Blogcabin California

A mixed blessing in Governor Schwarzenegger’s announcement of his action on five gar rights bills on his desk. He signed four, but vetoed the one with the highest profile, AB 849–the Gay Marriage Bill. Here is the official Log Cabin reaction:

“Log Cabin expresses deep disappointment in Governor Schwarzenegger’s decision to veto legislation recognizing civil marriage equality,” said Patrick Guerriero, President of Log Cabin Republicans. “Log Cabin Republicans take the Governor at his word, that if, and when, the courts of California join the legislature in recognizing the right to civil marriage equality, he will uphold and support that decision,” continued Guerriero.

Log Cabin, however, does thank the Governor for sending a strong signal to the people of California that he will not allow the initiative process to marginalize gay and lesbian families. In his veto message today, Governor Schwarzenegger states, “I support current domestic partner rights and will continue to vigorously defend and support these rights… and will not support any roll back.” “We look forward to working with the Governor next year to defeat any anti-gay ballot initiative,” said Jeff Bissiri, California Director of Log Cabin.

Log Cabin also praises the Governor for signing four significant pieces of legislation of importance to the LGBT community. AB1400, The Civil Rights Act of 2005, adds sexual orientation and marital status to the Unruh Civil Rights Act. AB1586 prohibits discrimination based on gender identity in health care plans. SB565 amends existing law to treat registered domestic partners the same as married couples regarding property tax reappraisal when a partner passes away. SB973 amends existing law to allow public employees who retired before AB205 went into effect to add a domestic partner as a beneficiary.

So the battle is on for June 2006, as the “Protect Marriage” initiatives appear likely to head to the voters. And while we are all pretty mad about AB 849, we have a new ally in the Governor in this battle and to me personally, that is a good thing.

Congratulations to Jeff Cook for a successful launch of his exploratory committee to run for Congress next year. Capitol Hill is taking notice:

A former senior official from the Log Cabin Republicans is likely to challenge Rep. Sue Kelly (R-N.Y.) next year in a primary, the latest sign that federal spending is prompting a backlash at the GOP grassroots level.

Jeff Cook, Log Cabin’s former national field director, launched an exploratory committee earlier this week and is planning two fundraisers later this fall in Washington and New York to reel in $200,000.

Chris Barron, Log Cabin’s political director, said Cook, 26, can tap into a national network of gay and lesbian donors to beat Kelly, who won her sixth term, last year, with 67 percent of the vote. Log Cabin is a gay-rights organization.

But it will take more than free press to get Jeff to Congress–your support will matter too!

Gay Republican will challenge Rep. Kelly in primary in N.Y.-19 [HillNews]
About Jeff Cook [Official Site]

You knew it wouldn’t be long before the Democratic Party started trying to score political points over Governor Schwarzenegger’s promised veto of AB 849.

“Apparently, Governor Schwarzenegger has ripped a page from President Bush’s re-election playbook. Rule number one in the “Bush-Rove Guide to Running on a Record of Failure” is to demonize groups of people and use them to divide the electorate by rallying the extremists in your base. It’s the only way to explain Governor Schwarzenegger’s promise to veto the California marriage equality bill after pledging just last year to support equal rights and responsibilities for California’s LGBT families if approved by the courts or the legislature.

“The Democratic Party is committed to ensuring that all American families, regardless of their composition, are treated equally. Traditionally, states have decided how best to achieve equality for all of their families. Sadly, now that Californians–through their duly elected state legislature–have made their decision, Governor Schwarzenegger and his right-wing allies are thwarting their will for electoral gain.

For starters, Howard Dean must be ignoring what Schwarzenegger’s spokesperson actually said–that he supports full and equal partnership rights for gays and lesbians. Dean must also be ignoring that there is the sticky issue of the “will of the people” and the interpretation of their vote on Proposition 22.

And, he should probably talk to the 11 Democrat members of the Senate and Assembly who did not support AB 849, as well as to Bill Clinton (who signed DOMA) and John Kerry who campaigned against gay marriage rights in Missouri just last year!

Collateral Damage: Schwarzenegger’s Promise to California Families [GayLinkNews]

Jeff Bissiri, California Log Cabin Director, Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin and two other Log Cabin members were invited to meet with top staff members of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday. They were a part of a larger group of leaders of the gay and lesbian community who discussed Gay Marriage and the larger issue, defeating the proposed initiative which would eliminate domestic partnership rights in California.

While Log Cabin and other gay leaders at the meeting expressed their disappointment in Schwarzenegger’s staff announcement that he intended to veto AB 849 (the Marriage Equality bill), there remain critical pieces of legislation on which the Governator will render his judgment.

AB1400(Laird) Civil Rights Act of 2005
This adds sexual orientation and marital status to the listed categories in the Unruh Civil Rights Act.

SB565(Migden) Property Tax Reappraisal Exclusion- Domestic Partners
Amends existing law to treat registered Domestic Partners the same as married couples regarding reappraisal of property when a partner passes away.

SB973(Kuehl) Public Employee Retirement- Domestic Partner
Amends existing law to allow public employees who retired before AB205 or AB26 went into effect to add a Domestic Partner as a beneficiary.

In addition, Log Cabin members are encouraging Schwarzenegger to stick by his record of expanding Domestic Partnership rights and come out in opposition to the “Protect Marriage” initiatives.

The gay community in California can’t let our anger over AB 849 get in the way of our pushing to advance these important bills for gays rights!

Equality California is calling upon Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to “be a hero” and let AB 849, the marriage equality bill passed by California’s legislature, become law.

The ad is well-produced and draws upon Schwarzenegger’s legacy as a member of the Kennedy family. It also hits so many notes similar to Log Cabin’s “Hope, Not Fear” ads which ran in opposition to George Bush’s Federal Marriage Amendment efforts–which, by the way, Schwarzenegger also opposed–that you’d think it was drafted off the same script. The big difference, though, is the timing of the ads. I have to wonder whether running these ads at this time might jeopardize the other gay rights bills which are coming to the Governor’s desk.

Log Cabin representatives, including California Director Jeff Bissiri, will meet with the Governor’s staff today to discuss a number of gay and lesbian issues. On the table is one area where Arnold would be a TRUE hero–helping defeat the proposed initiatives which would turn back the clocks on partnership rights for gays and lesbians more than two decades.

Click Here to play Equality California Ad (Quicktime)

As gays and lesbians meet in Denver this week to discuss workplace equality, the news on non-discrimination in the private sector is encouraging.

According to a new national Out & Equal Workplace Summit survey, more than half of heterosexuals (55%) feel that married spouses and same-sex partners should receive the same adoption assistance such as counseling and financial benefits offered by many employers. Seven in ten (70%) heterosexuals agree that the leave rights for family and medical emergencies (as outlined in the Family and Medical Leave Act) should apply equally to employees’ married spouses and same-sex partners.

Furthermore, the number of companies receiving a perfect score from the Human Rights Campaign for having gay-friendly work environments is growing.

In its fourth-annual Corporate Equality Index, HRC graded 402 U.S. companies with at least 500 employees on their treatment of LGBT workers.

This year 101 companies got a perfect score, close to doubling last year’s group of 56 companies that received 100 percent.

Left to its own devices, the free markets are doing the right thing when it comes to gay rights. Unfortunately, Government lags behind, and remains the bastion of homophobic bigotry. But as Americans attitudes shift, perhaps employment non-discrimination will come to the US military and efforts to put employment discrimination into the State Constitution by banning local governments from granting domestic partner benefits will be defeated.

Workplace Improves For Gays But Most Still Have No Protections [365gay]
Majorities of Heterosexuals Agree Same-Sex Partners Deserve Same Adopton Benefits and Leave Rights Offered by Employers as Married Co-Workers’ Spouses Receive [GayLinkNews]

Several California bloggers met Saturday morning at the State Republican Party Convention with leaders from the Republican Party.

Bill Mundell, likely Republican Candidate for the United States Senate and leader in the effort to support Proposition 77 to end gerrymandering in California opened the session by praising bloggers as ways to uplift nascent campaigns. He said he believes passing Prop 77 may be the mose important on the ballot. By restoring representative Democracy, other initiatives may become less important. Mundell criticized a letter by Dora Kinglsey praising the 2001 Redistricting, which guaranteed minority status for the Republican Party while helping elect the most conservative people to its elected positions. California is a growing State…it is a “reform state”, Mundell said, urging Republicans to bring Independents back to the Party. No group was more harmed by the 2001 Redistricting than the Latino community, as evidenced by the gerrymander of the Sherman/Berman districts which turned one 65%-Latino district and split it between two districts represented by Jewish males.

Prop 77, Mundell says, “is potentially the second act of the Recall,” as a way to start electing more representative members of the legislature.

Tony Strickland, candidate for State Controller, stopped by next. When he wakes up in the morning, Strickland says, he doesn’t need to read the newspapers, because Jon Fleischmann has already done it for him. Strickland spoke about his lawsuit against Gray Davis during the Energy Crisis. He was disappointed by Republicans who told him the move could hurt his political chances as Gray Davis was big on political retribution. Most important ballot measure, according to Strickland, is paycheck protection which will, “De-fund the left”… www.tonystrickland.com

Tom Del Becarro, Chairman of the County Chairman’s Association and publisher of Political Vanguard, encouraged the blogs to go forth and propogate–taking an active role, growing in number and size, and energizing resources for the Party and its activities. Said that he is our advocate within the Party and will push to give us additional resources in the future.

Gary Mendoza, candidate for Insurance Commissioner, spoke next to the group. Gary cut his teeth in politics working on Chris Cox’s congressional campaign. Recruited to become Commissioner of Corporations for the State of California before becoming Deputy Mayor of the City of Los Angeles. L.A. City Hall is the most dysfunctional form of government where the organizing principle was to oppose the Mayor. He then went to work on the Bush 2000 Campaign, as a California Co-Chairman, while pointing out that one of his opponents was supporting Al Gore’s recount effort. Mendoza focused on (Poizner) and his lack of “principles” for having supported Gore in 2000–though he craftily failed to mention him by name. Ran for the position in 2002, and did okay given the situation–came within 5 points when the rest of the Party lost miserably.

Dr. Phil Kurzner, also a GOP candidate for Insurance Commissioner, continued the discussion about the race. He first mentioned that he and Gary Mendoza are friends, and joined in agreement with his comments about the “third candidate” in the campaign–at what price will the GOP give up its beliefs? Best he can tell, only rationale for Poizner’s candidacy is that he’s a billionaire. When Mendoza was Commissioner of Corporations, he directed the for-profit conversion of Blue Cross of California into WellPoint. Since WellPoint’s merger with Anthem, approved in the end by John Garamendi, has resulted in a “progressive oligopoly” in healthcare. Consumers end up paying for it as insurance rates go up. Employers respond with higher co-pays, etc., shifting costs to workers. GOP, Kurzner says, has surprisingly not paid attention to healthcare as an issue. It’s #4 or #5 on the agenda except for those who have health problems. Goal of party should be that every child in California should have access to private health insurance. www.votedrphil.com

Eric Siddall, Republican candidate for the 4th District State Board of Equalization, was the final candidate to speak. Eric recounted his time in Washington and how out-of-sorts people thought Californians were. On a national level, it seems we’ve forgotten what it means to be a Republican–he called for reigning in the budget and restoring local control–those were the issues that enabled Ronald Reagan to win and those are the issues Governor Schwarzenegger can use to re-energize the Republican Party. Congress has become a “bunch of drunken sailors,” and one example is the reaction to the hurricane–spend spend spend. One of his fears is that the Federal Government will start to federalize these issues. Commended the President’s unique and measured response–by looking to the tax code as a way to respond to the crisis. The Board of Equalization is a unique place to consider emergency response, should a similar disaster ever hit California (such as an earthquake). Look at what Mayor Riordan did responding to Northridge–he used incentives and pushed accomplishments through. The entire State Party needs to remember what it means to be a Republican–it is the party of reform and always has been. www.ericsiddall.com

Next week, Log Cabin California representatives will join Equality California and other gay and lesbian groups to meet with Governor Schwarzenegger’s staff. While Equality California says in an email that the meeting comes just, “two days before the marriage equality bill even reaches the Governor,” the Governor’s staff insists the issue isn’t on the table.

While we’d all like to see Governor Schwarzenegger grant marriage equality in California, the gay and lesbian community in California should focus on what the Governor can do FOR us rather than argue over our points of disagreement. Frankly, the LGBT needs the Governor as an ally to fight the initiatives proposed for next June’s ballot which would eliminate all recognition of Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships in California.

The California LGBT community should urge Schwarzenegger that when eventually vetoes AB 849, he also make a statement supporting recognition of gay and lesbian partnerships and lay the groundwork to eventually oppose the “Protect Marriage” initiatives should they make the ballot by stating clearly that he opposes writing discrimination into the State constitution.

I am hopeful that a constructive meeting with Governor Schwarzenegger could yield these results. After all, Governor Schwarzenegger is a man who had a 100% rating on gay issues just a year ago, who opposed the President on the Federal Marriage Initiative, who has fully-funded the AIDS Drug Assistance Program despite tight budgets, who became the first Republican Governor to recognize California’s Pride festivities, and who has expanded Domestic Partnership rights.

Oh, and I can’t imagine Maria will be too happy if he doesn’t stick with his convictions on this issue.

Schwarzenegger aides to meet with gay leaders [SFGate]

Discussing the pro-gay voting record of Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee (RI), liberal blogger DailyKos disregards the Senator’s 86% rating from the Human Rights Campaign and states:

But Chafee voted for Bill Frist for majority leader — HRC rating of 0 and strong backer and cheerleader of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Chafee also voted for Mitch McConnel as the number two Republican in the Senate (assistant majority leader), and — get this — Rick Santorum for the number three slot (conference secretary). Both McConnel and Santorum have big fat ZEROs from the HRC scorecard. And we all know about “man on dog” and “man on child” Santorum.

HRC opposed just five judges of the 200 or so Bush nominated that have received Senate votes. Chafee voted to confirm four of those five judges. Jay Bybee, Michael McConnell, Jeffrey Sutton, and Timothy Tymkovich. He voted against William Pryor.

Chafee is a member of a party that hates homosexuals and seeks to deny them equal rights. By being in the Senate, Chafee enables the GOP anti-gay agenda, electing an anti-gay leadership and voting for anti-gay judges in the name of party unity.

What Kos is advocating, it seems, is that no gay should ever support a Republican and no Republican should ever support the gays. Seems like a recepie to elect Democrats, but not one to make any substantive advances in gay rights–especially since Democrats can’t be supported on with any more regularity than say, Lincoln Chaffee.

Oh, and memo to Mike Rogers…it’s now “the gays”.

HRC idiocy [DailyKos]

A week after Governor Schwarzenegger’s press secretary announced her boss’ intention to veto AB 849, the bill to grant gay marriage in California, the hot heads are cooling off here in the Blog Cabin. There have been numerous theories as to why the Governor promised to veto the bill, but what changed my mind was when, after reading his veto message, I went online and read the actual text of the bill–something I doubt many of those pontificating these days have done.

Here’s what Scwharzenegger spokesperson Margita Thompson said about why the Governor would veto AB 849:

Five years ago the matter of same-sex marriage was placed before the people of California. The people voted and the issue is now before the courts. The Governor believes the matter should be determined not by legislative action — which would be unconstitutional — but by court decision or another vote of the people of our state.

While not technically true, in the case of AB 849, it may well be. Marriage is defined twice in the family code–Section 301 and Section 308.5. Section 301, which defines marriages performed in California, was inserted by the Legislature in the 1970’s. Section 308.5 amends Section 308, which discusses marriages that will be recognized from other States.

Rather than simply amending Section 301 and leaving 308.5 be–which would have been constitutional–Assemblyman Mark Leno puts this language in the bill:

The Legislature finds and declares that this act does not amend or modify Section 308.5 of the Family Code, as enacted by an initiative measure, to the extent that Section 308.5 addresses only marriages from other jurisdictions. The Legislature further finds that Sections 300 and 308.5 of the Family Code have been declared unconstitutional by a state coordination trial judge appointed by the Judicial Council, and the Legislature declares that the purpose of this act is to correct the constitutional infirmities of Section 300, which was enacted by the Legislature. The Legislature further finds that the constitutional infirmities of Section 308.5 of the Family Code, which was enacted through the initiative process, cannot be corrected by the Legislature and that the California Supreme Court is the governmental body that has authority to make a final determination regarding the meaning, validity, or invalidity of Section 308.5.

Although Log Cabin supported this bill on its principle, it seems that it could have been better-written. Why not just ignore Sec. 308.5 and have a legislative analysis or counsel opinion which makes this point for a court to determine the intent of the legislature at a later date?!? Otherwise, essentially, the bill is saying that the matter should be left to the Courts–which is exactly why Arnold Schwarzenegger has promised to veto it!

By no means do I intend to come across as an apologist for the Governor, but there are many reasons other than being “against the gays” that someone might have trouble with this legislation.

Log Cabin has been criticized for honoring Sen. John McCain as a “Republican Hero” because the Senator has endorsed a so-called “Protect Marriage” initiative in his home State of Arizona. Similar accusations have been made against Governor Schwarzenegger in light of his veto of AB 849–legislation that would have allowed gay marriages in California.

Both, however, opposed President Bush’s effort to amend the United States Constitution to ban gay vows altogether. So it’s heartening, in a sense, to see this shift by the broader gay community which, just a year ago, was supporting a candidate with the exact same positions as McCain and Schwarzenegger–let the States decide the marriage issue, but do not support it in the States. That’s what John Kerry said when he ran for President…and that is why Log Cabin, unlike most others, chose to sit the 2004 election cycle out and make no endorsement.

McCain praised, chided for positions on Gay issues [BfT]