Victory! Marriage in California

Equality California | http://www.eqca.org


Today is a day I will never forget.

It is with unimaginable joy that I write to tell you that the California Supreme
Court just ruled in our favor, declaring that each of us has the freedom to marry
the person we love.

This is a landmark victory for our community. It's a victory for fairness and
justice. And it's an incredible victory for California—a land of opportunity. For 10
years, Equality California has worked tirelessly to bring us to this moment. Today,
for the first time in history, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)
Californians are truly equal. It is an amazing feeling.

I wish we could simply celebrate and enjoy this incredible victory.

But the truth is, this is just the beginning of the fight of our lives. Anti-LGBT
hate organizations are already hard at work trying to pass a constitutional
amendment this November in an attempt to take away our freedom to marry. And they
have already raised millions of dollars to fund their discriminatory effort.

We can't let that happen. We won't let that happen.

It will take all of us to keep this victory. Make a contribution today to help
preserve the freedom to marry from this vicious attack. Every dollar you donate will
be used to fight this initiative.
http://www.eqca.org/issuespac/donate

Equality California Issues PAC is with a coalition of organizations working to
defeat this initiative. Your donation today will help us buy media time and hire
more field organizers across the state to mobilize the thousands of volunteers who
have already gathered more than 76,000 signatures opposing the initiative.

Today's victory proves that by working together we can achieve equality.

Our win today would not have been possible without the generous commitment and
steadfast support of our thousands of volunteers and donors. And I cannot say enough
about the brilliant legal team representing EQCA as a plaintiff in the case:
National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, ACLU, Heller Ehrman and the Law
Office of David C. Codell.

Help us keep marriage in California by making a donation today to fight the ballot
initiative. As a united force, we will forever have equality in our state.
http://www.eqca.org/issuespac/donate

Once again, thank you for supporting EQCA in the fight for equality. I have never
been more proud to be a part of this community. I have never been more proud to be a
Californian.


Warmly,

Geoff Kors
Executive Director
Equality California

**************************************************
We won...

Celebrate Love and Family. Tonight, join plaintiffs, community leaders and LGBT
families for a community gathering in a city near you.
http://www.eqca.org/courtcase/events

But the Fight Continues.

Don't let anti-gay activists take it all away.A constitutional amendment to ban
marriage will be on the November ballot. Make a donation to keep the freedom to
marry.
http://www.eqca.org/issuespac/donate

**************************************************
Equality California is dedicated to achieving equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender (LGBT) Californians.

Our work depends on individual financial contributions.

Donate now using our secure website or download a donation form to send via fax or
mail.

http://www.eqca.org/donate

http://www.eqca.org/atf/cf/%7B687DF34F-6480-4BCD-9C2B-1F33FD8E1294%7D/EQCA%20GENERAL%20DONATION%20FORM.DOC


EQCA Issues PAC is a political action committee; donations are not deductible as
charitable contributions for income tax purposes.

May 15, 2008

Dear Karen,

Great news - California has joined
Massachusetts as the second state in the
union to embrace marriage equality.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The California court
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ko5dmTIVixg8IyylKwsckTVvaotzC8VfJlTJ5eC2aKAF2n6X_u7N5Jf9QTLaKnQCR8Sr6vpocwFjSejYR63dqviRL76etnLDRKqdesLJDOjFi9Vf2VjdbgehIcOYt0oC68Bl9ZchcQE=)
affirmed what
we
already know: that a society pledged to
equality and fairness simply cannot deny
same-sex couples access to the respect
and security that marriage provides.

The Goodridge decision in
Massachusetts broke a historic barrier and
forever changed the standard by which all
future efforts to treat LGBT citizens fairly will
be judged. This decision solidifies that
victory and we congratulate our colleagues
at NCLR, Lambda Legal and the ACLU.

All eyes now turn to Connecticut where a
decision could come out any day. California
signals a rising tide of equality and other
victories are within reach. GLAD is working
with our New England Marriage Campaign
allies to bring full and equal marriage to every
state in New England.

We need
your help
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ko5dmTIVixjorMwQ54hpqu_nWDiTouV_m-8gKk9z_samx4fPE-8xOsnpX8k8Vw5EcM5S26ptNaS13Q0bUYhu5K5-WVakhrhxLnfY7L-8vh9Kr2ie9iMv9FNs14URdrXVhn2_n56I7ZAt_JdO7rJYcaWMRw799x2BUfFPnMDUjfk=).
The momentum
from this win will give a huge boost to
GLAD's New England Marriage Campaign.
Your
generous gift of $35, $50, $100
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ko5dmTIVixjorMwQ54hpqu_nWDiTouV_m-8gKk9z_samx4fPE-8xOsnpX8k8Vw5EcM5S26ptNaS13Q0bUYhu5K5-WVakhrhxLnfY7L-8vh9Kr2ie9iMv9FNs14URdrXVhn2_n56I7ZAt_JdO7rJYcaWMRw799x2BUfFPnMDUjfk=)

or as much as you can give will
keep marriage moving forward.

Give
now
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ko5dmTIVixjorMwQ54hpqu_nWDiTouV_m-8gKk9z_samx4fPE-8xOsnpX8k8Vw5EcM5S26ptNaS13Q0bUYhu5K5-WVakhrhxLnfY7L-8vh9Kr2ie9iMv9FNs14URdrXVhn2_n56I7ZAt_JdO7rJYcaWMRw799x2BUfFPnMDUjfk=),
so the next state can join
the fold!

Sincerely,



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lee Swislow
Executive Director

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
gladlaw [at] glad.org

For Immediate Release: Thursday, May 16,
2008


For Information: Andy Thayer, Gay Liberation
Network, 773.209.1187; Bob Schwartz, GLN, 773.878.3697





HUGE Victory
for


Equal Marriage Rights in California!





At 12 noon Central
Time today the California Supreme ruled in favor of equal marriage rights for
lesbian and gay couples in what is very likely to be an important shot in the
arm for the drive towards full legal equality for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender (LGBT) community.






Lack of equal legal
recognition for our relationships is a core element of the continuing
discrimination that LGBT people face in the United
States. The California court explicitly cited the state's equal protection clause
in striking down the discrimination, stating that "an individual's sexual
orientation – like a person's race or gender – does not constitute a legitimate
basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights."
The court also ruled that
marriages performed outside of California must
be recognized as legal by the State of California.





On February 24, 2004,
Robin Tyler and Diane Olson; and Rev. Troy Perry and his husband Phillip Ray De
Blieck,
became the first two couples in California to
file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the ban on same gender
marriages (Robin Tyler, et al v.
County of
Los Angeles). They were represented pro bono by prominent civil rights
attorney Gloria Allred of Allred, Maroko and Goldberg.





Chicago's Gay Liberation
Network is proud of our long association with Tyler in several efforts for LGBT
freedom,
including the successful Stop Dr Laura campaign, the "day of decision" campaign
around the Supreme Court Lawrence v.
Texas decision, and others.
Tyler was
Executive Director of StopDrLaura.com and GLN's Andy Thayer was its National
Action Coordinator.





Today's California
Supreme Court decision is rich with historical parallels. California in 1948 was
the first state in the
modern era to strike down laws banning inter-racial marriage, leading to a
nationwide drive to junk the bigoted laws, culminating in the 1967 Loving v.
Virginia Supreme Court
decision striking down such laws around the nation. Mildred Loving, who was of both
African
American and Native American descent and who just passed away on May
2nd, counted herself as a supporter of both inter-racial and same gender
marriage rights before she died.





Opponents of equal
marriage rights for gays and lesbians are fond of pointing to national opinion
polls which show only a minority support such rights. What they conveniently omit
is the fact
that huge majorities opposed inter-racial marriage rights during the era when
the courts struck down the racist laws.
A 1958 Gallup poll found that 96% of white Americans
opposed inter-racial marriage rights.
An overwhelming majority still opposed equal marriage rights for
inter-racial couples at the time of the 1967 Loving decision.





A vocal minority
within the LGBT community has echoed right wing opposition to equal marriage
rights for same sex couples, albeit for different reasons, claiming such drives
for legal equality are "assimilationist" or "heteronormative." Such positions
ironically give
back-handed support to the right-wing anti-equality drives and violate what
should be a cardinal rule for freedom activists -- self-determination for
discriminated against groups, so long as such self-determination does not
violate the rights of others.
Against "gay marriage"?
Fine. Don't have one
then! But don't bolster the right
wing campaign against such rights for others, who in their self-determination,
want to exercise such rights.





As our community ages,
along with the rest of the country, the right to marriage has taken on a
particular urgency with some same gender couples. Social Security and pension
survivors'
benefits, the right to uncontested inheritance of a deceased spouse's housing,
and unquestioned right of visitation in hospitals loom as important issues for
older gay and lesbian couples.





Far from equal
marriage rights being a concern only of white, upper class male couples, studies
by the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and others show that Lesbian
couples, especially those in the African American and Latino communities, are
far more likely to be raising children than white male couples. Like young
heterosexual couples with
kids, or kids on the way, the desire to provide a more secure future for one's
children is a primary motivator for marriage in the LGBT community. Wealthier same
gender couples, with
their greater access to lawyers to construct the intricate (and imperfect) legal
documents that might give a facsimile of equal partner rights, are actually less
likely to need equal marriage rights than working class and poor same gender
couples who can't afford those options.





The California Supreme
Court victory comes at a time when the Democratic Party has proven itself
stunningly ineffectual in pressing for equal marriage rights in the legislative
arena. Like with Massachusetts at the time of that state's landmark
Supreme Judicial
Court decision, the victorious California decision came
out of a court packed with Republican
justices. In Illinois, the bill to provide rights to same-sex partners
of Chicago
teachers recently failed in the House of Representatives despite a 15
vote Democratic majority. Both remaining Democratic Presidential
candidates are opposed to our equal right to marry, favoring instead "separate
but equal" civil unions, a particularly ironic position for former University of
Chicago professor of Constitutional Law
Barack Obama. In contrast, Rev. Jeremiah Wright
supports equal marriage rights and, unlike Obama, doesn't cite his Christian
beliefs in opposing them.





With California now leading the way, it is time for Illinois LGBTs to
forthrightly reject the demeaning "solution" of second class citizenship offered
by civil unions and domestic partners, arcane phrases that should be consigned
to historical footnotes. We can win
full legal equality, including full and equal marriage rights, but only if we
uncompromisingly demand it. We
demean ourselves and implicitly give credence to right wing arguments against
our community when we shrink from demanding anything less.





As the experience of
other groups' freedom struggles demonstrates, legal equality is not a silver
bullet that cures all ills. Similarly, legal equality is not the be-all
and end-all for LGBT freedom.
Issues of anti-LGBT violence, supportive environments for LGBT youth
inside and out of the schools, not
to mention health care for all, an end to poverty, and other
issues are not solved by simple legal equality. But full legal equality -- of which
lack
of recognition for our relationships is the most central deficiency -- would be
a tremendous boost towards advancement on all fronts for LGBT freedom. Once we are
finally citizens in
this country -- defined as having equal legal rights with our peers -- we will
have a much stronger ability to demand just and equal treatment in our schools,
workplaces and neighborhoods.





-- Gay Liberation Network (http://www.GayLiberation.net)





+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++





Editor Please Note: We would be delighted if you would
consider running the above as an Op Ed article in your publication. Thank you.

did you know;
Both Clinton and Obama failed to support the right to marry, saying that domestic partnership was good enough.

And
Today on MSNBC Nancy Pelosi refered to the victory as "shocking" and went on to say that the state has already settled this. We don't need to revisit it again.