Demand Obama Stand Up to Prop 8!

"The time has come for elected leaders to empower all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Once again, we call on the Obama administration to join Equality California and others in urging the federal courts to strike down this grossly unjust law. In doing so, we will bring our nation one step closer to realizing its promise of equality for all. Our country’s bedrock principles of democracy and freedom are at stake."

Sign the EQCA petition urging the Obama administration to join the federal challenge opposing Prop 8. Then, ask everyone you know to do the same.

Stonewall 2.0 Protests and Rallies

This thread began with marriage equality demonstrations in California before and after proposition 8 passed. It has grown into a nationwide phenomenon sparking demonstrations in every state demanding state and federal recognition for LGBT people. This list is now the Stonewall 2.0 listing and will continually be updated with new demos.

If you have info on a demonstration/event please use the contact form to let us know!

Wednesday June 3rd

Concord, New Hampshire
9:00am - till vote
The State House Plaza
107 N Main Street

Equality Bus from Vermont to New Hampshire

---

Saturday, June 27

Arizona
Jun 27 12AM-Jun 29 11AM
Driving Equality Arizona
arizona@marriageequality.org

---

Sunday, June 28th

Nationwide
March for Equality

---

Saturday, August 1st

Melbourne, Australia

DATE Saturday 1 August, 2009, 1.00pm
VENUE Federation Square
INFO Rally and mass illegal wedding
CONTACT Martin Baldock (0423 912 766)

Sydney, Australia

DATE Saturday 1 August, 2009
VENUE Starts at Sydney Town Hall
INFO March to Darling Harbour for mass illegal wedding outside Labor Party
National Conference, CONTACT Ben Cooper (0432 957 213)

Brisbane, Australia

DATE Saturday 1 August, 2009, 1.00pm
VENUE Queens Park
INFO
CONTACT Ingrid Nielsen, inielsen_07@hotmail.com

Canberra, Australia

DATE Saturday 1 August, 2009. 1pm.
VENUE Main stage, Garema Place, Civic.
INFO Rally & illegal gay wedding, followed by march to Bob McMullan's office.
CONTACT John Kloprogge (0422 913 942)

Locations and times to be determined at... Check back with Equal Love.

Adelaide, Australia

Darwin, Australia

Geelong, Australia

Lismore, Australia

Hobart, Australia

Perth, Australia

---

Sunday, Oct 10 (2010)
National March for Equality
National Mall, Washington D.C.

Hit The Streets - Prop 8 Upheld by Court!

Proposition 8 has been upheld by the Supreme Court. Gay marriage is officially illegal in the state of California, and the 18,000 marriages before hand are still in tact.

Be mad. Go out to the streets.

http://www.dayofdecision.org

Day of Decision/Meet in The Middle

Be prepared to get out onto the streets the day the California supreme court rules on the validity of proposition 8. Regardless of the outcome, thousands will be out to either celebrate or protest the court decision. The court will alert us 24 hours prior to their decision being made public.



For up to date information please goto Unite The Fight.

Please goto these websites to find info on where to meet:
Day of Decision

Meet in the Middle

Open Forum: What Will Happen in California?

The California Supreme Court is going to issue its anxiously awaited ruling on gay marriage before June. What do you think the outcome will be? If they rule to overturn prop 8 what will the consequences be, and what happens if they rule to uphold the anti-gay marriage amendment. Take out your crystal ball and tell us where you see California with regards to the gay marriage fight in the upcoming months and years ahead.

Yes On Equality - 2010 Marriage Equality Initiative!

The new 'Yes on Equality' campaign has learned from the mistakes of the prop 8 battle, the protests, etc. They are starting early with their campaign to put an initiative on the 2010 ballot to legalize same-sex marriage in California. The group has an online petition, and will be working hard to mobilize people to overturn prop 8.

Sign the petition to support the invalidation of proposition 8.

O'Reilly, Miller Falsely Suggested Obama Supported Prop 8

Fox News' Bill O'Reilly and Dennis Miller falsely suggested President Obama supported California's Proposition 8. After Miller described a call to his radio show in which the caller suggested that "had [Obama] been a California resident," he "would have voted for Proposition 8," O'Reilly stated that the caller "probably listened to The Radio Factor and then called you because we had said that." In fact, Obama opposed Proposition 8.



To contact Bill O'Reilly:
oreilly@foxnews.com

To contact Dennis Miller:
dennismillershow@nbc.com

Crossposted via Media Matters.

Former President Clinton Urged to Move Speech From Boycotted Hotel

Several groups have banded together urging former President Bill Clinton not to speak at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego. The hotel is owned by Doug Manchester who donated 125,000 to proposition 8.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON FOUNDATION
55 West 125th St., New York, NY 10027
E-Contact Form

http://moveclintonspeech.info/

1 Million to Invalidate Prop 8

Through the beauty of technology provided by Equality California, more than half a million of you have sent letters to your law makers in California urging them to invalidate proposition 8. The resolution would be non-binding but send a strong signal that proposition 8 in the eyes of the state government is unconstitutional and immoral.

New goal - Help EQCA send 1 million letters to lawmakers. Click here to fill out their online form, and be sure to send it to friends!

"The Honor Roll"

Thanks to the Achievement Gap we now have a listing called "The Honor Roll" which lists many who have supported marriage equality. These are famous individuals and organizations who deserve recognition for their contributions and efforts to preserve marriage for all. Of course everyone, whether famous or not deserves a thank you and a hug, but that list would be way too long!

* Brad Pitt - $100,000
* California Teacher’s Association, $1,312,998
* David Geffen, Dreamworks Studios, $100,000
* Jeffrey Katzenberg, Dreamworks Studios, $25,000
* TR Knight, actor, (Grey’s Anatomy), $100,000
* Pete Wentz and Fall Out Boy, $50,000
* George Lucas, $50,000
* Lucas Films, $50,000
* Chelsea Handler (E! talk-show host)
* Hotel Worker’s Union, $100,000
* Apple, $100,000
* Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google founders, $140,000
* Levi Strauss, $25,000
* PG&E, $250,000
* Ellen DeGeneres, $100,000 (airtime for No on Prop 8 PSA)
* David Hyde Pierce, actor (Frasier), $40,000
* Ron Burkle, former owner Ralph’s supermarket chain
* GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), $172,081
* Bridget Fonda, actor, $200
* Jason Tam, actor (One Life to Live), $100
* Mary McCormack, actor (In Plain Sight), $200
* Gus Van Sant, director, $2,500
* Greg Berlanti, executive producer (Brothers & Sisters), $5,000
* George Takei, actor (Star Trek), $2,600
* Jonathan Murray, co-creator and executive producer of “The Real World”, $10,000
* Stephen Speilberg & Kate Capshaw, $101,000
* Pauley Perrette, actor (NCIS), $3,000
* Larry Maiman, owner Mani’s on Fairfax, $500
* Bruce Bastian, founder WordPerfect software, $1,000,000
* Stephen Bing, producer, $500,000
* Robert W. Wilson, $1,200,000
* David Bohnett, lawyer, $1,100,000
* David Maltz, $1,000,000
* John Stryker, $1,000,000
* Fred Eychaner, $675,000
* Williamson Capital, LP, $570,000
* Center Advocacy Project Issues PAC, $420,655
* Human Rights Campaign, $409,097
* LA Gay & Lesbian Services Center, $350,048
* Gill Action Fund, $350,000
* The San Francisco Foundation, $258,907
* CA State Council of Service Employees, $250,000
* James C Hormel, $250,000
* Esmond V Harmsworth, $225,000
* National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Action Fund, $212,998
* National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, Inc., $187,675
* Equality California (Sponsor), $187,107
* David Ring, $105,416
* Democratic State Central Committee, $104,968
* Susan Orr, $102,186
* Robert Haas, $100,500
* Eugene La Pietra, Circus Disco, $100,000
* Henry Van Ameringen, $100,000
* Horizons Foundation, $100,000
* John August, $100,000
* Jonathan Lewis, $100,00
* Michael Huffington, $100,000
* Peter Lewis, The Progressive Group, $100,000
* SEIU General Fund, $100,000
* SEIU United Healthcare Workers West Political Issues Committee, $100,000
* Unite Here TIP State and Local Fund, $100,000
* Proteus Funds Civil Marriage Collaborative, $80,000
* ACLU of Northern California, $113,720
* Adam Lewis, $75,000
* Chuck WIlliams, $75,000
* Committee for a New Economy, $60,000
* Jennifer Rainin & The Rainin Foundation, $102,500
* Leonie A Walker, $51,000
* Carrie Farrell, Google, $50,360
* Anita May Rosenstein, $50,000
* CA Community Foundation Endowment, $50,000
* Frank Pond, $50,000
* James Johnson, $50,000
* Kate O’Hanlan, $50,000
* Kathy Levinson, $50,000
* Kazan, McClain, Abrams, Lyons, Greewood & Harley, $50,000
* M Quinn Delaney, Akonadi Foundation, $50,000
* National Center for Lesbian Rights, $50,000
* Service Employees International Union Local 1000 CA State Employees Association Issues PAC, $50,000
* Thomas Bombardier, MD, $50,000
* CA Nurses Association, $40,000
* Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry Action Network CA PAC, $29,638
* Democratic National Committee Federal Fund, $25,000
* Mayor’s Committee for Government Excellence and Accountability, $25,000

Christian Billboard Apologizes for Proposition 8

The Mission Gathering Church in San Diego has paid for a billboard in San Diego apologizing for people who supported proposition 8 in the name of God.

The sign says: "Mission gathering church is sorry for the narrow-minded, judgmental, deceptive, manipulative actions of those who took away the rights and equality of so many in the name of God. Our hearts are with you, Christianity for all"

Mission Gathering Church
3828 Herman Ave.
San Diego CA, 92104
Phone: 619.624.9335
Fax: 619.624.9395

H/T to Joe My God.

No MILK For Cinemark!

The CEO of Cinemark, Alan Stock, donated $9999 to the Yes on 8 Campaign, but will now profit from showing MILK in his theaters.

As of sunday evening, they have exceeded 1,000 facebook members who have joined the cause!

But it’s just a start—we need to keep going to make the biggest impact we can. Our new goal is 10,000 members—This is aggressive but we think it’s possible. Let’s keep it going!

Boycotts work. A boycott of a Sacramento theatre company resulted not only in the resignation of a Yes on 8 contributor,
but a public apology and donation to Human Rights
Campaign! We can do this again.

You can find an alternative theater using the links on the left, and join our facebook group below to spread the word!

Check out the No MILK for Cinemark campaign, for fliers, facebook group, gay-friendly theaters, and ones to avoid who donated to prop 8.

Defending Traditional Sidewalks

Princeton University students in light of the passage of proposition 8 banning equal marriage rights in California have come up with "Princeton Proposition 8". This would ensure that sidewalks would be protected for sophomores, juniors, seniors, grad students and faculty members and make sure that freshmen activists and freshmen enablers are not permitted to betray the will of the majority of the campus. Proponents of "Princeton Proposition 8" say they love freshmen, but want to protect traditional sidewalks, while opponents say that "separate is not equal."

California Supreme Court to Hear Prop 8 Case

This just in .... California's highest court has just agreed to hear legal challenges to a new ban on gay marriage, but has refused to allow gay couples to resume marrying until it rules.

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday accepted three lawsuits seeking to overturn Proposition 8. The amendment passed this month with 52 percent of the vote. The court did not elaborate more on this decision.

Gay rights advocates in these case are arguing that the measure was actually a constitutional revision, instead of a more limited amendment. A revision of the state Constitution can be placed before the voters only by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature or a constitutional convention.

Lawsuits to overturn the initiative contend it was a revision because it denied equal protection to a minority group and eviscerated a key constitutional guarantee. Supporters of Proposition 8 counter that it merely amended the constitution by restoring a traditional definition of marriage.

In its order, the court established an expedited briefing schedule, under which briefing will be completed in January 2009 and oral argument potentially could be held as early as March 2009.

Six justices — Chief Justice Ronald M. George, Justice Marvin R. Baxter, Justice Kathryn M. Werdegar, Justice Ming W. Chin, Justice Carlos R. Moreno, and Justice Carol A. Corrigan signed the court’s order, but Justice Moreno indicated that he would grant the requests to stay the operation of Proposition 8 pending the court’s resolution of these matters.

The court has tended to defer to voter sentiment on initiative challenges, but it has overturned popular ballot measures in the past.

In 1966, the California Supreme Court struck down an initiative that would have permitted racial discrimination in housing. Voters had approved the measure, a repeal of a fair housing law, by a 2-to-1 margin.

Opponents challenged measure on equal protection grounds, not as a constitutional revision.

Additionally Federal courts have also overturned another contentious initiative, Proposition 187, the anti-immigration measure passed by voters.

Crossposted via Lez Get Real.

"Welcome to California Where Chickens Have More Rights Than Me"

As a queer vegan blogger I probably have a different perspective on this but I felt the need to rant. I wrote about the Black-Gay Blame Game and how it is wrong to single out African-Americans because the majority of that community voted for prop 8. We must understand that all the struggles for liberation have parallels but cannot be equated as each are unique in their own way.

Black people were enslaved, beaten, and subject to some of the most horrendous discrimination in this country. The queer civil rights movement cannot be compared to that movement because it is fundamentally different, there are parallels but equating that both are the same is doing a disservice to both movements. There are struggles blacks have dealt with that gays have not and vice versa.

Similarly this notion that proposition 2 passed (an animal protection bill) is somehow giving animals more rights than LGBT people is ridiculous and downright speciesist (involves assigning different values or rights to beings on the basis of their species membership).

People are holding signs at rallies saying "chickens can spread their wings, but gays can't marry." Six hens to a tiny battery cage where they cannot move, and are forcefully debeaked without pain killers, and excrete on one another is not on the same level with the marriage equality movement. The parallel is both movements strive to bring basic dignities and rights to all, but they are not on the same level playing field.



The routine procedures such as castration, debeaking, caging, force-feeding, and denial of basic natural practices for animals is far from humane, and no chickens do not have more rights than gay people. That is a ridiculous assertion, animals have no rights in our society. The federal law to protect animals even excludes animals raised for food consumption.

I am very much in favor of drawing parallels between struggles for liberation, after all we are all tied to the same goals of basic dignity for our families and livelihoods and we all face a similar oppressor each and every time. The time now is to understand the struggle for equality and to draw parallels but not to point fingers and denigrate one struggle over another.

Dr. Phil Steps into Prop 8 Debate

Dr. Phil is having an upcoming program on proposition 8 and same-sex marriage in California on Friday 11/21. We will be watching closely considering we haven't been too pleased with the transphobia aired on Dr. Phil in the past.


If you want to appear on his upcoming shows follow the links below:

Are you in the Los Angeles area and want to be on the "prop 8" show, click here.

Do you have a strong opinion on marriage equality and prop 8, click here.

Wanda Sykes - Newest Member of the Gay Community

Comedian and same-sex marriage activist Wanda Sykes has announced today that she is gay and has married her partner. Wanda Sykes at a rally in Las Vegas today said:

"You know, I don't really talk about my sexual orientation. I didn't feel like I had to. I was just living my life, not necessarily in the closet, but I was living my life," Sykes told a crowd at a gay rights rally in Las Vegas on Saturday.

"Everybody that knows me personally they know I'm gay. But that's the way people should be able to live their lives," she said.

"Now, I gotta get in their face," she said. "I'm proud to be a woman. I'm proud to be a black woman, and I'm proud to be gay." (AP)

Welcome aboard Wanda Sykes, you definitely make my list of top 3 funniest lesbian comics.

Join The Impact - National Protest Against Prop 8!

On Saturday November 15th cities in every state across the nation will be protesting the passing of proposition 8 which eliminated same-sex marriage in California. Find the protest location nearest you, or organize one yourself! The website also provides, media relations, badges, protest signs, videos and more. Get involved in demonstrating the power of equality across the nation this Saturday.

Join The Impact!

Click your state below to learn more.

Alabama	Indiana	Nebraska	South Carolina
Alaska	Iowa	Nevada	South Dakota
Arizona	Kansas	New Hampshire	Tennessee
Arkansas	Kentucky	New Jersey	Texas
California	Louisiana	New Mexico	Utah
Colorado	Maine	New York	Vermont
Connecticut	Maryland	North Carolina	Virginia
Delaware	Massachusetts	North Dakota	Washington
Florida	Michigan	Ohio	Washington DC
Georgia	Minnesota	Oklahoma	West Virginia
Hawaii	Mississippi	Oregon	Wisconsin
Idaho	Missouri	Pennsylvania	Wyoming
Illinois	Montana	Rhode Island	*International*

Signing for Something - Resign From the Mormon Church

Hundreds of gay and straight Mormons are resigning from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints over the Church's funding and propaganda regarding proposition 8, that led to a ban on same-sex marriage in California.

Many families with deep ties to the LDS Church are resigning in droves because they feel it was wrong for the church to get involved with a political issue, especially one that is as divisive as gay marriage. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been taught, “We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government …” (Doctrine and Covenants 134:9). In addition many Mormons do not feel their faith represents them on the issue of homosexuality, and marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.

Below is a recent news assignment done covering the Signing for Something movement which has now helped hundreds of people leave the LDS movement.



http://signingforsomething.org/blog/

Bigots Supported Prop 8!

Bigots Supported Prop 8!
~Sung to the tune of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.

Bigots should have thought twice
Bigots better not cry
Bigots didn’t play nice
I’m telling you why
Bigots supported prop 8 (x3)
We’re making a list,
Checking it twice;
Gonna find out who's naughty or nice.
Bigots supported prop 8 (x3)
We are very busy and have no time to play
But rest assure, you will be known if you fuck’d with our equality.
Bigots supported prop 8 (x3)

Ok, so I was bored, but anyways don't mind me check out these listings for those who did support prop 8.

Anti-gay Blacklist

Californians Against Hate - Dishonor Roll

Track the money spent on Prop 8

Boycott Companies Who H8!

Get involved with protests throughout the nation!