It mayseem counter-intuitive, but in California, as in Massachussetts and elseewhere, it has been Republican-appointed Courts that have affirmed equal rights for gays and lesbians. This trend was reaffirmed yesterday as California’s Supreme Court upheld the State’s Civil Unions law.
Republican-dominated State Supreme Court Upholds Sweeping New Rights for Gays [MattSzabo.com]
Democrat Assemblyman Mark Leno has begun the process of re-introducing the bill to give equal marriage rights to gays and lesbians which was defeated by his Party earlier this month. But the effort is not without risks:
Opponents have launched a drive to qualify a new ballot measure to amend the constitution to outlaw same-sex marriage. The measure also would roll back recently enacted laws that guarantee many of the rights of marriage to same-sex couples that register as domestic partners.
Randy Thomasson, president of the Campaign for Children and Families, said that reviving the same-sex marriage bill in the Senate will backfire, persuading more voters to sign petitions for the new ballot measure, thus furthering “the cause of protecting marriage for a man and a woman.”
“If Leno blatantly pushes forward, attacking marriage and California voters,” Thomasson said, “he will bring down the Democratic Party by making it the party of homosexual marriage.”
Conversely, Californians actually seem to support domestic partnership rights, and with organized efforts by groups like Log Cabin California and Equality California and others, Thomasson’s failure could bring down his movement. But that will require hard work from all of us.
Gay marriage bill backers seeking revival in Senate [Union-Trib]
Blogger Matt Szabo warns that while we were out enjoying Pride this week, the religious right was preparing to put the gays in the cross-hairs of the battle for the next Supreme Court Justice:
The Supreme Court’s mealy-mouthed ruling today that public displays of the Ten Commandments are sometimes OK and sometimes not OK is sure to ignite an urgency within the Religious Right that could only rival the “evil threat” of same-sex marriage – and probably dooms the chance that President Bush will nominate a relative-moderate like Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to replace (likely) outgoing Chief Justice William Rehnquist or wanting-to-retire Justice Sandra Day O’Conner.
At their websites, the TVC routes all links to a fundraising page, and the FRC shamelessly uses the High Court’s ruling as an opportunity to hock Ten Commandments book covers. The Right will use this issue to arm its war chest, and then release a relentless assault on the President Bush and the Senate if and when a sitting justice retires.
Of course, even the pragmatic middle was not able to hold off lower-court nominations, such as William Pryor, so let’s hope Matt is wrong.
BRACE YOURSELVES: Supreme Court’s Kerryesque Ruling on Ten Commandments Sure to Release Religious Right’s Fury [MattSzabo.com]
If the sky falls on Canada, will it hit the United States?!?
It’s Official: Gays Can Marry Across Canada [TowleRoad]
California’s Michael Davidson narrowly lost the election to become President of the College Republican National Committee over the weekend:
In an election shaken by accusations of vote-rigging and disenfranchisement, Paul Gourley of the University of South Dakota defeated Michael Davidson of UC Berkeley by six votes.
Davidson’s supporters said some of their delegates were disenfranchised by backers of Gourley, who as the organization’s treasurer has been under fire for what critics call deceptive fundraising practices by the committee during the 2004 political campaign.
The accusations were reminiscent of the contentious fights for Ohio in 2004 and Florida in 2000, elections in which senior White House political advisor Karl Rove helped George W. Bush to victory. And it was Rove who, in 1973, won the chairmanship in the College Republican National Committee’s last contested election.
That’s too bad, because Davidson was vocal in his support for a Big-Tent philosophy within the Republican Party and had built a visible cross-over of Log Cabin members in several of his chapters.
In San Francisco, a local television station has decided that Pride is not political. It is a Parade:
The whole affair started as a communication snafu between KRON and the Pride Committee. First Broberg was suggested, then some committee members suggested Ammiano, and he became the preferred pick. But that idea was later nixed by KRON.
“It wasn’t anything specific to him,” insisted Pat Patton, vice president for programming at KRON. “We broadcast to the entire Bay Area, not just the city of San Francisco. It just doesn’t make sense to have some elected official only from the city. We did not want a politician in any way, that is really the bottom line…. It is not a political event as far as we are concerned. It is a parade.”
That assessment might surprise the founders of an event that has been political since its inception. It started as a celebration of the 1969 Stonewall riot, when drag queens battled New York City police. A subsequent parade protested the 1978 Briggs Initiative that would have banned gay teachers shortly after Harvey Milk was elected as San Francisco’s first gay supervisor. Others opposed initiatives to quarantine people with AIDS.
At its core, Pride is about fighting for acceptance and awareness of gay and lesbian right. It is political because someday, it hopefully won’t have to be.
Is Pride political? [SF Bay Guardian]
In case you don’t subscribe to the Advocate, be sure to check out their July interview with newly-elected Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin:
Do you think that all gay politicians have a “hidden agenda”—certain issues they all agree to push for?
I think the GLBT community is as diverse as any other community. There are a variety of different opinions. We’re individuals as well [as GLBT].How much do larger national issues like gay marriage, “don’t ask, don’t tell,” and workplace discrimination affect local municipal elections like yours?
Not much at all. The debates on those issues take place on the national level. I think in local elections people care about issues close to home.Do you think it is important for national organizations, like the Victory Fund, to support politicians on every level of government, from the very top to the very bottom?
I was grateful for their support. I’m glad there is an organization out there to really encourage GLBT folks to run for office.Log Cabin has said it hopes to gain a greater voice in California state politics by electing more Republicans [friendly to gay rights]. How do you think your victory in Redondo Beach affects the state as a whole?
I’ve been surprised and honored by the attention that our little town has received. I just hope that it provides hope to gay, lesbian, and transgender folk to get involved in the political process.
To get involved in Log Cabin and help us elect more folks like Mike Gin, check out the local Log Cabin chapter in your area.
Meet the new mayor [Advocate]
Despite calls by Republican Party leaders asking why we can’t just “all get along”, there are forces within the Republican Party which would rather be right than be in power. Of course, their version of “right” is not that of the Republican Party as a whole, nor even close to a majority of the electorate. Patt Morrison documents the destruction the California Republican Assembly has caused for the State’s GOP:
If minoxidil sells well in California, it’s because Republicans are always tearing their hair out, wailing that its candidates “can’t even beat Boxer.” Barbara Boxer, who California Republicans have made into their Hillary Clinton, has bested every candidate the GOP has thrown at her, partly because most of them are further right than she is left.
The capper came in 2002, when all eight Republican candidates lost every single statewide office to Democrats, which hadn’t happened since Chester Arthur was president. Matters were so wretched that George W. Bush — hardly a squishy moderate — sent out an apparatchik to try to hose down the CRA.
And that “R,” as in Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Calif.)? The CRA would tell you darkly that it means RINO — Republican In Name Only. Schwarzenegger probably would not be governor today if he’d had to run in a regular primary, where his pro-choice, pro-gay rights, I-sure-did-inhale record would have sunk him. A direct-to-voters recall campaign was the only way Schwarzenegger could bypass the long knives of the CRA.
In May, the California Republican Assembly got involved in the Redondo Beach Mayor’s race, where two Republicans were on the ballot. They were offended that groups like the Log Cabin PAC and Victory fund gave money to Mike Gin–a member of LCR. The head of the CRA later asked in the Los Angeles Times, “Why would they do that? They obviously have an agenda.”
Riiiight. Just because you’re gay, you support some mythical monolithic gay agenda. That’s the kind of intellectual totalitarianism I would expect to hear from the self-appointed leadership of the gay community! Luckily, the voters rejected the CRA–let’s hope they always do.
Blindly Fighting for the Right to Lose [LA Times]
Killed by Democrats earlier this month, California’s Marriage Equality Bill, AB 19 (Leno), has new life.
Assemblyman Mark Leno, one of six openly gay members of the Legislature, said he has decided to employ a legislative maneuver known as “gut and amend” to resurrect the bill that on June 2 fell four votes shy of gaining the simple majority it needed to pass the 80-member house.
“My hope is that we will have a bill amended by the end of this week or the beginning of next,” said Leno, declining to offer specifics on which legislation he plans to rewrite. “We intend to do this.”
The timing on this seems odd. Usually, gutting-and-amending is saved for the final flurry of bills during the last week–and is done in a way that is low-profile enough to allow for the horse-trading of votes on other time-critical measures. Were he to follow traditinoal legislative practice, Leno should find a bill that has made it all the way to the Senate Third Reading and “hijack” it…but even then, Leno will need to find 41 votes in the Assembly to concur in the Amendments.
Calif gay marriage bill to be revived [Merc News]
Volunteering at the Log Cabin booth at a Gay Pride event can be both frustrating and rewarding. Each year, Log Cabin uses the opportunity to welcome new or potential members–we know they’re out there and usually a handful of like-minded gays and lesbians find us each year.
But for each like-minded individual who visits the Log Cabin booth there will be jeers and sneers, the moron who labels Log Cabin members an “oxymoron” and the visitor who feels the need to tell us that they disagree with everything Log Cabin believes in. After volunteering for a few years, I find that hard to believe, since one of Log Cabin’s goals is advancing gay rights…but I digress.
In 2005, Log Cabin is also using the opportunity of numerous Pride festivals around the Country to advance an agenda every member of the gay and lesbian community should get behind–ending the ban on gays in the military.
So if you are at San Francisco Pride this weekend and come across the Log Cabin booth…put your partisan hat aside for a moment, and drop by to learn how you can help Log Cabin End the Ban.
Assemblyman Leland Yee’s effort to include Gays and Lesbians under the Fair Campaign Practices law in California is picking up steam in the State Senate, with a hearing as soon as Thursday. Log Cabin California has endorsed the Bill and Executive Director Jeff Bissiri is actively lobbying for it.
However, fair reporting by the State’s newspapers lags. The Oakland Tribune writes:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will have the final say on the legislation, but he is not tipping his hand. The Republican has shown some moderation on gay-rights issues, last year signing legislation requiring insurance companies to provide coverage to registered domestic partners. [Emphasis Added]
“Moderation” must be the new word for signing every gay rights bill that crossed his desk, as Schwarzenegger did last year.
Senate to vote on gay rights bill [Oakland Tribune]
At least one gay news outlet has honest headline writers–Los Angeles’ IN Magazine declares, correctly, “California Marriage Equality Bill Killed By Democrats” (see page 31, here).
Earlier this month, the State Legislature voted on AB 19 (Leno) which would have granted equal marriage rights to all Californians, regardless of sexual orientation. The measure failed to garner 41 votes, despite Democrats’ 48-32 majority in the Legislature’s lower house. Karen Ocamb does some extra reporting to get the true behind-the-scenes tale of why the measure failed.
The final four votes needed for passage relied on the presence of Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally–a long-time African American legislator. Expecting the Assembly to be in session until midnight, Ocamb reports, Dymally left the building to conduct “outside business” until 8 o’clock. When AB 19 came for a vote before 8 PM, Dymally was nowhere to be found, and Speaker Fabian Nunez called for a vote knowing AB 19 would fail.
Nunez calls it a “mistake” which means gays and lesbians will continue to endure second-class status because he cannot control his own caucus. Does anyone think Willie Brown would have made such a “mistake” unintentionally?
Just as important, before giving any more gay money to these elected officials, we should get an honest answer to the question–where was Assemblyman Dymally?!?
"Opinions expressed herein are solely those of the authors. For official Log Cabin California information, please visit our official website."