Election Night 2010 Open Thread: LGBT edition

UPDATE @ 2:15 AM: Long night and I'm heading to bed. Of interest to LGBT voters are thre outstanding are Governor's races in states where marriage or civil unions could pass: Maine, Minnesota and Illinois. There's no victor in Florida, yet, either. And, there's no winner yet in the Washington, Alaska or Colorado Senate races. In Alaska, the write-in candidate leads.

UPDATE @ 1:50 PM: Neil Abercrombie has won the Governor's race in Hawaii. He'll sign the civil unions bill, which the current Governor, Linda Lingle, vetoed. Abercrombie's opponent in the Democratic primary and the general election both opposed the civil unions legislation, too.

UPDATE @ 1:24 AM: Well, it's official: All three Iowa Supreme Court Justices lost their bids for retention. How did that happen?

UPDATE @ 12:31 AM: Harry Reid defeated Sharron Angle.

UPDATE @ 12:17 AM: Mark Kirk has been declared the winner of the Illinois Senate seat held by Barack Obama. Kirk, who voted against DADT repeal in May, will become Senator immediately, meaning he'll serve in the lame duck.

UPDATE @ 12:03 AM: Independent Lincoln Chafee has been elected Governor of Rhode Island -- and he supports marriage equality, which will be a welcome change from the current homophobic Governor.

UPDATE @ 11:56 PM: Just got an email from a friend in CT that an openly gay man was elected Comptroller. Check GayPolitics.com and it's true: Kevin Lembo.

UPDATE @ 11:50 PM: The Chair of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO), an ardent opponent of repealing DADT, lost tonight. Not really feeling bad about that one.

UPDATE @ 11:47 PM: Via twitter from Marc Ambinder, disturbing news from Iowa:

Those Iowa judges who legalized same sex marriage are all losing now.

There's going to have to be a reckoning on this one. What did our advocacy groups do on this one -- and when did they do it?

UPDATE @ 11:43 PM: Here's a statement from SLDN's Aubrey Sarvis on Rep. Patrick Murphy:

"Tonight the House of Representatives and our country lost a bright, capable young leader. SLDN will forever remember and be grateful for Patrick's remarkable leadership in the fight to repeal DADT, and I have no doubt Patrick Murphy will be back to serve this nation again. We appreciate his long and extraordinary service to our country."

UPDATE @ 11:19 PM: We got some good news from California. Jerry Brown has been elected Governor and Barbara Boxer has been reelected to the U.S. Senate.

UPDATE @ 10:46 PM: More bad news. Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, a strong supporter of marriage equality, was defeated by Ron Johnson.

UPDATE @ 10:41 PM: Very bad news. Via TPMMedia:

BREAKING: Patrick Murphy (D), DADT repeal leader, goes down to Michael Fitzpatrick (R) in PA-8 http://tpm.ly/bRrGst

BREAKING @ 10:32 PM: Via GayPolitics.com, David Cicilline was elected to Congress tonight. He'll make the fourth openly gay member of Congress. Congrats to Rep.-elect Cicilline.

UPDATE @ 10:03 PM: Worried about Rep. Patrick Murphy. Just got a report that he's down 53% - 47% with 70% reporting. Ugh.

UPDATE @ 9:51 PM: Governor Deval Patrick won reelection in Massachusetts. Interesting that Patrick and his GOP opponent, Charlie Baker, are both pro-marriage.

UPDATE @ 9:39 PM: I've posted the TowleRoad election night chat in the post below this one, you can also find it here. Feel free to join in.

UPDATE @ 9:37 PM: Via Joe.My.God:

Barney Frank WINS! .@GOProud wasted $50K on Sean "Loser" Bielat! BWA HA HA HA!

UPDATE @ 9:28 PM: We'll still have to hear David "DC Madam" Vitter spew his anti-gay rhetoric. He actually won reelection. Really, Louisiana? Wow.

UPDATE @ 9:13 PM: Via tweet from Nick Seaver, we learn "Pro-marriage equality Gov. O'Malley wins re-election, according to MSNBC"

UPDATE @ 9:10 PM: More good news from New York: Andrew Cuomo was elected Governor tonight over homophobe Paladino. Cuomo is pro-marriage equality.

BREAKING @ 9:02 PM: MSNBC just predicted that the GOP will take control of the U.S. House. GOP will hold 237 seats to 198 for the Dems. We'll be dealing with Speaker Boehner. Also, Senator Gillibrand, one of our few champions in the Senate, was reelected.

UPDATE @ 8:11 PM: Republican Marc Rubio wins in Florida.

UPDATE @ 8:08 PM: There is some good news from New Hampshire. Governor John Lynch, who signed the marriage bill into law last year, was reelected. NOM put money in this race to defeat Lynch. Another #NOMFAIL.

UPDATE @ 8:04 PM: Some updates via MSNBC, in the Delaware Senate race, pro-marriage Democrat Chris Coons beat that whack job Christine O'Donnell. Unfortunately, in the New Hampshire Senate race, Kelly Ayotte, who not only opposes marriage but is against gay adoption, defeated pro-marriage equality Democrat Paul Hodes. Barbara Mikulski won in Maryland.

UPDATE @ 7:39 PM: So far, Republicans have won contested Senate seats in Kentucky with Rand Paul, Ohio with Rob Portman and Indiana with Dan Coats. Looking like Marco Rubio will prevail in Florida, but Manchin will probably hold West Virginia.

We've got an Election Night Open Thread going over at AMERICAblog.com to update the results. We'll be posting updates here, too. Polls closed in Indiana and Kentucky at 6:00 PM and just voting just stopped in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia at 7:00 PM. At 7:30 PM, polls close in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia. We'll update this poll with actual results when races are called -- and we'll be monitoring LGBT races, too.

The Victory Fund will be monitoring races with LGBT candidate at GayPolitics.com, where we just learned about the first LGBT victory of the night:

Kentucky’s second-largest city has elected an openly gay man as its next mayor. Vice-Mayor Jim Gray was victorious tonight in his second campaign for the city’s top job, beating incumbent Mayor Jim Newberry.

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TowleRoad election night chat

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Washington State GOP mailer claims support for LGBT rights means Senator is 'anti-woman'

It looks like a homophobic GOP mailer is causing quite a stir in Washington State. Lurleen has the details and the offending GOP mailer over at the Blend:

Talk about dirty low down. The Washington Senate Republicans have no legitimate grounds to criticize Senator Rodney Tom (D-48, Bellevue), so they dropped a lie-infested mailer into the district too late for the traditional press to have time to react. The ad equates Tom's support of LGBT equality with being anti-woman. This is laughable. Sen. Tom has been a solid supporter of women's rights and reproductive freedom.

Sen. Tom was a member of the republican party until about 4 years ago, but crossed the isle because of the GOP's unrelenting gay bashing.

And, that unrelenting gay bashing continues unabated -- with very few exceptions. Read More...

DADT: And, no one could have known...

Before we hear the breathless, inevitable, "No one could have known!" excuse, maybe we need to review? For the past year countless national gay organizations, and AMERICAblog Gay, has warned that if the Obama administration did not expend a little political capital and move on our civil rights legislation, then it would not happen period. First, Dan Savage from a recent CBS news article,

"F*** you, you pack of co-opting cowards," he wrote. "You can do a more than offer hope. You have the power to make it better. Right now." He said the White House should immediately suspend enforcement of DADT. The administration wants the repeal to occur legislatively, after reviewing a Pentagon study on the matter.

and then John's quote,

Prominent gay rights blogger John Aravosis of Americablog also took Jarrett to task for lifting Savage's "it gets better" slogan without results, calling it "distasteful."

"The President who repeatedly promised to be our 'fierce advocate' has been pretty much business as usual," he wrote. "He pays lip service to our civil rights, but doesn't seem terribly interested in spending any political capital to help make them a reality... When exactly is it going to get better, Valerie? 2017?"

What a shock, with heavy sarcasm intended, that the inside the beltway newspapers are now starting to publish the political realities of what Obama's lack of "Fierce Advocacy" will mean for our civil rights.

If, as expected, the House swings Republican and the GOP gains strength in the Senate, the chances of don't ask, don't tell being repealed in the next Congress are slim to none. Republican opposition to this year's House-passed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that could have lead to the repeal of DADT early next year is proof that a GOP-enhanced Congress spell's death to repeal.

Unless Senate Democrats make a last-ditch effort to push through repeal during the lame duck session, before the new Congress is seated in January, the legislative route appears doomed. Given the short time frame before adjournment and the heat such a tactic would generate, don't ask, don't tell is likely to remain the law of the land, at least for the next few years.

No one could have ever known? I would further extrapolate that the "Don't Ask Don't Give" campaign is justified by the realities warned about and we now face. If the Democratic Party wants our energy and financial support then they can't continue to use us, but then throw us under the bus like it is still 1993. The world continues to move forward on LGBT civil rights while our country remains mired in the past. Read More...

In Oklahoma, Sally Kern keeps it classy (not, of course) right til the end

Via The Advocate, Sally Kern ended her campaign against Brittany Novotny just like you'd expect from one of the nation's proudest and most vocal LGBT bashers:

Oklahoma state representative Sally Kern and her challenger Brittany Novotny don't agree on much, but neither supports one of the more contentious issues in their state this Election Day: State Question 744.

Novotny's disapproval on the ballot question, which would raise per-student education spending in a way she does not agree with, was never made public. However, Kern's last-minute mailer, sent to voters over the weekend, not only claims the challenger supports SQ744 but points out several times that she is transgender.

"Last I checked, bearing false witness is in violation of the 10 commandments," Novotny said. "This kind of false representation of my position on an important local issue shows that Representative Kern is not only out of touch and ineffective but also just plain dishonest. The voters of HD 84 deserve a representative who will focus on jobs, education and transportation — not more political games."

The mailer also pointsjavascript:void(0) out that Novotny is unmarried, chair of the LGBT Caucus of Oklahoma, and supports marriage equality as defining traits. Kern, on the other hand "supports traditional marriage (between a man and women [sic])" and touts that she is the wife of a preacher.

Wait..."a man and women"?? Is that really a mistake on Kern's mailer -- or does she support polygamy? I mean, that is "traditional" marriage for some.

Brittany's website is here. I sure hope she wins, but she deserves our gratitude for taking on Kern. Read More...

A very proud and fearless Suze Orman says 'It Gets Better'

Take a short break from electioneering and listen to Suze:

I love her -- even as I fear her. Read More...

How do you motivate people after you throw them under the bus?

This is the conundrum a lot of LGBT voters and friends face, I fear.

"[W]hat do I tell my LGBT readers this time around?" said John Aravosis, editor of AMERICABlog. "'Vote for Democrats. They won't keep their promises, but they suck less?' Of course I'm voting, and of course I'm urging our readers to support Democrats who have actually kept their promises. But it's difficult motivating people to vote once again for the same guys who already threw them under the bus."

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Ted Olson: 'Game Changer' on marriage equality. Let's hope he can change more GOP minds.

Andy Towle posted this yesterday of Ted Olson getting a HuffPost Game Changer award. It's especially relevant on this Election Day, because we may need Ted Olson (and Ken Mehlman) to start lobbying on Capitol Hill when the GOPers try to block equality. Olson's got a powerful message:

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Check out the 'Last minute LGBT Voter Guide' for key states

A lot of the electoral coverage has focused on Congress. But, we're going to be fighting for equality at the state level. David Badash at the New Civil Rights Movement asks:

OK. Now you know who to vote for Governor, Senator, and Representative, what about your state and local races?

To help, David compiled voter guides from a number of states, including California, Florida, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina and Washington. And, he's going to update it throughout the day.

So, even if you're pissed at Obama and the Democrats in Congress (and I am), vote for your equality at the local level. Minnesota and New York should be two of the next state's that pass marriage.

And, if you live in Iowa, vote to retain the Supreme Court Justices. That could be one of the most important elections of this cycle. Read More...

David Frum: The gays created the modern Halloween

At least for adults.

Where did that adult dress-up party begin?

As best we can tell: in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood. In the 1970s, that neighborhood emerged as the heart of a new home-owning, bourgeois, coupled gay community. A local variety store had long sponsored a Halloween street festival for kids. In the 1970s, the street festival transitioned into an adult party of lavish costumed theatricality. The "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence" -- a troupe of transvestite nuns -- got their start here.

The Castro Halloween party spread to other gay neighborhoods in the 1980s: Greenwich Village, West Hollywood, Key West, Florida. In 1994, University of Florida anthropologist Jerry Kugelmass published a book on the new trend, "Masked Culture," describing Halloween as an emerging gay "high holiday."

And after a while -- the straights imitated.

From the spread of disco in the 1970s -- to the habit of paying money for sparkling waters such as Perrier -- culminating in Halloween, gays have incubated and developed major cultural trends. Straights adopt, and then ungratefully forget whom they are adopting from -- just as American Christians forget how much of the modern Christmas music they enjoy was written by Jews, starting with the most popular of them all, Irving Berlin's "White Christmas." The majority culture forgets what the minority culture has produced.

The "masked culture" first developed by the gays of San Francisco has reached across the lines of orientation -- and now jumped across the boundaries between nations and languages. It's not just a party. It's an ideal of personal emancipation, self-expression and self-fulfillment -- an ideal that loses none of its power when it takes the form of a sexy nurse's outfit.

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THIS JUST IN: Obama wins in court. Appeals court keeps DADT in operation, per administration request.

If the administration doesn't want to be blamed for this, then stop enabling it. Here's an excellent summary by Igor at ThinkProgress. Read More...

Don't think Republicans won't try to block pro-LGBT policies

There's a lot of speculation about what will happen on LGBT issues if Republicans take control of the House (and, possibly the Senate). Many think we'll be dealing with the status quo. The logic goes: We won't get anything progressive passed, but they won't succeed in passing anything egregious.

I'd say: Watch the way the GOPers work the system. As an example, I'm going to refer us back to an effort by Rep. Alcee Hastings to defund the DADT investigations using the Appropriations process. That effort was stymied by the Obama White House. But that's what the GOPer used to do all the time:

Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) had an amendment to the Defense Appropriations that would have prevented funding any DADT investigation. That's the kind of procedural tactic Republicans have used for years to stop funding of programs they didn't like. For years, Republicans blocked federal funding of DC's domestic partnerships and needle exchange. I'm not sure if this was the best approach, but, sometimes, the only way to make progress is to use (or abuse) the appropriations process. But, a funny (or not so funny) thing happened on the way to the Appropriations bill mark-up. In his own words, Hastings was pressured by the White House and others to drop his amendment.

Yes, needle exchange and DC's registry couldn't be funded. Republicans really know how to use -- and abuse -- the Appropriations process. What do you think the GOPers will do to prevent DC's same-sex marriage law from being implemented? Bishop Harry Jackson is probably writing the language to prevent the use of any of DC resources for marriage.

My point is that the Republicans will find ways to thwart and prevent pro-gay policies under their purview. All those LGBT-related initiatives proposed by the Obama administration are on their chopping block. Read through the DNC's list of "accomplishments." Anything that requires the use of federal funds will be under the GOP's control. The Republicans will find ways to screw with them. That's how they do business.

So, we could actually have a lot of LGBT-related votes in the next Congress. And, so you know, in 2007, even with Democratic control, our side lost a House vote to end the ban on funding DC's domestic partner registry. The GOPers could force votes on any number of things.

So, may need to count on the Senate and the President's veto pen to prevent anti-gay legislation from becoming law. Do you really think the Senate and the President are going to stop this from happening? I really doubt we'll see a veto threat to save any LGBT policy. Read More...

Judge tells Ugandan paper to stop outing gays, paper says it will do it anyway

BBC:

Giles Muhame, editor of the two-month-old Rolling Stone paper, told the AFP news agency that he would defy the ban.

He says he is trying to protect Ugandans from those seeking to "recruit children to homosexuality".

Fifteen names were identified last month, next to a headline which read: "Hang them".

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Administration deporting legally married gay spouses because of DOMA, the law Obama is defending in court

The President has a choice when it comes to defending and enforcing bigoted laws, as we've been saying all along, and as most experts now admit when it comes to DADT, but much of the same logic applies to DOMA as well. It's just the apologists and the folks wanting to work in the administration who are still defending Obama's defense of DOMA and DADT. And now that defense is forcing legally married gay couples to be literally ripped apart by the Obama administration.

ABC News:

Joshua Vandiver, a Colorado native who is earning his Ph.D. in politics at Princeton University, said he is the studious type who has rarely embraced activism. But now, just months into his legal marriage to Venezuelan Henry Velandia, he is fighting to save his husband from being deported.

Had the couple been straight and not gay, Vandiver would have been allowed to apply for permanent residence status for Velandia, who could then later apply for citizenship.

But their dream to build a life together is been derailed by the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as between a man and a woman under all federal laws, including immigration.

Mind you, the President decided to ignore a federal law requiring him to kick out the not-yet-American-citizen spouses of deceased Americans. They get to stay. But gay spouses? No such empathy from the Obama administration and the apologists. Suddenly it's all "we simply MUST obey the rule of law."

No they mustn't. And no they haven't. They simply pull out this excuse when it's time to bash the gays. Read More...

Tyler Clementi's roommate now claims the video only showed two guys making out

Tyler Clementi, you'll recall, is the Rutgers freshman who jumped off a bridge to his death after his roommate set up a secret Web cam in his room, tweeted to the entire university that Tyler was making out with a guy on cam, and then a few days later invited the entire university to watch Tyler and another guy on cam.

Now the former roommate is claiming that the video never showed Tyler having sex, just making out, and that they never broadcast the video publicly.

Oh so is this the "dead kid over-reacted" defense? Sure sounds like it. And it doesn't really matter whether or not we NOW find out the video didn't show them having sex. (Not that I believe a word this guy and his accomplice say - we're to believe they were watching Tyler and some guy making out alone in his room and they turned the cam off after only two minutes, before things got hot? Seriously? I don't believe that for a second.) But regardless, the idiot tweeted to the entire campus that his roommate was caught on cam making out with "some dude." Whether or not he also saw them having sex is irrelevant in terms of outing the poor kid to the entire universe.

And as for the "we didn't broadcast the video," that's what you claimed you did on Twitter. That's what Tyler read, and shortly thereafter killed himself. So how is this much of a defense?

I think the two are trying to lessen the "privacy violation" in order to lessen whatever punishment they face.

Let them try to make Tyler less dead, then we'll talk about lessening their sentence. Read More...