8/13/09

Task Force ~ We never backed down from our Transgender Inclusive ENDA commitments [unlike some others who have]

The ENDA heat has been turned up!

The Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund's latest fund raising effort is being led by 'L' Word's Daniela Sea who played Moira Sweeney a woman who transitioned into Max Sweeney, a transgender man, who had this to say.......

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..."And the Task Force is one of the few organizations that will always fight for the “T” in LGBT. They won’t back down. They won’t compromise to get a bill passed that doesn’t include protections for trans folks."

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You won't get a argument from me on that count.

Please support the Task Force as they do the indispensable grass roots ground up hard work that will get ENDA passed!

The Task Force Action Fund

Text of S. 1584: Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009

This version: Introduced in Senate. This is the original text of the bill as it was written by its sponsor and submitted to the Senate for consideration. This is the latest version of the bill available as of Aug 13, 2009 on the GovTrack.US website.

S 1584 IS

111th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 1584

To prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

August 5, 2009

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. BROWN, Mr. BURRIS, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. DODD, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. FRANKEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. KERRY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. KOHL, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. REED, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions


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A BILL

To prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009’.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

The purposes of this Act are--

(1) to address the history and widespread pattern of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity by private sector employers and local, State, and Federal government employers;

(2) to provide a comprehensive Federal prohibition of employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, including meaningful and effective remedies for any such discrimination; and

(3) to invoke congressional powers, including the powers to enforce the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, and to regulate interstate commerce and provide for the general welfare pursuant to section 8 of article I of the Constitution, in order to prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

We love Lucie: The Life of a transgender woman in Arkansas

A huge transgender hug go's out to the Arkansas Times of Little Rock for it's heartfelt and sensitive story about being transgender in the bible belt."They loved Lucie"

Pictured right Lucille Marie Hamilton
September 30, 1988 - July 12, 2009

Also hugged is the organization CAR Center for Artistic Revolution. CAR is a 501(c)(3)-sponsored statewide organization that strives for Fairness and Equality for ALL Arkansans. CAR works from the analysis that all oppression is interconnected and seeks to dismantle oppression and build community through education, organizing, advocacy, and cultural work.

Today Facebook's Inclusive ENDA sent me its daily Legislator of the day and it was Arkansas!

These three legislators have a history of voting yes on LGBT affirmative issues. Please call them and express your support of ENDA.

Senator Mark Pryor, a Democrat, though fairly conservative on many issues, voted for the hate crimes bill. Please call him at 501-324-6336 to support S 1584.

Senator Blanche Lincoln, also a Democrat, has cosponsored a previous bill with sexual orientation and gender identity, and voted for the hate crimes bill. Please call her at 501-375-2993 to support S 1584.

Representative Vic Snyder, also a Democrat, voted yes on the hate crimes bill and on ENDA in 2007. According to Wikipedia, while in the Arkansas legislature, Snyder stepped into one of his earliest legislative controversies when he attempted to repeal the state's aged "Sodomy Laws". Ultimately, however, his efforts failed, and the sodomy laws stayed in effect until the state Supreme Court struck it down in Jegley v. Picado in March 2001. Please call him at 501-324-5941 to support HR 3017.

The other three Arkansas Representatives, Marion Berry, John Boozman, and Mike Ross, all voted against ENDA in 2007.

Representative Marion Berry (D - 01) 202-225-4076 Representative John Boozman (R - 03) 202-225-4301 Representative Mike Ross (D - 04) 202-225-3772


Facebook Legislator of the day

Source The Bilerico Project


8/12/09

Women in Congo - Weapons of War



"As seen on 60 Minutes: Women for Women International reports from DR Congo in concert with Anderson Cooper's piece for 60 Minutes, "War Against Women" featuring Women for Women International's program in the DR Congo. Also, please watch "The Greatest Silence" trailer and the film which features our Congo program as well. www.womenforwomen.org"

Gender Advocacy in its purest form. Woman helping Woman to raise themselves above the hell of war. To empower woman. To build lives that make there children proud and strong.

Jimmy Lee Deans Attacker, Bobby Singleton's trial starts August 24

Stand in Solidaidy with our brothers and sisters.

Monday, August 24, 2009
Time: 10:00am - 3:00pm
Location: Frank Crowley Courts Building
Street: 133 N. Industrial Blvd
City/Town: Dallas, TX
Facebook "Justice For Jimmy

The trial for Bobby Singleton, one of two men who brutally beat and robbed Jimmy Dean in the early morning hours of July 17th, 2008 is set to begin Monday, August 24th, 2009 at 10am.
Jimmy was attacked by two men near his home on Throckmorton Street in Dallas' "Gayborhood." He was beaten in the head with the butt of a gun and repeatedly punched and kicked in the head and face, crushing his jaw and cheekbone. According to witnesses, the two assailants, Jonathan Gunter and Bobby Singleton yelled homophobic and anti gay slurs as they carried out the attack. The suspects told police that they specifically targeted a gay man, because they "believed he would be easier to rob."
Equality March Texas is asking the LGBTQA Community of Dallas to stand with Jimmy by attending the proceedings against Bobby Singleton. We must show Texas that we stand united against hate crimes, but more importantly we must show Jimmy that his community stands united behind him!

UPDATE!
HEY GUYS! This will probably be a 3-4 day trial and we really want people there for Jimmy's testimony, the closing remarks, verdict, and sentencing portions of the trial. Once we get a tentative schedule, we will pass the information on to you guys! Just keep some time cleared on your calendar for the week of the 24th! Any time you can spare, to show support, would be greatly appreciated by Jimmy. I'm sure he's pretty scared to face the man who crushed his face, so seeing supportive peeps from the LGBTQA community will be helpful. GRACIAS!

8/11/09

Illinois Family Institute: all Christians are morally obligated to "fight homosexuals"

By Kelli Anne Busey
August 11, 2009

The 'Illinois Family Institute' is engaging in a revisionist campaign to shame all Christians into opposing GLBT people for Christians past failures and specifically the Church's purported silence and complicity with Nazi's during the holocaust.

Source: 'Opposing Views' By Laurie Higgins, IFI DSA | Illinois Family Institute"Church Should Fight Homosexuality Like It Did Nazism"

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The Illinois Family Institute is erroneously equating the past failure of all Christians to vigorously support women's and people of color's civil rights and for turning a blind eye to the holocaust to the Churches favorable response to the present day progress of the Christian GLBT equality movement.

You can make a difference!

Source: Change.org

"The Crowne Plaza O'Hare is scheduled to host a Fall 2009 conference by the Illinois Family Institute, a radical conservative group that has compared homosexuality to nazism and slavery, and urges Christian Churches to combat LGBT people as if they were nazis. Urge the Crowne Plaza O'Hare to refuse to host this conference. Part of the Crowne Plaza's anti-discrimination policy includes a pledge not to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Letting a group hold a conference in your facilities that actively compares homosexuality to nazism is completely contrary to that pledge."

Source: InterContinetal Hotels Group

Corporate responsibility / Our people / Our responsibilities "We recruit and promote individuals based solely on their suitability for the job without discriminating on the grounds of race, colour, ethnic or national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, marital status or disability unrelated to the role. In some countries these principles may be modified by national legal requirements on affirmative action."

There is a petition available for you to ask that InterContinental Groups Franchisee Crowne Hotel social impact reflects it's corporate responsibility.

Voice your opposition to the Illinois Family Institutes's conference at the Crowne Plaza O'Hara fall 2009.

Petition Text;

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"On October 6, the Crowne Plaza O'Hare is scheduled to host a conference by the Illinois Family Institute, a conservative, anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) organization that has recently compared homosexuality to nazism, and has urged people to fight against LGBT people as if they were nazis or slaveholders themselves. This type of politics is not something that should be supported by the Crowne Plaza O'Hare."

"While I respect the right of political organizations to stake out positions on certain social issues, I feel that the Illinois Family Institute has gone too far by comparing homosexuality to nazism, and threatens to damage the reputation of the Crowne Plaza O'Hare. In past instances, the Illinois Family Institute has also attacked LGBT parents, LGBT churchgoers, and has supported efforts to "convert" LGBT people using tactics that have been roundly denounced by mainstream psychological and public health organizations."

"Please reconsider your decision to allow the Illinois Family Institute to host its October conference at the Crowne Plaza O'Hare. Hosting conferences from organizations that stake out political positions on issues is one thing; but hosting conferences from organizations that compare homosexuality to nazism and urges people to fight back against LGBT people is dangerous, and in the worst interests of your LGBT staff and your LGBT customers."

End of text

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Click here to for the petition site