Cindy McCain supports marriage equality

Cindy McCain has joined her daughter, Meghan, by publicly supporting same-sex marriage. Perez Hilton reports:

If only we could get this kind of response from our First Lady!

Cindy McCain, mother of vocal marriage equality advocate Meghan McCain and wife to Senator John McCain, has come forward as part of the NOH8 campaign to take a stand for marriage equality.

This is going to get those right-wingers squawking. And, we're waiting, Michelle -- and Barack.

More on the NOH8 campaign here. Read More...

Lambda Legal sues Obama admin. over failure to provide benefits in Golinski case

The refusal of the Obama administration to follow a judge's order to grant benefits to the wife of Karen Golinski has left a lot of people scratching their heads. Aside from the usual apologists (and job-seekers) who can never find fault with anything Obama does, it just didn't make sense that the White House, the Department of Justice and the Office of Personnel Management went to such great lengths to deny the Judge's order. It seemed like a slam-dunk opportunity to make progress. But, we've learned over the past year not to expect anything like that from the Obama administration.

Today, Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit on behalf of Karen Golinski. I usually don't post entire press releases, but this one uses very strong language and should be seen in full:

Lambda Legal today filed suit against the federal government in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuit requests an order directing the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to obey prior rulings by Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski awarding spousal health insurance benefits to Ninth Circuit judicial attorney Karen Golinski.

Kozinski ruled in January 2009, that denying Golinski spousal health insurance for her wife, Amy Cunninghis, was illegal discrimination. He ordered the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to submit Golinski's health benefits election form to her insurer, Blue Cross/Blue Shield. OPM disagreed with Kozinski's order and told Blue Cross not to comply.

"It's a bit shocking that we've reached this point with the Obama Administration. Where is our 'fierce advocate' for LGBT rights?" said Jennifer C. Pizer, National Marriage Project Director for Lambda Legal and co-counsel for Golinski.

Last November, Kozinski issued a further ruling explaining that he has the authority, under both the Ninth Circuit's Employment Dispute Resolution (EDR) Plan and the constitutional separation of powers doctrine, to interpret laws governing the rights of judicial employees. His order gave OPM thirty days to comply or appeal. The controversy drew heightened national attention when, instead of doing either, OPM issued a press release saying the order was not binding and that the U.S. Department of Justice had advised OPM not to comply in light of the 1996 so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA). When OPM failed to appeal by the December deadline, Kozinski held that his prior rulings had become conclusive and binding against OPM.

"OPM's refusal to give their analysis – even informally – is the most telling. If they are confident Judge Kozinski is wrong, why didn't they tell us, and him, why they think so? Simply defying his orders is a slap in the face to Karen and the entire LGBT community and bizarrely disrespects the judiciary. At a minimum, federal courts have the power and responsibility to end discrimination against their own employees. The whole point of the court's EDR tribunal is to give judicial employees the same meaningful recourse as other federal employees. OPM has said nothing to suggest the Chief Judge's reasoning on this point is mistaken," Pizer added.

The lawsuit asks the federal district court to order OPM to rescind its instruction to Golinski's insurer, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, not to enrollCunninghis in Golinski's family health insurance plan so the coverage for Cunninghis can begin.

"The timing of this lawsuit is painfully ironic," said Golinski. "It falls between the first anniversaries of Judge Kozinski's original ruling in my favor and the new Administration's arrival in Washington with its promise of positive change for lesbian and gay Americans. I deeply appreciate the commitment of my employer – the Ninth Circuit – to fairness and equality, and I wish this lawsuit were unnecessary."

Where is our "fierce advocate" for LGBT rights? A lot of us want to know. Read More...

The impact of the Mass. election on LGBT issues 'still very much in flux'

Kerry Eleveld talked to her sources on Capitol Hill to find out what the Brown victory means in terms of LGBT legislation:

“The middle class is saying, what’s in it for me?” said the source, noting that revenue increases and higher taxes were set to kick in almost immediately. “The ‘me’ question has to be answered. For Democrats, the question is, what can they pass now that they can run on in November?”

In terms of LGBT agenda items, the source said the situation was still very much in flux. It remains to be seen if Democrats will try to score points with the progressive base or if they will walk a more moderate line until November.

The source noted that repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” polls well with the progressive base and it polls as well with independents as it does Democrats. Making that point will be the challenge for the LGBT community.

“If they do a few ancillary things for the progressive base, will don’t ask, don’t tell be one of them – that’s the question,” said the source.

As Kerry reported last week, the President also plays a significant role when it comes to the repeal of DADT. We still don't know what he plans to do -- because, as we learned last week from the "secret meeting" of gay leaders, there is no plan. Read More...

Newsom to Obama: Separate is not equal

Gavin Newsom on Obama and gay rights via Maureen Dowd:

I asked whether President Obama, who said at a Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration that the civil rights movement was partly about “changing people’s hearts and minds and breaking out of old customs and old habits,” had disappointed him given that the president is a triumph of civil rights himself.

“Oh, I can’t get in trouble here,” Newsom said with a playful wince. “I want him to succeed. But I am very upset by what he’s not done in terms of rights of gays and lesbians. I understand it tactically in a campaign, but at this point I don’t know. There is some belief that he actually doesn’t believe in same-sex marriage. But it’s fundamentally inexcusable for a member of the Democratic Party to stand on the principle that separate is now equal, but only on the basis of sexual orientation. We’ve always fought for the rights of minorities and against the whims of majorities.”

Read More...

Wake up call for Obama, DNC

Just read a phenomenal piece over at OpEdNews by Steven Leser titled, "Coakley Loss Massive Blow and Wakeup Call for Obama, DNC." I love his prescription for getting back on track, and agree wholeheartedly with his urgent appeal that if Team Obama doesn't start implementing change then they will be blown away in the midterms. I especially agree with fixes "2." and "3":

2. Ditch the current Healthcare bill and pass Medicare for all through Reconciliation.

The problem with both iterations of the current Health Care Bill is that NO ONE, and I mean no one, LOVES it. Those of us still in favor of it (at least until recently) have defended it by making excuses for it. Yes, it's better than allowing 20,000 people to die each year and countless others suffer with non-covered pre-existing conditions. That is the best we could say about it. That is no longer good enough.

3. Kill DOMA and Don't Ask Don't Tell via Executive Order

It is no longer tolerable that the administration has done little to nothing for the LGBT community. You want to shore up the base (not to mention do the right thing)? The Gay community is an important and sizeable piece of the Democratic base. Do this for them and you will see a huge amount of energy come back, I promise you.

DOMA can't be killed with an Executive Order, but "Don't Ask Don't Tell" can certainly be indefinitely paused, and should have been done a long time ago. The damage has been done with the deliberately nasty briefs filed by the administration on DOMA's behalf. Stop defending it, and be that "fierce advocate" you claimed to be, Obama. Do this, and you will not be a footnote. Otherwise, leaf meet wind. Read More...

Mayor Sanders: 'I came to say that we cannot tolerate discrimination against one group of people'

Rex Wockner was at the Prop. 8 trial yesterday and attended the press conference held by San Diego's GOP Mayor Jerry Sanders and his daughter, Lisa.

Sanders was on the witness stand testifying for the supporters of same-sex marriage yesterday. Rex has photos and the words of the Mayor and his daughter, starting with this:

I came as a Republican mayor, I came as a father and I came as a former police chief. And I came to say that we cannot tolerate discrimination against one group of people. ... I'm here with my daughter and I'm very proud of my daughter. But I was also honored to testify because I think this is an important issue for all Californians. Today was difficult at times because it required me to talk about the reasons I once believed civil unions were good enough for same-sex couples. And I think what that did was force me to think about why I'd done that. And I thought at the time it was an acceptable compromise. However, I have learned very clearly from people that are very involved that I was discriminating against them based on prejudicial arguments that I had. When I said that civil unions were enough, I was saying that the relationship that my daughter has with Meaghan, I was saying that that wasn't as important, that wasn't as significant as the marriage that I have to my wife. And I was wrong about that, and I think that that's one of the things that I wanted to make sure that people understood today. I also think that the city of San Diego ... has a strong interest in marriage equality.

Read More...