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Friday, July 10 –Gay Liberation Network live call-in show on CAN TV, 6:30-6:55 PM on Cable Channel 21 in Chicago.
Tuesday, July 14 – Protest against big confab of anti-gay "Exodus International" 6:30 PM at Wheaton College, 500 College Avenue, Wheaton, Illinois. Transportation being organized from Chicago. See notice below for details.
Saturday, July 18 – LGBTQ rights rally in Joliet! Co-sponsored by Joliet's Community Alliance and Action Network (http://caanmidwest.org/home.html) and the Gay Liberation Network. 2 PM, CAAN Community Center, 68 N. Chicago Street, Joliet, Illinois. See notice below for details.
Big Anti-Gay Confab Coming to Chicagoland July 14th
Protest Anti-Gay Hate Disguised as Religious Faith
Exodus International is the nation's foremost organization claiming to use Christianity to turn LGBT people into "ex-gays."
And while they say they "love" us, their fake attempts to change gays into straights is rooted in their hatred of gay people. They oppose all civil rights for LGBT people – equal employment, housing and access to public accomodations, and one of their board members even traveled to Uganda recently to endorse a vicious law which makes gay sex punishable by life imprisonment.
Every major, relevant professional association has denounced Exodus's efforts as potentially very damaging to the very people Exodus claims to "help."
As the American Psychiatric Association notes: "The potential risks of 'reparative therapy' are great, including depression, anxiety and self destructive behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against homosexuality may reinforce self hatred already experienced by the patient. Many patients who have undergone 'reparative therapy' relate that they were inaccurately told that homosexuals are lonely, unhappy individuals who never achieve acceptance or satisfaction. The possibility that the person might achieve happiness and satisfying interpersonal relationships as a gay man or lesbian is not presented, nor are alternative approaches to dealing with the effects of societal stigmatization discussed." (see www.TruthWinsOut.org for more resources on the "ex-gay" movement).
Help us expose the "ex-gay" fraud! Help show young LGBT people that there is an alternative to the damaging quack "therapy" that Exodus International promotes.
The Gay Liberation Network is organizing a protest against the opening of Exodus International's big annual convention and we invite you to join us:
6:30 PM
Tuesday, July 14
Wheaton College
500 College Avenue
Wheaton, Illinois
GLN is organizing transportation from Chicago to the protest, and may be able to offer it from some suburban locations. If you need transportation or are willing to offer it, please email LGBTliberation@aol.com
LGBTQ Rights Rally In Joliet
Saturday, July 18
2:00 PM
Meet at CAAN Community Center
68 N Chicago St. in Joliet, IL
Chicago is not the only place where LGBTQ activism is needed. Come out to downtown Joliet for a LGBTQ Rights Rally in support of local, state, and federal changes that would ensure the civil rights of LGBTQ folks.
This event is a great opportunity to spend a Sunday afternoon giving visibility to LGBTQ activism where it's really needed. Invite your friends, and make a day of it. We want to have a real crowd pressing for recognition and acceptance in an area where Illinois representatives need the public pressure that this event will create. So make sure you're there!
We will meet at the CAAN Community Center, hear speakers address the issues of safe schools, civil unions, the Defense of Marriage Act, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and Trans rights, then march through downtown Joliet and end our march at Joliet's City Hall.
We hope to get a large group from Chicago to caravan and/or take the Metra (rally location is 2 blocks from station). Don't be afraid of taking the Metra--it's over an hour one way, but it would be a great way to get to know other activists for LGBTQ rights.
If you are willing to drive, please contact Erica Chu through Facebook or email. The Metra train from Chicago's La Salle Street Station (414 South La Salle St) leaves at 12:30 and gets to Joliet before 2. After the march, the train leaves Joliet at 4:24 and arrives in Chicago at 5:45. Tickets are $5 for a weekend pass (good both ways and available from the counter or on the train). For more info, see the Metra schedule. http://www.metrarail.com/Sched/ri/ri.shtml
The Gay Liberation Network held a protest during Obama's visit to Chicago June 15 near the Chicago Hilton, 720 S. Michigan, where he was scheduled to speak. Andy Thayer of the Gay Liberation Network, which organized the event, said that the purpose was to protest Obama's recent policies in regards to LGBT individuals.
“We felt it was particularly important that Chicago voices be heard in protest against Obama's recent attacks on the LGBT community, such as his rancid pro-DOMA [ Defense of Marriage Act ] brief, however unpopular that may be,” said Thayer.
The protest largely took place because of a fear held by Thayer and many others that Obama is repeating the same mistakes of President Clinton.
“The reason why we're getting things like his slide away from promises to repeal DOMA and DADT is because ... too many in our community have written him and the rest of the Democratic Party a blank check. Feeling that there would be no threats of payback, he's done what Clinton did before—slide to the right,” said Thayer.
Thayer hopes that these protests are the first in many across the nation.
“If Obama was to face angry pro-gay protests in every city he visited, we might actually see him begin to live up to his promises rather than running away from them and slapping us with insults of the Rev. Rick Warren variety,” Thayer said.
In-Depth Interview on Pride in Moscow
Podcaster John Selig of Dallas has just released the second part of his long interview with GLNer Andy Thayer about the struggles of Russian and Belorussian LGBTs facing repression for organizing last month's Slavic Pride protest in Moscow. Listen to it HERE.
Many reading this have seen some of the reporting on Gay Pride in Moscow by the Gay Liberation Network's Andy Thayer. Here though for the first time are all of the articles he wrote during his participation in that remarkable event, including some not published until now.
What We Accomplished
Talking about this year's Gay Pride in Moscow, the police chief promised that "No one will dare to do it, such 'brave-heart' will be torn to shreds."
Well, we did do it. Not only did "brave-heart" Russian and Belorussian Gays and Lesbians bravely defy the macho bluster of the police chief, they also successfully skirted a series of pre-emptive arrest attempts by Moscow's "finest." Lesbians and Gays also proved that despite the authorities' vastly superior resources, the stupidity of their anti-gay bigotry was only matched by the incompetence of their repressive efforts.
Gay Pride in Moscow was an unadulterated success. As one of two Westerners who participated in it, I am proud and humbled to be associated with such brave and intelligent men and women.
By defying such intimidation, on May 16, 2009 Lesbian and Gay Russians and Belorussians made an incomparable contribution to our worldwide movement for LGBT freedom. Here is their story.
- Andy Thayer
Shortly before Moscow Pride, Russia's leading LGBT rights campaigner, Nikolai Alekseev, conducted an interview with veteran British gay campaigner Peter Tatchell and the Gay Liberation Network's Andy Thayer.Here is that interview.
Arrival in Moscow
Andy Thayer of Chicago's Gay Liberation Network on Red Square in front of St. Basil's Cathedral, midnight, upon arrival in Moscow, May 13th.
MOSCOW - After 14 hours of flights, last night I found myself in Eastern Europe for the first time in my life, warmly greeted by lesbian and gay activists who despite state repression are organizing their fourth annual pride event in this city. This year's event is dubbed "Slavic Pride," denoting the significant participation of activists from around the region.
Edward Murzin:
A "Politician" Who Gave More For Gay Pride Than Most Gays Themselves
In the Spring of 2008, Edward Murzin was a member of a provincial Duma, the Russian equivalent of a state legislature. In Russia's increasingly undemocratic political structure, that made his seat more secure than the most gerrymandered, "safe" U.S. Congressional district.
But he did an unusual thing for a politician - something that marked him as not a politician at all. He listened to a persecuted minority within his district and despite their unpopularity, he stood up for what is right, and paid a higher price for fighting against inequality of gays than most gays themselves.
It's not like he set out to become a martyr. In his humility, he freely admits that he didn't know what he was getting into when he, as a politician, stood up for gay equality in anti-gay official Russia.
Moskovskij Komsololets article about first equal marriage action in Russia
MOSCOW - A front page headline in Moskovskij Komsololets, one of Moscow's major dailies, on Wednesday read "Lesbians Came to Marriage Registration Bureau Before Gay Pride," with a sub-headline of "In Moscow, rise in publicity about gay pride."
A few pages inside, another article countered with a headline of "Homosexualism 'Weakens Power of Fist': Activists Against Gay Pride Threaten Violence."
The second article told of a press conference by fascists in which they promised that 1000 of them will protest against gay pride this Saturday and would physically attack it if possible. In previous years they violently attacked gay pride participants, sending German European Parliament member Volkhart Beck to the hospital in 2006, doing the same to veteran British gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell in 2007. This year the Pride event has been banned once again, with the Moscow police chief threatening to arrest all of the participants.
On Thursday a reporter for Moskovskij Komsololets told gay organizers that police had told them that they would arrest lead Moscow organizer Nikolai Alekyeev today, attempting to decapitate the leadership of our "Slavic Pride" action on Saturday.
MOSCOW - By the time I am finally posting this, many already know the basic story of violent government repression of Saturday's Gay Pride Parade in this city.
The delay in this post comes as a result of being a participant in the action. Several hours were lost due to police detention and then feverish attempts to help our Russian and Belorussian colleagues facing far more serious situations. Finally, our Moscow police friends are now in the possession of a very fine Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ6 memory card, so this story is mainly illustrated with the help of another photographer who would lose her job if properly credited for her work.
I'll therefore concentrate on the parts of this remarkable story that people who saw the news reports still don't know:
* the bizarrely extensive lengths that the authorities undertook to pre-empt our action
* the tactical finesse shown by Pride organizers that allowed us to dodge that pre-emption, and
* my personal experience as a participant in the action.
Some 20 protesters gathered at Chicago's LGBT Center on Halsted to show solidarity with Iraqi gays and others targeted around the world for their LGBTQ identity. IDAHO, International Day Against Homophobia, began in Europe several years ago as an effort to internationalize attention to and action against antigay violence.
Originally planned for Barack Obama's Hyde Park home, the protest was moved to the Center on Halsted following the city's revocation of a permit it claimed was issued "in error" due to a state law prohibiting protest at a private residence of a public official. This in spite of the fact that other protests have occurred near the Obama residence and that a security barrier prevents demonstrations in front of the house in any case.
Speakers denounced United States government silence in the wake of a virtual pogrom leveled against Iraqi men perceived to be gay. Although US officials including President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton and House Speaker Pelosi have all made recent trips to US occupied Iraq, none has called out the Iraqi puppet regime for its complicity in the antigay violence.
Also announced at the protest was the news that GLN co-founder, Andy Thayer, is uninjured and has been released from police custody in Moscow; and soon to return to Chicago. Andy had gone to the Russian capital to show solidarity with LGBTs in the region who attempted to stage a Slavic Pride demonstration. Although the attempt again ended in a cop attack and some 40 arrests, the resulting massive press coverage of police repression will further isolate the Russian regime from the rest of Europe.
The protest was organized by the Gay Liberation Network, and the event was covered by Chicago's LGBT press and several mainstream press outlets including WGN radio and TV.
Protest Focuses on Obama’s Failure to Denounce Rampant Anti-Gay Violence in Iraq
May 17th is commemorated around the world as International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO), a day on which LGBT people and our allies focus attention on the problems of anti-gay hate, discrimination and violence.
This year in Chicago, the Gay Liberation Network (GLN) is organizing the city’s IDAHO event as a protest against the Obama administration’s continuing silence about rampant anti-gay violence in U.S.-occupied Iraq. The protest will take place at 2 PM, Sunday, May 17th outside of the Obamas’ Chicago residence at the corner of Hyde Park Boulevard (5100 S.) and Greenwood (1100 E.).
Over the past month, several news outlets have reported an escalating, officially sanctioned campaign to torture and execute gays in Iraq, promoted both by Shi’ite clerics and by the Shi’ite-dominated government which is closely allied with the United States.
As the New York Times reported April 7, “In the past two months, the bodies of as many as 25 boys and men suspected of being gay have turned up in the huge [Baghdad] Shiite enclave of Sadr City, the police and friends of the dead say. Most have been shot, some multiple times. Several have been found with the word ‘pervert’ in Arabic on notes attached to their bodies, the police said.” And as the Huffington Post reported May 3rd, “According to Iraqis and human rights workers interviewed for this post, some sort of understanding was reached between the Iraqi government and the Mahdi Army to ‘cleanse’ Iraq of homosexuals.”
Tortures committed reportedly include gluing the anuses of gay men shut, and then force-feeding them diarrhea-inducing medications which cause agonizing pain followed by death.
Back in 2005, the country’s leading Shi’ite cleric said that gays and lesbians should be “punished, in fact, killed” and that “the people should be killed in the worst, most severe way of killing.” After some protests this language was removed from the cleric’s website, and the anti-gay campaign appeared to subside.
However, over the past month, the campaign in Iraq to murder gays has ramped up again as “Sadr City’s Muslim clerics have reportedly urged the faithful to destroy homosexuality Iraqi society and police have undertaken an effort to arrest and jail gay men,” said United Press International.
Iraqi LGBT, the main support group for gays in Iraq, as well as for those trying to flee, reports that some of the few hundred prisoners awaiting execution by the Iraqi government are facing execution because of the “crime” of homosexuality. Despite these human rights violations by a close U.S. ally, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made no public protest about this situation during a visit to Baghdad two weeks ago.
“Over the past two weeks there have been protests in New York and San Francisco which got quite a bit of press about this situation, despite the small size of the protests,” said GLN’s Bob Schwartz. “We in Chicago are uniquely positioned to add even more pressure. When we hold our IDAHO event outside Obama’s residence in Hyde Park, we can help force his administration to take a stand it should have taken weeks ago and finally speak out about these human rights violations by a close U.S. ally.”
Gay Liberation Network
TV reporter ordered to hand over tapes of war protests
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press 5/8/2009 LINK
A reporter for a cable-access show in Chicago was ordered by a federal magistrate judge last week to hand over every video recording he made documenting anti-war protests from 2003 to 2005.
The reporter, Martin Conlisk, was subpoenaed by the city of Chicago during the course of its defense of a civil rights lawsuit filed by a local man who was arrested during a March 2005 anti-war protest. The protester, Andy Thayer, sued the city in 2007, alleging that his constitutional rights were violated by the arrest and claiming that the city’s policy of sending cops in riot gear to protests was a means to suppress speech.
Conlisk had been on the street corner filming the day Thayer was arrested and had testified in the man's disorderly conduct criminal trial.
But in the lawsuit, the city’s subpoena requested much more than the video from the day of Thayer’s arrest. It ordered Conlisk to hand over all tapes and material that documented the planning and implementation of all anti-war protests in the city from March 2003 to the present, including everything on his computer hard drive. It also ordered him to testify about those videos.
In the April 30 ruling, the magistrate judge, Arlander Keys, refused to apply a reporter’s privilege, holding that courts in the Seventh Circuit have “rejected the notion of a federal reporter’s privilege.”
He wrote further that neither the First Amendment nor the Federal Rules of Evidence supported any privilege. He also refused to apply Illinois' shield law because the case was brought in federal court.
The court analyzed the subpoena under general procedural rules that allow the quashing of all subpoenas if they are found to be burdensome, irrelevant, unnecessary or overbroad.
The court disagreed with Conlisk’s arguments that the subpoena was burdensome because it was an intrusion into his work product that would impinge upon his credibility as a reporter.
“Absent a showing of actual burden, the Court is not inclined to allow Mr. Conlisk to avoid enforcement of the subpoena with a backdoor attempt to impose a privilege,” Keys wrote.
Additionally, the subpoena was deemed relevant to a determination about the city’s policy of sending police officers to protests, since Conlisk has documented many of the city’s protests over the years.
The court did, however, find the subpoena slightly overbroad and limited what Conlisk had to turn over. Instead of providing everything he gathered in the last six years, the court ordered the reporter to turn over his tapes from 2003 up until the day Thayer was arrested in 2005. Additionally, the court said Conlisk did not have to turn over his hard drive.
— Samantha Fredrickson
Copyright 2009 The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Yesterday Gay Liberation Network co-founder Andy Thayer was found NOT GUILTY in a felony trial on charges of "aggravated battery on a police officer" for his part in an anti-war action during the January 7, 2008 visit of President George W. Bush to Chicago.
On that day Chicago's elite – from Mayor Richard M. Daley and Cardinal George on down – rolled out the red carpet to greet the man responsible for the deaths of over 1 million Iraqis, 10s of thousands of Afghanis, and 4000+ Americans. The "Bush 4" protesters – Andy, Buddy Bell, Kevin Clark and Jeff Pickert – attempted to stretch an anti-war banner denouncing these crimes across the path of Bush's motorcade as he left the swank Union League Club in the Loop.
The protest was a pointedly non-violent action against the mass violence organized by George Bush. Yet senior Chicago Police Department personnel decided to make an example of Andy by slapping phony felony charges on him which caused him heavy legal fees, 16 months of travel restrictions and numerous court dates. In doing so, their actions fit a pattern of systematic Chicago police harassment of anti-war organizers that started with the mass arrest of 800+ at the start of the Iraq war in March of 2003.
Every year on the anniversary of the invasion, Andy and other anti-war organizers have had to wage pitched legal battles against the police department simply to win the right to legally march. Most years we've won those battles, only to be surrounded by intimidating riot-clad cops on the days of these 1st Amendment-protected protests. During the six-plus years since the start of the Iraq war, Andy and other Chicago activists have faced repeated arrests simply for exercising the right to assemble against the wars. The CPD / anti-war clashes have become so frequent that Chicago anti-war organizers and senior CPD officials now know each other by name, with one of the witnesses against Andy, Deputy Commander James Keating, testifying yesterday that he'd seen Andy on "about 50" occasions since the January 2008 protest.
On January 7, 2008, thanks to videotape surveillance by the Department of Homeland Security (whoever thought we'd say that?!?) subpoenaed by Andy's defense attorney, Joshua Kutnick, it was clear that Andy did not commit the felonies that senior CPD officers accused him of. Rather, those officers crafted a tale of Andy striking Deputy Commander James Keating despite the videotape evidence to the contrary.
The prosecution called two witnesses, Keating and Lieutenant Paul Macke, who both claimed to see Andy use his shoulder to strike Keating's chest, even though Keating's chest was protected by the protruding bar of his segway vehicle and the Homeland Security video showed no such contact.
"Keating lied on the stand about my striking him and his not writing the report of my arrest," said Andy. "I personally watched him for about two hours ghost-write that report for his two assistant underlings, Officers Mota and Murray, as I sat handcuffed behind clear plexiglass literally two feet away from him. The report was so poorly written that the desk sergeant rejected it at least three times before finally accepting it. In the end, prosecuting attorneys apparently felt that the narrative part of the report was so weak, not even alleging the felonies that I was charged with, that they didn't introduce its alleged authors, Mota and Murray, as witnesses, thus making the report itself hearsay evidence which neither side could use for their case."
It is normal procedure for officers personally witnessing felonies to write reports about what they witnessed. For Keating and Macke to say that they saw no cause to write such reports about Andy's alleged felonies that they had allegedly personally witnessed – in the center of the city's business district – during a visit of the U.S. President no less – is just further evidence that the felony charges were trumped up.
"They had no case, and yet they chose to stubbornly pursue it, knowing that it would cost our side scarce resources that we could ill afford, while they could count on public tax dollars to pay for the harassment of anti-war forces, even though the public itself is overwhelmingly anti-war," said Andy.
"I can only say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all who supported me in court and with their financial donations despite this severe recession. This is truly a victory for all of us working together, and I deeply appreciate all who made it happen."
"And yet with all the court drama, police harassment, and even yesterday's victory, I think that it's crucial that we not lose sight of the most important issues – that these wars orchestrated by our leading politicians of both parties have killed 1 million-plus and robbed whole nations of their right to self-determination. Kevin, Buddy, Jeff and I did our January 2008 action because we wanted to stop this murder. But now we've now got a new president and yet more of the same – a continued, indefinite occupation of Iraq, a continued siege of Gaza, an expansion of the Afghanistan war, and now, a dramatically expanded war into Pakistan as well. Is this 'change' we can believe in? Hell no!"
**********
Check out Erica Chu's photostream of the aftermath of yesterday's victory!!
Gay Marriage Action in Chicago Helps Inspires Action in ... Moscow, Russia!
Yesterday we received this very inspiring email from Russia's leading LGBT rights campaigner, Nikolai Alexeyev:
From: Nicolas Alexeyev
Date: Tue, 5 May 2009 09:45:44 -0700 (PDT)
To: lgbtliberation@aol.com
Subject: Re: Moscow
You saw the news on Gay Marriage in Moscow ?
Actually... your attempt last month in Chicago inspired us to do it in May in Moscow... thought you would like to know that the news you send can also have consequences on the other part of the world !
MOSCOW, May 5, 2009 (GayRussia.ru) – Two women will apply for a marriage license in Moscow on May 12, it emerged this afternoon.
The announcement was made today during a press conference for Slavic Pride which is planned for later this month in Moscow.
Irina Fet, 31, a co-organizer of the Slavic Pride said that she will attempt to marry her fiancée next Tuesday at one of Moscow‘s Marriage Registration Office (ZAGS).
“We love each other for a while now and we want it to be officially recognized.” Irina Fet told journalists.
“We believe that we have the same rights than any other citizen for happiness. Our love is not different,” Ms Fet added.
While the couple already anticipate the possibility of their application to be turned down, they said they will marry abroad if necessary and ask for the recognition of their marriage in Russia.
“Canada and Norway are the only countries which opened same sex marriage to non resident.” explained Nikolai Alekseev, the legal adviser of the couple and chief organizer of the Slavic Pride.
“We initially considered flying the couple to Norway but the procedure is long and fastidious, instead, we decided to register them in Toronto under Canadian laws,” Mr. Alekseev said.
According to the campaigners, the Russian legislation does not prevent the recognition of a valid same sex marriage signed abroad.
“The Russian law clearly lists all the situation which prevent to recognize a marriage abroad and, a same sex marriage is not one of them. “There is a clear loophole in the Russian law that we are going to use,” Mr. Alekseev revealed.
The activists explained their intention to take their fight for same sex marriage up to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). – “both on the right to marry in Russia and on the recognition of a foreign marriage in Russia”.
Last month, the European Court of Human Rights accepted for consideration the complaint lodged by a gay couple whose marriage was registered in June 2004 in France, but was later cancelled by a French court.
The Russian campaigners forecast that should they need to appeal up to the ECHR, their case should be considered around 2015-2016 due to the queue of cases against Russia awaiting consideration in Strasbourg.
“By that time, the decision against France and Ireland will be far away and we have a chance to open the door to same sex marriage in Europe,” Mr. Alekseev concluded.
The campaign for same sex marriage in Russia is part of the “Gay Equality! No Compromise” project which was also launched today in Russia by the LGBT organizations GayRussia.ru.
Dispute Over How to Do International Solidarity With Jamaican LGBTs
In a column printed in the April 15th Windy City Times (WCT), Wayne Besen, a gay activist with whom we have worked closely in the past, advocated a world-wide boycott against the oppression of Jamaican lesbian, gay, bi and trans people.
He argued that since Jamaica is a cauldron of murderous homophobia, and traditional activism against this bigotry and violence has failed, we could have an impact by crippling the Jamaican tourist industry and thus set an example for other countries that might then think twice about state-sanctioned homophobia.
Prior to Wayne's letter, GLN learned that North American leaders of the boycott, including Wayne and Michael Petrelis (another activist with whom we have worked), had failed not only to reach agreement with any Jamaican LGBT activists, they hadn't even discussed the matter with them. Several of us then wrote the following response to Wayne Besen's WCT column and sent it to contacts in Jamaica and to the WCT.
...or our Illinois politicians should get out of the way.
Iowa and Vermont Show Momentum for Marriage Equality:
Let's Press on For More Victories!!
Back in early March when the California Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case challenging the Proposition 8, things did not look good for pro-gay forces.
All honest observers on our side agreed that the tenor of the justices' questions indicated that they were unlikely to junk the anti-gay initiative and uphold the notion that in a true democracy, minority rights must be respected.
That was then. This is now. In the wake of the Iowa court's courageous action for equal marriage rights on Friday, and now, the Vermont legislature's over-riding their anti-gay governor, there is real political momentum which could prompt the California court to rule in our favor.
While justices often pretend that they rule only on the narrow merits of law and precedent, the reality is that they often respond to political pressure. Iowa and Vermont have each given us powerful assists in this.
Now it's our turn to step up to the plate. Most of our Illinois Democratic politicians who claim to be our friends are frankly lazy when it comes to our rights. They think that we should be satisfied with the lousy status quo of legal inequality and keep our mouths shut – it's choose between them or some Neanderthal Republicans.
Not only have our Illinois politicians not made any significant moves towards enacting marriage equality, they haven't even repealed the disgusting statewide version of DOMA that they passed in 1996. In the wake of Iowa and Vermont, we have to say NO MORE EXCUSES! With "friends" like these, who needs enemies?!
The California Supreme Court decision on Prop 8 – on a weekday between now and June 3rd – is probably the next big event on the marriage equality issue. Chicago and Springfield are among dozens of cities set to have "Day of Decision" actions the night the court gives its ruling – either celebrations or protests, depending on how the court rules.
In Chicago, our action will take place at 7 PM meeting in front of the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted Street (followed by a march) on the night that the court gives out its decision.
The business day before the decision is released, our plaintiffs against Prop 8 will be informed by the court that it's coming down, and so we'll be able to give you a head's up about the forthcoming decision if you sign up for our email, text or twitter alert (again, go to www.DayOfDecision.org site to get signed up). In the Chicago area, if you would like to volunteer to help out with publicity in advance of the Day of Decision, email the Gay Liberation Network at LGBTliberation@aol.com
Let's carry the pro-gay momentum of Iowa and Vermont forward!!
Anti-Gay Cop Operating In the Heart of Chicago's Gay Community Called to Account in 7 Federal Suits
Officer Allegedly Trumped Up Charges Against Gays & Lesbians to Win Overtime Pay for Court Appearances
Officer Richard Fiorito allegedly rang up false charges so frequently against lesbian and gay drivers in the heart of the gay North Halsted entertainment district that out of his earshot, his fellow officers disparaged the charges to the people he pulled over.
According to several of Fiorito’s victims, the transport officer from the 23rd to the 19th Districts routinely informs defendants that "Fiorito is an overtime whore and the arrestee should get a lawyer." No official action has been taken to curb Fiorito, 60, who is assigned to the 23rd District "Town Hall" police station at Addison and Halsted. Fiorito is among the state's highest writers of DUI tickets and arrested over 300 people for DUI last year.
On Thursday, four more federal lawsuits were filed against Fiorito, in addition to three already filed, alleging that he targets lesbians and gays for false charges, frequently using anti-gay epithets during arrests, and occasionally uses excessive force. Attorney Jon Erickson says that as many as 10 more similar suits will be filed against Fiorito over the next six weeks.
In two separate cases of lesbians arrested by Fiorito, the lock-up officers at the Belmont and Western 19th District station made entries on the arrest report that directly contradict Officer Fiorito’s account. In one report, the lock-up officer wrote that the subject was "not under the influence of alcohol/drugs," and that "Chicago Police Officer Neita was unable to detect the smell of alcohol coming from subject." In another report, the lock-up officer wrote, “arrestee entered women's lockup she seems to be fine at this time is speaking clearly."
In two other cases, Fiorito insisted on conducting field sobriety test which test the subject’s ability to listen to and follow instructions even though the arrestees told Fiorito that they are deaf. Erickson and his fellow attorneys say Fiorito made bogus arrests to rack up overtime pay by appearing in court when he wasn't on duty ..
"That an anti-gay cop could act on his prejudice over a period of years, without any sanctions from his superiors, speaks volumes about the city's abject failure to protect the rights of its lesbian and gay residents," said GLN's Andy Thayer at a press conference today.
"This wasn't just any police station he was operating out of. It was a station in the heart of the city's LGBT entertainment district, supposedly the shining oasis of LGBT sensitivity training that other police stations are supposed to emulate."
PHOTOS! And video of Chicago's Action On the 6th Anniversary of U.S. Invasion of Iraq
This year's protest was in the Pilsen neighborhood and focused not only on opposing the continuing wars abroad, but also the deportations of immigrants here in the United States – both are byproducts of U.S. attempts to control the destinies of other nations.
The President appears set to continue with a permanent troop presence of ten's of thousands in Iraq through the rest of his term, he's inaugurated surges in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and raised no protest at the continuing Israeli seige of Gaza.
Closer to home, NAFTA has devastated the rural economies of Central America by flooding local markets with U.S. government-subsidized agribusiness products that destroy local economies. With few other opportunities to make a living, many Central Americans have sought employment in the U.S. as their prospects for gainful employment in NAFTA-dominated countries has diminished.
For pics, stories and videos of this year's march, see the following link's:
Chicago Progressive Examiner coverage of the protest
Chicago Progressive Examiner, background to this year's protest
Garth Liebhaber photos
Chicago Otra speech (en Espanol), video by Mitchell Szczepanczyk
Matt Sezer video
Hatem Abudayyeh speech focusing on Palestine, video by Mitchell Szczepanczyk
Chris Geovanis photos
Mitchell Szczepanczyk and Jon Grout, video, including speech by GLN's Andy Thayer
Protesters Counter Illinois #1 Anti-Gay Bigot Tonight in Arlington Heights
Tonight pro-gay activists with the Gay Liberation Network, the Congregational United Church of Christ of Arlington Heights and individuals from the community countered the first public appearance in many months by Illinois's #1 hater of gays, Peter LaBarbera.
LaBarbera has long been active in far right organizing:
– as a DC operative with Concerned Women for America, an anti-women's rights group with strong support in wealthy right wing foundation circles
– then as Executive Director of the Illinois Family Institute, an outfit labeled a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center (see LINK)
– and now with his Americans for Truth About Homosexuality.
With his breathless "undercover" reports about International Mr. Leather and other gay events, LaBarbera's obsession about gay sex has become legendary in LGBT political circles. His "activism" would be laughable if it wasn't also dangerous — LaBarbera was the principal proponent of the two failed attempts to get anti-gay initiatives on the Illinois ballot.
*** Appearing last year on a program with lunatic legislator Rep. Sally "homosexuals are worse than terrorism" Kern of Oklahoma, he said that the gay lobby "threatens America and threatens children."
*** Addressing the increasing pogromist atmosphere against LGBT people in Uganda, he said "At AFTAH, we preach Christian mercy and have denounced Talibanesque capital punishment for homosexuals in countries like Iran. But we also believe that if states and localities here in America (and governments abroad) wish to ban sodomy, they have every right to do so…"
*** Talking about John Berry, the new head of the federal government's Office of Personnel Management, he said "So, what we have is sort of a subversive — if you could call it that — homosexual activist, and now he's going to have an even much more visible and powerful role at OPM, which is a very powerful job in Washington."
While LaBarbera drew only about 30 listeners to his speech tonight, it would be foolish to dismiss the threat that he potentially represents. History has shown that far-right lunatics who gain only small numbers of adherents during normal times, can rapidly get many more followers in times of economic crisis when people fearful of losing their livelihoods and life savings are much more open to messages of scapegoating. One of the best antidotes is to, as was done tonight, relentlessly expose haters like Peter LaBarbera so that only their most hard-core haters continue to follow them.
Click HERE for more pictures of this counter-protest.
Our action against Peter LaBarbera got a pair of very nice write-ups by ubber-fabulous Lesbian blogger Pam Spaulding of Pam's House Blend.
The “Chicago Marriage 7” – a group of lesbians and gays who on Valentine’s Day, staged a government sit-in where they were refused a marriage license – emerged victorious after all charges against them were dropped.
The Cook County State’s Attorneys Office indicated that it was not going to “pursue the matter.” The judge issued a “SOL” order for each defendant, which means the case has been stricken from the records. However, after the court date, the Chicago Marriage 7 and a small group of supporters issued a call for continued actions until full equality is achieved.
Valentine’s Day is all about love, so it was appropriate that seven activists associated with the LGBT rights groups Gay Liberation Network and Join The Impact Chicago participated in a “Freedom To Marry Day” action. They staged a sit-in at the Cook County Office of Vital Records to demand marriage equality for same-sex couples.
The seven participants – Buddy Bell, Erica Chu, Dale Fecker, Nick Ferrin, Jeff Graubart, Danielle Karczewski and Dan Ware – refused to leave the office voluntarily until a marriage license was issued to a same-sex couple. Although the clerks said they were supportive of the cause, no one issued a license, stating that Illinois law forbids it. At that point, the seven sat down on the floor, began singing and quoting from the Illinois Constitution.
The Vital Records employees and police allowed them to remain even after the official Saturday noon closing time. At 4 p.m., when the employees needed to go home and the seven still refused to leave, police finally arrested them, holding them in police custody for a period of nine hours. Their court date was set for Monday, March 9.
On that day, the seven met for brunch and traveled together on the CTA to the courthouse. They posed for “mugshots” and shared their feelings about the experience.
Buddy Bell: We are at a time in history where bills, court decisions, and ballot measures that have to do with queer rights are being put forward at an unprecedented pace and in every election cycle. The vast majority of recent political fights have to do with same-sex marriage, but the right to marry is not the only thing at stake in these battles. When marriage questions are decided in favor of the gay community, government actually sends a direct message to the citizens that LGBT people are worthy of respect. It sends the opposite message when the question is decided in the religious right’s favor. As individuals, we should not give a hoot what the government tells us to think, but we also must realize that the message sent will have ramifications for gay struggles across the board. Whether I think I will ever take advantage of same-sex marriage rights or not, I know that having those rights will help to blaze a trail toward other important rights for people like me.
Erica Chu: When the seven of us were sitting in at the Office of Vital Records, we sang the protest song “We Shall Overcome,” and the line for one of the verses is “We are not alone.” When the group of about four hundred protesters from the outdoor event marched down to the office to lend their support to our action, it was an important moment for me because I took note that we seven individuals were really and tangibly “not alone.” When we talk about seeking equal rights for all couples under the Illinois law, we are talking about a much larger group than seven, four hundred, or even the thousands who marched through the Loop. Chicago is a big city, Illinois is a big state, and the US is even larger. If we who live in such a progressive city do not stand up and speak out for LGBTQA rights, what chance do those living in more conservative and rural areas have? This issue is something very important to me because for many years, I lived in Nebraska, where even basic tolerance for LGBTQA identities is not common. Many would say that Prop 8 is a matter for Californians, but it’s a concern for us all because if we who can stand up and demand our rights fail to do so, we let ourselves down and those who aren’t able to stand with us.
Dale Fecker: I believe that this year is pivotal in the LGBT rights struggle and that drawing wider attention to the discrimination our community experiences is the first step in winning equality. I encourage community members and straight allies to seek out their local activist groups and show Illinois lawmakers and the rest of the country that now is the time for justice for LGBT people. President Obama’s campaign made big promises to our community in exchange for our nearly unilateral support. We must be diligent in holding the President and his administration to their promises and go one paramount step further by demanding full marriage equality for every citizen as the only constitutional option. There is no reason that such a wonderfully diverse community in a heartland blue state such as Illinois should not take its place among the leaders in LGBT equality. In my mind, Illinois is the great gay hope.
Nick Ferrin: Government ought to give rights, not take them away. Religion is one thing; civil law in the United States is an entirely different entity. Forcing the entire citizenry to adhere to certain religious tenets that only some of the citizenry believe is wrong. When the government moves to limit or remove rights from a group of citizens it acts against the principles this country was founded on. George Washington said America “gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.” At least in theory, it’s supposed to. Unfortunately, this has not always been true. Today, with the marriage laws as they are, excepting a few states, America IS the persecutor. Passing Prop 8-like measures is not the right direction for this country!
We are stronger when we are united, when we accept each other for who we are and learn to live with each other despite our personal differences. This country was meant to be for all and we better try to make it so. People who love each other need legal protection. Dividing society into groups based on who and what people are, giving one group certain rights while giving lesser rights to the other group is wrong. Anyone can do what we seven did if they get together and commit to it! It is a big hope of mine to see hundreds of thousands if not millions of people committing responsible, sensible acts of civil disobedience to express their view to the government until these needs are met.
Jeff Graubart: As a gay rights activist in the 1970s I went to jail a number of times, for a sit-in at the marriage license bureau as well as other acts of civil disobedience for lesbian and gay rights. In the 30-plus years since, we have made tremendous progress, but now we find ourselves engaged in the final battle. If we win marriage equality, we will have achieved equality in the eyes of the law; a great victory for LGBT people and a home-run for freedom and equality everywhere. However, if we lose to “the dark forces,” these fundamentalists will begin to chip away at other rights we won in the past four decades – rights won over their objections. This is especially bad in the midst of an economic depression where the search for scapegoats often turns deadly. Everything rides on this fight. I know that all seven of us feel we have done something that will make a difference. Next time, we hope a thousand will join us. We must win and we will win!
Danielle Karczewski: Our action is one of the proudest accomplishments of my 22 years. I think there has been a new fire burning in the hearts of LGBT people and our allies across the country since the passing of Proposition 8. I remember that, on that Tuesday in November, I was so torn between the joy of seeing Barack Obama elected to the presidency and the heartbreak of watching equal rights being stripped away from our brothers and sisters in California. So much anger and pain came from the passing of Prop 8, and so one of the things that sold me on this action was that it gave me a place to turn that anger into something constructive and meaningful. Breaking the law in the name of justice carried the kind of intensity that was needed to satisfy the part of me that wanted to do something to help, even though I’m halfway across the country. If our action can inspire just one more group of seven people to stand up to inequality through civil disobedience, and then another, and then another, then I will consider our action a real success.
Dan Ware: The perilous times we are living through have prompted me to consider what I truly believe in, and how far I am willing to go to take a stand for my ideals. I have witnessed fundamental American principles (like habeas corpus and privacy of communications that I always thought were absolutely guaranteed) swept away with the stroke of a pen during the last administration. It has made me acutely aware of the reality that I am a second-class citizen who has no legal basis for my relationship with my life partner of 14 years.I believe that if I get sick and go into the hospital, my partner should, by law, be able to come and visit me and participate in my healthcare decisions. I believe that if we both must go into a nursing home, I should be able, by law, to cohabit with the person I love. I believe that if I die, there should be an assumption on the part of the state that, by law, my partner inherits my property. I believe that whichever one of us lives longest should be entitled, by law, to the retirement benefits of the other. These rights, and many others, are granted to heterosexuals, but explicitly denied to me, by law. If I truly believe these things are basic human rights, I have no choice but to put myself out there on the front lines of the struggle for equality. My constitutional right to equal protection of the laws is being violated. Action is necessary.
Neighborhood: Northwest Indiana (think of it as the very South Side)
Job or Career: Actor with a day job (I’m an SAT prep teacher.)
Life’s work or just a job? Acting is and will always be my life’s work. I’ll keep a day job as long as I have to in order to make ends meet.
How did you get into this line of work? I’ve known I was going to be an actor since I was six years old. Nothing has had as profound an effect on me as theatre, even when I was that young. If I can do the kind of theatre that has so impressed me all my life, I’ll consider myself a success.
What do you like about this job/career? It’s soul-satisfying. Theatre lets you change hearts and minds through story-telling. It’s this beautiful exploration of the human experience by people in front of other people. I love doing shows that get to the heart of some issue or universal experience: politics, religion, love, loyalty. The list of possibilities is endless. Acting in a show that really resonates with people on any one of those things is so empowering, because it means I have a tangible effect on someone. If I do my job, I have the potential to change someone’s life.
Where do you see yourself, career-wise, in 10 years? In 10 years, I hope I’ll have gotten my MFA in acting and will be pursuing my acting career full time. I hope to be living in a major city, Chicago or elsewhere, and living off of acting alone. It seems daunting right now, but I’d like to think that I’ll learn and improve enough in 10 years to make that a reality.
Any fun perks to this job? The whole job is one giant perk! When I rehearse a show, it’s the center of my life. I’ll spend my whole day waiting to spend three or four hours at rehearsal that night. I eat, sleep and breathe it.
Any downsides to this job? It requires a thick skin. All my professors in my college theatre department would say, “If you can see yourself doing anything else and being happy, go do it.” Acting means spending most of your time flat broke, working day jobs totally unrelated to what you really love, and being told “no” by the vast majority of the people you audition for. I didn’t realize what a toll that can take until I left college for the real world. You have to have complete confidence in yourself and what you can do, or else you can start to feel rather small in a big world.
Did you go to school for this career? I have a B.A. in Theatre Arts and English from the University of Iowa. I am grateful everyday that my high school college counselor made me apply to that program, because I loved every minute I spent in the UI Theatre Building. The productions I worked on and the classes I took there have shaped the person I am and the kind of actor I want to be. I couldn’t be prouder to be a graduate of that department.
What’s your background? My family is small, but that only makes us closer and stronger. My mom and stepdad have always made it clear that they love me for exactly who I am, and have supported me through the best and worst of times. When I needed to move back home to treat and manage my bipolar disorder, my whole family stepped up to the plate to be there in whatever way they could. What’s more, my friends came from far and wide to make sure I had all that I needed to get better. I am extraordinary lucky, because it’s been made clear to me that I will never have to be on my own.
How are you involved in the gay community? After moving back to Chicago this winter, I found Gay Liberation Network (GLN). Since college, I’ve wanted to get involved in LGBT activism, but Iowa City didn’t have much to offer, and my brief time in St. Louis after graduation didn’t yield much better results. But since finding GLN, I’ve been to a number of massive protests and rallies, been arrested for a sit-in at the Cook County Clerk’s Office with the rest of the Marriage Equality 7, and hosted GLN’s call-in show on CAN-TV. I am so glad to finally have an outlet for all the activist energy that’s been building up in me.
Do you belong to any organizations or groups in your spare time? Besides GLN, I perform and take classes at the Chicago Street Theatre with Lisa Formosa-Parmigiano, a wonderful mentor and friend.
Anything else that we should know about you? Being in the plays Tallgrass Gothic and Anton in Show Business changed my life. If you don’t know those shows, read them or, even better, see them. And I think Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov is easily the greatest play ever written.
What’s your latest project? I’m throwing myself into GLN’s CAN-TV show lately. My next show is March 27, 6:30 p.m., on CAN21.
How did this project come about? Andy Thayer of GLN asked at a meeting a couple of months ago who might be interested in being a part of the show. I jumped at the chance. I figured it combines my love and talent for performance with my interest in LGBT activism. A handful of us trained to be hosts and call screeners, and I hosted my first show on March 13.
What interests you about this project? I get to talk to very smart, thoughtful people about issues that seriously affect the LGBT community. I learn a lot about what’s happening currently in our community through the research that the show requires. And it keeps my public speaking skills sharp and helps me practice thinking on my feet.
One wish for yourself? I would wish that I continue to trust that everything that happens in my life, good and bad, happens for a reason. So far, that has most definitely been the case, and I hope I never forget that.
One wish for others? I would wish that everyone the world over find peace and balance in their lives. It’s one thing to find happiness, but another thing entirely to find peace.
Website: Gay Liberation Network at www.gayliberation.net.
7 arrested, hundreds protest at Chicago Marriage License Bureau
Despite a state government dominated by Democrats, Illinois bans same-sex marriage
Chicago, IL — Valentine's Day was the backdrop for a planned protest by the Gay Liberation Network (GLN) and the Chicago chapter of the Join the Impact part of a nationwide Freedom to Marry Day event aimed to promote and advocate same-sex marriage.
Seven protesters were arrested Saturday when they refused to leave the Cook County Marriage License Bureau in Chicago after clerks said they would not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
When Buddy Bell and Dale Fecker were refused a marriage license, they were joined by Dan Ware, Danielle Karczewski, Jeff Graubart, Erica Chu, and Nick Ferrin for a sit-in at the Bureau located in the Cook County Building, 118 N. Clark St.
"The law divides society into groups and assigns one group rights while giving lesser rights to the other group. The laws violate the equal protection guaranteed for all citizens under the Constitution," said Ferrin.
Meanwhile, about 400 protesters rallied outside the Bureau and then marched to the Bureau's doors with a chant that's been popular here since last spring, "Obama, Obama, let mama marry mama."
The Chicago protesters saw their action as a way to help sway the California Supreme Court to throw out Proposition 8.
Local issues play a role as well with two bills currently in committees of the Illinois House of Representatives. One calls for the legalization of same-sex marriage, while another bill would call for a constitutional amendment banning it.
Openly gay State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) introduced a bill on Feb. 4 to create the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act to provide eligible same-sex and opposite-sex couples with the same treatment as those in a civil marriage.
On Jan. 14, State Rep. David Ries (R-Olney) introduced a bill calling for marriages to be defined only between a man and a woman. Illinois already has a law that prohibits same-sex marriages.
GLN says despite having a state government completely dominated by the primarily gay-friendly Democratic Party, Illinois doesn't allow for civil unions, let alone marriage equality.
Near the end of Saturday's rally, Matt Reichel, a Green Party congressional candidate for Rahm Emmanuel's Senate seat, addressed the crowd and supported full marriage equality. It was noted that Democratic San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome came out for issuing same-sex marriage licenses after a pro-equality Green mayoral candidate nearly beat the Democratic favorite.
"In all honesty I had mixed feelings about participating in today's events. But I believe I would have regretted not taking this opportunity to stand up and speak up for the cause of equal marriage rights. Someone should stand up and challenge the County Clerk's office and put pressure on our elected officials through raising public support, so why not me," said Chu.
Saturday's legal protest ended when the marriage license bureau closed at noon. The sit-in protesters remained and at about 4 p.m. Chicago police arrested them for Criminal Trespass, a Class C misdemeanor.
The last of those arrested were released from the District 1 Chicago Police Headquarters at 2:15 a.m. Sunday.
The seven protesters arrested will be in court at 1:30 PM on Monday, March 9th at Branch 43-4, 3150 W. Flournoy Street, Chicago.
7 Arrested at Chicago Marriage License Bureau Sit-In While Hundreds Protest Outside
Seven activists with the Gay Liberation Network (www.GayLiberation.net) and the Chicago chapter of the Join The Impact (JoinTheImpactChicago.com) were arrested today when they refused to leave the Cook County Marriage License Bureau in Chicago after clerks said they would not issue marriage licenses to same sex couples.
Buddy Bell, Dale Fecker, Dan Ware, Danielle Karczewski, Jeff Graubart, Erica Chu, and Nick Ferrin had infiltrated into the Bureau shortly before the protest and when clerks refused to issue Bell and Fecker a marriage license, Bell yelled "We demand equality," which was the signal for the others to begin sitting in.
Meanwhile, about 400 protesters rallied outside the Bureau and then marched to the Bureau's doors with a chant that's been popular here since last spring, "Obama, Obama, let mama marry mama." (The bipartisan counter-point chant was "McCain, McCain, he's just insane.")
While the Chicago protesters saw their action as a way to help sway the California Supreme Court to throw out Proposition 8, local issues played a role as well. Despite having a state government completely dominated by the supposedly gay-friendly Democratic Party, Illinois doesn't even have civil unions, let alone marriage equality. Moreover, like dozens of states, Illinois has its own "Defense of Marriage Act"; yet the state Democratic Party leadership won't even offer a promise to junk the anti-gay legislation.
Towards the end of today's rally, Matt Reichel, a Green Party congressional candidate for Rahm Emmanuel's old seat, addressed the crowd and supported full marriage equality. It was noted that Democratic San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome came out for issuing same-sex marriage licenses after a pro-equality Green mayoral candidate nearly beat the Democratic favorite – just the sort of shake up that Illinois's smug Democrats could use.
Today's legal protest ended when the marriage license bureau closed at noon. Many protesters then decided to march to a nearby protest against school closings – Pride flags in hand. As a GLN spokesperson put it, "We can't in good conscience ask non-gay people to support our issues unless we ourselves are willing to actively support others organizing against injustices." They doubled the size of the crowd at the protest and made many new friends in the process.
Meanwhile, the sit-in protesters were not arrested at noon when the marriage license bureau closed. Employees at the office indicated that they were prepared to wait them out past 10 PM if need be, but the protesters refused to budge.
At about 4 PM police arrested them for Criminal Trespass, a Class C misdemeanor. The last of the sit-in'ers – dubbed the Marriage Equality 7 – was released from police custody at 2:15 AM to a van-load of Dunkin Donuts, bagels and 7-hour-old coffee.
Here are brief statements from the sit-iners describing why they took yesterday's action:
"Instead of celebrating the vibrance and resilience of human love, too many people worry about its direction. I found our sit-in at the Cook County Marriage Bureau meaningful. We have to stand up for the recognition and respect for the integrity of each beating heart."-- Buddy Bell
"In all honesty I had mixed feelings about participating in today's events. But I believe I would have regretted not taking this opportunity to stand up and speak up for the cause of equal marriage rights. Someone should stand up and challenge the County Clerk's office and put pressure on our elected officials through raising public support, so why not me?"– E. Chu
"The denial of full marriage equality and the 1138 rights, privileges, and responsibilities inherent therein to same-sex couples is a great American injustice of our age. Marriage, as regulated and rewarded by all levels of government, cannot be a catalyst for discrimination against any group of citizens. Laws governing all Americans but based solely on the antiquated doctrines of a specific religion, or even a consensus of many religions, cannot stand in a freedom-loving democracy. Only full marriage equality for all adults on a Federal level with no distinction whatever made between any two unions will guarantee the dignity and and equal protection of the laws promised in the U.S Constitution."-- Dale T. Fecker
"The law divides society into groups and assigns one group rights while giving lesser rights to the other group. The laws violate the equal protection guaranteed for ALL citizens under the Constitution."
-- Nick Ferrin
"I was arrested in the 1970s for equal marriage and decided that with the passage of Proposition 8 and the Supreme Court ruling in California coming up, it was important to do it again."-- Jeff Graubart
"I feel that the fight for equal rights is bigger and more important than myself. That's why I wanted to be a part of an action that requires me to go above an unjust law and calls for people to do the right thing through more drastic means."-- Danielle Karczewski
"There have been few times in my life when I felt so strongly about something that I have been willing to sacrifice my own safety and comfort for a higher cause. This is one of those times. The time is right for action to ensure equal marriage rights for all people. All who are in tune with the spirit of the age cannot be still when action is required."– Dan Ware
Now that the dust has begun to settle on President Obama's latest broken promise to the LGBT community -- his egregious brief FOR the Defense of Marriage Act, comparing equal marriage rights to incest and pederasty -- it's time to examine how we got to this sorry state of affairs.
To put it simply, candidate Obama, like most Democratic candidates before him, got a blank check from almost all progressive leaders (LGBT and otherwise), and it was a straight line from that to the DOMA debacle, continued expansion in war funding and wars, continuation of the Bushite civil liberties violations through extraordinary renditions and detentions without trial, etc.
As one who has never trusted a politician's promise -- especially a Chicago politician's promise -- Obama's actions were predictably "been there, done that." To borrow a line from a Christmas song, "It's beginning to look a lot like Clinton, everywhere you go..."
It's the same trajectory we saw in the early years of the Clinton Presidency, which also started out with both houses of Congress controlled by the Democrats ... proceeded through a trail of broken Democratic promises, and ended with the "Republican Revolution" and all that we hated about US government around the turn of the century.
The howls of protest about Obama's DOMA-gate from gay Democratic leaders -- HRC, NGLTF, Equality California, etc., are frankly getting to become a bit tiresome. Every time there's a stab in the back, over the Rick Warren invocation for example, they're in the words of the Vichy police official in the movie "Casablanca", "Shocked, shocked that there's gambling going on in this establishment."
But Rick Warren was presaged by Donny McClurkin in the South Carolina primary. DOMA-gate 2009 was presaged by his announcement days before his US Senate election that his "Christian beliefs" forced him to oppose equal marriage rights, etc., etc.
And yet our community leaders, almost to a one, said muffle your protests during these pre-election debacles -- which just reinforced the notion that the Democrats had us in their back pocket and encouraged Obama's slide to the right.
But we HAVE to support someone in the elections, they say! What civil rights activist worthy of the name wouldn't support someone in a major election, right?!?
Well according to this standard, then, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wasn't much of a civil rights activist. Dr. King never publicly endorsed a candidate in his life. He always played it coy, playing the parties off against one another, even courting then-Vice President Nixon at one point when the Democratic candidates were deferring to their Dixiecrat wing.
The secret to the success of King, et al's 1963 March on Washington -- with the wave of civil rights legislation which followed it -- was not King's soaring "I have a dream" rhetoric. The secret was that King and his co-organizers put the interests of their community first, above political parties. Democratic President John F. Kennedy tried repeatedly to get King to call off the march. He had his brother Attorney General spy on King. He sat on his hands during most of the violence against Civil Rights marchers.
But King refused to call off the march. It was clear that if Kennedy didn't move on civil rights legislation, the '63 march would become an anti-Kennedy administration march. And guess what? In this domestic "Cuban missile crisis," it was President Kennedy who blinked, the first modern wave of Civil Rights legislation was passed, and it was the beginning of the end of apartheid in the American South.
There is now another DC march in the works for Sunday, October 11, 2009, this time for LGBT rights. I support this march, but will be very disappointed if it repeats the mistakes of so many of our previous marches, instead of doing our best to emulate what made the 1963 march such a success.
The Obama administration has taken the LGBT community for granted. The previous Democratic administration gave us the mess of DOMA and DADT. We must demand that Obama keep his promises to clean up the mess that Clinton created, AND fulfill the other LGBT promises he's been retreating from – a strong inclusive ENDA, removing the HIV+ travel ban, and instituting safe and legal needle exchanges.
Moreover, we must demand that he drop the continuation of the utterly reactionary, Bushite "faith based" funding of sectarian agencies that refuse to hire openly LGBT people. And as most politicians rightly refuse to associate with open racists and anti-Semites, thus de-legitimizing them, so must Obama cease his dalliances with bigots of the Keith Warren and Donny McClurkin variety. And finally, as the offspring of a bi-racial couple and a man who was a former professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago, he must drop his cowardly support of "separate but equal" civil unions and publicly endorse full equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.
Andy Thayer
Another March on Washington: To be Worth the Effort, the Gay Rights March Has to be Done Correctly
Commentary by Andy Thayer and Roger Fraser
(Gay Liberation Network)
In the wake of the new tide of energetic LGBT activists generated by the Prop 8 debacle, many are floating ideas for a national LGBT march on Washington. We think this is a good idea, but it’s got to be done right to be worth the expenditure of resources, especially in hard economic times like these.
Although a few commentators have ruled out all marches as ineffective, this is foolish, ahistorical and ignores the tremendous strides advanced by a few marches.
In particular, the single most effective march in U.S. history was the 1963 March on Washington organized by Bayard Rustin, Martin Luther King, Jr., and others. In its wake came a tidal wave of civil rights legislation. God knows that LGBT's could use such a wave of national legislation, especially since we’ve seen almost NO such legislation pass Congress despite years of expensive lobbying by HRC and NGLTF.
There have been many failed marches since 1963. The question is, how can we duplicate the ‘63 success? How do present efforts so far stack up against ‘63?
For one thing, the 1963 march was meticulously organized. Organizers of the present march, however, failed to secure permits before announcing nationwide a march for the 2009 Columbus Day weekend in October. It turns out they failed to notice that other groups had already reserved the National Mall for the entire holiday weekend. In addition, Congress won’t even be in session on that weekend.
Worse yet, not only have the present organizers committed many of the same mistakes made by the organizers of the notoriously unsuccessful 2000 Millennium March, they have also added a fatal one of their own. The organizers of the Millennium March (HRC and the Metropolitan Community Church) maintained far too tight and top-down control, but they at least conducted an on-line poll to determine the principal demands of the march.
The handful of present veteran organizers, on the other hand, consulting no one but themselves, simply announced their demands when they announced the march’s time and place. This is no way to generate the enthusiasm and money necessary to bring hundreds of thousands to DC in the middle of a severe recession (for example, stage and sound alone for a large national march run a minimum of $200,000).
So what should be done? For a start, similar to the earliest LGBT marches, open and well-publicized organizing meetings around the country will need to be held to generate maximum participation. Each meeting should formulate the demands of the national march and set up city-wide committees to generate local publicity, arrange transportation, and organize scholarships for those who otherwise could not afford to attend. Without this participatory democracy, it will be very difficult to sustain mass enthusiasm or generate the money necessary to put on a big event. (There is a possibility that a ew wealthy benefactors will step up and contribute; but if past history is any guide, they will demand a disproportionate amount of undemocratic control in exchange for their largesse.)
It is unlikely that the present organizers intend, or will have the time, to do any of the foregoing. But their most serious error is that they have so far ignored the critical political lesson that set the 1963 March on Washington apart from so many of its imitators.
The ‘63 march made demands on power and threatened political retribution if those demands were not met.
While one of the main organizers of the present march hinted that the march would go easy on the Obama administration, that it would not be an “angry” march, Dr. King and others made demands on the Kennedy administration. The implicit threat was that the ‘63 march would be a march against the White House if the Kennedy administration didn’t accede to its demands.
Kennedy had been desperate that summer to cement the two wings of the Democratic Party together (those representing northern big cities and the Dixiecrats), as well as to compete with the Soviet Union for the favor of newly independent Third World nations by concealing apartheid conditions in the southern states. The march, he knew, would be highly polarizing, and so his solution was to lean heavily on the organizers to call it off. The march organizers, to their eternal credit, stuck to their guns, continued with plans for the march, pulled it off, and thus forced the Kennedy administration to match its rhetoric with action by pushing for the first modern wave of civil rights legislation.
Following the inspiring example of the 1963 March on Washington, we must demand that Obama fulfil his pledges to the LGBT community: repeal DOMA, repeal Don't Ask / Don't Tell, legislate needle exchanges, and pass a strong, inclusive ENDA. We must demand he drop the Bushite “faith-based” funding and return to the time just a few years ago when he supported full equal marriage rights in the Illinois statehouse. And we must demand the president stop cozying up to anti-gay bigots, in the same way we would expect a politician to shun association with open white supremacists.
But make no mistake about it: demands are stronger than requests because unlike hat-in-hand requests, demands, if genuine, have credible threats backing them up. We need to back our demands with the credible threat of sitting out en masse the 2010 Congressional mid-term elections if the congressional Democrats and Obama fail to get with the LGBT program.
This brings us to our last complaint against the present organizers: They’ve got the timing all wrong. They are calling for a march in the fall of this year when our political clout will be weak; it would be far more politically savvy to schedule the march for the spring or early fall of 2010, so that the threat of sitting out the mid-term elections carries real muscle.
Today the history books trivialize the 1963 march as a day of soaring rhetoric. But we’ve seen great speeches before and since. What made that day historic is that King and Rustin made demands on the White House, backed them up with a credible threat, and thus got the goods in the form of sweeping civil rights legislation. If ‘rights’ is what LGBT's want, we should attempt to emulate King’s and Rustin’s strategic prowess on that day.
■ Andy Thayer is co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network, an LGBT direct action group which has been a local leader in gay rights, anti-police brutality and anti-war organizing, and was co-organizer of Chicago's big November 15th Join the Impact protest. Andy was national co-organizer of the recent anti-Prop 8 "Day of Decision" protests and was Assistant National Protest Organizer for the successful Stop Dr. Laura campaign against hate radio hostess Dr. Laura Schlessinger. On May 16th he was among 30 LGBT activists arrested in the 4th annual Pride demonstration in Moscow, Russia.
■ Roger Fraser is also a long-time activist in the Gay Liberation Network and has decades of peace and justice organizing to his credit.
How the Gay Community Got Chicago'd at the Inaugural
Back in the days of the first Mayor Richard Daley, when an alderman got out of line during a City Council debate, the power on his microphone was unceremoniously cut, whether he had the floor legitimately or not.
So when Bishop Gene Robinson's remarks at the start of the inaugural festivities were inaudible not only to the crowd on hand, but to millions of HBO viewers, I knew he'd been Chicago'd. Coming from a campaign that was famously always on message, always tightly choreographed, "accidents" like this just don't happen.
And lo and behold, after the initial reports of "technical difficulties," HBO came clean and reported that the Obama campaign had ordered them to censor Bishop Robinson's remarks. Even short of HBO's confirmation, this should have been apparent. That any gay leader would buy the line that Robinson was "accidentally" censored is the same self-effacing crap more worthy of the pre-Stonewall homophile movement, than of a people who see themselves as at least equals of their homophobic opponents.
This was just the most recent chapter in a string of reactions by most gay leaders that demonstrate at best, a foolish naiveté, at worst, a Machiavellian desire to put the needs of the Democratic Party ahead of the interests of our community. "Our" own Congressman Barney Frank, never a gay leader until forced out of the closet, has specialized in the latter – introducing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" into Congress and selling that and every anti-gay policy of the Clinton administration that came after it.
Robinson himself said he believed the Obama campaign when they said he'd been under consideration for a slot well before the Rev. Rick Warren flap. Yeah, right. The longer our community displays this studied naiveté towards politicians, the longer they think we can be mollified with trinkets and false promises.
As the Windy City Times recently reported, several years ago then-State Senator Obama said he supported equal marriage rights for same sex couples (LINK). Then, lo and behold, during the closing weeks of his campaign for the U.S. Senate against troglodyte Alan Keyes, leading Keyes 70+ points in what would become the biggest landslide victory in the history of such campaigns in our state, Obama said that his "Christian beliefs" dictated that he had to oppose equal marriage rights.
We were Chicago'd back then too. But of course our gay Democratic operatives pretended that Obama simply needed to be "educated" about the subject. Yeah, like a former professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago and former editor of the Harvard Law Review needed more education to know that a politician's personal religious beliefs should not dictate the constitutional rights under which people of all different faiths, or no faith, should live.
"I'm shocked, shocked that there's gambling going on in this establishment," said the Vichy police chief in the film "Casablanca." "Here are your winnings, sir," came the reply from a clerk in Rick's Cafe Americain.
When Rev. Rick Warren was slated to give the high-profile invocation at the Obama's inaugural, national gay leaders were "shocked, shocked" that our community had been so egregiously "rewarded" for its overwhelming support for the President-elect.
Such "leaders" were either demonstrating a naiveté that shows they're too foolish to be thrust into the role of leadership, or being so disingenuous that they are not deserving of our trust.
I felt like I was watching a re-run of the tape of the early Clinton Presidency (no coincidence, given that the new administration is crammed full of former Clintonites).
Gay leaders give unanimous, uncritical support to Clinton, and focus all of their barbs on the Republicans. Clinton, knowing he has gay support in the bank, races to the "middle," courting anti-gay support with anti-gay measures worthy of the nastiest rural state Republican. The whole terrain of the debate shifts to the right, paving the way for the 1990s "Republican Revolution." Gays are left high and dry, while their "leaders" are "shocked, shocked" at what had befallen all of us, but at least they continue to pull down 6-figure salaries and get invited to the smartest black tie Democratic assemblages.
And they're doing it again. Following Warren's invocation, the Chicago Tribune reported that he "delivered a message of unity that pleased some of his most vocal critics in the gay and lesbian community." Oh pu-leeze.
"Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said he hoped Warren's remarks represented the beginning of a constructive dialogue with evangelical Christians."
Yes, we can have "constructive dialogue" with a man who campaigns for legal inequality for gays, excludes openly gay people from his mega-church, and considers us to be the moral equivalent of those who commit incest.
The Neil Giuliano approach is the same dumb-ass strategy that was taken by the gay organization Soulforce to the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. Falwell was catching heat in 1999 for his ridiculous remarks saying that the "Tinkie Winkie" children's show character was gay. Coming shortly after the high-profile lynching of Wyoming gay college student Matthew Shepard, Falwell became a national laughing stock, when he wasn't treated with outright scorn. There was open speculation that Falwell's "ministry" was finished.
But Soulforce threw him a political life preserver, offering "dialogue" to the vicious campaigner against equality. Falwell gratefully took the life preserver, bided his time for several months, and when the heat was off, returned to his old, openly gay-hating ways, slamming the door at Soulforce's continued, pathetic attempts at dialogue.
Warren, too, recently took heat for his gay-hating, and promptly removed some of the more offensive items from his church's website. All the better to pretend to be a "uniter," when that's the fashion du jour. But a public figure of his longevity does not change stripes so easily. Watch for the same anti-gay, anti-women crap to come back after Republican right has had a chance to lick its wounds following last November's electoral thomping.
A better approach to people like Warren would be to follow the path taken by our movement when it confronted gay-hater Anita Bryant, and more recently, Dr. Laura Schlessinger. Rather than naively coddling Bryant or Schlessinger, we exposed them for the bigots that they are, labeling them as such in the public mind through demonstrating against them at every opportunity. The result was that the public turned against them, their public platforms for campaigning against us dwindled to insignificance, and thus, unlike Falwell, their ability to re-launch anti-gay campaigns later were effectively scuttled.
But what approach should be taken towards the Obama administration, and other politicians who lap up our support and then gallop to the right?
This past weekend, the alternative was staring us in the face. The Warren / inaugural flap came to a head over the Martin Luther King holiday, and if we discard the depoliticized, Hollywood version of King's career, there is a gold vein of political strategy there to be mined.
King never, ever endorsed a politician. Not John F. Kennedy, who worked mightily to get King to cancel the great 1963 March on Washington, nor his Attorney General brother, Bobby, who ordered the FBI to illegally spy on King.
He would work with politicians to the extent that they did the right thing, but he refused to subordinate the movement for African American freedom to their electoral needs. He rigorously followed the famous Frederick Douglass dictum, "Power concedes nothing without a demand."
To the end of his life, he made demands of the politicians who claimed to be friends, as well as the sworn enemies. He never made excuses for the "friends," the way our gay leaders explain away every anti-gay move of Obama and his Democratic predecessors. He kept his eyes on the prize – advancement for African Americans and all oppressed people.
When necessary, he openly bit the hands of the "friends," such as when he denounced Democrat Lyndon Baines Johnson's Vietnam War. For this, King was shunned by most of the liberal Democratic politicos who later claimed to be his friend, once he was safely dead.
In the decades since King's assassination, the failure to take his approach of valuing civil rights progress above political alliances has been the primary key to our movements' weakness, regardless of how many people we've pulled out into the streets. Without demands of all leaders who oppose us, such mobilizations are but wasted effort.
Let's not fulfill the definition of insanity by continuing to hope that the Democratic Party will free us after decades of failing to do so. Let's make demands of this administration as we would of any Bush or McCain administration. Let's reject the studied or genuine naiveté of those who think we can "persuade" Obama to do the right thing. Such naiveté has been a disaster for our movements, and only invites us to get Chicago'd again.
Andy Thayer is a co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network (www.GayLiberation.net), a Chicago-based Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender direct action group, and can be reached at LGBTliberation@aol.com
Obama's Praying Homophobe: Reaping the Harvest in Rick Warren
The great anti-slavery activist Frederick Douglass wrote that "power concedes nothing without a demand. Never has, never will." It's our LGBT "leaders" ignoring of this basic principle which has led us to the sorry state of affairs wherein Barack Obama feels that he can get away with slating the notorious homophobe Rick Warren to give the invocation at the president-elect's inaugural.
By never making any demands of Obama and instead focusing all of their fire on the Republicans, LGBT leaders have allowed their well-funded organizations to become little more than adjuncts to the even wealthier Democratic Party. And surprise, surprise, Democratic leaders just take our support for granted and gallop to the right -- the same course notoriously taken by former President Bill Clinton, saddling us with the Defense of Marriage Act and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," among other things.
Obama's cynical defense of Warren, that he -- Obama -- is "bringing diverse elements together for dialog," hardly merits serious rebuttal. No mere philosophical opponent of same sex marriage, Warren took to the airways in California to tell people to vote against our equal rights, vote against our equal citizenship. Now it doesn't take much insight to understand that by giving a rabid homophobe such a high-profile platform as the inaugural invocation, Obama undermines equality for LGBT people.
Joe Solmonese of the Human Rights Campaign and other gay leaders have rightly condemned the Warren selection. However, these are the same Democratic party operatives who gave Obama uncritical support. That the gay leadership muted its criticism of a man who refused to support our basic civil right to marry was a cynical machination made by hacks whose first loyalty is to the Democratic electoral organization, and not to advancing our rights.
The California marriage debacle was but one example. Proposition 8 opponents made no demands on Obama that he go on broadcast television to denounce the attack on equal civil marriage rights, instead being satisfied to castigate not Obama, but the religious right, for implying that Obama backed their efforts since they all opposed "gay marriage."
Now is the time to put aside any remaining illusions that the way to win human rights -- not to mention a host of closely related issues such as peace and global justice -- is to back an agent for maintaining the status quo. Be especially wary of politicians who chant "Change We Can Believe In," while they act in the name of business-as-usual.
As always, real change will be made by people oppressed under current conditions, by people at the grass roots organizing to take control of their futures. The recent examples of workers occupying Republic Windows and Doors and thousands of LGBT folk taking to the streets following the Prop 8 disaster point the way forward.
The is the way that rights have always been won in the past. This is how they can be won today.
Robin Tyler Saddleback Inauguration Protest 1-18-09
(Sent to the press on Monday, January 19, 2009)
Yesterday, ALLorNotAtAll.org held a very successful protest outside of Pastor Rick Warrens Saddleback Church with our guest speaker, Robin Tyler and her lawfully wedded wife, Diane Olson. We believe that Pastor Warren delivering the invocation at the Presidential inauguration is both insulting to the gay community as well as harmful. While we firmly believe President-Elect Obamas message that we can only bridge our differences by communicating with people that we dont always agree with, Pastor Warrens participation at an event that is meant to unite and not divide would appear, however unintentionally, to give validation to his dangerous views that gay marriage is like child molestation or incest.
When openly-gay Reverend Gene Robinson was invited to speak at the kick-off party for the inauguration, it was meant to be an olive branch to the gay community. While delivering a prayer at a rock concert is a far cry from delivering the invocation at the inauguration, it was intended to mend fences. Imagine my dismay when I returned home from our peaceful protest to find that Reverend Robinsons prayer of peace had not been broadcast by HBO. They are claiming that they were asked to keep the prayer as part of the unaired pre-show by the Presidential Inaugural Committee.
The gay community deserves and is demanding an explanation for this insult and omission from both HBO and the Presidential Inaugural Committee. At the very least, it shows a shocking lack of foresight and consideration for a significant percentage of the nations citizens and their loved ones, and we deserve and demand an apology. We arent going anywhere and the number of people who support us is growing and these insults will no longer go unaccounted for and unnoticed.
In the wake of Californias passage of Proposition 8, a group of gay and lesbian families are taking to the airwaves with five 30-second Public Service Announcements (PSAs) that are airing on daytime and prime time television throughout the state.
June 29, 2008 - Gay Pride Parade 2008 - California Great Bear Republic Resurrected in the Midwest - Anti-Gay Fascists Successfully Confronted at Chicago Gay Pride Parade
"Formed in response to three September '98 anti-gay bashings in the "Boy's Town" neighborhood…[we] respond to all serious hate crimes, no matter which scapegoated group is targeted. We will actively seek out and work with individuals and organizations in other communities to assist them in responding to hate crimes that target them. Only by the active involvement of grass roots people from all communities can we isolate the bigots and thus lessen hate crimes."
-- from the GLN/CABN founding statement
Gay Liberation Network
(formerly Chicago Anti-Bashing Network)
a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Direct Action Group
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