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Protests are happening around the country tomorrow.  This is important.  Be a part of it.  Use the above link to get more info for your area.

Together we can secure our rights and gain equality!

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This is really wonderful.  Kudos to Keith and MSNBC.  Let them know how you feel about Keith’s comment by emailing them here.

This isn’t about yelling, and this isn’t about politics, and this isn’t really just about Prop-8.  And I don’t have a personal investment in this: I’m not gay, I had to strain to think of one member of even my very extended family who is, I have no personal stories of close friends or colleagues fighting the prejudice that still pervades their lives.

And yet to me this vote is horrible. Horrible. Because this isn’t about yelling, and this isn’t about politics. This is about the human heart, and if that sounds corny, so be it.

If you voted for this Proposition or support those who did or the sentiment they expressed, I have some questions, because, truly, I do not understand.

Click below to watch the video and see the full transcript… (more…)

CALIFORNIA VOTERS VOTE FOR DISCRIMINATION AND BIGOTRY

We had hoped never to have to write this email.

Sadly, fueled by misinformation, distortions and lies, millions of voters went to the polls yesterday and said YES to bigotry, YES to discrimination, YES to second-class status for same-sex couples.

And while the election was close, and millions of votes still remain uncounted, it has become apparent that we lost.

There is no question this defeat is hard.

Thousands of people have poured their talents, their time, their resources and their hearts into this struggle for freedom and this fight to have their relationships treated equally. Much has been sacrificed in this struggle.

While we knew the odds for success were not with us, we believed Californians could be the first in the nation to defeat the injustice of discriminatory measures like Proposition 8.

And while victory is not ours this day, we know that because of the work done here, freedom, fairness and equality will be ours someday. Just look at how far we have come in a few decades.

Up until 1974 same-sex intimacy was a crime in California. There wasn’t a single law recognizing the relationships of same-sex couples until 1984 — passed by the Berkeley School District. San Francisco did not pass domestic-partner protections until 1990; the state of California followed in 2005. And in 2000, Proposition 22 passed with a 23% majority.

Today, we fought to retain our right to marry and millions of Californians stood with us. Over the course of this campaign everyday Californians and their friends, neighbors and families built a civil rights campaign unequalled in California history.

You raised more money than anyone believed possible for an LGBT civil rights campaign.

You reached out to family and friends in record numbers — helping hundreds of thousands of Californians understand what the LGBT civil rights struggle is really about.

You built the largest grassroots and volunteer network that has ever been built — a coalition that will continue to fight until all people are equal.

And you made the case to the people of California and to the rest of the world that discrimination — in any form — is unfair and wrong.

We are humbled by the courage, dignity and commitment displayed by all who fought this historic battle.

Victory was not ours today. But the struggle for equality is not over.

Because of the struggle fought here in California — fought so incredibly well by the people in this state who love freedom and justice — our fight for full civil rights will continue.

Activist and writer Anne Lamott writes, “Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.”

We stand together, knowing… our dawn will come.

Dr. Delores A. Jacobs
CEO
Center Advocacy Project

Lorri L. Jean
CEO
L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center

Kate Kendell
Executive Director
National Center for Lesbian Rights

Geoff Kors
Executive Director
Equality California

While it is somewhat inconceivable to me that this piece of shit proposition may have passed even though there was so much opposition from newspapers, the community, and even politicians, and so many lies exposed coming from the Prop 8 backers, it was not unpredictable.  But the outcome isn’t necessarily final.  There are more ballots to count.

From the No-o-8 Campaign:

While we know the climb to still defeat Prop 8 is very steep, the magnitude of the issues at stake for every same-sex couple and LGBT person in the state of California requires that we have an accurate picture of the final outcome before calling the ultimate outcome.

With at least 3 million ballots still to be counted, from counties we have not yet seen identified, the race could, at a minimum narrow, with the margin becoming much closer.

The No on Prop 8 campaign has determined that, given the incredible gravity of the situation, we will not issue the ultimate call on this election until we have more information (24-48 hours).

Never before in California’s history has a group, who currently enjoys a basic right, been singled out and then had those rights ripped from them by a vote of their fellow citizens. This decision is so radical and so egregious that every voice must first be heard, no matter how unlikely a changed outcome might be.

In this fight for fairness and justice, tens of thousands of Californians built a campaign that far surpassed any previous civil rights effort on any ballot measure — not only in California, but anywhere in our entire country.

You poured your talents, time, resources and hearts into this struggle for freedom and this fight to have their relationships treated equally. Thank you for each and every sacrifice.

And yesterday, at least 5 million Californians voted with us to reject discrimination and we thank them for their support for equality. In 2000 2.9 million voted against discrimination in our loss over Proposition 22 — we lost that fight by a 22% margin.

Together, we put together the largest volunteer and grassroots network of any campaign other than a presidential campaign. Together, we spoke to our families, our friends, our neighbors and co-workers. Together, we reached outside our community to build coalitions that will strengthen us all. Together, we raised more money for this fight, in a shorter time, than anyone believed possible.

And the struggle for equality is not over.

Because of the struggle fought here in California and fought so incredibly well by the people in this state that loves freedom and justice — our fight for full civil rights will continue.

In solidarity,

Kate Kendell
Executive Director
National Center for Lesbian Rights   

Geoff Kors
Executive Director
Equality California

My sister called me up this morning from her ultra-left enclave called Seattle.  She wanted to respond to colleagues that were supporting McCain because of their religious views on Abortion and Marriage.  Here is my response.  It got a good response, so I figured I’d post it here as well.  Perhaps in these last hours before the election this may help some people with their voting decision.

To live a religious life in this country requires that we vote along with our beliefs.  But our elections aren’t that clean.  Our politicians don’t represent a single moral standard through all of the relevant issues.  What they represent is a model of thinking that we choose to vote for, an approach to creating and managing public policy.  The question before us is whether a single answer on a single issue represents hope for our country forming morally acceptable policies.  Does John McCain represent the kind of thinking that will encourage peace among our citizenship, renewed respect for faith in our country, and a moral fortitude that leaves room for all people to practice their beliefs, respect each other’s decisions, and debate these difficult issues?

(more…)

prop 8, gay marriage, equal rights, propoganda

The Jewish Daily Forward published an article two weeks ago about the Conservative Movement’s new Heksher Tzedek, a new kashrut initiative that adds labor and environmental standards to traditional kashrut standards.  The article portrays this new initiative as an antidote to the divisive debate on same-sex ordination that the movement went through in 2006. 

While I can understand how this new kashrut standard can be unifying (it’s the first thing in a long time that I’ve really admired from the Conservative Movement), it is bizzarre to say, as the author does,

“The most striking element of the support has been that it has come from both sides of the earlier debate about sexuality. Rabbi Loel Weiss of Temple Beth Am in Randolph, Mass., had opposed the liberalization of the movement’s strictures on homosexuality, but he has spoken out in favor of the new movement.” 

Really?  It’s striking that feelings about homosexuality in the Jewish world and halakha have no relationship to feelings on environmentalism and human rights?

But this connection was not invented by the author.  Apparently lots of people see the link.

“Shafran went on in the article to accuse the Conservative movement of
using Hekhsher Tzedek as “a bald attempt to portray itself as something
other than dwindling and desperate,” citing the recent divisions over
sexuality issues.”

Anyway, read the article for yourself…

This one will blow you away.  She’s about as qualified to be Vice President as a Pitbull (with or without lipstick) but, this just blew me away.  Sarah Palin wanted rape victims to… I can’t even say it… just check it out…

The LGBT Religious Archives Network (LGBT-RAN) invites submissions for its
fourth annual LGBT Religious History Award. The submissions deadline is
October 17, 2008. Complete details on this award for papers can be found at:

http://www.lgbtran.org/HistoryAward.aspx

This award honors outstanding scholarship in lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender religious history. It is part of LGBT-RAN’s effort to promote
scholarship in this emerging field of study. Questions about this award may
be directed to Mark Bowman at mbowman@lgbtran.org.

I’ll leave my own political commentary out and just point you to some great video that says it all…

But perhaps best of all…

But what exactly is Nancy Pelosi wearing?