The Education Committee of the Tel Aviv municipality is the first in Israel to require city schools to integrate learning content to change stereotypes about gays, lesbians and gender identity. The program will start next January.

The Education Committee o yesterday approved unanimously the proposal to integrate the Hoshen curriculum into every school.

Hoshen is a professional organization working on education to change existing stereotypes about sexual orientation and gender identity through information and activities within schools.

The upcoming school year will begin a pilot of 10 schools, which will include working with consultants, teachers, administrators and with students.

Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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London:- Conservative Crispin Blunt, who is prisons minister in the coalition government has disclosed that he is gay and that he has separated from his wife.

Blunt said he had “decided to come to terms with his homosexuality”. In a statement, he said the move was “difficult” for his family and hoped for their “understanding and support”.

He married Victoria Jenkins in September 1990 in Kensington and they have a son (born August 1994) and daughter (born March 1992). His niece is Golden Globe-award winning actress Emily Blunt^[.  Blunt’s voting record in Parliament had previously been broadly unsympathetic towards gay rights.

He has been MP for Reigate since 1997, before which he served in the Armed Forces for many years.  The 50-year old – a junior minister in the Department of Justice – has two children.

He announced his separation from his wife Victoria in a statement on the Conservative Home website, saying he had “explained the position” to his family. “There is no third party involvement but this is difficult for his immediate and wider family and he hopes for understanding and support for them,” the statement said.

As prisons minister, Mr Blunt is responsible for penal policy and finding savings in the prisons budget as part of this autumn’s departmental spending review.

He hit the headlines last month when he called for rules banning comedy gigs, parties and other recreational events being held in prisons to be relaxed – which No 10 immediately ruled out.

Apparently a local commented – everyone in the local party likes him and it’s a courageous thing to do. It’s really a private matter for him.

By Melanie Nathan
This pattern of anti-gay votes and campaigns leading right to the gay watering hole is becoming too much!

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“Lets have kids  dear!”

Posted by Melanie Nathan

Choosing Children

08.26.10

A letter from Kate Kendell:-

Twenty-five years ago, I was 25 years old and just starting law school at the University of Utah. I was parenting my daughter Emily, who was 4 years old with her mom, and my former partner, Lori. While it was uncommon for LGBT friends in our circle to be planning for parenthood, it did not occur to Lori or me that we were at the forefront of what would be termed the “gayby boom.”

Lori had been a single parent raising the then 1-year-old Emily when we met. We were just living our lives unaware of a sea-change that was just beginning when it came to issues of parenting and our community. While we were living that life, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Deborah “Chas” Chasnoff and her then life and work partner, Kim Klausner, were in the midst of writing, producing, and directing their groundbreaking film documenting this burgeoning movement. Choosing Children captured on celluloid the choice a growing number of lesbians and gay men were making, a choice that seemed both counter-intuitive and revolutionary: to become parents.

Up until this generation, most LGBT folks were parents because they had been in earlier heterosexual marriages or relationships and then divorced and come out, or vice-versa. In doing so many of them faced hostility from family and former spouses and countless numbers lost or gave up any hope for custody of their children.

Beginning in the early 1980s, a new kind of parenting began emerging. Led by lesbians, often in biological partnership with gay men, women began choosing to have children as lesbian-identified parents. Now, 25 short years later, the groundbreaking idea that lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender folks can also be parents seems, well, not so groundbreaking. In fact, it is now so commonplace that doing so is viewed by some in our community as assimilationist and pedestrian. Gotta love the march of progress.

But of course, what the fight for the right to be both LGBT and a parent is really about is the right to live a fulfilled and authentic life according to what gives joy and satisfaction to each of us. And in 1985 becoming a parent often meant rejection from both one’s family of origin and one’s chosen family in the lesbian or gay community. It also meant maintaining a pretense of heterosexuality or absolute legal vulnerability because almost every state prohibited openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from adopting, and few if any states provided any parental protections. It was a time of very little community or institutional support for you as a parent or for your child as the son or daughter of a queer parent.

Emily will be 30 next year. She is smart, lovely, creative, open-hearted, and generous. I can hardly believe I have a daughter who is near 30 years old. But then I also can hardly believe the progress we have made in the short time my oldest has been alive. Seeing Choosing Children again was inspiring for many reasons but most of all, it made me really stop and appreciate how far we have come and how much we owe those who blazed this trail uncertain of the terrain ahead of them. Filmmakers Chas and Kim, the parents featured in the film, our own founder Donna Hitchens—who provided legal expertise and commentary—did not intend to be pioneers, but they were, and we are all much better off because of the choices they made.

So please join us for the upcoming Choosing Children 25th Anniversary Screening and Reception, a film that is now a crucial and transformative story of our movement. Our evening together promises to be a celebration of how far we have come and a promise to not end our quest until every family is valued and safe.

Sincerely,

Kate Kendell

Choosing Children 25th Anniversary Screening and Reception

Groundbreaking Film Exploring the First Generation of LGBT Parents Celebrates 25th Anniversary

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Governor Frudenthal of Wyoming

A Wyoming gay couple is asking a federal judge to stop that state from enforcing any laws that prevent gays and lesbians from access to civil marriage.

David Shupe-Roderick and Ryan W. Dupree of Cheyenne have filed a federal lawsuit, on their own, and without legal representation; challenging a Wyoming law that defines marriage as existing only between a man and a woman.

In their suit they say the Laramie County Clerk’s Office refused to issue them a marriage license and as result violated the couples rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution.

The Editors at Lezgetreal have read the brief  filed by the Plaintiffs, who are self representing, and believe that this case could be treading on difficult water without the help of professional representation.

David was born and raised in Wyoming and told me that “this has been a long time coming for Wyoming. We had approached private lawyers who are unable to help us. There seems to be a lot of fear in Wyoming because this is the place where a very bad hate crime occurred. This is where Mathew Shepard was murdered. We believe we need to do this especially in his memory.”

We have already received hate mail when local groups found out what were doing.  We fear for our physical safety and although my boss at the fast food restaurant where I am assistant manager thinks we are so brave, he also thinks we are stupid – because our safety is at risk. Ryan and I have been together for over a year. We want to get married. We do not want special treatment; we want our State to treat us the same way as other”

A group  Wyoming Focus Group sent a hate letter to the Wyoming Press.  Lezgetreal has obtained a copy of the letter. It says, that the lawsuit seeks to “molest the sanctity of marriage in Wyoming.”  David notes that this was the more pleasant part of the letter.

The Wyoming law defines marriage as only between a man and a woman, and the couple has asked U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson to overturn the law.

Wyoming Attorney General Bruce Salzburg declined comment Tuesday, saying he hadn’t reviewed the lawsuit yet.

Wyoming pdf of complaint re marriage David & Ryan

Melanie Nathan Added:
IMPORTANT UPDATE; See
Wyoming:- Marriage Equality Probably Does Not Need A Jailhouse Lawyer (lezgetreal.com)

Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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CA Legislature Officially Endorses Repeal of DOMA

Equality California-sponsored resolution puts State of California on record supporting repeal of so-called “Defense of Marriage Act”

Sacramento – Today, the California State Senate approved a joint resolution, AJR 19, calling on the U.S. Congress and President Obama to immediately repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which explicitly forbids the federal government or any federal agency from recognizing state-sanctioned marriages between same-sex couples. Introduced by Assemblymember Julia Brownley (D – Santa Monica) and sponsored by Equality California, the joint resolution was passed by a bipartisan vote of 22-12.

“The Defense of Marriage Act prevents the federal government from recognizing the relationships of loving same-sex couples, even when the states where they live recognize their relationships,” said Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors. “We’re proud of the California legislature for making the state’s opposition to DOMA official state policy. Now we must overturn this discriminatory federal law and pave the way for the marriages of same-sex couples to be recognized at the federal level.”

Under DOMA, which passed in 1996, married same-sex couples are refused the same federal rights and responsibilities as their heterosexual counterparts, resulting in inequitable and unfair implementation of federal laws governing a range of issues such as housing, immigration, tax and inheritance. A repeal of DOMA would result in the federal government recognizing legal marriages of same-sex couples, just as it currently recognizes legal marriages of heterosexual couples.

“President Obama has called this law abhorrent in the way it denies more than 1,000 federal rights to same-sex couples,” Assemblymember Brownley said. “Congress must act now to overturn DOMA, which is rooted in irrational and unfounded prejudice. Married same-sex couples deserve equal access to these benefits.”

Currently, there are eleven nations that recognize marriages between same-sex couples, including Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Iceland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and Sweden. Five states in the U.S. grant same-sex couples the right to marry, including Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, as well as Washington, D.C.

For more information about Equality California-sponsored legislation, please visit www.eqca.org/legislation.

“EQCA works tirelessly to pass California Resolutions and endorsements to support and influence legislation in Congress.” Melanie Nathan  nathan@privatecourts.com

Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) 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

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Film Showing and Reception Set for Sept. 14, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO-  Twenty-five years after its premier, the groundbreaking documentary “Choosing Children”—the first film to explore and chronicle the journey taken by lesbians and gay men to become parents after they came out—will return to the silver screen at the Herbst Theater on Sept. 14 to celebrate its 25^th anniversary.

The landmark film, produced by two Bay Area filmmakers, Academy Award winner Debra Chasnoff and Kim Klausner, was released in 1985, introducing viewers to the first generation of lesbians and gay men who chose to become parents after coming out, and contributed to an expanded definition of family that has since opened the doors for millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to become parents. “Before the early 1980s, it was just assumed that if you came out, you gave up the chance and the right to be a parent,” says Chasnoff. “But a small number of brave lesbians and gay men began to challenge that belief. With “Choosing Children” we wanted to share their stories with the world and inspire others that they, too, could redefine family for themselves.”

Chasnoff and Klausner conducted a nationwide search for lesbian-headed families that were navigating what was then a very new legal, political, and social terrain. Ultimately, they found six families who reflected some of the racial and ethnic diversity of our vibrant communities, and who had “chosen children” in different ways. Their stories provide an intimate look at the challenges and joys faced by this early generation of lesbian and gay parents in their quests to build their families—stories that are still fascinating and relevant today.

“Without the pioneering generation that we were able to capture in “Choosing Children,” none of us would have the rights or opportunities for creating families that we have today,” Klausner says. “It is almost beyond comprehension how much the political and social landscape has changed since we made the film.”

The film poignantly captures some of the important history that has contributed to today’s LGBT family rights victories, including the recent Proposition 8 decision by Judge Vaughn Walker here in California. It is partly why so many community groups are cosponsoring this evening celebration for LGBT families, our allies, prospective parents and others.

One of the arenas where the most significant advances have been made is the legal system.

“The legal advances we have made for our families are nothing short of breathtaking,” says National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Kate Kendell. “These gains are largely due to this early generation of lesbians and gay parents, who charted a previously unseen path in order to become parents and raise children, becoming role models for LGBT people everywhere.”

Many Bay Area organizations are joining together for this community-wide screening and celebration to mark the 25th anniversary of Choosing Children, celebrate all the wonderful children LGBT people are now parenting, and raise funds to permanently preserve this historical gem on DVD. The restored 35 mm film print, courtesy of the OUTFEST Legacy Project and the UCLA Film Archive, was a huge hit at last summer’s Los Angeles Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.

If you’ve never seen Choosing Children, here’s your chance to soak up a delightful piece of our cultural history. If you are planning on having children, you will be inspired by the courageous pioneers in the film who figured out how to bring kids into their lives, co-parent with a same-sex partner, and handle concerns from relatives and schools. If you saw the film “back in the day,” this will be a trip down memory lane (including a rarely heard song by Holly Near) and a special moment to marvel at how much progress we’ve made.

The 25^th Anniversary Screening and Reception includes a viewing, and remarks by Chasnoff, Klausner, and the Honorable Donna Hitchens, founder of the National Center for Lesbian Rights who is featured in the film, and dessert reception The event is presented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Groundspark, COLAGE, Frameline, Equality California, Our Family Coalition, and PFLAG to celebrate the advances our movement has made in family law and society, and to raise funds to permanently preserve this historical film on DVD.

TICKET and EVENT INFORMATION

“Choosing Children” 25^th Anniversary Screening and Reception

What: “Choosing Children” 25^th anniversary celebration to raise funds to permanently preserve this historical film on DVD
When: 6:30 p.m. on September 14, 2010 (Program begins at 7 p.m.)
Where: Herbst Theater, 401 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA
Cost: $25 (regular admission); $10 (student admission)

Learn more and order tickets

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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The media is buzzing about the new film “The Kids Are All Right”, which premiered earlier this month.  Its release was exciting for me because for the first time I saw characters who closely reflected my family’s makeup, though the rest of the story, not really.  I too have two mothers and a sperm donor who I contacted when I turned eighteen.  The outcome was different and far less drama surrounded my family when I was finally able to contact and meet my donor, though there were still plenty of surreal moments.  The reaction to the film has been extremely varied, from people thrilled to see representation of a lesbian-headed household, to those who see the events depicted in the film as reinforcement of the notion that children need to know and live with their biological mother and father.

Growing up in Massachusetts through the marriage equality debate in 2004 and all subsequent movements, I have long been combating false beliefs that LGBTQ people should not get married or raise children.  I have lesbian mothers and I have a sperm donor.  This in no way has made me less of a person, daughter, woman, or friend.  To me, what makes a good parent is dedication to raising and loving a child.  The number, gender, or sexuality of the parents does not determine the ability to help a child grow into a compassionate and kind person.  To tell the truth, I feel lucky to have grown up with the knowledge that my mother put a great deal of time, money, and thought into having me.  I have never doubted that I am loved because I know how much my mother wanted to have a child and did everything she could to have me.

While I understand that some people believe that the married, heterosexual, biological family is the only valid familial model, I refuse to let this stereotype go unchallenged.  I have two mothers, only one of whom is biological, and no father.  Rather than somehow leaving a negative affect, my family has helped me become a more open, loving, passionate, and socially aware individual.  Growing up I was surrounded by many wonderful adult role models, some of whom were male.  Of course I thought about my sperm donor, who he was, why he donated, what it would be like to meet him.  The reason for me was never about searching for a parent I had lost or a piece of me that was missing, it was about meeting and thanking the person who enabled Cathy and Nancy, my mothers, to become parents.

I had never met another person with a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or even queer parent until I was thirteen.  That summer my family went to Provincetown, Massachusetts for Family Week where I participated in workshops provided by COLAGE.  COLAGE is the only national youth-driven network of children, youth, and adults with LGBTQ parents.  I would not be writing this if I had never come to know COLAGE and the others with LGBTQ parents I met through COLAGE.  That summer I found my center and my political voice.  Through the years COLAGE has helped me become a better advocate for myself and my family.  This summer I am an intern at COLAGE and I am assisting in the distribution of the Donor Insemination (DI) Guide.  The DI Guide is part testimonials and part advice focusing on the questions and concerns of donor-conceived children and their families.  I have been able to watch the DI Guide go from an idea to a tool for families.

It has been almost three years since I began the process of contacting my sperm donor.  Four months after I turned eighteen I had the name and address of my donor and within the year I learned I had two half-sisters who shared the same donor.  I think the most incredible part of meeting my donor and half-siblings was putting an end to the mystery.  After years of playing around with different scenarios in my head, or coming up with the reasons that Harvey Fierstein was my donor, I lost mystique but gained very real new friends and family.  Now family gatherings include my two sisters, two of their siblings, our collective six lesbian mothers, and our donor and his wife.  Certainly we are still getting to know each other, but there is an undeniably authentic connection between all of us.

Along with identical chins, my half-sisters and I have followed very similar paths.  One sister, who is four months older than me, was a sophomore at Smith College as I began my first year at Mount Holyoke College.  The schools are both women’s liberal arts colleges and twenty minutes apart. Together we met our other donor sister in March 2009.  It turned out that this new sister is from a town ten minutes from my own, that we have mutual acquaintances, and I had heard about her a year before I met her.  At a drama festival at her high school I met a guy who had taken the girl in town with lesbian mothers to her senior prom the previous year.  In my favorite “small world” story, my sister and I took the same guy to our senior proms.  I do not look like anyone in my family, but I do look a lot like her.  The photos, both of us wearing blue dresses, are just incredible.  Thankfully, we did not both date “our” prom date.

Meeting my donor and my new extended family did not alter my relationship with my parents.  They were completely supportive of my desire to contact my donor and they were with me when I met him.  I did not begin this adventure to seek a father and, though my donor is a wonderful person and a part of my life now, he is not my father.  I have two parents and that is enough for me, but I am thrilled to have him as part of my growing family.  For some people, family is a rigid concept.  For me, family is not limited by genetics or living in the same home.  My family is filled with moms, grandparents, half-siblings, friends, cousins, and a sperm donor.  It may seem unfamiliar to some, but this is my family and together we are more than all right.

-Emily McGranachan

Emily McGranachan ’12  – Love Makes a Family

Hometown: Georgetown, Massachusetts

Emily McGranachan found her voice at the age of 13 while attending the COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere) Family Week in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Its “life-changing lessons” gave her “a sense of empowerment.”

As a resident of Massachusetts, McGranachan often heard people debate what rights her family should have. Now a guest speaker with the Freedom to Marry Tour, she has shared her story and “introduced people to a child of a same-sex household” on several radio stations nationwide.

McGranachan has also worked to encourage tolerance and activism on a local level, serving as president of her high school Civil Rights Team and as a volunteer at a family homeless shelter through Horizons for Homeless Children. “These children inspire me,” she said. “In return I do my best to teach them kindness and compassion by being a positive role model.”

COLAGE is an organization, created in 1989 by the children of several lesbians and gay men who felt a need for support. Though its membership is not necessarily LGBT-identified, COLAGE’s focus on the issues of LGBT parents’ families makes it a de facto part of the LGBT community. There are 52 COLAGE chapters in the United States of America, 2 chapters in Canada, and one European chapter.  COLAGE is run and operated by children (of all ages) who have a lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT) parent or parents. Older Colagers mentor younger members. They prepare them for any challenges that a child may have, having same sex parents. Members are open with each other and any topic can and is discussed. COLAGE teams each summer with Family Pride and holds its annual Family Week in Provincetown on Cape Cod. There, hundreds of gay families come to enjoy the summer and the kids attend COLAGE meetings and workshops.

COLAGE is based out of San Francisco, California and has small number of paid staff. Its executive director is Beth Teper who has a lesbian mom and today is an advocate for children who have same sex parents.

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Melanie Nathan; 08-16-10

Many of  our readers have asked that we spread the word.  I only wish there were more we could do, at a time when we must wonder if life means so little especially if a woman?

Given Cultural and religious beliefs one may be apt to think, ‘well that is the way it is;’ however we have seen too much of oppression of women in the name of religion and cultural belief and that is all it is – violence and flagrant  disregard for the lives of women.

Seen often as mere chattels and under command, for a use, of body mind and soul,  we must speak out for Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43 year old mother of two, was convicted in May 2006 of having an “illicit relationship” with two men and received 99 lashes as her sentence. Despite already having been punished, she has now been further convicted of “adultery” and she and sentenced to death by stoning.

She is currently being held on death row in Tabriz Prison, north-west Iran, and faces imminent execution. Around July 7th , following international protests, officials in Tabriz asked the head of Iran’s judiciary to agree that her sentence of stoning to death be converted to execution by hanging.

On 10 July, the head of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights said that her case would be reviewed, although he affirmed that Iranian law permits execution by stoning.

On 14 July Sajjad Qaderzadeh, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s son, was summoned to Tabriz’s Central Prison, and is believed to have been questioned by Ministry of Intelligence officials who possibly threatened him not to give further interviews about his mother’s case.

It is clear Sakineh remains in grave risk… PLEASE sign this petition which calls on the Iranian authorities to clarify her current legal status, demands that the authorities enact legislation that bans stoning as a legal punishment, and eliminates other forms of the death penalty for “adultery” such as fogging or imprisonment.

Sign Petition: http://freesakineh.org/

If you have not signed this or sent a note to Secretary Clinton now is the time.

I wish I could do more – I will promise though, that on Friday night I will Pray on my Sabbath in my Synagogue for the life of a sister and the goodwill of her children.

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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Melanie Nathan – August 14, 2010

Best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert will join Immigration Equality in lobbying Congress for the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), reports  ON TOP Magazine.

My question is – will it be for UAFA as a stand alone or for the inclusion of UAFA into Immigration Reform. Maybe Immigration Equality sees that the choo choo train to reform ought to be via the equality Bill, UAFA, alone  instead of through Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

“Gilbert, whose film adaptation of Eat, Pray, Love starring Julia Roberts opened nationwide on Friday, is half of a binational couple herself. She chronicled her experience in her follow-up book Committed.

Immigration Equality has been lobbying for passage of the UAFA, a bill that would allow gay Americans to sponsor an immigrant partner for citizenship. Currently, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) forbids any federal agency from recognizing married gay couples, reports OUT.

However their report fails to note that for the past year and two months Immigration Equality has taken UAFA out of the realm of a stand-alone Bill with over 120 Sponsors in Congress and spent its time and resources on the currently  nowhere journey through a very controversial crash course with Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR).  UAFA is an equality amendment to the Immigration & Naturalization Act.that would include committed permanent partners instead Immigration Equality has pursued the idea of including UAFA in CIR – and cost desperate bi-national couples another year- in limbo – with no guarantee of inclusion, and constant same-old promises.

The House CIR  Bill by Congressman Luis  Gutierrez  (D -IL) specifically excluded UAFA and although Gutierrez has since said in public and the press that he believes NOW (flip flop) that Uniting American Families Act should be  included in CIR  – there is no amendment or action yet in sight.

From the Senate side – we have yet to see more than a framework for the Bill, which does include mention of UAFA.

Immigration Equality assured its supporters over a year ago the CIR was imminent, yet all we have from the Senate and Chuck Schumer is yet another a campaign motivated promise in the form of a framework, clearly a rushed direct response to the recent Arizona Immigration debacle.

Gilbert will apparently join IE September 30 to talk to lawmakers about the inequity,  reports IE.

As an avid activist myself for UAFA – I am hoping that Gilbert will be a proponent for an immediate stand-alone Bill for UAFA and that while we have a majority in congress, Gay and Lesbian couples should be given priority treatment under an equality banner rather than waiting for (yes the much needed) immigration reform for all.

“In addition to being unjust and cruel and unconscionable,” Gilbert said in June, “these laws [separating LGBT families] are stupid because they are taking away some of the best and brightest minds and prospects out of the country … they are forced to do nothing but fight for their lives. And they are in a fight for their lives. And I am proud to be part of that fight; I’m humbled and honored to be part of that fight.”

Elizabeth Gilbert’s life story, the best-selling author, who traveled millions of miles in what ended up being a search for her own, centered self, caused a sensation with her diary of personal discovery, also known as Eat, Pray, Love.

The book, which became a sort of holistic prescription for self-empowerment via self-fulfillment, was passed from person to person and ended up – in a life-changing moment amidst a story full of such karmic twists – in the hands of Oprah Winfrey.

At its peak, Love was at the top of the best-sellers’ list, and was hailed by millions as the holy text for embodying “la dolce vita.” (I learned about it when a friend sent me a Barnes & Noble gift certificate, and proclaimed, “Use this to buy Eat, Pray, Love!”) Readers have debated its place in the lexicon of feminist literature . . . organized book clubs to swoon over its lush storylines . . . and spent more than a few hours daydreaming about throwing caution to the wind, and following in Gilbert’s footsteps, in pursuit of a more perfect union (with themselves).

In short order, the book’s title – Eat, Pray, Love – became a mantra for the masses. And now, it has become a Hollywood blockbuster, too.

Beginning today, movie-goers are expected to flock to theaters to see Gilbert – played by screen icon Julia Roberts – eat, pray and love her way across Italy, India and Indonesia. But when the film stops rolling, another inspiring and empowering chapter in Gilbert’s life will just be beginning: Her selfless work on behalf of lesbian and gay immigrant families.

Continue reading this article at HuffingtonPost.com . . .

So now we are still no where and Bi national couples wait desperately.  By September 30th I know two American citizens who will have already exiled for other countries, one who would have had life threatening major heart surgery without his partner at his side, and probably another 100 e-mails from 2nd class American residents and citizens.

by Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com
www.privatecourts.com

@oblogdeeoblogda

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By Melanie Nathan,   8-09-10

The Long awaited Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act 2010 (SB 3307) has passed the Senate, after a push by the ADA membership and other advocates, urging Senators to get the job done!  The Act, which passed the Senate unanimously now moves to the House where it is expected to pass.

This now makes a strong investment in our children’s future. It will provide local school districts with resources to improve the quality and nutritional value of meals served to students; require the USDA to strengthen nutrition standards for foods sold in vending machines, a la carte lines and school stores; and require the USDA to implement standards based on current nutrition science.

“If current trends continue, one in three children born since the year 2000 will develop diabetes at some point in their lives. In order to curb this epidemic, we need to promote healthy lifestyles at school, where our children spend a large part of their day. The passage of the Act has indeed put us that much closer to putting a stop to this dangerous epidemic. “  www.diabeteshealth.com

The Full Text of the Act can be found here:- http://ag.senate.gov/site/legislation.html and http://ag.senate.gov/site/ComLeg/s3307.pdf

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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08/06/2010- by Natasia Langfelder

Angelina Jolie is constantly criticized for “forcing” daughter Shiloh to “dress like a boy” and thus turning her into a disgusting manly lesbo. Angelina has defended Shiloh in the past and now the philanthropic lady is begginning to sound a littled pissed off. She said in an interview while doing the press rounds for her action film, Salt:

“I think people think kids should be a certain way, but I feel they should wear what they feel like wearing and they should express themselves. Shiloh cried one night and said, ‘Please cut my hair off. I don’t want to have long hair.’ I’m not going to leave it long just because somebody thinks I should…I have a very strong-willed four-year-old girl who tells me what she wants to wear and I let her be who she is.

 I agree with her and not just because I’m a lesbian who loves gender bending women. It’s important to let children be who they are, it’s heartbreaking to hear stories of people who have grown up trying to fit into a mold to make their parents happy. While this is common among LGBT individuals, it is also prevalent in the straight community, like the athlete who wants to impress his dad, the solider who joined the fight because he has a family history of it, the woman who married within her religion to make her mom happy. Parents shouldn’t force their child into a mold, it usually ends in disaster.

Also, our culture of dressing little girls in frills and pink sparkles is getting out of control. Girls are sexualized as soon as they pop out of the womb and are told they need to be beautiful fashion plates before they can walk. They need to be outfitted with heels and wearing designer diapers. It’s disgusting and for once Angelina is a bastion of sanity.

Although I did not report on it, earlier this week, Angelina was criticized for letting her son, Pax, get a mani/pedi. Basically, I like Angie better than ever before. Go on with your bad self, girl. I hope you adopt 100 more babies and seed them throughout the world to help people learn to become more tolerant.

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This year 19 schools received full five-star ratings including, Carleton College; Humboldt State University; Ithaca College; Oberlin College; Oregon State University; Princeton University; San Diego State University; Syracuse University; The Ohio State University; The Pennsylvania State University; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, Riverside; University of Maine, Farmington; University of Oregon; University of Pennsylvania; University of Southern California; University of Vermont; and Washington University in St. Louis.

“Although not all schools earn a five-star ranking, their voluntary presence and participation in the index shows they are committed to ‘coming out’ for their students and creating truly equal and impactful communities of higher learning,” said Shane Windmeyer, Campus Pride executive director.

Campus Pride: Find Your Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Friendly College or University.

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Without missing a beat, Granny took one look at me with my new lover and said “you’re with girls now aren’t you?”

The question was rhetorical, and when I gave her a wildly happy “yes!” she reflexively said “don’t tell your mother she’ll blame me!”  I didn’t think to ask her why—it seemed obvious, Granny was never what one would call heterosexual. “I like men, Richard Gere is so handsome, but I only like them from their head to their neck”!

I did ask her many years later, if she had the choice would she have chosen to be with a woman?

“Yes of course” she said.

Granny is turning 103 next month —on august 21. Born in Singapore to Iraqi Jewish parents Granny married at 16 to a much older man and was sent to Baghdad to live with her new husband and his family. Life in Baghdad was a nightmare for her. Jews were second class citizens living in fear and Baghdad did not compare to British Singapore. She wanted to run back home and never got over her trauma of living through the Farhud, the anti-Jewish pogrom of 1941.

“They were so backward, not like us in (British) Singapore. I missed speaking English, and the family hated me for being modern. I danced, wore lipstick, and cut my hair short. And I wasn’t afraid to speak up to the Muslims who taunted us on the streets.  They were confused because I spoke English and wasn’t like the other Jews where we lived. They never saw a Jew like me.”

Once I get Granny talking about her life in Baghdad she goes back there with faraway eyes.

“ So I became friends with the Muslim and the Christian Arabs. I was supposed to only socialize with the family, people only stayed with their families. But I refused. One friend, a Muslim, she was married to a Syrian Doctor,  she loved me so much. I didn’t understand at first, when she asked me if I knew ‘finger exercises’—I thought she was asking if I played the piano!” Granny laughs, yes, she played the piano, but her friend was talking about a whole other kind of exercise! Granny laughs “I was so naïve!”

She didn’t ask the usual questions like how and what on earth could and would two women w/o a man do! For her once she didn’t have to have any more children (3 was her limit) she quit sex with her husband. And then he died young and she vowed “no sex for me ever again”.

“Now, I would have been with a women, I think yes, I was probably a lesbian”.

And now, at 103, this woman, my Granny, is still as feisty as ever albeit in a wheel chair because her legs didn’t retain the muscle the way her brain has. She is as bright and articulate as she was 30 years ago. And now, wonders why when “women are so beautiful” the lesbian feminist lover I was with then has transitioned into a man today. “Does she have a penis?”

“no”

“oh, that’s good then. No bad smell, he is still a she in a way”

“yup”

And Granny who hasn’t seen her/him in 30 years will be at the party we will have in a few weeks to celebrate Granny’s 103 birthday! It’s a wild ride this life.

Picture:  of Rachel & Granny – Copyright 2010  Rachel Wahba©, used with permission.

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When it come to immigration reform,  the people who count first on this topic, to my way of thinking, are those who under current law are not treated equally, yet President Obama has seemingly provided the visual for the year long covert alliance-making between the various religious groups and the Administration, some Politicians/ Senators such as  Chuck Schumer,  Congress Flip-Flop Gutierrez, which reflects a myriad of alliances, which in my estimation points to an attack, not only on the LGBT quest for equality, under current immigration law, but also on our factual existence as couples with a right to happily call our American Country, home!

“Normally on the opposite side of political issues backed by the Obama White House, leaders are aligning with the President to support an overhaul that would include some path to legalization for illegal immigrants already here. They are preaching from pulpits, conducting conference calls with pastors and testifying in Washington — as they did last Wednesday,” reports Laurie Goodstein for the New York Times.

Noticeably at the end of the New York Times Piece is a little reference to the BIG caveat

“But Mr. Blackwell  said  although Evangelicals will board the boat for  Comprehensive Immigration reform the whole effort could implode if the final legislation extended family reunification  provisions to same-sex couples where one spouse did not have legal status. For evangelicals, he said, “That would be a deal-breaker.” (hidden in the crevice of a final statement to the entire article.) Translated by Me as follows:  ” WE THE RELIGIOUS – Who proclaim G-d our exclusive ally, will be compassionate to the immigrants as long as they are not gays and lesbians.”

Gay Couples are separated from bi national loved ones, or who are forced  as Americans by Americans into exile!  But who cares- Jerold Nadler does! But who else and if you do Where the heck are you?’

This is for you President Obama- our own LGBT activists have messed us up in the most scary fashion. Why should we bi national  couples become the pawns and tools of people’s mistakes and political careers.

religious leaders – Compassion be damned!  Gay Rights Advocacy Groups – Where are our rights under current law?  Did any of you truly believe that we would be anything but scapegoats or political pawns under comprehensive Immigration reform? Feigned victories by our gay and lesbian organizations, while so many dwell in hell.

Be not surprised – you were all warned. But instead you read the Advocate, Pam, Bilerco , Huffington Post and nod and say thanks and lick each other’s ego’s to the stale scent of lets ask no ” real questions.”

Others –  and you all know who you are have rarely done more than serve as parrot or space for the likes of Immigration Equality’s- (self professed as the Pre-eminent Immigration equality organization) life altering mistake and insincerity.  Pam’s Blend houses Steve Ralls, of Immigration Equality,  and she has never questioned his or IE’s strategy of shooting us in the heart and soul of UAFA as a stand alone, by trying to run after those who we know hate us. That group has spent your money making alliances with those who are stabbing us in the back as we speak!

Now as I continue to make enemies as I speak my heart -

This dearth of sanctified online high profile real estate and the writers that service it spew the strategy of Immigration Equality, without question or even understanding.

Banned from commenting on the truth at Immigration equality BLOG – and failure to silence me on Lezgetreal -  I am upping the ante.

This report from the New York Times endorsed my fear and validates my advice to Immigration Equality one year ago, NCLR since and other groups, NOT to endorse or follow the dangle of ‘Comprehensive Immigration Reform” carrot, but to rather keep the Uniting American Families ACT as a stand-alone Bill with EQUALITY the issues as opposed to jumping in on what was bound to be a huge immigration controversy immigration option for same-sex couples denied immigration parity under the Immigration and Naturalization Act.

But some evangelical leaders said their latest strategy was to push a handful of lame-duck Republicans to join Democrats — probably after the midterms — to pass an immigration bill on the ground that it is morally right.

Although other religious leaders have long favored immigration overhaul — including Roman Catholics, mainline Protestants, Jews and Muslims — the evangelicals are crucial because they have the relationships and the pull with Republicans.

“My message to Republican leaders,” said the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, the president of the evangelical National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and one of the leaders who engaged his non-Hispanic peers, “is if you’re anti-immigration reform, you’re anti-Latino, and if you’re anti-Latino, you are anti-Christian church in America, and you are anti-evangelical.”

Evangelicals at the grass-roots level are divided on immigration, just as the nation is. But among the leaders, recent interviews suggest that those in favor of an immigration overhaul are far more vocal and more organized than those who oppose it, as long as the queers are out! Of course!

Their presence was a testament, in part, to the work of politically active Hispanic evangelical pastors, who have forged friendships with non-Hispanic pastors in recent years while working in coalitions to oppose abortion and same-sex marriage. The Hispanics made a concerted effort to convince their brethren that immigration reform should be a moral and practical priority.  Hispanic storefront churches are popping up in strip malls, and Spanish-speaking congregations are renting space in other churches. Some pastors, like Mr. Hybels, lead churches that include

Congress is unlikely to pass an immigration law this year. Republicans and Democrats who face re-election in November are skittish about the issue, given the broad public support for Arizona’s new law aiming to crack down on illegal immigration. Say the piece – I believe we would be lucky if it were to ever happen.

The Article insulting to say the least – as is every single piece that is written that fails to acknowledge the importance of our LGBT bi-national plight.

More of the NY Times Piece – “These cross-cutting clusters are just splinter groups, so far,” said Larry J. Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. “Support for the Arizona law is so strong within the G.O.P. that it will be difficult for the comprehensive-immigration-reform evangelicals to have much short-term impact.”

The support of evangelical leaders is not yet enough to change the mess of the mass. But they could mobilize a potentially large constituency of religious conservatives, an important part of the Republican base better known for lobbying against abortion and same-sex marriage. They already threaten the party’s near unity on immigration. “

So while they mobilize and align for support, we the LGBT community become the scapegoat, as I predicted in my Article in mid 2009, which I shall reference here again.   Again I cannot scream loud enough we need a movement not three career boost seekers making political moves for an huge politically marginalized  group such as the bi-national gay and lesbian community.

All hope that is there is gone unless we get an , a special visa, repeal of DOMA, UAFA as a stand-alone – or an Amendment to the Civil Rights Act.   But alas I fear these mere benchmarks fail to serve the immediate needs of those living the hellish life of a gay or lesbian bi-national.

So all I can think of is an Executive order –

Dear President Obama:

I am so angry and I cannot express it without a SCREAM such as the one above! I am so tired, so tired. I ask one question of you Mr. President.  How can you continue to condone the separation of LGBT families through inequality under the Immigration and Naturalization Act?

It is one thing that we cannot marry and I know you campaigned against Gay Marriage per se; but Sir,when you told us we deserved equality and we worked crazily for your election, and voted accordingly, was it you intention to keep Americans exiled from their own countries and from their partners, whom they would marry if the could?

Mr. President, Sir – please if all you do is make one executive order for us – let it be simply to allow gays and lesbians who are in permanent partnerships with some form of contractual nexus to be included in the current Immigration and Equality Act.

Please!

Sincerely,

Melanie Nathan and Signed tacitly : 36,000 suffering Americans.

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Melanie Nathan  – July 19, 2010

Growing up in the orthodox Jewish Tradition meant the sefer  Torah, in all its sacredness, could only be carried and read directly from  by Men, barring participation by women.

This served as part of the relegation of women from any possibility or position in prayer and ritual  and impacted their inability to be ordained as Rabbis.

Well with the accomplishment, contributions to society and evolution of reform and re-constructionist Jewish movements, often viewed as “nonreligious”  for openness of policy and ordination of female Rabbis, the ideal amongst many congregations around the world,  has become to afford women equality in prayer and hence an opportunity to carry, read from and have all and any honors equated with the use of the Torah.

So a daunting quest would indeed be one where women could carry and read Torah at the most sacred of all place, the KOTEL, (Western Wall, Wailing Wall to some.)

In Jerusalem Israel,   the group Women of the Wall led by its chairwoman attempted to hold a procession in the Western Wall Plaza carrying a Torah scroll, a move which police say  contravenes a 2003 High Court ruling prohibiting women from reading from the Torah in the plaza’s public area in the interest of public safety; and so Anat Hofman  was held for questioning for several hours yesterday after holding a prayer session at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City.

While Jerusalem police questioned Hoffman for four hours, dozens of members of her organization rallied outside the station to protest her arrest. Hoffman was ultimately released after paying 5, 000 Sheckels in bail and agreeing to stay away from the Western Wall Plaza for 30 days.

Rabbi Steven Wernick, executive vice president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, said, “My understanding of the law is that it doesn’t mention anything about carrying a sefer Torah [Torah scroll]. It mentions reading Torah in public [on the women's side] and it mentions wearing a tallit, but not carrying a sefer Torah.

“I am just in shock that on Rosh Hodesh Av, of all days, nine days before Tisha B’Av, that any Jew would be arrested for carrying a sefer Torah anywhere in the Jewish State,” he said. “I think that at the time that our enemies are working to delegitimate the Jewish state, the message of the Israeli establishment is the illegitimization of the liberal streams of Judaism.”

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Melanie Nathan   7-17-10

A Michigan-based gay rights foundation has given more than $400,000 to a California seminary to help craft formal liturgies for the Episcopal Church to bless gay and lesbian relationships, reports Kevin Eckstrom from Beliefnet, an online spirituality focused blog.

“The Episcopal Church still officially considers marriage between a man and a woman, reflected in the marriage rite of its Book of Common Prayer. Many dioceses, however, unofficially allow priests to bless same-sex relationships and even marriages.

Because the church puts a high value on scripted liturgies, many same-sex couples want their own marriage/blessing rite since many bishops are reluctant to use the traditional husband-wife marriage liturgy for same-sex unions.”

Again it would seem while this overtly sounds like a blessing – it reflects the classic marginalization to which we have all become accustomed – but then of course we must yield to the right of any Spiritual organization or religious group to its autonomy and freedoms of expression.  It becomes a matter of personal belief and is up to the individual to make their own decisions – for many this may well be a welcome opportunity to be blessed in the church that may otherwise have shunned them completely.

To my way of thinking if we had full equality in the US and around the World – perhaps the religions would evolve accordingly – you  evolutionary interpretation – hit a chord?

By Melanie Nathan.
Going to the Beach in Northern California today….. brrrrrrrrr
Going to the City Tonight – San Francisco – covering Nightlife!

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Today Argentina celebrates a Human Rights and Dignity Victory.  To my way of thinking this beats first place at the World Cup Soccer.

Paula Brooks, of Lez Get Real posted the good news:

“After a 14-hour debate that lasted well into the early morning hours, the senate of Argentina has voted 33-27 to pass a bill that gives same-sex couples equal marriage rights and will make Argentina the first Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriage.

The bill, that has already passed the lower chamber of Congress despite a concerted campaign by the Roman Catholic Church and evangelical groups, will also grant same-sex couples the right to adopt children.

Debate on the bill began in early afternoon on Wednesday and spilled into the early hours of Thursday as several hundred same-sex marriage supporters also stood vigil awaiting the vote.”

Now we get to to witness History made!

Oh No! Oh No - Argentina is a Go!

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Melanie Nathan from Lezgetreal wrote an earlier article on this topic article – repeated below.

Before you re-read it or read it for the first time or ignore it here is some update by The ADVOCATE”:

“The man behind a proposed law banning divorce in the state of California has been given the go ahead to start collecting signatures.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced Tuesday that John Marcotte can start collecting petition signatures for the measure, according to KGO-TV. Marcotte has 150 days to collect 694,000 signatures before the measure can be put to a vote.

Marcotte began the petition after Prop. 8 passed at the polls. He said he thinks if gay marriage is a threat to the sanctity of marriage, divorce should be considered threatening as well.”

Article Re-print November, 2009;
“Considering Maine and Reflecting on California”

by Melanie Nathan

Does marriage equality and more specifically same-sex marriage hurt traditional marriage? This most confounding question has yet to be answered by anyone, especially those who expound the rhetoric while seeking to ban same-sex marriage.  The derogatory impact of same-sex marriage on straight marriage has yet to be quantified.  I wonder how one would be able to figure it out.

Could it be that for every 4 gay marriages one straight person will not marry his fiancé; could it be that for every 4 gay marriages one straight couple will divorce?  Could it mean that allowing gay marriages will result in less straight people marrying and thereby reduce the numbers of married people?  I am trying so hard to come up with a formula, can someone please help me?

Proposition 8 succeeded in California, and effectively removed a fundamental constitutional right, as endorsed by the Courts by way of popular vote – the right for any couple in California to marry regardless of gender was stripped.  Prop 8 was initiated in direct response and its mantra was  to “protect the institution of marriage” by keeping lesbians and gays out.

After the barrage of voracious advertisements led 51% of voting Californians to believe that gay marriage would by its mere legality threaten straight marriages. Churches poured their money into the advertising coffers, tacitly claiming the interests of their God.   Silly them there is a better way to save the institution of marriage and just think it can be done without stripping other Americans of their inherent rights, as well as the advantage of quantification.  The obvious, unambiguous and only one absolute vehicle to sustain the precept of marriage is clearly the “The outlawing of Divorce.”  We must bring a new proposition to the voters in this earnest quest and that would be  ahh maybe -Proposition 9 – “Repeal of the Legislative Right to Divorce Act.”

Notably, divorce, unlike same sex marriage, can be easily quantified.  I believe in California the divorce rate is approximately 1 in 3. There you go – for every 60,000 marriages ending in Divorce, we can save 60,000 saved – see how easy that was. Not like our difficulty when we attempted to quantify the impact of same-sex marriage on ‘ traditional marriage.’ – that means we would have 60,000 out of every 180,000 marriages saved… How powerful is that!

This is a call to all those who truly believe in the sanctity of marriage. Support the rescue of marriage by ending divorce for good. Here is a safer and better plan – how about making that retroactive.  Anyone who has been divorced consider your good-selves remarried.

Indeed the next obvious step is legislation that prohibits one’s right to divorce.  Divorce is not an inherent right; it is one that is granted by specific statute. For example in California there would be no divorce if the Family Law Code did not deal create it. It gets worse – Divorce involves one spouse suing the other for divorce.  In California the first paper served by a plaintiff spouse on a defendant spouse reads “SUMMONS- You Are Being Sued.”  How bizarre – to separate church and State in this fashion.  It is an abomination to the sacred right of marriage to think that after spouses have said “till death do us part” that one may sue the other for divorce and that our law allows that to happen.

If Maine supports the ban of same-sex marriage tonight, I profess this to be the nest obvious step there too.

Is this ban on Divorce a joke?  Not according to a Sacramento man, John Marcotte who is collecting signatures to place a new piece of legislation on the 2010 ballot for the people of California to decide on. He wants to make it illegal to divorce in California. Read his petition here.

Why? He contends that this is a natural extension of what religious conservatives did when they voted “Yes” on a ballot measure to ban gay marriage so that they could “protect traditional marriage”.

From John Marcotte’s Rescue Marriage website, here’s the statement announcing the new ballot measure:

“I loved Proposition 8, but felt it did not go far enough. So fresh from the office of our legal counsel, I present the 2010 California Protection of Marriage Act.

SECTION 1.  Title.  This act shall be known as the “2010 California Marriage Protection Act.”

SECTION 2.  Section 7.6 is added to Article I of the California Constitution, to read:

No party to any marriage shall be restored to the state of an unmarried person during the lifetime of the other party unless the marriage is void or voidable, as set forth in Part 2 of Division 6 of the Family Code.”

Marcotte has just launched his first couple of PSAs on the 2010 California Marriage Protection Act. Here they are:

Few Choice Quotes From the PSAs:

“My kids are being taught in school that divorce is all right.”

“You said ‘Till death do us part’. You’re not dead yet.”

“Hell is eternal, just like your marriage is supposed to be.”

“If we allow anyone to get divorced, before you know it, people will be divorcing their dogs.”

Lock Step-lock-jaw-Republicans-and conservatives- and those on the right – do not fail – put your money where your mouth is and support the BAN on DIVORCE.

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Melanie Nathan 7-14-10

Secretary Hilary Clinton PLEASE Help!

Early July, an Iranian court ruled that a teenager, Ebrahim Hamidi, should face the death penalty for charges that he engaged in “homosexual relations” with others. Hamidi was charged with three other teenagers, all of whom have had their charges dismissed. These teenagers have said that the charges were bogus; yet Iran still plans to move forward with executing Hamidi.

Last month, Secretary Clinton gave an historic speech where shesaid that gay rights were indeed human rights. That speech reverberated throughout the world, giving hope to millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people struggling for equal rights in the face of oppression.

Now there is a Petition asking Secretary Clinton  to take those words, and organize the international community to condemn gay executions in Iran, as well as the planned execution of Hamidi.

Here is a teenager being sentenced to die, solely because of his perceived sexual orientation. We can’t let this happen in silence.

Offer Asylum instead of death – Heck I bet Israel would help him!

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If you were not around during the 60’s Civil Rights Movement then you may be around for the  2010 Civil Rights Movement.

It has started.

During April I printed my little big vision in an article http://lezgetreal.com/2010/04/the-lgbtqi-pink-plan-liberation-of-usa-gays-and-lesbians-btqi/

My personal vision when I wrote that first article was simple – Build it and they will come of sorts…..   And that is exactly what is happening since this week’s launch of the AMERICAN EQUALITY BILL (AEB) an Omnibus with the ideal of an Amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 –   the inclusion of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity into the Civil Rights Act.

This week we hit the champagne bottle on the ship…

The American Equality  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.  See the draft here   http://lezgetreal.com/2010/07/breaking-first-release-the-american-equality-bill/

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.

Bye Bye back door – tralalal piecemeal approach – no more  with domain ownership by organizations who tickle our backs into persuasive complacency, while we dole out more LGBT  dollars for more LGBT reassurances. Use that money to take a day off work and get on the streets.

I decided some time back that no one was going to own the rights I need to fight for and now I am asking that you all jump into the ocean with AEB (American Equality Bill) our wave – as we surf toward the beach where equality awaits under the sun.

This is THE BIRTH OF THE gay Movement. The one that is planning the front door entrance  to the Universe that belongs to us as equally as to any other – hence the beach metaphor.

“Now OUR TIME HAS COME. We have already won the de FACTO fight –  we EXIST – 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 Bening is playing a lesbian – and many more such victories – now it has come time for De Jure – The Legal Victory!  It can Only be done one WAY and that is  this  CIVIL RIGHTS AMENDMENT   http://lezgetreal.com/2010/07/the-launch-of-hope-finally-grassroots-find-feet-the-american-equality-bill/ “

Now that a group of grass-root-sloggers, none of whom are asking for money, have in fact put this together in benchmark formality in the form of  AEB  – it is time to take the street as spontaneously as you want.   It can be organized, it can be random, it can be anything you want- because YOU America- own it.  We own it..all of us own our civil rights and we are ready to demand the newly launched benchmark.

I have nothing invested in what anyone in congress thinks about it. I do not give a damn if you think I am wasting my time.  I don’t care who you think I offend.  I do not give a heck if you laugh and continue to marginalize my entitlement.

I am only invested in demanding it  - it is MINER and I can Demand.  What will be will be!  But at least I was unafraid.    I am not scared of failure I am not dependent on success – I am only concerned about DPING it.    I am not going  to shop AEB around – YOU-  Mr. President and you Mrs. Speaker and all of  Congress and those in the Senate – you must come to us.   We are going on the streets in a big way because NOW we are starting our movement.

To those who purport to represent us and make – deals behind our backs to assert your re-election – carry on thinking your existence is worthy while Americans suffer deep pain of discrimination. “Carry on,” I say.   But I am going on the street.

So yes it has started.  Today my very dear partner in the Civil Rights Claim, Todd Fernandez sent me a note on FB:

“J Todd Fernandez Honey – A tiny band of us in NY have decided to have a NY Civil Rights March 2010 – for SO&GI Equality Now. Can you dig it. xoTif!  Visit Todd on FB to see what is happening…..   http://bit.ly/AEBnow

If you are interested in going on the Street wherever you are just do it…

Start a Petition »

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com
@oblogdeeoblogda
FaceBook be my Friend.

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Barbara Boxer for Senate Vs. Carly Fiorina for LGBT  Hell; Senator  Barbara Boxer and Fiorina Tie

Now while many of you feel “over the democrats” the Boxer v Fiorina race will be the most important in November’s general election.  Barbara Boxer incumbent Democratic Senator for California and one of the very few reliable and progressive allies for LGBT legislation in the Senate is facing her first ever terrifying (for us)  challenge, by Fiorina, ex CEO of Hewlett Packard, who, in my opinion is either Homophobic or a panderer  of the worst kind.

The latest Field Poll shows Barbara Boxer in a statistical tie with Carly Fiorina. “Now, we have further confirmation of just what a serious challenge we are facing. Although this is within the margin of error, there’s no question that we are in the toughest Boxer campaign ever. ” says Rose Kapolczynski
Campaign Manager for the Boxer Campaign.

Yesterday, Survey USA released their latest California Senate poll — and it is more confirmation that the race is now too close to call. Fiorina is actually ahead of Barbara by two points, 47% – 45%.

The campaign blasted out an email and is asking for support. I encourage all my readers here at LGR to send at least $5.00  – PLEASE let us support a true friend and at the same time ask for more profound and overt leadership on our issues in the Senate.  The gay community has always supported the Senator and we  MUST continue to do so, regardless of our disappointment with the Democrats and President Obama.

Without Boxer in the Senate forget about equality!

Send the Senator Boxer’s campaign your $5.00, no matter where you are – if we wait on the sideline in essence the gay community will be defeated again by the millions of dollars that corporate anti-gay right wing motivators will pour into this campaign, not to mention the millions that

Fiorina will use of her own money in her power hungry quest – which WILL harm us all directly.

http://www.barbaraboxer.com

Photo Shirley Tan © Senator Barbara Boxer with Tan Mercado Family

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com
@oblogdeeoblogda
FaceBook be my Friend.

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San Francisco;

The Kids Are All Right

We are a two mom family. We have daughters.  Tonight, together with a friend (who took her grand daughter) I took my thirteen year old daughter to see  the Annette Bening and Julianne Moore film, “The Kids Are All Right“  I was unsure if this would be a good idea, especially as it was restricted citing sexually explicit scenes. I was worried; but weighed up the importance of the film, the maturity of my child, and the fact that – at last – a feature movie provided a story line more profound in its normalcy that the concept of the lesbian family, itself.

That said, seeing the film in limited release amongst a San Francisco mixed audience was most telling.  The movie is a comedy coated with emotion and turmoil, as a family is disrupted by the children’s desire to locate their sperm donor.  Lesbians and gay patrons outnumbered the straights , and even in the dark, one could tell who was gay and who was straight by the reactions and laughter to different scenes and character comments.

My daughter loved the movie; as did her friend. The context of the sex scenes required their bold oddness,  to say the least, we walked out of there calling them acrobatics.   However the lesbian couple of long duration provided the audience with a sex scene between Benning and Moore, that only those experienced in the art of bed-death lesbian would understand as romance turned endurance – a very realistic depiction.

Sitting in the fourth row of a very full theater was a challenge, especially as it meant my daughter and I would be sitting that much closer to explicit sex.   I was not sure how to handle it.  Then came the first scene. I glanced over at my teenager – and lo and behold, she had covered her eyes.  She simply did not want to see.

The next such scene, I glanced over at my friends grand daughter and found that this time, the two kids had turned their respective young heads toward each other  sharing “ew yukee”  expressions,  clearly doing everything in the power to avoid looking.

I asked if they were embarrassed and they both said no that it was simply Odd.  Both made t clear that they were referring to scenes that involved men.  They were completely unaffected by the lesbian scenes.

The story is good – my recommendation, on second thoughts, don’t take your younger than 16 kid.  Too much explaining to do….

It was an endearing movie and loved by the audience evidenced by the loud applause at the end.  How refreshing a lesbian long term relationship, loving family, with all the normal accouterments of lifestyle and success – it was real and a great entertainment. Recommended for sure!  Note purposely not giving too much away.

Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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Melanie Nathan 7-9-10

Drafted by Karen Doering, an attorney who has been involved in some of the most important legal LGBT victories and controversies, the American Equality  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.  This is the first  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.

Special Credit also goes to Todd Fernandez for pushing for this and for being one of the few who listened with open mind and heart.

http://lezgetreal.com/2010/07/the-launch-of-hope-finally-grassroots-find-feet-the-american-equality-bill/

THE AMERICAN EQUALITY BILL
(Draft July 4, 2010)

SUMMARY OF PROPOSED CHANGES TO EXISTING LEGISLATION
TO END LEGAL DISCRIMINATION IN AMERICA ON THE BASIS OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY

A. EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION.

SECTION 1. Amends Title VII the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited bases for discrimination in employment.

SECTION 2. Amends the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991, the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, and 3 U.S.C. 411 (a)(1), to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited bases for discrimination in employment.

SECTION 3. Amends the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C. §2000e-16a et seq., to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited bases for discrimination in employment.

SECTION 4. Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to clarify the definitions of “parent” and “son or daughter.”

B. HOUSING DISCRIMINATION.

SECTION 5. Amends the Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act) to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited bases for discrimination in the sale or rental of housing, real estate related transactions, and the provision of brokerage services.

C. DISCRIMINATION IN PLACES OF PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION.

SECTION 6. Amends Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited bases for discrimination or segregation in places of public accommodation.

D. DISCRIMINATION IN THE USE OF PUBLIC FACILITIES.

SECTION 7. Amends §2000b of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited bases for denial of equal use of public facilities.

E. DISCRIMINATION IN ACCESS TO CREDIT.

SECTION 8. Amends the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited basis for discrimination in any aspect of a credit transaction.

F. DISCRIMINATION IN FEDERALLY FUNDED PROGRAMS OR ACTIVITIES.

SECTION 9. Amends Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited bases for discrimination in federally funded programs or activities and adding an exemption for religious organizations.

G. DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.

SECTION 10. Amends the Americans with Disabilities Act to repeal discriminatory provisions.

THE AMERICAN EQUALITY BILL
(Scope and content only. This is not in filing format.)

SHORT TITLE.
Upon passage, this bill may be cited as the `The American Equality Act of 2010’.

PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to realize the American ideal of equal protection under the law by amending existing civil rights legislation to include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

FINDINGS OF LEGISLATIVE FACT.
(This will be an elaborate section that details the discrimination against LGBT people. Content TBD.)

A. EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION.

SECTION. 1. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §2000e, is amended to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited bases for discrimination in employment, as follows:

a. The following definitions shall be added at the end of §2000e:

(o) The term “sexual orientation” means homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality.

(p) The term “gender identity” means the gender-related identity, appearance, or mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of an individual, with or without regard to the individual’s designated sex at birth.

b. Sections 2000e-2(a)-(d), §2000e-2(h), §2000e-2(j), §2000e-2(l), §2000e-2(m), §2000e-3(b), 2000e(g)(2)(A), §2000e-16(a), and §2000e-16(c), are amended every time the phrase “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin” appears to include after the word “sex” the following words:- “sexual orientation, gender identity,”

c. Dress and Grooming Standards. Nothing shall prohibit an employer from requiring an employee, during the employee’s hours at work, to adhere to reasonable dress or grooming standards not prohibited by other provisions of Federal, State, or local law, provided that the employer permits any employee who has undergone gender transition prior to the time of employment, and any employee who has notified the employer that the employee has undergone or is undergoing gender transition after the time of employment, to adhere to the same dress or grooming standards for the gender to which the employee has transitioned or is transitioning.

d. Certain Shared Facilities. Nothing shall be construed to establish an unlawful employment practice based on actual or perceived gender identity due to the denial of access to shared shower or dressing facilities in which being seen fully unclothed is unavoidable, provided that the employer provides reasonable access to adequate facilities that are not inconsistent with the employee’s gender identity as established with the employer at the time of employment or upon notification to the employer that the employee has undergone or is undergoing gender transition, whichever is later.

SECTION 2. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, as amended, 5 U.S.C. §2302; Government Employee Rights Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-16a et seq.; Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.; and Section 411(a) (1) of Title 3 of the United States Code are amended to specify that “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are prohibited bases for discrimination, as follows:

a. The terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are defined as in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §2000e.

b. 5 U.S.C. 2302(b)(1)(A) and 5 U.S.C. 2302(d)(1); 42 U.S.C. 2000e-16a and 42 U.S.C. 2000e-16b; 2 U.S.C. 1311(a)(1); and 3 U.S.C. 411(a)(1) are amended every time the phrase “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin” appear to add after the word “sex” the following words: “sexual orientation, gender identity”

c. 42 U.S.C. 2000e-16a(b) is amended every time the phrase “race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability” appear to add after the word “sex” the following words: “sexual orientation, gender identity”

d. Certain Shared Facilities. Nothing shall be construed to establish an unlawful employment practice based on actual or perceived gender identity due to the denial of access to shared shower or dressing facilities in which being seen fully unclothed is unavoidable, provided that the employer provides reasonable access to adequate facilities that are not inconsistent with the employee’s gender identity as established with the employer at the time of employment or upon notification to the employer that the employee has undergone or is undergoing gender transition, whichever is later.

SECTION 3. The Government Employee Rights Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C. §2000e-16a et seq., is amended to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited bases for discrimination, as follows:

a. The terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are defined as in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §2000e.

b. Section 2000e-16a(b) is here by amended every time the phrase “race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability” occurs by inserting after the word “sex” the following words:- “sexual orientation, gender identity,”

c. Certain Shared Facilities. Nothing shall be construed to establish an unlawful employment practice based on actual or perceived gender identity due to the denial of access to shared shower or dressing facilities in which being seen fully unclothed is unavoidable, provided that the employer provides reasonable access to adequate facilities that are not inconsistent with the employee’s gender identity as established with the employer at the time of employment or upon notification to the employer that the employee has undergone or is undergoing gender transition, whichever is later.

SECTION 4. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §2611, is amended to clarify the following definitions:

(7) Parent. The term “parent” means the biological parent of an employee or an individual who stood in loco parentis to an employee when the employee was a son or daughter. For purposes of this statute, the term “in loco parentis” includes but is not limited to an individual who is a defacto or psychological parent of the child.

(12) Son or daughter. The term “son or daughter” means a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco parentis, a child registered as a “dependent” or similar classification under the employer’s domestic partnership policy, or a child designated by an employee and his or her domestic partner as a “dependent” or similar classification pursuant to a municipal, state or federal domestic partnership registry, who is—

(A) under 18 years of age; or

(B) 18 years of age or older and incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability.

(13) Spouse – The term “spouse” means a husband or wife, as the case may be. For purposes of this statute, the term “spouse” includes a person designated a domestic partner under the employer’s domestic partnership policy, an employee’s civil union partner, a spouse from a domestic or foreign marriage, and a domestic partner registered pursuant to a municipal, state or federal law.

B. HOUSING DISCRIMINATION.

SECTION. 5. The Fair Housing Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §3601 et seq., is amended to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited bases for discrimination in the sale or rental of housing, real-estate related transactions, and the provision of brokerage services.

a. The terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are defined as in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §2000e.

b. Sections 3604(a)-(b) are amended every time the phrase “race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin” appears by inserting after the word “sex” the following words: “sexual orientation, or gender identity,”

c. Sections 3604(c)-(e), 3605(a), and 3606 are amended every time the phrase “race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin” appears by inserting after the word “sex” the following words: “sexual orientation, or gender identity,”

d. Section 3605(c) is amended every time the phrase “race, color, religion, national origin, sex, handicap, or familial status” appears by inserting after the word “sex” the following words:- “sexual orientation, or gender identity,”

C. DISCRIMINATION IN PLACES OF PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION.

SECTION 6. Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §2000a et seq., is amended to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited bases for discrimination or segregation in places of public accommodation.

a. The terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are defined as in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §2000e.

b. Sections 2000a(a) and 2000a-1 are amended every time the phrase “race, color, religion or national origin” appears by inserting after the word “religion” the following words: “sexual orientation, or gender identity,”

c. Certain Shared Facilities. Nothing shall be construed to establish an unlawful practice based on actual or perceived gender identity due to the denial of access to shared shower or dressing facilities in which being seen fully unclothed is unavoidable, provided that the proprietor provides reasonable access to adequate facilities that are not inconsistent with the individual’s gender identity as established with the proprietor at the time the relationship first began or upon notification to the proprietor that the individual has undergone or is undergoing gender transition, whichever is later.

D. DISCRIMINATION IN THE USE OF PUBLIC FACILITIES.

SECTION 7. 42 U.S.C. §2000b, is amended to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited bases for denial of equal use of public facilities as follows:

a. The terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are defined as in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §2000e.

b. Section 2000b(a) is amended every time the phrase “race, color, religion or national origin” occurs by inserting after the word “religion” the following words:- “sexual orientation, gender identity,”

c. Certain Shared Facilities. Nothing shall be construed to establish an unlawful practice based on actual or perceived gender identity due to the denial of access to shared shower or dressing facilities in which being seen fully unclothed is unavoidable, provided that the proprietor provides reasonable access to adequate facilities that are not inconsistent with the individual’s gender identity as established with the proprietor at the time of the relationship first began or upon notification to the proprietor that the individual has undergone or is undergoing gender transition, whichever is later.

E. DISCRIMINATION IN ACCESS TO CREDIT.

SECTION 8. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974, 15 U.S.C. §1691 et seq., is amended to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited bases for discrimination in any aspect of a credit transaction as follows:

a. The terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are defined as in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §2000e.

b. Section 1691(a)(1) is amended every time the phrase “race, color, religion, national origin, sex or marital status, or age” occurs by inserting after the word “marital status” the following words:- “sexual orientation, gender identity”.

F. DISCRIMINATION IN FEDERALLY FUNDED PROGRAMS OR ACTIVITIES.

SECTION 9. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §2000d, is amended to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited bases for exclusion from participation in, denial of the benefits of, or being subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance, as follows:

a. The terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are defined as in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §2000e.
b. Section 2000d is amended every time the phrase “race, color, or national origin” occurs by inserting after the word “color” the following words:- “sexual orientation, or gender identity,”

c. The provisions of this section regarding sexual orientation and gender identity shall not apply to any educational institution, as that term is defined in 20 U.S.C. 1681(c), which is controlled by a religious organization if the application of this subsection would not be consistent with the religious tenets of such organization as determined in its sole discretion.

G. DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.

SECTION 10. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§12101 et seq., and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §706, are amended to repeal discriminatory provisions, as follows:

a. 42 U.S.C. §12208 is repealed.

b. 42 U.S.C. §12211(b)(1) is amended to delete the words “transvestism” and “transsexualism” and the phrase “gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments,” from the definition of “Certain conditions” excluded from coverage under the Act.

c. 29 U.S.C. §705(8)(F)(i) is amended to delete the words “transvestism” and “transsexualism” and the phrase “gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments,” from the list excluding from protection an ‘individual with a disability’ for purposes of Section 501, 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

END.

How did this happen read

• The Launch of Hope – Finally Grassroots Find Feet – THE American Equality Bill (lezgetreal.com)
• The Launch of Hope – Finally Grassroots Find Feet – THE American Equality Bill (lezgetreal.com)

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com
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• The Launch of Hope – Finally Grassroots Find Feet – THE American Equality Bill (lezgetreal.com)

By  Melanie Nathan  7-8-10

Today, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro ruled that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional with respect to claims brought by seven married same-sex couples and three widowers from Massachusetts. Under the ruling, the plaintiffs are entitled to the same federal spousal benefits and protections as every other married couple.

Finally  a huge victory for marriage equality when a federal judge in Boston ruled today in two separate cases that a critical portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.

U.S. district judge Joseph Tauro , US District Court Massachusetts ruled that Congress violated the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution when it passed DOMA and took from the states decisions concerning which couples can be considered married.

The second case,  Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, the ruling was DOMA violates the equal protection principles embodied in the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The case was brought by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), the group that won the landmark gay marriage decision in 2003 before the Massachusetts Supreme Court. GLAD represents eight married couples and three widowers in the suit, says The Advocate today.

Proposition 8 is currently pending a San Francisco  decision, which could come down at any time, relates to State  laws barring marriage rights for same-sex couples.  However in this instance in  GLAD’s lawsuit was a precise attack on DOMA, targeting just one section of the law — Section 3 — that limits the definition of marriage, for all federal purposes, to one man and one woman.

A Highlight The Argument:

GLAD attorney Mary Bonauto told Tauro that DOMA constitutes a “classic equal protection” violation, by taking one class of married people in Massachusetts and dividing it into two. One class gets federal benefits, the other does not.  Just as the federal government cannot take the word “person” and say it means only Caucasians or only women, said Bonauto, it should not be able to take the word “marriage” and say it means only heterosexual couples.

Bonauto said the government has no reason to withhold the more than 1,000 federal benefits of marriage from same-sex couples, and noted that a House Judiciary Committee report “explicitly stated the purpose of DOMA was to express moral disapproval of homosexuality.”

The ruling stems from the lawsuit Gill et al v. Office of Personnel Management et al, filed by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) in March 2009.

“Today the Court simply affirmed that our country won’t tolerate second-class marriages,” said Mary Bonauto, GLAD’s Civil Rights Project Director, who argued the case. “I’m pleased that Judge Tauro recognized that married same-sex couples and surviving spouses have been seriously harmed by DOMA and that the plaintiffs deserve the same opportunities to care and provide for each other and for their children that other families enjoy. This ruling will make a real difference for countless families in Massachusetts.”

“I am thrilled that my family will now be treated in the same way as those of my married co-workers at the post office,” said Nancy Gill, who is a plaintiff with her spouse, Marcelle Letourneau. “Marcelle and I married out of love and commitment to each other first and foremost, but federal recognition of our marriage means that we’ll have equal access to important protections for our two children and for ourselves.”

Gill is a 22-year employee of the U.S. Postal Service who cannot cover Letourneau on her family health and vision insurance plans, forcing the couple to pay extra to insure Letourneau. Marcelle is also ineligible to receive the federal health benefit given to surviving spouses or to access Nancy’s pension should Nancy predecease her.

The next step in the case is for the federal government to decide whether it will appeal Judge Tauro’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. That decision should come within the next 60 days.

Congress passed DOMA in 1996. Section 3 of the law states that only a marriage between one man and one woman will be recognized for federal purposes. The Obama Administration called the law discriminatory, even while defending it in court.

GLAD filed the Gill case on the grounds that DOMA Section 3 violates the federal constitutional guarantee of equal protection as applied to federal income tax, Social Security, federal employees and retirees and the issuance of passports. The passport issue was resolved in 2009 when the State Department changed its policy.

Co-counsel in the Gill case included attorneys from the firms Foley Hoag LLP, Sullivan & Worcester LLP, Jenner & Block LLP, and Kator, Parks & Weiser, PLLC. Details about the case, the plaintiffs, and the attorneys representing them can be found at http://www.glad.org/doma.

Excerpt from the Judgment

“Equal Protection of the Laws “[T]he Constitution ‘neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.’”(   Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620, 623 (1996) (quoting Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537,)  559 (1896) (Harlan, J. dissenting)).     It is with this fundamental principle in mind that equal protection jurisprudence takes on “governmental classifications that ‘affect some groups of citizens differently than others.’”84 And it is because of this “commitment to the law’s neutrality where the rights of persons are at stake”85 that legislative provisions which arbitrarily or irrationally create discrete classes cannot withstand constitutional……  Read Judge Tauro’s ruling: http://www.glad.org/uploads/docs/cases/2010-07-08-gill-district-court-decision.pdf.

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is New England’s leading legal organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity and expression.

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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• Win/Win: DOMA Found Unconstitutional In District Court (towleroad.com)
• BREAKING: Federal Court Rules Defense Of Marriage Act To Be Unconstitutional!!! (joemygod.blogspot.com)
• DOMA Section 3 Ruled Unconstitutional (advocate.com)

Melanie Nathan- "Finally a Benchmark"

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

FIVE Action Steps needed:

1. Sign Petition

2.  Join Face Book Page

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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Start a Petition »

7-6-10  Rachel Wahba -

Freud was wrong when he said girls had penis envy. Me, I had penis rage! Rage that my baby brother got special, very special, attention for having a penis. The special status of being a boy drove me crazy.  I was four and a half at his birth and I was enraged.

Not only was I no longer the only child, this one was “a boy” with a special celebration because he had a penis. I became a second- class citizen despite my parent’s attempts to tell me I was overreacting…

In his blue lace gown, he was the center of attention. Never mind his cries or barbarism of the act, special boy prayers sealed his entry into the sacred covenant of Jews.

I never gave it much thought after that. In fact I have not been to a ‘brit milah’ (bris in Yiddish) since I was a child. Not too much of that going on in my lesbian feminist world; and I had a girl child thank G-d! I remember thinking, ‘I don’t have to deal with circumcision and my parents…’

So it was not until last week, in conversation with my new friend Rabbi Natan, did I think about baby boys and their cut penises.  A few years ago, Natan came out against circumcision to face an onslaught of rage from a distraught community of liberal non – mainstream Jewish rabbis.

Jewish Renewal rabbis for G-d’s sakes outside Mainstream Jewish Organization, they wanted his ordination rescinded. Fear had taken over, Natan’s position paper received as if it had heralded the end of Judaism. They wanted him ostracized. Blackballed.

Now I have to admit, I have not thought much about this issue since childhood, not since the brit milahs, of the little boys born into our small Jewish community in Kobe Japan.  Girl babies didn’t even have baby naming. We visited, brought some pink present (my Granny was famous for her knitted blankets and booties) and cooed. In a Middle Eastern community (or any traditional community) be it Jew, Muslim or Christian, you can expect to hear at least one well meaning visitor utter “and may you have a boy the next time.”  I heard it every time.

And the circumcision ceremonies, what I do remember, as we kids stood waiting for the ceremonial throwing of the treats, once the daddies with their sweat soaked shirts survived the ordeal of their screaming infant sons on their laps while the mohels did their job? The packets of Jordan almonds wrapped in blue cellophane, tied with shiny blue satin ribbons, sweetened our mouths and covered up the hideous ritual just performed. I loved those sweets.

By Rachel Wahba

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7-4-10  Melanie Nathan.

Anyone remember Carrie Prejean; the fired Miss America winner-after sexually suggestive tapes appeared, defying her holier than thou anti-gay marriage stance, the latter happily announced  in response to the Judge’s question on the competition itself?

Scooped up by NOM, as well as other groups, hell bent on claiming marriage their  heterosexual birthright and domain, had no choice but to drop little Ms Hypocrite like a boiling hot cinder when her exploits were revealed.

But think about this  ….so what…she gets to get married; and guess what …in the Hotel of the Guy that paid $125,000 to deny us our  LGBT marriage rights in California.  Mr. Hotel Del Mar Prop 8 Money Man!

Well now Prejean married Oakland Raiders’ quarterback Kyle Boller. The two were married in a reception at The Grand Del Mar hotel, which is owned by a Prop. 8 supporter, Doug Manchester, who donated $125,000 to passing California’s gay marriage ban.

Do you anticipate a connection – at all now in the future….. Perhaps the idea would be to have a married Carrie spokesperson for Grande Del Mar:  “Hey look where I got married.”

However given my journalistic / advocacy experience in the world of hypocrisy – brace your very dear good selves; here is another one of those karmic moments in the making and may I wrote the script:-

When things become a little too coincidental and timing beckons on winged flight 666-and  the jet steers a faster formidable course,  the Blog Brigade blows its horn and prepares its smoke and blanket because we are on Planet Reker right now. Toot Toot!

We have all you hippos covered – hide your lies harder and faster; turn your secret daemons back from butterflies to the worms they once were; but do not morph clockwise – do it anti-clockwise.

Oh what the heck..my camera is behind you and I am about to take the shot. Click!  Gotcha!

So now what does this have to do with Prejean or  the man of her dreams…. besides the fact that she has 1,138 more legal rights than I do?  Well she still gets to have affairs, as does he, they are allowed to divorce, hell, they can even cheat on their taxes if they so choose; those sexy tapes may serve up very fine aperitif during some bored moment and hey they are marries after all… it does not matter what the F*&^% happens even if there is a child or 3!

By Melanie Nathan  – nathan@privatecourts.com
Hell Bent On winning  Marriage Back
And Civil Rights For all.

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7-01-10 Posted by  Melanie Nathan

Remarks by the President on Comprehensive Immigration Reform

American University School of International Service, Washington, D.C.

11:12 A.M. EDT Transcript….

“THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  Thank you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Everyone please have a seat.  Thank you very much.  Let me thank Pastor Hybels from near my hometown in Chicago, who took time off his vacation to be here today.  We are blessed to have him.

I want to thank President Neil Kerwin and our hosts here at American University; acknowledge my outstanding Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, and members of my administration; all the members of Congress — Hilda deserves applause.  (Applause.)  To all the members of Congress, the elected officials, faith and law enforcement, labor, business leaders and immigration advocates who are here today — thank you for your presence.

I want to thank American University for welcoming me to the campus once again.  Some may recall that the last time I was here I was joined by a dear friend, and a giant of American politics, Senator Edward Kennedy.  (Applause.)  Teddy’s not here right now, but his legacy of civil rights and health care and worker protections is still with us.

I was a candidate for President that day, and some may recall I argued that our country had reached a tipping point; that after years in which we had deferred our most pressing problems, and too often yielded to the politics of the moment, we now faced a choice:  We could squarely confront our challenges with honesty and determination, or we could consign ourselves and our children to a future less prosperous and less secure.

I believed that then and I believe it now.  And that’s why, even as we’ve tackled the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression, even as we’ve wound down the war in Iraq and refocused our efforts in Afghanistan, my administration has refused to ignore some of the fundamental challenges facing this generation.

We launched the most aggressive education reforms in decades, so that our children can gain the knowledge and skills they need to compete in a 21st century global economy.

We have finally delivered on the promise of health reform -– reform that will bring greater security to every American, and that will rein in the skyrocketing costs that threaten families, businesses and the prosperity of our nation.

We’re on the verge of reforming an outdated and ineffective set of rules governing Wall Street -– to give greater power to consumers and prevent the reckless financial speculation that led to this severe recession.

And we’re accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy by significantly raising the fuel-efficiency standards of cars and trucks, and by doubling our use of renewable energies like wind and solar power — steps that have the potential to create whole new industries and hundreds of thousands of new jobs in America.

So, despite the forces of the status quo, despite the polarization and the frequent pettiness of our politics, we are confronting the great challenges of our times.  And while this work isn’t easy, and the changes we seek won’t always happen overnight, what we’ve made clear is that this administration will not just kick the can down the road.

Immigration reform is no exception.  In recent days, the issue of immigration has become once more a source of fresh contention in our country, with the passage of a controversial law in Arizona and the heated reactions we’ve seen across America.  Some have rallied behind this new policy.  Others have protested and launched boycotts of the state.  And everywhere, people have expressed frustration with a system that seems fundamentally broken.

Of course, the tensions around immigration are not new.  On the one hand, we’ve always defined ourselves as a nation of immigrants — a nation that welcomes those willing to embrace America’s precepts.  Indeed, it is this constant flow of immigrants that helped to make America what it is.  The scientific breakthroughs of Albert Einstein, the inventions of Nikola Tesla, the great ventures of Andrew Carnegie’s U.S. Steel and Sergey Brin’s Google, Inc. -– all this was possible because of immigrants.

And then there are the countless names and the quiet acts that never made the history books but were no less consequential in building this country — the generations who braved hardship and great risk to reach our shores in search of a better life for themselves and their families; the millions of people, ancestors to most of us, who believed that there was a place where they could be, at long last, free to work and worship and live their lives in peace.

So this steady stream of hardworking and talented people has made America the engine of the global economy and a beacon of hope around the world.  And it’s allowed us to adapt and thrive in the face of technological and societal change.  To this day, America reaps incredible economic rewards because we remain a magnet for the best and brightest from across the globe.  Folks travel here in the hopes of being a part of a culture of entrepreneurship and ingenuity, and by doing so they strengthen and enrich that culture.  Immigration also means we have a younger workforce -– and a faster-growing economy — than many of our competitors.  And in an increasingly interconnected world, the diversity of our country is a powerful advantage in global competition.

Just a few weeks ago, we had an event of small business owners at the White House.  And one business owner was a woman named Prachee Devadas who came to this country, became a citizen, and opened up a successful technology services company.  When she started, she had just one employee.  Today, she employs more than a hundred people.  This past April, we held a naturalization ceremony at the White House for members of our armed forces.  Even though they were not yet citizens, they had enlisted.  One of them was a woman named Perla Ramos — born and raised in Mexico, came to the United States shortly after 9/11, and she eventually joined the Navy.  And she said, “I take pride in our flag and the history that forged this great nation and the history we write day by day.”

These women, and men and women across this country like them, remind us that immigrants have always helped to build and defend this country -– and that being an American is not a matter of blood or birth.  It’s a matter of faith.  It’s a matter of fidelity to the shared values that we all hold so dear.  That’s what makes us unique.  That’s what makes us strong.  Anybody can help us write the next great chapter in our history.

Now, we can’t forget that this process of immigration and eventual inclusion has often been painful.  Each new wave of immigrants has generated fear and resentments towards newcomers, particularly in times of economic upheaval.  Our founding was rooted in the notion that America was unique as a place of refuge and freedom for, in Thomas Jefferson’s words, “oppressed humanity.”  But the ink on our Constitution was barely dry when, amidst conflict, Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which placed harsh restrictions of those suspected of having foreign allegiances.  A century ago, immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Poland, other European countries were routinely subjected to rank discrimination and ugly stereotypes.  Chinese immigrants were held in detention and deported from Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay.  They didn’t even get to come in.

So the politics of who is and who is not allowed to enter this country, and on what terms, has always been contentious.  And that remains true today.  And it’s made worse by a failure of those of us in Washington to fix a broken immigration system.

To begin with, our borders have been porous for decades.  Obviously, the problem is greatest along our Southern border, but it’s not restricted to that part of the country.  In fact, because we don’t do a very good job of tracking who comes in and out of the country as visitors, large numbers avoid immigration laws simply by overstaying their visas.

The result is an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.  The overwhelming majority of these men and women are simply seeking a better life for themselves and their children.  Many settle in low-wage sectors of the economy; they work hard, they save, they stay out of trouble.  But because they live in the shadows, they’re vulnerable to unscrupulous businesses who pay them less than the minimum wage or violate worker safety rules -– thereby putting companies who follow those rules, and Americans who rightly demand the minimum wage or overtime, at an unfair [dis]advantage.  Crimes go unreported as victims and witnesses fear coming forward.  And this makes it harder for the police to catch violent criminals and keep neighborhoods safe.  And billions in tax revenue are lost each year because many undocumented workers are paid under the table.

More fundamentally, the presence of so many illegal immigrants makes a mockery of all those who are going through the process of immigrating legally.  Indeed, after years of patchwork fixes and ill-conceived revisions, the legal immigration system is as broken as the borders.  Backlogs and bureaucracy means the process can take years.  While an applicant waits for approval, he or she is often forbidden from visiting the United States –- which means even husbands and wives may be forced to spend many years apart.  High fees and the need for lawyers may exclude worthy applicants.  And while we provide students from around the world visas to get engineering and computer science degrees at our top universities, our laws discourage them from using those skills to start a business or power a new industry right here in the United States.  Instead of training entrepreneurs to create jobs on our shores, we train our competition.

In sum, the system is broken.  And everybody knows it.  Unfortunately, reform has been held hostage to political posturing and special-interest wrangling -– and to the pervasive sentiment in Washington that tackling such a thorny and emotional issue is inherently bad politics.

Just a few years ago, when I was a senator, we forged a bipartisan coalition in favor of comprehensive reform.  Under the leadership of Senator Kennedy, who had been a longtime champion of immigration reform, and Senator John McCain, we worked across the aisle to help pass a bipartisan bill through the Senate.  But that effort eventually came apart.  And now, under the pressures of partisanship and election-year politics, many of the 11 Republican senators who voted for reform in the past have now backed away from their previous support.

Into this breach, states like Arizona have decided to take matters into their own hands.  Given the levels of frustration across the country, this is understandable.  But it is also ill conceived.  And it’s not just that the law Arizona passed is divisive -– although it has fanned the flames of an already contentious debate.  Laws like Arizona’s put huge pressures on local law enforcement to enforce rules that ultimately are unenforceable.  It puts pressure on already hard-strapped state and local budgets.  It makes it difficult for people here illegally to report crimes -– driving a wedge between communities and law enforcement, making our streets more dangerous and the jobs of our police officers more difficult.

And you don’t have to take my word for this.  You can speak to the police chiefs and others from law enforcement here today who will tell you the same thing.

These laws also have the potential of violating the rights of innocent American citizens and legal residents, making them subject to possible stops or questioning because of what they look like or how they sound.  And as other states and localities go their own ways, we face the prospect that different rules for immigration will apply in different parts of the country -– a patchwork of local immigration rules where we all know one clear national standard is needed.

Our task then is to make our national laws actually work -– to shape a system that reflects our values as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.  And that means being honest about the problem, and getting past the false debates that divide the country rather than bring it together.

For example, there are those in the immigrants’ rights community who have argued passionately that we should simply provide those who are [here] illegally with legal status, or at least ignore the laws on the books and put an end to deportation until we have better laws.  And often this argument is framed in moral terms:  Why should we punish people who are just trying to earn a living?

I recognize the sense of compassion that drives this argument, but I believe such an indiscriminate approach would be both unwise and unfair.  It would suggest to those thinking about coming here illegally that there will be no repercussions for such a decision.  And this could lead to a surge in more illegal immigration.  And it would also ignore the millions of people around the world who are waiting in line to come here legally.

Ultimately, our nation, like all nations, has the right and obligation to control its borders and set laws for residency and citizenship.  And no matter how decent they are, no matter their reasons, the 11 million who broke these laws should be held accountable.

Now, if the majority of Americans are skeptical of a blanket amnesty, they are also skeptical that it is possible to round up and deport 11 million people.  They know it’s not possible.  Such an effort would be logistically impossible and wildly expensive.  Moreover, it would tear at the very fabric of this nation -– because immigrants who are here illegally are now intricately woven into that fabric.  Many have children who are American citizens.  Some are children themselves, brought here by their parents at a very young age, growing up as American kids, only to discover their illegal status when they apply for college or a job.  Migrant workers -– mostly here illegally -– have been the labor force of our farmers and agricultural producers for generations.  So even if it was possible, a program of mass deportations would disrupt our economy and communities in ways that most Americans would find intolerable.

Now, once we get past the two poles of this debate, it becomes possible to shape a practical, common-sense approach that reflects our heritage and our values.  Such an approach demands accountability from everybody -– from government, from businesses and from individuals.

Government has a threshold responsibility to secure our borders.  That’s why I directed my Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano — a former border governor — to improve our enforcement policy without having to wait for a new law.

Today, we have more boots on the ground near the Southwest border than at any time in our history.  Let me repeat that:  We have more boots on the ground on the Southwest border than at any time in our history.  We doubled the personnel assigned to Border Enforcement Security Task Forces.  We tripled the number of intelligence analysts along the border.  For the first time, we’ve begun screening 100 percent of southbound rail shipments.  And as a result, we’re seizing more illegal guns, cash and drugs than in years past.  Contrary to some of the reports that you see, crime along the border is down.  And statistics collected by Customs and Border Protection reflect a significant reduction in the number of people trying to cross the border illegally.

So the bottom line is this:  The southern border is more secure today than at any time in the past 20 years.  That doesn’t mean we don’t have more work to do.  We have to do that work, but it’s important that we acknowledge the facts.  Even as we are committed to doing what’s necessary to secure our borders, even without passage of the new law, there are those who argue that we should not move forward with any other elements of reform until we have fully sealed our borders.  But our borders are just too vast for us to be able to solve the problem only with fences and border patrols.  It won’t work.  Our borders will not be secure as long as our limited resources are devoted to not only stopping gangs and potential terrorists, but also the hundreds of thousands who attempt to cross each year simply to find work.

That’s why businesses must be held accountable if they break the law by deliberately hiring and exploiting undocumented workers.  We’ve already begun to step up enforcement against the worst workplace offenders.  And we’re implementing and improving a system to give employers a reliable way to verify that their employees are here legally.  But we need to do more.  We cannot continue just to look the other way as a significant portion of our economy operates outside the law.  It breeds abuse and bad practices.  It punishes employers who act responsibly and undercuts American workers.  And ultimately, if the demand for undocumented workers falls, the incentive for people to come here illegally will decline as well.

Finally, we have to demand responsibility from people living here illegally.  They must be required to admit that they broke the law.  They should be required to register, pay their taxes, pay a fine, and learn English.  They must get right with the law before they can get in line and earn their citizenship — not just because it is fair, not just because it will make clear to those who might wish to come to America they must do so inside the bounds of the law, but because this is how we demonstrate that being — what being an American means.  Being a citizen of this country comes not only with rights but also with certain fundamental responsibilities.  We can create a pathway for legal status that is fair, reflective of our values, and works.

Now, stopping illegal immigration must go hand in hand with reforming our creaky system of legal immigration.  We’ve begun to do that, by eliminating a backlog in background checks that at one point stretched back almost a year.  That’s just for the background check.  People can now track the status of their immigration applications by email or text message.  We’ve improved accountability and safety in the detention system.  And we’ve stemmed the increases in naturalization fees.  But here, too, we need to do more.  We should make it easier for the best and the brightest to come to start businesses and develop products and create jobs.

Our laws should respect families following the rules -– instead of splitting them apart.  We need to provide farms a legal way to hire the workers they rely on, and a path for those workers to earn legal status.  And we should stop punishing innocent young people for the actions of their parents by denying them the chance to stay here and earn an education and contribute their talents to build the country where they’ve grown up.  The DREAM Act would do this, and that’s why I supported this bill as a state legislator and as a U.S. senator — and why I continue to support it as president.

So these are the essential elements of comprehensive immigration reform.  The question now is whether we will have the courage and the political will to pass a bill through Congress, to finally get it done.  Last summer, I held a meeting with leaders of both parties, including many of the Republicans who had supported reform in the past — and some who hadn’t.  I was pleased to see a bipartisan framework proposed in the Senate by Senators Lindsey Graham and Chuck Schumer, with whom I met to discuss this issue.  I’ve spoken with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to plot the way forward and meet — and then I met with them earlier this week.

And I’ve spoken with representatives from a growing coalition of labor unions and business groups, immigrant advocates and community organizations, law enforcement, local government -– all who recognize the importance of immigration reform.  And I’ve met with leaders from America’s religious communities, like Pastor Hybels — people of different faiths and beliefs, some liberal, some conservative, who nonetheless share a sense of urgency; who understand that fixing our broken immigration system is not only a political issue, not just an economic issue, but a moral imperative as well.

So we’ve made progress.  I’m ready to move forward; the majority of Democrats are ready to move forward; and I believe the majority of Americans are ready to move forward.  But the fact is, without bipartisan support, as we had just a few years ago, we cannot solve this problem.  Reform that brings accountability to our immigration system cannot pass without Republican votes.  That is the political and mathematical reality.  The only way to reduce the risk that this effort will again falter because of politics is if members of both parties are willing to take responsibility for solving this problem once and for all.

And, yes, this is an emotional question, and one that lends itself to demagoguery.  Time and again, this issue has been used to divide and inflame -– and to demonize people.  And so the understandable, the natural impulse among those who run for office is to turn away and defer this question for another day, or another year, or another administration.  Despite the courageous leadership in the past shown by many Democrats and some Republicans — including, by the way, my predecessor, President Bush -– this has been the custom.  That is why a broken and dangerous system that offends our most basic American values is still in place.

But I believe we can put politics aside and finally have an immigration system that’s accountable.  I believe we can appeal not to people’s fears but to their hopes, to their highest ideals, because that’s who we are as Americans.  It’s been inscribed on our nation’s seal since we declared our independence.  “E pluribus unum.”  Out of many, one.  That is what has drawn the persecuted and impoverished to our shores.  That’s what led the innovators and risk-takers from around the world to take a chance here in the land of opportunity.  That’s what has led people to endure untold hardships to reach this place called America.

One of the largest waves of immigration in our history took place little more than a century ago.  At the time, Jewish people were being driven out of Eastern Europe, often escaping to the sounds of gunfire and the light from their villages burning to the ground.  The journey could take months, as families crossed rivers in the dead of night, traveled miles by foot, endured a rough and dangerous passage over the North Atlantic.  Once here, many made their homes in a teeming and bustling Lower Manhattan.

It was at this time that a young woman named Emma Lazarus, whose own family fled persecution from Europe generations earlier, took up the cause of these new immigrants.  Although she was a poet, she spent much of her time advocating for better health care and housing for the newcomers.  And inspired by what she saw and heard, she wrote down her thoughts and donated a piece of work to help pay for the construction of a new statue — the Statue of Liberty — which actually was funded in part by small donations from people across America.

Years before the statue was built — years before it would be seen by throngs of immigrants craning their necks skyward at the end of long and brutal voyage, years before it would come to symbolize everything that we cherish — she imagined what it could mean.  She imagined the sight of a giant statue at the entry point of a great nation -– but unlike the great monuments of the past, this would not signal an empire.  Instead, it would signal one’s arrival to a place of opportunity and refuge and freedom.

“Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand,” she wrote,

A mighty woman with a torch…
From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome…
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!”…
“Give me your tired, and your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to be free…
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Let us remember these words.  For it falls on each generation to ensure that that lamp -– that beacon -– continues to shine as a source of hope around the world, and a source of our prosperity here at home.

Thank you.  God bless you.  And may God bless the United States of America.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

END

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EqualityCalifornia

SACRAMENTO, June 28, 2010 – Today the State Senate passed a resolution with a 23-12 vote that included bipartisan support, endorsing a federal law that would permit U.S. citizens and permanent residents to sponsor a same-sex partner for immigration. The resolution, AJR 15, introduced by Assembly Member Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) and co-sponsored by Equality California and Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE), formally requests that the United States Congress pass and President Obama sign the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA).

Moving  testimony was provided by Gina Caprio, Melanie Nathan and Amos Lim in the California State Assembly and Senate Judiciary Committees, highlighting their personal stories and the hardship suffered by couples in same sex relationships who have been deprived of immigration equality.

“Our broken immigration system unfairly discriminates against thousands of families headed by same-sex couples by keeping them apart,” said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California. “It is in the hands of Congress and President Obama to end this grave injustice. We call on them to pass and sign into law the Uniting American Families Act, thus ensuring that all families, regardless of sexual orientation, enjoy the security and stability that all families deserve.”
Under current federal law, U.S. citizens and permanent residents can file visa petitions on behalf of an opposite-sex spouse. The UAFA, introduced by U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), would amend the nation’s Immigration and Nationality Act by adding same-sex “permanent partners” to the list of family members for whom a U.S. citizen or permanent resident can petition. The bill defines a “permanent partner” as an adult who is in a committed, intimate, financially interdependent relationship with another adult in “which both parties intend a lifelong commitment.”

“Thousands of American families and committed same-sex couples are denied basic rights and legal protections, including the ability to petition for a partner to immigrate to the U.S.,” said Assembly member De León. “They live in legal limbo and are torn apart by outdated immigration policies. In ensuring a true state of equality, Congress must take immediate steps to reunite and protect all families once and for all.”

According to the U.S. Census, approximately 35,000 bi-national same-sex couples currently live in the United States. At least 16 other nations already have immigration policies allowing the sponsorship of same-sex partners, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

There are currently 115 co-sponsors of the UAFA in the U.S. House of Representatives and 21 co-sponsors in the U.S. Senate. Endorsed by the State Assembly in September of last year, the resolution now awaits a procedural concurrent vote in the Assembly.

For more information about EQCA’s legislation, visit www.eqca.org/legislation.

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6-28-2010  Melanie Nathan

Sadly all that is left of  icon Marilyn Monroe’s body parts (well sort of) is a set of three X-rays of her chest taken during a 1954 hospital. The X-rays, sold at a movie memorabilia auction at Planet Hollywood, had a $3,000 (£2,000) pre-sale estimate. They fetched a buxom $45,000 today in Las Vegas.

What would a lesbian do with such a purchase; frame it? If you had ownership of this desirable item how would you honor its existence? Any ideas?

A higher higher auctioned item was a dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in musical Funny Face fetched $56,250 (£37,360).

A crystal-studded glove which belonged to Michael Jackson fetched $190,000 (£126,000) at an earlier music sale at Julien’s Auctions at Planet Hollywood.

By Melanie Nathan
Nathan@privatecourts.com

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6-28-10 Melanie Nathan

WASHINGTON —  At the opening of this last session of SCOTUS, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. read a statement about the death, on Sunday of Martin D. Ginsburg, the husband of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Martin D. Ginsburg, 78,  an accomplished tax lawyer and law professor from  Georgetown University, known for his sharp wit and gourmet cooking, passed away Sunday June 27 from complications  related to metastatic cancer at his home in Washington.

In addition to his wife, the Professor is survived by his daughter Jane Carol Ginsburg, a law professor at Columbia University, and James Steven Ginsburg, founder and president of the Chicago Classical Recording Foundation; and four grandchildren.

The Ginsburgs celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary last week. They met on a blind date as undergraduates at Cornell University.

A private burial will be held at Arlington National Cemetery.

With the greatest respect for the Justice, Lez Get Real extends its deepest sympathy to Justice Bader Ginsburg and her family for their sad loss.
Melanie Nathan, nathan@privatecourts.com.

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Melanie Nathan and jerrold nadler at UAFA Hearing 2009

6-24-10  Melanie Nathan

This is a letter copy printed with Permission from the writer – Yet another Horror Story same-sex couples  immigration discrimination

Caveat -While this letter was written to rep. Nadler, – This Congressman is in fact the single most supportive member of Congress on the topic of UAFA  and other LGBT issues.  Not only did he  introduce the Uniting American Families Act, for us,  but he has appeared in the NYCLU Video featuring Britta and Carla, who received direct help from the Congressman – he continues to advocate for UAFA and our hope is that he will step up now and and lead an emergency reflection on urge Congress to pass UAFA as a stand alone – perhaps in conjunction with the DREAM ACT.

Dear Hon. Rep. Nadler,

The last time I wrote you, I was the CEO of an organization in New Zealand.  I am an American citizen who left the United States because my partner of over 8 years is a Venezuelan who spent over a decade trying, unsuccessfully, to navigate the US immigration process.  We had no problem gaining permanent residency in New Zealand, a beautiful country but it is “oh so small.”

We have since relocated to Toronto, where I was able to secure employment under a NAFTA-related work visa.  While we do not have permanent status in Canada, we are much closer to our extended family.  Toronto has been a wonderful city – a cure from the slow pace of New Zealand life – but the fact is that our family still lives in the US and Latin America.  On a recent trip to Houston, we flew from Buffalo where my partner was detained at the land border crossing to be surrounded by five armed officers for over 30 minutes ONLY because a Mexican national has the same first, middle and last names AND birthdate as my Venezuelan partner.  And this episode occurs on EVERY entry into the United States, even though the two do not hold similar passports or visas.  CBP simply cannot figure out that my partner’s passport and VALID US tourist visa are not at fault, but they seem content to waste time on a case that leads nowhere EVERY time we enter the country.

Worse yet, every time we enter the country, I have to pretend to be a friend, coworker, or innocent stranger observing from nearby, as I know full well that the consequences of revealing us as a same sex couple could result in a worse punishment than if we were confirmed terrorists.

And while I cannot live in my own country with my partner, I still have to pay taxes on foreign wages earned abroad – what other country exiles its own citizens only to tax their foreign-earned wages?

UAFA, or some form of equal and humane treatment of bi-national same sex couples, must pass, and it must pass soon.  There are those who suggest people in my situation are being impatient, but I simply don’t have a lifetime to wait for Congress to make the right decision.  And I can’t tolerate an hour at the border between Ontario and New York while five armed guards interrogate an innocent Venezuelan for having the same name as a Mexican convict when they fundamentally know that they are chasing the wrong suspect.

This is not acceptable!  I know you have worked hard for equality, but I beg you to put an extra ounce of energy into the cause.

Kind regards,
Keith Hall

Posted by Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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(Washington, DC) – Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL-4), Chairman of Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, held a press conference today with dozens of other Members of Congress to recognize the milestone of 100 co-sponsors for the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act (CIR-ASAP/H.R. 4321). The bill is sponsored by Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-TX) and co-sponsored primarily by members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Progressive Caucus, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus. More information on the bill is available here.

Some of the Members of Congress who attended the press conference: Joe Baca (CA), Judy Chu (CA), Yvette Clarke (NY), Joseph Crowley (NY), Charles Gonzalez (TX), Gene Greene (TX), Raul Grijalva (AZ), Mike Honda (CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX), Barbara Lee (CA), Grace Napolitano (CA), Solomon Ortiz (TX), Jared Polis (CO), Gregorio Sablan (D-Northern Marianas), Jan Schakowsky (IL), Jose Serrano (NY), Nydia Velázquez (NY), Anthony Weiner (NY), and Lynn Woolsey (CA)

The following is the opening statement delivered by Rep. Gutierrez:

We have reached the milestone of 100 co-sponsors for the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America Security and Prosperity bill – a bill I helped put together with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and which has been embraced and supported by the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. We will hear from the leaders of each of these caucuses today, as well as a number of other Members who are not only committed to reform themselves, but are helping us reach out to other Members and build support.

We know the legislative clock is ticking. We know people are getting deported at the highest rate in modern history. We know that the inter-related problems of illegal immigration, clogged and unattainable legal immigration, border security, deportation, detention, and a two-tiered labor market that hurts all workers will not solve themselves.

We know that the Arizona law — which, unless something happens, will go into effect in about one month — is a call to action. It is a cry of frustration. It is not a rejection of comprehensive immigration reform but an alarm bell that the American people are angry, they want solutions, and they want a rational legal immigration system that secures the border and gets all immigrants into the system and playing by the rules.

This next month will be critical. After the August recess, we all know the chances of major action dwindle and that if the Arizona law is allowed to go into effect, it will cause massive disruptions and set a dangerous precedent. As American leaders, we must show the way to fix an American problem: our broken immigration system.

The American people want action, and they want law and order restored to the immigration system. My fellow Democrats, we support the policy the American people actually want; the policy the American people see as pragmatic, and the policy they see as the law and order approach to the immigration issue. Now we must be brave enough to fight for it. Where Republicans see voter frustration and want to exploit it, we should be smart enough to respond to voter frustration by solving the problem that actually frustrates them.

Americans know that trying to drive out 12 million immigrants is not going to happen. And most immigrants are not leaving on their own, no matter how tough we make it. We simply cannot expect to get rid of a population about the size of Ohio (or their 4 million U.S. citizen children). They will not magically disappear. So an immigration policy based on a fantasy no longer flies with the American people. It has no credibility. The American people want a different, more realistic solution.

We need a rational solution. We need a practical solution. We need a fair solution. That solution, CIR ASAP, is on the table and it should not languish there while the American people demand action.

AND NOT a SINGLE WORD about Binational and UAFA -We are yet to see more than just a Promise…. (hmmm)

Are you being politically expedient again Rep Gutierrez?  Lezgetreal has contacted the Congressman’s Press office for comments on his flip flop, – and its been almost a month since we received a communication citing we would get a response. I am still waiting for it.

BY THE WAY – UAFA as a stand alone has more than 100 Co Sponsors!!!   Where is the LGBT Caucus?  Where is Immigration Equality?

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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Photo by K.T. Drasky

San Francisco – It has been a year since Shirley Tan gave evidence at the Senate Judiciary Committee for the hearing on Uniting American Families Act.   Although Shirley received Private Bill #867 as an introduction to Congress, she remains ‘deportable’ unless Senator Feinstein re-introduces the Private Bill each new Congress.

This is not the only compelling story- there are thousands more such stories.  I receive at least 100 emails per week from Binational couples in this reprehensible situation.

Thanks to Breakthrough and Restore Fairness this magnificent Video which was shot last year at the Home of the Tan-Mercado family is a bold statement for bi-national couples and speaks to the urgency as it presents itself, almost a year after the video was shot.

“As per family unification provisions in immigration law, American citizens are able to petition for residency for their spouses. Unlike countries like France, Germany and Canada, this does not apply to same-sex partners in the United States, so although Jay Mercado is an American citizen, she is unable to sponsor Shirley. Having come to the United States to escape a traumatic and violent familial situation in the Philippines, Shirley had applied for political asylum in 1995.”  http://restorefairness.org/2010/06/on-gay-pride-watch-two-moms-fight-to-stay-together/

Shirley’s lawyer had advised the couple that they should be patient while the application was being processed. News of the denial of Shirley’s application came in the form of a rude shock that disrupted the whole family.

Includes Excerpts from testimony at Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing for UAFA

At 6:30 am on a winter morning last year, Jay was getting dressed to go to work and Shirley was getting ready to take the boys to school, when the doorbell rang. On opening it they were faced with two agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) who showed them a 2002 letter ordering Shirley’s deportation (which she had never seen before). Minutes later she was handcuffed and taken away as Jay and her mother watched, frightened and helpless. Shirley was held in detention at the Sansome facility in San Francisco before being tagged with an electronic bracelet and returned to her family, awaiting deportation to the Philippines. Shirley describes her time in detention as one of the most traumatic ordeals of her life-

“My agonizing, humiliating and tragic experience started when I got in their SUV. My partner ran to the car and saw me being handcuffed and she broke down to tears… I thought it was the lowest point of my life…I was taken like a criminal… My heart was beating so hard, my whole body was shaking and I felt so nauseated with what was happening to me. (Jay Mercado)

Reporting to ICE three times a week and struggling to deal with the possibility of being separated from her wife and children, Shirley sought the support of LGBT advocates and the media to raise awareness about the case and seek justice that would prevent her family from being torn apart. As a result of this, in April 2009, California Sen. Diane Feinstien introduced a rare bill that granted Shirley a temporary reprieve from deportation, allowing her to stay in the U.S. till January 2011.

“All the while my family was first and foremost the center of everything on my mind.  How would Jay work and take care of the kids if I was not there?  Who would continue to take care of Jay’s ailing mother, the mother I had come to love, if I was not there?  Who would be there for my family if I was not there?  In an instant, my family, my American family, was being ripped away from me.  And when I did return home, I had an ankle monitoring bracelet. I went to great lengths to hide it from my children. I have a partner who is a U.S. citizen, and two beautiful children who are also U.S. citizens, but not one of them can petition for me to remain in the United States with them. Because my partner is not a man, she cannot do anything to help me. Nor can my children, who keep asking why this happened to us and what will ultimately happen to our family.”

“While the Tan-Mercado family are extremely grateful for the respite that Sen. Feinstein’s bill has provided them, they are worried about what will happen to them post-Janunary 2011. In a testimony that Shirley delivered to the United States Senate Committee, Shirley expressed her concerns for the future of her family-” (Breakthrough)

The only way for Shirley to stay in the United States with her family is if gay and lesbian couples to be able to sponsor their partners. It is important that we recognize families like the Tan-Mercado’s so that families can stay together, in Pride month and beyond.

June 28th, last year I joined Shirley and Jay and the twins at the SF Pride event where we accompanied the OUT4Immigration contingency.

On June 3rd 2009, Shirley gave testimony at Senate Judiciary Committee  at the request of Senator Patrick Leahy. Present was Sen. Chuck Schumer and Senator Specter.  Nothing has happened since that time to  further to bring Shirley nearer to the security she and her family deserves.

At the end of the Video above, hear the words of young Jorienne when he says “I cannot live without my mother…” and so the Tan Mercado’s  live with the  ’sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.’   Although there may be some positive moves such as the flip flop of Rep Luis Gutierrez  to sign UAFA up as part of Immigration reform in his House Bill.

But in fact UAFA is an equality Bill and remedial by nature; it is more than mere immigration reform.

Sources tell us, that immigration reform is on the back burner  and  may come on the political stage only into 2011.  There is a framework but no senate bill yet. There is no guarantee that the UAFA provisions will be included in the Senate Bill or that it pass to passage.

For this and many other reasons, such as the larger immigration community rejecting gays and lesbians right to be in an immigration reform bill,  UAFA should be re-considered as a stand alone Bill, especially that so many American Citizens and their children are suffering such discriminatory hardship.

Take action now to fix our immigration system and keep families together for all immigrant families and also Speak to the equality Legislation UAFA and the DREAM act as possible Stand-together Bills.

BY Melanie Nathan
Nathan@privatecourts.com

Thanks you Breakthrough for this Brilliant Video. It was a pleasure to work with you.

Breakthrough is an innovative, international human rights organization using the power of popular culture, media, and community mobilization to transform public attitudes and advance equality, justice, and dignity in India and the United States.

Two Moms Fight to Stay Together from Breakthrough on Vimeo.

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6-23-2010- Written by Rachel Wahba

Lez Talk with Rachel-

Okay now I have seen it all: The infamous Lesbian Separatist Alix Dobkin loves boys! As long as they are her grandsons that is.  Singer songwriter Dobkin (‘Lavender Jane Loves Women,’) is quoted in the June issue of Curve magazine saying:

“I have two grandsons who I love more than anything in the world, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love women and put women first—I do.”

With her odd juxtaposition and outlandish caveat, I was transported back to one highly charged issue of the Dobkin driven magazine, known as “Dyke Quarterly,” published in the mid-seventies.

An entire issue was devoted to skewering Olivia Records for hiring (unknowingly I might add, because I was there) a pre-op male to female trans lesbian feminist —- imagine, that this inflexible perception, an ill conceived ideal in the first place, was devoted to ‘delegitimizing’ and attempting to destroy a groundbreaking lesbian feminist record company with it sole purpose of making lesbians visible in a fiercely male dominated industry.

This was especially hurtful and destructive coming from one of the founding mothers of womens’ music, famous for her “devotion” to women.  Yes that meant having to deny the sons of women; the banning of all Penis bearing infants, toddlers and children from festivals and the like was strictly enforced.

Instead of supporting one of her own, the hatred fueled by what I can only refer to as envy disguised as righteous indignation, was one of the many episodes in the history of Olivia Records and the times.

Now to see Alix ever so proudly loving her penis-endowed grandchildren is a cause to celebrate. Everything changes! Perhaps little boys will no longer be banished (if that is still the case) from the Michigan Womyns Music Festival.

I remember those days and my relief that because my baby girl was penis free we were not lesbian persona no grata, unless we risked shunning overalls for skirts and dresses.  Unfortunately I am not exaggerating. Boys were taboo. I admit there was a moment in history where separatism served its purpose for many of us for a moment in time— until we regained our sense of self as strong/liberated lesbians.

The actions waged by Dobkin and her cohorts traumatized anyone whom they pushed out of the way of their unlikely ideals.

Olivia Records, for example, with feminism as its guiding principle was suddenly made into the enemy. Under the guise of preserving Lesbian Feminism a barrage of rhetoric from Dobkin polarized the lesbian community and it took its toll.

It was demoralizing, invalidating, time consuming, and hurt the small collective of wholesome lesbians, nurtured by the of world validity and consciousness that Olivia Records opened,  while earning close to nothing simply for the love of women and commitment to providing women with unfettered voice; literally, and on vinyl.

So here we are today, Olivia has morphed into Olivia Travel, taking tens of  thousands of lesbians on vacations with week long lesbian entertainment of music and comedy. Lesbians are wined, dined, danced and entertained charming each other, all while enchanted by all that goes into the unique luxurious experience.

So Lavender Jane loves now loves HER boys. How sweet it is to see love transcend dogma. Too bad it took 36 years to get here.

By Rachel Wahba
Columnist for Lezgetreal

Additional Information: Refernces:

Read more about Alix Dobkins – There is a great deal more to her than her feeble attempts at invalidating OLIVIA…

In the 1970s Liza Cowan was the host of Electra Rewired, a late night talk show on WBAI-FM in New York City. She interviewed Maya Angelou, Yoko Ono, Germaine Greer, as well as local feminist and Lesbian activists. She also produced the live music series, The WBAI Free Music Store. While she was working as a radio producer she met and fell in love with Alix Dobkin, a folksinger who went on to produce the first all Lesbian record album, Lavender Jane Loves Women. Cowan and Dobkin were partners for six years.

While she and Dobkin were together, Cowan published and edited DYKE, A Quarterly, a cultural theory magazine. Her business and editorial partner was Penny House. DYKE lasted for three years, publishing two long issues per year. Considered both beautiful and contriversial, DYKE Magazine published articles on Lesbian Separatism, Lesbian Fashion, Dykes Behind Bars, as well as producing theme issues, like the Ethnic Dykes issue and the proposed but never realized issue on Lesbian Cartoons.

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ALIX NEEDED  to ADD a Page for Rumor Control to her website Quote:

Rumor Control

“Alix is a man-hater”

Nonsense! Some of my best friends are men. I certainly have strong opinions about men’s violence, men’s dominance, men’s politics, male institutions, male hierarchies and penis-centered culture (don’t you?), but man-hating is irrelevant in my life.

“Alix is against transexuals”

No way! I look to transexuals to break new ground and not to reinforce conventional gender stereotypes.

“Alix hurts little boys by excluding them from women-only space”

On the contrary, I treasure all children and hate to see any child spoiled by mistreatment and neglect, or misguided by ignorance and disrespect. Teaching little boys universal entitlement and teaching little girls that they have no right to privacy is ignorant and disrespectful.

“Alix believes that women-only space is sacred space”

True.

“Alix performs only for women”

False. I often appear before mixed audiences.

“Alix loves all Lesbians but doesn’t like some Lesbians”

True.

“Alix wants her work to have meaning for everyone”

True.

“Alix is ‘Politically Correct’”

I certainly hope so, and so should you hope to be politically enlightened and untrendy!

Senator Dianne Feinstein permits Joriene to sit at her desk. Twins accompany two moms to ask Senator Feinstein to support Uniting American Families Act in Summer 2009.

June 19, 2010  Melanie Nathan -

Senator Feinstein’s Declares progress for June Pride as follows:

“Each June, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month provides an opportunity to recognize the countless Americans who have worked to end the ongoing struggle against discrimination, and to pay tribute to the resilient spirit and significant contributions of LGBT Americans to our nation’s ideals of equality and freedom.

June was chosen for LGBT Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall riots in 1969, which prompted the birth of the gay rights movement.

As we celebrate the rich and diverse LGBT community this month, we not only recognize many notable achievements, we are also reminded of the struggles and successes to live and experience the American dream.

In the past 10 years since this month was first declared, the LGBT community has triumphed over tremendous challenges.  Hate crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity are now a Federal offense and same-sex marriages are granted in 5 states and the District of Columbia.  The LGBT community has also answered the call to service with over 600 openly LGBT appointed and elected officials in office today.  While these landmark victories are remarkable, there is no doubt that much more still needs to be done.

My heart sank with the passage of Proposition 8, but the final verdict has not been rendered on this issue.  As Californians come to know the 18,000 couples who were able to marry I believe that change will come.

The military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” is another important issue.  Under this policy, over 13,000 men and women have been discharged from service.  I have co-sponsored legislation and spoken on the floor because I believe that every American should have the opportunity to serve their country.  Last month, both the House and the Senate Armed Service Committee approved an amendment to effectively end “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”  While this still has to make it through the Senate, I will support this every step of the way.

Great change is possible in our lifetimes; it can come quickly and easily or, as we’ve seen with many protections for LGBT individuals and families, over time with great struggles.  Yet equal rights are closer now than ever.  The LGBT community continues to march forward with determination and dignity.  Though the journey is not finished we live in a country where extraordinary change is possible and I know that perseverance triumphs prejudice.”

I have always considered Senator Feinstein one of the most pro Gay Senators on the Hill. However I know this view has not been shared by many activists and that bothers me a lot. They do not approach the Senator with requests that make sense.

I remember October 2009, sitting in the Senator’s conference room  in her D.C. office, speaking to a senior staffer.   I asked why am I hearing from some of the LGBT non-profits here in DC that the Senator is not worth approaching on UAFA because “she does nothing for the gay community?”

When i heard this i was astounded. The Senator  helped my lesbian family whenever we have asked, she has shown amazing compassion, and she gave Shirley Tan the introduction of a Private Bill, wherein she even mentioned Jay Mercado as Shirley’s partner; probably the first time a Senator has ever gone to that extent in the circumstances.

But to me more important than anything else – is that those who refuse to believe in the Senator’s goodwill, must and cannot forget that Senator Feinstein was one of the few who was not duped as was Bill Clinton, by the insidiously prejudicial Defense of marriage Act – as the Senator voted NO to DOMA.

When I told the Staffer what I had heard, it was as if I had put a dagger through her heart. She told me how upset the Senator would be if she ever heard such a remark.  It upset me too because for as long as Senator Feinstein has been my California Senator, I have felt a sense of safety.  Her office is a well run machine of proactive efficiency, more than any other Senate office.  Her staffers are  astounding.

Out of all the Senators I believe Feinstein is the one who could feasibly take a lead on the repeal of DOMA – I also believe she can work with President Obama to effect some resolution to the particulalrly heinous aspects og LGBT discrimination.

With this team in place – it cannot go on.  Nothing should come before DOMA’s repeal or remedial legislation such as UAFA that asserts  parity and equality for all couples in the immigration act.

Look at who the opponents are on this- snot nosed lockstep noblows like Jeff Sessions. The guy should not even be near the Senate, especially noting his background, overt prejudice and ignorance on most issues.

One only need look to the scathing he received from the late Ted Kennedy when  Sessions sought to be Judge. (You Tube.)

He is a twig in the Jungle and Senator Feinstein, ought to put her next foot forward and tout her leadership to bring equality to our LGBT community.  I believe she has the courage , the respect and the capability.   I am hoping that my confidence makes sense and that the Senator will take her wise words to the next level.

So my plea during this June Pride month is one shrouded in gratitude for those who I do believe care – but a huge request – PLEASE no more proclamations or speeches.  I cannot live any longer from Pride to Pride or Fundraiser to Fundraiser.   I am so done!  I want executive orders, I wand law, I want Equality, I want my rights, I want my children to be accepted in their lives;  I WANT my Senators to lead the way and Get the equality for US. The non profits do not represent us.

Melanie Nathan.
nathan@privatecourts.com

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6-19-2010 Melanie Nathan

HAPPY FATHERS DAY DADS -

President Barack Obama’s second Father’s Day proclamation, bears resemblance to his second (2010) Mother’s Day Proclamation where he openly acknowledges gay parents, noting that some kids have two parents.

Although grateful for the recognition, I would be remiss not to point out that Proclamations such as this serve ONLY to exacerbate the discrimination against and marginalization of LGBT parents, families and people, and the relegation to second class citizens.

This excerpt from the Father’s Day Proclamation is noted with delight and appreciation:

“Nurturing families come in many forms, and children may be raised by a father and mother, a single father, two fathers, a stepfather, a grandfather, or caring guardian. We owe a special debt of gratitude for those parents serving in the United States Armed Forces and their families, whose sacrifices protect the lives and liberties of all American children. For the character they build, the doors they open, and the love they provide over our life times, all our fathers deserve our unending appreciation and admiration.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, in accordance with a joint resolution of the Congress approved April 24, 1972, as amended (36 U.S.C.109), do hereby proclaim June 20, 2010, as Father’s Day… IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth. Signed – President BARACK OBAMA”

Indeed historic in its validation of our LGBT same-sex families, t has yet another unexpected impact. If the President can make such assertion by Proclamation, its effect and impact is tantamount to acknowledging the discrimination that gay and lesbian couples still suffer under the federal Law.

While grateful for this momentous acknowledgment and the courage it took to proclaim, I must assert that it flies in the face of DOMA, the Defense of marriage Act – which in essence serves to exile some of our same-sex Dads on this father’s day from their home country USA, simply because these fathers (and of course moms too) are precluded by law from sponsoring their foreign born partners for immigration to the USA. In many instances these exiles are Dads with American born children who cannot live in their country of birth.

President Obama must pursue the repeal of DOMA as an absolute priority and even so UAFA; the Uniting American families Act, also a priority above Immigration Reform, ahead of ENDA. The President has it in his power to insist that Speaker Pelosi bring at least UAFA legislation to a Vote before the election in November.

Mr. President – The bi-national couples, despite poor leadership and wild goose chases, want UAFA as a stand alone Bill- we are not willing to wait for Immigration reform, the latter still unavailable in Bill form. Frameworks do not cut it for us as we wait in fear, detention, exile, suicidal, desperate, lonely!

With thanks for this dynamic Proclamation – please show us that your assertion of our de facto existence and validity – is step one of the very soon to be de jure acknowledgment through legislation that will eradicate discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Proclamations such as this as meaningless and serve ONLY to exacerbate the discrimination and marginalization and second class citizenship that seems to foster our citizenry! HELP!

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.con

@oblogdeeoblogda

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Tan Mercado family and Twins With Senator Feinstein- Family is still at Risk until passage of UAFA

06-16-10   Melanie Nathan

We have learned that a meeting between the four Senators below is scheduled for THURSDAY (tomorrow) focusing on WHICH stand-alone immigration bills might fly (probably via attachment to another  vehicle such as the Defense Bill or Farm Worker Safety bill).

The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA, ) H.R. 1024, S. 424) is a U.S. bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate discrimination in the immigration laws by permitting permanent partners of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents to obtain lawful permanent resident status in the same manner as spouses of citizens and lawful permanent residents and to penalize immigration fraud in connection with permanent partnerships.

1.            The UAFA was introduced during the 111th Congress, to the United States House of Representatives on February 12, 2009, by New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).

2.            On April 22, 2009, Senator Feinstein introduced a rare private Bill # 867 into Congress , to keep Shirley Tan, a Pacifica Lesbian mother of twin 13 year olds, in the country after a debauched legal process that ultimately led to her ICE detention, after 23 years in the USA, living in relationship with her partner Jay Mercado.

3.            On June 03, 2009 Senator Patrick Leahy led the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for UAFA, where the proponent testimony was provided by Shirley Tan,( introduced by Rep.  Jackie Speier,)  Julian Bond,  Gordon Stewart (Exiled US citizen in bi-national relationship)- and also the American bar Association.

4.         On June 4^th – Immigration Equality decided that the only way for UAFA to pass would be through Comprehensive Immigration reform, which they touted as imminent week after week and month after month thereafter.  From that date to this date (June 16, 2010) over a year, they have spent on lobbying for UAFA’s inclusion into Immigration reform, (CIR) citing the chances as better than a stand alone.  II have opposed this unilateral strategy vehemently.  All we have at this point is opposition from the right, the religious lobby, fervently supported by anti-gay rhetoric that such will open the door to gay marriage.

In addition to the battle vs, Gays, we will see an enormous amount of opposition to the other ideals presented in the recently published “framework for reform” such as amnesty for the 12 million undocumented immigrants – (the right will oppose) and the biometric card (the left will oppose) and the Border fences (G-d will oppose) and UAFA (The religious and Republicans will oppose.)  Get the point?

NOW Activists who have been asking for leadership to revisit UAFA as a stand alone

Are asking for YOUR help.  We need you to get on those PHONES NOW  and call the Senators listed below and BEG them politely to consider bringing UAFA to the floor ASAP,

TEN REASONS WHY UAFA Should be a first choice Stand Alone Bill and Why it is Urgent.

1. Out of all the stand alone Bills it has had the MOST sponsorship in Congress and for that reason alone it should be included:

Co-sponsors total end of June ‘09: (As you can see – when the strategy changed from Stand alone to CIR, Immigration Equality reduced the impetus in sponsorship for UAFA –  In the first five months (Feb 09 – June 09) since the Bills introduction in Congress we gained   House 113 and Senate 20 co=-sponsors. After reverting to the CIR strategy   (in a period of one year) – we only added  11 in the House and 3 in the senate.  To my way of thinking, when immigration equality led us down the CIR path, UAFA as a stand-alone did not receive the added sponsorship it should have, give the Shirley Tan platform.  This point is important to make at this time – because we may find ourselves having to explain why such little support has been garnished for UAFA in the past year.  The simple answer is that Immigration Equality made a mistake in its strategy and in its claim for ownership[ of the issue, led everyone down the CIR path at the expense of UAFA as a stand-alone Bill.  We failed to seize the momentum when we had the 5 month Boost, and veered off course.

2. This is remedial legislation that establishes equality and justice for Americans and US residents, who are specifically discriminated against by the Federal Law.

3. What could be more hurtful and insidious than the EXILE of  our own US citizens –those who are compelled to leave everything – just so that they can live with the love of their choice.

4. The enormous cost to binational couples – who are resorting to extraordinary lengths to maintain contact and constant travel abroad to be with their wives, husbands and partners.

5. Separation of siblings and parent from child in shared custody arrangements.

6. To prevent fraudulent straight marriages between desperate gay couples.

7. To help us amend the strategy of tagging onto CIR that has done little than keep our families and couples exiled for yet another year.

8. The damage to careers and the awful brain drain of our exiled families.

9. Several States, Counties, Cities, Towns and organizations are either about to or have already passed resolutions in support of UAFA, citing inequity based on the reprehensible anomaly that pits State law against Federal Law.

10. It is the right thing to do!

UAFA is not an immigration bill per se, it is an equality BILL and a democratic Congress must not turn its back on the desperate amongst our own.

SO TODAY PLEASE -

Please call all four Senators below and ask them to push the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) as a stand alone bill! Ask your family and friends to do so as well!

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
331 Hart Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-0504
Phone: (202) 224-3841
Fax: (202) 228-3954

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
528 Hart Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-3004
Phone: (202) 224-4744
Fax: (202) 228-2197

Senator Harry Reid (D-NV)
522 Hart Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-2803
Phone: (202) 224-3542
Fax: (202) 224-7327

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
313 Hart Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-3203
Phone: (202) 224-6542
Fax: (202) 228-3027

RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY
STATEOFCALIFORNIA – Passed resolution through the Assembly and through Senate Judiciary Committee and it has now been referred to the California  Senate Floor and will probably pass in the next two weeks.

• City of Albany, NY
• City of Berkeley, CA
• City of Binghamton, NY
• City of Cambridge, MA
• City of Campbell, CA
• City of Chicago, IL
• City of Ferndale, MI
• City of Hartford, CT
• City of Los Angeles, CA
• City of Miami Beach, FL
• City of Minneapolis, MN
• City of New York, NY
• City of San Francisco, CA
• City of St. Louis, MO
• City of Seattle, WA
• City of Troy, NY
• City of Washington, DC
• City of West Hollywood, CA

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6-10-2010 Melanie Nathan

Now that Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack,  Republican incumbent from Riverside County, CA, is officially the Republican nominee, Mayor Steve Pougnet has reiterated his challenge to Bono Mack to hold a substantive, issue-focused debate with him during the general election campaign. Bono Mack has not held a public debate since 2002.

“Residents of Riverside County deserve to know where the candidates for Congress stand on the issues that affect us all. Today, I call on Congresswoman Bono Mack to join me in a series of debates to be held throughout the district over the coming months,” said Mayor Steve Pougnet. “Last September, I requested that Bono Mack join me to discuss health care and she failed to reply. Although Bono Mack has not debated an opponent of hers since 2002, I hope that this request meets with a different response because the voters ought to have the opportunity to hear from both of us.”

Openly gay Dad, Mayor Pougnet is running for Congress to create good-paying clean energy jobs in Riverside County. Since announcing his intention to run for Congress, Pougnet has raised over $1 million, more than any campaign has raised to challenge Bono Mack. 3rd party conservative candidate Bill Lussenheide will also be on the ballot in November.

Pougnet has already garnered strong national support from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), as well as drawn national press attention to what is viewed as one of the most vulnerable districts for Republicans among the 2010 congressional races.

Prior to moving to Palm Springs, and his election as Mayor,  Steve Pougnet was Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado.

As Vice President he had executive responsibility for the School’s Office of Development, including structuring, planning, budgeting and execution of all programs in fundraising, gift administration, stewardship and records maintenance.

He was also responsible for the School’s Public Affairs Office.  From 1991 through 1993, Mr. Pougnet served as the Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations and Special Assistant to the Vice President at Colorado School of Mines.

Steve is also the former Associate Director for Corporate & Foundation Relations, at Michigan State University and the former Associate Director of National Corporate Leadership Programs at United Way of America. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business from Michigan State University.

Steve Pougnet lives in Palm Springs with his partner Christopher and their children Beckham and Julia. He enjoys running, biking, swimming, snowboarding and golfing.

The LGBT community is keeping a supportive eye on Steve to help rid congress and the people of incumbent  Republican lockstepster Mary Bono Mack, not to mention the fact that the face, such as represented in the Photograph above, of an LGBT family is currently missing in Congress. This would make a refreshing change!

Please see Melanie’s interview with Steve Pougnet earlier this year.

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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6-10-10  Melanie Nathan

In preparation for the June 16 Closing arguments, Judge Vaughn Walker, in California’s same-sex marriage trial issued an advance list of a series of  questions.  Now while no one on the correct side of the issue – NO ON PROP 8, would be so dumb as to provide pseudo manufactured answers to tickle the fancy of readers, a bigot hiding behind and touting religion as his excuse to subject an entire community of Californians to his hate, has indeed done just that – provided as

Bill May asserts on his website “Catholics for the Common”    (I think there may be the word GOOD in there somewhere, but I could not bring myself to include it)  that the Judge asked “plaintiffs and proponents for responses to series of questions that only highlight the absurdity of putting marriage and the intentions of California voters on trial.”

While the full list, nine pages of questions can be found  here -  at http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/ca/prop80608.pdf ,  we are going to indulge our readers in the buffoonery and hate peddle revealed in the proposed answers by our would be Jurist  Mr. William B.  May.

HERE is William B. Mays Report  and his contrived answers to the questions -Verbatim from May’s site at http://www.ccgaction.com/index.php?q=node/814 :-

“To both the plaintiffs and proponents of Prop 8, Chief Federal District Court Judge Vaughn Walker asked:
“What purpose does a law requiring that a marital partnership consist of one man and one woman serve?” Specifically to proponents he asked, “What does evidence show the difference to be between gays and lesbians, on the one hand, and heterosexuals on the other?”

(NOTE this is MAY playing lawyer….)  If it pleases the court, there is ample evidence to suggest that relationships between heterosexuals commonly result in new citizens, not always, but sometimes unintentionally. There also seems to be ample evidence that relationships between people of the same-sex have no possibility of creating new citizens (hereinafter referred to as “children”). Your honor, it seems this difference is very significant and important to the state when considering the definition of marriage and considering that children and their welfare are important to the future of society. Marriage between a man and a woman who are committed to each other and to the children that come from the relationship is of immeasurable value to those children who cannot testify and represent their interests. They depend on grownups to do if for them.

To the plaintiffs he asked:
“Assume the evidence shows that Proposition 8 [defining marriage as between a man and a woman] is not in fact rationally related to a legitimate state interest. Do the voters’ honest beliefs in the absence of supporting evidence have any bearing on the constitutionality of Proposition 8?” Interestingly, to put this in context he referred to the New York Supreme Court opinion upholding traditional marriage in which they stated, “In absence of conclusive scientific evidence, the Legislature could rationally proceed on the common-sense premise that children will do best with a mother and a father in the home.”

Yes, your honor, the voters honestly believe, based on their own experience, their common desire for connection with the man and woman from whom they originated, a man and a woman committed to each other and committed to them in a relationship of love – something known as a family with a married mother and father – yes your honor, that experience is relevant in making public policy even if you were to conclude there is no legitimate state interest in protecting and promoting that primordial relationship.

Prop 8 proponents were asked:
“Why is legislating based on moral disapproval of homosexuality not tantamount to discrimination?” The question itself is an indictment of the voters of California. That is like asking, “When you beat your wife why is that not tantamount to spousal abuse?”

Your honor, homosexuality has nothing to do with protecting and promoting marriage between a man and a woman for our children and their future. People are free to adopt any lifestyle they like, but there is no justification for any special interest to redefine and undermine the very foundation on which the family and society are built.Prop 8 proponents were asked:
“The court has reserved ruling on plaintiffs’ motion to exclude Mr Blankenhorn’s testimony. If the motion is granted, is there any other evidence to support a finding that Proposition 8 advances a legitimate governmental interest?”

Yikes! Blankenhorn was the main witness on our side testifying to the reality of marriage and its value to society. Again, this underscores the absurdity of determining the future of marriage for California and the country in any court room based on testimony of witnesses and presentation of evidence. Only the voters, drawing on their own experience, acting in the best interest of children and future generations, are qualified to make this decision. The voters of California and Maine and 40 other states have spoken. Marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

The outcome of this trial could go either way. Whatever the decision, the case is likely destined for the U.S. Supreme Court. Your prayers are needed. ”

As a lesbian I find this so offensive, yet I am embarrassed for this apology of a man – that he is an American- making that our common denominator – because truly nothing else does.  The fact that people like him use religion in this fashion and then try to invoke your prayer…. PLEASE PRAY FOR  DISCRIMINATION AND HATE.

In a separate development Tuesday, the state Fair Political Practices Commission said the Mormon Church had agreed to pay a $5,500 fine for failing to report $37,000 worth of assistance to the Prop. 8 campaign shortly before the 2008 election.

OH BY the way here is the PRAYER That MAY wants you to share:

Closing arguments, June 16, 2010 Federal District Court, San Francisco Heavenly Father, I offer my prayers, works, joys and sufferings today and unite them with those of the whole Mystical Body of Christ. Imploring the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I beg you to protect marriage as authored by You at the very time of creation. (HEHEHE.. not in my B’reisheit) Open the minds and hearts of the Judge Vaughn Walker to accept Your Divine plan for marriage. Inspire him to consider the delight you take in families. (HEHEHE thats precisely what he ought to do we too have families) Guide him with wisdom and understanding of the rights of children (yes my children need their moms to have equality so thanks Billy Boy for this one) to know and be cared for by their father and mother.  (SHEEZ BILLY BOYYOUFORGOT ABOUT SINGLE MOMS  AND SINGLE DADS – they dont get your prayers either?) Fill him with right judgment and the courage to protect the centrality and integrity of marriage for children and society. We beg you to send your Holy Spirit upon the attorneys to guide them in their presentations and to make their arguments compelling. (okay thanks for that) We raise up to you the plaintiffs and their attorneys that they might realize that dignity does not come from external sources, but from the fact that each is created in Your image and likeness and are manifestations of Your love, more precious to You than the entire universe. (PRECISELY Billy – G-d made me and all queers in His image – I am not sure how else we were made? That has been my argument all along – Can I rest my case now please?) Give them peace through understanding this and help them see the consequences of their actions for humanity and the common good. Give us the grace to reflect Your love for them despite our differences. We ask these things in Jesus’ Name.

BY Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com
@oblogdeeoblogda

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Amen.

Today, together with Amos Lim of Out4Immigration and at the behest of Assembly member Kevin de Leon and under sponsorship of EQCA,  I had the great honor of testifying to the California State Senate Judiciary Committee  for AJR 15, a Resolution in support of Uniting American Families Act, which made it out with 3 votes in favor and at least one opposition vote. The second Republican member was not present but may have shown up later to cast his vote; regardless a 3:2 victory sends the resolution to an almost certain passage in the California Senate.  State Resolutions in California do not require the signature of a Governor.

This was my 2.5 minute testimony:

Madam Chair and Honorable Members of this Committee, Assembly member De Leon, thank you for this opportunity to tell my story, personifying that of tens of thousands of other binational same-sex permanent partners, many of whom are from California, either living in undocumented fear, exiled to a foreign country or in detention awaiting deportation.

Nine years ago I fell in love with Dorit Israel who came to the USA as a student.  We married in July 2008, during California’s window of opportunity. We have a daughter born of this relationship and I have 13 year old  daughter from a previous relationship, in a shared custody arrangement.

Because lesbian and gay partners are excluded by Federal law, I was unable to sponsor Dorit for a green card. We faced untold hardship; and on 4 occasions during our process, I was faced with a choice that no American or Mother should ever have to bear; – leaving my home, my country, my mortgage and my business to go to a foreign country where I do not speak the language or have any viable prospects of survival, paled in comparison to having to choose between my two beloved daughters.  If I were to leave my country, I would have been forced to choose between my spouse and our child, ahead of my first born. If I chose to stay with my 13 year old,   I would be separated from my spouse and my little one.  Worse yet, these young American Citizen Sisters would also be torn apart.

I was not able to make the choice – there WAS no plan B.

To explain what we went through would take too much time, save to say that with the help of Senator Feinstein, we were lucky and finally able to rely on an R1 Visa, after hurdles such as the sunset of the very process upon which we relied.

Had we been a different gender couple our $72,000 five year nightmare would have been over in mere months costing no more than $1500.00.

While our case ended with a remedy, many do not. It is for them that I am here. Through my advocacy for other couples I am privy to many cases of hardship, the brain drain of California doctors, lawyers, Professors, PhD’s and entrepreneurs; the waste of resources and the unconscionable injustice.

The State of California recognizes gay and lesbian couples through equality legislation, yet this great anomaly exists, where but for the passage of The Uniting American Families Act, the equality laws in California are useless to bi-national couples.

I believe that passage of AJR 15, will send an imperative message to Washington D.C. – California cares about its families and that this situation is simple intolerable.

Before the vote, Senator Mark Leno made  a very moving and supportive statement about the hardship and the lack of immigration equality for binational same-sex couples.  He ended his remarks by saying that after what he heard, he could not fathom anyone single person VOTING NO to the passage of the Resolution which supports laws keeping California families together.

The Republican  Tom Harmon (California’s 35th District) when asked his vote  bellowed a resolute “NO.”

Of course I expected no thing different, but surely he may have had an excuse a reason?  So when he walked out of the Chamber, I ran after him. I told him I was curious about why he had voted no.  He looked at me and snapped loudly “I don’t have time for that now.”  I then asked him if I could make an appointment to see him so he could explain at a later date or time. Again he snapped, viciously, “I will NOT do that.”

So there you have it California, Republicans truly do not care about Californian  families and their children.

Based on this, I deduce that if  Harmon and the other lockstep Republicans purport at anytime on the future to be concerned about California Families, then such solicitude is tantamount to saying “I hate Gays.”

That said, Republican Meg Whitman now in the race for Governor and Carly Fiorina, in the race for incumbent Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer’s Senate seat, have all openly subscribed to this ant-gay equality stance.  To my way of thinking, mere campaign statement by these candidates are tantamount to the offensive and upsetting Bullhorn “NO” VOTE we heard today.

Note: Senator Boxer is a Co-Sponsor of UAFA, The Uniting American Families Act.

Thank you to Assembly member Kevin De Leon,  Senator Mark Leno for co sponsoring the UAFA Resolution in California as well as our host EQCA with Mario Guerrero at the helm.

The Hypocrisy of  “NO”

6/1/2010 – California Senate urges the federal government to quit ignoring the immigration problem.

Harman’s Floor Speech for Immigration Resolution, SCR 108 from CA Senate Republican Caucus on Vimeo.

Senator Harman’s Senate Concurrent Resolution 108 (SCR 108), a bi-partisan measure urging the federal government to act immediately on federal immigration law cleared the Senate today. In a landmark display of unity, Senator Gil Cedillo, a leading immigrant rights activist in the Senate, spoke in strong support of the legislation, agreeing with Senator Harman on the importance of immediate federal action. The measure passed 31 to 1.

“We don’t agree on much here in the legislature, but I am glad we can agree that the federal government should, at a minimum, enforce existing immigration law,” said Harman. “With California facing a $20 billion dollar budget deficit, the legislature would be remiss to not demand action on a federal problem that costs California taxpayers upwards of $10 billion a year.”

Money Is above People..Money Money Money!!!

After today’s vote, Clearly Tom Harmon does not support UAFA ’s inclusion in Federal Immigration Reform  Law

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com
@oblogdeeoblogda
Http://visualcv.com/melnathan

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6-09-2010 Melanie Nathan:-

Our earlier reports came to fruition when today the Unites States Conference of  Catholic Bishops and the National Association of Evangelicals, urged through a press call for support of comprehensive immigration reform and specifically for the exclusion of same-sex partners from  immigration reform, thereby insisting on the status quo for gay and lesbian couples – exile, detention, hiding and no visas or sponsorship for same-sex couples in loving committed relationships.

However Immigration equality thinks this is no big deal and assert that the gay community has the upper hand on this one.

Today Steve Ralls, the spokesperson for Immigration Equality, speaking again to Kerry Eleveld at to the Advocate – said the breadth of support that has developed for folding gay families into the bill puts conservatives at a disadvantage. The combination of all those things have led us to the point where our inclusion in the bill is expected among most faith and immigration groups and those that are preaching for our exclusion are really the ones who are fighting an uphill battle.”

Immigration Equality has long touted its front row seat in the LGBT immigration rights arena as “the only national organization that is dedicated to advocating for equal immigration rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and HIV-positive immigrants. As a leader on these issues, news media often seek out our opinion on issues that affect our community.”

So it seems that according this foremost advocate on same-sex immigration equality, who devised the strategy for the inclusion of same-sex partners in immigration reform as a means to attaining equality, as opposed to lobbying for UAFA as a stand-alone bill,  are informing us that the Unites States Conference of  Catholic Bishops and the National Association of Evangelicals who were lobbying on the Hill today, present little concern to bi-national same-sex inclusion in reform to come, which according to Senator Schumer said last week that he believed an immigration reform bill, which has yet to be introduced, could potentially be passed by the end of the year or at least by March of 2011.

Fortunately there is an opposing religious stand and maybe the center -left amongst them will make a stand for what is morally right.

What no one is speaking about in the Advocate Article is the fact that bi-nationals are still facing extreme uncertainty and the strong Catholic lobby has already impacted UAFA’’s relationship with Immigration reform:-

On October 8 of 2009, the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security held a hearing on Comprehensive Immigration Reform:  and testimony was delivered  by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, D.C. entitled “Comprehensive immigration reform: Faith-Based Perspectives.” After outlining in great detail the hardship and suggestions for Immigration reform, the Cardinal proceeded to testify with this overt exclusion in direct opposition to S. 424, the Uniting American Families Act.

“Mr. Chairman, we are opposed to the inclusion of S. 424, the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), in comprehensive immigration reform legislation.  The legislation would permit same-sex partners to enjoy the same immigration benefits as married couples in our immigration system.  While our tradition and teaching values all persons as children of God, we believe that the enactment of UAFA would erode the institution of marriage and family by according marriage-like immigration benefits to same sex relationships, a position that is contrary to the very nature of marriage, which pre-dates the Church and the state.  We also believe its inclusion into comprehensive immigration reform would add another controversial issue to an already polarized and divisive debate.”

What  precisely is Immigration Equality doing to combat this lobby?  Is there a strategy, a plan? USCCB had a seat at the table already – was pro LGBT testimony provided .  What measures were taken to counter this sordid testimony; letters, rallies, grass root organizing, Press call outs ? What – Blog pieces? Did Immigration Equality call on the other organizations to assist in this counter lobby effort?  If so who – show us the letters,  the communications.  Show us something that is not couched purely in solicitation and fundraiser parlance!  Where are the Press releases?  Where is transparency.  Is the IE  BOARD asking questions?

Are they resting on their laurels – well maybe – based on the statement by Ralls, they believe UAFA has the upper hand in relation to immigration reform- so maybe we are going to have another Prop 8 scenario- where our California Marriage Equality community was outgunned.

I am calling on Immigration Equality to NOT underestimate the power of the Lobby.

Is Immigration Equality providing direct counter press calls and lobby efforts to that of USCCB?  Has IE written anything on their website about this lately?  Or will simple feed Kerry Eleveld sound bytes suffice?

A few weeks ago,Immigration equality conducted a community telephone call. Rachel Tiven, Executive Director introduced Julie Kruse who delivered the messaging, where she commented on Immigration Equality’s “incredible success” (see a BILL anywhere anyone?)  while thanking the grass roots efforts around the  country  those “who have applied the pressures.”

Here is a lost opportunity – Why has  Immigration Equality not acknowledged OUT4Immigration, the only group whose massive communication outreach to bi-nationals and coordination has had any impact on garnishing congressional and countrywide support for UAFA and why not form an alliance so that they can work and plan, hand-in hand?

In the call Kruse stated that there was no certainty about the inclusion of UAFA – that we could be excluded at any time, when answering one of the submitted questions. “yes, we can be stripped out; but harder to take us out once we are already in; it is better than fighting to get in.”

I found this to be rather odd sense of security, given that we are NOT in the House BILL and there is NO Senate version, only a framework of intent; and a miserable flip flop by Gutierrez, without anything introduced into Congress.

Truth be know we are not included anywhere YET. Hence why does Ralls think we are in good shape with the powerful Lobby of Catholic Bishops – on the HILL today specifically calling for our exclusion.

Rachel Tiven, the Board of Immigration equality do you think that a miserable ten line article at the behest of Ralls in the advocate is sufficient counter power against the USCCB?  Where is your outrage. Stop placating your supporters and get out ghere and be heard. Get the mainstream press on it.Do your own Press Calls. Contact OUT4Immigration, and NCLR and ask what you could all do together.  Why were you not on the Hill with a contingent of counter Protesters.

Every single visit by a  skirted Bishop, should have been followed by that of an LGBT clergy supporter, organized by Immigration Equality.

Both Kruse and Tiven mentioned on that call that we must remain vigilant. Vigilant – give me a break – that denotes waiting for something to happen – what about proactive?   I cannot imagine that IE did not know about today’s Call to Press – we, like other sites,  have been reporting on it at Lezgetreal for over a week. Kruse admitted on that call, ” It is a problem we have to keep our eye on…” Again same type of talk keep an eye on?

I am asking to see the proof  from IE that they are doing the work they say they are doing. I want accountability to the bi-national community.  Show us what you have done, and what you are doing.

Gutierrez

The Gutierrez Flip Flop:-

When Rep Luis Gutierrez introduced the House Immigration reform Bill, It excluded UAFA; last month Gutierrez suddenly announced he supported its inclusion and yet has failed to say where and how he plans to include it.

Here are reader comments from the Immigration Equality site:

1.  Re; Gutierrez’s flip flop – Did he provide any explanation as to why he left the UAFA language out of his bill as originally introduced? Has he now decided that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops is too toxic to continue bowing to their wishes? Perhaps he saw that the UAFA language was going to be included in the Senate version and didn’t want to lose all those Chicago LGBT votes. Politicians rarely do something simply because it’s the right thing to do.”

2. “Now the question is, why can’t we do the same with the UAFA? I really believe that using the rider option (attaching it to a bigger bill) is the best option (not the only but the best) to get the UAFA pass in this Congress. The possibility of a CIR passing this year is getting slimmer and slimmer. If it’s not done by this year, then the UAFA will have to be re-introduced again in the next session of Congress and we will have to start all over again.”

3.” @1 not much more we could ask for? how about a bill being introduced with us.. how about everyone stop saying “CIR must include UAFA” and actually make some progress? This lip service is getting old..”

4. ” I think if Democrats hold onto or strengthen their numbers in the midterms, then they’ll tackle CIR in early 2011 to get it out of the way before the 2012 election. Otherwise, I don’t see it making it through a Republican-led House and/or Senate, not without significant changes (including us being removed)”

None of these comments received any response form Immigration Equality.

While the broader immigrant community see LGBT as their ball and chain and while we see Amnesty as ours, surely the course we are on is worth a round table?

Again I am asking for transparency, for the truth, for real leadership, for inclusion, for proactive advocacy, for a strategy, for alliances, for a direct and targeted response to the USCCB and NAE, re-visit the CIR course, See if we can get UAFA and DREAM ACT  attached to legislation other than the risky and controversial CIR.

Stop waiting to be Defensive – get in on the attack.. with a strategy…. or our bi-nationals will have another ten years to wait.

By Melanie Nathan
Nathan@privatecourts.com
@oblogdeeoblogda

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San Francisco – In one of the most comprehensive reports in  mainstream press to date, Lauren Smiley, a  staff writer for the SF Weekly and the print version SF Weekly, transports the readers into binational same-sex couple hell.

The article tells the stories of couples, some of whom are too afraid to reveal their true identities, who have been victimized by discrimination in the Federal law, that prevents gay and lesbian couples from sponsoring foreign partners and spouses for green cards.

No two stories are alike, but they all carry one central theme – injustice and a slap in the face of the Constitution of the USA, which would have you believe that every US citizen and permanent resident has the equal right to pursue happiness.

Excerpt from Smiley’s Article and I recommend reading the entire piece.

http://www.sfweekly.com/2010-06-09/news/worlds-apart/3

“It’s no wonder that none of the couples in this story wanted their real names used. While the couples are out about being gay, there’s no benefit to being out about having broken the law. When a contingent from Out4Immigration, a local grassroots group that lobbies for change for gay binational partners, turned out for the May Day march for immigration reform through the Mission, mostly only the legal halves of the couples showed up. They must speak for both.

Yet publicity has served some well. Melanie Nathan is a fiftysomething firebrand with a shock of dark brown curls and an accent from her native South Africa but citizenship in the United States. Her Israeli wife was able to get a religious visa and eventually permanent residency, but that hasn’t stopped Nathan from advocating for other couples not as fortunate. From her office in Marin, she pens gadfly blog posts at Lez Get Real, chronicling the latest developments in gay binational couple politics and calling out lawmakers who flip-flop on the issue. (Rep. Luis Gutierrez [D-Ill.], she’s talking to you. )The blog gets 150,000 hits a month, some dropping in from the White House and senators’ offices, and she gets e-mails from some 40 couples a month. “I know every couple that’s in this situation,” she says.

Her advocacy for one such pair may have helped to get the issue on Washington’s radar. Last year, ICE agents showed up at the home of Shirley Tan, a Filipina stay-at-home mother of two who has lived with her American partner without a visa in Pacifica for 20 years. With Tan facing imminent deportation, Nathan lobbied Senator Dianne Feinstein to introduce a rare personal bill that would allow Tan and only Tan to become a permanent resident without enacting any change in existing immigration law. As long as the bill waits to be heard, Tan is free to stay in the country.”   READ MORE

This Article may surprise many in the mainstream and in my advocacy I am grateful for its timely publication. This is the time when the Evangelicals and Catholic Bishops are seeking to exclude same-sex couples from immigration reform.  This is a time of failed LGBT  strategy; the time when opportunities have been lost; the time when hope is fading[ but yet still time for a great opportunity.

Another excerpt from SF Weekly: “It threatens the conservative and evangelical support that has taken five years in acquiring,” says the Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, director of the Sacramento-based National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which represents 25,000 churches. “Right now we’re having difficulty getting one Republican senator to support the Schumer proposal. With the same-sex partner, it will be an even greater hill to climb.”

The Uniting American Families Act remains the only plausible solution for immigration equality and in my opinion only as a stand-alone bill.  Now it has become the predictable center of controversy because politicians are reluctant to include it in the immigration reform Bills. (See my earlier articles.) Now because of this reluctance, it is the perfect time to take UAFA out of the immigration reform equation, to attach it to the Dream ACT and to pass it as a stand-alone where the Catholic Bishops will have no bargaining power.

The binational community is begging for members of  the House and Senate  to do something immediately to change this reprehensible  inequity. Please if you are reading this and want to help – Contact your representative and ask what they are specifically doing to forward passage of UAFA.

On Thursday June 10th, Amos Lim of OUT4Im migration will be giving Testimony with me in the California State Senate Judiciary Committee for AJR15 – a resolution from California in support of UAFA.  If you want to come along in support, please contact me – nathan@privatecourts.com

Thanks to Lauren Smiley for the Exposure – and hello Mainstream Press – Where are you?

Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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In a letter to Regina Griggs, PFOX’s Executive Director, PTA President Chuck said, “Through our Exhibitors screening process, we have determined that your organization’s mission, goals and objectives are not in harmony with the National PTA’s Diversity and Inclusion Policy; and there for, do not align with our Associations core vales and beliefs.”

“The PTA has become a left-wing advocacy group instead of serving the needs of all children,” responded an unhappy Griggs.

PFOX says is a family organization that educates the public on the message of hope and support for students, families and educators affected by homosexuality, gender confusion, and school bullying.

However, according to long time LGBT activist Wayne Bensen of TruthWinsOut.org, from its inception, PFOX was a tool funded and used by the religious right to deny equality to GLBT Americans and as a way to mock the successful pro-gay organization.

Our research found the PFOX mission is to primarily convince gay people think they can become straight, especially young gay people, and tell folks gays are promiscuous child molesters, who spread diseases and thus need to be cured.

They have especially targeted public school students and their parents for this nonsense and serve as a conduit for right wing legal organizations to threaten schools of they don’t include PFOX ex-gay literature in their schools.

While there is no valid scientific research to back up PFOX’s contentions about people being able to be cured of homosexuality, there are, conversely, numerous studies showing that the “reparative therapy” championed by PFOX is ineffective and even injurious to children.

They also seem to like to be victims and claim there is widespread discrimination against “ex-gays, ” even though most people know there is really no such critter as an “ex-gay.”

“PFOX is not for “ex-gays” which PFOX has not proven actually exist outside politics, but they are simply anti-gay and anyone with common sense knows this, including the PTA”, said Besen, adding “PFOX is far and away the sickest and most profoundly disturbed group of people I have dealt with in more than twenty years of activism. There is not a sane, rational voice within this entire organization and hasn’t been since the group’s founding by the Family Research Council in 1998.”

http://www.truthwinsout.org/blog/2010/06/9109/

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While taking the Bishops and Evangelicals to task, we must remember we have allies in the religious world too; those who stand up and say that treating people unequally in the United States is simply wrong. That Gay and Lesbians (LGBTQI) are the same in the scheme of creation.   Those brave voices, who often defy the odds and risk losing membership, are the ones who we must thank because we are in desperate need of allies.

In December, the State Senate rejected a bill that would have allowed gay couples to marry. For advocates of same-sex marriage, like the Kulanu committee of Temple Israel of New Rochelle, the vote was a big disappointment.

“Everybody was so upset. We felt we had to do something,” said Mitchell Tarnopal, a committee member and New Rochelle resident, who rallied for civil rights in the 1960s.

To show its support for gay marriage, the committee will hold a rally from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday at the temple with other religious institutions from Westchester County.

Many religious institutions perform weddings for same-sex couples, but those marriages are not recognized by the state.

He compared the gay marriage ban to the discrimination that interracial couples once faced.

“We would be much better off if we all had the same rights,” he said.

Hopefully other Congregations of all faiths will find ways to show support for equality.

The rally will be held at the temple, 1000 Pinebrook Blvd. in New Rochelle.

by Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion;” What if Congress makes Laws  reflecting the influence of testimony of one particular religion, to the exclusion of all others? Is this tantamount to ” establishing a religion” in an implied or tacit form?

A group of independent unfunded activists, supporting the ideal of a Universal LGBT Civil Rights Movement, with one simple Goal, to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1968, to include sexual orientation and gender identity, has drawn a new line in the sand.

The Gay and Lesbian (LGBTQI) minority is under attack –we are not sitting back any longer. We are going to fight back and with a vengeance.  We are going to defend our civil rights and demand equality by silencing those who seek our destruction.

Those who are attacked have a right to defend themselves. Our weapon for now shall be our pens and our legs and our mouths and our signs and our money and our signatures and our VOTE.

Mission 1:-

Amendment I to the Constitution of the US states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Previously, we’ve argued that the church has no right to be involved in government – using the “separation of church and state” concept.  However, more succinctly, the First Amendment protects all Americans from the US Government “establishing” a religion.

This new line rests its case on the predication that certain religious groups and Congress are teetering on breaching this strict boundary – the one that asserts no establishment of religion by government while respecting religious freedoms.

The NEW LINE is that UNDER THE CONSTITUTION, religious groups SHOULD NOT be permitted to advocate against basic human rights and dignity (s), in any Congressional setting. Religious groups should not have the opportunity to insert their interpretation of morals into legislative process, because if such were permitted it would be tantamount to ‘establishing’ a religion which the First Amendment guarantees cannot occur.

That does not mean that religious groups are not allowed to participate in the public and social debate.   Asserting this boundary cannot extend to teachings from the pulpit, because that right in the same Aedment1, is equally guaranteed, along with the right of free speech and freedom of assembly.

This in no way derogates from public debate. Nor does it derogate from the pulpit; but the pulpit does not belong in a congressional hearing and nor in the halls of Congress.

It’s a matter of mutual civic responsibility that the religious groups desist from interference and a matter of oath of office that Congress cease invitations to select religious groups to testify in committee, especially where such testimony consists of presentations of religious dogma.

If someone wielded a sword in the face of the Catholic Bishop and said “stop your prayer, you cannot preach, you cannot believe” – we would defend their right to religious freedom as vigorously as I am begging for reciprocity and respect.  We ask the Catholic Bishops to resist brandishing their pulpits in the face of Congress -undermining our constitutional rights and protections.

We submit that any invitation to any religious group to testify before Congress in any committee or format, has the impetus of Congress ‘establishing’ a religion, especially if such testimony asserts a religious doctrine that can be interpreted to discriminate against a minority population, and/or that infringes on the human rights and dignity of any one or group of persons in our Country, thereby in effect causing harm.

If the Catholic Bishops have NO locus standi in Congress – then let us ask how we explain this:

On October 8 of 2009, the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security held a hearing on Comprehensive Immigration Reform:  and testimony was delivered  by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, D.C. entitled “Comprehensive immigration reform: Faith-Based Perspectives October 8, 2009.” After outlining in great detail the hardship and suggestions for Immigration reform, the Cardinal proceeded to testify with this overt exclusion in direct opposition to S. 424, the Uniting American Families Act.

“Mr. Chairman, we are opposed to the inclusion of S. 424, the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), in comprehensive immigration reform legislation.  The legislation would permit same-sex partners to enjoy the same immigration benefits as married couples in our immigration system.  While our tradition and teaching values all persons as children of God, we believe that the enactment of UAFA would erode the institution of marriage and family by according marriage-like immigration benefits to same sex relationships, a position that is contrary to the very nature of marriage, which pre-dates the Church and the state.  We also believe its inclusion into comprehensive immigration reform would add another controversial issue to an already polarized and divisive debate.”

The testimony was fraught with biblical references and Catholic religious Dogma.

This week we launched a petition in our quest to stop the harmful lobbying by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and National Association of Evangelicals. The petition is in the form of a letter to the USCCB and NAE, a cease and desist request from lobbying against our community.

http://www.change.org/petitions/view/halt_the_harm_-_stop_advocacy_by_usccb_and_nae_causing_harm_to_lgbt_community

The message is clear – leave our civil rights alone.  So the more who sign the petition the more letters the groups will receive, they will hear our voices.

Already over 200 letters have been sent, but we need 5,000 to complete mission 1.

We have targeted the USCCB (US Conference of  Catholic Bishops)  and NAE(National Association of Evangelicals,   because they are launching a newspaper AD blitz this week; they assert their support for Immigration Reform – however as we have noted above – the support is tainted by their direct threat that they will  not support reform, if the Gay Community is included in the legislation.

How despicable; these men of clothe are prepared to hurt their own devotees, 12 million undocumented immigrants who may qualify for amnesty, for the sake of their anti-gay DOGMA;  interfering in a civil rights matter, while defiling the boundaries established by our Constitution.

To add insult to injury, they are flagrantly horse whipping our minority community, based on canon that now seems to condone the carnage of our most purest beings, 100 deaf children and counting…

While their own stable is in shocking disarray; molesters running rampant hurting children en masse (no pun,) how dare they think they have any moral authority at all? Unfettered felons abound their conclaves and they speak of abomination as if it applies to our G-d-given love.

If necessary this will become our battle cry and we will smear the faces in their mess.

So we ask you to sign this Mission 1 Petition.

Soon we will speak more about the audacity of our Congressional legislators, who single out and invite certain religious groups into our Congressional committees, to the exclusion of all others.  Does this permissive practice of accepting testimony from religious groups, denote “establishing” a religion, in defiance of the First Amendment?

There is abundant proof thus far, in the immigration equality debate, that our representatives have allowed the Catholic and Evangelical churches to impact Gay and Lesbian exclusion from recently introduced Bills in Congress. (Rep. Gutierrez’s Immigration reform Bill in the House.)

Our redress must be explored.  We cannot stand back and watch this any longer.

If Congress wants to expedite reform and reduce this merging conflict in the immigration debate– if indeed the Bishops are powerful enough to influence our rights in this insidious fashion, then we call on Congress NOW to do something different.

To introduce an omnibus by merging the Dream Act, and UAFA or attaching these Bills to less controversial legislation– and to immediately seek passage of  legislation that has at its core equality and fairness , rather than on a reform basis.  That will divide the issues engendered by the conflict into manageable components – and will keep the non-equality issues of Amnesty and Biometrics to their own fate, and yes Border control may well form the basis for cooperation from the right in the latter instance.

While all this is going on, the overriding WAR will be waged on those who continue attempts to influence Congress to establish a religion for the USA.  The more hate that amalgamates in this scurrilous back door endeavor, the more our enemies will fall into our hands – as they will exacerbate the necessity for our Amendment to the Civil Rights Act.

Every single person who cares about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgenders, gender identity rights  and equality should sign on to this Petition.

All you need to do is sign the Petition and keep in touch with us on Facebook, via Melanie Nathan – will deliver more missions as we go along.

All Actions taken in Mission – in the name of the merging “LGBTGI Civil Rights Movement”

Start a Petition »

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6-7-10  Melanie Nathan

SAN FRANCISCO - Come and SING, DANCE, MARCH OR PERFORM with Marriage Equality USA at SF Pride

Marriage Equality USA is offering FUN opportunities for you to get engaged with us at SF Pride.

1. DANCE with a FLASH MOB

2. SING with the Joy Choir and Full Heart Band on the Main Stage

3. Lead the MARCH with Marriage Equality USA in the parade

4. PERFORM and Get ENGAGED at the Marriage Pavilion.

Get your Pride on early by jumping in on rehearsals and making this Pride, one you will always remember.

1. DANCE with a FLASH MOB

A Flash Mob is a form of direct action that spontaneously engages an unsuspecting crowd in a choreographed dance.  We are teaming up with a terrific group of Love Warriors to put together a Flash Mob at SF Pride on Sunday, June 27 around noon and in the Civic Center – if I say much more in advance – I am a spoil sport – so hopefully that is enough information for you to check your calendars and bring your honey or come alone and meet others committed to raising visibility and fun in support of the cause.  Go to the Facebook Page to RSVP and for details.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113877281987841

-You must be available June 27th. (We’ll give more details at rehearsals.)

-Please try to make a few rehearsals in June:

All rehearsals (except Sunday, June 20) will take place at Studio Gracia: 19 Heron Street, SF 94103

Here is the rehearsal schedule:
Thursday, June 10: 9:00 pm – 10:30pm
Sunday, June 13: 10:00 am – 12pm
Thursday, June 17: 9:00 pm – 10:30pm
Sunday, June 20: 11am – 1pm*** Rehearsal is at ODC, 351 Shotwell Street, Studio B, SF 94110 (very close to 16th Street BART Station)
Thursday, June 24: 9:00 pm – 10:30pm*** Mandatory rehearsal.

Video of the dance steps will be available, but PLEASE try to make a few rehearsals.

*ALL races, genders, ages, shapes and sizes encouraged!*

Contact sfprideflash@gmail.com or go to http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113877281987841.

Here is the best FLASH MOB ever!  This time the audience surprises Oprah

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Next week, on June 9th The USCCB (US Conference of Catholic Bishops) and the NAE (National Association of Evangelicals) will run full page ads in various Newspapers to announce that they will be Lobbying in D.C. for Comprehensive immigration reform. They plan to emphasize their objection to the LGBT immigration equality language that is currently present in the recently introduced Framework for immigration reform.

“Part of their lobbying effort will be a push to take the same-sex provisions out of the immigration plan.”

Source: http://www.congress.org/news/2010/05/26/rift_grows_between_immigration_allies

The Catholic Bishops and their brethren in opposition to the recognition of LGBT rights and the continued invalidation of gay families together with the National Association of Evangelicals, (NAE) are joining forces to ensure their ongoing effort against the inclusion of the Uniting American families Act (UAFA) in Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR.)

They have taken out a full page ad in the Washington Post for support in their ant-LGBT lobby BLITZ, scheduled for June 9^th. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100511/ts_ynews/ynews_ts1994

Melanie Nathan and Todd Fernandez have co-authored a heartfelt request to the USCCB and NAE, in the form of a letter petition, to cease causing further harm to the LGBT community and are asking the entire LGBT community of individuals, activists and organizations to sign this letter in the form of the change.org petition in support of the contention that our community is being hurt by anti-gay legislative advocacy on the part of the Catholic and Evangelical groups, addressed therein.

Here is the context of the Nathan and Fernandez plea:-

During the course of 2009, the Immigrant community heard talk of long overdue impending immigration reform; and the LGBT immigration equality community joined in the quest seeking inclusion in comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) – specifically to include equality for binational permanent partners who, because of Federal law, cannot sponsor their partners for green cards or visas into the USA.

In October of 2009, the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security held a hearing on Comprehensive Immigration Reform:  and testimony was delivered  through the statement of Theodore Cardinal McCarrick Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, D.C. entitled “Comprehensive immigration reform: Faith-Based Perspectives October 8, 2009.”

In this statement to the Committee Cardinal McCarrick reflected on what he termed  “the landmark pastoral letter issued by the Catholic bishops of Mexico and the United States, Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope,” where the bishops acknowledged that the current immigration system is badly in need of reform and that a comprehensive approach to fixing it is required.”  The bishops offered, in their words, “a comprehensive set of recommendations for changing U.S. laws and policies to reflect the principles contained in Scripture and Catholic Social Teaching and to bring about a more humane and just immigration system in the United States.”

The Cardinal in his testimony, provided a detailed statement on all the aspects of comprehensive immigration reform, systematically detailing each item in need of reform and asserting the Catholic Bishops’ recommendations:

“Mr. Chairman, the U.S. Catholic bishops believe that any comprehensive immigration reform bill should contain, the following elements:

“a legalization program that gives migrant workers and their families an opportunity to earn legal permanent residency and eventual citizenship;   a new worker visa program that protects the labor rights of both U.S. and foreign workers and gives participants the option to earn permanent residency ; reform of our family-based immigration system to reduce waiting times for family reunification;  restoration of due process protections for immigrants, including asylum-seekers; and policies that address the root causes of migration, such as the lack of sustainable development in sending nations.”

“During my testimony,” the Cardinal added, “I will attempt to spell out in more detail our recommendations in this regard, as well as point out the policy provisions the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) would oppose in any immigration reform bill.”

After outlining in great detail the hardship and required changes in the Immigration law, he proceeded to testify with this overt exclusion in direct opposition to S. 424, the Uniting American Families Act.

“Mr. Chairman, we are opposed to the inclusion of S. 424, the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), in comprehensive immigration reform legislation.  The legislation would permit same-sex partners to enjoy the same immigration benefits as married couples in our immigration system.  While our tradition and teaching values all persons as children of God, we believe that the enactment of UAFA would erode the institution of marriage and family by according marriage-like immigration benefits to same sex relationships, a position that is contrary to the very nature of marriage, which pre-dates the Church and the state.  We also believe its inclusion into comprehensive immigration reform would add another controversial issue to an already polarized and divisive debate.”

Yes they said it in testimony to the Senators on the Committee, including Chuck Schumer, the New York Senator leading the immigration reform effort in the Senate!

They testified specifically for the exclusion UAFA from CIR and hence for the exclusion of our gay families, even those of us who are legally married under the civil law of this our Country; the country that purports to separate church and state.

Moving forward with context –  -

The desperate need for comprehensive Immigration reform recently  came to boiling point when the Governor of Arizona signed a State law  compelling the police to ask for proof of citizenship of anyone ‘suspected of being an undocumented immigrant,’ effectively endorsing racial profiling and usurping the domain of Federal law.

This prompted the seemingly rushed announcement by Senators Schumer, Reid and Feinstein for a framework for CIR that happily delineates an intention to include UAFA.

But for Arizona, the framework may not have been forthcoming in its current form as a Bill was being worked on for a later date and we have no idea if Senator Schumer, etal, would have included UAFA in Bill format, especially that the testimony of the Cardinal  seems to have carried weight, certainly when it came to the House taking note, by way of the Gutierrez bill, which excluded UAFA at the time of its introduction.

Now we have the Bishops, by virtue of the framework intent on lobbying fervently against the inclusion of LGBT families and their advocacy for the exclusion of UAFA is set for this month.

The National Association of Evangelicals and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops USCCB plan on lobbying to exclude UAFA and Gays and Lesbians, et al, from any immigration bill and this event will take place commencing on June 3^rd and culminating on June 9th with their anti-gay lobby day in DC.

But we are not going to allow this to happen.  Not anymore.  We are putting out a petition calling on these Church groups for neutrality and to keep their nose our of our rights, based on the harm it is causing to us as people with impeded rights living in the USA.

Here is the letter we have written and we are inviting all to sign it as a petition on change.org; your letter will automatically be sent to the addressees. Please be so kind as to pass on…

THE LETTER PETITION

June, 04 – 2010

To the:  Honorable Representatives of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Association of Evangelicals,

There is a crime at work when society takes a young child and teaches him to hate himself so much that he becomes George Rekers.  When this happens, as it does daily, we have failed our primary shared responsibility: to protect our children from harm.

Yet this is the suffering inflicted by the unrelenting advocacy against LGBT equality and basic human dignity propagated by you in legislative forums throughout the country.

From murder to depression to suicide, this fueled societal homophobia wreaks havoc on generation after generation, every day, and every hour.   Due largely to your work, LGBT people are not safe and their dignity is systematically under attack.

Given the overwhelming evidence of injury, at this point we consider your involvement in perpetrating this harm to be an act of violence against our community. Today, we say that advocacy must end.

Regardless of the teachings of one bible, our social compact in the United States is founded upon a Constitution.  As such, equality for LGBT Americans under the law cannot be held hostage to any religious viewpoint, and nor should you try; it betrays our duty as citizens.

The system itself demands a degree of mutual respect and deference, which allows for both the sanctity of your beliefs and houses of worship, and our right to live and work in safety.  Clearly, both parties have to respect that relationship for it to work.

In this spirit, we urge you to cease your political advocacy against our human rights in every piece of legislation, state and federal, and on every topic, including marriage.

Our Country’s founding promise that we each enjoy the pursuit of happiness can no longer be denied us, and nor should you try.

Clearly, the civil rights conferred by marriage do not belong to any specific Church, and many other faiths reject your claim on the institution and the word. This hubris underlies much of the Catholic Churches’ misguided history, and it is time to stop it.

From this day forward, we intend to hold the USCCB and the NAE, and their representatives, directly accountable for the harm caused to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people stemming from their political opposition to our legal equality and their painful homophobic advocacy, which lacks even basic respect for our fundamental existence.
Indeed, our human dignity demands it, as would yours should you find your religion and right to exist similarly undermined and persecuted.

As an indication of your good faith, we ask that the USCCB and the NAE issue a statement of political neutrality on all matters of LGBT human rights and equality under the law.

Once you have taken that righteous step, we look forward to forging a mutually respectful co-existence with you in the United States.

Sincerely,

Melanie Nathan, B.A. LL.B LLM
J. Todd Fernandez, JD, LLM
Signed in support of all members of the
LGBT Community in the United States of America.
Contact: Nathan@privatecourts.com

Start a Petition »

TO:
Reverend John C. Wester
Bishop of Salt Lake City
27 C Street
Salt Lake City, Utah 84103
Asst:  Shirley Mares:  shirley.mares@dioslc.org

Mr. Kevin Appleby
Migration and Refugee Services
US Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 Fourth Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C.  20017
email:  kappleby@usccb.org

Mr. Galen Carey
Director of Government Affairs
govaffairs@nae.net

Mr. W. Todd Bassett

Executive Director
executivedirector@nae.net

National Association of Evangelicals
PO Box 23269
Washington, DC 20026

—————————————-

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The poll was conducted for the station by the firm Research 2000. In February, a Des Moines Register Iowa Poll found 62 percent of Iowans felt lawmakers had more important things to worry about than same-sex marriage. another poll conducted by the University of Iowa shortly before the Iowa Supreme Court issued its ruling in April 2009 legalizing same-sex marriage found a majority of Iowans favored some sort of legal recognition of same-sex relationships, either through marriage or civil unions.

Justin Uebelhor of the group One Iowa said he thinks a majority of Iowans hare worried about other issues closer to their own families.

“Iowans want their elected officials to focus on issues like jobs and education and really, those pocketbook issues, rather than focusing on divisive issues that are going to pit neighbor against neighbor,” Uebelhor said.

However, Bryan English, a spokesman for the anti-gay Iowa Family Policy Center, told KCCI the poll doesn’t accurately reflect the feelings of most Iowans.

KCCI

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In the face of June 16th, the date Arguments will commence in the California Proposition 8 Case, the American Constitution Society (ACS) is distributing the brief,  “The Prop 8 Court Can Have it All: Justice, Precedent, Respect for Democracy, and an Appropriately Limited Judicial Role,” an Issue Brief by Rebecca L. Brown, Newton Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. In this Issue Brief, Professor Brown discusses Perry v. Schwarzenegger, in which the United States District Court for the Northern District of California is considering whether the United States Constitution requires states to permit marriage between individuals of the same sex. read more and download the issue brief here…

Excerpts:
“I suggest that in this case, it would not be a dereliction of duty, indeed it would fulfill the best expectations we have of the federal judicial role, to resolve the case on strong, unassailable, time-honored, and yet narrow, grounds. The result would be that same-sex couples in California would benefit from the ruling, because it would be very precisely tailored to the unique facts of this case.”

“Now the unique aspect of this case begins to emerge. Same-sex couples in California are guaranteed the right to enjoy the complete package of obligations and entitlements in the marriage bundle, but the right to enter into marriage, once afforded, has now been withdrawn. In a federal challenge under the Equal Protection Clause, then, the action that the state9 must defend here is not the denial, across the board, of marriage status to same-sex couples. Rather, the action to be defended here is that, from the pool of all couples who are lawfully entitled to avail themselves of the marriage bundle in the state, the state singled out just one subgroup—those in same-sex relationships—and demoted them by relegating them to another status known as domestic partnership rather than marriage, without changing any of the underlying components of that bundle.”

This is an exceedingly valuable Brief and we commend its Author.

© 2008; Pictures: Melanie’s daughter, Refael (3) at Prop 8 protest

Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com
@oblogdeeoblogda

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