I actually had a personal interest in last night’s special Congressional election race, as my sister and her family live there, and it’s the district about 15 minutes from where I grew up (suburban Buffalo). It was a fascinating race with lots of twists and turns, and I thought Hochul (who won 47-43% with 97% reporting) from the beginning was the prototype “good government Democrat” who could win in this fairly Republican district. Medicare aside, it was her reputation as a person working hard from consumers (her main claims to fame as Erie County Clerk were making it less horrible to visit the DMV and go through the mortgage process) that I really believe helped bring this home, along with people like Sen. Gillibrand and the Working Families Party going all out to bring this seat into the Democratic column.
Under the radar in last night’s special Congressional election was that we added another supporter of civil marriage equality and serving openly in the military to the ranks of Congress. Here’s Kathy Hochul:
Q: What is your position on marriage? Should the federal government involve itself on issues of who can marry whom? Should the federal government provide the same benefits to heterosexual couples as well as gay couples? Finally, should gay men and lesbians be allowed to serve openly in the U.S. military?
A: I don’t think the federal government should involve itself on issues of who can marry whom, that needs to be determined by the states. I believe everyone should be afforded equal rights under federal law. I do support the civil institution of marriage for gay couples, with absolutely no requirements placed on religious institutions. Gay men and women, who want to fight to defend our freedom, should be allowed to serve openly in the U.S. military.
Hochul hasn’t been specific on this point, but hopefully she will also co-sponsor the “Respect for Marriage Act”, which will repeal DOMA.
At the same time, Jeremy notes how NOM blew $6,000 on robocalls around the marriage issue in favor of Corwin.
The last night item of note is to share an anecdote — while my sister took my three-year old niece to vote yesterday, she asked what they were doing there. My sister replied they were there to vote who would be “in charge” of Lockport (the town in which they were voting… it’s hard to explain Congress to a 3-year-old!). She asked “which man?” and my sister is like, “no, two women!” Which makes me smile. We have to start our kids early on learning that women can do it just as well as men!
On Monday, Dustin Lance Black helped launch our contest to find the next great American LGBTQ stories. Just over 200 people so far have signed up for the contest (more details here).
But before that, Dustin Lance Black helped inspire the I’m From Driftwood project, according to the founder Nathan Manske, by recording his own Testimony about growing up gay in San Antonio, TX. As it happens, his video Testimony was just posted yesterday morning.
This kind of personal story is what we can use to change more hearts and minds.
You can enter the contest by clicking here, and submit your own video by June 15th. Well-produced or raw, LGBTQ or straight ally, it doesn’t matter. Black and his team will fly to wherever you are to make it pretty. We want to hear your story, or that of your friends, family members, and colleagues.
The following is a guest piece submitted by an LGBT activist in Austin with whom Anthony Ash, one of our Courage field organizers you may remember from the NOM summer tour, worked over the weekend during some Harvey Milk Day events. -Adam
By Dustin Larson
I grew up with this notion that someone else would champion gay rights in America, someone bigger and larger than myself. But I was wrong – because I decided to do something. I went to my first rally this last weekend. “Gay, Straight, Black, White, Marriage is a Civil Right!” Before this weekend, these were just words that I had seen on a sign at the LGBT Museum in San Francisco six months ago. But this weekend, as we marched down Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, I bellowed this chant out with a voice I didn’t realize I had. I now know that by becoming a part of the larger voice, I can truly make a difference.
Before the march began, Courage Campaign hosted an event to collect videos and signatures for DOMA repeal at a local gay business. I had the opportunity to meet some great individuals, and some inspiring couples – all champions in their own right. My boyfirend and I also had the privilege to meet some with different perspectives on gay marriage. While asking a group of older gay men if they would like to sign a petition for the repeal of DOMA, one vehemently refused and said, “I don’t understand what’s wrong with civil unions.” (In my opinion the list is too long to get into right now.) But in lieu of a confrontation, my boyfriend convinced me to let it go. Then Courage’s National Field Organizer Anthony Ash had a very profound message for me: “If it weren’t for people like us, people like him wouldn’t be able to sit in this gay bar today, without fear.”
This has become my adage from this point on: what I do today WILL help someone tomorrow. We owe the strength of our movement today to the brave individuals of the past, who stood up to ignorance when it ran rampant. I know that civil unions aren’t good enough for me, and no longer is it enough for me to just read about the change I want to happen.
It’s time for me to be a part of it.
This past weekend in honor of Harvey Milk Day, 75 of us here in Austin answered Dustin Lance Black’s call to record a personal video to honor Harvey’s work, remembering Harvey’s clarion call to “come out” of the closet. It’s part of making that change happen by sharing these videos across the country. I hope you’ll join us.
In response to this much-circulated video wherein ABC News explores how everyday patrons of a Texas diner might react if confronted with a waitress’ cruel homo-hostility…
…the National Organization For Marriage writes the following:
We can expect a lot more of this from the MSM. Let’s note first of all that the behavior of the “waitress” in this setup up is outrageous.
No boss, and no customers would tolerate it. Not even in the “conservative” towns of Texas. Good news for American common sense.
The insidious propaganda point from ABC News is the suggestion that millions of good Americans who believe marriage means a man and a woman because children ought to have moms and dads, would or are behaving like this. Shame on ABC.
Be prepared for lot more prejudiced stereotyping of decent and honorable Americans down the road by powerful elites.
Uhm, not sure when, exactly, Brian Brown or Maggie Gallagher walked in the shoes of a gay person. But as someone who grew up in very rural Tennessee and attended college (and came out) in slightly-less-rural Tennessee, let me tell you: This stuff. Does happen. Still. In America. Of the 21st century.
NOM is quite obtusely taking a “best case scenario” position. And yes, in that best case, a server like this would be heard and reprimanded instantly. But the world is not a series of best cases. There are anti-gay business owners. There are employees who largely self-police their own on-job behaviors, and who choose to use this freedom to show their disgust towards certain kind of people. So that’s what ABC is exploring: If and when this happens, how will the everyday Joe and Jane react to it? Even if this kind of behavior is not the rule (and thankfully I don’t think it is, writ large), ABC News wants to see how customers might react to the theoretical scenario. Because it’s a not absent possibility for an America that still has a quite obvious problem dealing with LGBT normalcy.
The real question: Why does NOM feel intimidated by this? Because it’s not even marriage we’re talking about here, as TX doesn’t offer or recognize same-sex marriages (or any kind of legal partnerships, for that matter). The topic in question here is the average lesbian-headed family eating out at a local diner and the unjust behavior directed towards the same. Doesn’t NOM want to join us in opposing that kind of behavior, no matter how prevalent or rare it may be? Because this writer would gladly stand up for Maggie Gallagher if her personal privacy and general welfare was being violated in a similar way.
Want to know where things stand with the Prop 8 trial?
We've got a continuously updated post with explanation of each phase of the trial, dates, and what's next for laypeople. You can find it here.
We need your feedback!
Prop8TrialTracker.com depends on your feedback to improve our user experience. Whether you're a frequent or infrequent visitor, let us know what you like about the site and what you want to see improved by taking our 5-minute survey. Thanks for your feedback!
Connect With Us
Want to submit a guest piece for publication on Prop8TrialTracker? Submit your piece with your byline, title and any appropriate links (and HTML if possible) to: prop8trial@couragecampaign.org
Get to know your fellow Prop 8 Trial Trackers on Facebook.
