The Bilerico Project

Jorge and Will: Tragedy and Hope

kate@bilerico.com (Kate Kendell) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:00:00 -0500

This week two stories collided: The story of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado and the story of Will Phillips. On November 14 the decapitated, dismembered, and burned body of Jorge Steven Lopez was found by the side of the road in Cayey, Puerto Rico. Jorge was 19 and openly gay. He was much loved by his wide circle of friends. He was handsome and hopeful. He had his whole life ahead of him.

While Puerto Rico does not have any history of prosecuting hate crimes, it is clear to many that there is no other explanation for the savagery of Jorge's murder. The response of the police agent investigating the crime betrayed an appalling level of homophobia and bigotry. In a televised statement, the investigator noted that "people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen." This so-called "investigator" should be fired and never allowed to wear a uniform which implies he protects anyone, ever.

It is impossible to imagine the pain of Jorge's family and friends. The shock of his murder has stunned the LGBT community in Puerto Rico. Jorge's murder is the direct result of prejudice, ignorance, and bigotry that still dominate life for so many LGBT people around the globe. For many, daily insults, fear, and brutality are a way of life. Compounding this untenable situation is the fact that the very officials empowered to protect our LGBT brothers and sisters either turn a blind eye, are complicit in the terror, or actually perpetrate the attacks. Hearing these stories is almost more than a heart can bear.

On the day I heard about Jorge's horrific killing, I also read the story of Will Phillips.

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And Now, Two Steps Forward

kate@bilerico.com (Kate Kendell) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0500

Even as we took the sucker punch of losing marriage equality in Maine by popular vote, we saw history made and in the making in Kalamazoo, Michigan and--hopefully--Washington State.

In Kalamazoo voters strongly backed an ordinance which protects lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodation.

In Washington state, which votes by mail, it now appears very clear that the comprehensive Domestic Partner law passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor will now become law. Our opponents had placed on the ballot a measure to repeal the law. Voters, by a too-close-for-comfort margin, seem to have voted to approve the legislation.

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The Day After a Hard Night

kate@bilerico.com (Kate Kendell) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0500

Déjà vu is welcome when it flashes us back to a welcome or happy memory.

Today déjà vu is not so pleasant. The loss of marriage rights in Maine is a traumatic reminder of our Prop 8 fight in California. On election night one year ago, I spent a sleepless night tormented by every thought of what might have made a difference.

My colleagues in Maine spent just such a night. Same-sex couples in Maine have been dealt a dehumanizing setback. And we are all diminished by this loss. But after 12 months to ruminate and recover from what happened in California, I have some insight for them.

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WWDD? - What Would Del Do?

kate@bilerico.com (Kate Kendell) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:00:00 -0500

Today marks the one-year anniversary of Del Martin's death. Even writing that sentence is hard.

Yes, Del lived a full and amazing life. Yes, she accomplished more than most people ever dream. Yes, she had 54 years of love and laughter and conversation with her partner - and then legal spouse - Phyllis Lyon. But still, to have Del gone at a time when it feels like we need her most just isn't fair.

In the year since Del died it feels like events to fill a decade have passed. Barack Obama was elected President, Prop 8 passed, our community rose up and caught fire, debate swirls about next steps and best strategy, the administration fights to win health care overhaul in the face of ridiculous and vicious attacks, we are still in two wars, the economy sputters and lurches, our community struggles to find a way forward. In times like this in the past, you could always count on Del to give perspective and context. In her no-bullshit, clear-eyed style, she would tell you what was what. She would dismiss self-pity and excuses. Her mantra could have been "just do it," long before Nike ever owned the phrase.

While the loss of Senator Ted Kennedy is an enormous blow to all of us, I like to think that before he'd even had a chance to take in the view from wherever he may be now, Del sidled up to him to enlist his help in doing all they could, from their new vantage point, to influence the right outcome on the health care overhaul. It was a passion Del and the Senator had in common.

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The "Gay Agenda" includes Medals of Freedom

kate@bilerico.com (Kate Kendell) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:00:00 -0500

Yesterday, the White House announced the recipients of the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor. The list of 16 exemplary individuals includes Harvey Milk, awarded the medal posthumously, and tennis legend and gender equity champion Billie Jean King. This marks the first time the Medal of Freedom has been awarded to openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender individuals. This is a remarkable honor and recognition of two of our community's greatest heroes. I certainly am grateful to President Obama for acknowledging Harvey and Billie Jean among the 16 powerful, diverse, and outstanding men and women whose company they join.

Hopefully, today marks the beginning of the end of such honors being regarded as unprecedented. In the coming years when openly LGBT individuals are honored with the Medal of Freedom, we hope the announcement is unremarkable--except, of course, for the remarkable nature of the honor itself. And in that hope lies the real "Gay Agenda." It is my great wish that the place of LGBT folks in the civil and cultural life of this nation will become routine and commonplace. While an honor like the Medal of Freedom will be worth celebration and reflection, it will not be historic or rare. We are everywhere, but our presence has been too often stifled, ignored, or shamed into silence.

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Judge Sotomayor for the Supreme Court

kate@bilerico.com (Kate Kendell) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:30:00 -0500

As a legal organization litigating cases in federal and state courts, we are keenly focused on the current Senate confirmation process for Judge Sotomayor. For the future of this country on so many essential issues that mark our times and will shape our future, this nomination--President Obama's first for the U.S. Supreme Court--is critical. The nine justices who sit on the Court play a vital constitutional role in upholding and enforcing the constitutional principles and laws upon which our democracy is based. Even a fairly cursory study of our nation's history shows that the protection of minority rights is one of those enduring principles.

I know that many of you are following this closely. There is an enormous volume of material to wade through, more is being generated every day, and it is flowing out from widely varied sources. For those who need to catch up on Judge Sotomayor now that her Senate confirmation hearings have begun, here are some resources from a range of sources (some critical of her, but I am including them because it helps to understand the organized opposition and their arguments) so you can read up on this extremely impressive candidate for the Supreme Court.

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Long Overdue

kate@bilerico.com (Kate Kendell) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:30:00 -0500

Today, Wednesday, June 24, 2009 is an important day. It is a day when we witness a commitment to full equality and inclusion. A day when the most senior openly gay elected official in the nation affirms that discrimination against any segment of our community will not be tolerated. This is the day when Congressman Barney Frank introduces the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which includes protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity, in the 111th Congress.

Yet in the midst of the history and hope sits the bitter reality that this legislation is long overdue. During the years of inaction by Congress and 2007's stalling of the bill due to protest against stripping protections based on gender identity from ENDA, LGBT Americans have lost jobs or lived in fear of losing their jobs based on who they are. Regardless of qualifications or skill, irrespective of commitment or seniority, countless of our sisters and brothers have been fired, harassed, taunted, and ignored because there was no law to stop their persecutors and no legal recourse to vindicate their right to simply do their job.

In the past weeks, our community has unloaded a boatload of frustration, disappointment, and anger at the Obama Administration. The specific trigger was the filing of a legal brief by the Department of Justice in a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). We disagree with many of the administration's arguments--for example that DOMA is a valid exercise of Congress's power, is consistent with Equal Protection or Due Process principles, and does not impinge upon rights that are recognized as fundamental.

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Paper and Clocks: Reflecting on the First Anniversary of California's Marriages

kate@bilerico.com (Kate Kendell) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:30:00 -0500

Some interesting trivia (courtesy of Wikipedia and About.com):

Paper is the traditional gift to celebrate a first year wedding anniversary, with clocks being the modern twist.
In the United Kingdom, couples celebrating their 60th, 65th, or 70th anniversary can receive a celebratory message from the monarch simply by applying at Buckingham Palace.
In Canada, you can receive a message from the Governor General to celebrate your 50th or 55th wedding anniversary.
And in the United States, a couple is eligible for an anniversary greeting from the President for any anniversary on or after the 50th.

This time last year, on the afternoon of June 16, 2008, I stood inside the mayor's office in San Francisco City Hall and witnessed history. I watched two of the most extraordinary women in my life affirm their love and relationship. I cried as Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin exchanged vows-a moment that feels like it was both only yesterday and many lifetimes ago.

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United We Mourn, United We Stand

kate@bilerico.com (Kate Kendell) — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:30:00 -0500

Today, the California Supreme Court diminished its legacy as a champion of equality. By upholding Prop 8, an initiative that stripped the right to marry from same-sex couples in California, the Court's decision has undermined the central principle that all people are entitled to equal rights and has jeopardized every minority group in California. No minority group should have to defend its right to equality at the ballot, and the Court should not have permitted such a travesty of justice to stand.

Today's decision is dramatically out of step with where the nation is heading. After decades of struggle and hard work, we are living through an unmistakable turning point in the history of our movement. In the past few weeks alone, there has been a tidal wave of momentum in favor of equality for same-sex couples--including a unanimous decision upholding marriage equality from the Iowa Supreme Court; legislative victories in Vermont and Maine; and additional victories on the horizon in New Jersey and New York. Across the country, public opinion is shifting decisively in our favor. Five states have now embraced full marriage equality for same-sex couples, and more are expected to join that list this year. It is devastating that California is no longer one of them. But rest assured: we will be again.

As I wade through my many emotions--heartache, disappointment, grief, anger, and disbelief--one thing is clear: we will regain the freedom to marry in California. It is now up to the people of this state to restore California's national stature and once again embrace inclusion, fairness, and equality for all.

Together, we will be the first state to repeal a marriage ban at the ballot.

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Fasten Your Seatbelts

kate@bilerico.com (Kate Kendell) — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:00:00 -0500

Today is the one year anniversary of the California Supreme Court's groundbreaking ruling striking down the exclusion of same-sex couples from the right to marry. On the morning of May 15, 2008 I stood on the Supreme Court steps--with hundreds of others--and cheered, the Court's ruling clasped in my hand. The sun was bright, filling San Francisco's Civic Center Plaza with warmth rivaled only by the elation spreading across the faces of the joyous crowd. I was surrounded by plaintiff couples from our marriage case and our colleagues from Lambda Legal, the ACLU, Equality California, and Our Family Coalition. But what I will always remember--more than anything else--was the profound belief that life had changed forever for every LGBT person in the nation.

We are all familiar with the events that followed: the right-wing groups gathered enough signatures to qualify Prop 8 on the ballot, our long and arduous battle against their campaign of deceit and lies, and the devastating moment when--for the first time in California's history--voters used the initiative process to strip a fundamental right from a minority group

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Renewed Hope

kate@bilerico.com (Kate Kendell) — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:00:00 -0500

With its groundbreaking marriage decision a year ago, the California Supreme Court set us on a path that -- despite some setbacks -- has led to one marriage victory a week in the past month: A first-ever unanimous state supreme court ruling in Iowa; a huge victory in Vermont, where there was strong enough support for marriage equality to override their Governor's veto; and tremendous movement in the legislatures of New Hampshire and Maine, with similar progress likely in the months ahead in New York and New Jersey. The result has been a profound sea change in public opinion, including my own view of what the next month will bring here in California.

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How Many More?

kate@bilerico.com (Kate Kendell) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:00:00 -0500

When one of my NCLR staffers forwarded me a news article today, I thought it must have been a mistake. It detailed the suicide of an eleven-year-old boy who hung himself after relentless bullying at school. I had just read an identical article last week--the heartbreaking story about Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, who, after suffering constant bullying at school, came home and committed suicide. I thought, this can't be happening again. But the article was no mistake, this is now two reported suicides in the last week alone.

Jaheem Herrera was eleven and lived in Georgia. Carl was also eleven and lived in Massachusetts. Both boys suffered the same taunts, bullying and harassment, including anti-gay epithets and attacks and both felt the same desperate need for the pain and suffering to end. Their deaths, so utterly senseless and wrong , fill me with grief, but also anger and determination. These children deserved to attend school without fear and suffering. They had a right to education, a right to safety, a right to dignity and a right to walk the hallways of their schools without dread.

These incidents are more than just poignant, they are personal. My son Julian is twelve and in the sixth grade. Carl and Jaheem could have been his classmates. I can barely bring myself to write this, but if Julian were a student in these schools, this could have been him. Our current culture of accepted homophobia and the prevalence of bullying hurts all youth--LGBT or straight. All students are affected by a climate of anti-gay rhetoric, and these anti-gay taunts were a driving force behind Jaheem and Carl's tragic deaths.

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Maintaining a Unified Front

kate@bilerico.com (Kate Kendell) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:00:00 -0500

In light of the recent good news out of Vermont, Iowa, Washington D.C., Washington state, and the city of Gainesville, Florida, I've been reflecting about the values of our community and the goals of our movement. As a progressive, feminist organization, NCLR was founded on an understanding that an injury to one is an injury to all. I am proud to lead an organization that is committed to protecting every person's right to dignity, autonomy, and self-determination.

Based on these deeply held values, we have advocated for the freedom to form families and relationships, to live and express oneself in accordance with one's gender identity, and to be free from discrimination and violence based on who we are or who we associate with . These core values are reflected in the breadth of work we do, ranging from our Family Protection Project to our Transgender Law Project.

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Waiting for Reckoning Day

kate@bilerico.com (Kate Kendell) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:30:00 -0500

As we brace ourselves for another reckoning day - the California Supreme Court's ruling in our Prop 8 legal challenge - I am appalled that our basic rights were put up for a popular vote, and fervently hopeful that the Court will do the right thing. In our democracy, respect for minority rights is as essential as the principle of majority rule.

The California Constitution prohibits the use of a simple amendment process to change the basic ground rules of our government. Therefore, before the people of California can change our government to one in which minorities no longer have a secure entitlement to equal rights, they must use the more deliberative process required for constitutional revision. That is the essence of the argument we have presented to the Court.

It is now up to the Court to decide whether it will become the first in the country to hold that majorities can strip minorities of fundamental rights.

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Standing Together and Continuing the Conversation

kate@bilerico.com (Kate Kendell) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:00:00 -0500

Next Thursday, the California Supreme Court will hear arguments in our legal challenge to Proposition 8. As we seek to overturn Prop 8, we have the broadest array of support ever seen on an LGBT issue before any California Court. This support speaks directly to the relationships and coalition work that many in the LGBT, religious, business, and civil rights communities have been doing for years. However, there is another truth motivating the breadth of voices calling on the court to invalidate Prop 8. Prop 8 is an assault on the California Constitution and the most fundamental principal of any functioning democracy: all people will be treated equally under the law.

As a white lesbian leading a national LGBT legal organization and a straight, African-American Christian leading a national civil rights legal organization, we stand side-by-side in common cause. Racism and homophobia undermine and diminish any dream of a just and fair nation. If allowed to stand, Prop 8 would eviscerate equal protection of the law and leave every minority in California vulnerable to majority sentiment and whim. Today it may be same-sex couples and that is unacceptable under any circumstance, but tomorrow any unpopular minority could be next.

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