Urgent: Washington Families need your help!

by: Lurleen [Cross-posted from Pam's House Blend]

Referendum 71 poll leaves no room for complacency by: Lurleen Wed Sep 23, 2009 at 10:30:00 AM EDT Update: The Approve 71 campaign press release about the poll is below the fold.”Victory hinges on voter turnout” is the sobering message in poll results released today by the Approve Referendum 71 campaign. The campaign commissioned a statewide survey of 569 voters likely to vote in Washington’s upcoming general election. According to the Approve 71 campaign, voters who turn out in off-year elections tend to be older, more conservative voters, with up to half of the voter population not voting. When likely voters were read the exact Referendum 71 ballot language, the poll result was: Approve: 51% Reject: 44% Undecided: 5% This is a much finer margin than seen in earlier polls, because those polls didn’t distinguish likely voters from the entire pool of registered voters. What does this mean for strategy moving forward? Since our base of support is among those who tend to sit out off-year elections, we’re going to have to do some serious GOTV. We need to turn out our base, which tends to be younger voters, urban voters and liberals. Campaign manager Josh Friedes summed it up this way: “In the 2009 election the question isn’t going to be how much support there is for the domestic partnership law, the question is going to be who votes. There is no question in my mind that the majority of Washington voters want their neighbors families to have the protections contained in the domestic partnership law, but if people don’t vote this election is going to be a cliff hanger. People who support protecting all Washington families need to both vote and remind their friends and family that they too must vote in order to insure that families throughout Washington state do not lose the critical protections [provided] by Washington’s domestic partnership law. If this law is not approved, families all across Washington state will be harmed.” The number of families in harm’s way? 6,035 as of last night. Now would be a good time to donate, to sign up to phone bank and do outreach. ANd here are six simple things you can do to help. For Immediate Release – Sept. 23, 2009 Approve 71 campaign poll shows a tough fight ahead Victory hinges on voter turnout .

Rabbi Saperstein’s ENDA Testimony

by: Kate Bigam Religious Action Center, Union of Reform Judaism

The RAC’s Director, Rabbi David Saperstein, testified this morning before the House Education and Labor Committee in support of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a civil rights bill that would make it illegal to fire, refuse to hire, demote or fail to promote an employee based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. The full text of Rabbi Saperstein’s submitted testimony is after the jump; you can also watch a webcast of it (his testimony begins at the 1:46:34 marker). You can make your voice heard in this civil rights debate by checking out our action alert to write to your Members of Congress asking them to support ENDA.

Tech problems again

The blog will be closed until early next week, due to technical difficulties.

Thank you.

Money Laundering by NOM in Maine Election?

Let the money laundering begin!

Letter Sent to Maine Election Officials Warning of Money Laundering by National Organization for Marriage (NOM) & Others

LOS ANGELES, CA / AUGUSTA, ME – Californians Against Hate founder Fred Karger sent a letter today warning top Maine election officials of possible money laundering by opponents of same-sex marriage.

The organization trying to overturn Maine’s same-sex marriage law, Stand for Marriage PAC recently turned in 100,000 signatures to place the question on the November ballot. These gay marriage foes hope to repeal LD 1020 — the law passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor allowing same-sex marriage in Maine.

Of the $343,689.50 raised to pay the Brighton, Michigan based

National Petition Management, Inc. to collect the signatures, only $400, or a mere .001 of that total came from individuals. The remaining $343,289.50 was given by various religious organizations and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) gave nearly half of that total, $160,000. The remainder came from Catholic organizations ($150,000) and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family ($31,000).“It sure looks like they are trying to hide the donors in their latest effort to strip away marriage equality,” said Fred Karger. “ There is no way these organizations like NOM and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland had all this money sitting in their treasuries (except for possibly Focus on the Family). They went out and raised it expressly for this campaign. It’s very expensive to hire these signature gathering firms to collect 100,000 signatures in a short period of time.”

Let the Laundering Begin

NOM is a Mormon Front Group

There is an ongoing investigation into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) by the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC Case #08/735). The FPPC is looking into both the Church’s lack of reporting its non-monetary contributions to Prop 8, and also whether NOM was, in fact, established as a front group by the Salt Lake City based Mormon Church. The Mormon Church has used this tactic in several states beginning in Hawaii in 1996.

THIS is why Inclusive ENDA is needed

Trans woman Kate Lynn Blatt says her former employer requested a photograph of her genitalia as a condition of continued employment.

Kate Lynn Blatt

This is just wrong on so many levels that my blood is just boiling over. This woman is a post-operative transsexual; in other words, she is medically and legally a woman. If Irene Kudziela [got that name memorized?], branch manager of Manpower Inc.’s Pottsville, PA office,  had asked for photos of a genetic woman’s genitalia, she would have been immediately suspended or dismissed. Further, Ms. Blatt would have probably been immediately rehired to fend off a federal suit, under Title VII. Instead, Ms. Blatt remains unemployed, and Kudziela apparently has yet to face any consequences for her actions.

From The Philadelphia Gay News:

slidAt the time of the October 2007 incident, Blatt was employed by Manpower Inc., a global staffing-services agency with a branch office in Pottsville. Manpower placed Blatt at Sapa Industrial Extrusions, a manufacturer of aluminum products in Cressona, where she earned about $10 an hour as a temporary factory worker.

Blatt worked at Sapa for about a month, before allegedly being told by a supervisor that she wasn’t physically well enough to work at the job and was no longer needed at Sapa, she said.

THAT is a clear violation of the ADA. Period. Under federal law, Sapa was obligated to provide disability accommodation. Instead, they fired her.

After being discharged from Sapa, Blatt said she personally visited Manpower’s branch office in Pottsville, in an attempt to return to work.

Irene Kudziela, branch manager of Manpower’s Pottsville office, allegedly told Blatt that a letter from her surgeon documenting her gender-reassignment surgery — along with a photograph of her genital area — would be necessary before she could return to Sapa.

Can you imagine if you were told that you had to provide a photograph of your privates to return to work? That is one of the cruelest, and frankly, sickest, things I have ever heard.

Blatt, 28, said she found the request “repugnant” and “disgusting,” and declined to comply. She viewed the request as a form of sexual harassment, she added.

“I was shocked and disgusted,” Blatt said. “It felt like I was being reduced to a mere sex object. I was trying to work there in a dignified and private manner, but my dignity and privacy were constantly being violated.”

Blatt filed bias complaints against Sapa and Manpower with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, alleging wrongful discharge based on sex and disability.

R-71: Washington’s vote-by-mail system shortens campaign season

by: Lurleen

[Originally posted on Pam's House Blend, Sat Aug 15, 2009 at 12:00:00 PM EDT]

Washington state is now using a mandatory vote-by-mail system in every county except Pierce Co.  Ballots for the November 3rd general election will be mailed out on October 14th.  Voters may mail them back any day on or before election day.

What this means is that we can no longer rely on holding signs or passing out fliers at the polls to remind voters to vote APPROVED on Ref. 71 to preserve the domestic partnership law.  Most of our work must be done well in advance of election day.

What this means is that we only have 60 guaranteed pre-vote days to get our message out to voters; November 3rd is no longer our target date, October 14th is.

Here are the cold hard probabilities of the referendum qualifying for the ballot, courtesy of Darryl at Horsesass.org.

A Monte Carlo analysis consisting of 10,000 simulated samples give a 95% confidence interval for valid signatures of from 121,175 to 122,415, well above the magic number. Here is the distribution of valid signatures:

There are a few “losses” in red on the left, but the overwhelming majority of outcomes in green have the referendum qualifying. In fact, the referendum failed to make the ballot in only 11 of the 10,000 simulations.With the results to date, it is pretty clear that, come fall, we will be voting to accept or reject the “Everything but Marriage” law.

With almost 45% of the signatures already checked as of August 14th, there is little doubt that Darryl’s conclusion is correct: Referendum 71 will qualify for the ballot.

With voters receiving their ballots in just over 60 days, we simply don’t have the luxury of daydreaming about the ballot not qualifying.

The time is now. Take Action!

VOTE APPROVED on Ref. 71 to preserve our Domestic Partnership Law in Washington State. DONATE to Washington Families Standing Together online or mail a contribution with this form. VOLUNTEER on a phone bank or in the office. Circulate PLEDGE FORMS at your church or synagogue social hour, farmers markets, and other events.  Return forms to Washington Families Standing Together, PO Box 12216, Seattle, WA 98102. PRINT A PLACARD for your window.  B&W ink-saver version here. PRINT FLIERS and hand them out wherever you go. E-MAIL your friends and family telling why they should take the Pledge to Approve Ref 71.  Forward form here. JOIN the Faith Coalition. WRITE a letter to the editor using this nifty letter-writing tool. ADD A REMINDER to approve Referendum 71 in your email signature. Here is a sample message: Protect all Washington State Families – Approve Referendum 71! WAFST.org ASK ORGANIZATIONS you belong to to endorse our campaign or become coalition partners. REGISTER TO VOTE! FRIEND the Approve Ref. 17 Facebook group. FOLLOW WAFST on Twitter.What is at stake The Domestic Partnership Law (SB 5688) was passed by the Legislature in 2009 to ensure that all Washington families are treated the same, with the same protections, the same rights and the same obligations as their neighbors.  Under this law, registered domestic partners (same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples where at least one partner is over age 62), and married couples, are treated equally under state law throughout Washington.Key rights and obligations in the law include: Death benefits for the partners of police and firefighters killed in the line of duty. Pension benefits for the partners of teachers and other public employees. Victims’ rights, including the right to receive notifications and benefits allowances. The right to use sick leave to care for a seriously ill partner. The right to workers’ compensation benefits if a partner is killed in the course of employment. The right to receive unemployment benefits if an employee must leave a job to care for a seriously ill partner. The right to adopt a partner’s child without paying for a home study.The areas covered by the law include labor and employment law; pensions, survivor and other public employee benefits; family law; insurance rights; higher education; banks, financial institutions and loan agencies; creditors’ rights and business licenses.Opponents of the domestic partnership law are seeking to repeal it.  Referendum 71 would ask voters whether the law should be approved or rejected.  A vote to “APPROVE” keeps the law so that all families will have these protections in all parts of the state. Go to Washington Families Standing Together to learn more about the referendum, and what you can do to preserve the domestic partnership law.Washington Families Standing Together * 206-324-2570 * WAFST.org * PO Box 12216, Seattle, WA 98102

Open letter and a challenge to supporters of the National Equality March

To those who are demanding that all LGBT people and Allies support the March on Washington scheduled for October 10-11th, 2009; when Congress is not even in session and there are important state-level rights going to the November ballot in several states:

Some of us are starting to think those planning the MOW either did not know or did not care about any of the crucial state-level battles that a march on Washington is not likely to have a big  positive impact on, but is certain to draw people’s time and money away from.

Some of us have found that, like it or not, our state-level rights are [or are likely to be] up for a vote: Some of us would prefer to stand in solidarity with our trans brothers and sisters in Massachusetts in their fight for anti-discrimination legislation; some of us live in or near Washington State, where the courts found against marriage rights, domestic partnership benefits may well go to a vote, we have mail-in voting and Columbus Day weekend is the last weekend before our ballots for the November election are mailed out; some of us live in Maine, where the fight for Marriage Equality is a fight we can win; many of us have children who we cannot keep out of school for an extra day to travel to Washington–especially if we are Jewish and our kids just took Yom Kippur off, two weeks before the MOW.  So some of us need to stay in our home states and fight for our state-level rights, lest we lose on those fronts before federal rights and protections can go to a vote.

So to those of you telling those of us concerned about state-level battles to shut up and support the March on Washington: How about you folks prove that you care about our states, first and rise to my challenge: Donate $10 and ONE day of volunteering for each of the states that have crucial rights on the ballot.

If every single person going to the March on Washington also pledged to donate even $10 and ONE day of their time to each of our state-level battles, some of us would be a whole lot more supportive of your March on Washington.

Links to volunteer and donate below the fold

Ongoing Referendum 71 Signature Validation Update

by: Lurleen [Originally posted at Pam's House Blend, Thu Aug 06, 2009 at 20:37:10 PM EDT]

Because the daily updated signature validation numbers are of ongoing and intense interest for some of us, I will bump this updated diary to the top of the page each afternoon (Pacific time) after the daily results have been released.  All the action will remain below the fold so as to keep the diary profile slender. Last updated: 5:00 pm on August 13, 2009.  Data are provisional.

@#$%^& More technical problems

please standby
(while I rip my hair out)

Concerned Women for America waving a pistol at ENDA. Literally.

by: Lurleen [Originally posted on Pam's House Blend, Wed Aug 12, 2009 at 22:17:41 PM EDT]

H/T HSConcerned Women for America have posted a deranged article on ENDA written by their former lead “concerned woman”, Robert Knight.  They only have the kindest of intentions and the most Christian of thoughts about gays.  No really!  Don’t believe me?  Just look at the image (right) they used to promote the article. No, that isn’t a dog whistle for violence against gays, nooo, uh uh. Meanwhile, the promoters of Referendum 71 in Washington state, which trumpeted the CWA as a major endorser, ran crying “Intimidation! Threats!” as an excuse to try to keep the signers of their public petitions secret and to refuse to divulge the names of their campaign donors as required by law.  This of course after they found so many unintimidated people to sign the petition that they had enough signatures to submit to the state.