I don't get it, the continual need to do this sounds more like he keeps saying this stuff as if it will make the watch go away. It's not an either/or. I'd would love to see all of those people go and lobby their federal and state legislators, in fact I'd prefer that too, but it doesn't negate the value of this march, with Congress in session (it wasn't going to be originially) and now the President speaking at the HRC dinner.Rep. Barney Frank, an openly gay member of Congress, says he'd rather see gay rights supporters lobbying their elected officials than marching in Washington this weekend, calling the demonstration "a waste of time at best."
Frank said in an interview with The Associated Press that he considers such demonstrations to be "an emotional release" that does little to pressure Congress.
"The only thing they're going to be putting pressure on is the grass," the Massachusetts Democrat said Friday.
Perhaps the Congressman from Massachusetts is concerned that there will be a media spotlight on the NEM because of the way things have worked out. The march will not be ignored and this may be an expression of the disdain for the netroots and grassroots interfering with business as usual in a very public and newsworthy way now. Who knows, but the continual public comments aren't becoming.
As I said, the original message as delivered left it open to a whole lot of interpretation, particularly as an accommodationist position that we can afford to sit back and give the current President a free pass on progress through the end of an imaginary, assumed second term in office.
As I asked in my post, "Is HRC telling people to sit hands folded for Obama re: progress until 2017?," it was a "what does he really mean" moment; IMHO, he couldn't have possibly meant to telegraph that message in the context of what is going on this weekend. I asked you all what you thought the intent was in the e-blast as well. So this is his response. Again, I'll leave up to you whether it clarifies or "clarifies" matters. I am glad, however, that it was acknowledged the language used was, to be charitable, murky.
The following is from HRC President Joe Solmonese in response to reaction to his weekly message published yesterday: I’ve seen some reactions to my weekly message, that I gave the President a free pass not to fulfill his campaign promises until 2017.It's relevant to publish a reaction to the "patience" meme. Karen Ocamb features an interview with James Hormel, the first openly gay ambassador, where she asks him whether we should cut him a break or continue the pressure.
Here’s something from what I wrote that the authors didn’t include in their pieces: “I predict great things coming out of our work with this President, but that does not mean that I am satisfied today. Our community cannot be satisfied so long as DOMA is on the books and an inclusive ENDA is not.“ I am not satisfied.
(NOTE FROM PAM: I published the text of the email as received; the text referenced above is not in that document. It may be elsewhere, but not that e-blast.)
HRC is not satisfied.
Our community is not satisfied and that’s why thousands of LGBT people and our allies are in Washington this weekend to demand more.
That’s our position. Stopping here would mean losing. But stopping here is not what we intend to do.
We are pushing for much more. It is our job to dog them, but it is also our job to make sure that success is possible. As I wrote, “To do the work, we have to work with our supporters in Congress and with the Administration.
Whatever you think of the Administration’s first nine months, you don’t pass laws by sitting out. You pass laws by sitting at the table.” Do I believe we’ll have a good track record by 2017? Yes. But the President can’t deliver on his promises alone. It will take all of us working together.
I was an ardent supporter. I am a fervent admirer. And although things haven’t moved as fast as one would like, I have no doubt that he is doing what he can in a very perverse atmosphere to accomplish goals which we all want.
I am as eager as anyone else to have action on the various pieces of legislation – some of which are a generation old – like ENDA (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act). ENDA has been in the Senate for a literal generation.
...I am almost 77 years old. I don’t have time to wait. And I don’t see any reason why anyone in this room – whatever their age – should wait for things having to do with fairness and justice.
Crossposted with permission from Michael K. Lavers of the blog Boy in Bushwick. He is also the National News Editor for Edge Publications.
With hate crimes legislation passing in the House of Representatives this past week, this story seems very relevant.
So, when hate crime legislation regarding sexual orientation and gender idenity are discussed by the President tonight in his speech to the HRC, I hope he mentions LaTeisha Green and/or Angie Zapata. Trans lives that were snuffed out in hate crimes deserve mention with Matthew Shepard.
~~Autumn~~
By Michael K. Lavers
Roxanne Green spoke emotionally, passionately and even angrily as she talked about her murdered daughter LaTeisha at a forum at the Brooklyn Law School on Oct. 7.
"You would have liked LaTeisha--she was very outgoing," she said. "She was like the energizer bunny."
An Onondaga County jury convicted Dwight DeLee in July of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon after prosecutors accused him of shooting Green and her brother Mark Cannon last November as they and a friend sat in a car outside a Syracuse house party. Initial media reports indicated DeLee targeted Green because he thought she was gay. She was actually transgender.
New York State does not include gender identity and expression in its hate crime statutes, but prosecutors constructed what Michael Silverman, executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, described as a "narrative Teish was gay or lesbian to achieve a conviction." A judge sentenced DeLee in August to 25 years in prison, but Roxanne Green said she feels the sentence was too lenient.
"He shouldn't see another day on the street," she said.
Cannon added he decided to participate in the panel because he did not "want to see another family go through what our family has gone through."
"We lost someone very important to us," Cannon said.
LaTeisha Green's death was among a series of anti-LGBT violence and bias crimes that have taken place across New York State over the last year. Keith Phoenix and Hakim Scott allegedly beat Ecuadoriauadorian immigrant Jos? Sucuzha?ay to death on a Bushwick street corner last December because he thought he was gay--he and his brother Romel were arm-and-arm as they walked home from a nearby bar. Trinidad Tapia and Gilberto Ortiz allegedly severely beat Leslie Mora with a belt buckle as she walked home from a Jackson Heights nightclub in June. And a group of assailants attacked Carmella Etienne with rocks and empty beer bottles as she walked home from a store in St. Albans on July 8.
"I was pretty much scared for my life," Etienne recalled as she described how nobody came to her assistance while the men attacked her. "I felt like nobody cared. It happened in my neighborhood."
[More below the fold.]
The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs reported earlier this year violence against LGBT people has increased 24 percent since 2007. The NCAVP further reported 29 known bias-related murders in 2008; the highest rate since 1999.
Sharon Stapel, executive director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project, attempted to link how she and her organization feel race, immigration status and other socio-economic factors can motivate anti-LGBT violence and bias crimes in her response to Sucuzha?ay's death.
"We at the Anti-Violence Project know too well that many people continue to be victims of violence because of their identity--whether that violence is a result of hatred of race, ethnicity or sexual orientation," she said in a Dec. 8, 2008, statement.
Andy Marra, a senior media strategist for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, who worked with Silverman and LaTeisha Green's family after her murder and during DeLee's trial, pointed out what she described as additional challenges she and others who worked on LaTeisha Green's case encountered. These include how law enforcement respond to anti-LGBT hate crimes and other bias attacks and how the media covered the murder.
"Media is not talking about what it means to be transgender--or gender variant," Marra said.
More than 30 editors, reporters and other media professionals from the Syracuse area attended a training in April on how to cover LaTeisha Greeha Green, her death and DeLee's then-pending trial. Marra stressed the importance of what she feels is the need to use gender-appropriate pronouns, chosen names and overall sensitivity.
"Its conversations like that I have on a daily basis," she said. "It's a learning process for them."
Silverman further stressed a more general problem he encounters is a reluctance among many police departments and prosecutors to adequately pursue anti-trans hate crimes and bias-motivated attacks.
"Too many of these cases don't get the attention like LaTeisha's case did because of a lack of response," he said. "Sometimes it's us banging pots and pans and saying to make this a top priority."
Silverman and Cannon both applauded the Onondaga County District. The Empire State Pride Agenda, TLDEF and other LGBT advocacy organizations have repeatedly used LaTeisha Green's murder to call for the inclusion of gender identity and expression to both New York and federal anti-hate crime and discrimination laws. Roxanne Green stressed, however, her and her family's pain continues to run very deep.
"I don't know if it will get any easier," she said.
.
COMMUNITY VIGIL FOR COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM
COMMUNITY VIGIL FOR COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM
VIGILIA COMUNITARIA PARA UNA REFORMA COMPRESIVA DE LAS LEYES DE INMIGRACIÃ"N
Friday, October 23, 2009
viernes 23 octubre de 2009
7:30 to 8:30 pm. St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church
1704 NE 43rd Ave., Portland
This bilingual community service will include songs, prayers, stories, and Scripture reflections, followed by a candlelight procession to the Hollywood MAX station. Este servicio comunitario bilingüe incluirá cantos, oraciones, comentarios y reflexiones BÃblicas. Después iremos en procesion para la Estación de MAX para una vigilia con velas. For more information please contact:Deacon Marla McGarry-Lawrence
St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church
1704 NE 43rd Ave.
Portland, OR 97213-1402
503-284-7141 ext. 314 CAUSA (Oregon's Immigrant Rights Coalition), the largest Latin@ civil and human rights and advocacy organization in the Pacific Northwest
Evan Wolfson is founder and Executive Director of Freedom to Marry, a national gay and non-gay partnership working to win marriage equality across the country. In 2004 TIME magazine named Wolfson one of the "100 most influential people in the world." Wolfson is the author of "Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality and Gay People's Right to Marry". He wrote the book on marriage, literally. Monday, November 2 6:00 PM SEIU Local 49 3536 SE 26th Ave. Portland, OR 9720 Tuesday, November 3 7:00 p.m. Old Stone Church in Bend 157 NW Franklin Ave. Light refreshments will be served. Thank you to the following co-sponsors: Basic Rights Oregon Education Fund, Unitarian Universalists Fellowship of Central Oregon, Human Dignity Advocates of Crook County, GLBTbend.com, PFLAG Central Oregon, Human Dignity Coalition & Spice Trader Records Wednesday, November 4 6:00pm Eugene Public Library 100 W 10th Ave Eugene, OR 97401 Sponsored by the Eugene Public Library
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