Equality California Issues Statement on Boys Scouts of America’s Proposal to Lift Gay Scout Ban for Youth - Equality California

Today the Boy Scouts of America announced a proposal to lift its ban on gay youth, while continuing to hold its ban on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender adult leaders. The decision will still need to be ratified by a vote of BSA’s National Council. In response, Equality California Executive Director John O’Connor issued the following statement:

“As we are for full equality and nothing less, the proposed Boy Scout policy change is alarmingly inadequate. Equality California is sponsoring Sen. Ricardo Lara’s Youth Equality Act, which eliminates special tax exemptions for any youth organization in California that discriminates — not just the BSA — now or in the future, against adults as well as youth in those organizations. This bill remains relevant regardless of what the Boy Scouts decide.”

Stop SB48 Fails To Get LGBT Education Bill On The Ballot | queerty.com

It’s official. Equality California has announced that opponents of FAIR Education Act (a.k.a. Bill SB48) failed to get enough signatures to bring the LGBT-inclusive law to a vote.

Joe.My.God posted a message from StopSB48.com headquarters:

We Fought the Law and the Law Won

Unfortunately we did not collect enough signatures to qualify the referendum to overturn SB48. That law will be in place in our schools at the first of next year. We thank all of you that worked so hard to provide the hundreds of thousands of signatures received. In the end, 90 days was too short a time to accomplish such a large task. In the coming days you will see the celebration of our opponents. We know this because it has already started in social media and other places. And some of the rhetoric will be harsh. Remember, despite what they say about us, we opposed SB 48 simply because we do not believe that children should be exposed to an intentionally one-sided argument about lifestyles and values we do not hold.

Five Interesting Things About Equality California’s Brand New Just-Announced Executive Director

  • Equality California’s press release about Roland Palencia announces in its first sentence that he has “extensive experience in leading and managing multimillion-dollar non-profit organizations”
  • He was Community Benefits Director for the $1.2 billion L.A. Care Health Plan; Regional Director for the California Endowment, a private foundation that annually grants more than $170 million; and and an advisor to the multi-billion dollar Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.
  • His Facebook interests include “Prosecute Sarah Palin for Incitement!”
  • He was the chief of operations and vice president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which has a budget of over $100 million; and Executive Director at Clinica Monseñor Oscar A. Romero, which primarily serves Central American and Mexican immigrants.
  • His father, a small business owner and a revolutionary, was assassinated by paramilitary forces in Guatemala in the mid-70s. Palencia was forced to leave the country.
  • His first day at Equality California is July 5.

California bill to give Prop. 8 proponents legal standing dies in committee

By Adam Bink

Excellent news. The bill may have even been unconstitutional anyway:

A bill to give initiative proponents the right to defend voter-approved ballot measures against legal challenges was rejected by a Senate panel yesterday.

Senate Bill 5 targets an issue that has emerged in the court fight over Proposition 8, the 2008 voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage that was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge last year. The Senate Judiciary Committee rejected the bill on an 3-2 party-line vote.

Then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gov. Jerry Brown, acting as attorney general, decided not to defend the measure in federal court, a position continued by Attorney General Kamala Harris. A federal appeals court considering the initiative proponents’ request to overturn the federal judge’s ruling has asked the state Supreme court to decide whether state law gives initiative sponsors standing to intervene in the case.

“California voters deserve to have their position defended when an initiative is challenged in court and the State refuses to defend it,” GOP Sen. Tom Harman, author of the bill and a former primary candidate for attorney general, said in a statement. Harman introduced a similar bill in 2009 that also failed to make it through the Legislature.

Opponents, including representatives from gay-rights group Equality California and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, argued during yesterday’s committee hearing that the proposed change would conflict with the court’s existing power to decide who can intervene in a case. They also argued that law would undermine the constitutional responsibilities delegated to the state attorney general.

Good job, EQCA and NCLR.

EQCA’s Geoff Kors on Brown, Harris and the New California Government

Democrat Jerry Brown was sworn in as California’s 39th governor on Monday inside Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. Brown was governor from 1975-1983, during another economically difficult time in the state and country.

Since winning the Nov. 2 election against Republican millionaire Meg Whitman, Brown has been frank about the austerity measures necessary to deal with a projected $28 billion deficit through June 2012. In his inaugural speech (see video below), he called for lawmakers to “rise above ideology” and warned that the state faces a year that “will demand courage and sacrifice.”

On Tuesday, Brown’s first full day in office, the Los Angeles Times reports that Brown “walked right up to the third rail of California politics” – referring to Proposition 13, which places limits on property taxes. Prop “13 started the centralization of power,” Brown told reporters. “After that, the state started dictating what we did.”

Geoff Kors, Executive Director of Equality California, attended the inauguration ceremonies for Brown and others, including newly sworn in Attorney General Kamala Harris. Here’s his comment:

“Despite difficult economic times, Sacramento was filled with hope and promise as our new Governor, Attorney General, Insurance Commissioner and Superindented of Public Instruction were sworn into office.  For the first time in our state’s history, every statewide constitutional office holder supports full equality for the entire LGBT community.

While the highlight was watching Kamala Harris take the oath of office and listening to her speech about fundamental change in the criminal justice system and her references to the LGBT community and marriage equality, the swearing in of Brown and his realistic yet optiminst remarks about fixing California’s broken economy set the tone for what will be a challenging year.

With [Dave] Jones and [Tom] Torlakson, we have two proven supporters of LGBT equality.  We are already working with both on advancing the rights of LGBT people.  In fact, Torlakson has already signed on to be the co-sponsor along with Equality California of Assemblyman Tom Ammaino’s anti-bullying bill that was introduced last month.  With such strong and proven pro-equality leaders now in office we have an unprecedented opportunity to advance equality and improve the lives of LGBT Californians.

Today, Equality California Institute Board Member Betty Yee will be sworn in for a second term on the California Board of Equalization and founding board member VIcky Kolowkowski will be sworn in as the nation’s first transgender judge.  What a terrific way to start the new year.

California Legislation Would Stop De-Gaying History

fuckyeahlesbianliterature:

Equality California and the GSA Network are sponsoring the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act, which was introduced in the California Legislature earlier this week by openly gay state senator Mark Leno. This important bill would go a long way to make sure the important contributions of LGBT people are taught in schools. Gay historical figures have been largely plagued by invisibility in curricula, but the FAIR Act would ensure that these figures are no longer de-gayed in California textbooks.

Of course, sentences that include the words “gay” and “education” instantly trigger a fearful response from the anti-gay industry. Anti-gay groups spend millions of dollars to “other” LGBT people – their goal is to paint gay people as being abnormal, different, lesser and as something to be feared, and this proposed legislation counters those messages. Enter the California Family Council, which is hyperventilatingabout the proposed legislation. They claim this bill opens the door “to further promotion of homosexuality while silencing the voice of traditional morality and Judeo-Christian beliefs in the schools.”

The FAIR Act does nothing to silence anyone; it simply ensures that the fair and accurate truth is presented to our young people. In the process, it will play an important role in making our schools safer. Education is perhaps the most powerful weapon in the effort to eradicate anti-gay bullying in our schools. As Change.org’s Dana Rudolph points out, a London school has virtually eliminated homophobic bullying in their school by teaching children about the societal contributions of LGBT people. People fear what they don’t understand, so naturally an increased knowledge base about gay people will reduce fear-based homophobia in schools and by extension, society.

Reclaim textbooks!

Source: queerwatch

Noose Hung at Gay Rights Group's Office

A volunteer for a nonprofit that works for legal protections for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and the transgendered returned to her Santa Ana office Thursday night to find a noose hanging from the doorknob.

But Mel Distel, 25, of Huntington Beach, was almost more frightened by the attitude displayed by Santa Ana police officers who responded to what she considered a hate crime against Equality California (EQCA).

noose-at-eqca.jpgFrom EQCA Facebook pageA string? Really!?!

On EQCA’s Facebook page, Distel relates the conversation she and EQCA’s Daniel Shad had with two cops. 

“There was nothing they could do, of course, there was no suspect and no crime had been committed. The officer said ‘what it is, is a string on a door.’  My vision got blurry, I was embarrased and felt stupid for making the call.  I took a deep breath and said ‘Do you see any correlation between the fact that this is a gay office and there was a noose left on our door in the wake of all of these teen suicides?’  The officer said, ‘Sometimes you just have to live with being a victim,’ and proceeded to mention that his car had been broken into before.”

That didn’t exactly sit well with Distel.

“As if that’s the same. As if having your stereo stolen is anything like the message ‘You should kill yourself.’  As if random theft is anything like an act meant to convey hate and stir up fear in the heart of a minority group.”

daniel-shad_jennie-warren.jpgPhoto by Jennie WarrenDaniel Shad

Shad was more succinct about the cop’s attitude on his own Facebook page:

“Not cool dude. Not cool.”

Writing about the incident on the Liberal OC, Chris Prevatt shared the description of a hate crime as stated in California Penal Code section 422.55.

The cited examples—“painting racist, homophobic and/or religious graffiti on private property; burning a cross on an individual’s lawn; an assault; a criminal threat of violence against an individual or group; attempted murder or murder”—seem to indicate a suspected hate crime case could be made from a noose left on an LGBT rights group’s doorknob.

Equality California-sponsored resolution urges Congress and the President to count lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in US Census

The California State Senate passed a joint resolution urging the federal government to include questions regarding sexual orientation and gender identity in the 2020 Census questionnaire, with a 22-9 bipartisan vote. Introduced by Senator Kehoe (D-San Diego) and sponsored by Equality California, the resolution, SJR 28, calls on the US Congress and the President to revise the Census survey and to collect data identifying LGBT people and their families living in the US.

“We must take the necessary steps today to ensure that the 2020 Census accurately counts all segments of our nation’s diverse population,” said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California. “Our local, state, and federal governments will finally be able to identify and assess the needs of our community by collecting data on the LGBT community.

The United States Census does not currently include questions regarding sexual orientation and gender identity. Data collected by the Census, as mandated by the US Constitution, is used to determine the number of seats allocated in the House of Representatives as well as the dissemination of federal funding for hospitals, job training centers, schools, public works projects and emergency services.”

“LGBT families and households are disproportionately under served and more likely to live in poverty,” said Senator Kehoe. “We call on the US Congress and the President to ensure that every person living in the US is counted and has access to culturally competent health and human services.”

Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender-rights advocacy organization in California. Over the past decade, Equality California has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for LGBT individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil rights protections in the nation. Equality California has passed over 60 pieces of legislation and continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, electoral work, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org  

No on 8, Equality for All, which ran the campaign against Proposition 8 in California, has taken the unusual step of releasing the data that shows what polling on the anti-gay ballot measure looked like in 2008. According to the San Diego Gay & Lesbian News, the extensive data release is part of the winding down of the organization. Equality for All announced its formal dissolution plans Monday, which include leaving Equality California to manage any remaining assets, the data being primary among them.Equality California offers PDFs of the data, saying, “This data tracks voters position on Proposition 8, influential messages and messengers, and impact on voters from various messages. No on 8, Equality for All, which is now disbanded, has taken the unprecedented step of making this data public to provide the community and our allies with as much information as possible, and so we can learn as much as possible from the data.” More Information: http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/07/02/Prop_8_Polling_Data_Released/
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No on 8, Equality for All, which ran the campaign against Proposition 8 in California, has taken the unusual step of releasing the data that shows what polling on the anti-gay ballot measure looked like in 2008.

According to the San Diego Gay & Lesbian News, the extensive data release is part of the winding down of the organization. Equality for All announced its formal dissolution plans Monday, which include leaving Equality California to manage any remaining assets, the data being primary among them.

Equality California offers PDFs of the data, saying, “This data tracks voters position on Proposition 8, influential messages and messengers, and impact on voters from various messages. No on 8, Equality for All, which is now disbanded, has taken the unprecedented step of making this data public to provide the community and our allies with as much information as possible, and so we can learn as much as possible from the data.”

More Information:

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/07/02/Prop_8_Polling_Data_Released/

GIRLS IN CA: HARVEY MILK DAY GIRLS NIGHT

 

Harvey Milk Day Girls Night

Online registration is now closed!  Cash only at the door!

First 40 through the door tonight get a Libertine Harvey Milk Day Canvas tote. 


Tuesday, May 25
7 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Live performances start at 7pm!

The Standard Rooftop Bar
550 South Flower Street 
Los Angeles

GUESTS MUST BE 21+ TO ATTEND
Final admission to the event is subject to the discretion of venue standards, management and security.