MadProfessah at Equality Summit

Darnell Grisby (Planning Committee co-chair) and
Anne Marks (Equality Summit organizer)

UCLA Law School's Williams Institute Visiting Scholar Catherine Smith
and MadProfessah

MadProfessah and
Equality Summit Planning Committee co-chair Andrea Shorter

MadProfessah and Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors

L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa addressed the
Equality Summit during MadProfessah's panel

MadProfessah attended the Equality Summit at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Saturday. I was on the panel entitled "Race and Religion and the LGBT Movement" representing the Jordan/Rustin Coalition. The panel was interrupted by the arrival of a very special surprise guest, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Here are some pictures I took with people wandering around the Equality Summit.

Some news was made at the summit: There was consensus to move forward with plans for a ballot measure to repeal Propoistion 8 on the November 2008 ballot. The group Love Honor Cherish appears to be taking the lead; they have a draft 18-page plan for recruiting 100,000 volunteers to collect the 1.5-1.7 million signatures it will take to place the measure before voters.

One pending question that was unresolved. Should the ballot measure

1. Repeal Prop 8 only
2. Repeal Prop 8; and include language making it clear it does not force the teaching of same-sex marriage in schools and re-affirming the rights of churches to marry (or not marry) whoever the hell they want
3. Do #2 AND include other language which precludes the matter from being voted on again and/or possibly includes explicit language which would incorporate non-discrimination language previously endorsed by the California Supreme Court (i.e. sex, sexual orientation and race are suspect classifications)

What do YOU think?