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The AEB Project launched in earnest July 4th, 2010 with a nationwide conference call, hosted by EqualityGiving, and attended by an amazing group of activists! Warmly embraced, almost 2 months later The American Equality Bill has definitely joined the conversation! Equal Civil Rights NOW – is a growing mantra! Grassroots activists all over are stepping up and contacting their Congress people, folks are doing their own petitions, blogs are peppered with AEB references, and we’ve made the Advocate, Bilierico, LezGetReal and CNN ireports. The early visionaries at EqualityGiving.org are happy, and our partners at ActonPrinciples.org have really stepped up with our AEB Sponsorship Hunt Pages listing all Senate and Congressional offices (open and waiting for YOU to post feedback from your outreach – links below). We’re even hearing rumors that we’re too pushy, which is music to our ears!!! But it’s JUST THE BEGINNING and the resistance from the status-quo is strong. Already, some staffers of potential sponsors are counter-lobbying the AEB trying to create divisions in the grassroots ranks. This will NOT BE AN EASY ROAD as we always new. The single most important thing you can do is to create a full campaign in your Congressional District to get that vote (sponsor). Republican or Democrat. And SHARE THE STORY on the FB page. My mother is going after Rep. Bill Young (R.FL-10 Clearwater). I’m going after my Rep., Congressman Rangel (D. NY) (see letter below). This is happening all over, but time is very short. To really start this party, we need ONE SPONSOR to file by NOVEMBER. So we need to FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS. Now is the time – before Nov. 2nd – to call this issue. Push now. Push hard. Go public, have a rally at their campaign office, call and fax their offices (as we have President Obama and Gillibrand), form a state-wide AEB team and group-target potential sponsors directly, etc. etc. BUT YOUR DISTRICT IS THE PRIZE. OR, ONE CONGRESS PERSON FROM YOUR STATE. Focus, focus, focus. Deadline NOV. 2nd! This is YOUR Campaign. It’s starting to fly, but it needs a big gust of wind to take wing. We are all volunteer, all grassroots! 2nd class citizenship & 2nd rate demands NO MORE! Let’s do this. Love, Tif p.s. Without pushing, The AEB main FB page doubled, but let’s build it! Share the link: http://bit.ly/AEBnow. I. ON-GOING ACTIONS: CONTACTING your Rep. During Recess (TOP priority. Urgent! On-going) FAX WHITE HOUSE – AEB NOW! FAX GILLIBRAND (NY) FLYERS: “Please File The AEB” (for anyone to use on their Congress/Senators) ELECTION CYCLE: CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE (now) II. NEW PETITIONS & FB PAGES http://www.change.org/petitions/view/petition_for_full_equality_for_all_americans (active) http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=278882199073&ref=ts#!/pages/The-American-Equality-Bill/152463468103529?ref=mf FB PROFILE PICS: AEB NOW or SO+GI Civil Rights NOW III. STRONG ORGANIZATIONAL AFFILIATIONS http://www.equalitygiving.org/ (look for our flag) http://www.actonprinciples.org/ (other exciting partnerships in the works!) IV. SPONSORSHIP HUNT (put your name next to your Target) SENATE TARGETS: http://www.actonprinciples.org/aeb-senate/ HOUSE TARGETS: http://www.actonprinciples.org/aeb-house/ V. AEB IN BLOGS & NEWS http://www.bilerico.com/2010/07/the_american_equality_bill_an_idea_whose_time_has.php http://lezgetreal.com/2010/08/prop-8-evidence-posted-by-court-for-all-to-finally-see/ http://www.pinkbananaworld.com/content-detail.cfm?ID=371170 http://lezgetreal.com/2010/08/reclaiming-the-civil-rights-movement-who-owns-the-dream/ http://www.actonprinciples.org/2010/08/22/hello-%E2%80%98used-to-be%E2%80%99-activists-it%E2%80%99s-time-to-resurrect-our-civil-rights-struggle-is-at-hand/ http://lezgetreal.com/2010/08/this-blogger-is-fuming-with-the-white-house/ http://www.advocate.com/Politics/Marriage_Equality/White_House_Meeting_Red_Hot/ (linked to ActonPrinciples.org blog on White House Fax) http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-482233 VI. YOUTUBE speech about THE AEB http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4LWus-twi0&feature=player_embedded VII. JOIN (and lead) YOUR STATE AEB LISTSERVE! We’ve created AEB gmail listserves for every state for you to use to gather a team or find others working on AEB in your state. They are open. The lists are: AEB-(state abbreviation)@googlegroups.com. So for example the New York group is: AEB-NY@googlegroups.com. Exception: AEB-Idaho. To locate and join them, search gmail groups with first part only: AEB-NY. Please let me know if there are any issues (tif509@gmail.com). We can make you a manager so you can tailor the page to local flavor! The MAIN AEB Project listserve is: AEB1@googlegroups.com. Come one, come all.
Dear friends in the LGBT Community, I know you are unsatisfied with my record to date on your concerns, our concerns. I hope this communication helps to change that. To begin, I consider your cause to be equal in importance to every other struggle for civil rights and human dignity. To prove this, I am upping the ante on the Employment Non-Discrimination Bill (ENDA). As currently envisioned, ENDA creates a separate employment non-discrimination law for “sexual orientation and gender identity.” I will not sign that bill. I can not in good conscious, being myself a success story of the 1964 Civil Rights Act which protects everyone else. So today I am introducing a civil rights-version of ENDA that puts “sexual orientation and gender identity” inside the employment provisions of the Civil Rights Act where they belong. This is the law that protected my jobs my whole life and led to the one I have now; and you deserve nothing less. This country long ago rejected the idea of “separate but equal” and today I join that proud heritage. I will fight to pass this bill, and to have a vote either way, by June 2011, working with either a Republican or Democratic Congress. Civil rights should not be a partisan issue and it is our responsibility – our prime responsibility under the Constitution – to provide protection from discrimination against the LGBT community — just as we protect all of our respected communities and peoples. This is what I intend to do. This is change you can believe in. Now shut up and go vote (this part is optional President Obama. AND HERE’s THE LANGUAGE FOR HIS BILL: Sec. 1. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §2000e, is amended to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited basis’ for discrimination in employment. a. The following definitions shall be added at the end of §2000e: b. Sections 2000e-2(a)-(d), §2000e-2(h), §2000e-2(j), §2000e-2(l), §2000e-2(m), §2000e-3(b), 2000e(g)(2)(A), §2000e-16(a), and §2000e-16(c), are amended every time the phrase “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin” appears to include after the word “sex” the following words:- “sexual orientation, gender identity,”. ———- Will it cost him something? Maybe. Maybe the opposite. But at least then the outcome will have been something to admire. I eagerly await this email from the DNC, OFA, or Obama himself. I used to look forward to opening those OFA emails that came directly from him. Not so much any more. To send this idea to the White House, fax it (free and easy on faxzero.com) to: President Obama, 202-456-2461.
  GetEqual has done an amazing timeline on ENDA. http://getequal.org/2010/07/enda-timeline-broken-promises/ But it has ONE MAJOR MISLEADING Flaw. After correctly listing that in 1974, NY Congress people introduced a bill to directly Amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to add “sex, sexual orientation and marital status,” the timeline then makes a misleading connection to that strategy. Here’s the too-clever transition moment in the timeline: “1994 — The modern version of the Civil Rights Amendment, now called the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), is introduced with gay-only protection without public accommodations or housing provisions.” This is misleading because it suggests that ENDA IS an Amendment to the Civil Rights Act (CRA). When in fact, ENDA is a separate law, apart from the CRA. A separate and unequal law JUST FOR employment non-discrimination covering “sex. orient. and gender identity” (SO+GI), whereas “race, color, sex, national origin, and religion” are protected from employment discrimination UNDER (IN) the Civil Rights Act (Title VII). ENDA is a separate water fountain – for the gays! And no one is saying it! This makes ENDA a scam – because I for one didn’t realize this until I studied the bill. Here is the text of ENDA. Interestingly, ENDA looks, smells, and sounds similar to the CRA (and it references the CRA many times for enforcement etc.), but doesn’t put us in the CRA, because back in 1994 (and supposedly today) – the NAACP, NOW, etc. (the groups currently protected by the CRA) told the gays to STAY AWAY – DO NOT TOUCH – the CRA. And we obeyed, supposedly for “allied” support, which hasn’t helped pass the bill in 16 years. Yet still, we obey. It was “their law” and “civil rights” belonged to the black civil rights movement — and those groups asserted then, and the NAACP still says, that they are afraid of making any changes to the CRA that might open the law up to Republican attempts to water down THEIR protections. So we did our own – for gays only – and we are STILL not yet asking for equal treatment and inclusion in the CRA. How long will we allow the “fears” of protected groups to justify our exclusion? And what does it say about US that we are STILL NOT even ASKING for equal inclusion in the CRA? No one is being honest about this. If it passes, as is, Pres. Obama will go down in history as a mixed-race President who created a separate water fountain for gay people in employment discrimination. The law that protected HIS JOBS since he was a child (born in 1961, CRA passed in ‘64) WILL NOT INCLUDE US. Those laws – called the CIVIL RIGHTS Laws – do more than end discrimination, they are a statement of U.S. policy AGAINST discrimination which says everyone protected under them are equal – race, color, sex, nat. orig., religion – all traits and covered groups – are equal to one another. By putting us apart – we are saying the opposite. Even after/if ENDA passes, we will still have to fight to GET IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT – in an equal way. We will still not have “Civil Rights” for us. I REALLY WISH our community would START TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT ENDA. If we know and tell the truth – and decide to accept this 2nd class citizenship-strategy, then FINE. But let that be a decision made in full disclosure. The wording “the modern version of the Civil Rights amendment” – is misleading in an highly subtle way. This is not an amendment to the CRA, in any way, and not the equivalent of the 1974 bill filed by Ed Koch and Bella Azbug which, as I understand them, DID PUT US IN THE CRA – because at the time, we felt we were EQUAL to “race, color”. Now we act as if we are not, because those groups told us to stay away, and we still bow to that social pressure which is nothing but homophobia misrepresented as fear. WE CAN FIX ENDA – and put “SO+GI” in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. But this will take PRINCIPLE and SELF-RESPECT, which our current movement does not have. Here is that language (Drafted by Karen Doering): Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §2000e, is amended to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited basis’ for discrimination in employment. Sections 2000e-2(a)-(d), §2000e-2(h), §2000e-2(j), §2000e-2(l), §2000e-2(m), §2000e-3(b), 2000e(g)(2)(A), §2000e-16(a), and §2000e-16(c), are amended every time the phrase “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin” appears to include after the word “sex” the following words:- “sexual orientation, gender identity,”. THIS IS WHAT EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW LOOKS LIKE. (And this is what The American Equality Bill calls for: http://bit.ly/AEBillonFB). History will reveal the truth of this, and all involved will have brought dishonor upon our community and themselves. Are we that desperate? Do we think that little of ourselves? Sorry GetEqual friends. I know you did not create ENDA or this 2nd class strategy. I know you’re just trying to help move the existing agenda and hold folks accountable, and I wholeheartedly applaud that work. But this timeline perpetuates the fraud. Please fix the timeline, or you and your supporters (including me) become a knowing party to the conspiracy. You have to wonder: WHERE IS THE LGBT PRESS ON THIS? WHY ARE YOU NOT QUESTIONING THE DRAFTERS OF ENDA ABOUT THIS? THE WHOLE POINT of our cause is that we are telling THE TRUTH. We are equal beings. Homophobia does kill. And we are entitled as a matter of human rights law and philosophy to be included fully in America’s non-discrimination laws, which we call The Civil Rights Act of 1964. To get there, we have to start telling the truth about ENDA. [BTW: ENDA IS NOT REALLY GAYS-Only EITHER. And that's important, but not easy to capture in a soundbite. ENDA is not really a gays-only law because it covers "Sexual Orientation" which could be straight, bi, or gay, and "Gender Identity" which covers the full range. Obviously straight people and gender conforming people don't suffer discrimination like we do, and are not really the point, any more than "race and color" were intended to protect white people.]
FAX: NY SENATE (Candidate) Kirsten GILLIBRAND TODAY to get a Commitment NOW to file The American Equality Bill (in November). FAX this flyer (free fax online faxzero.com) To: 518-751-2556 BACKGROUND: Sen. Gillibrand has promised to add SO+GI to the Civil Rights laws (at some undetermined point in the future). We want her to say “YES” NOW to filing The AEB (in Nov). We want a commitment NOW during the campaign, while she’s seeking our support. She’s attending a big fundraiser by our community out on Fire Island TOMORROW. Let’s remind her what we WANT! No more delays. Commit NOW. NOTE: FRIENDLY ACTION. This is an e-fax number, and we’ve alerted the campaign office. This will NOT disrupt their operations, or be considered an unfriendly action. If you want to CALL the CAMPAIGN: 212-481-2010. Calls are good too. But please be nice. –
WE MUST ASK! HOW ELSE WILL WE KNOW? If anyone is doing candidate questionnaires, post primaries, I would like to offer the following questions for your consideration. We can not truly assess our support in Congress until we ask these basic questions about our inclusion in the non-discrimination laws that protect society, laws we call our civil rights laws, but which actually only stop interference with our fundamental human right to exist safely as who and what we are. If we miss the opportunity to ask these basic questions in this election cycle, we have to wonder what exactly our advocacy hopes to achieve and when. No more excuses! QUESTIONS FOR SENATE AND CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRES NON-DISCRIMINATION IN PRIVATE SECTOR EMPLOYMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION IN PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION IN HOUSING NON-DISCRIMINATION IN PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS NON-DISCRIMINATION IN PUBLIC FACILITIES NON-DISCRIMINATION IN ACCESS TO CREDIT NON-DISCRIMINATION IN FEDERALLY FUNDED PROGRAMS OR ACTIVITIES COMPREHENSIVE BILL “Good things don’t come to those who wait. They come to those who agitate!” Julian Bond
New York is having primary Senatorial Debates (monday/tues). [Try to get the question in your state's debates as well.] Please forward the questions below to: desk@ny1news.com In subject put: Questions on Civil Rights for Senate Debate: 1. Senator Gillibrand has been up front in supporting the inclusion of “sexual orientation and gender identity” in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Would you support a bill to place “sexual orienta…tion and gender identity” in the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which currently protects people from discrimination based on their “race, color, sex, national origin, or religion.” And if so, would you be an original sponsor of such a bill in 2011? Or the longer version: 2. Senator Gillibrand has been up front in supporting the inclusion of “sexual orientation and gender identity” in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Would you support a bill to place “sexual orientation and gender identity” in the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which currently protects people from discrimination based on their “race, color, sex, national origin, or religion”” in vast areas of life including “employment, housing, access to credit, gov’t facilities, private places open to the public, and all federally funded programs”. And if so, would you be an original sponsor of such a bill in 2011?
You’ve paid your dues and through the nose. You’ve heard and said it all. You’re done with all the drama. You did your part. But what did you do it for? One of my oldest friends is still in the grassroots game. He’s even coined the new phase: Stonewall 2.0. But he’s taking a pass on “federal activism,” having seen the demise of the National Equality March organization and lived through the tortured takeover of Equality Across America by the International Socialist Organization (ISO). Understandably scared away, his focus now is on “building a [state-level grassroots] activist network that can respond ad hoc to developments of concern to our community.” To me this sounds like activism for activism sake; a reactive army, without strategy or focus. And it sounds like a different person. Really, dear old friend? Really? Is that your intention now? That wasn’t your motivation when we started. You were driven by your childhood suffering (in a state that recently created a decoy prom for the gays and misfits). You were intent on changing the laws and government culture. You took on city police commissioners over entrapment. You forced hate crimes reporting and enforcement. You lobbied law after law for state equal rights and fought marriage referendum. You helped elect Mayors and Governors and Senators and Presidents. But for what? Here we are with a President that is a direct product of the black Civil Rights struggle and the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which made it the U.S. public policy not to discriminate based on race. And yet, here we are with no federal Civil Rights protection for our community. No hope in sight of ever having an openly gay or lesbian or transgendered President. And no end game in play. Is that what we’ve worked all this time for? No. But you don’t want to be involved in “federal activism.” Well old friend, that’s not good enough. We can’t count on your new ad hoc responder network. We can’t count on new edgy activists that go mainstream in minutes. We can’t wait decades to make insider contacts. And we can’t do this without the veteran experts. We need our use-to-be activists to resurrect and those still in the game, like you, to reconnect to their youthful intentions. Because a narrow window of opportunity is now open and the time has come to protect our community with America’s civil rights laws. Now. In Obama’s 1st term. We cannot count on a 2nd and should not have to wait anyway. For this, there is a new proposed bill called The American Equality Bill, created by EqualityGiving and written by Karen Doering (former Senior Counsel for the National Center for Lesbian Rights), which seeks to just that. It puts SO+GI right along side “race, color, sex, national origin and religion” where we’ve belonged all along. It’s ready to go and sponsors are being sought for filing in November, with an impatient and ambitious view toward public hearings by May of next year, and passage by June of 2012. But it’s all grassroots and it needs you. Filing it alone will ignite a conversation long over due about homophobia and civil rights. In fact, filing the bill will represent a statement about our own dignity that, by itself, will start to free our youth from the 2nd class reality they continue to experience. Because filing it says: “We are entitled to the same protections the President had as a child. We are equal.” It will show your ad hoc response team that there is a prize we deserve greater than anything they are aware of, and much more than we have asked for so far, or they know to seek. This is what the elders are supposed to be doing. But to file and pass this legislation our community needs you working exactly where you are – in your state, not just building networks, but engaging them. This is not federal activism. It is state activism. The Congressional sponsors and Senate sponsors will come from the states. The votes will come from the states. And the activists needed to make this dream a reality will come from the states. This is what we have prepared ourselves for our entire lives. This is the struggle for which we honed our politics and built our organizations. This is the civil rights struggle of the millennium and it needs you. It is not time to stand down, old friend. It is time to stand up.
It is recess – and Congressional folks are in-district until 9/12. So we should be pushing to meet in-person with them right? Holding rallies outside their campaign offices, meeting them at every fundraiser. It should be overdrive right? If not now, when? But the only group I’ve seen try to moblize the community to meet with their Congress person is Immigration Equality, which held a very good conference call on “how to” get those meetings and get the best out of them. In the meantime, HRC’s latest email blast – is about a Target boycott – Target the store. Nothing from the Task Force and nothing from the Equality Federation which just met with the White House. That meeting revealed a PATHETIC agenda and no timeline. Yet, Equality Federation came out swinging for Obama, seeking to shift responsibility to Congress and our community See comment of their ED to this post on ActOnPrinciples: http://www.actonprinciples.org/2010/08/17/last-weeks-historic-white-house-meeting-exposes-limp-agenda-wh-asks-hold-our-feet-to-the-fire-so-lets-do-that-fax-brian-bond-at-white-house-to-demand-our-civil-rights/ Now, to me its increasingly clear that Obama is looking to be a “good 1 term president, rather than a 2 term mediocre president”. Reports have said that directly. He’s also stepping up on controversial issues. It’s also exceptionally clear because he has said this directly and indirectly MANY TIMES – that he wants us to HOLD HIS FEET TO THE FIRE. He is asking, almost begging us to step up our game. Our pressure is HIS SUPPORT – particularly when it’s disbursed properly at Congress and our “allies” as well, such as the NAACP, ACLU, NOW, Oprah, Rachel Maddow, etc. While privately he may be asking for cover and that we focus on Congress – these are not mutually exclusive. We should be doing both. The moment is at hand and the mood is here for us to make a big push – and demand our Civil Rights. If HRC and the Task Force decided to run with that agenda, and we faxed hundreds of thousands of copies this flyer (http://bit.ly/AEBpleaseFILEpdf) to the WH and Brian Bond, we would be on the 1st Term agenda. What are we waiting for? To take down Target Inc. first? Toni Broaddus is right in her comment to the above post. It is OUR fault that we do not have our rights. And it is OUR fault that the President doesn’t have enough cover and support to pass ENDA. But the best way to fix this – is to give him something BIG ENOUGH to take a risk for. Our Civil Rights is that calling. But at a minimum, OUR groups should be stepping up the pressure in the mid-terms. This is the last chance we have to get OUR AGENDA to the forefront in this 1st term. ENDA is not sexy enough. DADT is done. Marriage is being won in the courts. Our Civil Rights and UAFA are what’s left. Out4Immigration and Immigration Equality are in full swing. The AEB Project (fledgling as it is) is in full swing. WHERE ARE OUR GROUPS? WHERE IS OUR BOLD DEMAND FOR FULL EQUALITY NOW. WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? Living in dismay. Tif p.s. Please fax this Flyer (http://bit.ly/AEBpleaseFILEpdf) to Brian Bond, LGBT Liaison at the White House: WH FAX: 202-456-2461. The President is looking for BOLD steps. What better one than our civil rights. This would single handedly earn him the Nobel Prize he already received.
This Blogger is Fuming With the White House – accusing Bloggers of being too critical Last week, The Equality Federation met with the White House Staff on LGBT Issues. It appears the White House is consoling our community with: 1. DADT “probably later” (employment for 15,000, out of 30 million of us). Here at Lez Get Real, I have been talking about CIVIL RIGHTS for a year now. Its not even in the White House Lexicon – not to mention the current puny shove off we have now received; yet another slap across the face! Inadvertently Mr. president you Staff have made the case for an Civil Rights Amendment. That is the only way to FULL equality. Todd Fernandez, who has joined me to plead for our community to take Equality to the next and imperative level of a demand for our Civil Rights through an Omnibus Amendment to the Civil Rights Act, and he asserts “our Equal CIVIL RIGHTS is a missing dream – somehow overlooked by a mixed-race President and our entire movement!!!???” According to reports of the meeting, one Administration official said: “When you are frustrated, you should speak out and hold our feet to the fire.” Well yes Sir; and then to have the gall to criticize the gay bloggers who are doing just that – yours truly included! When Brian Bond, Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and liaison to the LGBT community, took questions from the audience, he expressed frustration at the often intense criticism levied, particularly by bloggers, against an administration that is “99 percent supportive of your issues. As far as I am concerned we have only just began Mr. Bond. This Gay Blogger says: – Quite frankly I do not see the support of our issues. Where is the action? They can support our issues for the next 10 years – Hooray! That’s it? Thank you and no thanks. I say the White House has just dug its grave with the Gay community. We will now accept nothing less than our FULL CIVIL RIGHTS. This Blogger is willing to go to word –war with the White House – CIVIL RIGHTS are our demands! Gay and Lesbian Bloggers have a right to be angry – we will get the crowds shouting!We are doing as you say – Holding your feet to the fire! Show us the burn or it will get hotter! To hell with ENDA -DADT and DOMA your dangling carrots for what? For stand alone bills – legislation – To Hell with business as usual – piecemeal is over! . This is a call for the Big Guns – No more flailing piecemeal for them to throw back at us with now -then never then- maybe’s!!! I am sick of my rights being your TOY Mr. President! You have a duty to uphold the Constitution and you are failing us plain and simple. We need to have you all call the White House and tell them NOW about the American Equality Bill. They do not even know this grassroots piece of legislation is in existence. This Lesbian Blogger is ANGRY! Please PRINT AND MAIL, or FAX (WH FAX: 202-456-2461) this flyer: http://bit.ly/PleaseFileAEBmailer To: BRIAN BOND For free on-line fax: faxzero.com, or rapidfax.com (both can be done online without a landline phone). If you want to complain directly about this pathetic agenda for our equality call: BRIAN BOND: 202-456-1414. WH switchboard will put you to his voice mail. They won’t know what the American Equality Bill is yet – but they’ll figure it out. They don’t seem to know what Civil Rights are either. Let’s remind them. The American Equality Bill Project http://lezgetreal.com/2010/08/this-blogger-is-fuming-with-the-white-house/ http://lezgetreal.com/2010/08/this-blogger-is-fuming-with-the-white-house/
Apparently, The Equality Federation met with the White House Staff on our Agenda (see posting below). It appears the White House is consoling our community with: LET’S SET A NEW STANDARD – and NICELY DEMAND our FULL CIVIL RIGHTS! Please PRINT AND MAIL, or FAX (WH FAX: 202-456-2461) this flyer: http://bit.ly/PleaseFileAEBmailer (jpeg). To: BRIAN BOND Please include your e-mail address (as requested by the WH’s contact instructions) For free on-line fax: faxzero.com, or rapidfax.com (both can be done online without a landline phone). You need the PDF to free fax. Here that is: https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B3zgWwWHKayXZWI3YTExMWYtNTUyMy00ZTY3LThkNWItN2Q4YjRmOTdhMmFm&hl=enIf you want to complain directly about this pathetic agenda for equality call: BRIAN BOND: 202-456-1414. WH switchboard will put you to his voice mail. They won’t know what the AEB is – but they’ll figure it out. They don’t seem to know what Civil Rights are either. Let’s remind them. xoTif ———- Forwarded message ———- Dear Tif, Last week, Florida Together participated in a historic far-ranging White House discussion between members of the Obama administration and the Equality Federation, the national umbrella organization for statewide equality groups. As Executive Director, I was proud to represent Florida Together at the briefing. As the only person from Florida to attend the briefing, I wanted to share with you a summary of the meeting. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act Tchen said that the administration was prioritizing DADT over the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) because it could attach DADT to other legislation, making it much easier to move through Congress. By contrast, ENDA- which would outlaw employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and expression – is stand-alone legislation that faces more congressional hurdles. In the current political climate, securing a Acknowledging that some LGBT advocates are quite frustrated with the president’s progress on equality issues, Tchen urged statewide leaders to let the White House know when their constituents are displeased. “When you are frustrated,”she stated, “you should speak out and hold our feet to the fire.” LGBT Health David Hansell, acting assistant secretary for children and families at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), provided an overview of the work currently being done on LGBT health. Through a coordinating group, the agency is including LGBT concerns in decisions made by its 10 divisions. Hansell outlined provisions of the Affordable Care Act that will benefit LGBT Americans including expanded access to health coverage and abolition of insurance companies’ practices barring those with preexisting conditions and imposing lifetime caps on pay-outs. As HHS adopts the thousands of forthcoming mandates and policy statements needed to implement federal health care reform, LGBT health and family advocates will have extensive opportunities to shape outcomes. Hansell then offered a status report on President Obama’s April 2010 memorandum directing hospitals receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding to allow patients to decide who can visit them. The memo also bars discrimination based on a variety of characteristics including sexual orientation and gender identity. The public comment process on the proposed visitation policy ends on Aug. 27. A draft policy outlining HHS regulations that would guarantee that hospitals honor advanced directives will soon be posted for 180 days of public comment. The subsequent regulatory change will make much clearer who is allowed to make decisions on a patient’s care if he or she is unable to do so. In upcoming months, Hansell stressed, there will be unprecedented opportunities for LGBT advocates to offer recommendations on a number of concerns including adoption, youth, homelessness, seniors, and sex education. Historically, the federal government has not tracked data identifying the needs of LGBT youth or seniors, Hansell asserted, but is now implementing processes to do so in order to ensure that these vulnerable populations Hansell said the LGBT community can best ensure that these new directives are enforced by working with the local or state office administering the specific program. If that doesn’t resolve the problem, advocates should contact the HHS Office of Civil Rights. Hansell then fielded questions pertaining to transgender people. When the public comment process determining what federal benefits insurance companies must provide begins, he called for the LGBT community and health care advocates to vocalize the need to include gender reassignment surgery. Hansell claimed that HHS is already determining how best to assist homeless transgender youth. Raphel Bostic, assistant secretary for policy development and research for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), then detailed current administrative efforts to redress housing inequities in the LGBT community. 2010 marks the first time that HUD is DADT Repeal When Equality Federation representatives challenged Raghavan on the content and methodology of the surveys being used to gauge military attitudes on LGBT people, Raghavan said that he understood why LGBT servicemembers have taken offense to some of the questions and have raised concerns about whether confidentiality is properly protected. He assured the audience that the data will only be used to determine how the Pentagon needs to structure its post-DADT training programs to combat stereotypes and fears about LGBT people. After Mo Baxley, executive director of New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coaltion, questioned why LGBT soldiers continue to be expelled during this process, Raghavan responded that the law is still in effect and therefore must be enforced. He claimed, however, that Gates has taken steps to ensure that the law is no longer abused. For example, military officials are no longer permitted to accept third-party testimony against an accused soldier. In the past, the use of such evidence created situations where jilted lovers or disgruntled colleagues could railroad or blackmail a comrade. Bostic added that the Pentagon is exploring how qualified soldiers who were expelled under DADT could reenter the armed services. When asked whether policy changes that would permit transgender citizens to serve are also being considered, Bostic said that might be the case in the future and asked for contact information from advocates who can advise the Pentagon on this issue. Family and Medical Leave, HIV/AIDS Policy Marriage Equality Bond asserted, “There is still a lot of work to do” before DOMA will be repealed. “Look at the trouble we’re having with ENDA.” he added.But Bond conceded that there are inconsistencies in President Obama’s positions. In response, Morgan Meneses-Sheets, executive director of Equality Maryland, stated, “Respectfully, we need President Obama to push for full inclusion of the LGBT community on ENDA, on marriage- we need the full get, not the lesser get. The highest office in the land sets the tone for the whole country.” Bond agreed, but expressed frustration at the often intense criticism levied, particularly by bloggers, against an administration that is “99
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Hello AEB enthusiasts!
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It’s TIME TO FAX THE WHITE HOUSE!!!
