A Winter Social, sponsored by the Out & Equal NY Finger Lakes Regional Affiliate (formerly the Finger Lakes LGBT Workplace Alliance (FLLWA), will take place Wednesday, Dec. 3, at Geva Theater, 75 Woodbury Blvd., Rochester.

Social begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Geva Theatre Café. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres and cash bar will be provided, as well as a door prize drawing for two tickets to the Broadway show “The Drowsy Chaperone” at the Auditorium Theatre.

The Geva show “A Christmas Story” begins promptly at 7 p.m. A special ticket price of $42 includes the show and social. Tickets are LIMITED! The DEADLINE is Nov. 19! Payment can be made by cash or check.

Please contact tmayer812@gmail.com for payment information.

Out & Equal will be collecting monetary donations and non-perishable goods in honor of AIDS Week. All donations will be given to AIDS Rochester.

Date: Saturday, November 15, 2008

Location: Monroe County Office Building

39 W. Main Street, Rochester

Time: 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM

On Election Day, Californians overthrew the rights of same-sex couples to marry. This action has set in motion a series of protests and demonstrations from coast to coast. Similar anti-gay measures were also passed in Arizona, Florida and Arkansas.

A local coalition of fair-minded citizens has expressed outrage concerning these recent developments. Many rallies to protest the passage of Proposition 8 in California are scheduled at hundreds of cities across the United States. The city of Rochester, known as one of the hotbeds for the civil rights movement, will appropriately host a rally at the Monroe County Office Building on Saturday afternoon.

Organizers expect a broad spectrum of support. This effort has been organized entirely through grassroots support on Facebook and other Internet social networking sites. There are over 150 signatures on Facebook that have committed to attending the event.

Organizers have also arranged for a diverse group of lawmakers, labor leaders, clergy and activists to speak to the inequity of civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

By Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director Equality Forum

A great paradox of the 2008 federal election in which the first African American was elected President is that three states passed referenda to amend their respective state constitutions to prohibit same-sex couples from marrying and Arkansas passed a referendum to preclude unmarried couples from adopting or fostering children.

Eighteen states allow their constitutions to be amended through ballot initiatives without consent by the legislative and/or executive branches. The remaining states enable their constitutions to be amended by the public after legislative and/or executive action. Some states require majority approval and others mandate voter approval ranging from 60 percent to two thirds approval.

The same-sex ballot initiatives exemplify the danger posed to all citizens by stripping away of fundamental rights from marginalized citizens and the importance of the judiciary in protecting civil liberties.

Barack Obama was born in Honolulu on August 4, 1961. In 1961, 16 states not including Hawaii had laws that made miscegenation a crime and branded the offspring of a black and white couple as a bastard. In 1967, the US Supreme Court ruled in Loving v. Virginia that miscegenation laws were unconstitutional because they violated the due process clause and equal protection of the 14th Amendment.

Given prevalent racial animosity in 1961, had racists tried to amend state constitutions to prohibit miscegenation, those ballot initiatives would have been overwhelmingly passed in most states.

During World War II, had xenophobes tried to amend state constitutions to prohibit the civil liberties of Japanese Americans, they would have been easily approved. State amendments to limit civil liberties could have been readily enacted against immigrants such as the Irish, Chinese and Jews, among others.

A democracy is measured by how it protects minority religious, political, racial and other individual differences. The US Supreme Court has addressed these concerns in various decisions including Loving v. Virginia and Romer v. Evans.

In Loving, which overturned Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act, Chief Justice Warren writing for a unanimous court ruled that marriage is one of the “basic civil rights of man” and that to deny this fundamental freedom on such unsupportable basis as racial classification deprives citizens of liberty without due process of law.

In 1992, Romer v. Evans arose from a ballot initiative titled Amendment 2 to the Colorado constitution that prevented any municipality from protecting homosexual citizens from discrimination. The initiative passed with 53.4 percent approval. Amendment 2 was spearheaded by Colorado for Family Values that claimed the anti-discrimination protections for homosexuals in Aspen, Boulder and Denver were special rights that needed to be constitutionally banned.

The Colorado Supreme Court overturned the amendment as a violation of equal protection and ruled was subject to strict scrutiny in which the state needed to prove a compelling state interest, which it had failed to demonstrate. Colorado appealed the decision to the US Supreme Court. In 1996, in a 6 to 3 decision, Justices Stevens, O’Connor, Kennedy Souter, Ginsberg and Beyer affirmed the Colorado Supreme Court decision.

Justice Kennedy writing for the majority held that the discrimination in Amendment 2 neither met the strict scrutiny test nor the lower rational relationship to a legitimate state interest. Justice Kennedy stated, “It is not within our constitutional tradition to enact laws of this sort.” He found that laws of this kind “raise the inevitable inference that the disadvantage imposed is born of animosity toward the class of persons affected” and was born of a “desire to harm” homosexuals.

Proposition 8 that prohibits same-sex marriage was passed with 52 percent approval. The proposition did not require consent by the legislative and/or executive branches. Proposition 8 was principally funded by out of state interests including tens of millions by the Mormon Church. The California Legislature had passed a bill providing for same-sex marriage. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the measure because he believed the issue should be decided by the California Supreme Court.

In 2008, the California Supreme Court decided that the prohibition against same-sex couples from marrying violated the California constitution and was subject to the strict scrutiny. Governor Schwarzenegger and other prominent California Republicans were among in-state opponents to Proposition 8.

While the four state initiatives represent a setback, there is momentum for full equality including same-sex marriage for gay men and lesbians. In 2000, 61 percent of Californians opposed and 39 percent supported same-sex marriage. In 2008, those percentages respectively shrunk to 52 percent v. 48 percent.

Lambda Legal, ACLU and others are planning to challenge in the California state courts the constitutionality of Proposition 8. Ultimately the California Supreme Court decision could reach the US Supreme Court.

Five of the six US Supreme Court justices who concurred in Romer v. Evans remain on the court. We pray for their continued wisdom.

“A Day for Hospice” will take place at Six Pockets, 716 E. Ridge Rd. at Hudson Ave. on Nov. 23.

The event, to benefit Isaiah House, will include a pool tournament, live music, special guest appearances, 50/50 raffle, wings, pizza and other specials. It will begin at 12:01 p.m.

Suggested donation: $7 adults; $3 under 12. For information: PaulFancher@yahoo.com; Thoran53@yahoo.com.

The American Civil Liberties Union commends the Obama-Biden Transition team for including sexual orientation and gender identity in its non-discrimination policy as it prepares to assume power in January.

Although President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 11478, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, there are no explicit federal protections from gender identity bias in government hiring.

Christopher E. Anders, ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel, said, “As the new Administration gears up, it should be focused on hiring the best people for the job. By including sexual orientation and gender identity in its non-discrimination policy, the Obama-Biden transition team makes clear that it will focus on the relevant qualities that actually predict an applicant’s success on the job – professional experience, character, skills and education. President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden, by explicitly rejecting the bigotry and intolerance of the past, are committing that gay, lesbian, and transgender professionals can serve in government without fear of discrimination. This is a critical next step in securing the basic rights of LGBT community.

“The inclusion of gender identity is a bold departure from the past – and it sends a clear message. The ACLU recommends that President-Elect Obama follow up by 1) banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in federal contracting and 2) urge Congress to pass a gender-identity inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).”

The Obama-Biden Transition Non-Discrimination Policy can be viewed at http://change.gov/page/s/application

To learn more about the ACLU’s Transition Plan: Actions For Restoring America, go to http://72.3.233.244/about/37256res20081020.html

Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle said on Nov. 7, “We at the Pride Agenda are very saddened to learn about the passing of our friend, fellow activist and trailblazer Phil Reed.

“He was a real New Yorker in every way. As a HIV-positive man of color representing East Harlem, Phil Reed broke down barriers. He created dialogues with those who came from different backgrounds and held different perspectives and he highlighted issues few people were talking about.

“The Empire State Pride Agenda was happy to work alongside him when he was a member of the City Council, and I am grateful for the advice and counsel he has given me after I became the Executive Director of the Pride Agenda. We will miss him.”

By Ove Overmyer
Barack Obama’s historic presidential election victory comes with a booby prize — an economy reeling under a stubborn housing slump, two wars and the worst financial crisis in 70 years.

Consumers and businesses are sharply reducing their spending and the government is awash in red ink as we enter into the retail holiday season.

“Obama will inherit an economy that is in recession and… is likely to get worse before it gets better,” said Harry B. Bronson, Monroe County Legislative Minority Leader and legal advisor for the New York State Assembly Labor Committee. Bronson is also an attorney at law and a small business owner in Rochester. He added, “It is going to take bold and creative thinking to rebuild our standing as a world leader and partner in international affairs.”

According to leading economic advisers, they project the federal government will need to borrow an additional $368 billion in the first quarter of 2009.

A manufacturing report issued by Thompson Reuters showed the worst indicators since September 1982, when the country was in a deep recession.

The government reported in October that the overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP), shrank at an annual rate of 0.3 percent in the July-September quarter. Two straight quarters of lower GDP generally mean a recession, and many economists expect the fourth quarter to be worse than the third.

Major Wall Street firms projected the deficit will hit $988 billion for the current budget year, more than twice the record. In July, the administration projected a deficit for this year of $482 billion, but that was before the financial crisis erupted in September.

Supporters of the government rescue packages argue that the ultimate cost to taxpayers should end up being a lot smaller, partly because the Federal Reserve is extending loans to banks that should be paid back.

Local Democratic Assemblyman David R. Koon (D-135), who was just elected to his sixth term to the state legislature, said the number one issue on voters’ minds is the economic downturn. Dennis O’Brien, who is a legislative aide for Koon, said that residents from their district want answers about the Wall Street bailout and that’s what President-elect Obama should focus on in his first one hundred days. Koon represents the towns and villages of East Rochester, Penfield, Webster and Fairport.

State Senate flips to a Democratic majority

The single most powerful institution in the history of New York state politics has fallen: Senate Republicans have lost the majority after controlling the chamber for all but one year of the past seven decades.

Democrats seized two seats from the Republicans and picked up one vacant seat. Additionally, they protected their most hotly challenged incumbent, while the GOP picked up one vacant seat and preserved two hotly contested Republican seats.

Democrats now hold 32 seats in the state Senate, Republicans hold 29, with one seat that is too close to call as of today.

Bronson says the LGBT community could not ask for anything more. “All the hard work has paid off — we have laid the foundation to bring about fundamental change in Albany,” he said.

Pride Agenda lobby yields results

The Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA) had two big goals with this year’s elections for the NYS Assembly and State Senate. The first was to make sure that no Assembly member who voted for marriage equality legislation in 2007 and the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination this year lost their seat and none did.

Secondly, ESPA wanted to replace two anti-LGBT State Senators with pro-LGBT State Senators and, by accomplishing that feat, put in place a new majority leadership in the State Senate that is committed to working with the community on LGBT issues. The New York Times recently commented on the clout of the LGBT community in New York politics this year.

Allan Van Cappelle, executive director of ESPA, said that promises were made this election cycle and promises were kept. In a prepared statement on Nov. 5, Van Cappelle said, “We should all take pride in these incredible accomplishments here in New York State. None of this could have happened without hard work building support for our issues where we live.”

In Queens County, Democrat Joseph Addabbo beat the incumbent Serphin Maltese, who is the lead sponsor of the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act” and a longtime homophobic member of the State Senate. In Suffolk County, Democrat Brian Foley beat 36-year incumbent Caesar Trunzo, who is also a sponsor of DOMA.

Locally, Republican incumbent Joseph Robach, who does not support marriage equality, beat Democratic challenger Rick Dollinger in the 56th Senate District race by a 52 percent to 48 percent margin. Some pundits would argue that having a Republican senator from Rochester in the minority will adversely affect the taxpayers of the district. The 56th District includes major portions of the city of Rochester and the towns of Brighton, Greece and Parma.

Victory Fund shows clout

In an e-mail message to supporters, Victory Fund CEO & President Chuck Wolfe said that 2008 was a watershed election. Wolfe said, “Not only did the United States elect its first African-American president, but voters across the country cast ballots for openly LGBT candidates from the local level to the federal level. In fact, more than 70 percent of the Victory Fund’s endorsed candidates in 2008 won their elections.”

The Victory Fund endorsed 111 candidates in 2008, with 78 winning their elections; 35 percent of the endorsed candidates were women and 18 percent were people of color.

Californians vote to take away marriage rights

In an election otherwise full of liberal triumphs, the gay rights movement suffered a stunning defeat as California voters approved a ban on same-sex marriages that overrides a recent court decision legalizing them.

The constitutional amendment — widely seen as the most momentous of the nation’s 153 ballot measures — will also limit marriage to heterosexual couples; the first time such a vote has taken place in a state where gay unions are legal.

The vote created uncertainty about the legal status of 18,000 same-sex couples who tied the knot during a four-month window of opportunity opened by the state’s highest court.

LGBT families had a rough election elsewhere as well. Ban-gay-marriage amendments were approved in Arizona and Florida. Also, Arkansas voters approved a measure banning unmarried couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents. Supporters made clear that gays and lesbians were their main target.

In California, with 95 percent of precincts reporting the day after the election, the ban had 5,125,752 votes, or 52 percent, while there were 4,725,313 votes, or 48 percent, opposed.

NGLTF and HRC respond

Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force says although Barack Obama has been elected president of the United States, marriage bans that passed in California, Arizona and Florida and an adoption ban passed in Arkansas are “devastating.”

Carey added, “Whatever finally happens in California, the losses in Arizona, Arkansas and Florida are devastating to say the very least. But here at the Task Force, we’re picking ourselves back up, dusting ourselves off, and getting right back into the fight for our equality and freedom.”

Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign was also deeply disturbed by the outcome. He said, “It is indeed a bitter pill to swallow. But we cannot allow distorted facts or shallow tactics – the foundation on which our opponents built their campaigns – to break our spirits. We are on the right side of history – and we will continue this journey.”

Jared Polis (D-Colo.) won election to the U.S. House of Representatives and will join U.S. Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.), bringing to three the number of openly lesbian and gay members of Congress. Both Baldwin and Frank were re-elected to the House.

Polis defeated Republican Scott Starin. The electoral victories of all three openly gay and lesbian candidates reflect that voters, from very different parts of the country, support LGBT candidates for higher offices.

These victories could have a tremendous impact on a broad range of issues. Like Frank and Baldwin before, Polis will represent the interests of LGBT people in diverse areas. He will have the opportunity to be a leader on LGBT issues but on other issues as well, such as energy, health care and tax reform. Polis has been an outspoken advocate for a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and a critic of the war in Iraq, an issue of great concern to many LGBT people.

Frank and Baldwin have changed the hearts and minds of their congressional colleagues by building strong working relationships with some colleagues who had been hesitant to support LGBT issues, helping to advance the rights of LGBT people.

Strong allies of LGBT people also scored important victories on Election Day. Across the country, voters are supporting and electing pro-LGBT candidates. The message is clear that LGBT people are neighbors and colleagues, families and friends whose lives are valued and whose equality is defended. In Colorado’s District 4, Betsy Markey defeated incumbent Marilyn Musgrave. Markey is an outspoken supporter of LGBT rights, including a fully inclusive ENDA. Musgrave, the author of the Federal Marriage Amendment, is perhaps the most vocal anti-LGBT member of the House. The people of Colorado’s District 4 spoke with their votes and chose equality over bigotry.

Gains in state legislatures
In New York, Democrats have reclaimed the New York Senate, after 43 years of Republican dominance. GOP leadership in the Senate repeatedly blocked action of key pro-LGBT bills, including the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), Dignity for All Students Act and a marriage equality bill.

Each of these bills has already passed the Democrat-controlled Assembly. GENDA, which would protect transgender people from discrimination, passed overwhelmingly in June by a vote of 108 to 34; the Dignity for All Students Act has passed the Assembly four times; and the marriage bill passed last year. Gov. David Paterson, a Democrat, has been outspokenly supportive of LGBT issues and legislation.

In Wisconsin, Democrats have gained control of the state Assembly, raising hopes for passage of pro-LGBT legislation. LGBT advocates and allies in Wisconsin have been working to shift control of the state Assembly to Democrats so that legislation related to relationship recognition and transgender discrimination could potentially pass the Legislature in 2009. The state Senate is currently controlled by Democrats and Gov. Jim Doyle is also a Democrat.

Local discrimination measures have mixed results
In King County, Wash., voters approved an amendment to the county charter that would make it illegal for the county to discriminate in hiring based on disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Voters passed the amendment by a margin of 71 percent to 29 percent. The amendment is similar to protections adopted by the state two years ago, but the King County provision marks the first time that protections based on gender identity and expression have been explicitly named. Twenty-nine percent of Washingtonians live in King County.

In Hamtramck, Mich., voters repealed a nondiscrimination ordinance by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent. Earlier this year, the City Council passed the ordinance, which added protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression in the areas of public services and employment. Opponents, however, gathered signatures to put the new law on the ballot so that it would only take effect if the citizens of Hamtramck voted for it.

The American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed a writ petition before the California Supreme Court today urging the court to invalidate Proposition 8 if it passes.

The petition charges that Proposition 8 is invalid because the initiative process was improperly used in an attempt to undo the constitution’s core commitment to equality for everyone by eliminating a fundamental right from just one group – lesbian and gay Californians.

Proposition 8 also improperly attempts to prevent the courts from exercising their essential constitutional role of protecting the equal protection rights of minorities. According to the California Constitution, such radical changes to the organizing principles of state government cannot be made by simple majority vote through the initiative process, but instead must, at a minimum, go through the state legislature first.

The California Constitution itself sets out two ways to alter the document that sets the most basic rules about how state government works. Through the initiative process, voters can make relatively small changes to the constitution. But any measure that would change the underlying principles of the constitution must first be approved by the legislature before being submitted to the voters. That didn’t happen with Proposition 8, and that’s why it’s invalid.

“If the voters approved an initiative that took the right to free speech away from women, but not from men, everyone would agree that such a measure conflicts with the basic ideals of equality enshrined in our constitution. Proposition 8 suffers from the same flaw – it removes a protected constitutional right – here, the right to marry – not from all Californians, but just from one group of us,” said Jenny Pizer, a staff attorney with Lambda Legal. “That’s too big a change in the principles of our constitution to be made just by a bare majority of voters.”

“A major purpose of the constitution is to protect minorities from majorities. Because changing that principle is a fundamental change to the organizing principles of the constitution itself, only the legislature can initiate such revisions to the constitution,” added Elizabeth Gill, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California.

The groups filed the lawsuit today in the California Supreme Court on behalf of Equality California and six same-sex couples who did not marry before Tuesday’s election but would like to be able to marry now.

The groups filed a writ petition in the California Supreme Court before the elections presenting similar arguments because they believed the initiative should not have appeared on the ballot, but the court dismissed that petition without addressing its merits. That earlier order is not precedent here.

“Historically, courts are reluctant to get involved in disputes if they can avoid doing so,” said Shannon Minter, Legal Director of NCLR. “It is not uncommon for the court to wait to see what happens at the polls before considering these legal arguments. However, now that Proposition 8 may pass, the courts will have to weigh in and we believe they will agree that Proposition 8 should never have been on the ballot in the first place.”

This would not be the first time the court has struck down an improper voter initiative. In 1990, the court stuck down an initiative that would have added a provision to the California Constitution stating that the “Constitution shall not be construed by the courts to afford greater rights to criminal defendants than those afforded by the Constitution of the United States.” That measure was invalid because it improperly attempted to strip California’s courts of their role as independent interpreters of the state’s constitution.

In a statement issued earlier today, the groups stated their conviction, which is shared by the California Attorney General, that the state must continue to honor the marriages of the 18,000 lesbian and gay couples who have already married in California. A copy of the statement as well as the writ petition filed today is available a www.aclu.org/lgbt, www.lambdalegal.org, and www.nclrights.org.

In addition to the ACLU, Lambda Legal and NCLR, the legal team bringing the writ also includes the Law Office of David C. Codell; Munger Tolles & Olson, LLP; and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP.

Three LGBT-specific ballot initiatives passed on Nov. 4. In Florida and Arizona, voters approved constitutional amendments barring recognition of same-sex couples, including, in Florida, civil unions and domestic partnerships. And in Arkansas, voters approved a measure prohibiting the placement of foster children in homes with unmarried citizens.

The Arkansas measure was specifically aimed at LGBT foster parents, but will also impact unmarried heterosexual foster parents.

In California, votes are still being counted and will determine the fate of Proposition 8, which could eliminate marriage equality for same-sex couples in the state.

Florida ACLU statement
Howard L. Simon, Ph.D, Executive Director, The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, released the following statement on Nov. 5:

“The backers of Amendment 2 claimed that the amendment was only intended to protect marriage, and not to attack domestic partner registries and health benefits. If that is indeed what they wanted, they should have used that language, but the broad language they used may carry with it further consequences.

“Proponents of Amendment 2 also claimed that the Florida Supreme Court has already ruled that the amendment does not affect domestic partnerships or domestic partner benefits. If true, then they have no basis for challenging these arrangements in court. We will take the opposition at their word that this was not their intention; but should they try to topple these rights for so many Floridians, we will meet them at the courthouse steps. It could take courts years to sort out the implications of the dangerously vague language: ‘treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof.’

“I fear that Floridians were misled by the disingenuous ballot language. Regardless of their views on marriage, Floridians do not want to punish gay people or deny them health benefits. The discriminatory language that will now be written into our state’s guiding document may go far beyond limiting marriage to threaten health and other benefits for all Floridians — gay and straight.

“Floridians support domestic partnership health benefits for unmarried couples. This is evident by the growing number of communities, counties and businesses that support partnership and health benefits for unmarried couples.

“We as a state have come so far since the dark days of Anita Bryant, but we are in danger of the vocal minority taking us back to a darker period in Florida’s history.”

PFLAG statement
PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Following disappointing votes rolling back or denying full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens in Florida, Arkansas and Arizona, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) eagerly awaits the official results of Proposition 8 in California, and vows to continue working with pro-equality families and allies to build support for full, fundamental rights for the LGBT community.

“PFLAG’s core mission of support, education and advocacy for our LGBT loved ones is more critical than ever,” said Jody M. Huckaby, the group’s executive director. “Though we fell short of protecting our families on this election day in three states, we are hopeful for marriage equality to prevail in California. PFLAG parents and allies shared their stories, talked about their loved ones and made personal appeals to voters in three states, making a significant difference. As we move forward and continue that work, we can build a critical mass of support that will be invaluable in future fights, too.”

“Despite some setbacks, millions of people voted with us, and against discrimination, and we will work to grow that coalition of allies and move equality forward.” Huckaby said. “We are watching California closely and we must not be deterred from continuing to work for full equality for LGBT Americans.”