Prop 8 is a huge fight that we have going on when it comes to equal rights for members of the LGBTQ community. When JTI began, we called for everyone around the nation (and the world) to unite as one voice for equal rights. We explained that Proposition 8 is much more than California’s problem. If Prop 8 is not repealed, it sets a precedent that the majority can vote on the rights of the minority. As argued on Thursday, it states that people who are NOT affected by a lack of rights, can choose to keep those rights from a suspect class. This is appalling. California is a HUGE battleground right now which we will all continue to be a part of. Beyond California, there are many many issues at stake that we all need to support and take actions on.
- Only 13 states have laws protecting LGBTQ citizens from employment discrimination based on sexual or gender identity.
- There are 7 more states that protect LGB citizens, but do not protect Transgendered citizens from employment discrimination. Soon we will all come together to support a federal ENDA law that secures equal protections in the work space.
- Throughout the country, families are at risk of deportation because we can not legally sponsor our partner to become a citizen of the US. The Uniting American Families Act has been reintroduced to Congress, and we encourage you to call your representative and ask that they support this act and support our families!
- In the state of Washington (my current home) a Domestic Partnership Expansion Bill has been introduced and will hit the Senate and House this week. This bill will give Washington LGBTQ citizens protections under the law at a state-wide level that are equal to the state-wide protections of marriage. Those who oppose same-sex civil protections are stating that this law (which again uses the semantics of Domestic Partnership) is seeking to redefine the word marriage, even though we are not. They are taking action and we need to respond by educating our representatives on the realities of this bill and how it will help us.
- In the state of Hawaii, another battle surges as our LGBTQ brothers and sisters fight for Civil Unions. The opposition has come out in full force and Hawaii needs you! If you are from Hawaii or know someone who is, please contact your representative (or ask your friend to) and ask that they support HB444.
- HB2234 is going to the House floor for a vote in Illinois. This same-sex civil union bill does not grant all of the state-wide rights of marriage, but it does grant some very important protections. Please take action by contacting your representative (if in Illinois) and asking that they support this bill.
- Here’s a great state by state breakdown on LGBTQ adoption rights. Clearly we have work to do. With an average of 500,000 children needing families every year, only 50,000 get adopted. In a country where so many go without family, why do we have to fight to provide safety, shelter, and parental care?
- Despite the evolutions in the field of science, we still live in a country where gay and bisexual men cannot donate blood. This ban on blood donations began with the AIDS crisis and a fear that blood donations would be tainted with the disease. According to the CDC, the incidence of AIDS is lowering in gay and bisexual men and raising in the heterosexual community. Yet this ban does not extend to members of the heterosexual community. A JTI member and amazing organizer for many great grassroots groups has worked hard on this front with her program called the Right to Save. She is calling for national actions on May 16th 2009 to send a message to the FDA that this policy is discriminatory.
- These are just a FEW of the many battles brewing in this EQUAL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. Add more in the comments and let’s organize together to work toward winning these battles and our equal protections under the law.
6 Responses
I recently went to DC and I lobbied my representative (Henry Waxman) for more gay rights in Federal Government. Specifically I encouraged him to fully repeal DOMA and support the SSIA (Safe Schools Improvement Act) which will help with bullying and harassment in schools towards LGBT students. I also asked him to pass an ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) bill that included gender identity instead of the one that just based that had that taken out.
I’m 16 and I’m helping to make a difference! Anyone can do it! I learned in DC that even making phone calls to your representatives can have an impact, even if your rep shares your views you can always remind them!
Posted on March 9th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Re: Beyond California
7 Arrested in Chicago this past Valentine’s Day calling for equal rights!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P127n3Ocuzg
A civil union bill has recently been brought into the Illinois House. It is not full equality as the legal rights are still less than “marriage” but it is a step in the right direction. This sit-in may or may not have influenced the legislators’ decision to move this bill forward. At our hearing today, the prosecution chose not to push the judge to sentence us and the judge essentially dismissed the charges, which is good. Subtle signs of support? Maybe. Let’s keep it up and make ‘em put it in writing!!!
Posted on March 10th, 2009 at 1:46 am
I would like to add to your great list the Employee Free Choice Act. It was introduced in congress yesterday and faces a filibuster from the Republicans if we can not secure 60 votes in the senate. Here is a fact sheet from Pride At Work.
The Employee Free Choice Act
A Fact Sheet For The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual And
Transgender Community
What It Is:
The Employee Free Choice Act, supported in 2007 by a bipartisan coalition in Congress, would
enable working people to bargain for better benefits, wages and working conditions by
restoring workers’ freedom to choose for themselves whether to join a union. It would:
•
Establish stronger penalties for violation of employee rights when workers seek to form
a union and during first-contract negotiations.
•
Provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes.
•
Allow employees to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation.
Why Is It Needed?
Today, CEOs get contracts that protect their wages and benefits. But some deny their
employees the same opportunity. Although U.S. and international laws are supposed to protect
workers’ freedom to belong to unions, employers routinely harass, intimidate, coerce and even
fire workers struggling to gain a union so they can bargain for better lives. And U.S. labor law
is powerless to stop them. Employees are on an uneven playing field from the first moment
they begin exploring whether they want to form a union, and are often crushed by brutal
management tactics.
How Does This Affect The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community?
•
Statistics show that workers who have union representation on the job have a higher
standard of living than those who do not.
Workers who belong to unions earn 30% more than nonunion workers. They are 59%
more likely to have employer-provided health coverage and 72% more likely to have
pensions.i
•
There are no federal job non-discrimination protections that protect on the basis of
sexual orientation and gender identity. In 30, and 37 states respectively, it is legal to
fire someone on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
-Since 1975, unions have been bargaining contracts with non-discrimination
protections that include these categories.
-Union contracts allow LGBT workers who face discrimination to grieve and
remedy that discrimination, all in a timely manner.
•
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a pending piece of federal legislation,
would bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. ENDA
and the Employee Free Choice Act are complimentary pieces of legislation.
The Employee Free Choice Act steps in where ENDA ends, providing LGBT workers
with the opportunity to bargain for benefits federal law does not mandate, including:
-Inclusive language for LGBT families in Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA);
-Extension of sick and bereavement leave to care or tend to issues with your
domestic partner, same-sex spouse, or their children;
-Offering domestic partner health care benefits;
-Removing transgender health exclusions from employer provided health care
plans; and
-Passing of pension plan benefits to domestic partner, same-sex spouse, or their
children upon death.
•
Statistics show that LGBT people make less than their heterosexual counterparts.ii A union
contract provides a way to level the playing field, helping LGBT people bargain our way into
the middle class.
•
For people of color in the LGBT community, statistics are very clear, unions bring wages
and benefits up:
-African-American union workers’ make 28% more than non-union workers,
-Latino union workers’ make 43% more than non-union workers, and
-Asian-American workers’ make 6% more than non-union workers.iii
•
Unions have stood up for LGBT people, its time for LGBT people to stand with our allies. In
California, unions donated over $2 million dollars to defeat Prop 8. 10 international unions,
representing over 10 million workers, have endorsed an end to marriage discrimination and
yes to marriage equality. Over 60 International Unions and union organizations have
endorsed passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.iv
What You Can Do:
Contact your Senator (202-224-3121) and Congressional Representative (202-225-3121) and
ask them to Co-Sponsor the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Employee Free
Choice Act. Together, they bring LGBT workers real protection on the job!
i
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Union Members in 2008, January 28, 2009
ii
Source: Badgett,. L. The Wage Effects Of Sexual Orientation Discrimination, Industrial Labor Relations Review, 1995
iii
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits In
Private Industry in the United States, March, 2008, August, 2008. Economic Policy Institute; Employee Benefits Research
Institute, May 2005.
iv
Source: Pride At Work Website, http://www.prideatwork.org
Posted on March 11th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Here is one more piece of info from Pride at Work:
LGBT Groups Unite to Support Employee Free Choice Act
From Pride At Work AFL-CIO
A broad coalition of national lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender organizations is gearing up to push for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would remove obstacles for workers who want union representation.
The LGBT organizations supporting the bill include some of the community’s largest and most influential. They are: the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), Pride at Work, AFL-CIO, National Stonewall Democrats, National Youth Advocacy Coalition, and, most recently, the Human Rights Campaign.
The bill, which is cosponsored by Senator Edward Kennedy and Representative George Miller, is high on the priority list of labor and its progressive allies for the incoming Obama administration. It passed the House of Representatives by a wide margin in 2007, but was blocked by a right-wing filibuster in the Senate.
“America’s workers, who are already suffering badly from growing income inequality and declining benefits, badly need legislation that will ensure their right to organize by protecting them from bullying and intimidation by unscrupulous employers,” said Jeremy Bishop, Executive Director of Pride at Work. “Passage of the Employee Free Choice Act is vital if we are to rebuild middle-class living standards for working people in this country, and LGBT labor is committed to making that happen.”
“The Task Force Action Fund strongly supports the Employee Free Choice Act. With our shared goals of equality and fairness, we stand with our allies in the labor community in support of workers’ rights, as part of the larger progressive agenda,” says Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund. “But our support for EFCA is not just based on our long history and alliance with the labor community. It is also about the rights of LGBT workers who so desperately need the protections that a union can provide. It is currently legal to fire someone in 30 states based on sexual orientation and 38 states based on gender identity; a union contract can provide critical job security for LGBT workers.”
Mara Keisling, Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality said “Job security is vitally important to transgender workers as well as to all others who suffer from employment discrimination. Helping workers to organize will help protect them from bias in the workplace.”
“Stonewall Democrats strongly supports the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA),” said Jon Hoadley, the group’s executive director. “We have been organizing to build support for this crucial piece of pro-equality legislation for more than a year. Because of the efforts of unions, millions of Americans enjoy non-discrimination policies and equitable same-sex benefits at work. Even when our federal and state governments have been slow to act, workers organized through unions have proactively secured equal workplace protections through negotiating efforts.
“The Employee Free Choice Act would once again allow workers to freely organize, leading to increased protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. EFCA should be a priority for our community in the upcoming 111th Congress and we will continue our work to make sure that this legislation becomes law,” Hoadley added.
Pride At Work is the LGBT constituency organization of the AFL-CIO. It includes members of AFL-CIO and Change To Win unions as well as non-union allies. National Pride At Work can be contacted through the website http://www.prideatwork.org. Pride At Work in King County can be reached through Mike Andrew, Secretary-Treasurer, 206-261-8110.
Posted on March 11th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Also, here’s a link to contact your Representatives to support the Employee Free Choice Act: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/efcaenda
Posted on March 11th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
I just received a press release from Houston. Apparently over 100 gays and lesbians were denied entry into a straight bar when they learned it was the target of a Guerrilla Gay Bar night. Guerrilla gay bar nights are when gay people go to bars that are not traditionally gay so that they can interact with others fro the community. You can read the press release here.
http://bit.ly/q0DRt
Posted on March 16th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
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