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. …

Posted by: Sapphocrat

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Permalink | Trackback | Category: Barack Obama, Barney Frank, Election 2008, Hillary Clinton, Marriage Equality, Race/Ethnic Issues, Tammy Baldwin, Women

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?

Posted by: Sapphocrat

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Permalink | Trackback | Category: Barney Frank, Dennis Kucinich, Employment/ENDA, LGBT Organizations, Marriage Equality, Tammy Baldwin, Transgender, U.S. Congress

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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Posted by: Sapphocrat

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Permalink | Trackback | Category: Barney Frank, Employment/ENDA, Tammy Baldwin, Transgender

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.”