June 25, 2009

House Dorothys Dutifully Fork Over Cash, Presence at DNC Fundraiser

What shall we do about House Dororthys (and Dorothyettes) Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin, Joan Garry (who first struck me as utterly spineless when she was head of GLAAD in the early days of the “Stop Dr. Laura” campaign), and Jared Polis (who’s becoming quite the cojone-free party apologist; read the article, not merely the headline) — all of whom were slated to attend tonight’s Gay ATM Fundraiser for the backstabbing DNC?

(Andy Tobias has a plausible excuse; he’s the treasurer of the DNC. But — even though I’ve had casual contact with Andy over the years, and know him to be a good, earnest sort — he really needs to grow a set.)

Meanwhile, Queerty wants to know why the SLDN (Servicemembers Legal Defense Network) is attending, yet plans to march on the White House two days later. We’d like to know why, too.

There was indeed a protest, small but vocal, with a memorable warning-chant for the Democrats:

“We’ll remember in November…”

The Boston Herald has the story, and a very good photo gallery.

Related:

Obama’s Meaningless Memorandum = Desperate Attempt to Stop Johnstown Flood of Gay Dollars Flowing Away from DNC
June 16, 2009

More A-List Gays Boycott DNC Fundraiser, While Barney Frank Plays House Dorothy
June 18, 2009

Stampp Corbin: “I am boycotting the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council Democratic National Committee event honoring Vice President Biden to drive home my discontent.”
June 19, 2009

Howard Dean, All Is Forgiven (For Now)
June 24, 2009

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December 22, 2008

Obama Thinks He’s Throwing Us A Bone, But He’s Still Just Boning Us

B.F.D.

And I’m disappointed in Tammy Baldwin for allowing her name to be attached to the latest event in the ongoing Obama Bigotfest:

Tammy Baldwin named
honorary inaugural co-chair

President-Obama is nothing if not politically savvy.

Perhaps as a bone to gays upset over Rick Warren’s invitation to give the opening prayer during the inaugural ceremony, the openly lesbian Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) has been named one of 15 honorary co-chairs of the inaugural committee.

Of course, honorary co-chairs are just that - honorary. They don’t do anything. Their names are just on the stationary.

In other Warren news, Katha Pollitt points out that Warren has also disrespected Jewish people -they will burn in hell, he has said - and that Muslim leaders should basically be killed for being “evil.”

Do you think that once Warren’s anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim views become more widespread, Obama will stop defending him?

Answer: Only when he thinks he’s in danger of losing Jewish and Muslim voters, too.

Read Pollitt’s piece, too. (“Speaking of Jews, Warren has publicly stated his belief that they will burn in hell, presumably along with everyone else who hasn’t accepted his particular brand of Christianity (i.e., the vast majority of people in the world). And forget about evolution — the existence of homosexuals, he’s argued, disproves Darwin. And while we may not know how old the Earth is, the Saddleback website assures us that dinosaurs and humans coexisted. Warren claims that his views are mainstream…”)

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November 25, 2008

Baldwin, Giuliano: Homophobic Hate Speech “More Than Offensive”

November 25, 2008 — In response to Media Matters for America’s recent report on “radioactive smears,” which exposed the prevalence of hate speech on a wide variety of topics on local and regional radio stations nationwide, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (WI-02), co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, and Neil G. Giuliano, President of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), released the following statements:

“This kind of hateful speech is more than offensive,” said Rep. Baldwin. “I applaud Media Matters for conducting the study ‘Radioactive Smears’ and exposing the homophobic comments that aim to divide our nation and deny equal rights for all Americans.”

“No fair-minded person can look at these statements and believe that these prejudices have a place in our media. The dangerous message that programming departments and producers send by continuing to embrace this anti-gay rhetoric is that there is no downside and considerable benefit for those who use vulgar slurs and promote homophobia,” said Giuliano. “We call on other media outlets to continue to take broadcasters to task when they promote these kinds of vulgar slurs toward any group of people.”

The Media Matters report demonstrates a pattern of homophobic rhetoric that extends across multiple radio hosts, stations and syndicators:

• Michael Savage: “If you’re insane, hate the family … hate your mother and father, hate the Bible, hate the church, and hate the synagogue,” you oppose CA gay marriage ban

• Jim Quinn: “Gay sex produces AIDS”; “They should charge homosexuals more for their … health insurance”

• Dan Caplis again asserted that gay “conduct is not natural” and is “immoral”

• Brian Sussman invited guest to talk about his claim that “gay and lesbian radicals actively recruit through our schools and the media”

• Michael Savage: “The children’s minds are being raped by the homosexual mafia”

Since the release of the “Radioactive Smears” report, Media Matters has also documented the following radio attacks against gay, lesbian, or transgender Americans:

• Chris Baker: Media have “blood on their hands” for murder of transgender woman because they created “false sense of reality”

• Bill O’Reilly suggested that without Prop 8, “a man can have 27 wives”; CA Supreme Court disagrees

• Jim Quinn trivializes same-sex marriage effort, claiming: “[G]ays never wanted to get married until … about five years ago”

Click here for the full report

Click here for an audio montage of right-wing radio

Posted by: Sapphocrat

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Filed Under: California, Civil Rights, Hate Speech, Homophobia, Marriage, Media, Press Releases, Proposition 8, Radical Religious Right, Republicans, Tammy Baldwin, Transgender

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August 26, 2008

I Hate, Hate, HATE Agreeing with Chris Crain

So, take a screenshot of this post; it’s one of those rare moments I’ll say he’s right (and not just “Right”).

In discussing the 2008 Democratic and Republican campaign platforms, Crain is the one of the very few gay bloggers I’ve seen so far who hasn’t waxed poetic over the oh-so-”inclusive” Democratic platform, instead calling it like it is: another crumb to the queers, which doesn’t amount to… well, anything more than a crumb.

Granted, Crain is a conservative, so he’s going to be far more critical of the Dems — but does it always take a conservative to show us where our own house needs cleaning?

Four years ago, the [Democratic] party platform read like a good GOP plank would this year: “repudiating” Bush’s marriage amendment and saying the states should decide. But the platform was silent on civil unions as an alternative, much less advocating the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act — even though John Kerry, the nominee, had voted against it back in 1996.

Barack Obama made a point of distinguishing himself from Hillary Clinton by favoring DOMA’s full repeal, so the platform should make that explicit. Much more important, however, would be a plank that specifically lays out what the Democratic nominee has said repeatedly about gay relationships — whether recognized by the states through marriage, civil unions or not at all — being afforded fully equal treatment to heterosexual marriage under federal law.

For this gay American, stuck living in exile because of unequal immigration rights, the plank would include specific support for the Uniting American Families Act, which allows us to sponsor our partners for residence the same way heterosexuals do in the U.S. — and as both gay and straight citizens can in Canada, Australia,* Brazil and almost all of Western Europe.

Trans activists will also be pressing hard for including their agenda in the Democratic platform, since they were turned away by the Kerry camp four years ago. This time, with lesbian Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin on the platform committee, they’re likely to get a much more welcome reception.

Even so, any trans rights plank should avoid taking sides in the bitter fight last fall over whether gay measures like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act should only be adopted if the votes are there for “gender identity” as well.

Lisa Keen puts it even more bluntly:

Heading into the Democratic National Convention … the LGBT community is confronted with two stark ironies:

One: Under the presidential nominee who has uttered the words “gays and lesbians” in a supportive way more than any other candidate on the campaign trail, the Democratic Party has completely eliminated those words from its platform.

And two: A long line of LGBT leaders have only praise for the platform that dares not speak their name.

That’s right: The 54-page Democratic platform for 2008 does not mention the words “gay,” “lesbian,” “bisexual,” or “transgender” even once.

And yet Representative Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), a lesbian and a champion of inclusion, calls it “by far the most pro-equality platform in Democratic history” and one that “makes very clear our party rejects discrimination … including, very explicitly, discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”

True … But the 2008 platform is the first time since 1992, when the party first included the word “gay,” that the document has omitted explicit mention of the words or any identifiable acronym for the LGBT community. …

The 2000 and 2004 platforms promised the party’s support for full inclusion of “gay and lesbian families in the life of our nation,” compared to the 2008 platform, which supports “all families.” …

And unlike the 2004 platform, the 2008 platform promises Democrats “will fight to end discrimination based on race … sexual orientation, gender identity … in every corner of our country, because that’s the America we believe in.”

But the 2008 document also includes a new section, “Fatherhood,” that reads more like a platform statement from the Republican Party. The section claims that “Children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and are more likely to commit crime, drop out of school, abuse drugs and end up in prison.” The sweeping nature of the statement, while perhaps true of families headed by heterosexual couples, is not supported by research that has examined the well-being of children in families headed by lesbian couples. …

Yes, by comparison to the Republican platform, the Democratic platform is fabulous.

But it’s not good enough.

* That Australia has fully-inclusive same-sex immigration should instill deep shame in the United States; Australia also has the sort of federal, constitutional ban on same-sex marriage the Repugs yearn for here — yet (and even with its long history of treating immigrants as criminals) still manages to recognize the validity of de facto same-sex unions between its own citizens and their foreign-born partners. Meanwhile, we can’t even get the UAFA passed.

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June 26, 2008

Historic Congressional Hearing on Workplace Protections for Transgender Americans

WASHINGTON — The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization, today participated in the first-ever Congressional hearing exclusively on the issue of workplace discrimination against transgender Americans. The hearing, held by the House Education and Labor’s Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions, was titled “An Examination of Discrimination Against Transgender Americans.” Coordinated by Congressional allies, including Subcommittee Chairman Rob Andrews (D-NJ), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), as well as a coalition of GLBT groups, the hearing was intended to send a strong message to Congress about the need for fully-inclusive federal workplace protections.

In advance of the hearing, HRC issued targeted action alerts in key districts to inform constitutes of the hearing taking place and to urge their lawmaker to attend. HRC also activated resources throughout the organization to ensure that a diverse group of voices — from Fortune 500 corporations to faith leaders to our members throughout the country — were heard in support of federal employment protections for transgender workers.

Excerpt from testimony by HRC Business Council Member Diego Sanchez:

“It’s an injustice that we are ever evaluated for employment based on other people’s comfort with our existence… I am before you today to affirm that transgender and transsexual people, including me, are equally human and deserve to be treated like other people.”

Excerpt from testimony by HRC Business Council Member Meghan Stabler:

“Like the witnesses before you today, I have been and am still a productive, responsible, dedicated and passionate employee. It is only when we are subject to discriminatory actions and a lack of workplace protections that our work begins to suffer. Without work, we lose income. Without income or savings, we lack access to affordable healthcare, and sometimes healthcare is not even available to us from certainproviders just because of our transitional history or status. Without healthcare we often cannot complete transition. With the stress placed on us, often suicide is a considered option. As you have seen from the witnesses called before you today, we have varying careers, although some no longer are able to work in their chosen profession, if at all. Standing behind us in the fabric of America there are tens of thousands more who face continuing discrimination. Their voices cannot be here today, but I assure you that during any business day you have flown with, sat next to, ordered from, or talked to a transgender person.” Continue reading

Excerpt from testimony by Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese:

“The transgender community, too long marginalized in American society and even within the gay, lesbian and bisexual community, has made enormous strides in recent years. There are many reasons to hope that the future holds even greater acceptance and understanding, including full equality under the law. But hope alone will not protect the transgender woman in Topeka, Kansas who loses her job and health insurance when co-workers learn that she is transitioning or the transgender man in Shreveport, Louisiana who, despite an advanced engineering degree, must work in a fast food restaurant. It is critical that Congress act to protect these, our transgender friends and family, colleagues and neighbors.” Continue reading

Excerpt from letter submitted by the HRC Business Coalition for Workplace Fairness:

“To make our workplace values clear and transparent to our employees, customer and investors, each of our businesses have already implemented a non-discrimination policy which is inclusive of gender identity and/or gender expression. This policy has been accepted broadly and we believe it has positively affected our bottom-line. Our philosophy and practice of valuing diversity encourages full and open participation by all employees. By treating all employees with fairness and respect we have been able to recruit and retain the best and brightest workers, thereby bringing a multitude of diverse opinions and perspectives to our organizations.” Continue reading

Excerpt from letter submitted by the HRC Religion Council:

“Our diverse religious traditions speak to the sacred nature of work and demand that we, as people of deep faith, advocate and call in the strongest possible terms for the protection of workers. As religious leaders, we have seen firsthand the financial and emotional damage done to families and entire communities when jobs are lost. Although always a painful experience, losing employment is particularly devastating when it is wholly unrelated to one’s ability to do a job. It is our moral duty to stand up against such arbitrary discrimination. Too often in our history as a nation, religion has been misused as a tool to keep people down instead of lifting them up, to bar paths to opportunity rather than lighting the way. As members of HRC’s Religion Council, we are committed to reversing this trend so that our diverse religious beliefs might fuel justice and build compassionate understanding.” Continue reading

For breaking news and up-to-the minute details on the hearing, visit www.HRCBackStory.org.

See also:

House Wants to Throw Transgenders Under Bus
September 27, 2007

Pelosi, HRC Slated for Awkward Awards Dinner
September 28, 2007

Lane Hudson Doesn’t Want a Sex Change, And Neither Do We
September 28, 2007

ENDA: For Straight-Acting Only?
September 30, 2007

ENDA-Lite: It’s Worse Than You Thought
October 2, 2007

House, HRC to Trans Workers: Drop Dead
November 7, 2007

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June 6, 2008

House LGBT Equality Caucus? It’s About Time!

From Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.):

Baldwin Co-Chairs LGBT Equality Caucus

Goal is Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender (LGBT) Americans

June 4, 2008 — In a Capitol Hill press conference today, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) announced the formation of the House of Representatives LGBT Equality Caucus. Baldwin introduced the bipartisan caucus and its founding members saying, “We represent different races, different genders, different sexual orientations, different geographic regions, different generations, and different parties, but we share a common mission: to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality.”

Congressman Barney Frank, who is co-chairing the caucus with Baldwin said, “With a Democratic majority in the House, we now have both the opportunity and the responsibility to move towards legal equality for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. This caucus will play an important role in helping shape the strategy by which we do this.”

The mission of the LGBT Equality Caucus is to achieve the extension of equal rights, the repeal of discriminatory laws, the elimination of hate-motivated violence, and the improved health and well being for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.

The Caucus will serve as a resource for Members of Congress, their staffs, and the public on LGBT issues. Congressional action this session on legislation combating hate crimes and employment discrimination based highlighted the need, and the desire people had, for more information on LGBT issues. The LGBT Equality Caucus is one result of those successful efforts.

Baldwin described the purpose of the Caucus as both symbolic and substantive, “…symbolic because, historically, of all the Member caucuses organized in the Congress over the years, none has ever been dedicated to equality for LGBT Americans. The very existence of an LGBT Equality Caucus in Congress makes a strong statement about the values this Congress and this nation hold dear.”

The Caucus will address not only U.S. domestic policies, but our nation’s foreign policy to safeguard the human rights of LGBT people in all parts of the world.

At its founding today, the Equality Caucus is comprised of the following Members with more expected to join in the coming months:

Co-Chairs: Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Barney Frank (D-MA)

Vice Chairs: Reps. Rob Andrews (D-NJ), Xavier Becerra (D-CA) Lois Capps (D-CA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Mike Honda (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), James McGovern (D-MA), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Linda Sánchez (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Peter Welch (D-VT)

Members: Reps. Howard Berman (D-CA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Robert Brady (D-PA), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Susan Davis (D-CA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Phil Hare (D-IL), Rush Holt (D-NJ), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Doris Matsui (D-CA), James Moran (D-VA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Steven Rothman (D-NJ), José Serrano (D-NY), Chris Shays (R-CT), Pete Stark (D-CA), Betty Sutton (D-OH), Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), Niki Tsongas (D-MA), Robert Wexler (D-FL), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)

Reads like a checklist of “Who’s On Our Side.”

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May 8, 2008

Baldwin Presses Rice on “Unsatisfactory Response” Regarding State Dept. LGBT Policies

From Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.):

May 7, 2008 — Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) has again challenged Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to act through her leadership as Secretary of the Department of State to eliminate inequities facing gay and lesbian State Department employees. Baldwin was reacting to “an unsatisfactory response” from an Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs to an earlier letter to Rice.

On Thursday, February 21, Rep. Baldwin, joined by Howard Berman (D-CA), Gary Ackerman (D-NY) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) wrote to Rice:

“We have followed with great interest and concern the media coverage of the workplace inequities facing gays and lesbians in the U.S. Department of State… We write to highlight basic and common-sense policy changes” including the following changes in State Department policy regarding Foreign Service Officers (FSOs):

• Inclusion in travel orders for same-sex domestic partners of FSOs

• Access to training, including language and security classes, for same-sex domestic partners of FSOs

• Emergency evacuation and medevac from post when necessary for same-sex domestic partners of FSOs.

• Access to post health units for same-sex domestic partners of FSOs

• Visa support for same-sex domestic partners accompanying FSOs to overseas postings, and for same-sex foreign-born domestic partners accompanying FSOs to postings in Washington or elsewhere in the U.S.

• Preferential status for employment at post comparable to that enjoyed by Eligible Family Members for same-sex domestic partners of FSOs.

In a response to that letter, dated April 17, 2008, Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, Jeffrey Bergner, replied to Congresswoman Baldwin that the State Department treats “same-sex and opposite sex unmarried partners of U.S. Government employees stationed abroad in an equivalent manner.” As examples, Bergner cited, among other things, helping the unmarried partners of employees overseas obtain residency permits and including them in the Mission phone book.

In her follow-up letter to Rice sent today, Baldwin, joined again by Reps. Berman, Ackerman, and Ros-Lehtinen, stressed that they were seeking comparable benefits, protections, and services for the partners of gay and lesbian employees as those enjoyed by family members of married FSOs. Of vital concern to all Americans living abroad in service of their country are partner-related security issues, such as health services and evacuation assistance.

Baldwin and her colleagues stressed that they are looking to Secretary Rice for her “personal leadership on this issue, in the interest of mission effectiveness, workplace equity, and fairness for those who sacrifice so much for our country.”

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April 24, 2008

Baldwin Resolution Honors National Day of Silence

From Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.):

April 23, 2008 — Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin today called on colleagues in the House to recognize this year’s National Day of Silence to be held on April 25th. The annual National Day of Silence is a day in which students take a vow of silence to bring attention to the anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) name-calling, bullying, and harassment faced by individuals in schools, including students, teachers, and other school staff. The Day of Silence is coordinated nationally by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). An estimated 500,000 students from nearly 5,000 junior and high schools in all 50 states and Puerto Rico have participated in the National Day of Silence in past years and more than 6,000 schools have registered this year.

In remarks on the House floor this morning, Congresswoman Baldwin told her colleagues, “This year’s event will be held in memory of Lawrence King, a California 8th-grader who was shot and killed Feb. 12 by a classmate because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. Larry’s death is an unnecessary reminder of what we already know: lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students continue to face pervasive harassment and victimization in schools. As students use their silence to demand schools are safe for all students, it is my hope that we in Congress will use our voices to ensure that it be so.

GLSEN reports startling statistics:

• More than 80 percent of LGBT students have been verbally harassed;

• Nearly 20 percent of LGBT students were physically assaulted by their peers at school because their sexual orientation or gender identity/expression;

• Almost 40 percent of LGBT students reported that faculty and staff never intervene when homophobic language is used in their presence;

• Nearly 30 percent of LGBT students reported missing at least one entire school day in the last month because they felt unsafe.

Reps. Baldwin (D-WI), Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Lois Capps (D-CA) have sponsored a resolution (H Con Res 328) supporting the goals and ideals of the National Day of Silence. Baldwin said Congressional support sends a strong signal that harassment and hate crimes will not be tolerated in our schools and in our communities.

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March 15, 2008

So, You Want Some Reasons to Vote FOR Hillary, And Not Just Against Obama?

Peter Rosenstein gives you plenty (and you too, you young “post-feminist” women who think you have it made in the shade with Obama):

I didn’t realize the extent to which sexism is still alive. As a gay man I have been more focused on homophobia in the last few years. But having worked for the late Rep. Bella Abzug (D-N.Y.) many years ago, I should have been aware that we have not come very far.

It is clear that racism is now politically incorrect. It is there in large measures and if Barack Obama is the nominee we will see just how widespread it still is, but we have come to the point that you cannot be racist in public and get away with it. … But we have seen in this campaign that we can still call women a word rhyming with witch, hold a sign up at a Clinton rally saying, “Hillary iron my shirts,” and everyone just laughs.

It is the same with discrimination against gays and lesbians. It is OK to discriminate and to call someone the “f-word” and most people still laugh.

Many gays and lesbians have found a way to excuse Obama for hiring Donnie McClurkin to speak for him and to accept bland statements of support with no proof that anything will ever be done. Women forget that they are still making only 77 cents to the dollar of what men make and that there is a glass ceiling for most jobs. They apparently continue to believe that by electing a man they will get what they deserve. I agree — they will get what they deserve.

I AM A little more understanding of black women who are torn between their race and their gender. That at least is understandable. But for other women to turn their back on another woman is crazy. For gays and lesbians not to support the person who has a history of supporting us is also not rational. It is Hillary who had a lesbian friend babysit for her daughter; the person holding her father’s hand when he died was a gay man. The relationships are long and deep. It is in Hillary’s office that the fight against the Federal Marriage Amendment was coordinated.

. . .

So I understand what it means to fight for the rights of the GLBT community everywhere even if that fight isn’t impacting me right now. So why can’t the young women of today understand what it will mean not only to them but to women around the world if the United States were to elect a woman president? Why can’t they realize what breaking the highest glass ceiling in the world will do for them? Why can’t they understand that having Hillary in the White House will mean a personal commitment to having judges who will protect Roe v. Wade? After all, I understand what having Barney Frank and Tammy Baldwin at the table with personal commitments to GLBT rights in Congress means to me. …

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November 7, 2007

House, HRC to Trans Workers: Drop Dead

ENDA Passes House Without Trans Protections

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act but with without protections for trans-workers after more than five hours of debate, wrangling, maneuvering and lobbying. …

. . .

After a brief debate on the [trans-inclusive] amendment in the House on Wednesday [Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.] pulled it before a vote. It allowed Baldwin to speak in favor of trans rights on the record, but without a recorded vote Republicans will not be able to use transgender rights as an election issue in 2008. …

. . .

Democrat Jerrold Nadler (NY) disputed [its sponsor, Rep. Barney Frank]’s assertion that ENDA without trans protections was the best that could be done and said he could not vote for ENDA as long as it failed to include gender identity. …

. . .

Democratic presidential contender Dennis Kucinich also voiced his concern that the Baldwin amendment had been withdrawn without a vote. …

. . .

On Wednesday, following the vote, HRC president Joe Solmonese was all smiles. …

“‘If we do not have the votes to go forward (with the bill including trans-people) do we do away with the bill altogether?’” Frank asked the House.”

Yes, that’s exactly what you should have done, this session!

Notice who (besides Kucinich, of course) gets it right: Jerry Nadler, as usual. The straight congressman from New York’s Upper West Side has been a greater friend to the LGBT community than the spineless gay rep from Massachusetts. (It was Nadler, remember, who introduced the Uniting American Families Act, originally the Permanent Partners Immigration Act, in 2000, and who has re-introduced it every year since.)

And: “Even if a final version is approved by both houses it is likely to be met with a presidential veto.” We KNOW THAT — so if you’re going to push it through this term, why not go for the whole enchilada? It’s GOING to get vetoed, assuming it even passes the Senate.

And: To get ENDA passed in the House, they had to reassure the bigots it wouldn’t touch their precious DoMA:

Two other amendments to specifically address White House concerns were passed.

One would tie religious exemptions to the same wording as currently in the civil rights act. The other would specify that ENDA does not negate any section of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

P.S. Solmonese, we just don’t have the words for you. How can you sleep at night?

See also:
House Wants to Throw Transgenders Under Bus
Lane Hudson Doesn’t Want a Sex Change, And Neither Do We
ENDA: For Straight-Acting Only?
ENDA-Lite: It’s Worse Than You Thought
One Gay Congresscritter With Principle and Honor (No, Not Barney Frank)
So, Exactly How Much Does Barney Frank NOT Care… About ANY of Us?
Barney Frank Flips on ENDA Again, Supports Baldwin Amendment

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October 20, 2007

Barney Frank Flips on ENDA Again, Supports Baldwin Amendment

Press release from Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.):

FRANK URGES COLLEAGUES TO SUPPORT REP. BALDWIN’S GENDER IDENTITY AMENDMENT TO ENDA

Congressman Barney Frank is urging his colleagues to vote for the amendment to be offered by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin to include transgender individuals in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act when it is considered on the House floor.

“The decision to offer such an amendment came out of a Caucus which Chairman George Miller held of the Democratic Members of the Education and Labor Committee. After some discussion, it became clear that offering such an amendment would offer us the best chance to achieve Speaker Pelosi’s goal of adopting in the House the most inclusive ENDA bill for which majority support existed.

“I argued in favor of transgender inclusion when I testified on the original legislation on September 5, but many of us believed that sending the full inclusive bill to the floor would open the door to a series of demagogic procedural moves that would have endangered our chances of a passing any bill at all. The discussion held by the Democratic Members of the Education and Labor Committee, Congresswoman Baldwin and myself resulted in this approach and I believe it meets the goal of giving people the opportunity to support a fully inclusive bill while avoiding the potential parliamentary death traps that would otherwise have resulted. I will on the floor of the House be repeating essentially the arguments in favor of transgender inclusion which I made in the September 5 hearing, because we will now be able to do that in a procedural setting that allows us to maximize support for an inclusive bill without endangering our chances of getting any bill at all.”

We’d like to think Frank experienced an epiphany — or at least that he finally heard those of us who refuse to leave our trans brothers and sisters in the dust, with the empty promise that we’ll come back for them later.

Too bad we don’t think either of those things. We think that if a trans-inclusion ENDA passes, Frank will take all the credit — and if it doesn’t, he’ll lay the blame squarely on Baldwin, and… well, everybody else.

Still, one has to wonder why he flipped (again) at all. Does somebody have some dirt on him or something?

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October 18, 2007

One Gay Congresscritter With Principle and Honor (No, Not Barney Frank)

Press release from Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.):

Baldwin Will Offer Gender Identity Amendment to ENDA

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) announced today that she will introduce an amendment adding protections for gender identity to H.R. 3685 when the bill comes to the floor, perhaps as early as next week. In announcing her intention, Baldwin issued the following statement:

“I have never wavered from my conviction that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) must include protections based upon sexual orientation and gender identity. It is gratifying to see that conviction shared by so many people in all parts of the country. I will be working tirelessly to secure the votes necessary to pass a gender identity-inclusive ENDA bill and urge all who share this goal to make their voices heard. This extraordinary opportunity to advance LGBT rights in America is proud evidence of democracy in which the people decide what is possible.”

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