Tucson Observer

Equality Across America Tucson Congressional District Action Team (EAA-Tucson) will meet December 6, 2009 2 to 4:00 p.m. at Colors, 5305 E. Speedway Blvd.

EAA continues the work of achieving full federal equality for LGBT Americans in all matters of civil law.

Please bring your ideas, passion, and a friend! This meeting will focus on creating a sustainable organization and outreach to allies and allied organizations. For more information visit: www.eaatucson.org.

Contrary to Richard Fimbres’ Republican opponent’s unfounded, scurrilous and unsubstantiated allegations, he did respond, more than two months ago (August 19), to the attacks made on him by his successor, Alberto Gutier, a longtime Phoenix Republican political operative, strategist, activist, Sergeant at Arms for the State Republican Party, and currently the Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) under Governor Jan Brewer.

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Before a speech, a song was played to those in attendance and it wasn’t the song “Promises, promises,” by Naked Eyes but “Hail to the Chief,” for President Barack Obama, whom on Saturday, October 10, addressed a gathering of 3,000 individuals, most of which, so aptly put by Lawrence O’Donnell, the substitute host on Countdown on Monday, October 12, for the national Equality March and which applied here too, as “treated as second class citizens.”

President Obama stated the stood with the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Community in its fight for equality under law, declaring, “you are Americans who care deeply about this country and its future.”

Continuing, the president said, “he expected it would look back on his administration as a time when “we put a stop to discrimination against Gays and Lesbians, whether in the office or on the battle field.”

Obama also stated that:

He would be signing federal hate crimes legislation; he supports ENDA (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act);

Funding for HIV/AIDS programs should continue,

The end of, with another promise, for the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy of preventing those Gays and Lesbians, who want to serve in this country’s armed services openly, and honestly, from doing so, and his support for extending federal benefits to committed same-sex couples (and families), which opposite-sex couples currently get.

LGBT Americans, the president said, should continue pressuring their elected officials, including himself, to work for pro equality laws and polices.

Excuse me but wasn’t that the reason for the 2008 election, subsequent vote, etcetera, or was this just more “promises, promises?”

For example:

With two ongoing wars, Gays and Lesbians continue to be discharged on an average of more than two per day from the military under “don’t ask, don’t tell,” and the president has not issued an order, as Commander in Chief, or an Executive Order, halting discharges by stop-loss or the pending cases under “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

People who are HIV+ or living with AIDS still can not either, emigrate or travel to this country due to the ban, with America being one of the few countries with such.

Despite fulfilling their legal and constitutional obligations, the federal, Department of Justice, used questionable language and arguments to defend the federal Defense of Marriage Act law (which prevents same-sex couples from being recognized legally on the federal level of government), in several court challenges this year.

Some of those who are treated as “second class citizens,” cheered the remarks the president made and the following day, took part in the LGBT March for Equality in Washington D.C., protesting the Obama Administration and the Democratically-controlled Congresses, lack of action on issues of concern.

LGBT activists are in Washington for the National Equality March, sponsored by the grass-roots network, Equality Across America.

This march, thirty years after the first LGBT March on Washington is being held on National Coming Out Day. National Coming Out Day is an internationally-observed civil awareness day for coming out and discussion about LGBT issues. It is observed on October 11 every year[1] by members of the LGBT communities and their supporters.

C-Span will be covering the March and can be viewed online at the following link.

While Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT), Queer, Questioning, HIV+, HIV- and just plain, straight supportive Americans gather in the nation’s capital for the National March for Equality to take place Sunday, October 11, to express their frustration with the notable, lack of progress on issues of concern, it has been reported that President Barack Obama will be addressing the Human Rights Campaign, annual fundraising dinner in Washington D.C., the night prior, October 10.

“We are honored to share this night with President Obama, who has called upon our nation to embrace LGBT people as brothers and sisters,” said Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese in a press release. “It is fitting that he will speak to our community on the night that we pay tribute to his friend and mentor Senator Edward Kennedy, who knew that as president, Barack Obama would take on the unfinished business of this nation — equal rights for the LGBT community, and for every person who believes in liberty and justice for all.”

A speech is one thing, but in lieu of the comments made his national security adviser, James Jones, will these words be just that.

During an interview on a national cable news network, Jones stated that President Obama will focus “at the right time” on how to overturn the 16-year-old, “don’t ask, don’t tell” law which prohibits Gay and Lesbian Americans, who wish to serve their country in the armed services, from doing so, openly and honestly.

It was also reported that Senator Harry Reid, D-NV, had written President Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates and asked them to share their views. “At a time when we are fighting two wards, I do not believe we can afford to discharge any qualified individual who is willing to serve our country,” wrote Reid.

So here is a novel thought Senator Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, take H.R. 1283 off the “legislative shelf,” hold real, substantive hearings on the subject, get it through the legislative process and both chambers and get it to Obama’s desk, since it seems that Congress, to the surprise of no-one, has forgotten that this is a law, not an executive order, an amendment, court ruling or otherwise.

In 1993, it was Congress which passed the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law on fraudulent statements, questionable studies and fear and it will take another act by Congress to undo the sixteen year damage this “solution” was to prevent but didn’t.

When a bill gets to President Obama’s desk, he can sign and in the interim, he can issue an Executive Order expanding on President Harry Truman’s July 26, 1948 issuance (Executive Order 9981) which itself, expanded on Executive Order 8802 by establishing equality of treatment and opportunity in the Armed Services for people of all races, religions, or national origins, by halting the discharges of those individuals wanting to serve who have been charged under “don’t ask, don’t tell,” until a bill can get to his desk for him to sign.

More than three-fourth’s of this nation, according to numerous polls taken, have expressed their support for the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” and spoken words and written letters are part of what is needed, it is time for a vote on this and end this travesty.

PHOENIX (Observer Update) – A rally in the state capital will take place in support of the National Equality March on Saturday, October 10, 10:00 am, Cesar Chavez Plaza, 201 W. West Washington.

Sponsored by the Arizona Stonewall Democrats, who stated in a press release, “We are guaranteed equal protection by the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution. Free and equal people do not bargain for or prioritize our rights, so we are rallying in support of the National Equality March in Washington, D.C. this October 10th to demand equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in Arizona and all 50 states.

“The rally is not our final destination. It is our first step toward building a statewide grassroots network that will continue organizing until we have achieved full equality.”

For more information, go online to ArizonaStonewallDemocrats.org.

OLYMPIA, WA – During the recent session of the Washington State Legislature, held in Olympia, SB 5688 was approved by both chambers and signed into law by Washington’s Governor, Christine Gregore.

SB 5688, the Domestic Partner Law ensures that all families in the state, who are registered as domestic partners, are treated the same as married couples, with the same protections, the same rights and the same obligations as their neighbors.

This legislation was warranted since Washington’s Legislature in 1998, approved legislation defining marriage as between “one man and one woman.” Then Washington Governor Gary Locke vetoed the bill which was overridden by the Washington Legislature.

In the Domestic Partner Law of 2009, SB 5688 provides for:

Death benefits for the partners of police and firefighters killed in the line of duty;

Pension benefits for the partners of teachers and other public employees;

Victims’ rights, including the right to receive notifications and benefits allowances; using sick leave to care for a seriously ill partner;

Workers’ compensation benefits if a partner is killed in the course of employment; receiving unemployment benefits if an employee must leave a job to care for a seriously ill partner and the right to adopt a partner’s child without paying for a home study.

Under SB 5688, areas covered by the law include labor and employment law, pensions, survivor, and other public employee benefits, family law, insurance rights, higher education, banks, financial institutions and loan agencies, creditors’ rights and business licenses.

As reported in this publication as well as other online sources, opponents have gathered the minimum required signatures of registered Washington voters to force a vote on the Domestic Partner Law.

Pending current court challenges, voters on November 3 will go to the polls to determine the fate of it, through Referendum-71, also known as R-71, by either approving or rejecting it.

Proponents’ of Washington’s Domestic Partner Law have organized as Washington Families Standing Together and launched their campaign to ensure the Domestic Partner Law of 2009 remains in effect.

For more information or to donate to help the more than 5,000 registered Washington State domestic partners ensure their hard-fought rights are preserved and that they continue to be treated equally, go online to approverefendum71.org.

On May 7, 2009, the state of Maine had become the fifth state in the New England area and the sixth state overall that its government recognizes committed, same-sex relationships equally as opposite sex couples in similar relationships.

As soon as Maine Governor, John Baldacci, signed the legislative measure, an effort to derail this started when statewide and national anti-LGBT groups, especially those who worked to defeat California’s Proposition 8 last year, gathered signatures of registered Maine voters to force a “people’s veto” referendum vote on the law – which they succeeded.

More than 100,000 signatures were submitted, more than the 55,087 needed and the “people’s veto” referendum” has been scheduled to take place on Tuesday, November 3, 2009.

Equality Maine, the statewide LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) rights organization formed No on 1/Protect Maine Equality.

Maine is a much smaller state, so we don t have to identify six million people, we have to identify 250,000 people — 50% of the people who are predicted to vote in November, Betsy Smith, executive director of Equality Maine, said in an interview with another publication.

According to news accounts, and public campaign financial records (mid-July), opponents of Maine s same-sex marriage law have the upper hand financially thus far, raising more than $343,000 compared to No on 1’s $143,000.

Four groups account for most of the anti G/L marriage funds:

$160,000 from the National Organization for Marriage;

$100,000 from the Roman Catholic diocese of Portland;

$50,000 from the Knights of Columbus, and Focus on the Family Maine added $31,000.

Proponents of measure, Stand for Marriage PAC, according to reports and records, spent a little over $293,000 to date, much of it on professional signature-gathering companies.

What the anti-LGBT groups want to do by approving Measure 1 on Tuesday November 3, is to prevent committed L/G couples, in the state of Maine, from getting the same benefits and responsibilities that heterosexual married couples take for granted, such as:

Hospital visitation when there’s been an accident or illness;

Obtaining family health coverage;

Taxation and inheritance rights and protection in case the relationship ends.

It is only in effect statewide due to the thirteen-year-old, federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Maine’s law recognizing same-sex couples, doesn’t impose on religious freedom or force churches to perform ceremonies for same-sex couples, since under the current statute, no minister is required to perform any marriage that s/he disapproves of, and religious communities and institutions are not bound by anti-discrimination laws in employment or housing now, and that will not change so people will still be free to follow the teachings of their faith, just as they are now.

For more information and hopefully, to make a donation to help our fellow brothers and sisters in Maine, go online to Protectmaineequality.org.

Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer are a gay couple who live in California and have been together for more than 10 years, filed a federal lawsuit in 2004, when, in an effort to have their relationship recognized by the government, went to the County Clerk’s office in Orange County, to get a marriage license and were denied.

Their lawsuit made it to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2006 and wasn’t heard, the high Court declining to review the appeal.

They married during the window of opportunity in California in 2008, when the state Supreme Court said gays and lesbians could marry, then shutting it later by turning down the court challenge to California’s Proposition 8, narrowly approved by voters in the election that year.

Smelt and Hammer’s case against the state of California and the federal government proceeded, with an initial ruling by U.S. District Judge David Carter, stating that their lawsuit against California was nullified because their marriage is still valid in the state but the federal portion of their lawsuit will get its “day in court.”

With that backdrop, on August 17, the U.S. Justice Department, filed their legal papers in this case, raising the hackles of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights organizations, as well as LGBT journalists and online bloggers and writers, criticizing the Justice Department for their legal actions in this case.

So were the Justice Department’s actions worth criticizing as well as Smelt and Hammer for filing the lawsuit in the first case?

In the case of the U.S. Justice Department, they represent the United States in all legal matters, including cases before the Supreme Court and whether the Attorney General of the United States agrees with the federal legal statute in question that is being challenged in court or not, they are mandated to defend all actions taken by Congress and the President in the judicial branch of government.

This directive also applies to all fifty, state’s Attorneys General, County Attorney’s and City and Town Attorney’s as well, existing across these United States. Was there a protest against Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard at the Equality Arizona dinner, held this year, when his office had to defend Arizona’s then law banning the recognition of same sex marriage in the case of Standhardt V. Superior Court in 2004?

When it comes to the lawsuit by Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer, LGBT rights groups, journalists and bloggers haven’t been so supportive either, for example in 2006, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and Equality California (the state LGBT rights organization), asking the Ninth U.S. District Court of Appeals to dismiss their case.

If the LGBT community didn’t have people such as Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer, making an effort for equal rights for LGBT citizens in the only venue where the LGBT community has had any modicum of success, the legal branch of government, over time, what success that has been achieved wouldn’t have taken place.

On the federal level there was Romer V. Evans, the 1996 U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Colorado’s Amendment 2 that prohibit local measures protecting the rights of LGBT citizens and Lawrence V. Texas, the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning state sodomy laws and Taylor V. Rice, the 2008 legal challenge overturning the U.S. State Department’s ban on hiring individuals who are HIV+.

In the state courts there have been many legal advances for LGBT citizens, including:

Baker V. Vermont, the 1999 case prohibiting same-sex marriage was against the state’s Constitution, resulting in the Court mandated that the state legislature institute laws recognizing same-sex marriage, or implement a policy affording similar rights. To comply, the legislature created a system of civil unions, whereby same-sex couples could receive many of the same civil benefits afforded heterosexual couples.

Fricke V. Lynch was decided in 1980 by a court in Rhode Island, in which the Judge in the case ruled that the school must allow students to bring dates of the same-sex, and that the school must provide enough security and oversight so that LGBT students are not harassed.

Benitez V. North Coast Women’s Care Medical Group was decided by a California court in August 2008, in which a lesbian Californian resident who sought infertility treatment from her doctors, conservative Christians, denied giving Benitez the treatment and argued that their individual religious beliefs could not support LGBT people serving as parents, despite the fact that California has a statewide anti-discrimination policy that encompasses sexual orientation but the court unanimously ruled in Benitez’s favor, sending a message that individual religious beliefs cannot supercede statewide anti-discrimination policies.

Goodridge V. Department of Public Health, the 2003 case in which Massachusetts became the first state in the country to recognize same-sex marriage.

Without such individuals such as these, LGBT and HIV rights would not have been advanced, discussed, tolerated and hopefully accepted and without the legal branch of government doing what it is mandated to do, by law and the elected officials upholding the U.S. and state Constitution’s, our society just wouldn’t exist.

On Wednesday, August 5, U.S. Senator, Jeff Merkeley, (D-OR), along with 38 other Senators introduced S. 1584.

S. 1584 is the U.S. Senate companion version of ENDA (the Employment Non Discrimination Act), which if passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama, would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

“There is no place in the workplace for employment discrimination,” said U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley in a press release. “No worker in America should be fired or denied a job based on who they are. Discrimination is wrong, period. I’m proud to join Senator Kennedy, who is a civil rights legend, and Senators Collins and Snowe, both champions for equality, in taking this next step in our ongoing effort to create a more perfect union and guarantee every American, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, the right to earn a living.”

“The promise of America will never be fulfilled as long as justice is denied to even one among us,” said U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy in a press release. “The Employment Non-Discrimination Act brings us closer to fulfilling that promise for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender citizens. I’m proud to join Senators Merkley and Collins in introducing this important legislation.”

ENDA is supported by a broad range of civil rights, religious, civic and professional organizations, including the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, NAACP, AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Union, AFSCME, National Education Association, National Employment Lawyers Association, Anti-Defamation League, Religious Action Center, Unitiarian Universalist Association, United Church of Christ, American Civil Liberties Union, and many others.

Federal law provides legal protection against employment discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, national origin, age and disability, but not sexual orientation or gender identity but in 29 states across America, it is still legal to fire someone based on his or her sexual orientation, and in 38 states, it is still legal to fire someone for being Transgender.

S. 1584 was introduced August 5, read and referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

H.R. 3017 (the U.S. House companion version) was also introduced in the U.S. House on June 24, and was referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the House Committees on House Administration, Oversight and Government Reform, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.