African Americans Against Prop 8

MadProfessah is out of town this weekend so blogging may be sporadic. Please tell friends and neighbors about this event on Tuesday October 21st at noon at Lucy Florence Cultural Center in Leimert Park to feature prominent African American community leaders speaking out against Proposition 8.

California Teachers Association Donates $1M To Defeat Prop 8

I guess the heterosexual supremacists don't feel so good about lying about the impact of Proposition 8 on schoolchildren now, hmmm?

Rule Number 1 in California politics is don't piss off the unions. The powerful California Teachers Asssociation reported Tuesday that it was donating one million dollars to defeat Proposition 8, on top of a $250, 000 donation MadProfessah reported the union had previously made at Equality California's Los Angeles dinner in early August. This $1.25m total makes the CTA the largest institutional donor (so far!) to Equality For All, the umbrella group coordinating the NO ON PROP 8 campaign.

Union spokeswoman Sandra Jackson says CTA's 800-member policy body voted overwhelmingly to oppose the gay marriage ban. Jackson says the issue concerns educators because "teachers teach the importance of equal rights for all." She says CTA leaders made the second contribution this week because the No campaign seems to be struggling.

Thank you so much to the CTA. They get why Prop 8 is important, and they put their money where their mouth is. Other progressive forces have stepped up as, well. Will you?

Obama Wins 3rd and Final Debate Decisively

The fat lady is clearing her mouth and preparing to sing...

Best NO ON PROP 8 Ad Yet

Please donate to the MadProfessah.com EQUALITY FOR ALL page to get this ad on the air!

As you can see from the thermometer on this page, we currently at fifteen percent of our goal of $1000. Please donate $5, $10 or $25 to stop Proposition 8.

Los Angeles Daily News Opposes Prop 8

The Los Angeles Daily News has editorialized against Proposition 8. "California is better than intolerant Prop. 8":

The backers of Proposition 8 understand that Californians, for the most part, are a tolerant bunch who don't discriminate against people because of their sexualgender. So they framed their pitch in a convoluted warning about how children will be denied fathers, be forced to hear about homosexuality in school and be generally tainted by open gayness of society. It's all a smokescreen.

This proposition isn't about kids and won't affect them, other than to perhaps make life for their two dads or two moms easier. It is about tolerance. And that's something that Californians - forward-thinkers that we are - have always supported and celebrated.

Currently marriage is of such low value to couples of opposite sexes that divorce is as common as changing a job. It's refreshing to see members of society so desirous of committing to one partner that they would fight fiercely for the right to do so.

Reject Proposition 8. California is better than that.

Amen, brother!

Mayor Villaraigosa Donates $25K To Defeat Prop 8

This is the letter that I received in email yesterday that made me donate to NO ON PROP 8 yesterday and set up the MadProfessah.com EQUALITY FOR ALL page. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has donated $25,000 to defeat the measure and sent out a fundraising appeal explaining why.

"I entered politics because the America of my dreams includes everyone, not just a few.

Too many people have suffered injustice, discrimination, and inequality. It's time to bring every American out of the shadows and into the light. Our laws should not be used to single one group out to be treated differently. Instead, our laws should guarantee the same fundamental rights to every Californian.

Same-sex marriage is the law of the land in California. In my legal capacity as Mayor of Los Angeles, I have proudly officiated many same-sex weddings since the Supreme Court ruling in June confirmed the constitutionality of these unions.
These are loving, committed couples who want to get married for universal reasons: they love, care for, protect and take responsibility for each other.

I vow to vote No on Proposition 8 because I believe our civil society demands that we uphold — not eliminate — these fundamental rights. I believe all Californians deserve to be treated equally. And I believe that government exists to protect individual rights, not to undermine them.

Unfortunately, polls now show that the anti-marriage equality "Yes on 8" campaign is leading, just as vote-by-mail ballots arrive in voters' mailboxes across California. The "No on 8" campaign needs our help today to get the marriage equality message out on TV immediately. That's why I'm taking a stand against Prop. 8 today by contributing $25,000 to the "No on 8" campaign.

And I would like you to join me by digging deep and contributing whatever you can afford - whether it's $5, $50, $500, or $5,000 - to the "No on 8" campaign on Courage's ActBlue page right now

Opponents of marriage equality have blanketed California with misleading ads and have raised an unprecedented sum of money, outspending the "No on 8" campaign by over $10 million. In fact, the "Yes on 8" campaign received so many individual contributions, both large and small, that the sheer volume crashed the Secretary of State's reporting system last Tuesday.

I know that many defenders of marriage equality just like you have contributed a lot of money so far to the "No on 8" campaign — but we need to redouble our efforts now to match the flood of money raised by supporters of Prop 8. Californians from across the political and cultural spectrum have united to fight Prop 8 and defend fundamental rights ….

Our state constitution protects our rights. It should not be used to deny civil rights to anyone.

Please join me in supporting the No on 8 campaign. And tell your friends by forwarding this Courage Campaign message. Together, we can take a stand for the right of every Californian to marry the person they love.

Thank you for vowing to vote No on –and contribute to the defeat of — Prop 8.

Antonio Villaraigosa
Mayor of Los Angeles"

It should be noted that Mayor Villaraigosa is in his first terms and faces re-election in April 2009.

McCain Well Under 40% Support In NYT Poll

The CBS/New York Times poll released yesterday has Barack Obama leading 53%-36%! This is the first poll that I have seen with John McCain under 40%.

The current Gallup poll has Obama at a lead of 9 points (51%-42%):

The third and final presidential debate is being held at Hofstra University in New York City. It starts at 6pm PDT (9pm EDT) and in the audience will be Hillary Clinton.

Latinos Against Proposition 8

Exterior of the No On Prop 8 / HONORPAC Office in East L.A.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina

HONORPAC Chair Luis Lopez began the
press conference by introducing Christine Chavez

Mad Professah attended this week's press conference announcing prominent Latino leader's opposition to Proposition 8 in East Los Angeles. Also attending were Cesar Chavez' granddaughter Christine Chavez, LAUSD Board President Monica Garcia and Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina.

The office is at the corner of Cesar Chavez and Ford in East LA. There are 21 days until the election.

21 Days Left: How Much Is Equality Worth To You?

Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California sent out this e-mail blast today:

The latest tracking polls show that if the election were held today among voters who have seen both our ads and the other side’s ads that we would WIN!

Unfortunately, we don’t have sufficient funds to get our ads seen by all
the voters who’ve seen the other side’s ads. So it’s that simple…without more
funds we’ll lose.

But we will win if we have enough money to reach
voters. So DONATE NOW!

A powerful array of motivated groups have organized against us. Yesterday’s Sacramento Bee reported that:

“Mormons…have emerged as the leading financial contributors to the controversial Nov. 4 ballot measure. Church members have donated about 40 percent of the $22.8 million raised to pass the initiative since July.”

What is also unfortunate is that only 30,000 people have donated to the
No on 8 campaign compared to the 60,000 who have donated to the other side.

In a state with about two million LGBT people, in a country with
millions more and tens of millions of straight allies, we have to get everyone
to support this fight. If every LGBT person donates we can win!

Yesterday’s Sacramento Bee also reported on the sacrifices being made by
members of the Yes on 8 campaign:

"That's why Auburn resident David Nielson, 55, is giving…He and his wife, Susan, live on a budget. The couple donated $35,000, he said, "because some things are worth fighting for." The couple will forgo a vacation for the next two years and make other sacrifices to pay for their donation, he said.”

So, what is your equality worth to you? What is your equality worth to your friends and family? How much will you sacrifice for your own freedom?

I donated yesterday (again) and I will match all donations (up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS) made by MadProfessah.com readers at the MadProfessah.com Equality For All page.

VIDEO: Homemade NO ON PROP 8 Ad

MadProfessah and Other Half in Advocate Magazine

Reporter Anne Stockwell wrote a profile of MadProfessah and his Other Half (along with 13 other couples) that is appearing in the November 4, 2008 issue of The Advocate under the heading: Love Stories: Ron Buckmire and Dean Elzinga.

Married: August 8, 2008
Together: 17 years

Back in 1991 the Internet was only for geeks and grad students. Ron Buckmire, who was studying applied mathematics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York, was both. When Buckmire visited Los Angeles that year, his welcoming committee included Dean Elzinga, who was studying mathematical logic at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“We were one of the initial Internet couples,”
Buckmire says, remembering the long-distance calls and student airfares of their
early romance. “We were just so comfortable together,” Elzinga says.
When Buckmire graduated in 1994, he moved west for good. Now the two share a home in the Los Angeles suburb of Montecito Heights. Buckmire heads the math department at Occidental College and pursues his other longtime passion -- the battle for LGBT civil rights. (You can thank Buckmire for compiling one of the first online archives of LGBT information back in 1991.) These days he heads the Center for Health Justice as well as the Barbara Jordan/Bayard Rustin Coalition, serving
gay people of color, and blogs on politics under his online alias, “the mad
professah.”

Today, Elzinga makes his living as an opera singer. “I knew
nothing about opera when we met,” Buckmire says. “I was into divas -- like
Mariah Carey.” Elzinga has changed all that. His rich bass-baritone voice
captivates even on the phone. They didn’t want to have something called a wedding. “That brought to mind too many pictures of virgin brides,” Elzinga
says. They exchanged vows before a small gathering in their backyard on August
8. Elzinga, who was raised Mormon, was touched that his father and brother chose
to be there. Buckmire recounts how his born-again Christian Grenadian mom called
to wish him happiness, even if she couldn’t fully understand the marriage.
Now that they’ve made it legal, the clarity of their relationship has
changed. “Before, there were all these messy approximations,” Elzinga says. “How
you described the person in your life would involve quotes, like ‘my husband.’
It’s such a relief to take the quotes off.”

Circumcision Ineffective In HIV Prevention in MSM

The latest research results about the impact of circumcision on HIV prevention have been released. You may recall the "to cut or not to cut" controversy earlier in the year when the head of the New York City health department floated the idea of adult male circumcision as a reasonable HIV prevention strategy, to much derision and dismay from AIDS activists. The new research shows that uncut guys can maybe uncross their legs now...

Despite research showing circumcision can reduce a man's risk of HIV during heterosexual intercourse, a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the procedure offers little protection against the virus for men who have sex with men, AFP/Yahoo! News reports. According to the study, there was minimal difference in HIV infections between those MSM who were circumcised and those who were not (AFP/Yahoo! News, 10/7).

For the study, researchers at CDC, led by Gregorio Millett, reviewed 15 previous studies on circumcision that included 53,567 MSM from Australia, Great Britain, Canada, India, the Netherlands, Peru, Taiwan and the U.S. Circumcised MSM were 14% less likely to be HIV-positive than those who were not, a rate that was not statistically significant, according to the researchers. Millett said, "You can't necessarily say with confidence that we're seeing a true effect there," adding, "Overall, we're not finding a protective effect associated with circumcision" for MSM (Dunham, Reuters, 10/7).

However, when examining studies carried out before the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy in 1996, the researchers found evidence that circumcision in the past had a protective effect for MSM, BBC News reports. The researchers said one explanation for the reduced effectiveness of circumcision among MSM following the introduction of HAART is that the efficacy of drugs diminished the perceived need to practice safer sex to avoid contracting HIV. In addition, the study noted that HAART might help reduce the risk of HIV transmission to a level that circumcision does not provide further benefits. The researchers also said that there may have been a smaller proportion of men in the pre-HAART trials who engaged primarily in receptive anal sex, which carries the greatest risk of HIV among MSM (BBC News, 10/7).

MadProfessah Testifies Against Proposition 8 At Legislative Hearing

On Thursday October 2nd at a Joint Informational Hearing of theCalifornia Senate and Assembly Judiciary Committees in downtown Los Angeles I gave the following public testimony:

My name is Ron Buckmire and I am here today as an openly gay Caribbean-American man who legally married his partner of 17 years on the auspicious day of August 8, 2008 in the great state of California. As a gay newlywed, I believe that it is simply wrong for the people of California to vote on whether my marriage should be "valid or recognized" in California.

Regardless of how individuals feel about marriage for same-sex couples, it is truly an extraordinary position to state that a simple majority vote of the electorate should be able to eliminate a fundamental right (the right to marry) by amending the state Constitution.

As a black person who is married to a white man I find it ironic that this debate is occurring almost exactly 60 years after the California Supreme Court became the first highest state court to invalidate racially discriminatory marriage laws in the landmark case, Perez vs Sharp in 1948.

The people of California did not amend the constitution to reinstate white supremacy to overturn that decision in 1948 and they should not enact Proposition 8 to reinforce heterosexual supremacy in 2008. In California, all people, gay and straight, are equal under the law.

Vote NO on Proposition 8.

VIDEO: Courage Campaign "Gender Auditors"

Rick Jacobs' Courage Campaign has released this amusing video on the impact of Proposition 8 and why straight people should be concerned.

Obama's National Poll Lead Widens To Over 8 Points

OpenLeft.com has posted their lastest spread of the average of all the national daily tracking polls. Obama now leads 50.5% to 42.2%.

100 Openly LGBT Candidates Endorsed by Victory Fund

The Victory Fund announced that it has endorsed 100 openly LGBT candidates for elected office in this election season. Its ten highlighted races for the remainder of the election are:

Jason Bartlett—State Representative, Connecticut—Rep. Bartlett came out in 2008 during his current term, making him one of only two openly gay African-American state legislators in the U.S. His reelection would confirm that serving honestly and openly as LGBT is not a barrier to retaining the trust of constituents.
Kate Brown—Secretary of State, Oregon—Sen. Kate Brown, who currently serves as the Democratic Leader in the Oregon Senate, would become the first openly LGBT Secretary of State in the U.S. In Oregon, the office is the second-highest ranking elected post behind the governor.
Linda Ketner—U.S. Representative, South Carolina—Linda Ketner is a longtime businesswoman, community activist and philanthropist who is seeking to represent South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District in the House of Representatives. She faces an entrenched Republican incumbent, but the state’s political press says Ketner’s campaign has made the race competitive.
Kevin Lee—State Representative, Pennsylvania—Kevin Lee would become the Keystone State’s first out representative, which would be a milestone for Pennsylvania’s substantial LGBT community. Kevin hopes to represent a swing district in suburban Philadelphia.
Andrew Martin—State Representative, Nevada—Andrew Martin is seeking a seat in the Nevada Assembly, where he would be the only out state representative. Current state Rep. David Parks, who is also openly gay, is running for the State Senate.
Sara Orozco—State Senate, Massachusetts—Sara Orozco would be the only openly LGBT state senator in Massachusetts. She faces a notoriously anti-gay incumbent.
John Perez—State Assembly, California—If elected, John Perez would become the first openly LGBT person of color elected to the California legislature. Perez’ strong support from both the labor and LGBT groups reflects growing alliances between the two communities.
Jared Polis—U.S. Representative, Colorado—Jared Polis, the former chairman of the Colorado State Board of Education, won a hard-fought Democratic primary to represent the 2nd Congressional District. If elected, Jared would become the first openly gay man elected to Congress as a non-incumbent.
Jim Roth—Corporation Commission, Oklahoma—Jim Roth was appointed to this powerful statewide regulatory commission by Gov. Brad Henry after winning two terms on the Oklahoma County Commission. He is now running to keep the seat. Roth would become the first openly gay statewide elected official in Oklahoma.
Lupe Valdez—Sheriff, Dallas County, Texas—Lupe Valdez became the first woman, the first Latina and the first out lesbian ever elected to this post when she won in 2004. Republicans, still smarting from having lost the seat in 2004, have targeted this county-wide race.

Happy National Coming Out day!

Obama, Biden, McCain and Palin as Simpsons Characters

CT Supreme Court Rules IN FAVOR of Marriage Equality

The Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled in Kerrigan et al v. Commissioner of Public Health et al that Connecticut's statutory civil unions are not the same as marriage.

An excerpt:

Even though the right to marry is not enumerated in
our constitution, it long has been deemed a basic civil
right. E.g., Loving v. Virginia, supra, 388 U.S. 12
(‘‘[m]arriage is one the basic civil rights of man’’ [internal
quotation marks omitted]); Skinner v. Oklahoma
ex rel. Williamson, 316 U.S. 535, 541, 62 S. Ct. 1110, 86
L. Ed. 1655 (1942) (same). Although we traditionally
have viewed that right as limited to a union between a
man and a woman, ‘‘if we have learned anything from
the significant evolution in the prevailing societal views
and official policies toward members of minority races
and toward women over the past half-century, it is that
even the most familiar and generally accepted of social
practices and traditions often mask unfairness and
inequality that frequently is not recognized or appreciated
by those not directly harmed by those practices
or traditions. It is instructive to recall in this regard
that the traditional, well-established legal rules and
practices of our not-so-distant past (1) barred interracial
marriage, (2) upheld the routine exclusion of
women from many occupations and official duties, and
(3) considered the relegation of racial minorities to
separate and assertedly equivalent public facilities and
institutions as constitutionally equal treatment.’’ In re
Marriage Cases, supra, 43 Cal. 4th 853–54.

Like these once prevalent views, our conventional
understanding of marriage must yield to a more contemporary
appreciation of the rights entitled to constitutional
protection. Interpreting our state constitutional
provisions in accordance with firmly established equal
protection principles leads inevitably to the conclusion
that gay persons are entitled to marry the otherwise
qualified same sex partner of their choice. To decide
otherwise would require us to apply one set of constitutional
principles to gay persons and another to all others. The guarantee of equal protection under the law, and our obligation to uphold that command, forbids us
from doing so. In accordance with these state constitutional
requirements, same sex couples cannot be denied
the freedom to marry.

And now there are three! (Massachusetts, California and Connecticut.) New York (and New Jersey) will probably happen in 2009.

VIDEO: New Hard Hitting Ad From NO ON PROP 8

Help to put this ad on television by donating here.

VIDEO: Latest NO ON PROP 8 Ad

MadProfessah saw that this new advertisement against Proposition 8 apparently aired during The Daily Show on Tuesday night at 11pm in Los Angeles (which I watched last night on my DVR). It is useful to get the message out there that even if people are opposed to same-sex marriage, it is simply wrong to amend the state constitution to eleiminate an already bestowed fundamental right to a group of people.