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Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia

The South Rises Again: 13 Possible ENDA Supporters from the South

Rep. Frank confirmed yesterday that a markup of ENDA will take place “this week or next,” followed quickly by a House vote. I’ll do a liveblog on Bilerico.com when that happens.

If you’re from the South, you’ve got a better chance than anyone else in this country to move the vote on ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Call these 13 likely ENDA supporters who haven’t yet publicly confirmed one way or the other.

They hail from Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. You can click here to email them, but a call is way better.

If you have friends in the South, please send this to them.

Names, district maps and sample script here: http://bit.ly/ct305N

Florida, TAKE ACTION for equality now

DIAL FOR EQUALITY: End Florida’s Anti-Gay Adoption Ban

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/

Arizona, Caifornia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, TAKE ACTION for equality now, Texas, Washington

Presenting: Comprehensive=INCLUSIVE Immigration Reform: C=IIR 2010 Ten State Plan

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
or email us directly at: CequalsIIR@gmail.com

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:
HOUSE: http://www.actonprinciples.org/uafa-house/
SENATE: http://www.actonprinciples.org/uafa-senate/

http://tinyurl.com/CIIR2010-TenStatePlan

BLOG for equality now, Florida

Florida’s Senator Bill Nelson: ENDA Legislator of the Day

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 Nelson.jpgto fly in space), has generally been a supporter of the LGBT community.

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

Call UAFA bill sponors to thank them and ask them to co-sponsor the Reuniting Families Act (RFA) #aop #immigration

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.
If you are able to persuade a member to confirm support for RFA, or even to co-sponsor the bill, please record and share what you have learned on the RFA whip count .

REPRESENTATIVE

PTY

DIST.

CONTACT

Baird, Brian

D

WA-03

202-225-3536

Becerra, Xavier

D

CA-31

202-225-6235

Berkley, Shelley

D

NV-01

202-225-5965

Berman, Howard

D

CA-28

202-225-4695

Bishop, Timothy

D

NY-01

202-225-3826

Brady, Robert

D

PA-01

202-225-4731

Conyers, John Jr.

D

MI-14

202-225-5126

Courtney, Joe

D

CT-02

202-225-2076

Crowley, Joseph

D

NY-07

202-225-3965

Cummings, Elijah

D

MD-07

202-225-4741

DeFazio, Peter

D

OR-04

202-225-6416

Edwards, Donna

D

MD-04

202-225-8699

Eshoo, Anna

D

CA-14

202-225-8104

Gutierrez, Luis

D

IL-04

202-225-8203

Hare, Phil

D

IL-17

202-225-5905

Inslee, Jay

D

WA-01

202-225-6311

Kennedy, Patrick

D

RI-01

202-225-4911

Larson, John

D

CT-01

202-225-2265

Levin, Sander

D

MI-12

202-225-4961

Lowey, Nita

D

NY-18

202-225-6506

McCollum, Betty

D

MN-04

202-225-6631

McDermott, Jim

D

WA-07

202-225-3106

McMahon, Michael

D

NY-13

202-225-3371

Meek, Kendrick

D

FL-17

202-225-4506

Michaud, Michael

D

ME-02

202-225-6306

Miller, Brad

D

NC-13

202-225-3032

Moore, Gwen

D

WI-04

202-225-4572

Neal, Richard

D

MA-02

202-225-5601

Olver, John

D

MA-01

202-225-5335

Pascrell, Bill Jr.

D

NJ-08

202-225-5751

Pingree, Chellie

D

ME-01

202-225-6116

Price, David

D

NC-04

202-225-1784

Quigley, Mike

D

IL-05

202-225-4061

Rothman, Steven

D

NJ-09

202-225-5061

Schiff, Adam

D

CA-29

202-225-4176

Schwartz, Allyson

D

PA-13

202-225-6111

Sherman, Brad

D

CA-27

202-225-5911

Sires, Albio

D

NJ-13

202-225-7919

Slaughter, Louise McIntosh

D

NY-28

202-225-3615

Smith, Adam

D

WA-09

202-225-8901

Speier, Jackie

D

CA-12

202-225-3531

Sutton, Betty

D

OH-13

2202-25-3401

Tierney, John

D

MA-06

202-225-8020

Tonko, Paul

D

NY-21

202-225-5076

Tsongas, Niki

D

MA-05

202-225-3411

Velazquez, Nydia

D

NY-12

202-225-2361

Watson, Diane

D

CA-33

202-225-7084

Clarke, Yvette

D

NY-11

202-225-6231

BLOG for equality now, Florida

Florida’s Sen. George LeMieux: ENDA Legislator of the Day

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?

lemieux.jpgThere have been some press reports that Senator LeMieux may be somewhat friendly towards gay rights, at least in his heart. However, the political climate in Florida doesn’t make it easy to express these thoughts openly. Even the senior Senator from Florida, Senator Bill Nelson, who is reckoned a friend of the LGBT community, has not come out in favor of ENDA.

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.