As you may know, California is the scene of a critical trial on Proposition 8 right now. It was originally supposed to be broadcast, but the US Supreme Court nixed that. Your best bet is to follow the live Twitter feed vis a vis #Prop8. Contributors/observers include the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Advocate as well as a host of individuals.
Live tweeting sure has revolutionized legal proceedings. The Post-Gazette has been embroiled in a bit of a hue and cry over Tracie Mauriello's tweeting from the Bonusgate trial. With PA House elections right around the corner, folks should be paying attention.
What does the "Coakley Effect" mean for the LGBTQ community? More of nothing. Maybe I'm ridiculous for thinking Onorato will do something about domestic partner benefits ...
Apparently for the duration, as long as the White House feels politically vulnerable, and believes that LGBT citizens are not seen as in dire need of removal of institutional discrimination. There is no urgency being created by those who advocate for us, or direction to tell the community how to express the frustration and lack of dignity with which Congress and this White House has treated the LGBT community.
She hasn't even lost at this point and the vulnerability means well, how do you do "less than nothing" in terms of LGBTQ civil rights?
Other stuff of interest
Feministing has an interesting and oft-overlooked perspective on abortion.
There is no such thing as gay sex. Any sexual act performed by LGBTQ persons can be performed by straight persons. Anal sex is not gay sex. Oral sex is not gay sex. Swinging from a trapeze wearing a dildo is not gay sex. It is simply sex.
In today's column you made this slip albeit in a slightly different context - the gay sleepover.
This means if your husband's drunken, possibly gay, sleepovers bother you (I can't imagine why they would), he owes you the courtesy of a calm, thoughtful conversation. The very fact that he gets so defensive and angry means something is up. You absolutely must talk to each other, at length and without screaming or talking about divorce (yet). Is he gay? Is he engaging in any illicit activity during those nights away? Is he secretly getting housecleaning lessons?
Cat, this sort of shorthand is problematic for me. It feeds into the perception that "gay" means different, lesser, strange. Yes, the concern about her husband's sexual orientation is worth addressing, especially if he's engaging in sexual contact that could put her at risk. Keep in mind, Cat, that contact with other women can also put her in danger.
Yes, it is inappropriate for a grown married man to regularly sleep over with anyone else, male or female.
Yes, his irritability about her questions is equally troubling. A frank conversation is overdue between these two adults and she has every right to ask him point blank if he's engaging in sexual contact that violates the rules of the marriage.
But gay sleepover? Come on. You can do better than that. You have been doing better than that for the past few years. I'm not suggesting one slip up sends you spiraling into an abyss of homophobia, but I urge you to show more care in your phrasing.
"Gay" anything is not appropriate shorthand. It is the adult equivalent of "that's so gay" which is absolutely devastating to LGBTQ kids AND kids from LGBTQ families. It wasn't that long ago you were in high school and whatever your "status" back then, I'm sure adult life has given you perspective on the agony many kids suffer at the hands of the peers.
You commit the same sin. When that slur is hurled around the high school locker rooms it often labels kids who as your "Blood Pressure Rising" says "Everyone thinks" is gay. When adult advice columnists do the same thing, the damage can be more widespread.
Sleeping over with another adult who may or may not be gay does not constitute a gay sleepover. An event organized by the GLCC to raise awareness about LGBTQ homelessness might be a gay sleepover. The difference is that the event might have a gay theme whereas the other could simply be an illicit tryst by two men who may or may not identify as gay.
You don't know the whole story and your shorthand, casual reference to the gay sleepover hurts people.
You never followed up on your uninformed capitulation to racism in housing. You may not do so here either, but I certainly hope you'll think it over. Don't ask your gay friends, Cat. Ask the professionals who work with the children in Pittsburgh's high schools.
Back in 2007, I tried to get information on my committeepersons. First attempt. Received a call back with my particular information, but no systemic response as how to access this information independently. I received another phone call with a bit more information that served to reveal how poorly the ACDC was utilizing social media (pre-Twitter/Facebook surge) as basic as a website. I failed to understand why there was so much secrecy about the committee composition, deducing that business as usual meant "trust us to take care of you, little voters."
Also in 2007, the ACDC hosted what I called the "Big Gay Chat" to connect the endorsed candidates with the LGBT community. End result? Nada. I am not aware of a single thing that came out of this conversation except the ACDC's ability to delude itself that it is a bit more gay-tolerant. The party has done nothing since then, not even another candidates forum. (Hint, hint. Not too late to remedy that this year. I'd love to bring some of these House Dems into a gay chat. If Len Bodack can do it, they can, too).
To be fair, individual elected officials did make promises they have also neglected:
Rich Fitzgerald: committed to schedule a sit down with Marc Cherna to discuss LGBT issues. committed to work on extending civil rights protections to the county and working with progressive Republicans to make it happen.
Michael Lamb: committed to training school principles on LGBT student issues. committed to keeping domestic partner benefits for city employees impacted by any further mergers of city and county offices.
To my knowledge, the sit down with Mr. Cherna has yet to take place. It simply hasn't been a priority of the community or County Council. That's not to say DHS is terrible on LGBT issues, but there's certainly room for improvement. Lamb has told me he's working on it, but I'm not going to bother bringing up County domestic partner benefits issues for fear I'll lay my head down on the keyboard never to blog again.
Fast forward. It is 2009. LGBT leaders on the national front are sick and tired of the inaction by the DNC on LGBT civil rights The GayTM is shut down in terms of party donation.
Back here in Allegheny County, it seems doubtful that LGBT money is pouring into the party coffers, but focusing instead on individual candidates.
Fast forward to 2010. It is the year we elect committeefolks. There are vacant seats as well as the opportunity run against incumbent party peeps, most of whom seem to be entrenching themselves behind ... silence.
Local advocate Gloria Fourezan has been working over the past two weeks to obtain a list of the current committe representatives with no luck. This information is supposed to be available on the ACDC website (click here to see what happens if you attempt to access it). As I outlined above, this has been the state of affairs since 2007 and, I'm guessing, since the dawn of time.
Why is the list unavailable to members of the Democrat Party who live in Allegheny County? Gloria postulates ..
[ACDC Chair Jim] Burn said that he?s asking Ward Chairs for vacant seat reports & for suggestions on who to appoint.Burn will be appointing Dem. Committee members to empty seats on Feb. 5 & will release updated committee info at that time...
Keep in mind the ACDC endorsement meeting is on March 7. Feb. 5 - March 7 is a short window for candidates to contact committee members in their district, especially as this year there aren't local races, but there are state rep races (with tons of cmte. members to contact), not to mention senate & governor races...
This info. should be regularly updated, throughout the year.Committee members represent all Democratic voters in their districts, so these voters should have year round access to their contact information.
Mind you this is a member of the same County Council not providing domestic partner benefits to his employees. Hey, I wonder if the ACDC provides domestic partner benefits? I'd ask my rep but she unfriended me on Facebook and I've never actually seen her at the polls. Outreach isn't her strong suit.
Anyway, back to the status quo. If I understand correctly, Burn needs to fill the vacant seats by February 5, leaving 30 days for them to get up to speed and participate in the endorsement process in an informed manner. That's naive at best and suspicious to someone grumpy like me.
Then there's the matter of the election of the committepersons themselves. Without a list, how would anyone know that they are represented or not? How can they know to toss their hat into the ring (take "ownership" of their party)? How can they seek out their committeeperson to even talk about the endorsement?
It is perplexing, but not surprising. As I've been tweeting, the RCAC attention on statewide and national elections results in groundbreaking usage of social media to share information.
RCAC is on Twitter @Allegheny GOP. They are on Facebook. They have a functional website. They also have Karl Rove addressing their annual meeting in March.
The ACDC? Nope on Twitter. Nope on Facebook. Website that does not provide email address for staff or leadership.
This is why Scott Brown gained on Martha Coakley. This is why conventional wisdom says we have to elect a socially conservative Democrat. This is why the LGBTQ community has to fight back marriage amendments.
Complacency. Laziness. Disregard for the voters outside of the machine.
Come on, folks. It is 2010 and I'm betting there are dozens if not hundreds of techie, social media savvy folks in the party who could make these changes happen in a matter of hours. It is simply unacceptable that the ACDC continues to remain inaccessible to voters. It is actually shameful and completely disengenuous of Jim Burn to claim:
?We think as you do that having the names and information of committee members available on the web page allows voters to know the names of their committee representatives in order to share their opinions and preferences with the committee regarding candidates. We are going to fix this problem and will advise once it is corrected.?
My State House Representative Chelsa Wagner and her husband and longtime progressive activist, Khari Mosely, invited me to meet Gubernatorial candidate Jack Wagner this week.
Meet PA Auditor General Jack Wagner, Candidate for Governor Friday, January 22 5-7PMHosts: Chelsa Wagner & Khari Mosley Ava - 126 S. Highland Ave, East Liberty RSVP to chelsaforhouse@gmail.com
Now I think I'm not gonna want to support Wagner who is known to be anti-choice and mum on LGBT issues. However, I am going to toodle out to the Ava Lounge and find out for myself. Chelsa's email sums up the argument most people give me in terms of supporting Wagner or Onorato -- they can win.
I cannot say enough good things about my uncle - of course I'm biased - but I could tell you countless stories that are all summed up by Jack's steady political advise to me - to "follow [my] conscience," "make the right decision" and "if it is for the purpose of good government, don't be afraid to stand up for it." Jack's role as a mentor to me throughout my short political career has been invaluable. Jack has really dedicated his entire career, very simply, to good government. He is someone who plainly walks the walk. I know that if you have the opportunity to talk to him, you'll understand why I so passionately believe we need him as our next governor.
The other side of this story is the importance of the Democrats nominating a candidate who can win in the general election. Tom Corbett, who will almost surely be the Republican nominee, has extremely high name recognition and will be a very tough candidate for the Democrats to beat. Jack is the ONLY Democratic candidate who will be able to beat Corbett in the general. You don't have to take my word on that point - the numbers demonstrate it.
It would be nice if we could at least have until mid-January to court the candidate who we *want* .... I mean the primary is four months away. I need more details on any gay votes Wagner has cast. Anyone?
A fun aside. Facebook. I noted a friend (real life and FB) became a fan of a particular candidate so I sent him a little email to see if he was behind anyone in particular. It was pretty funny that OTHER people actually gave him grief about it. He just joined a group for God's sake.
For the record, I am a fan of all the candidate's FB pages so I can monitor their activities. I suspect others are doing the same. For what its worth.
It will be interesting to see where the opinion leaders in the LGBT community fall in terms of endorsements!
Found this on Twitter last night. It is a spreadsheet snapshot of how the candidates in these two races are using Twitter and Facebook AND how effectively they are using it.
Corbett is kicking ass.
He has the second highest number of Tweeps (400) and the second highest number of Facebook fans (1,565). The leading contends split those categories, so Corbett comes out the winner.
Whataattttt?
Progressives, wherefore art thou? How can the wingnuts be taking over Twitter and Facebook? Is social media becoming the new AM radio? Gulp.
(I did a quick peek at the numbers. They have changed in the past 24 hours, but the point is still valid).
Let's take a closer look at this.
HOEFFEL is updating Twitter and Facebook a few times each week, leaving room for improvement. These media sources are prime opportunities for Hoeffel to pick up huge numbers of followers with an affinity for the media and the message. He gets points for interactions. Still, I'm fairly socially connected and I'm not seeing the Hoeffelians work their social media magic for their guy. <rolls up sleeves>
ONORATO updates Twitter about once a month and Facebook at about the same rate. Very little interaction with the exception of people pleading with him to pay attention to their nooks of the state. I'm a little astounded that Onorato is basically ignoring these forms of media. Even my Dad is on Facebook and he's probably a Republican that Onorato could pick off if he reached out to him with his socially conservative message. Ah, I wonder if that's the rub ... I'm also perplexed that with all the $$ he seems to be raising, he doesn't have someone focused on social media.
WAGNER updates twitter at least daily and Facebook almost as often, but has very few followers relative to the other candidates. There's also quite a bit of comments on his FB wall. So he gets bonus points for using the media, but leaves me wondering if his base is a bit past the social media median age? Plus, here's a good example of how politics as usual is at play:
I'd personally find it more comfortable if Janice Snyder pledged her personal vote, rather than bringing her office into it. I don't want the Clerk of Courts in Fayette County to support a candidate. Maybe its just me?
KNOX is using Twitter several times a week. He's bungling Facebook. He has a personal page, but his fan page has 19 followers. There's one post. I can't take someone seriously who does this.
CORBETT is doing a good job. He is one of the few campaigns connecting FB to Twitter and back which accounts for consistent numbers in both categories. His tweets are consistent and interesting. His FB features photos, comments and interactions. Such as this.
You have the links to look up the others.
So, progressives and the people following Onorato and Wagner ... your charge is clear. The beauty of both Facebook and Twitter is that we the people can do some of the heavy lifting. We can "share" the Facebook pages with our friends and invite them to become fans. We can use Twitter's #FollowFriday and plain old shout outs to encourage our Tweeps to follow our candidate.
We can also drive content. Post our links and stories on Facebook. Use the @ function on Twitter to draw people's attention to the candidates Twitter accounts. Post links from the MSM to both. There's a lot you, dear reader, can do if you want to make an impact.
Now if you click to the Senate race, you'll see a different situation. The old white straight guy, Specter, is the new social media frontrunner. It isn't even close.
So what accounts for the difference? Both are statewide races so I don't think we can blame the Philadephia elite progressives for this one. Your thoughts?
UPDATE: There is conflicting information emerging regarding the #Bresma orphanage. I would suggest monitoring the situation until an official spokesperson issues instructions. Donations are being accepted, but the best course of action might be to send immediate financial donations to a reputable group such as Rainbow World Fund, Yele, or the Red Cross and keep in mind the needs of refugees who immigrate to the US, adult and child further down the road. I'm not saying anything untoward is going on, but the information is impossible to verify at this time. It remains a compelling, if complicated, situation.
I hope with all my heart that the hundreds of people offering to foster these children will contact a Pgh based foster care agency to begin the certification process. There are 20,000+ children in Pennsylvania's foster care system, including any children who might come from Haiti. The need is real.
I was in the monthly board meeting of the Steel City Stonewall Democrats when I learned about the earthquakes which devastated Haiti. I spent about 30 minutes with my attention divided between a discussion on social media as an advocacy tool and surreptitiously checking Uber-Twitter and FB vis a vis my Blackberry. It was quite difficult to stay engaged while your sense of social justice priorities goes spinning in circles.
All I had were words, no images. But the power of those words ... 140 characters at a time ... is indescribable. Retweets from loved ones here in the US. Almost instantaneous fundraising advice from Wyclef Jean who was on his way home to help. Tweet after tweet with links to stories, excerpts and cries.
I admit that I was a little disappointed that so many of my Pgh tweeps were continuing to tweet about American Idol with nary a shout out for Haiti. Kudos to @BlogDiva for retweeting and retweeting to keep #haiti moving up the trending topics so people would notice.
My disappointment was premature. That night Lynn Cullen tweeted out asking if anyone knew what had happened to local women of whom I had never heard.
I wondered who Jamie and Ali were, but then turned my attention to national coverage. It was hard to process so much intensity. It just seemed surreal and foreign and disconnected from my own reality.
Then I learned who Jamie and Ali are. From the amazing Ginny Montanez who has been investing all of her energy and influence to help these women and the children they serve. Here's the skinny.
The latest update from Jonathan Wander is an email he received from Jamie ? it?s not good, friends. Things are deteriorating quickly for Jamie and Ali and the children.
This isn?t going to be an easy email to read:
?Our hous? is falling b two also. Adoptions stopp?d five yrs at least. We are living in yard no food water bank stores phone mostly. Only id?a is if u no anyon? important who can give r?fugee status to all th? bresma u.s. kids. We tr?ly cant keep babys alive water contaminated. This is our only hope - only private planes allowed. We know its cr?zy but can ?vryone come togeth?r and find a person to help us like obama? Th? kids r almost am?rican and will have homes. We try to call all day and cant. Sending this from a strangers blackberry.?
Do you understand that? These two young U.S. citizens and their children are living in the yard of the orphanage. The house is falling. The babies will not live if something isn?t done. The children that could be evacuated are practically U.S. citizens, they are that far along in the adoption process. They have ready homes here in the U.S.
We need help.
We need people who can get these U.S. adopted kids into America and we need a plane for Jamie and Ali to bring them home.
Jamie and Ali work in an orphanage with about 150 children who are in various stages of being adopted by American families. The utter destruction of the entire Hatian government virtually ensures that years could pass before adoption proceedings resume on the Haitian end. The orphanage is called BRESMA and right now, the adults and children are sitting in a courtyard with tainted water, no food and at the complete mercy of the elements and the inevitable looting as conditions across Port-Au-Prince deteriorate.
I'm not a big fan of transnational adoptions, but it seems that Pittsburgh has the ability to help 150 specific children who need their immigation status as adoptees fast tracked, an airlift out of Haiti and relocation to their waiting families. Congressman Altmire has joined forces with Doyle, Specter and Casey to tackle the federal issues. Local politicals are mobilizing their resources.
These children have homes and families awaiting them.Evacuating 150 children in the next day or two clears the way to get on the ground resources to other children and their families remaining in Haiti. It makes sense from a moral and a practical point of view. Let's get these kids to their new homes and the sucor of their American citizenship and THEN let's keep going. It is a very powerful story and a humbling opportunity to do something real and concrete in response to unimaginable horror.
My advice? Read That's Church every day. Stay abreast of the latest developments and the multitude of ways in which you can make this happen. Read to witness the wonderful heart and soul of Pittsburgh swoosh together to contribute $5, blankets and corporate jets to save 150 children. Plus, the women who love them and refuse to abandon their kids. We need to bring them all home so Ali and Jamie can continue to spread their love.
Ginny has the details on how you can help.
I donated using my cell phone to Yele Haiti. I vetted them using multiple NPO resources. You can donate $5 which is added to your cell phone bill and takes about 2 minutes. You can donate up to 6 times. It is fast, efficient and gets the most valuable commodity ... cash ... into the hands of folks who can transform it into life saving goods and materials. You text "Yele" to 501501. Simple.
Don't feel powerless. Add $5 to your phone bill and text your friends to do the same. That's less than one lunch. Pack a sandwich and an apple, then donate.
There's way more you can do. Just follow the trends on Twitter and Facebook. Fundraisers are popping up. Pgh charitable organizations are gearing up for the phase two and three stages of recovery and rebuilding. Read the blogs. Find our what becomes of Jamie and Ali and their kids.
There's more. Learn about Haiti. Yes, learn about the poverty and the economic conditions and the political regimes. But learn about the culture, the community and the people. Listen to the music. Read how Haiti shaped American history.
Now, Haiti is no friend to the gay community. But if channeling your donation to illustrate the compassion of our community is important (which it is), consider the Rainbow World Fund which is already on the ground throughout the world providing relief. No need to recreate the wheel.
I'd like to see Pittsburgh's LGBTQ community step forward and sponsor a fundraising event. Human beings are suffering and they are our brothers & sisters, gay or straight. They are our children. And the suffering of human beings living in the two-thirds world is not so disconnected from the lives of Americans living in poverty.
OK, this is a little devious. Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (pfox) has won a minor victory by forcing Disney to include a measure providing employment protections for ex-gays in an upcoming stockholder vote.
Burbank, CA -- The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has directed the Walt Disney Company to accept a shareholder resolution requesting the inclusion of ex-gays in Disney?s sexual orientation policies and corporate diversity programs.Disney had opposed the ex-gay resolution and asked the SEC for permission to exclude it from stockholder consideration.
?Like many corporations, Disney implements mandatory diversity training for employees that emphasizes gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders, but fails to include ex-gays,? said Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX).?It is a serious omission both for the ex-gay community and their supporters.?
?Employees who support the ex-gay community are not welcomed to express their views and fear they would be forced to undergo sensitivity training because they support former homosexuals,? said Griggs.?Ex-gays are forced to remain closeted because they are not protected by diversity policies and are subjected to open disapproval by others in the workplace.The inclusion of ex-gays will cost Disney nothing to implement and would provide true diversity and respect in the workplace.?
The resolution cites a recent judicial decision issued by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.In that case, brought by PFOX, the Court ruled that former homosexuals are a protected class that must be recognized under DC?s sexual orientation non-discrimination laws. The Court held that sexual orientation does not require immutable characteristics.
OK, so aren't ex-gays typically defined as straight? Wouldn't they already be protected because heterosexuality is included in sexual orientation as a protected class?
This is a sneaky way to allow "supporters" of ex-gays to get around diversity and inclusion policies in the workplace. I don't think a respectful workplace means you can't support someone who identifies as ex-gay. It just means you can't try to recruit more folks to the ex-gay lifestyle (ha!).
I haven't look at the ruling itself, but I'm curious if its creating another kind of sexual orientation by defining ex-gay as a protected class under that definition ... which would suggest that there is more than one in the first place. I think. Hmmm.
Yeah, I'm that impressed with the tip I received last night that Onorato had publicly stated his support for civil union at a rally in York, PA yesterday afternoon. I confirmed with a campaign source, but I don't have any further details.
This is a long way from the candidate who simply refused to answer the question of marriage equality on the Steel-City Stonewall questionnaire during his last bid for County Chief Executive. (h/t 2 Political Junkies). The original questionnaire is not available online.
Discuss your thoughts on marriage equality for same-sex couples; while the position you seek may not directly affect this issue, it is important for us to understand your perspective.
CANDIDATE DID NOT ANSWER QUESTION
Over the past decade, government money has been used to promote ?abstinence-only-until marriage? programs in schools. Even though same-sex couples still cannot legally marry in Pennsylvania, to qualify for government support, schools must teach that any sexual relationships outside of marriage is ?likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects.? Do you support or oppose abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula?
CANDIDATE DID NOT ANSWER QUESTION
Discuss your thoughts on government's role in shaping school curricula for sex education. Do you have any thoughts on the formation of gay-straight student alliances within the public school systems?
CANDIDATE DID NOT ANSWER QUESTION
Another equality issue confronting our country is the issue of abortion. Please discuss your position on abortion and any thoughts you have on the current abortion debate.
CANDIDATE DID NOT ANSWER QUESTION
So, yes, progress. I understand the campaign will be releasing a LGBT position paper on Friday which again is some progress, as they could default to the upcoming Steel-City questionnaire.
But ... come on, people. Still no domestic partner benefits? I am being told behind the scenes to be patient, just wait and it will happen. I assume it will happen in time for the primary, especially with the potential for Cyril Wecht tossing his hat into the ring. Not that I know Cyril Wecht's position on gay issues, simply that Onorato will need to capture as many of us D's as possible.
But ... come on, people. Stating your support for civil unions does not offset failure to take action on an LGBT issue within your current realm of influence.
The fascination of the emegence of a homo-tolerant version of Onorato from the cocoon of the "good Catholic boy" breeding ground of Pittsburgh is not nearly as significant as the number of LGBT partners who continue to lack health insurance because their boss doesn't think they are worth the effort.
Civil unions are great campaign promises, but Allegheny County's LGBT community deserves action.
I love that Forever Home Beagle Rescue has four times the Facebook fans as Pgh Lesbian Correspondents. I'm biased because I'm working on a pet food drive to help the hungry four footed friends. One thing I love about Forever Home is their stated dedication to prevent homeless pettedness by working with families before they relinquish their companions.
So much awesome.
Speaking of which, January 23 is our Coco-versary. Hard to believe that one year ago she was a kitten sequestered in our bathroom while wrecking havoc on anything that moved. Fast forward 365 days and she's a big girl cat roaming the house in search of even more things that move. Happy beearlied "gotcha day" you little bundle of demon cuteness.
