Nico D'Amico-Barbour: Canvass for a Cause Organizer on Marriage Equality, Occupation-print (tags)
Nico D'Amico Barbour, regional director of Canvass for a Cause -- an organization founded in San Diego two years ago to advocate for marriage equality which has since expanded to Los Angeles -- shows an entrepreneurial spirit and an almost born-again commitment to activism that's more commonly associated with the Right than the Left these days.
Nico D'Amico-Barbour: Canvass for a Cause Organizer on Marriage Equality, Occupation (tags)
Nico D'Amico-Barbour, regional field director for the marriage equality organization Canvass for a Cause, discusses marriage rights, the Occupy movement and other progressive issues in this audio interview, scheduled for print publication in the December 2011 issue of Zenger's Newsmagazine.
What's in a Name? "San Diego Democrats for Equality" (tags)
The mountain labored at the predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club September 22 and produced the club's new name: "San Diego Democrats for Equality." The push to change the club's name was sparked by several members who thought the original name, approved when the club started in 1974, was a relic of a more closeted age and the club needed a new name that more openly and proudly proclaimed its identity as a Queer-rights organization. Though the club voted overwhelmingly to change its name, there was considerable debate over what to change it to: out of the three proposed alternatives, the least openly Queer name, "San Diego Democrats for Equality," won a majority on the first ballot against "San Diego Stonewall Democrats" (after the event commonly, but inaccurately, thought to have started the U.S. Queer rights movement) and "San Diego LGBT Democrats."
Five Minutes of Geography ? (tags)
The late Lenny Bruce once joked that the radical Right's fears about ? shock! ? sex education in the public schools were unfounded because schoolkids weren't going to come home and tell their parents, "Today at school we learned five minutes of geography and ten minutes of cocksucking." The modern-day radical Right's campaign to get rid of SB 48, a bill recently passed by the California legislature to require middle and high schools to teach the role and contributions of Queer Americans (along with Pacific Islanders and people with disabilities), is driven by a similar paranoia and a disbelief that there even are such things as Queer people ? and so far the Queer community's response to the attack on SB 48 is all too faithfully copied from the losing campaign against Proposition 8: a "coalition" made up mostly of straight people and a whiny argument about how we supposedly need "role models" to keep from drinking, drugging or suiciding.
SB 48 Referendum: THE Epic Struggle for Queer Rights in California (tags)
Roland Palencia, executive director of the Queer lobbying group Equality California (EQCA), calls the radical Right's attempt to get rid of the FAIR Education Act, also known as SB 48, "the greatest threat in years to LGBT [Queer] Californians." The Act adds Queer people, people with disabilities and Pacific Islanders to the list of communities whose "role and contributions" to American and Californian history and society must be acknowledged in lessons and textbooks used by the California public schools. Radical-Right activists, including some of the same people who successfully eliminated marriage equality in California via Proposition 8, plan to make it a referendum on the very existence and legitimacy of the Queer community and will likely wage an ugly campaign based on many negative stereotypes of Queer people. Palencia's group is fighting back by setting up a broad, mostly non-Queer coalition, and he, EQCA regional field director George Zander and openly Queer San Diego Unified School District board member Kevin Beiser spoke at the predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club August 25 to mobilize its members to join the campaign and help organize the grand coalition.
The Long and Winding Road of Marriage Equality Litigation (tags)
Seeking social change through litigation is not for the faint-hearted ? or the impatient. At the July 28 meeting of the predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club, attorney Jason Molnar of the Southern Poverty Law Center talked about the history of marriage equality litigation and brought two flow charts showing the twisted route it's already taken through the courts ? and it's likely to get even more twisted before the U.S. Supreme Court rules one way or the other.
Back to the Ballot - Queer Activists Debate Whether to Seek Repeal of Prop. 8 (tags)
With the court challenge to Proposition 8, California?s voter-approved ban on legal recognition of same-sex marriages, mired in potential legal wrangling that could take years to resolve, Equality California (EQCA) revived their plans to take the issue back to voters and seek an initiative to repeal Prop. 8. But the 70 or so activists at the EQCA town-hall meeting in San Diego June 3 split over whether that?s a good strategy ? or whether EQCA, primarily a lobbying organization, is the right group to run such a campaign.
Assemblymember Atkins Warns Queer Democrats on State Budget Cuts (tags)
California State Assemblymember Toni Atkins spoke to the predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club February 24 and warned of two approaching deadlines coming up in the state legislature's budget deliberations: March 6, the ending of the special budget session called by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; and March 10, the last day the legislature can vote to call a special election to extend the current state sales tax rates and vehicle licensing fees so that current Governor Jerry Brown's budget, which calls for $12.5 billion in spending cuts, can be enacted. Without that — and so far the Republican minority in the legislature has held firm to block any vote on the tax issue, which requires support from 2/3 of both houses of the legislature even to make it to the ballot — Brown and the Democratic majority will have to make $12.5 billion more in spending cuts, which will virtually end California state spending on health and welfare and eviscerate the state's already underfunded education system.
Russia's Foremost LGBT Leader in LA! (tags)
In a bid to promote the prominence of this May's Moscow Pride and thus hopefully forestall threatened repression by the authorities, Russia's foremost gay leader, Nikolai Alekseev, will tour seven U.S. cities February 26 thru March 6.
Fernando Lopez: Marriage Equality Activist Looks to the Future (tags)
San Diego marriage equality activist Fernando Lopez discusses his own relationship history, his involvement with Marriage Equality USA, the heartbreak of the Proposition 8 defeat and his own critique of the No on 8 strategy, the current Perry v. Schwarzenegger case and his outlook for the future of same-sex marriage in the U.S. A longer version of the interview published in the February-March 2010 issue of Zenger's Newsmagazine.
Queer Democrats Can’t Agree on Marriage Strategy (tags)
The predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club discussed whether to seek the repeal of Proposition 8 in 2010 or 2012 at its regular meeting September 24 — and turned out to be as divided on that topic as the rest of California’s Queer community. The two major statewide Queer organizations, Equality California and the Courage Campaign, have taken totally different tacks on the issue. The Courage Campaign not only favors 2010 but is already organizing for the earlier date, while Equality California’s leaders are convinced that 2010 is premature. Both the club’s invited panelists and its own members differed widely on whether to go in 2010 or 2012, and both proposals for the club to take action on the issue were voted down by wide margins.
Marriage Equality Follies (tags)
The split between California's two leading statewide Queer equality groups, the Courage Campaign and Equality California, over whether to seek the repeal of the anti-marriage Proposition 8 in 2010 or 2012 is criminally stupid and a disaster for the Queer community. The Courage Campaign is energetically moving to create “facts on the ground” to force the rest of the community to join it in a premature push for a 2010 ballot initiative that will almost certainly lose. A later initiative would give the community more time to organize and build support — but a unified effort for 2010 would be better than a continued division that might produce not one, but two, losing initiative campaigns.
Former Obama Adviser Attacks Him at Freedom Awards (tags)
Steve Hildebrand has been described as Barack Obama's closest Gay friend and the person he listens to on Gay issues, but at the August 22 Freedom Awards, the main fundraiser for the predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club, he bluntly said, “The problem is Obama isn’t listening enough.” At the event, Hildebrand delivered a slashing attack on Obama and the Democrats in Congress -- both the so-called “Blue Dogs” in the House and the “moderates” in the Senate, as well as leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid who are letting them get away with hijacking Obama’s agenda and pushing him to the Right. Hildebrand predicted that the Democrats will lose their Congressional majority if they continue to tack Rightward and fail to do the things they were elected to do.
Stewart Alexander: Same-Sex Marriage Rights Can’t Wait (tags)
The leadership within the Peace and Freedom Party wants a measure to support same-sex marriage on the ballot in 2010. Kevin Akin says, “The fight for human rights is back on the ballot for 2010, and if it fails, then 2012.”
Love Honor Cherish to Repeal Prop 8 in 2010 (tags)
Love Honor Cherish is the Victory in 2010 organization set up to repeal Propsition 8 which fascists promoted in November 2008 to put discrimination into our state Constitution, this time against gays, and the longer it sits there, the more likely other discirmination provisions will be inserted in our state Constitution. We only need 700,000 votes to Repeal Prop 8 in November 2010!
SAME Meeting Challenges Queer Establishment, Democratic Party (tags)
The San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality (SAME) hosted a meeting at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center June 23 that was billed as a response to Proposition 8 and a discussion of the future of marriage equality in California — but it also turned into a radical response to the Queer establishment in general and the Courage Campaign in particular. Lesbian activist Robin Tyler, who was one of the lead plaintiffs in the suit that briefly won marriage rights for same-sex couples in California, criticized the strategies and tactics of the Courage Campaign and denounced the Democratic party as having screwed over Queer people for 35 to 40 years, She called for the Queer community to cut ties with the Democrats once and for all.
Don’t Rush Back to the Ballot on Marriage (tags)
The Queer community in California is asking itself the wrong question in the current debate over whether to try to repeal Proposition 8 at the ballot box in 2010 or 2012. Either date is too early, Mark Gabrish Conlan argues in this editorial from the July 2009 Zenger’s Newsmagazine. Rather than launch a premature initiative drive we will likely lose, organizing around this issue needs to occur outside the electoral process and take the form of nonviolent direct action and public education efforts to convince a majority of Californians that denying legal marriage to same-sex couples is an intolerable form of discrimination.
Prop 8 Challenge Legal Team to Hold Press Conference Following Supreme Court Ruling (tags)
(Los Angeles, May 22, 2008) — The California Supreme Court has announced that it will rule Tuesday, May 26, 2009, on whether Proposition 8, passed by a slim majority of voters on November 4 and eliminating the right of same-sex couples to marry, was a valid amendment to the California Constitution.
“Outrage”: Exposing Hypocrisy or Perpetrating It? (tags)
“Outrage,” Kirby Dick’s new documentary on the practice of “outing” closeted Queer politicians who take positions in opposition to the mainstream Queer community’s political agenda, is an old-fashioned morality play in which the heroes are the activists and journalists who “out” such people and the villains are the politicians themselves and the mainstream corporate media which refuse to cover the issue. But the “outers” can also be seen as political enforcers of a liberal-Left orthodoxy that ignores both the political and the sexual diversity of the Queer community.
San Diego Hosts Meeting on Same-Sex Marriage Equality (tags)
The San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center hosted a town-hall meeting April 2 to discuss the future of marriage equality in the wake of the upcoming California Supreme Court ruling on Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage in the state. Speakers included Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, other professionals and grass-roots activists like Fernando Lopez, whose group is organizing people to go talk to individuals one-on-one to make them aware of how Queer people suffer from not having access to civil marriage.
Over 500 Turn Out for Marriage Equality Demonstration (tags)
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and his Lesbian daughter Lisa (pictured) led off the San Diego installment of "March Forth on March Fourth," a series of rallies and demonstrations held statewide on the eve of the California Supreme Court's oral hearings on the legal challenges to Proposition 8. Mayor Sanders endorsed same-sex marriage equality last year after deciding he couldn't tell his daughter that her relationship was less important than his.
Queer Marriage Advocates Launch "Decline to Sign" Drive (tags)
Faced with a well-funded campaign to permanently ban same-sex marriage in the California constitution, Queer and Queer-friendly Californians are joining forces to mount a volunteer campaign to keep marraige equality opponents from getting the signatures they need to get their initiative on the ballot at all.
S.F. Assemblymember Leno Speaks on Same-Sex Marriage (tags)
San Francisco Assemblymember Mark Leno was the keynote speaker at the predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club's Freedom Banquet fundraiser October 6. He talked about the bill for marriage equality for same-sex couples he's pushed through the California legislature twice, the likelihood that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will veto it (as he did in 2005) and the various radical-Right initiative proposals to ban marriage for same-sex couples in California forever.
California Transgender Leadership Summit (tags)
Ttransgender community members, families, and allies join together for this, the first of its kind, two-day event. This Summit provided a unique opportunity to strategize, connect with individuals from across the state and learn or improve important advocacy and activist skills in a variety of areas.
Gwen Araujo Mistrial: Town Hall & Demonstration (tags)
the jury that heard the case against the murderers of Gwen Araujo, the young transgender women who was killed last year in Newark, California, were unable to agree on a verdict and the judge was forced to declare a mistrial.
"TAX us? Then MARRY us!" 33 Cities Join Tax Day Protests for Equal Marriage Righ (tags)
33 cities will be demonstrating for equal marriage rights at post offices around the country on Tax Day, Thursday, April 15th. The protests will highlight the fact that marriage is a civil contract issued by the government which should be available to all consenting adults.
GOVERNOR DAVIS SIGNS CALIFORNIA'S HISTORIC GENDER IDENTIY RIGHTS BILL (tags)
Landmark Measure by San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno is first of three LGBT Bills to Reach Davis' Desk
Equality for California Transgendered Citizens! Governor Signs Bill Into Law (tags)
California Governor Gray Davis presented the gift of freedom to thousands of his fellow Californians on Saturday, August 2nd. In signing AB196, which clarifies the state’s Fair Employment and Housing Act by including gender-identity and expression, Governor Davis brings California into a leadership position of a growing human rights struggle. California now becomes the most populous jurisdiction to enact equal rights for transgendered citizens.