History on Film: Massachusetts Has First Same Sex Marriages(May 17, 2004)

Today is the anniversary of the first day of marriage equality in America. On May 17, 2004, by order of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, same sex couples were able for the first time in America get legally married. Little did the nation know how common place this moment would become across the nation. Watch the video and remember fondly a great historic moment for LGBT citizens around the world.

VIDEO: Major Shannon McLaughlin, Her Wife Casey and The Impact of DOMA!

 

 

Freedom to Marry and Out-Serve-SLDN has been releasing powerful and informative video's of the impact of DOMA on individual lives around the country. This video is about Major Shannon McLaughlin, her wife Casey and their twins. The impact of DOMA is real and painful for them.

Take a minute to honor them by watching this video.

Is It Wrong To Ask If An LGBT Organization Should Still Exist?

 

 

 

"He who rejects change is the architect of decay"

-Former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson 

Over the last few years, LGBT Americans have experienced amazing change and the tide of victory appears to be on our side. Many of our institutions or agents of change have done a remarkable job in bringing us to this point in our history. If the Supreme Courts surprises us and give us a broad based ruling on marriage equality, then that change will be monumental.

Increasingly the communtiy should be reviewing our institutions/organizations and, with thoughtfulness and sensitivity, discussing if they still have a purpose to exist. Unfortunately, the mere suggestion sends people into spasms of indignant outrage and the idea is viewed as divisive That is a serious mistake.

No one is saying that the battle is over or that there is no longer a need for institutions/organizations to fight the war. In fact, only a fool would not recognize that even with the most profound Supreme Court decision there will be tons more to do. The question is not if work needs to be done but what work and who will be the effective agents of future change.

Recently The Atlantic ran article by James Kirchick questioning if LGBT Americans still need to raise millions for GLAAD since he believes the cultural war has been won. While he seem to be more upset of their anti-conservative stances than their work, he raised some interesting points for further discussion. Even if we deeply believe an organization should continue, we should never be afraid of discussing its purpose, budget and future.

Kirchick writes:

What a difference 25 years makes. Not only are media representations of gays plentiful, they are almost overwhelmingly positive, which is perhaps why GLAAD curiously removed the above sentence from its website. The entertainment industry, for many years a "celluloid closet" (in the words of the late gay film historian Vito Russo), is exuberantly pro-gay. Being gay isn't just OK these days, it's positively cool. From Broadway to Hollywood, the message is one of uncompromising acceptance of gay people. The list of celebrities and television shows affirming a gay-positive message is endless, from Lady Gaga and her mantra of "Born This Way" to hit television shows like Modern Family and Glee. Meanwhile, popular television journalists like CNN's Anderson Cooper and NBC News' Pete Williams face no barriers for being openly gay, a far cry from what it was like to work in the news industry just half a generation ago. The media's reaction to NBA player Jason Collins' coming out on the cover of Sports Illustrated has been almost exclusively supportive; just witness the hostility heaped upon Howie Kurtz, who was fired by The Daily Beast for a blog post in which he erroneously stated that Collins "didn't come clean" over his previous engagement to a woman. As far as the mainstream media, movies, television, and popular music -- the monitoring of which is GLAAD's raison d'etre -- goes, homosexuality has gone from the love that dare not speak its name to the love that won't stop talking. The best thing the organization could do is dissolve -- not because it is actively harmful, but rather because it is a victim of its own success.

Simply put, gays have won the culture war. Social historians can debate when exactly this happened. (Was it Ellen DeGeneres' "Yep, I'm Gay" Time cover? Or, as Vice President Joe Biden recently suggested, the popularity of Will & Grace?) Rather than being attributable to one instantaneous incident, however, today's mainstream acceptance of homosexuality came about gradually, assisted by the fact that most people today personally know someone who is openly gay. While the Stonewall Riots of 1969 may seem like a long time ago, in the full sweep of American history, no other social movement has progressed so far and so fast as that of gays.

With the incredible changes taking place in our society, politics and institutions, it is essential for us to review our organizations in order to plan effectively for the work that needs to be done over the next couple of decades. Merely adapting in order to survive never has an effective strategy.

LGBT Americans should not fear or shy away from such discussions. After all, we have been extraordinarily successful so far in advocating change and now is not the time to fear change.

Unionists In Northern Ireland Kill Sinn Fein's Marriage Equality Bill

 

 

The pro-British Unionist Party blocked marriage equality from becoming a reality in Northern Ireland. The Sinn Fein Party sponsored the equality legislation which also was supported by The Green Party, SDLP and the Alliance Party.

Irish Central reports:

However the combined unionist vote of the Democratic Unionist Party and the Ulster Unionist party defeated the bill by 50 to 45.

Pro-gay marriage advocates now expect a court challenge against the ban in both Britain and at the European Court on the grounds that it is allowed elsewhere in the United Kingdom, reports the Guardian. Amnesty International stated the prospects of a gay couple taking a legal case to the European Court of Human Rights is now a distinct possibility.

Sinn Féin Assembly member for South Down Caitriona Ruane stated: "Attitudes in Ireland are changing because people do not want to see people discriminated against.

"The gay community has said enough is enough. They are standing up for themselves and their communities."

She claimed young gay people were turning to suicide because of rampant discrimination and bullying. "If they don't have an alternative voice to the vitriolic gay-bashing they will internalise it," she said.

All the main churches, Protestant and Catholic, opposed the bill. But the gay Christian lobby group “Changing Attitudes Ireland” condemned the unionist veto.

Church of Ireland minister Canon Charles Kenny, the secretary of Changing Attitudes Ireland, stated: "The year is drawing nearer when the love and justice expressed in the gospels will win out and sweep away the faith-based prejudice against gay and lesbian couples."

Democratic Unionist finance minister Sammy Wilson said the unionist parties would always vote to defeat "reckless" legislation.

Support KICKSTARTER Campaign For 'The Lavender Scare' Documentary

 

 

 

An extraordinary part of our history is being told in a new documentary film about the notorious witch hunt against gays in the Federal Government in the early 1950's known as the Lavender Scare. This week is the 60th Anniversary of the Executive Order demanding that all LGBT employees in the Federal government must be fired.

The purge of homosexuals from the government was massive in the 1950's but continue for four decades until President Clinton an executive order allowing LGBT civilians to work for the Federal government.

At last, this documentary give those victims of the 'lavender purges' a voice. Their stories will be heard by an entire nation.

The producers have started a KICKSTARTER campaign to raise $50,000 to complete "The Lavender Scare". I have given and I hope you will join me. Please click here and make it possible for our history to be told for future generations.

Hell's Kitchen Journal: Meeting Edie

 

 

 

Over the years, I have met Prime Ministers, Presidents, major movie stars and a series of brave and courageous people who names are unknown. Never have I been more excited than the other night when I met our beloved Edie Windsor. She did not disappoint her many fans.

The New York Center held its 30th Anniversary dinner on Saturday night (April 13) and unlike most similar evenings it was magical. They had chosen to honor two remarkable human beings in Edie Windsor and Terrence Meck. The Center knew that they had a special moment for the community and they did not disappoint the well over 700 in the room. They kept the evening brief, informative and inspiring. If only organizations all could follow their model.

That is where I met Edie.

Let's face it, the LGBT community is so damn lucky to have her as face of this epic battle for full equality. She is smart, poised, funny and looks like everyone's mother. Edie is gracious in her time with those who she has inspired and passionate about her journey and case before the Supreme Court.

Like Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, Edie Windsor has shown the same kind of courage. When her beloved wife, Thea Spyer, passed away in 2009 after over 40 years of being together, Edie was totally heart broken. In the mist of her grief, the government said that their relationship was not a real one and taxed her $363,000 on the estate. No straight married couple would have had to pay this 'LGBT Tax'!

Instead of becoming a victim, she sued her government and fought back. Through court after court Edie's powerful story of discrimination won and with each victory her legend has grown around the world. The entire world was watching when her case reached the Supreme Court. The power of one individual determined to be free creating change was proven with Edie.

At the dinner, I approached her with caution but suddenly she was not surrounded by people. I slowly went up and introduced myself and expressed my deep admiration and gratitude. She made my night by reaching up and hugging me and saying 'thank you David, without you I would have never done it." Her gracious and kindness in the moment not only made my year but suddenly made my journey have value.

That is Edie. She constantly gives joy and hope to others. She has honored Thea by honoring us with her fight, determination and love of justice. Thank you Edie. Thank you from all of us

(Thanks to Joe Jervis of JoeMyGod for the photograph)

What Are The Best And Worst States For Marriage Equality?

 

 

The Williams Institute is one of the best 'think tanks' for LGBT issues in the world. They have just released a new study on the degree of support for marriage equality in every state. Here are the results from their latest survey:

- Support for marriage equality has increased in every single state.

-In twelve states, the support for marriage equality is at or above 50%. -Another eight states will pass the 50% mark by the end of 2014.

-In the last eight years, every state has increased support for marriage equality by an average of 13.6%.

-Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota are currently within five percentage points of majority support.

-There is a tie for the lowest level of support for marriage equality between Louisiana and Arkansas with only 31% of the people supporting it. Rounding out the bottom five are Alabama (32%), West Virgnia (32%) and Tennessee (32%)

-Among Southern states the highest support can be found in Florida (42%) and Virginia (43%).

-The top five states for marriage equality are Massachusetts (57%), Connecticut (57%), Vermont (54%), Hawaii (54%) and Oregon (54%).

-The report points out that:

Finally, there are 10 states that have previously passed constitutional amendments to not introduce same-sex marriages that now have a majority or are within percentage points of a majority in favor same-sex mar- riage { Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. These states may be the future political are- nas where existing constitutional amendments may be repealed in order to perform marriages for same-sex couples in those states.

New National Poll Shows Huge Majority Believe Marriage Equality Is Constitutional Issue

 

 

 

The latest Quinnipiac Poll shows that a vast majority of Americans believe that marriage equality should be based on the Constitution of the United States and not individual states laws. A Supreme Court decision on marriage equality based on the Constitution would likely have considerable support nationally.

The poll numbers are powerful with 56% saying the issue should be decided by the American Constitution versus only 36% who believe it should be decided by state law.

The poll contained other interesting numbers.

Support for marriage equality has hit 50% for the first time in this poll. Just five years ago only 36% supported marriage equality. Now it has reached 50% and only 41% are opposed!

Also 65% of the American people say they now have a close friend who is gay or lesbian. Only 57% of those over 55 years old say they have one but a huge 71% of those under 35 years old say they know a close friend who is gay or lesbian.

The data from the poll shows once again the urgency of coming out of the closet. It is still today the most revolutionary action that can be taken by an LGBT American

VIDEO: Hundreds Pack Church In Asheville North Carolina For Marriage Equality!

 

 

 

Never would people view Asheville, North Carolina as a hot bed for marriage equality. However hundreds of people packed an Asheville church for a candlelight vigil for justice. The event had a standing room only crowd.

As reported by the Asheville Citizen-Times:

“I’ve been a mess today,” Beach-Ferrara told the crowd that included people lining the walls of the First Congregational United Church of Christ. “This, I guess, is what it feels like to live through history.”

“This is what it feels like for LGBT people and allies to be standing and saying enough. It is time for the laws in our country to change,” she told the crowd.

Will Open Lesbian Mary Bonauto Someday Sit On The Supreme Court?

 

 

If there is a "Godmother' of the DOMA case before the United States Supreme Court it would have to be New England's Mary Bonauto. The legal genius who lives in Portland, Maine, made this her case from day one. She is the type of person we could find sitting on the Supreme Court of the United States someday.

The New York Times recently profiled this amazing woman and here are some excerpts:

“No gay person in this country would be married without Mary Bonauto,” said Roberta Kaplan, who went before the justices on Wednesday to argue one of the cases.

As the top civil rights lawyer for Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, or GLAD, based in Boston, Ms. Bonauto has spent more than a decade plotting a careful strategy to advance gay marriage rights. She prompted Vermont to create civil unions in 2000, won the 2003 case that made Massachusetts the first state to legalize same-sex marriage and last year persuaded a federal appeals court that the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal benefits to gay couples, is unconstitutional.

Yet in a quirk of fate, Ms. Bonauto watched her life’s work this week from the court’s spectator seats.

The justices considered a Defense of Marriage Act case on Wednesday, but it was not Ms. Bonauto’s, which she argued and won before the federal appeals court in Boston but which Justice Elena Kagan has acknowledged discussing when she was President Obama’s solicitor general. Instead the court took up a similar case, Ms. Kaplan’s from New York, presumably so Justice Kagan would not have to recuse herself.

“Am I disappointed?” Ms. Bonauto asked last week in her home here. “There is an element of disappointment, but I’m also incredibly excited. I feel like after all these years, you’re getting a hearing — a fair hearing — from the highest court in the land.”

At 51, Ms. Bonauto is serious and unassuming. “She is not going to set a room on fire,” said Dean Hara, a plaintiff in Ms. Bonauto’s Defense of Marriage Act case. “But when she is arguing, she is really somebody to listen to.”

Even her opponents offer kind words, saying they appreciate her civil tone.

“She has always been the consummate professional, very courteous and gentle,” said Kris Mineau of the Massachusetts Family Institute, even as he said her courtroom victories had “degraded the value of marriage.”

Ms. Bonauto works mostly from her home in this seaport city, where she and her wife, Professor Jennifer Wriggins of the University of Maine’s law school, are raising their 11-year-old twin daughters. Last year, the couple made the list of “The Most Powerful Lesbian Moms in America,” published by the Web site mombian.com. But Ms. Bonauto is too busy juggling legal briefs, homework and piano lessons to see herself as a woman making history.

“That’s not how we experience our lives,” she said.

Ms. Bonauto would be the first to say she builds on the work of others. As early as the 1970s, gay couples began suing for the right to marry, inspired by the 1967 Supreme Court ruling in Loving v. Virginia, which struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. In 1983, a young Harvard law student named Evan Wolfson wrote his third-year thesis on why gays should be free to marry.

Mr. Wolfson was eventually hired by Lambda Legal, the gay advocacy group, where he joined what he called “a very small little network of people who at that time were dedicated to toppling the so-called sodomy laws” that criminalized homosexual sex. Among them was Ms. Bonauto.

The daughter of a pharmacist and a preschool teacher from Newburgh, N.Y., she had come out, with some difficulty, while an undergraduate at Hamilton College. There, Ms. Bonauto was harassed over her sexual orientation, which she said contributed to her desire to “make life better” for others.

By 1990, with a law degree from Northeastern University, she was working for GLAD in Boston. She had been there less than a week when a gay couple approached her with the idea of suing to get married. She said no, the timing was not right.

“I would have cases of somebody who goes to a Dunkin’ Donuts and the wait person realizes it was a gay person and goes nuts,” Ms. Bonauto recalled. How could she pursue a seeming luxury like marriage, she reasoned, when gay people were being discriminated against in housing, employment and adoption and being harassed by the police?

*****************************************

Once she had established a right to marriage, Ms. Bonauto went after the Defense of Marriage Act, which denied legally married gay couples the federal benefits that straight couples could have. Barney Frank, the former Massachusetts congressman, who is openly gay, said the move had sealed Ms. Bonauto’s reputation as a “first-rate lawyer and a first-rate strategist” who built on one victory after another.

“She’s our Thurgood Marshall,” he said, referring to the Supreme Court justice who made history fighting racial discrimination.

Ms. Bonauto was at first skeptical of the other gay marriage case before the court, the challenge to Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage. She feared the court was not ready to grant gay couples a broad constitutional right to marry. But public opinion has shifted so drastically since the case was filed in 2009, Ms. Bonauto said last week, she now believes the justices can find a way to “issue a marriage decision that the country would embrace.” She has witnessed that shift at home; last year, Maine became the first state where voters approved same-sex marriage, reversing a decision from 2009.

“The things that scared people three years ago don’t scare people now,” Ms. Bonauto said.

In the run-up to Wednesday’s hearing, Ms. Bonauto focused on helping Ms. Kaplan prepare. She coordinated “friend of the court” amicus briefs, and she arrived in Washington early to participate in moot court briefings.

Ms. Kaplan said it “makes me crazy” that people do not know Ms. Bonauto’s work. Like Mr. Frank, she drew an analogy to Justice Marshall.

“She conceived of a strategy just like him, over a long number of years, and then implemented it,” Ms. Kaplan said. “It was strategically brilliant, and she succeeded. No one else can say that.”