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Launching of The American Equality Bill – Amending the Civil Rights Act
Melanie Nathan- "Finally a Benchmark"
7-8-10 Melanie Nathan -
Finally we have the possibility of a BENCHMARK… A Civil Rights Goal.
Soon into my advocacy, I realized that we were going nowhere. That we had no Gay movement. That although we had marginalized our de facto (factual) existence, the latter a victory, by failing horribly in our de jure (Legal) quest, through the ridiculous notion that piecemeal legislation still served our LGBT Legal interests.
Earlier last year I wrote a Pink Print and published it this year here on Lezgetreal. It got some attention. However, Todd Fernandez one of the very few who supported this idea and took it seriously, liking the pink plan, joined me in the realization that this idea would not move one inch if placed in the hands (certainly in its infancy) in the hands of the LGBT organizations or any single member of Congress or the Senate, for that matter.
We realized this is something we must do for ourselves. It must be grassroots. ” Todd,’ I said, “Lets build it and they will come” and he said he was going to do all in his power to get the grass root help and make it happen.
So here we have a first blast attempt with thanks to “The American Equality Bill”, a proposed federal law that will amend all existing federal civil rights laws to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity”. These words were printed here on Lez Get Real almost a year ago and now we have a launch!
Take the The Gay Civil Rights Pledge of 2010,
Today I pledge to support expanding America’s Civil Rights laws to include “sexual orientation and gender identity.” By equally including LGBT people along side people of different colors, of different sexes, and of different nations and faiths, we will respect their fundamental true nature as people of different sexual orientation and gender identity. By ending legal discrimination against LGBT people everywhere in employment, housing, access to credit, public places, governmental facilities and federally funded programs, we will affirm their innate human dignity and our shared duty to protect it. Today is for heroes and those are you everyone of you who support what is RIGHT and JUST – So Please support new yet to be introduced – The American Equality Bill.
Drafted by Karen Doering, an attorney who has been involved in some of the most important legal LGBT victories and controversies, the bill takes the approach that piecemeal bills for various areas of discrimination be supported through recognition of our civil rights, first and foremost and may serve to yield an omnibus bill that will in essence get rid of all discriminatory legislation. The Publication of the Draft is forthcoming.
It also recognizes that creating separate bills in separate areas breaks the interests of those against discrimination into small, separate pieces that dilutes the strong force of the coalition necessary to pass any bill on the federal level.
This is a critical approach to win Equality. Equality cannot come to fruition without the Benchmark – something specific that carries forth a universal message. Now that we have the wording and the Goal- we need the BILL.
Who ever says this is “Pie in the Sky or Bold” (Bilerco) – is marginalizing our entitlement and our rights. To my way of thinking anyone who suggest we keep the backdoor approach as our only approach does not have our absolute interests at heart. Selfless advocacy means going for the only benchmark that will bring full equality, and if we are going to have a movement then we need to have the movement regardless of how many votes we may or may not get in Congress. They need to know that we are not fighting for legislation; we are fighting for our lives and to live our lives, happily, like other Americans, and that means equally. I for one, have a right to enter through the front door - and that is why I have touted this plan for all this time.
Bold? No way – that is an insult! Its what our factual existence demands!
“At the same time, the piecemeal approach seems to have been a disaster. For example, ENDA was first proposed in 1996, and it is still languishing fourteen years later. Representative Jackie Speier last week said it would take another five years.” (Bilerco) But that was the back door now we want the front door!
When I spoke to the Congresswoman back in 2009 about the Civil Rights Amendment approach, she agreed that would be the best approach to our Federal rights.
I spoke up in many an articles, speeches, meetings, phone conferences – but everyone seemed to have their head in the next fundraiser or the next “call to action.” I have to say you are all still doing the same thing until you subscribe to this benchmark legislative amendment.
Thank goodness people are frustrated and angry enough to realize that this is an imperative stance that may turn out to be our only chance. Whether it becomes law or opens our eyes to what ought to become law – we have to do this.
Some may suggest that the African American Community may be concerned about ownership of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and such amendment may be offensive to the struggle – but this is a completely unfounded concern given the NAACP leadership and testimony provided by Julian Bond in the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 03, 2009, at the UAFA hearing where he specifically stated that Gay(LGBT) rights is a civil rights issue.
Quite simply, the AEB amends ALL Existing Civil Rights Laws, starting with the 1964 Civil Rights Act, to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity”.
This ends discrimination in vast areas of life: employment, housing, credit, public places and facilities, and all programs operating with federal funding. It covers school discrimination and bullying, adoption, and all federal health programs.
The AEB would INCLUDE US EQUALLY in the Federal Non-Discrimination “GROUP POLICY” that now covers “race, color, sex, religion, and national origin”.
In whole, the passage of the AEB will make Non-Discrimination against us The OFFICIAL US Governmental Policy.
Working to file and pass the AEB will stimulate real conversation about our suffering under discrimination. This process will prepare us all for the Prop. 8 and DOMA cases already on their way to the Supreme Court.
LONG OVER DUE
Of course, Sexual Orientation – should have been included in 1964 when the Civil Rights Act first passed.
A gay black hero, Bayard Rustin (http://bit.ly/AEBrustin) was the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington at which MLK gave his Dream Speech, which helped secure the ’64 Act.
Then, we were shoved aside because of societal homophobia.
Now OUR TIME HAS COME. We have already won the de FACTO fight – the factual existence – we have won visibility – the fact that we are out and open, the fact that we have created controversy, the fact that we have children – the fact that we are shaking up DADT, the fact that Annette Benning is playing a lesbian – and many more such victories – now it has come time for De Jure – The Legal Victory! It can Only be be done one WAY and that is this CIVIL RIGHTS AMENDMENT
Now we need your support Grassroots Join us. More to come…
Civil Rights Act LBJ
Civil Rights Act LBJ
FIVE Action Steps needed:
3. Take Pledge – http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/gaycivilrights/
4. Write your representatives in House and Senate – via hand written faxed letters, as well as the usual e-mails.
5. GO VIRAL anyway you know how!!!
DO IT NOW!
by Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com
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4 Responses to Launching of The American Equality Bill – Amending the Civil Rights Act
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AndrewW
July 9, 2010 at 10:26 am
Dumb idea. When you can’t pass a single Bill, putting them all in the same “basket,” doesn’t change that reality. It simply makes a bigger target. This isn’t a strategy to win, it is a gimmick to try to get people to participate/donate.
We have 45 Anti-Gay US Senators. All-your-eggs-in-one-basket doesn’t change that.
Melanie Nathan
July 9, 2010 at 11:43 am
We are not an organization. We have no money we are unfunded grassroots. This has been a year in the making. My work has resulted in halving my income. No one has been paid and no one is asking for money. This is a draft Bill. It needs work. Do not tell me DUMB idea when for the first time we have something that may create a powerful gay movement. Until now we have had a cottage industry of competing organizations all wanting their piece of legislation to make it to the finish line first, while we donate to fundraisers year after year getting nowhere.
This marginal approach has been a back door attempt. Forty years later – it has failed.
I for one would like to see a simple addition of words “sexual orientation and gender identity” into the Civil Rights Act. However the equality Bill is an omnibus that can show how this can happen.
GOALS, my friend are imperative. You cannot have equality as a goal with 100 piecemeal benchmarks. You need one!
Did Dr. MLK Jr. Ask for and ENDA and then A right to Marry anyone and then a right to go to front of Bus.? That was not his Goal. Full equality was his goal. This is the ONLY way to establish our PATH…. so you can call it anything you want…. any better ideas?
Jennifer White
July 25, 2010 at 1:27 am
Actually I’ve been thinking for a while that we should utilize the tactics and strategies of the civil rights movement in the 60′s. We, as a community, absolutely need to follow in the footsteps of the activists that went before us and were successful. We need to be looking at history to see what worked and what did not and replicate what works. People like MLK paved large wide path, yet we keep insisting on trying to move boulders in fragmented groups. Number one, we need to unite in our common goal and demand the same thing, full equality. Not one faction asking to be allowed to be out of the closet as they die for our country, another faction asking to be protected from being fired from their job for being gay, another asking for protection from hate crimes, and so on. We have about three bills in congress right now, three. We can’t take up the whole congressional session, we are competing against ourselves, it’s absurd, and dooms us to failure. How are our allies in congress even supposed to know how to support us when we can’t support each other and don’t know what we want?
One final bill for full equality is absolutely the way to go, and all the various gay rights groups fighting for different things need to come together and back it in full force. The goal, and the groups such as HRC, Equality Now, et al, should be looking forward to becoming obsolete. If they don’t, then that means they have become more interested in the recognition and money than their stated purpose, and are not real friends to the community they claim to represent.
Carla
July 8, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Thanks Mel and Todd
and why has this not been done before. Why do the LGBT organizations accept that the only way to fight for our civil rights is piece meal. Well it has not worked this way. Where are we at. We only have the Matthew Shepard bill and the DADT is still up in the air. I love the USA in so many ways but I deeply feel it is a travesty that our civil rights are all but trampled in every election. I am in this fight with you.