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 Don’t miss the seventh panel of eQualityThinking, the free, open, virtual convention for LGBTQ equality. You can hear this panel live tomorrow Tuesday, February 22, 2011 from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm EST (9:30 am to 10:30 am PST) Click to get the dialing information for this eQualityThinking panel. Click to post an open question for the panelists.
- What direct actions have been taken recently? Panelists
Question Moderators
 (No Ratings Yet) Don’t miss the sixth panel of eQualityThinking, the free, open, virtual convention for LGBTQ equality. You can hear this panel live Sunday, February 20, 2011 from 7 pm to 8 pm EST. Click to get the dialing information for this eQualityThinking panel. Click to post an open question for the panelists.
- Where can we win the freedom to marry this year? - Where must we defend? What other gains can we hope for this year? - What is the bold strategy to win marriage nationwide? Panelists - Ross D. Levi, Esq., Executive Director, Empire State Pride Agenda - Morgan Meneses-Sheets, Executive Director, Equality Maryland - Marc Solomon, National Campaign Director, Freedom to Marry - Thomas Wheatley, Organizing Director, Basic Rights Oregon Question Moderators - Joe Sudbay, Blogger, Deputy Editor, AMERICAblog - Sara Whitman, Board Chair, Mass Equality Don’t miss this panel!
Don’t miss the third panel of eQualityThinking, the free, open, virtual convention for LGBTQ equality. You can hear this panel live tomorrow, Wednesday, February 16, 2011. Get the dialing information for this eQualityThinking panel. Post an open question for the panelists.
Panelists - Andre Banks, Co-Founder, AllOut Question Moderators - Adam Bink, Director of Online Programs, Courage Campaign - Chris Geidner, Senior Political Writer, Metro Weekly
The panel is titled: DOES THE “T” IN “LGBTQ” MEAN ANYTHING MORE THAN “TOKEN”?Panelists
Question Moderators
You can hear the panel live today Sunday from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm EST. You can also post questions, that the question moderators will ask (whether you are able to attend live or not). Click here to get the dialing info (no registration required) and/or to post questions: http://www.equalitygiving.org/eQualityThinking-The-T-in-LGBTQ
Please forward this information to others who might be interested in this panel discussion.
With the change in control of the House of Representatives and in many state houses and governorships in January 2011, there is a growing concern about how much we will be able to advance LGBT legal equality now. Different people are using different strategies: - Some people are writing off the next two years and concentrating instead on electing the right candidates in 2012 - Other people are debating whether we should focus on marriage equality or employment non-discrimination - Other leaders are saying that we have accomplished two goals (Hate Crimes and DADT) and we have two to go (ENDA and DOMA) We believe that we have to Think Bigger: - We can achieve significant gains in LGBT legal equality now if we put our mind to it - The debate should not be about marriage equality OR employment non-discrimination - We cannot continue asking for only ENDA and DOMA, which are both limited. We need to ask for FULL equality. If we continue asking less than full equality, we will never get equal. And, of course, we need to Act Differently if we expect to get anything done now. WHY eQualityThinking? Since we are asking others to Think Bigger and Act Differently, we needed to apply it to ourselves. In the past five years we have been very successful in implementing an online community of donors for LGBT legal equality. Our internet traffic exceeds all LGBT organizations except for HRC and GLAAD. We have organized conference calls with key members of the movement (including eight Members of Congress). We convened the Dallas Meeting that originated the Dallas Principles and later created – and entirely fund – Act On Principles. So in trying to build upon this experience, we included the concepts of Thinking Bigger and Acting Differently in creating a virtual convention for LGBT equality which will be open to everyone for free. Our movement already has some superb conferences. Some are open but not free and not virtual; while others are neither open, nor free, nor virtual. Each of these conventions has its necessary role in our movement and should continue. But what we are trying to do here is something different: engage those interested in LGBT legal equality in thinking bigger and acting differently. To do so we have created, and entirely fund, this convention with three important aspects. - Free: there is no cost to any participant - Open: there is no registration; anybody can attend live; anybody can ask questions (even if not attending live); anybody can suggest panels and panelists (including themselves). - Virtual: attend from anywhere, at any time. You can call in at the scheduled time and hear the panelists live (and be able to ask questions based on what they say), or you can participate at a later time by listening to the recorded audio. You can even download the audio and post it elsewhere. To achieve these objectives we are putting together multiple panels, but the power lies in the fact that the discussion can continue elsewhere. Bloggers (or anybody else) can download the audio and extract relevant parts and engage their audiences in a discussion. But the bottom line is simple: we need to be fully engaged in Thinking Bigger and Acting Differently. eQualityThinking runs from January 24 to March 31, 2011. Get the schedule at www.eQualityThinking.org (which is continuously updated) and participate by asking questions before and/or during a panel, by being there live or listening after and blogging about it, and tell your friends and organizations to Think Bigger and Act Differently. Respectfully, Juan Ahonen-Jover, Ph.D. http://www.eQualityThinking.org
This year eQualityGiving.org ran a poll about how much Congress and the President have done to meet your expectations.
As you can see 72% responded that they thought that Congress and the President had done less or much less than they expected. Of course, no internet poll can be considered a scientific measure. We are running the poll again to check the new pulse. Here is some of what has been accomplished at the federal level by Congress and the President: - Passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in October last year. - Passed the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010 this week as a stand alone bill. - Policy changes: extended some benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees, banned gender identity discrimination for federal employees, committed to ensuring the HUD programs are open to all, created the National Resource Center for LGBT seniors, ensured LGBT visitation rights in hospitals, issued regulations for gender appropriate passports, extended domestic violence protections for LGBT victims, extended the Medical and Family Leave Act to include same sex partners. And many more actions in a list compiled by Andy Tobias here. There is still much more to be done at the federal level: - ENDA has yet to be passed, and there is no bill to forbid discrimination in housing, public accommodation, public facilities, and credit. - DOMA is still the law of the land. - There is still LGBT discrimination in disability, immigration, and publicly funded programs and activities. - Anti-bullying has just recently made the national scene, and bills were introduced in the House and Senate last month. What do you think? How much has Congress and the President accomplished so far compared to your expectations? Please take 30 seconds to vote on this poll (right hand column of eQualityGiving’s home page). Tell others to do the same. You can see the results on the spot.
This year we have the historic opportunity to elect Dr. Dana Beyer to the Maryland Assembly. This would be the first transgender to America’s history to hold public office. In addition to this historic opportunity, Dana should be very well known here. She is co-author of The Dallas Principles, a champion of Act On Principles, and member of the Advisory Board for eQualityGiving. It isn’t just that we need to elect the nation’s first transgender person to office. We also need a progressive voice in politics and a voice that is strong and substantial. In fact, Dana is a principled woman and has demonstrated it amply on this forum—and she is a real fierce advocate. Support her campaign by donating, organizing fundraisers, telling your friends about her, etc. Check her website now www.DanaBeyer.com
eQualityGiving announced yesterday its first set of Endorsed Candidates to Fund for the 2010 elections. eQualityGiving endorsed pro-equality candidates in competitive races for federal or statewide office. The endorsement process is rigorous and requires the candidates to support all Equality Goals in writing (including marriage). Additionally, each candidate has been personally interviewed. Donating by the reporting date of March 31st is strategic because these candidates are in very close races and will be stronger for the rest of the campaign with a good financial report now. Endorsements are updated periodically. Check the online list of eQualityGiving Endorsed Candidates here. On top of eQualityGiving list is to re-elect one of our Equality Heroes, Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania. >> Give to Re-elect Congressman PATRICK MURPHY
. . >> Give to Elect Congressman JOE SESTAK to the US Senate
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. >>Give to Elect ROXANNE CONLIN to the US Senate
. . >> Give to Elect Mayor STEVE POUGNET to the US House
. . >> Give to Elect Mayor DAVID CICILLINE to the US House
Donate to David Cicilline here . . >> Give to Elect Councilman SCOTT GALVIN to the US House
. . >> Give to Elect EDWARD POTOSNAK to the US House
. . >> Give to Elect KRYSTAL BALL to the US House
. . >> Give to Elect State Rep PAUL THISSEN for Governor of Minnesota
. . . >> Co-endorsing for Governor of Vermont Vermont has marriage equality and only lacks passage of the Gender Identity Act to reach full equality and become the only state to score a perfect 6 on eQualityGiving’s States of Equality Scorecard. Gubernatorial candidates for the open seat include three Democrats who would sign the bill. Check all the details at eQualityGiving’s website.
How much has the President and Congress done for LGBT equality so far? Take this eQualityGiving poll in less than 30 seconds and see what others think. On the same page as the poll, you can read a comprehensive review, under different perspectives, of what has been accomplished so far and what else needs to be done for LGBT equality. Tell your friends to vote too!
When equality is being denied by a majority who wants to keep some rights only for themselves (special rights only for heterosexuals), are you speaking up? Is your Member of Congress speaking up? Is our President, conceived in a marriage that was illegal in many states at the time, speaking up? This is the time for fierce leadership. This is the time to take notes about who is speaking up for equality and who is not. Accept no excuses. And remember who did not speak up. Because they may come back later, shamelessly, to ask for your support. There are many venues and tools for YOU to speak up. Your voice is always welcome here. If you organize any collective action, please post it here.
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Some of the topics to be discussed in this panel:
Iraq War veteran Murphy will be in a very close race again, this time facing a Republican opponent with the backing of Rick Santorum and the well-funded right-wing religious community intended to stop Murphy’s leadership of the House bill to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” He is one of our strongest allies in the House, so his seat is a top priority to preserve.
This Pennsylvania Congressman and retired 3-star Navy Admiral has been publicly outspoken and has used his military credentials in Washington to drum up support to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Electing him will put a strong voice and sure vote for this and all the other pro-equality legislation in the Senate.
Roxanne is confident that polls are correct, showing Iowans prefer her values to GOP Senator Grassley’s (and showing Grassley’s favorability ratings sink into the 20’s). We are confident as well and are endorsing this ground-breaking, and locally popular civil liberties attorney to give Iowa, which now has marriage equality, a pro-equality Senator.
The popular Mayor of Palm Springs is openly gay, legally married, and has been named a Red-to-Blue candidate by the DCCC. Having a Tea Party candidate in the race increases his chances to defeat the vulnerable GOP incumbent, Mary Bono Mack, who holds the seat once held by former Mayor Sonny Bono. Obama won this district in 2008.
Cicilline came out while serving four terms as a Rhode Island State Legislator. He then won two landslide elections for mayor. Now he wants to fill the House seat being vacated by Patrick Kennedy. Winning the highly competitive September 14 primary is this popular politician’s biggest hurdle in a strongly Democratic district.
Galvin has earned respect in his solidly Democratic district and has twice won re-election to his North Miami council seat. Having served five years as an aide to former Congresswoman Carrie Meek, Galvin, who is openly gay, could easily emerge as the standout candidate to win the seat being vacated by Kendrick Meek, but only if his fundraising meets its target.
Potosnak, one of 4 openly gay men running for Congress, was an aide to Congressman Honda. He’s now running to defeat a vulnerable incumbent GOP freshman in a toss up district that voted for Obama. A win here by this teacher and small business owner would put a young and energetic voice in the House and add strength to the LGBT caucus.
This young mother has become the darling of the progressive community, and she’s a very strong advocate for full LGBT civil rights. She was the first candidate we endorsed, back in June. Her race could go down to the wire since she is running against an unpopular GOP incumbent in a year when the electorate wants change.
As governor, Thissen would sign a marriage equality bill currently making its way through the legislature. With no constitutional amendment forbidding it, Minnesota could join its midwest neighbor Iowa. While co-endorsing may occur in this very close race, Thissen has emerged first due to his strong reputation for getting pro-equality legislation passed.
