Recently there was a summit of the larger GLBT human rights groups. It is no surprise the big discussion that took up 7 hours of everyone time was 2010 vs 2012 time frame for equality. There were two schools of thought;

Standing on one side of the thought process was Gay inc. (HRC, Lambda Legal, Equality California and a few more BIG DOGS) stating that they wanted to sit back and give it a rest for a bit and take up the issue again in 2012.

On the other side arguing the 2010 deadline, were the grass roots groups who actually do the work rather than just speaking about what should and shouldn’t be done and when it should be done. Many of these people volunteer their time with no prospect of a paycheck from their efforts. Their motives are pure and their heart is in everything they do.

Have we forgotten that Gay Inc got HUGE off of grass roots support? Have we forgotten that the only reason that Gay Inc is the “authority” on everything to do with Equality is that they were the first to take up the equality mantra. Now that many of the little guys that have been doing the ground work for Gay Inc have taken the torch and run with it, many in Gay inc are getting worried.

What could they possibly have to worry about you ask? lets see if we can explain a bit.

Most of the donations that Gay Inc has gotten over the last 20 years have been from the every day Lizzy the Lezzy’s, Garry the Gay’s, Terrance the Trans’, Bev the Bi’s and Harry the Heteroflexable’s in the hopes that we would gain equality for all. With the passage of marriage equality as a law, the DOMA laws and DADT laws will fall by the wayside. Let’s be honest if Marriage is made legal between same sex partners just as it is for opposite sex partners then the military cannot have a DADT law on the books, because… well … if same sex people can marry it will mean benefits for same sex partners, therefore you have to tell to get the benefits. Ok, so that means one hammer smashes 2 stones in one blow. But this also means that donations will drop as we don’t have something that the ground swell of people want so badly, that they are willing to put their money where their mouth is.

Now being that I (Wife) am a multiracial person as well as a lesbian, I am well aware that hatred will not go away, as fast as the disparaging laws do with the swipe of a pen. It takes generations to get rid of hatred. But Gay inc doesn’t get paid for getting rid of hatred. Gay Inc gets donations on the hopes of the little person that we will one day have equal rights and protections under the law.

Theodore Olson and David Boies realize this fact and because they realize it they are working within the law to change the law rather than lobby for donations. These two gentlemen are not looking for us to support them or their family, they saw a wrong and set out to make it right. Imagine that two straight men who realize that inequality anywhere is not what this nation stands for. These two fellas were treated as pariah’s when Gay inc found out what they were up to. Gay inc said it was too soon, that if these very smart men did not succeed that they would set back the work of Gay inc 20 years.

Wow set back 20 years…. that was a harsh statement to make since Gay inc has been on the job 30 years and we are not much closer to equality than we were in the 70’s. Sure we have a few states (6 to be exact) that allow marriage, but lets be honest folks without federal rights those state rights do nothing for us. We are married in CT but live in TN so in essence we are not married at all because in our state of residence it is not legal.

Olson and Boies have very graciously asked that Gay inc be denied access to the federal lawsuit that they have undertaken. Their reasoning? Well it is simple, they have stated that admitting new plaintiffs at this point would “needlessly delay the cases resolution”. Now for those of you that think they are up to something fishy and may not be out for “our” best interests…. Don’t turn against them just yet, as they have also requested that the conservative Campaign for California Families be prevented from joining the case in opposition, saying “the group also doesn’t have standing in the case”.

We may yet see equality in all 50 states because of the work these men are doing on our behalf. (not gay inc but on behalf of the little people.)

Now you may think that we are completely against gay inc because of this post. We are not completely against them, but what we are against is the idea that once momentum has set itself in motion you have to take a break to let people get used to the idea. HA if Martin Luther King had thought that we would still have segregation! WAKE UP PEOPLE!! It is really now or never as we have the best momentum we have ever had for equality. People are tired of the powers at be talking about what should be done and getting “so close” and stalling out. Honestly when Massachusetts got marriage on the books that should have been the jumping off point to sweep the country for equality, but instead we had to wait many years later to get the second state for marriage and now that state has lost the equality and we gained a number of DOMA laws that will be harder to get rid of.

Are we not tired of just talking about what we want?

Don’t we want someone to PUT UP OR SHUT UP!

If our president had done us like Gay Inc has we would have already impeached him, but we are still funding the miss deeds of Gay inc.

We are with Boies and Olson and believe the time is now or never, and that any inequality is wrong.

Lets stand on the side of the late Coretta Scott King and her late husband Rev Martin Luther King JR. Momentum is on the side of equality.

The late Coretta Scott King has been quoted as saying; “For too long, our nation has tolerated the insidious form of discrimination against this group of Americans, who have worked as hard as any other group, paid their taxes like everyone else, and yet have been denied equal protection under the law…I believe that freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. My husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. said,“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” On another occasion he said,“I have worked too long and hard against segregated public accommodations to end up segregating my moral concern. Justice is indivisible.” Like Martin, I don’t believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others. ”

The late great Martin Luther King has been quoted as saying;

“Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, Selma, in Albany, Ga. and St. Augustine, Fla., and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement,” he said.“Many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their contributions.”

Now all we have to do is get together and demaind equality for ourselves just as we did with Martin Luther King back in the 60’s to end inequality for black folks.

Can I hear an AMEN??

Go to http://www.hersbandandwife.com help us stand up for equality!

A few naysayers have said we are in this only for the money. WRONG we have never made a dime from anything we have done with Hersband and Wife. We work on what we believe in COMPLETTLY on a volunteer basis.

Also if you think that we are trying to get famous from anything we are doing, think again as H&W were already known back in 2006 by millions, so fame is not what we seek. EQUALITY IS!

Again Stand with us for Equality go to http://www.hersbandandwife.com and find out how you can help, it is time the ground swell demanded what we deserve. FULL EQUALITY FOR ALL!!

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Women March in NYC for the right to vote 1913

The woman’s suffrage movement was one of the first civil rights fights back in 1918. Women all over the nation were fighting for their civil right to vote, but in many cases faced the opposition in fear of physical harm. When looking back at that struggle we as Americans think how silly our country was to withhold something as simple as the right to vote on the notion that women were too simple to be able to understand what would be at stake with voting rights.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony would be proud of the progress that women have made not only on the voting front but also within the job market. Women not only have the right to vote now but also to hold any office in this great land. We are very close to having our first women president in office as seen in this past election with Hillery Rhodham Clinton’s race and lets not forget Geraldine Farraro who ran for the office of vice president.

The woman’s suffrage movement and the Abolitionism movement went hand in had as women saw themselves on the same level as Slaves in the context of civil rights. Stanton and Anthony both organized the countries women and made them understand the importance of their right to vote and the urgent nature of abolishing slavery.  Neither Stanton nor Anthony got the chance to see the first woman use her right to vote on Nov 2, 1920, Nor did they live to see slavery abolished, but their work lives on in every civil rights battle since they began.

Abolitionist movement flyer for impending meeting.

As for the Abolitionism movement; the rights of slaves to be free would not be so easily won without major conflict. The battle for the slaves would end in bloody battles fought in the civil war (the war between the states) that would have the north and Lincoln being proclaimed the winner. Being the winner on the fight to abolish slavery would not mean however that the slaves would gain the right to vote, it only meant that they could live free without a “master” to serve.  The slaves in the United States would see their freedom prior to the women gaining the right to vote, so the civil rights battle raged on.

Once the slaves were free, the woman gained the right to vote now the freed slaves had to contend with a segragated south and the lack of voting rights. Flash forward to the 1950’s when a young black preacher named Rev Martin Luther King entered the scene after hearing about Rosa Parks being arrested for sitting on a bus in the “white section”.  Black folks still do not have the right to vote, nor do they have the right to live unsegregated from their Anglo counterparts.

Right about now is when you are saying to yourself ” enough with the history lesson what does all this have to do with the GLBT civil rights fight of today?” Well Im getting there but all this background is important to speak about because all the civil rights fights tie together.

Civil Rights march with MLK in front.

Now back to the Rev. Martin Luther King jr and Rosa Parks; Rosa was a good woman who was only on her way home from work after a long hard day, she was tired and sat on the bus when the bus driver moved the “colored” section back one row and asked her to give up her seat to a white man. The key here is finally someone was tired, not only physically but also mentally of the bully tactics that were bieng used to keep the south segregated.

We all know the story about how segregation was struck down and the right to vote was won due to the efforts of Rev. King and his followers, we also know about his assassination and the impact that it had on this great nation. But do you see the parallels yet in any of these struggles to those of GLBT Americans? There were GLBT people who gave their lives for the civil rights fight of the 1950’s. Bayard Rustin(March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987) though he did not give his life in the fight, he was along side Rev. King during the civil rights fight. Bayard was not only a black man he was a GAY black man.  Let us not forget the freedom riders who were a mixture of black, white, male, female, gay and straight students who set out from Washington DC in 1961 bound for Mississippi.

Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving the plaintifs in Loving V. Virginia

The next battle front in the civil rights fight was that of segregation in marriage laws. Many Americans today do not understand why until 1967 there were 40 states that had laws on the books prohibiting mixed race marriages. The federal government in the case of Loving v. Virginia stated that the laws were unconstitutional and love could not be legislated. Many states held their interracial marriage laws on the books for many years after the Loving case, as a matter of fact the last law was struck down in the year 2000 in Alabama.

This brings us to the civil rights battle of today, where GLBT people are fighting not only for the right to marry but the right to exist in a society with DOMA laws and DADT rules. If you have stayed with me this long you should by now see the parallels if you did not see them before. The civil rights battles have been going on from the founding of the colonies in America. The last hurdle to overcome is the battle of marriage for GLBT people. Many would say that we need to battle DADT first but I personally believe it is the marriage battle that should be won then all else will fall into place. Humor me for a moment longer and I will explain. DOMA (the defense of marriage act) that was placed by President Clinton in 1996 (not Bush) was enacted when it was feared that Hawaii would gain civil marriage for GLBT people. President Clinton also enacted the DADT rule for the U.S. Military. If the DOMA law were to be repealed and we as GLBT people gain the right to marry on a federal level then the military can no longer enforce DADT because marriage equality would be legal making it also legal to state who you are married to. Benefits would have to be extended, once again making it hard to enforce the DADT rule. So with the repeal of DOMA and the enforcement of marriage equality on the federal level then the last hurdle would be past.

But now what about the title of this piece you ask? The one thing that all the civil rights fights had in common was that the people involved in the fight worked together. The women united, the blacks united, everyone worked together. Then you get to the GLBT fight for equality and it seems that the longer we fight the longer the acronym becomes for our identity. We started out as simply Gay then we went to Gay and Lesbian, then we got to Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgenders, but now we have GLBTQ the q being for queer or questioning. Just as our letters are to define us as cells within the grand rainbow that we are, they also serve to splinter us and cause us to all work in different directions.

Equality Fighters 1969 post Stonewall

While we all see lambda legal as the place to turn for legal opinion on on the struggle and HRC as the champion of champion groups to go to for the inside story, the actual people who are on the ground working their hearts out sacrificing their own time and in many times family lives for our rights are ignored. Every state has an equality group, (some more than one) every state has a pride (some more than one) and in many cases the equality groups do not work with the prides and the Pride groups will not work with other equality groups.

We as H&W recently came up against this very problem when trying to get the Marriage Equality Tour on the road. The tour was envisioned to bring the equality groups together as one group going cross country to show people that we not only deserve equality we demand it. When writing to or speaking with most of the local equality groups we have gotten a great warm reception where they are more than eager to help us get all this going. Pride groups have been a different story, and it seems as they are more about the party than the political struggle we are all fighting for. Have we forgotten that we cannot party until we have something to celebrate? Have we all forgotten what the Prides were started for? The gay Prides were started after Stonewall because of the need to show UNITY! Do we all know how to throw a party? of course we do! But we need to remember that there is still a battle to be won. We may be all battle weary but now is the time to UNITE and fight the oppression together. If we stay divided while the right wing is united against us then we are divided to a fall.

So when will we stop being the G & L & B & T & Q communities and go back to being the cohesive GLBT community to stand up and fight together and gain our equality through our strength in numbers?

Heck if 10% of the people in the United States are gay and lesbian and 10% are Trans and aprox 20% are Bisexual then we have 40% nearly a majority. Lets get together and work on something that matters for all of us!

Equality is written into the constitution, we all just need to remind people of that fact.

Time to work together toward a common goal and stop the Rainbow infighting!

Support the Marriage Equality Tour with your donation today! Every Dollar Helps toward our goal of uniting the fight. Go to Http://www.hersbandandwife.com click the thermometer and make your voice heard with your donation! Pass the link on to friends and encourage them to donate.

We deserve equality, we demand equality and H&W are putting their life on hold to gain it for everyone! Unity is the only way to get equality, Unite today with H&W.

United we stand, devided we fall! Equality deserves no less than UNITY!

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We hope you enjoy the points made just as much as we have.

H&W

The Marriage Equality Fight Lives on

Gay Marriage and the Constitution

Why Ted Olson and I are working to overturn California’s Proposition 8.

By DAVID BOIES

When I got married in California in 1959 there were almost 20 states where marriage was limited to two people of different sexes and the same race. Eight years later the Supreme Court unanimously declared state bans on interracial marriage unconstitutional.

Recently, Ted Olson and I brought a lawsuit asking the courts to now declare unconstitutional California’s Proposition 8 limitation of marriage to people of the opposite sex. We acted together because of our mutual commitment to the importance of this cause, and to emphasize that this is not a Republican or Democratic issue, not a liberal or conservative issue, but an issue of enforcing our Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection and due process to all citizens.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the right to marry the person you love is so fundamental that states cannot abridge it. In 1978 the Court (8 to 1, Zablocki v. Redhail) overturned as unconstitutional a Wisconsin law preventing child-support scofflaws from getting married. The Court emphasized, “decisions of this Court confirm that the right to marry is of fundamental importance for all individuals.” In 1987 the Supreme Court unanimously struck down as unconstitutional a Missouri law preventing imprisoned felons from marrying.

There were legitimate state policies that supported the Wisconsin and Missouri restrictions held unconstitutional. By contrast, there is no legitimate state policy underlying Proposition 8. The occasional suggestion that marriages between people of different sexes may somehow be threatened by marriages of people of the same sex does not withstand discussion. It is difficult to the point of impossibility to envision two love-struck heterosexuals contemplating marriage to decide against it because gays and lesbians also have the right to marry; it is equally hard to envision a couple whose marriage is troubled basing the decision of whether to divorce on whether their gay neighbors are married or living in a domestic partnership. And even if depriving lesbians of the right to marry each other could force them into marrying someone they do not love but who happens to be of the opposite sex, it is impossible to see how that could be thought to be as likely to lead to a stable, loving relationship as a marriage to the person they do love.

Moreover, there is no longer any credible contention that depriving gays and lesbians of basic rights will cause them to change their sexual orientation. Even if there was, the attempt would be constitutionally defective. But, in fact, the sexual orientation of gays and lesbians is as much a God-given characteristic as the color of their skin or the sexual orientation of their straight brothers and sisters. It is also a condition that, like race, has historically been subject to abusive and often violent discrimination. It is precisely where a minority’s basic human rights are abridged that our Constitution’s promise of due process and equal protection is most vital.

Countries as Catholic as Spain, as different as Sweden and South Africa, and as near as Canada have embraced gay and lesbian marriage without any noticeable effect — except the increase in human happiness and social stability that comes from permitting people to marry for love. Several states — including Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont — have individually repealed their bans on same-sex marriage as inconsistent with a decent respect for human rights and a rational view of the communal value of marriage for all individuals. But basic constitutional rights cannot depend on the willingness of the electorate in any given state to end discrimination. If we were prepared to consign minority rights to a majority vote, there would be no need for a constitution.

The ban on same-sex marriages written into the California Constitution by a 52% vote in favor of Proposition 8 is the residue of centuries of figurative and literal gay-bashing. California allows same-sex domestic partnerships that, as interpreted by the California Supreme Court, provide virtually all of the economic rights of marriage. So the ban on permitting gay and lesbian couples to actually marry is simply an attempt by the state to stigmatize a segment of its population that commits no offense other than falling in love with a disapproved partner, and asks no more of the state than to be treated equally with all other citizens. In 2003 the United States Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas held that states could not constitutionally outlaw consensual homosexual activity. As Justice Anthony Kennedy elegantly wrote rejecting the notion that a history of discrimination might trump constitutional rights, “Times can blind us to certain truths and later generations can see that laws once thought necessary and proper in fact serve only to oppress. As the Constitution endures, persons in every generation can invoke its principles in their own search for greater freedom.”

There are those who sincerely believe that homosexuality is inconsistent with their religion — and the First Amendment guarantees their freedom of belief. However, the same First Amendment, as well as the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses, preclude the enshrinement of their religious-based disapproval in state law.

Gays and lesbians are our brothers and sisters, our teachers and doctors, our friends and neighbors, our parents and children. It is time, indeed past time, that we accord them the basic human right to marry the person they love. It is time, indeed past time, that our Constitution fulfill its promise of equal protection and due process for all citizens by now eliminating the last remnant of centuries of misguided state discrimination against gays and lesbians.

The argument in favor of Proposition 8 ultimately comes down to no more than the tautological assertion that a marriage is between a man and a woman. But a slogan is not a substitute for constitutional analysis. Law is about justice, not bumper stickers.

Mr. Boies is the chairman of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP.

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We are working to get the Marriage Equality tour on the road so that not only will California people understand what Mr Boies is saying but also the rest of the country will as well.

If you believe in having Equality nation wide please visit http://www.hersbandandwife.com read about the goals of the tour, check out the dates on the interactive map and donate to help this grass roots effort gain ground. Every dollar we gain is one more mile we can drive for equality!

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Hersband And Wife's Touring RV with some sponsors logo's Rainbow Areas indicate available for sponsorship.

Press Release

Tomboy Magazine & Lick A Lotta Fest would like to announce Hersband & Wife’s 50 state marriage equality tour.

Atlanta, GA, October 31, 2009 – November 1, 2009:  The Hersband and Wife Marriage Equality Tour will kick off on October 31, 2009 from Atlanta GA Pride celebration. Hersband & Wife will have a marriage ceremony at 5pm followed by a short speech discussing the importance of marriage equality. Marriage equality is gaining ground in the United States, with an extreme grass root support. We as Hersband & Wife have always been in the forefront of the marriage equality fight; we will be taking it a step further with a marriage equality tour. The plan is to tour the entire United States over a twelve month period, having a marriage ceremony in every state visited. (Legal or Symbolic) inviting the entire GLBT community to attend the ceremony and have marriages of their own if they wish. All subsequent dates, times and locations will be announced on our website via an interactive state by state map and passed out at each of the 50 wedding ceremonies.

For Sponsorship Opportunities or Donations please check out the sponsorship forms

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Obama great promises, no delivery.

Though our beloved president never claimed to be anything but straight, he did give  GLBT people hope that in our future (the next 4-8 years) we would be treated more equally.

In his acceptance speech upon winning the presidential election he said;

” If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

Its the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

Its the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.”

When the word “Gay” was spoken the crowd went wild, because those are the words we had been waiting for. We as GLBT citizens have been waiting our entire lives to have someone in the White House that not only understood that we were being treated unfairly but also that we needed the government to do something about it. OHH and lets not forget his campaign promises, where Obama is quoted as saying;

“As your President, I will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat samesex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws. I personally believe that civil unions represent the best way to secure that equal treatment.
…
Just as important, I have been listening to what all Americans have to say. I will never compromise on my commitment to equal rights for all LGBT Americans. But neither will I close my ears to the voices of those who still need to be convinced. That is the work we must do to move forward together. It is difficult. It is challenging. And it is necessary.

Americans are yearning for leadership that can empower us to reach for what we know is possible. I believe that we can achieve the goal of full equality for the millions of LGBT people in this country. To do that, we need leadership that can appeal to the best parts of the human spirit.”

President Obama was this just lip service to get our vote and our campaign contributions? We have supported you, campaigned for you and even given you the bennifit of the doubt when DADT was not repealed right away. But your most recent acts in support of DOMA flies in the face of every GLBT person that not only believed in you and your administration but also beleived in your “yes we can” and “Change” message.

So because you President Obama are no better than Mr Mcain would have been for GLBT people and equal rights for all, did our vote truely count. Or did you just buy us with your fancy words of hope, promise, and dreams? Even Rev. Martin Luther King knew that we were treated unfairly, Even the late Corretta Scott King came out in defence of equal rights for GLBT people, but you are great hope have let us down more than anyone ever could. Mostly you let us down so much because you built us up so far to get what you wanted. Well now that you have the presidency you are showing your true colors. “YELLOW” because you are too cowardly to actually keep the promises that led you to election.

You sir were supposed to be about change, and hope and equal rights, but we believe that now that we have our first dark complected president, maybe we dont have one that understands that without Loving V Virginia his existance would have been as a bastard child rather than one where his parents could marry. The spirit of Loving V Virginia is equality for love and the fact that we cannot govern love.

Your administration sir just set back GLBT rights 20 years.

Your argument does not make sence, that we have rights in the states that allow it but in the states that dont we dont. If that argument is true then if we are married in states that have rights and live in a state that has equal marriage rights we should be able to file joint federal taxes together and have all of the other over one thousand rights we are excluded from federally. If you wish to devide our country up into individual states like this sir then do so and have federal recognition of the marriages in the states that allow it and in the “backward” states that have DOMA laws of their own, don’t recognize it.

Now you see where your argument is flawed, we hope, but you may never see this letter since they are randomly selected to be read and answered.

Thanks for NOTHING Mr President

Remember this website where he organized us all?

http://pride.barackobama.com/page/content/lgbthome

He benefited from our “Pride” and exploited it.

**Obama’s Letter to the GLBT Community while running for office and needing our votes!**

“I’m running for President to build an America that lives up to our founding promise of equality for all – a promise that extends to our gay brothers and sisters. It’s wrong to have millions of Americans living as second-class citizens in this nation. And I ask for your support in this election so that together we can bring about real change for all LGBT Americans.

Equality is a moral imperative. That’s why throughout my career, I have fought to eliminate discrimination against LGBT Americans. In Illinois, I cosponsored a fully inclusive bill that prohibited discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity, extending protection to the workplace, housing, and places of public accommodation. In the U.S. Senate, I have cosponsored bills that would equalize tax treatment for same-sex couples and provide benefits to domestic partners of federal employees. And as president, I will place the weight of my administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes and a fully inclusive Employment Non- Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

As your President, I will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat samesex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws. I personally believe that civil unions represent the best way to secure that equal treatment. But I also believe that the federal government should not stand in the way of states that want to decide on their own how best to pursue equality for gay and lesbian couples -whether that means a domestic partnership, a civil union, or a civil marriage. I support the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Federal law should not discriminate in any way against gay and lesbian couples, which is precisely what DOMA does. I have also called for us to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and I have worked to improve the Uniting American Families Act so we can afford same-sex couples the same rights and obligations as married couples in our immigration system.

The next president must also address the HIV/AIDS epidemic. When it comes to prevention, we do not have to choose between values and science. While abstinence education should be part of any strategy, we also need to use common sense. We should have age-appropriate sex education that includes information about contraception. We should pass the JUSTICE Act to combat infection within our prison population. And we should lift the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users. In addition, local governments can protect public health by distributing contraceptives.

We also need a president who’s willing to confront the stigma – too often tied to homophobia – that continues to surround HIV/AIDS. I confronted this stigma directly in a speech to evangelicals at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, and will continue to speak out as president.

That is where I stand on the major issues of the day. But having the right positions on the issues is only half the battle. The other half is to win broad support for those positions. And winning broad support will require stepping outside our comfort zone. If we want to repeal DOMA, repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and implement fully inclusive laws outlawing hate crimes and discrimination in the workplace, we need to bring the message of LGBT equality to skeptical audiences as well as friendly ones – and that’s what I’ve done throughout my career. I brought this message of inclusiveness to all of America in my keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention. I talked about the need to fight homophobia when I announced my candidacy for President, and I have been talking about LGBT equality to a number of groups during this campaign – from local LGBT activists to rural farmers to parishioners at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Dr. Martin Luther King once preached.

Just as important, I have been listening to what all Americans have to say. I will never compromise on my commitment to equal rights for all LGBT Americans. But neither will I close my ears to the voices of those who still need to be convinced. That is the work we must do to move forward together. It is difficult. It is challenging. And it is necessary.

Americans are yearning for leadership that can empower us to reach for what we know is possible. I believe that we can achieve the goal of full equality for the millions of LGBT people in this country. To do that, we need leadership that can appeal to the best parts of the human spirit. Join with me, and I will provide that leadership. Together, we will achieve real equality for all Americans, gay and straight alike.”

If you wish to see what he said in June of 2008 to commemorate Pride Month please check out this website link http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/jcitron/gG5VLs

We believe we have given you enough information now to make an informed decision about our new President’s “true” views, and why we nominate him for the Fauxmosexual of the year award!

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In case you missed all the discussions last night about the push to take the prop 8 fight to the national stage we decided to re-post them today for all to see.

The statements by the attorneys that are taking this to the supreme court are great and will help you understand their arguments.

Larry King hosts Theodore B. Olson and David Boies, George Takei and Husband Brad Altman to discuss the ramifications and legalities of the recent decision by the California’s Supreme court on Prop 8 as well as the push to take the fight to the United States Supreme Court.

We are very encouraged after listening to their arguments. We are only hopeful that the GLBT groups that have spoken against them will decide to work with them on a unified front.

A statement released by the group Freedom to Marry states the following ;

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 27, 2009, New York, NY

PRESS CONTACT:
Evan Wolfson
Executive Director, Freedom to Marry
Tel: 212-851-8418; Mobile: 646-263-5552
Email: evan@freedomtomarry.org

New York, May 27, 2009 — In response to the California Supreme Court decision allowing Prop 8 to stand, four LGBT legal organizations and five other leading national LGBT groups are reminding the LGBT community that ill-timed lawsuits could set the fight for marriage back. The groups released a new publication, “Why the ballot box and not the courts should be the next step on marriage in California.” This publication discourages people from bringing premature lawsuits based on the federal Constitution because, without more groundwork, the U.S. Supreme Court likely is not yet ready to rule that same-sex couples cannot be barred from marriage. The groups also revised “Make Change, Not Lawsuits,” which was released after the California Supreme Court decision ending the ban on marriage for same-sex couples in California. This publication encourages couples who have legally married to ask friends, neighbors and institutions to honor their marriages, but discourages people from bringing lawsuits.

The groups working together withe this statement are;

Groups against the federal lawsuit for marriage equality.

Our question to these groups is what if these two lawyers win?

Do you all think you will loose your GLBT community support because you all came out against what appears to many of us as progress? Wouldn’t it be easier to work with the lawyers to help them in their fight rather than against them?

Sometimes the perfect case never comes and you have to just step out on a limb and try to go “all in” and pray that the legal argument is sound and will stand.

With what is being said and done with these groups right now is making it appear that exactly what the prop 8 supporters wanted has happened. We have gone in one 24 hour period from being completely unified on this issue to a smattering of different opinions. These groups were all formed to unify our community but in fact what they are doing now is dividing us.

Yes on this issue we are standing on the opposite side of these groups, We have always stood with them on issues but in true H&W style we are not followers but we are learned writers who delve deep into an issue and form our own opinion. We may anger some by coming out against such high regarded GLBT rights organizations but we believe that they are playing it safe and the die has already been cast with the filing of this lawsuit so why come out against something that was filed on May 22, 2009 prior to that of the prop 8 decision being made public? Why not unify with the lawyers and help them get this issue not only heard but a favorable decision.

This is too important an issue to be divided on!

Our community has waited too long (since 1974) to be heard on this issue on the federal level, so we say You Go Boys and take it to the feds. The justices may not be ready but our President, Congress and House are. So we may just have enough pressure on the justices on this issue for them to not only hear this case but rule in true rainbow favorability.

It is about time someone had the guts and the knowledge to be able to push this issue.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE (all you groups against them) UNIFY WITH THESE LAWYERS!!

*This may be political suiside for us but this is what everyone loves about us we dont follow we lead, and we are real not a watered down version of something else. So no appologies, only real opinion’s from a couple with a civil union who are tired of being treated like seccond class citizens.

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Senator Eichelberger

Dear Senator Eichelberger,

I find it interesting the advertisement that comes to cable T.V. and the like for “Come to Gay Friendly” Pennsylvania. “We welcome “gay” vacationers and nightlife, so come to “gay” Pennsylvania.” If you can allow gay nightlife to your state for our “gay” money to pour in yet you think we are not equal to have the same rights in life as any heterosexual human being. I appreciate your honesty in knowing where you stand. But, your life in no way influences mine. So how my marriage or civil union to my same sex partner would affect you or be a threat to your fundamental family life is beyond my comprehension. Just as your marriage or civil union (by the way you have both) to your partner have no affect on my life therefore how am I or any gay person ruining your fundamental family.

I have a family and a civil union now marriage to a woman and children in this relationship. I was “married” in a state that believes in the rights of human beings. This in no way has ruined a family of anyone that I know. My children are much adjusted, polite, hard working and having to put up with small mindedness in high school every day. If you ask them if they wish their life was any different then it is. I know they would say no! Why, because they have constant support, love and approval of their same sex parents. Their father is around and involved in our lives only because he was asked to forget his views and think of his children. Now we all live together in harmony with outstanding children that would not have their life be any other way. As far as the haters they encounter at school. They feel sorry for them. They do not have the closeness or interest of their parents.

Sincerely,
Hersband
of
http://www.Herbandandwife.com

This letter was sent by Hersband early this morning, Please follow her lead and voice your opinion to the senator by going to www.senatoreichelberger.com and writing your own letter!

Our voices could not be needed more than they are right now. We do not need rude comments, or slams to be written. What we need is rational thought out opinions, that show them that we are not only loud and proud, but we are also intelligent. Lets show our oppressors that we as GLBT people will not perpetuate the fears of those against us.

According to the Senator’s website

”

Senator Eichelberger to Introduce Marriage Amendment

May 15th, 2009

Constitutional Amendment to Define Marriage

On Tuesday, May 19, 2009, Senator John H. Eichelberger, Jr. will hold a rally and press conference to announce his intention to introduce legislation to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to define marriage as being between one man and one woman.

Who: Senator Eichelberger

What: Announcement of Marriage Amendment

When: May 19, 2009; 10:45 AM

Where: Blair County Courthouse Steps, Hollidaysburg, PA

Media RSVP is requested. Please contact Julie Garofalo, Legislative Aide, at 814-695-8386 or email jgarofalo@pasen.gov for further information. “

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