WA Legislature Passes Marriage Equality Bill!

Wow! Another day of great news in the ongoing kulturkampf about marriage equality. 15 years after the Washington State legislature enacted a defense of marriage act over the veto of Democratic governor Gary Locke, the same body has passed a marriage equality legislature bill and sent it to Democratic governor Christine Gregoire for her enthusiastic signature.

Last week the State Senate passed the marriage equality bill SB 6239 by a bipartisan vote of 28-21. Earlier today, the State House of Representatives passed the bill by another bipartisan vote of 55 to 43.

The Advocate reports:

A spokeswoman for Gov. Christine Gregoire said Wednesday afternoon that she expects to sign the bill early next week, making Washington the seventh state plus the District of Columbia to legalize same-sex marriage. 

A round of amendments from Republicans looking to stop the bill all failed. One of the failed amendments had tried to require a referendum before same-sex marriage could be approved.  

Sen. Ed Murray, the gay man who has led much of the push for same-sex marriage in the state, said he and others are already gearing up for an expected referendum in November spurred by a petition drive. He told TVW that first a "decline to sign" drive would try to keep a repeal measure off the ballot.

Interestingly, as a result of yesterday's decision in Perry v Brown, the only chance that heterosexual supremacists may have to stop Washington from becoming the 7th state to allow same-sex couples to legally marry is through the referendum process. If they allow the marriage equality law to go into effect on June 7th and use an initiative to repeal it they will be repeating the state of facts which occurred in California in 2008 and that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday ruled are legally impermissible in the 9th circuit (which includes Washington state).A referendum puts the law on hold until the voters decide whether they want to approve it or not. In November 2009, Maine voters rejected a similar marriage equality referendum by rejecting Question 1.

Regardless, Washington state voters have previously affirmed a same-sex relationship law by referendum in November 2009 (Referendum 71 in a non-presidential year) and will almost certainly do so again in 2012 where the President and a U.S. Senator is on the ballot. Bizarrely, it is somewhat likely that both Maine and Washington will have simultaneous ballot fights going on again in November 2012.

Congratulations to Washington!

MAINE: Back To The Ballot For Marriage Equality

As expected, Equality Maine announced today that they have decided to place a measure on the November 2012 ballot which would enact marriage equality. This is a big deal, because in 2009 after an expensive Proposition 8-inspired campaign in which both sides spent over $9 million combined, Maine voters rejected a marriage equality measure enacted by the state legislature by voting down Question 1 53% to 47%.

From the press release:

Augusta – Today, advocates for allowing same-sex couples to legally marry in Maine announced plans for a Citizens Initiative to enact a marriage equality law, delivering more than 105,000 signatures from Maine voters who want the issue on the November 2012 ballot to the Secretary of State’s office.

The announcement follows two years of outreach and conversations with Mainers about the freedom to marry, statewide polling showing steadily increasing support for allowing same-sex couples to marry – which now stands at 54 percent – and intensive field organizing in preparation for the campaign.

“The number of signatures we gathered and the thoughtful conversations we’ve been having with voters tell us that Mainers are eager to speak on this question again,” said Betsy Smith, executive director of EqualityMaine. “Our polling shows a 54% majority of support for same-sex marriage in Maine. Many Mainers have changed their minds and want a chance to bring equality and fairness to our state.”

So Maine is one of the states where advocates for marriage equality will be playing offense in the fight to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from civil marriage. Others are Maryland, Washington and New Jersey.

There will be anti-equality efforts in North Carolina and Minnesota.

EQME Says They Have Signatures For 2012 Marriage Initiative

Game on! Equality Maine has announced that they have gathered twice as many signatures as needed to put an initiative on the November 2012 which would legalize marriage equality.

The specific ballot question language is:

Do you favor a law allowing marriage licenses for same-sex couples that protects religious freedom by ensuring no religion or clergy be required to perform such a marriage in violation of their religious beliefs?

The Portland Press-Herald reports:

Betsy Smith of EqualityMaine says 396 volunteers collected more than 36,000 signatures on Election Day, bringing the total number to 100,000. That's more than enough petitions to get gay marriage onto the statewide ballot if the group chooses to do so. Smith says the group will make its decision on a referendum in January. 

Maine is currently the only state in New England that doesn't allow either gay marriage or civil unions. Maine lawmakers approved a gay marriage law, but it was overturned by a statewide referendum in 2009.

Recent polls in Maine have shown support for marriage equality at 53%. Hopefully Maine goes forward with a pro-marriage equality measure in 2012, which will at least counter-balance the anti-marriage equality measures in Minnesota and North Carolina.

POLL: Support for Marriage Equality in Maine

Well, well! Despite being rejected at the polls on election day 2009 when Maine's Question 1 (voiding that state's recently passed marriage equality law) was approved by voters 53% to 47%, marriage equality is now enjoying majority support in the state as the 2012 federal elections approach, and Equality Maine considers going back to the ballot with a marriage equality measure.

A new poll from PPP shows that 51% of Maine respondents think that same-sex marriage should be legal, but before one gets too confident, I would point out that this is within the margin of error of ±3.8 percentage points of this poll (673 voters contacted between 10/28-10/31/2011).So, it is true that more Maine voters support marriage equality than oppose it, but the poll does not indicate majority support for marriage equality in Maine yet. Hopefully, that will be the case one year from now, on election day 2012!

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

Names Of Referendum 71 Signers Released

Finally! After losing a Supreme Court decision Doe v. Reed last year, the heterosexual supremacists who forced the voters of Washington State to vote on whether that state's comprehensive domestic partnership law should go into effect have lost their battle to keep secret the names of the voters who signed the petitions to get the measure on the ballot.

A federal judge ordered the state of Washington to release the names on Monday, and the Secretary of State released a DVD with 138, 000 names of petitioners to the press.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports:

The 138,000 people who signed petitions to force a vote on a 2009 domestic partnership law are unlikely to face harassment if their names are disclosed a judge said Friday while ordering the release of signatures.

U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle said the petitioners who advocated for privacy provided only a few experiences of indecent statements and other uncomfortable conversations. Also, there was only speculation that those incidents were connected to the issue, he said.

Disclosure would become the exception, rather than the rule, if just a few instances of harassment were used as the standard for preventing the release of names, Settle said.

And the heterosexual supremacists lost the referendum campaign in 2009 as well. Washington voters approved the referendum (upheld Washington's comprehensive domestic partnership law) and it has been in effect since November 2009.

Lesbian Mayor of Houston Tweets Re-Election Bid

Annise Parker, who became the first openly LGBT mayor of a major United States city (Houston) in December 2009, has announced what everyone has known for a pretty long time: she's running for re-election.

The Houston Chronicle (which endorsed Parker in her election two years ago) covered the story like this:

Houston Mayor Annise Parker filed the papers Thursday to put her name on the November ballot, a move that so far appears to be a formality on her path toward a second two-year term.

"I'm going to be a better mayor in the second term because of what I've learned in the first term," Parker declared during a visit to her campaign headquarters on Allen Parkway.

The mayor described her first term as one in which she often had to react instead of plan and shape. The economy depleted city revenue, leading to painful spending cuts. Voters handed Parker controversial mandates to initiate a monthly drainage fee and to turn off the city's red-light cameras. She compared her attempts to change the culture of a 21,000-employee city bureaucracy to turning an ocean liner. Even the weather has necessitated a response, and Parker recently imposed mandatory water restrictions on the 2.1 million people she governs.

In a second term, Parker said, she hopes to create more and respond less.

"This is a city that has tremendous potential, and I want to move the conversation to tapping into that potential, to being a cleaner, greener city, to being a city with more jobs and opportunity for everybody," Parker said.

Since the advent of term limits in 1991, no incumbent mayor has lost an election. Nor has any even had a close call in their first re-election.

Go, Annise, Go! The election is November 8, 2011. Parker has more than $2.3 million on hand and no opponents with more than $5,000. She is term-limited to 3-terms in office, so she would still have to be re-elected in 2013 to spend the maximum 6 years as Mayor of Houston.

Interestingly, in 2013 there may be another lesbian running to be Mayor of an even bigger city: New York City.

WATCH: Mayor-elect Annise Parker's Victory Speech

Houston Mayoral Race Election Results

Openly lesbian City Controller Annise Parker is expected to be elected Mayor of Houston today. She would make history as the first openly gay person to lead a major American city (Houston, the nation's 4th largest with 2.245 million residents and just under a million registered voters). To follow election results throughout the night, you can look at Harris County Elections site or follow #HouMayor on Twitter.

In early returns, Parker leads by 2,000 votes out of 80,000 cast (51.7% to 48.3%).

Polls this week had Parker lead former City Attorney Gene Locke by as many as 13 points. Locke is African American and both candidates are Democrats in this non-partisan race.

UPDATE 8:20PM PST
With 733 of 734 precincts reporting, Annise Parker has been elected Mayor of Houston 81,662 to 70,631--a margin of over 10,000 votes--53.6% to 46.4%.

Open Lesbian Parker Leads Houston Mayor's Race

Rod 2.0 alerts me to this poll released yesterday which shows that Houston City Controller Annise Parker leads former Houston City Attorney Gene Locke in Saturday's run-off mayoral election by thirteen points, 49-36.

Previous polls had shown the race to be close, but Stein said Parker opened up a double-digit lead because her message of fiscal responsibility has helped her gain support among a variety of voting groups: white Republicans, African-Americans, Hispanics and independents.

Both Locke and Parker are Democrats in the nonpartisan race. Houston is a predominantly Democratic city and is about 25 percent black and one-third Hispanic. It has about 60,000 residents who identify as gay or lesbian.

The poll, commissioned by television station KHOU and radio station KUHF, is based on telephone interviews earlier this week with 442 registered voters in Houston. It has an error rate of plus or minus 4.7 percent.

If Parker wins, she will make history as the first openly gay head of a major American city, Houston, which with an estimated population of 2.2 million is the United States' fourth largest, behind New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Kasim Reed Wins Atlanta Mayors's Race by 714 Votes

Tami Chappell/Reuters

The Atlanta Mayor's race has finally been decided after a recount and Kasim Reed, 40, has defeated Mary Norwood by 714 votes (42,549 to 41,835) out of over 84,000 votes cast.

MadProfessah was following the race because it featured a hard-fought tussle over the votes of LGBT voters, and on Tuesday December 1st Atlanta made history electing the first openly gay people of color to the City Council and the State Legislature.

714 votes! Let's hope that Annise Parker wins her race to become the first lesbian chief executive of a major American city (Houston, the 4th largest in the Country!) on Saturday December 12th. This race also pits the LGBT community "against" the Black community, since Parker's opponent is African-American.

LA CD-2: Krekorian Wins City Council Seat

Yesterday's run-off election in the 2nd District of the Los Angeles City Council was won easily by MadProfessah-endorsed candidate Paul Krekorian (43rd District Assemblymember) over Christine Essel. Turnout was even lower than expected, with only 15.35% or less than 20,000 votes cast in a district which has around 125,000 registered voters. More than half of the votes were cast by mail and Krekorian had a nearly 60-40 edge in those votes.

The final results were:

VOTES	PERCENT
COUNCIL DISTRICT 2
	CHRISTINE ESSEL	8,304	43.44
	PAUL KREKORIAN	10,810	56.56

This means that there will be an upcoming special election to replace Krekorian in the 43rd District. MadProfessah friend (and hunky straight ally) Mike Gatto will be a candidate in a crowded field.

Los Angeles CD-2 Election Today: Paul Krekorian

Today is the decision day for the 2nd District Los Angeles City Council race between businesswoman Christine Essel and Assemblymember Paul Krekorian, the top two finishers in the September 22nd special election. The seat became vacant when Wendy Greuel was elected City Controller in July. If Krekorian is elected (as MadProfessah hopes) then there will be another special election to replace his seat in the 43rd Assembly district. Greuel has endorsed Essel to replace her.

Most LGBT activists, most notably the Stonewall Democrats (of which MadProfessah is an elected steering committee member) are rooting for Krekorian to win. John Cleary, Stonewall President wrote the following letter of support for LGBT Democrats and their allies in the 2nd City Council District:

This is a very important time in our city and we need a leader who will listen to our concerns and act on our behalf. On December 8, we hope you will support Paul Krekorian for Los Angeles City Council. Paul has received the strong endorsement of Stonewall Democratic Club, Stonewall Young Democrats, and Senator Mark Leno because Paul has always been a trusted friend of our community and a strong advocate on issues that matter to us.

Senator Mark Leno, Chair of the Legislative LGBT Caucus, said “Paul Krekorian has always been a trusted friend of the LGBT community and a leader on the issues that matter to us. Paul was a coauthor of my bill, AB 43, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, and he fervently opposed Prop. 8. Paul Krekorian believes in and will fight for equality for all, and he deserves your support.”

Paul was a strong ally in our fight in opposition to Proposition 8. He was also among the group of legislators who filed an amicus brief in support of marriage equality with the California Supreme Court.

In addition, Paul has a lifetime 100% voting record from Equality California and was a coauthor of a Senate Joint Resolution that called for an end to “Don't Ask, Don't Tell.”

Paul has been a longtime board member of the AIDS Community Action Foundation. He was the author of AB 1894, mandating that health insurers pay for HIV/AIDS testing in all settings, regardless of primary diagnosis.

Paul Krekorian is the right person at the right time to serve on the City Council. He is also the only candidate with a proven track record of fighting for our community. Please join me in supporting Paul on December 8.

There are 123,750 registered voters in the 2nd City Council District, and nearly 10,000 absentee ballots have been returned. Overall turnout is expected to be about 20%.

Below is the PDF of the actual letter sent out to 5,000 residents of LA CD-2.
Krekorian Support Letter

NJ Senate Committee Passes Marriage Equality Bill 7-6

The New Jersey State Senate Judiciary Committee, consisting of 8 Democrats and 5 Republicans voted 7-6 to send the marriage equality bill, S1967, to the floor of the State Senate on Monday after more than 7 hours of debate.

Blue Jersey summarized the committee thusly:

Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen): Chairman, opponent of marriage equality. Doesn't have a law degree.
John Girgenti (D-Passaic): Vice Chairman
Nia Gill (D-Essex): Black Senator from Montclair, a diverse college town with a large gay population. Strong supporter of marriage equality
Ray Lesniak (D-Union): Sharp, articulate lawmaker who led the fight to abolish the death penalty in New Jersey. Strong supporter of marriage equality.
Nick Scutari (D-Union): a supporter of marriage equality.
Bob Smith (D-Middlesex): a supporter of marriage equality. Smith represents a liberal district in Central NJ which includes New Brunswick and Piscataway.
Brian Stack (D-Hudson): a supporter of marriage equality. Stack is also mayor of Union City, and an powerful Hudson County political boss.
Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen): the sponsor of the bill and a progressive stalwart in the legislature.
Bill Baroni (R-Mercer): very smart, well-liked Republican, and a supporter of marriage equality
Christopher Bateman (R-Somerset)
Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth): a wild card, and an up-and-comer in the Republican party.
Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen): probably the most outspoken opponent on the committee. A dentist by trade; has no law degree.
Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth): former R party chair, probably an opponent.

Sarlo and Girgenti were two Democrats who voted against the bill, while Baroni was the only Republican, for the bipartisan total of 7-6. The vote on the floor of the Senate will be on Thursday December 10th. Democrats hold a 23-17 advantage in the chamber but the vote tally on the marriage equality is unknown.

After last week's stunning 24-38 defeat in a body with 32 Democrats and 30 Republicans of New York's marriage equality bill due to traitorous Democrats and cowardly Republicans, LGBT activists are more than a little nervous about this week's vote on marriage.

WA State Comprehensive DP Law Now In Effect!

The Approval of Referendum 71 was made official Thursday December 3rd. From the official blog of the Washington State Secretary of State:

Referendum 71, placed on the ballot by foes of same-sex marriage, was approved by a margin of more than 110,000 votes, or more than 6 percentage points. National media describe it as the country’s first voter-approved domestic partnership or “everything-but-marriage” law.

The new law had been on hold pending the public vote, and will now go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, 30 days after the Nov. 3 General Election. The law is Senate Bill 5688 and applies to state-registered domestic partners, both same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples where at least one partner is 62 or older.

Congratulations, Washington! Now California (2005), Oregon (2008), Nevada (2009), and Washington (2009), as well as Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey and New Hampshire have eliminated as many disparities between how the state treats opposite-sex couples and same-sex couples under state law. On the west coast we tend to call these laws "comprehensive domestic partnership" statutes. On the east coast they call them civil unions. Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont have now passed marriage equality laws (NH's goes into effect January 1) and New Jersey may join them very soon.

Openly Gay ( and POC!) Candidates Win in Atlanta

Simone Bell	Alex Wan

Simone Bell and Alex Wan made history on Tuesday night by winning election to the Georgia House of Representatives and Atlanta City Council, respectively, as openly LGBT people of color.

Bell became the first African American lesbian ever elected to a state legislative position in this country be winning 53% of the votes in her runoff race for the 58th District race while Wan won 60% of the vote in the 6th City Council district, becoming the first openly gay man (and Asian-American) to the Atlanta City Council.

Both candidates were supported by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, whose Gay and Lesbian Leadership institute is hosting the 25th Annual International Gay & Lesbian Leadership Conference in San Francisco this weekend. Last year MadProfessah attended the conference as part of the LGBT Bloggers Initiative, but I am unable to make it this year due to a conflict with a board retreat and work commitments.

The Atlanta Mayoral race I blogged about earlier today is currently too close to call, but Kasim Reed is nursing a slim lead of about 800 votes out of more than 80,000 cast.

Atlanta Mayoral Candidates Fight for "Pink Vote"

Today is election day in Atlanta and the two candidates in today's Mayoral runoff election are Kasim Reed and Mary Norwood, who are both apparently fighting for the votes of the city's very large (and politically active) LGBT community.

"I cannot recall a mayor's race when there's been so much attention placed on the gay and lesbian vote," said Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, the state's largest gay rights group.

"All of a sudden, overnight, it's like an unbelievable push [to prove] who's gayer," added Glen Paul Freedman, chief of staff for City Council President Lisa Borders.

Eleven days after the November vote, Norwood -- who would be the first white mayor of Atlanta since the 1970s -- was outside the state Capitol for a rally protesting Proposition 8, California's anti-gay-marriage measure. She told the crowd she had sent a donation to the forces fighting Prop. 8, and called herself "the only mayoral candidate who supports full marriage equality."

A rainbow flag icon is now featured prominently on Norwood's campaign website; it links to a page reminding viewers that "each person in a couple" can contribute $1,200 to a candidate in the runoff.

Her rival, Reed -- a favorite of Atlanta's civil rights establishment who favors gay civil unions, not marriage -- has touted his pro-gay-rights record in the Legislature, where he sponsored a hate crimes bill that extended protections to gays.

Reed, in a recent televised debate, attacked Norwood for missing a City Council vote on a measure to extend pension benefits to domestic partners of city employees.

[...]

The attention being lavished on gay voters has something to do with sheer numbers: It's estimated that Atlanta has the third-largest percentage of gay, lesbian and bisexual residents among large U.S. cities; they make up about 12.8% of the city population, according to a 2006 report by the UCLA law school's Williams Institute, which researches sexual-orientation issues.

Also, there is an openly gay candidate for city council, Alex Wan, and an openly lesbian (and African American) candidate for the State House of Representatives named Simone Bell, who if elected would become the first Black lesbian elected to a state legislative office in the United States.

Hat/tip Joe.My.God

Parker Gets Houston Chronicle Endorsement for Mayor

Annise Parker, who is trying to become the first openly LGBT person elected mayor of a major American city, has garnered the endorsement of her hometown's largest newspaper, the Houston Chronicle.

In both her public and personal life, Parker has maintained high ethical standards and decorum in her years as an elected official. No scandals have occurred on her watch. As mayor she will present the city’s best face to the world, one of tolerance, diversity and compassion for all our citizens.

The Chronicle urges voters to allow Parker to take her high standards and solid record of accomplishment to the city’s highest office.

However, this week came word that local homophobes are distributing 35,000 copies of an anti-gay flier to Houston residents with a picture of Parker and her female partner under the large caption "Is This The Image Houston Wants To Portray?"

The main person behind the flyer gave interviews where he said such charming nonsense as "homosexual behavior leads to extinction." This is always one of the craziest arguments in the raving homophobes arsenal. Do they really think heterosexual will stop having straight sex if gay people become more prominent and liberated? The answer is obviously no, and if it were yes, what does that say about the allure of heterosexuality? Not much!

To support Annise Parker for Mayor, go to www.victoryfund.org/anniseparker

Maine Question 1 Money Total: Over $9m

Joe.My.God has the details of the more than 9 million dollars that was spent to support and oppose Maine's Question 1, which was passed by voters on Tuesday and repealed LD-1020, which would have legalized civil marriage for same-sex couples in that state.

Proponents

The committees that supported Question 1 got their funding almost entirely from churches and conservative Christian organizations and their employees, who gave $3 million, which is 89 percent of the proponents' total. Almost half of proponents' contributions came from the National Organization for Marriage, a conservative Christian group based in New Jersey, which gave $1.6 million. Focus on the Family gave $179,500. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, another large donor, gave $285,988—all to its own ballot committee. In total, dioceses and churches provided $578,904. Out-of-state churches sent in $269,650. Out-of state donors from 45 other states gave $2.1 million to support the measure. New Jersey topped the list at $1.6 million. In a distant second place, Colorado donors gave $143,070, and those from the District of Columbia gave $75,275.

Opponents

The committees that opposed Question 1 relied less on the support of a few major organizations. Opponents of the measure raised money from over 10,000 donors—12 times more than proponents reported. Gay-rights groups and their employees gave $1.8 million, or 31 percent of the total raised by opponents. The Human Rights Campaign topped the list, giving $367,067. The Gill Foundation contributed $275,000. Freedom to Marry gave $200,000 and another $30,000 came from the Vermont affiliate. The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force gave $159,056, and EqualityMaine gave $152,151. Out-of-state donors contributed $3.3 million to oppose to the measure. Donations came from all 50 states; the top locations were New York ($761,498), Massachusetts ($653,889), and the District of Columbia ($619,566).

I suppose it is progress that the donors for supporting the denial of fundamental rights to a minority group are not coming from large groups of people, but only a small cadre of religiously motivated heterosexual supremacists.

CA-10: Garamendi Elected To Congress

Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi has won the special election to replace U.S. Rep Ellen Tauscher in California's congressional district. You may recall this district because this was the race in which Black, openly gay Iraq vet Anthony Woods was a candidate, although with much greater name recognition and money, Garamendi placed first in the primary on September 1, 2009.

Despite all the chatter about Republican gains in Tuesday's elections, the Democrats in Congress have two more votes in Congress after the election than they did before the election.

And that's two more votes for health care reform.

Next Step in Marriage Equality Fight: New Jersey

There is a very good chance that the District of Columbia, New Jersey and New York will pass marriage equality bills through their legislatures in the next few weeks (definitely before the end of the year).

First up is the Garden State, with now lame-duck Governor Jon Corzine widely expected to sign the bill into law if it passes the legislature before a Republican Governor is sworn in in January.

To support the New Jersey effort, watch the videos above, and go to Garden State Equality's website to support their effort to pass marriage equality in the next six weeks.