LGBT activists targeting Rep. George Miller over failure to move ENDA

Promises have been made. Promises haven't been kept. There have been lots of promises on ENDA.

While members of Congress are asking us to help them keep their jobs, they're not doing much to help LGBT Americans keep their jobs. ENDA isn't moving, despite repeated commitments from leading Democrats to move the legislation.

So, tonight, Rep. George Miller, the Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, will be hearing from LGBT activists on ENDA. From Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade:

Activists affiliated with GetEQUAL were set on Thursday to interrupt a debate between Rep. George Miller (D-Calif) and his Republican opponent in an effort to push for passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

According to a statement, GetEQUAL was set to stage an act of non-violent, civil disobedience during the debate between Miller and GOP candidate Rick Tubbs at the Travis Credit Union Auditorium in Vacaville, Calif.

Protesters were set to silently walk to the front of the auditorium holding a sign reading: “Miller Markup Employment Non Discrimination Act Now.”

Set to work in conjunction with GetEQUAL was One Struggle One Fight, another LGBT civil disobedience organization, and Pride at Work, an LGBT constituency group of the AFL-CIO.

Miller has made promises that haven't been kept. Chris linked to this Blade article from March 18, 2010:

Moments after the arrested protesters were taken away, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) was seen walking along a nearby street. He chairs the House Education & Labor Committee, which is handling ENDA. Asked by DC Agenda when ENDA would advance to a markup, Miller replied, “Right after health care.”

Health care passed in the House on March 22, 2010.

There's not much time left to pass ENDA this year. And, as noted in the post below, DADT appears to be in peril. And, Democrats wonder why the base isn't enthusiastic.

We're all supposed to do everything we can to make sure these "supportive" members of Congress keep their jobs. It's really a one-way relationship.

But, sure looks like GetEQUAL and its allies aren't going to be silent. I'm thinking things could get interesting. Read More...

DADT faces unclear path in Senate, could die without action soon

This is not good. Not good at all.

There's a reason why Servicemember United's Alex Nicholson raised concerns about moving the Defense Authorization bill last week. There's a reason why SLDN's Aubrey Sarvis raised concerns about moving the Defense Authorization bill today. There's no clear path to get that Defense bill to the floor. And, the compromise DADT repeal legislation is included in that Defense bill.

Kerry Eleveld reports that the key decision about moving forward now rests with Majority Leader Harry Reid:

Fearful that delaying action on “don’t ask, don’t tell” until after the midterms could potentially kill the measure for the year, repeal advocates are pushing Senate majority leader Harry Reid to schedule a Senate floor vote on the defense funding bill in September.

“I’m a little anxious,” said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. “The reality is the number of legislative days in this Congress are rapidly dwindling, and we need to see that the defense authorization bill up on the Senate floor in September.”

When Congress returns to Washington next week, the Senate will have until October 8 when they leave for the midterms to take the crucial vote on the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act, which contains the provision to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

But one political operative and repeal advocate noted the bill will be competing for attention with new legislation Democrats are pushing that would provide tax breaks for businesses.

“The Democrats are trying to figure out what they can effectively do in those four weeks to distinguish themselves from Republicans before the midterm elections,” said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “The tax cut issue may provide that contrast.”

The source wagered that if the Senate floor vote does not take place before the midterms, the defense funding bill would have a “50-50” shot of passing before the end of this Congress. If it is not finalized by year’s end, the repeal effort will die.

You read that right. Despite all the promise, the repeal effort could die.

That's why SLDN is ready to turn up the heat:

But if Sarvis does not see such a commitment soon, he said, SLDN will take the fight to Reid’s home turf in order to lobby for action.

“We’ll take it to Nevada or Arizona or wherever we need to go to get the job done,” he said.

Also, HRC's Fred Sainz isn't quite accurate about this:

Fred Sainz, vice president of communications for the Human Rights Campaign, said the Senate has no reason to shy away from addressing “don’t ask, don’t tell” politically because House members who voted for repeal have not been targeted on the issue.

“We have yet to see even one member where the fact that they voted for repeal is being used against them in their reelection battle,” Sainz said

One member has been targeted with a DADT ad. That would be Majority Leader Harry Reid. The Family Research Council put an ad on the air in Nevada aimed at Reid -- on Don't Ask, Don't Tell. What a coincidence, huh? When this ad appeared on August 26th, I wrote:

My guess is that, given the timing, FRC's ad is not so much about the Senate campaign. It's more about trying to make Reid delay consideration of the Defense Authorization bill, which currently includes the DADT repeal legislation. As we noted earlier today, Republicans want to push this issue into the lame duck session in order to kill it. FRC is hoping this ad psyches out Harry Reid. I can't imagine it will work.

I'm starting to wonder if that ad had more of an impact than I initially imagined.

Repealing DADT is as close to a political no-brainer as exists. There's huge public support. There's bipartisan support. The Cheney's support it. Only among the professional Democrats in DC is it viewed as a political liability.

Not passing the compromise DADT language will become a political liability for those responsible. Promises were made. Promises better be kept. Read More...

Wash. Post editor won't defend or explain endorsement of NOM-backed candidate

The Washington Post's endorsement of NOM-backed candidate Delano Hunter has caused a firestorm of criticism. We blasted it here. Over the weekend, Kerry Eleveld took a whack at it, too, stating "When The Washington Post endorsed Delano Hunter for D.C. City Council it endorsed homophobia by justifying his stance against marriage equality."

The author of the Post editorial, Joanne Armao, tried to downplay Hunter's homophobia despite his deep ties to one of the nation's leading homophobic organizations. NOM exists to be homophobic. Jeremy Hooper posted the mailer sent by NOM in support of Hunter. It's homophobic.

Michelangelo Signorile invited Armao to be a guest on his show today to discuss the editorial. She refused. Armao told Signorile’s executive producer David Guggenheim that the editorial speaks for itself and she wouldn’t be in a position to elaborate or discuss how much (if anything) the Post knew about NOM’s relationship with Delano Hunter.

Okay, then.

Ms. Armao would only have to do a search of her own paper to know about NOM's relationship with Hunter. It's been reported here (that one actually includes the homophobic mailer from NOM) and here.

Well, Ms. Armao has quite a perch at the Washington Post's editorial page. She shouldn't tell Washingtonians that marriage equality doesn't matter. And, she shouldn't be telling us that Hunter isn't a homophobe when his campaign's existence is so deeply tied to NOM. Read More...

Arnold: I'm not appealing Judge Walker's Prop. 8 decision

Via Karen Ocamb, we learned this afternoon that the California Supreme Court asked Governor Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Brown to explain why they aren't appealing the Prop. 8 decision:

Last week the 3rd District Court of Appeal rejected a lawsuit filed by the Pacific Justice Institute trying to force Attorney General Jerry Brown (who is running for governor in the 2010 elections) and the Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to file an appeal in the federal challenge to Proposition 8. According to an email from the right wing Capitol Resources Institute, the California Supreme Court wants to know why the state isn’t appealing, too.

Via Lisa Keen, Arnold responded. He told the Supreme Court he's not going to do it:

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told the state supreme court today that he has decided not to appeal the Proposition 8 court decision to the 9th Circuit.

The definitive statement means the ability of Proposition 8 proponents to appeal will depend entirely on the legal standing of the Yes on 8 coalition.

Governor Schwarzenegger had until September 11 to make a decision and, though his position on marriage equality for gay couples has been changing, his most recent statements seemed to indicate he would not direct the state’s attorney general to appeal the decision from the U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

Read More...

Judge dismissed AFA's lawsuit against Hate Crimes law

Good news from Michigan:

Earlier this year a group of plaintiffs from Michigan, represented by the Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center, filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, passed in 2009, violated their religious freedom and freedom of speech rights. The judge dismissed the case this week.

The plaintiffs include Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association – Michigan; Levon Yuille, pastor of The Bible Church in Ypsilanti, Michigan; René B. Ouellette, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Bridgeport, Michigan; and James Combs, pastor of four different churches in the state.

So, for now, the Hate Crimes law is safe. That's good. The way things are going, it may end up being the only LGBT bill signed into law by President Obama. (I wish I was joking about that, but I'm increasingly worried that it will prove to be true.) Read More...

Steve Pougnet is on the air in his race for Congress

The gay, married dad running for Congress in California is on the air with his first t.v. ad.

Steve Pougnet is running against incumbent Mary Bono Mack. This year, she voted against the DADT compromise. She is not our ally. Not even close.

Our ActBlue page for Pougnet is here. He can win this seat. Read More...

SLDN to Reid: Set vote on Defense bill or we'll be seeing you in Vegas

Congress comes back to town next week. We've been hearing that the Senate will take up the Defense Authorization bill, which includes the compromise DADT language, in mid-September. But, there's no firm commitment and a delay could cause serious problems. SLDN is prepared to take its case to Las Vegas if there's no progress:

THEY’RE ASKING, BUT REID’S NOT TELLING – Gay rights advocates are pressing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for the date the defense authorization bill, which contains a provision to repeal “don’t ask don’t tell,” will come to the Senate floor. Before recess, Reid and his spokesman said they intended to bring up the defense policy bill soon after the chamber’s Sept. 14 return. But Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said without a date set, activists will be visiting Reid in Las Vegas. “In the absence of a specific commitment,” Sarvis told POLITICO. “I fear this could continue to slide.” Reid’s spokesman Jim Manley said the Senate will focus on small business next week. Defense authorization remains on the “to-do list” but no date is set, he said.

No date is set? We're running out of time. That's why SLDN is willing to escalate their efforts. And, I'm pretty sure most of the LGBT blogosphere, among others, will be willing to escalate, too.

Jim Messina at the White House and CAP's Winnie Stachelberg better be paying attention here. They concocted the strategy behind the compromise. They better be working to make sure it passes this year. Read More...

'Burn a Quran' church spewed 'No Homo Mayor' vitriol in April

Despite warnings that burning the Quran could endanger the lives of U.S. troops, Dove World's Pastor Terry Jones intends to do it anyway.

The action has been decried by General Petraeus, the Obama administration and local leaders:

Local leaders, including University of Florida President Bernard Machen and Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe (who Dove World has targeted because he is gay), along with an interfaith group, have uniformly spoken out against Jones' plans. They say burning a Quran would put residents' lives in danger, including the 90,000 people expected to attend Saturday's football game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium between UF and the University of South Florida.

Yes, Gainesville has a gay mayor. And, Dove World has been vicious to him.

Here's a report from On Top Magazine after won:

The campaign was long and turned ugly when Lowe opponents attacked his sexual orientation.

A sign that said “No Homo Mayor” was posted on the property of the Dove World Outreach Center and attracted national attention. One of its pastors, Wayne Sapp, went further, uploading several videos online in which he attacked Lowe.

“Here is Gainesville, they're getting ready to have a runoff election between two candidates and one of them is openly a homo, gay, fag – whatever you want to call him, I don't care,” Sapp says in one of the videos. “Bottom line is we cannot afford a homo mayor.”

“We got one running for mayor of Gainesville, trying to convert Gainesville into Homoville,” Sapp adds. “We can't have it.”

Gays, Muslims. Dove just needs people to hate -- for the Lord, of course. Read More...