LGBT Discrimination Measure Creates First Election Battle of 2009

by Michael A. Jones

Published January 06, 2009 @ 02:52PM PST

We're not even a full week into 2009, but already the first election battle over an LGBT rights issue has been cast.  March 24.  Gainesville.  Florida.  (Sounds a little Wrestlemania-like when you write it in short sentences.)

In 2008, Gainesville's city council passed a measure that extended the city's anti-discrimination policy to transgender individuals.  The policy had already protected people based on race, religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation.  But the addition of "gender identity" to the measure drew the ire of local anti-gay activists, known collectively as (get your sick bag ready) Citizens for Good Public Policy.  As a result, they held a petition drive to put the measure on the ballot.

Sadly, they succeeded.  And now, if their petition passes on March 24, not only will the city of Gainesville rescind the anti-discrimination policy toward transgender individuals, they'll also rescind it for folks who are lesbian, gay or bisexual, too.  How is fostering discrimination toward a group of people considered "Good Public Policy"?

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Even the Author of DOMA Thinks It's Bad Policy

by Michael A. Jones

Published January 06, 2009 @ 11:12AM PST

How do you know when something is a bad law?  Well, one way could be that the author of the law in question thinks it's a dumb idea.  Case in point, Bob Barr, the former Georgia Congressman, former Libertarian candidate for President, and now current champion of repealing DOMA - the Defense of Marriage Act.

Barr wrote the text of DOMA as a freshman Congressman in 1996.  The Act soared through passage in a then-Republican controlled Congress, and President Bill Clinton signed the bill in the run-up to his re-election campaign that year.  The Act is a giant swath of legalese, but here's the topic sentence: "In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife."

But now, in a complete 180 from twelve years ago, Barr thinks it's time for DOMA to get the boot.  Per an op-ed piece that Barr has in this morning's LA Times:

I’ve wrestled with this issue for the last several years and come to the conclusion that DOMA is not working out as planned. In testifying before Congress against a federal marriage amendment, and more recently while making my case to skeptical Libertarians as to why I was worthy of their support as their party’s presidential nominee, I have concluded that DOMA is neither meeting the principles of federalism it was supposed to, nor is its impact limited to federal law...

...Moreover, the heterosexual definition of marriage for purposes of federal laws – including, immigration, Social Security survivor rights and veteran’s benefits – has become a de facto club used to limit, if not thwart, the ability of a state to choose to recognize same-sex unions.

That's a pretty big turn-around for someone who once thought same-sex unions were a threat to the family and "traditional" marriage.

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Abandoned Commerce Secretary Position Draws Attention of LGBT Groups

by Michael A. Jones

Published January 06, 2009 @ 09:13AM PST

Bill Richardson's decision to back out of Obama's Cabinet has created a gap in the President-Elect's administration that LGBT groups are watching closely.  Within moments of hearing the news that Richardson would not seek to become the next U.S. Commerce Secretary (due to some potentially aggravating dealings with a political contributor in New Mexico), groups like EqualRep.com and the Human Rights Campaign were imploring President-Elect Obama to appoint someone who is not only qualified, but openly gay or lesbian.

“With the vacancy of Governor Bill Richardson as the nominee for secretary of commerce, President-elect Obama is presented with yet another opportunity to make good on his promise of equality for all LGBT people,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.

EqualRep.com has taken it a step further, and is calling on Obama to replace Richardson with a specific candidate - Fred Hochberg.  Who's that, you might ask?  Hochberg, from 1998 through 2000, served as deputy and then acting administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), an agency elevated to cabinet rank by President Bill Clinton, with more than 4,000 employees and 100 offices across the country. At the SBA, he directed the delivery of a comprehensive set of financial and business development programs for entrepreneurs, with particular outreach to women and minorities.  He's currently a dean at The New School for Management and Urban Policy in New York, and a member of Obama's transition team.

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Are Laws Banning Homosexuality Like Apartheid?

by Michael A. Jones

Published January 05, 2009 @ 09:07AM PST

Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said about Apartheid, "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."  Does the same philosophy apply when it comes to LGBT rights?

Navi Pillay may say yes.  She's the new United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and she sees anti-gay violence and laws criminalizing homosexuality to be on par with the deadly and destructive legacy of Apartheid.  In an historic address before the UN, Pillay condemned global criminalization of homosexuality, and called out the countries around the world that continue to imprison, abuse and murder LGBT citizens.

There remain too many countries which continue to criminalize sexual relations between consenting adults of the same sex in defiance of established human rights law.  Ironically many of these laws, like apartheid laws that criminalised sexual relations between consenting adults of different races, are relics of the colonial era and are increasingly becoming recognised as anachronistic and as inconsistent both with international law and with traditional values of dignity, inclusion and respect for all.

Part of Pillay's statement bears repeating: LGBT rights are part and parcel  to established human rights law.

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"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" an Affront to Our National Security

by Janessa Goldbeck

Published January 04, 2009 @ 07:16AM PST

Guest blogger Janessa Goldbeck writes below that 12,500 people have been discharged from the U.S. military under the archaic "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, including 60 Arabic linguists.  The DADT policy has been in effect since 1994.  With the U.S. fighting two wars, are 12,500 qualified U.S. soldiers being turned away from service enough of a reason to overturn DADT?  Janessa's answer is a crystal clear yes.  Anything less is an affront to our national security.

"I was an Arabic translator. After joining the Navy in 2003, I attended the Defense Language Institute, graduated in the top 10 percent of my class and then spent two years giving our troops the critical translation services they desperately needed. I was ready to serve in Iraq.

But I never got to. In March, I was ousted from the Navy under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which mandates dismissal if a service member is found to be gay."

So begins Stephen Benjamin's story, a former petty officer second class in the Navy who lost his job in October 2006 because  he is gay.

On the campaign trail, Barack Obama promised, if elected, to repeal the policy, which prohibits any homosexual or bisexual person from disclosing his or her sexual orientation or from speaking about any homosexual relationships while serving in the United States armed forces.

It's about time. More than 12,500 service members have been discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" since the policy became law in 1994.

Recently Colin Powell, the original author of the policy, made headlines by saying that the US should "definitely" re-evaluate the policy in a CNN interview. A 2007 CNN survey showed that 79 percent of Americans believe that LGBTs should be allowed to serve openly, up from 57 percent in 1992.
When will Obama follow through - or will he?

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The Gloomy Truth About LGBT Hate Crimes

by Michael A. Jones

Published January 03, 2009 @ 07:47AM PST

Nationwide, reported hate crimes committed against people because of their race, ethnicity or religion are down. Those are three large categories - and all protected under federal hate crimes laws.

Sexual orientation and gender identity, however, are not protected under federal hate crimes laws.  How are these groups of people faring in nationwide hate crimes statistics?  Well, you could say gloomy, frightening and concerning, and evidence of an attack on an entire group of people. Why?  Because since 2005, there's been a 24 percent increase in crimes committed against people who are (or are perceived) to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

And those are just the ones that are reported.  Because there's no federal hate crimes protection for LGBT people, many states don't report violence committed against someone because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.  So that 24 percent increase is not only inaccurate, it's likely significantly lower than the actual rate of violence committed toward LGBT people in this country.

Recent examples of hate crimes committed against LGBT people show the need for action on federal hate crimes legislation by Congress and the Obama administration.

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New Mexico Moves Toward Domestic Partnerships

by Michael A. Jones

Published January 02, 2009 @ 10:10AM PST

A new year.  A new Governor. Two anti-gay lawmakers gone.  And a new chance to create statewide legislation that recognizes same-sex domestic partnerships in New Mexico.

When New Mexico's State Legislature reconvenes in 18 days, one of the first bills that they'll consider is the creation of a statewide domestic partnership act that would establish that two unmarried people, straight or gay, who live together as a committed couple are entitled to receive the same “rights and responsibilities” under state law as a married couple.

Equality New Mexico is pushing hard for the bill.  “Passage of the legislation would be hugely significant for a couple who wants their relationship to have legal protections,” said Linda Siegle, lobbyist for Equality New Mexico.

While this domestic partnership bill would create history in New Mexico, it won't create the exact same "rights" as marriage would.  Many of the federal rights granted to married couples aren't extended to people who enter into civil unions or domestic partnerships.

That said, it's still important that this domestic partnership act pass in New Mexico, if not for the fact that it will extend many benefits to DP couples, and take the state one step closer to recognizing full marriage equality.