The one issue that puts President Obama to the right of Laura Bush, the Cheney family and Meghan and Cindy McCain is his opposition to same-sex marriage. But a meeting with progressive bloggers Wednesday gives hope that he's inching closer to joining those Republicans -- and most of America -- in supporting marriage equality for lesbians and gay men.
When asked his position on same-sex marriage, Obama reiterated his support of civil unions. A quaint convention, it seems, now that five states and the District of Columbia allow gay couples to legally wed. But the president went further, allowing a glimpse into a nascent and welcome evolution in his position.
But I also think you're right that attitudes evolve, including mine. And I think that it is an issue that I wrestle with and think about because I have a whole host of friends who are in gay partnerships. I have staff members who are in committed, monogamous relationships, who are raising children, who are wonderful parents.
And I care about them deeply. And so while I'm not prepared to reverse myself here, sitting in the Roosevelt Room at 3:30 in the afternoon, I think it's fair to say that it's something that I think a lot about. That's probably the best you'll do out of me today.
The process of embracing marriage equality is similar to that of coming out. It's a personal journey that has no set path or duration. It requires self-reflection and honesty. And once comfort and clarity are achieved you make your declaration. Obama is clearly well on his way to supporting marriage equality. When he makes it known, he'll get the same response most gay people get when they finally come out of the closet: what took you so long?
Being of a Halloween season mindset, I quote Dr. Frankenstein: “It’s alive!”
Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. is moving forward with a long-planned project to build a new store on its site at the corner of High Street and Seventh Avenue, just south of Ohio State University.
It should be anything but horrific to Ohio State University students and Weinland Park residents.
Kroger spokeswoman Beth Wilkin said protective fencing will go up next week and construction is expected to begin soon on the 56,000-square-foot store, with an opening expected by the middle of 2011.
The existing 32,000-square-foot store will remain open while the new store is built at the southwest corner of the site, abutting High Street with its entrance facing north. The current store is set back on the site, with an west-facing entrance and its parking lot fronting High Street.
Wilkin could not provide a cost estimate, but said the plans are the same that were proposed more than two years ago. A combination of internal delays and zoning delays had pushed back the start of the project, she said.
The project also includes retail space connected to the store and a separate, almost 9,000-square-foot building to be at the corner of High Street and Seventh.
The street-front buildings will mask the parking on the interior of the site, a goal the University Area Commission hoped to accomplish, helping to create a continuous streetscape along High Street.
(CNN) -- A school board district member in Arkansas who came under fire for an anti-gay post on a social networking site regrets the comments and will resign his seat, he told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday.
"I'm sorry I've hurt people with my comments," Clint McCance, vice-president of the Midland School District in Pleasant Plains, Arkansas said. "I'm sorry I made those ignorant comments and hurt people on a broad spectrum."
McCance wrote on his personal Facebook page that he wanted gay people to commit suicide, according to The Advocate, a newspaper focusing on gay news.
McCance used the terms "queer" and "fag" repeatedly, promised to disown his own children if they are gay and stated that he enjoys "the fact that [gay people] give each other AIDS and die."
On Thursday, he disowned the comments.
"I would never support suicide for any kids," he said. "I don't support bullying of any kids."
"I'd like to extend apologies to those families that have lost children, for all those children who feel that suicide is the only way out, especially for the five families who have already lost children," he said, referring to a rash of recent suicides by gay teens. "I brought more hurt on them... they didn't deserve that and I do feel genuinely bad for them."
Though he disapproves of homosexuality, McCance said that "I give everyone a chance and try to love everyone."
McCance said that he has received an outpouring of criticism over his comments, including "thousands of phone calls, hate mails, people threatening to kill my family and me."
He said he has sent his wife and two kids out of the state because of fears for their safety and that he is installing a security system at his home.
"I'm reaping what I've sown," he told CNN. "I've had a lot of hate speech thrown at me and my family on every level."
He said he would resign from the school board to spare the district the bad press and distractions of dealing with the fallout from his comments. "If they decide after five or ten years to vote me back in, then I'll run again," he said.
McCance's comments had drawn criticism from education officials in his district and at the state level.
"I strongly condemn the statements that appeared on Mr. Clint McCance's Facebook page," Tom Kimbrell, Arkansas commissioner of education, said in a statement Wednesday. "... The statements attributed to Mr. McCance constitute a significant departure from statements we expect from our school leaders. The divisiveness and disruption of these comments cause me to seriously question the ability of Mr. McCance to remain as an effective member of the Midland School Board."
McCance was re-elected for a four-year term in September. He was initially elected to the leadership of the school district in 2007 for a three-year term. The terms are now four years long.
The Midland School District had also denounced the posting. "The district strives to foster an environment that discourages all forms of bullying," it said in a statement this week, "and an environment that encourages a safe and productive educational climate [for] all of our students. The district is very diligent in pursuing and addressing bullying of any variety on our campuses."
The state Department of Education had said it was "dismayed to see that a school board official would post something of this insensitive nature on a public forum like Facebook."
Because McCance's Facebook page is not accessible publicly, the Advocate said it learned about the posts after being provided with a screen shot.
The posts were made, according to The Advocate, in response to a bullying awareness campaign sponsored by GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. The "Spirit Day" campaign aimed to foster recognition of bullying directed at gays and the effects it can have on young people through a series of events held on October 20.
One aspect of the campaign encouraged people to wear purple to honor those who had committed suicide after experiencing anti-gay bullying, and to show solidarity with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered youth who face the same pressures.
According to the screen grab obtained by The Advocate, McCance wrote the following about the event: "Seriously they want me to wear purple because five queers committed suicide. The only way im wearin it for them is if they all commit suicide. I cant believe the people of this world have gotten this stupid. We are honoring the fact that they sinned and killed therselves because of their sin." (sic)
The post spurred a Facebook page encouraging the Midland School District to fire McCance. More than 60,000 people had "liked" the page as of Thursday evening.
However, not everyone disagreed with McCance's comments, which he had defended on his page by citing his religious beliefs.
Gays and lesbians are "thinking they're all right, and [God is] going to let them think that and go to hell for believing what they're doing is right," pastor Harry Craig, of Pleasant Plains Full Gospel Church, told CNN Little Rock affiliate KARK.
On Tuesday, the federal government warned that bullying and harassment in schools often includes violations of federally protected civil rights. Officials warned that school administrators who fail to properly deal with harassment risk being cited for civil rights violations. In extreme cases, such violations could lead to cuts in federal funding.
A group of protesters had traveled Thursday to Pleasant Plains, where they held a demonstration to call for McCance's resignation.
Thomas Roberts talks with Max Brantley (Arkansas Times) about the hate speech posted on Facebook regarding gay teenagers and suicide from Clint McCance, a Midland, Arkansas School Board Member.
Anderson Cooper discusses the anti-gay rant posted on Facebook by Clint McCance who is a Midland, Arkansas School Board Member. Anderson talks with Anthony Turner (1998 graduate of Midland High School) & Rosalind Wiseman ("Queen Bees & Wannabees").
According to this chart, in 2008, 38.5% of the turnout in Cuyahoga County was early vote. Assuming a similar number of votes turning out in this midterm as 2008, and we’re at 31.1% and still growing. It’s entirely possible we’ll see as much of an early vote turnout in Cuyahoga County this year than we did in 2008. Remarkable.
Also, the ratio has become decidedly bluer. The ratio is now at roughly 2.5 Democrats requesting an early vote for every Republican. It appears, as I stated, that Democratic early voters just may be slower in turning in the ballots before the election day. The difference between the request/return rate for Republicans and Democrats is a 5% GOP advantage (then again, the Cuyahoga GOP has only a third of the requests to track than the Democrats do.
Ted Strickland, reportedly, needs 100,000 vote margin in Cuyahoga County in order to win (I don’t know if I share that assessment.) Regardless, assuming that the registered partisans are not crossing over in the Governor’s race (which they rarely do and to the extent they do the polls suggest it would be a wash anyways), Governor Strickland could be half to three-quarters of a way there to get that margin through early votes alone.
If Cuyahoga County Democrats can turn out there vote on Election Day, he should have no problem as the election day vote in that county is set up to be potentially even more Democratic than the early vote. Nearly half (47%) of all registered Republicans have requested an early ballot, but only (34%) of all registered Democrats have. So not only are we overwhelming them in numbers in early votes, but we’re set to blow the doors off them on Tuesday, too. That’s where President Obama’s appearance comes into play.
In Summit County, Democrats make up 47% of all early vote request/ballots. Democrats are outnumbering Republicans still by a little more than 2:1 in early voting there. Republicans make up only 22% of the total early vote population in that County. That’s a twenty-five point gap in Summit County!
Meanwhile a new memo released by the DNC on the early vote (which probably obtained the data from ODP/OFA) shows the hard data which was the basis of the nearly 10 point lead in early voting the OFA claimed last week.
Those numbers work out to be that Democrats make up just under 44% of the early vote turnout to the Republicans making up only 33% of the early vote population. That is a ten-point lead Statewide as the OFA claimed. While I’m sure this information is already dated, I don’t believe the numbers are likely to change in the early vote in the Republican’s favor between now and the Election Day.
For the record, the Ohio Republican Party has reportedly denied that it’s getting beat this badly in the early vote (although they have conceded that they’re behind), although it’s hard to imagine how the OFA, DNC, and ODP would be fudging the statewide totals. That would seem to be an easy thing, if untrue, for the ORP to knock down, but they’ve released no information to support their claims that the Democratic advantage is not nearly that pronounced.
In today’s SurveyUSA poll, for example, 22% of the respondents said that they have already voted. In that subgroup, Ted Strickland led… by nine points. Of those who haven’t voted, but are deemed “likely” voters SurveyUSA (which has been as bad as Quinnipiac) shows Kasich leading by seven (highly doubtful figure.) Regardless, never before in this race have we seen a poll that show a divergence between whom is deemed to be a likely voter and the people who have actually voted.
The idea that the Democrats can only turnout voters during the early vote is absurd. ODP and OFA have been planning just as hard and organizing for GOTV on election day as they have the early vote. The same organizational advantage that has created a ten-point Democratic advantage doesn’t disappear at midnight on November 1st.
That’s why I signed up to volunteer all of Saturday in Butler County—the heart of Boehner country. In the morning, I’m doing a literature drop. In the afternoon, GOTV calls. One day to save the next four years in Ohio from disaster. Who’s with me?
In a letter to educators to be released today, Oct. 26, Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights Russlynn Ali will provide guidance to the educators on, among other topics, their obligations under Title IX to protect LGBT students from sexual harassment and gender-based harassment resulting from sex stereotypes.
Russlynn Ali
In a conference call with reporters on Monday, a spokesman for the Education Department said, "This is the first time that the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Education has articulated and clarified responsibilities educators have to protect GLBT folks against the type of harassment covered under gender stereotyping and gender harassment."
In the letter, Ali writes:
Title IX prohibits harassment of both male and female students regardless of the sex of the harasser—i.e., even if the harasser and target are members of the same sex. It also prohibits gender-based harassment, which may include acts of verbal, nonverbal, or physical aggression, intimidation, or hostility based on sex or sex-stereotyping. Thus, it can be sex discrimination if students are harassed either for exhibiting what is perceived as a stereotypical characteristic for their sex, or for failing to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity and femininity. Title IX also prohibits sexual harassment and gender-based harassment of all students, regardless of the actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity of the harasser or target.
During the Monday conference call, Ali said the letter aims at informing educators about their obligations to "prevent, alleviate and remediate discrimination happening in our nation's schools." Ali focused in on LGBT students in the call, which consisted of questions from exclusively LGBT media outlets.
"A lot of bullying experienced by LGBT students is accompanied by or in the form of sexual harassment or gender-based harassment because students are perceived as not conforming to traditional gender roles," she said. "We want to be sure that that kind of harassment and discrimination can very much be a violation of Title IX and federal civil rights laws."
Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education for Safe and Drug-Free Schools Kevin Jennings called the move "a very important step" and "a very clear commitment by this Department to combating bullying and harassment in all its forms, including harassment of students based on sexual orientation and gender identity."
Sexual orientation and gender identity are not, as a status, protected from discrimination under federal education law, although a bill in Congress -- the Student Non-Discrimination Act, which was introduced by Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and is modeled after Title IX -- would add both categories to federal law.
An Education Department spokesman noted, "Many times the type of harassment directed at GLBT individuals takes the form of gender-based stereotyping, and that is protected. It's not harassment because they are GLBT that they is protected; it is the type of harassment that they are on the receiving end of that is protected."
The SNDA and Safe Schools Improvement Act both have more than 100 co-sponsors in the House, but neither has received specific endorsement from the Obama administration, which has announced support for the goals of the bills generally.
In response to a question from Metro Weekly on Monday about whether the Education Department supports the bills, Ali said, "We certainly supportthe goals of both Polis's bill and the bill on safe and healthy schools," adding that the Department of Education would "use all of the policy tools within our disposal to try and prevent this type of harassment from occurring" during the process of reauthorizing the Elementary & Secondary Education Act next year.
"Today, though, is about using the tools at our disposal now."
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Read the whole letter - DOE102610.pdf - or read the Title IX portion below the jump.
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United States Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights
[Letter of Oct. 26, 2010, from Russlynn Ali, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights]
Title IX: Gender-Based Harassment
• Over the course of a school year, a gay high school student was called names (including anti-gay slurs and sexual comments) both to his face and on social networking sites, physically assaulted, threatened, and ridiculed because he did not conform to stereotypical notions of how teenage boys are expected to act and appear (e.g., effeminate mannerisms, nontraditional choice of extracurricular activities, apparel, and personal grooming choices). As a result, the student dropped out of the drama club to avoid further harassment. Based on the student’s self-identification as gay and the homophobic nature of some of the harassment, the school did not recognize that the misconduct included discrimination covered by Title IX. The school responded to complaints from the student by reprimanding the perpetrators consistent with its anti- bullying policy. The reprimands of the identified perpetrators stopped the harassment by those individuals. It did not, however, stop others from undertaking similar harassment of the student.
As noted in the example, the school failed to recognize the pattern of misconduct as a form of sex discrimination under Title IX. Title IX prohibits harassment of both male and female students regardless of the sex of the harasser—i.e., even if the harasser and target are members of the same sex. It also prohibits gender-based harassment, which may include acts of verbal, nonverbal, or physical aggression, intimidation, or hostility based on sex or sex-stereotyping. Thus, it can be sex discrimination if students are harassed either for exhibiting what is perceived as a stereotypical characteristic for their sex, or for failing to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity and femininity. Title IX also prohibits sexual harassment and gender-based harassment of all students, regardless of the actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity of the harasser or target.
Although Title IX does not prohibit discrimination based solely on sexual orientation, Title IX does protect all students, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students, from sex discrimination. When students are subjected to harassment on the basis of their LGBT status, they may also, as this example illustrates, be subjected to forms of sex discrimination prohibited under Title IX. The fact that the harassment includes anti-LGBT comments or is partly based on the target’s actual or perceived sexual orientation does not relieve a school of its obligation under Title IX to investigate and remedy overlapping sexual harassment or gender-based harassment. In this example, the harassing conduct was based in part on the student’s failure to act as some of his peers believed a boy should act. The harassment created a hostile environment that limited the student’s ability to participate in the school’s education program (e.g., access to the drama club). Finally, even though the student did not identify the harassment as sex discrimination, the school should have recognized that the student had been subjected to gender-based harassment covered by Title IX.
In this example, the school had an obligation to take immediate and effective action to eliminate the hostile environment. By responding to individual incidents of misconduct on an ad hoc basis only, the school failed to confront and prevent a hostile environment from continuing. Had the school recognized the conduct as a form of sex discrimination, it could have employed the full range of sanctions (including progressive discipline) and remedies designed to eliminate the hostile environment. For example, this approach would have included a more comprehensive response to the situation that involved notice to the student’s teachers so that they could ensure the student was not subjected to any further harassment, more aggressive monitoring by staff of the places where harassment occurred, increased training on the scope of the school’s harassment and discrimination policies, notice to the target and harassers of available counseling services and resources, and educating the entire school community on civil rights and expectations of tolerance, specifically as they apply to gender stereotypes. The school also should have taken steps to clearly communicate the message that the school does not tolerate harassment and will be responsive to any information about such conduct.
For those sober souls who were thrifty long before it became fashionable, the last few years have been intensely aggravating.
They did nothing to cause the recession, but they absorbed the pain. Their stock portfolios languished. The values of their homes skidded. Their savings still do not earn enough interest each month to buy a pack of gum.
Now, at last, the frugal are celebrating. With a leg up on their less creditworthy neighbors, they are qualifying for refinanced home mortgages at interest rates that in any other recent era would have been considered stealing. And unlike in late 2008, when rates started their plunge to historic lows, many lenders say they are rushing to accommodate the influx in applications.
Wilner Samson and Michelle Smedley, both doctors, just refinanced their home in West Hartford, Conn., saving $300 a month. “There were times during the housing boom when I felt I was missing out on a big party,” said Dr. Samson, a kidney specialist. “Now I’m getting my reward.”
Refinancing activity surged in early October when mortgage rates fell for the fifth week in a row, pushing the volume to one of the highest levels of the year, the Mortgage Bankers Association said. Many economists expect the trend to continue as the Federal Reserve moves further to bolster the economy.
And while the credit elite get the best treatment, for the first time since the recession began the rewards of lower rates are beginning to spread to some of those with less than exemplary finances or just more complicated circumstances, according to data from Fannie Mae, which buys millions of mortgages from lenders.
Kathy and Mike Bernreuter have been working on the refinance of their home in Northbrook, Ill., since May. The property taxes in their escrow account were improperly credited, a small mistake that nevertheless threatened to put the mortgage in default. They had to get a home equity loan on their former apartment, which they could not sell, and apply the funds to their house.
It was an ordeal that threatened to ruin their summer — and not so long ago, would have been a nonstarter for most lenders — but the effort paid off.
This month the Bernreuters were told their new loan was on track for approval. Their mortgage payment should soon drop by more than $1,000 a month.
“Now we’ll have more money available to us to actually fix up this house,” said Mrs. Bernreuter.
For competitive reasons, the large lenders are reluctant to reveal their refinancing numbers, but they acknowledged that the news had been getting ever better for many borrowers. JPMorgan Chase, for instance, said that “refinancings have increased dramatically as a percentage of all new mortgages from a year ago, and the refinancing dollar volume has risen even more dramatically.” Chase also said it had added staff to its refinancing unit to process applications more quickly.
Interest rates for 30-year fixed mortgages this week were 4.21 percent, just slightly above the 4.19 percent record set earlier this month, Freddie Mac, the other large mortgage company, said. The current level is estimated to be the lowest since the early 1950s. Two years ago, rates were about 6.5 percent.
Lower rates are merely a dream if you do not qualify. Early on, as the rates were coming down, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were tightening standards on loans they purchased. Lenders would not refinance loans they could not sell to the holding companies.
Now Fannie and Freddie have stopped tightening and may be loosening requirements a bit. The average credit score of a Fannie Mae borrower rose to 761 in 2009, from 716 in 2007. In the second quarter of this year, it was 758.
In 2007, before housing started to slide in earnest, about one in six Fannie borrowers had less than 10 percent equity in their property. A small slide in values could wipe them out and encourage defaults, which is exactly what happened to many.
Last year, only one in 33 borrowers had that little equity, because of stricter terms by banks. But in the first half of this year, the level was creeping back up, to one in 17.
“The nice thing about this mini-refi boom is that folks who have got into a loan that is a bit of a ticking time bomb have the opportunity to get out,” said Kevin Marshall, president of the research firm Clear Capital.
Another upside of the refinancing surge is that households with more cash in their pocket tend to spend it. And more refinances might also help heal the troubled housing market.
“If you could wave a magic wand and give a refinance to everyone who wanted one, that would absolutely reduce the problem of folks who are defaulting,” said Mr. Marshall.
Bobby Frank, a Valley Stream, N.Y., mortgage broker, offers this advice for homeowners who have been turned down in the past: “Call your bank. Every day, like a hungry dog, call and ask.”
A different approach worked for Tom Foley when he tried to refinance his home in Cape Cod, Mass. His lender, one of the biggest, sent him a letter inviting him to refinance. Then it gave Mr. Foley a lengthy run-around despite what he says is his excellent credit.
Mr. Foley compared his original lender to Hal, the computer in the film “2001: A Space Odyssey.” “They pretend to be personal, but are far from it,” he said. “If there isn’t an office around the corner you can walk to, stay away from it.” He eventually refinanced with a local bank, Sovereign.
Refinances are still a long way from the boom of 2003, when volume reached $2.5 trillion. The Mortgage Bankers Association estimates that this year’s volume will be about $900 billion. Analysts calculate that more than two-thirds of all households with mortgages could benefit from a new loan. Many of those families owe more than their home is worth, which all by itself rules out a refinance. There are no shortage of proposals to create a magic wand to help these 11 million homeowners.
Happy are the borrowers who do not need to wait for aid that may not come. Dr. Samson, the Connecticut physician, was taught the virtues of saving by his father, an immigrant from Haiti who died this month with all bills paid.
Dr. Samson and his wife are not taking the monthly savings from their refinance and spending it. Instead, they are continuing to pay the same amount each month. “Paying down the loan faster opens up options for us,” said Dr. Samson, who is 42. “We might want to retire early.”
Ohio Dems Show Early Vote, Organizational Strength
COLUMBUS – Media outlets across the country are reporting that Ohio Democrats hold an advantage in early vote, and many reporters have credited the organizational strength of the Ohio Democratic Coordinated Campaign for that edge.
Chuck Todd: Ohio Democrats Have ‘Perhaps the Best State Party in the Country.’ “What you have to remember, though, in Ohio is that the Ohio Democratic Party -- I had somebody tell me this -- is the third largest Democratic organization in the country outs— basically DNC one, the Democratic Congressional Committee two. The apparatus of the Ohio Democratic Party is so big and one of the better state parties in the country, perhaps the best state party in the country, and that had had Republicans nervous about knocking Strickland off the whole time. That apparatus is in gear. You’re seeing it come through under some early vote totals.” [MSNBC, 10/22/10]
Politico: Democrats Have About a 10 Point Statewide Edge in Early Vote. “Ballots have been requested by 839,390 Ohio voters thus far, with Democrats comprising about 40 percent to the GOP's 30 percent, and the rest unaffiliated voters. The Democrats' coordinated campaign director, Lauren Groh-Wargo, said the party's months of organizing were beginning to pay off. ‘This is not accidental,’ she said. ‘We have made a concerted effort to target infrequent Democratic voters. We are expanding the electorate in this midterm election, and Republicans are not.’” [Politico, 10/22/10]
Wall Street Journal: Ohio Dems Claim Early Vote Edge; Republicans Concede They’re Behind. “Doug Kelly, executive director of the Ohio Democratic Party, said volunteers have been pressing indifferent Democrats to request absentee ballots for weeks. They then track who has returned them, and lobby those who haven’t. Unlike some states, Ohio doesn’t publicly release total vote counts, although heavily Democratic Cuyahoga County has. So far, Mr. Kelly said, Democrats have a slight lead, an assessment shared by John McClelland of the Ohio Republican Party, who said Democrats began early voting programs first.” [Wall Street Journal, 10/21/10]
Hotline: Ohio Dems’ Early Vote Edge ‘An Indication That the Party’s Turnout Efforts Are Working.’ “But not all states are seeing a big surge of Republican voters. In Ohio, Democrats have requested and returned absentee ballots at a higher rate than have Republicans, and more Democrats have voted early in person. According to the state Democratic Party’s totals, five times more infrequent-voting Democrats have turned out than Republicans, an indication that the party’s turnout efforts are working.” [Hotline, 10/21/10]
Washington Post: Ohio Has ‘Best-Organized’ Operation in the Country. Ohio has “the best-organized state Democratic Party in the nation. Its headquarters in a renovated former Salvation Army building here hums with activity, looking more like a national party command center than the typical ramshackle state party office. While Strickland trails Republican John Kasich in public polls, he narrowly leads in his own surveys and hopes to overcome the enthusiasm gap with organizational energy. President Obama sees Ohio as a firewall in his 2012 reelection effort, and having a friendly governor would be a major asset. Obama’s visit here on Sunday, which drew a crowd of 35,000, was an exercise in firewall-building.” [Washington Post, 10/21/10]
New York Times: Ohio Dems Better Organized than Republicans for Early Vote. “[Ohio] Democrats, who have been quicker to take advantage of [Early Vote] in the last two election cycles, say that a voting window of 30 days could allow them to win votes from people who might not otherwise cast a ballot...Republicans concede being slower to adjust to the changes...” [New York Times, 9/27/10]
“Without your leadership and unparalleled efforts, this historic opportunity… will pass all of us by.”
WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign today released an open letter from HRC President Joe Solmonese to President Barack Obama regarding the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law and the necessity of administration action to end the discharges this year. The full text is below:
Dear Mr. President:
Years from now, students of the movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality (LGBT) will no doubt see this fall as a pivotal period in the history of our struggle for fundamental fairness. In January, we were all inspired by your State of the Union pledge to end our nation’s discriminatory ban on open service by gays and lesbians. Equally inspiring was the testimony in support of repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law by the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We have come so far, but the only true measure of success is whether the thousands of brave gay and lesbian Americans who are serving their country, and the many more who want to serve their country, can do so openly and honestly. We have not yet met that goal, and without your leadership and unparalleled efforts, this historic opportunity to remove a stain of discrimination from our nation will pass all of us by.
Last week, lawyers for your administration asked for an emergency stay from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, seeking to end a worldwide injunction of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law while they work to overturn a federal judge’s conclusion that this law – one that you have called discriminatory and contrary to our national security on many occasions – offends the protections of our Constitution. I continue to struggle with how your administration can defend a law you oppose, and how it could be even remotely constitutional for a statute to single out one group of brave Americans, because of who they are and who they love, and order them serve in silence and deception. How can our government have a duty to defend a statute that is clearly so contrary to our Constitution’s guarantee of equality for all?
The Ninth Circuit’s decision to stay Judge Phillips’s decision further frustrates repeal advocates and puts a bright spotlight on you to reconcile this endless legal wrangling with your public promise to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” While we continue to call on your Administration not to appeal, if the Justice Department does insist on defending this discriminatory law, I strongly urge you to instruct government lawyers to inform the appellate court that the Executive Branch believes that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law is unconstitutional. I agree with the esteemed lawyer and former head of the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice, Walter Dellinger, that such a move would send the Ninth Circuit a critically important message.
Furthermore, the litigation strategy challenging “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is made all the more critical by the challenges a legislative repeal has faced in Congress. While the House approved repeal by a wide margin, the Senate’s first and second attempts to move forward on the critical Defense Authorization bill were stymied by Republican obstructionists looking to score political points before the midterm elections. There is still an opportunity for the Senate to send the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to your desk in the lame duck session, but it will not happen if you do not put the full weight of the Office of the President of the United States behind it. Republican opponents would rather see the Defense Authorization and everything in it – military pay raises, critical armor and equipment for our troops, health coverage for their families on the home front – fail than let gays and lesbians serve their country openly. This is an outrageous insult to our troops, to their Commander-in-Chief, and to the Defense Department charged with their operations and their care. You and Secretary Gates must be full partners in making clear to Senators that is doubly unacceptable to hold hostage the needs of every soldier, sailor, airman and Marine in a desperate attempt to preserve a law that flies in the face of the American ideals they sacrifice to protect every day.
It is because “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is contrary to our core values as a nation that it must end. And we must have a durable solution – legislative repeal or a solid judicial decision. But if those fail, you must not allow another day to go by in which a brave gay or lesbian service member is discharged based simply on sexual orientation. HRC has urged your administration, privately and publicly, for more than a year to use every tool at your disposal as Chief Executive to at least significantly reduce discharges, if not end them entirely. More can be done in this regard.
You can and should issue a stop-loss order suspending enforcement of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” This discriminatory law has already deprived our military thousands of service members, many with critical skills in fighting terrorism. You have acknowledged that it harms our national security. If we fail to achieve legislative repeal this year, and if you will not abandon the defense of this discriminatory law in court, then it is imperative that you use your clear authority as President to end the discharges. Anything less is unacceptable.
We have fought long and hard to get this close to ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” We pledge to continue that fight, every step of the way, until this unjust law is gone for good. Future generations will look back at this moment – we must not let it become a setback in the long march toward full equality, but instead make it the turning point it is poised to become.
Sincerely,
Joe Solmonese
President
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.
HRC Scorecard Shows LGBT Highs and Lows of 111th Congress
Analysis of Scores Shows Increased Polarization on Equality Issues
WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign today released its Congressional Scorecard for the 111th Congress that rates members of Congress on their support for issues of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. An analysis of the data demonstrates a stark polarization with increases in both highly supportive and highly anti-LGBT legislators. The average score for House members was 50.8 percent and 57.3 percent for Senators.
“While advancements for equality were made this Congress, a strong and devoted group of anti-LGBT legislators continues to stymie the progress LGBT people deserve,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “The fact that the first ever vote to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ in the House of Representatives was countered by a filibuster in the Senate illustrates the landscape.”
In the House, 145 members scored 90 percent or above, compared to 128 members last congress. In the Senate, those scoring 90 percent and above rose from 32 to 36. But disturbingly, the number of Senators with a zero percent score doubled from 16 to 32 this Congress. In addition, the number of House Members that consistently oppose LGBT equality has remained essentially constant increasing from 143 to 144.
“As more and more Americans support equality for LGBT people, some members of Congress are showing real leadership while others are digging in their heels to cater to an anti-LGBT fringe constituency,” added HRC Legislative Director Allison Herwitt.
Votes and co-sponsorship of legislation scored in this Congress:
·-The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, to allow local law enforcement to access federal resources to investigate or prosecute violent crimes committed because of the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity (the House votes for final passage and the motion to recommit were scored as was the Senate vote on Sen. Leahy’s hate crimes amendment);
·-Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” to allow lesbians and gays to serve openly and honestly in the Armed Forces (the full House vote on Rep. Murphy’s DADT repeal amendment was scored as was the Senate vote to proceed to debate on the Defense bill to which DADT repeal is attached);
·-Co-sponsorship of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), to prohibit workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity;
·-Co-sponsorship of the Tax Equity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act (DP Tax), to equalize tax treatment for employer-provided health coverage for domestic partners;
·-Co-sponsorship of the Respect for Marriage Act (RMA), to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA);
·-Co-sponsorship of the Early Treatment for HIV Act (ETHA), to allow states to provide Medicaid coverage to HIV-positive persons;
·-Co-sponsorship of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), to provide same-sex partners of U.S. citizens equal immigration access;
·-House vote on Rep. Mark Souder’s amendment that would have prohibited funding for any program which distributes sterile needles or syringes for the hypodermic injection of any illegal drug;
·-Senate vote on Sen. Robert Bennett’s amendment to suspend the issuance of marriage licenses to same sex couples in the District of Columbia and require a referendum;
·-Senate votes on the nominations of Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Scores for individual Representatives and Senators can be viewed online at www.hrc.org/scorecard. A final scorecard will be released at the conclusion of the lame duck session following the election.
For each two year session of Congress since 1989, HRC has published a Congressional Scorecard that includes key Congressional votes and co-sponsorship of pro-LGBT legislation. It is a critical tool to assist fair-minded Americans in assessing the relative support or non-support of Members of Congress and to advocate for pro-equality legislation.
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.
