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 The Florida 2010 Legislative Session will begin in just six weeks and an Appeals Court ruling is expected any day on a Miami judge’s ruling that Florida’s anti-gay adoption ban is unconstitutional. Our opponents know that decisions made in the legislature and in the courts are not made in a vacuum, but are influenced by public opinion. This is why we must educate Florida voters about the harm this adoption ban does to thousands of children being denied the love and stability of a “forever home.” Unless we educate Florida voters on this issue, this discriminatory ban could be permanently enshrined in our laws or even the Florida Constitution. You can make calls right from your home, as long as you have an Internet connection and a phone. Sign up for our Adoption Phone Bank program and we’ll send you information about our next volunteer training. Sign-up to Dial for Equality: http://eqfl.org/adoptequality/
The 2010 legislative session is right around the corner and Equality Florida has been working hard to introduce legislation that will ensure equality for Florida’s LGBT community. To support the passage of these vital bills, Equality Florida will be hosting our annual Lobby Week in Tallahassee so that LGBT and allied Floridians can meet with their legislators and ask them to support pro-equality legislation. If you have a story about not being able to adopt or have an experience with job or housing discrimination, come to Tallahassee March 15-17 and share it with legislators. Issues for lobbying include: For more information, please see: http://eqfl.org/lobbyweek/
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, TAKE ACTION for equality now, Tennessee, Texas
From SoulForce… Hailing from across the country, and one from Cyprus, the 2010 team brings a multitude of unique experiences and backgrounds, bound by a common desire to make campuses and communities safe, welcoming and affirming for people of all identities. The Riders will board the bus on March 4th to begin their two-month long journey – stopping at 16 campuses in the Northeast, South, and Midwest – all with policies that are discriminatory to LGBTQ students. Soulforce is placing a special focus on community work this year, and are hoping to engage not just with the campuses we visit, but with the communities they live in. This means partnering with communities in volunteer work, hosting activism/organizing forums, linking students with community members, and offering our support for the justice work that is already happening in the places we are visiting. Check out where the 2010 Equality Ride is heading, and find out how YOU can get involved! Stop Date School Location http://www.soulforce.org/equalityride
Arizona, Caifornia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, TAKE ACTION for equality now, Texas, Washington
Hello all, Tom Tierney (an activist with Out4Immigration) and I have put together a plan (C=IIR) for grassroots activists to promote UAFA and to rally support for its inclusion in Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). UAFA (The Uniting American Families Act) will allow Americans with foreign-born partners to sponsor them for a green card, essentially creating an “immigration domestic partnership” status. CIR will correct an inhumane immigration system for all. Together they will end suffering for millions. We are working in close coordination with both Out4Immigration and Immigration Equality, as well as other groups. Now all we need is a groundswell of activists. It’s all described in detail in this document: READ PLAN at: http://tinyurl.com/CIIR2010-TenStatePlan If you live in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Illinois OR New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Washington – you’re in one of the 10 target states (there’s lots of info here for you). If you are involved in the marriage equality struggle – this has the same opposition (and we’re focusing on that on page 6). If you are an activist – we have roughly 600,000 LGBT youth and adult immigrants harshly affected by the current system, and over 36,000 LGBT Americans in bi-national couples who live in great uncertainty, most afraid to even speak up for fear of arrest or forced separation. If you have a voice – these are our voiceless and our minorities – and they need one. With this plan, activists anywhere can act individually, with local groups, or in coordination with us. However you choose, please let us know of your success (and any resistance you encounter). Please take a look at the plan, share this, and Join us on facebook at: http://tinyurl.com/CIIRonFB The Immigration Community has declared that 2010 is their year. We plan to arrive together. Rising UP! Tif p.s. Monitor and report OUR progress on UAFA with ActonPriniciples at: http://tinyurl.com/CIIR2010-TenStatePlan
  While we stand around, twiddling our thumbs, waiting for the doorman to check his clipboard and open the velvet rope to let ENDA inside the House for markup, we have some extra time to pull out our cellphones and dial that cute Senator playing hard-to-get. There is, by the way, some interesting news on that markup postponement, and more to come, which I will review in my Weekly ENDA Update on Monday. Today’s sweetheart is Senator Bill Nelson. Senator Bill Nelson (the second sitting Congressmember But where is he on ENDA? We don’t know, because he’s said he’s undecided. We’re at 56 likely yes votes in the Senate. Those last four are a bit of a challenge, though there are 9 possible yes votes according to my calculations. Senator Nelson is one of those possible yes votes. Please call him today to ask for his support of S1584. Also, please share this info with your social networks by clicking on the “Share” link at the bottom of this post. There, you will see buttons to share this post instantly in less than a second with your Twitter and Facebook crowds. That will help get this message out far and wide. More facts and contact info here: http://bit.ly/hI1Nl
Caifornia, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin
In an Act On Principles blog post, I made the case that both LGBT AND immigrant rights are civil rights and that we ought to support both the UAFA (HR.1024) and RFA (HR.2709) immigration bills. At last count, there are 116 co-sponsors of the LGBT immigration bill UAFA. Slightly less than half of them have signed on to co-sponsor the broader family immigration bill RFA, which includes all the provisions of UAFA. We should thank all the co- sponsors of UAFA and now ask them to also co-sponsor RFA. I have used the AOP Whip Count data to generate the list below of the UAFA co-sponsors who have yet to co-sponsor RFA. The list also includes the phone number of each member and a link to their website.
Senator Bill Nelson (the second sitting Congressmember But where is he on ENDA? We don’t know, because he hasn’t declared a position on it yet. We’re at 56 likely yes votes in the Senate. Those last four are getting increasingly hard to find. Senator Nelson is not one of them, though he could be. Please call him today to ask for his support of S1584. Also, please share this info with your social networks by clicking on the “Share” link at the bottom of this post. There, you will see buttons to share this post instantly in less than a second with your Twitter and Facebook crowds. That will help get this message out far and wide. Facts and contact info here: http://bit.ly/1Nz218
(No Ratings Yet) Senator George LeMieux was recently appointed by Florida Governor Charlie Crist after the resignation of former Senator Mel Martinez. Will he support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, S1584?
What they need, in order to come out with support of ENDA, is to hear that there is support for it. That comes from one place: telephone calls from you. Please call Senator LeMieux and ask him to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, S1584. Contact info and more after the jump.
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