From Approve71.org, the website of Washington Families Standing Together, news of a poll showing the approve side (our side) is ahead right now. As in Maine, turnout is key. From the press release (pdf):
The Approve 71 campaign today released polling data that shows the campaign to protect all of Washington’s families and the state’s domestic partnership law promises to be a tough fight that hinges on strong voter turnout and broad voter contact.
Following certification of R-71 on Sept. 2, 2009, the Approve 71 campaign commissioned Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (GQR) to conduct a statewide survey of voters likely to vote in Washington's upcoming general election.
“We have seen over the years that an increasing majority of Washingtonians support equality under the law for all Washington families,” said Anne Levinson, Approve 71 campaign chair. "But we know that in an off-year election voter turnout trends to older, more conservative voters, and as much as half of the general population won’t be voting, so we wanted to ask just likely voters about specific ballot language."
The poll result numbers strongly suggest it will be a close election.
• When voters are read the exact ballot language, they divide 51 percent “approve” and 44 percent “reject.”
“The poll suggests the same trend we’ve seen across the country, the highest margins of support are among younger voters and those who vote less frequently, particularly urban voters,” Levinson said. “The R-71 election is likely to have a very narrow margin and since the measure was certified so late, we only have a few weeks to reach voters to explain what the domestic partnership law is and how it protects families. It is critical that those who support the law turn out to vote.”
Let's repeat that last line again:
It is critical that those who support the law turn out to vote.
If healthcare is passed with DOMA still in place does that mean that along with the illegals that homosexual familes will be excluded? As much as Mr. Obama deplores the horrible DOMA they "must" follow the law in order to buy 3 republican votes to claim "bi-partisanship" that everyone will call a sham anyhow.
The answer, I believe, is you betcha.
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As I reported last night, the anti-gay forces are out with their latest t.v. ad. It's not a new ad. As Julia Rosen points out at Crooks and Liars, it's almost identical to an ad run in California last fall -- and it continues that campaign's pattern of lying. After the anti-gay campaign launched its first ad last week, two of Maine's more conservative newspapers called out their lies. The Bangor Daily News and the Lewiston Sun-Journal both dismissed the argument that the new marriage equality law has anything to do with educating kids. From the No on 1/Protect Maine Equality press release:
The NO on 1 campaign noted that the Bangor Daily News and the Lewiston Sun Journal have each editorialized against the false claims that Maine's marriage equality law would impact anything in the public schools.
The Journal wrote on Sept. 18: "Will same sex marriage be taught in schools, if it becomes legal in Maine? No - nothing in law or curriculum mandates any Maine student be taught about marriage, same-sex or otherwise."
Also on Sept. 18, the Bangor Daily News editorialized that ". . .the claim by repeal proponents is that schools would be forced to teach 'gay sex education.' It is baseless and betrays an ignorance about education."
For those who don't know Maine, neither of those papers are viewed as anything close to liberal. The Bangor paper has always been conservative and the Lewiston paper is owned by a conservative Catholic family. But, even that criticism didn't stop "Stand for Marriage" from continuing the blatant lie in their latest ads.
That brings us to the Bishop of Maine, Richard Malone. He is furiously raising money for the anti-gay campaign. We know the Mormons are okay with "lying for the lord." Now, we're going to find out if Bishop Malone adheres to that commandment about bearing false witness or if he's going to fund "baseless" lies.
Help counter the lies. Donate to No on 1/Protect Maine Equality via our ActBlue page. The campaign gets every dollar and they need every dollar. And, many, many thanks to those who have contributed. We blew past our initial goal of $25,000 -- and I see that John has upped our new goal to $50,000. We did that for Prop. 8. We can do it for Maine.
Check out this video comparing the two ads: Read More...
It seems Democratic Senate candidate Alex Giannoulias, who is running for the Democratic nomination for Obama's old seat in Illinois, may have started a bit of a pro-gay avalanche (well, at least a few good rolling stones) after his announcement that he has no problem with gays and lesbians being permitted civil marriages.
Please help Alexi's campaign with a donation by clicking on the "contribute" button to the left. Few Democrats, especially Senate Democrats, have the backbone to openly support our community like Giannoulias has. He deserves our support.
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The religious right is claiming that the state's constitutional ban on gay marriage negates having domestic partner registries. Strikes me as a bit fallacious, as they would be marriage registries if they were marriages. Thus per se they're not included in the constitutional ban.
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Muslims should be careful about advocating that one use religion to judge another human being's worth. Lest a lot of Christians take their advice to heart. (And same goes for Christians, or Mormons, who advocate the same.)
...remarks made by Ali Abdessalam Treki, who is a former foreign minister of Libya. Treki said in a news conference last week that the issue of homosexuality was "very sensitive, very touchy," but then added that "as a Muslim, I myself am not in favor of that. ... It is not accepted in the majority of the world."
The United Nations voted last year to urge the decriminalization of homosexuality in countries around the world.
Carter Jernigan and Behram Mistree claim they can actually tell whether or not someone is gay based on the company they keep, according to a Tuesday report in the Boston Globe.
In the project, dubbed "Gaydar," Jernigan and Mistree pored over Facebook data compiled from a software program looking at the gender and sexuality of a user's friends. Based on that information, the students say people may be unintentionally "outing" themselves because they were able to predict, with accuracy, whether someone is gay.
Hell, all I ever do is look and see if far too many of their "friends" are cute, under 30, and have their shirts off :-)
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The House Education and Labor Committee hearing on ENDA begins started at 10:00. The witness list is here.The Committee website has a live webcast here.
Opponents of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy say Rocha was trapped: he couldn't report the abuse because that could reveal his sexual orientation. They say the policy also played a role in the abuse: Others in the unit repeatedly asked Rocha if he was gay — a violation of the "don't ask" provision — because he would not avail himself of prostitutes who visited their quarters. And, in the end, Rocha's PTSD prompted him to tell the Navy he is gay, resulting in his expulsion.
Sestak also is requesting information regarding Chief Petty Officer Michael Toussaint, who was responsible for the unit and was later promoted to senior chief.
"It would astound me if he was promoted if these allegations are true," Sestak said in an interview. "What kind of a command climate is that?"...
Shaun Hogan of Maine, a former Bahrain colleague of Rocha's who is now a reservist, said Rocha was treated worse than others who were hazed because Rocha was believed to be gay. Hogan said some in the unit "blatantly asked" if Rocha was gay. It was Hogan who obtained the Navy's report and shared it with Youth Radio, an Oakland, Calif., news organization that broke the story.
