resolutions and that we send a strong message that California stands for equality.
Let’s make this the biggest lobby day our state has ever seen!
In solidarity,
Geoff Kors
Executive Director
Equality California
Posted by: Sapphocrat
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Filed Under: California, Civil Rights, Events, Mark Leno, Marriage, Proposition 8, Tom Ammiano
December 11, 2008
Via email:
Today, I testified at the Senate Committee on Public Safety’s informational meeting to explore issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the California prison system.
Shockingly, almost 70% of LGBT inmates report abuse. And transgender people are 13 times more likely to experience assault than others in prisons.
The meeting focused on the unique issues LGBT people face while incarcerated and explored issues related to prisoner classification systems, harassment and abuse, access to healthcare and reentry into society.
EQCA helped organize this historic event with NCLR, Transgender Law Center, Just Detention International, TGI Justice Project and today’s chair, Senator Gloria Romero (D-East Los Angeles). The meeting was also attended by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), a member of the LGBT Caucus. Senator Leno, incoming chair of the Senate Committee on Public Safety, planned to attend but was called to a last-minute Senate budget hearing to address potential cuts to essential health and human services programs.
This was a critical first step in the legislative process. EQCA has used similar events in the past to successfully craft and pass legislation that extends rights and protections. And it is my hope that this meeting will spark new policy proposals to address this very significant problem.
Warmly,
Alice Kessler
Government Affairs Director
Equality California
Sadly, I’m not shocked at all.
Kudos on the messting, tho’.
Posted by: Sapphocrat
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Filed Under: California, Crime, Hate Crimes, Homophobia, LGBT Organizations, Mark Leno, Transgender
December 2, 2008
Leno, Ammiano Measures, Sponsored by EQCA, Call Initiative an Improper Constitutional Revision, Bypassing Legislature’s Authority in Constitution’s Checks and Balances Process
SACRAMENTO — December 2, 2008 — On the second day of the new 2009-10 legislative session, lawmakers in both the Senate and Assembly introduced resolutions that support the overturning of Proposition 8. Senator Mark Leno, D-San Francisco and Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, today introduced measures to put the Legislature on record opposing Prop 8 and declaring that the initiative is an improper revision to the Constitution.
Both resolutions are sponsored by Equality California and were drafted by EQCA and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, plaintiff and lead counsel, respectively, in the marriage case brought before the California Supreme Court.
Leno’s Senate Resolution 7 and Ammiano’s Assembly Resolution (number to be assigned) specify that significant revisions to the Constitution mandate distinct procedures and require a two-thirds vote of each house of the Legislature before going to voters. The resolutions are co-authored by Sen. Christine Kehoe and Assemblymember John A. Perez, both members of the LGBT Legislative Caucus, and Senate Pro Tem Speaker Darrell Steinberg.
“Prop 8 eliminates the fundamental right to marry from same-sex couples and allows a slim majority to take away the equal protections of a single minority group, which violates one of the fundamental and founding principles of our Constitution,” said EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors. “That type of unprecedented change to the Constitution puts the rights of all Californians at risk, and it’s critical in our system of checks and balances that the Legislature weigh in on such fundamental revisions to the Constitution.”
The California Supreme Court is reviewing the validity of Prop 8, which passed by a narrow margin of 52 percent on November 4. Several lawsuits have challenged the initiative, including one filed on behalf of EQCA and several same-sex couples. That lawsuit was filed by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal. Earlier this year, the California Supreme Court held that barring same-sex couples from marriage violates the equal protection clause of the California Constitution and violates the fundamental right to marry.
“Proposition 8’s revision to the California Constitution violates key structural checks and balances built into our legal system,” said Sen. Leno. “Overnight, the constitutional protections of thousands of tax paying, law abiding California citizens were stripped from them by a simple majority vote, without a prior two-thirds vote by both houses of the legislature, thereby trampling on their fundamental right to equal protection.”
“Any major revision to the state Constitution should not be allowed to circumvent the legal system,” said Assemblymember Ammiano. “The fact is, Proposition 8 was improperly instituted through the ballot process without legislative involvement. I am proud to author this crucial resolution urging the courts to right the social travesty of Proposition 8 and ensure any similar future measures are approached in an appropriate and legal manner.”
If it stands, Prop 8 would be the only California initiative to successfully change the California Constitution to take away a right from a targeted minority group.
“Equality California is working to ensure there is broad support for both resolutions within the Legislature,” Kors said. “Additionally, we need people who support equality to take action immediately and encourage their representatives to support these resolutions. They can email their lawmakers directly at eqca.org.”
Founded in 1998, Equality California celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2008, commemorating a decade of building a state of equality in California. EQCA is a nonprofit, statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to achieve equality and civil rights of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Californians. www.eqca.org
Posted by: Sapphocrat
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Filed Under: California, Civil Rights, Democrats, Mark Leno, Marriage, Press Releases, Proposition 8
November 24, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — November 24, 2008 — “Therefore be it resolved, that I, Gavin Newsom, Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco, join the LGBT community in recognizing Leonard Matlovich’s unprecedented contribution to the pursuit of equality and celebrate his contributions and heroism, do hereby proclaim November 15, 2008, as ‘Leonard Matlovich Memorial Day’ in San Francisco!”
Thus, in the city in which a local TV news anchor who thought he was off-mike once referred to him as a “faggot flier,” late US Air Force Tech. Sgt. Leonard Matlovich, immortalized on the cover of Time magazine and by his own tombstone in Washington DC’s Congressional Cemetery, was honored by the Mayor and others on Saturday, November 15th.
The occasion was the dedication of a bronze memorial plaque since installed on the side of the apartment building at the corner of 18th & Castro where he once lived. It was conceived by friends of Leonard and the nongay owner of the building. As its text notes, Matlovich, a 12-year Air Force veteran with a Bronze Star and Purple heart earned during three tours of duty in Vietnam, was the first to make the nation aware of the absurdity and injustice of the military’s ban on gays when he volunteered to challenge it in court.
Though he didn’t succeed, his example inspired others to continue to try to this day and others, still, to come out to their family and friends, including some of the speakers at the dedication ceremony.
Representing the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, formed in 1993 to fight the modern version of the military’s ban, San Francisco attorney Jo Hoenninger recalled that, despite having never met him, Leonard inspired her to tell the truth when asked if she was a lesbian when she, too, was in the Air Force. Thinking the importance of her job for the service might save her, she was, nonetheless, soon discharged. She added that she believed that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” would have been overturned by now had Leonard lived.
GLBT Historical Society Executive Director Paul Boneberg revealed that he was still in the closet when Leonard’s famous “I Am A Homosexual” Time magazine cover appeared in 1975, forcing him to hide it behind another magazine while reading it. Twelve years later, as the head of Mobilization Against AIDS, Boneberg would be arrested along with Leonard and several other gay leaders at a protest in front of the White House against the Reagan Administration’s failure to adequately address AIDS which, by that time, had already killed 20,000 in the US. Leonard was arrested wearing his US Air Force jacket, his medals, and carrying a small American flag. By coincidence, the building on which his plaque was installed will soon house an exhibit of the Historical Society’s huge collection of GLBT memorabilia, including Leonard’s uniform, Harvey Milk’s chair, and the sewing machine upon which Gilbert Baker created the first rainbow flag.
In a remarkable coincidence, chants of the huge San Francisco anti Prop 8 crowd marching by below rose upward, filling the LGBT Community Center’s fourth floor ceremonial room as CA Assemblyman/State Senator-Elect Mark Leno also presented a certificate in Leonard’s honor and emphasized how fitting it was that the dedication was happening the same day as nationwide protests against anti gay marriage bigotry.
Attendees watched video clips of some of Matlovich’s numerous appearances on national television and speeches, including Walter Cronkite introducing his first television interview on May 26, 1975; being interviewed in Miami by NBC nightly news as one of the leaders of the 1977 fight against the Anita Bryant campaign which also used the threat of the city becoming “another San Francisco,” and, like Yes On Prop 8, the fear of gays’ influence on children to win; his revealing in 1987 to Charlie Gibson on Good Morning America that he had AIDS; his final speech just weeks before he died at a 1988 Sacramento gay rights rally where he told the crowd that “our mission is to reach out to teach people to love and not to hate”; and ABC’s Peter Jennings announcing his death and reading his epitaph which the Associated Press has described as “still as fresh as today’s headlines: ‘When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one’.”
Leonard’s friend, and co-organizer with him of a never-realized plan to erect a Washington DC memorial to Harvey Milk, activist Ken McPherson, said he knew that Leonard would be out in the streets himself if he were still alive.
LGBT liaison to out-of-the-country San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Alex Randolph, who had not been born when Leonard came out nor yet in grade school when he died, said how happy he was to learn of another gay hero, and presented the certificate from the Mayor proclaiming “Leonard Matlovich Memorial Day.”
More than one speaker agreed with the words of reporter Neely Tucker in an article in The Washington Post just a few days before:
“He had the knack for taking your heart and making it catch for a moment… He seemed to make people want to be braver than perhaps they were.”
A Website, www.leonardmatlovich.com, to further memorialize Matlovich and grow support for overturning “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will be launched soon.
Posted by: Sapphocrat
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Filed Under: California, Gavin Newsom, HIV/AIDS, Homophobia, LGBT History, Mark Leno, Military/DADT, Outing & Coming Out, Press Releases, Proposition 8, Ronald Reagan
