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Show your support for Bob Zuckerman and help make history

Help make history by joining as a Facebook Fan of my friend, New York City Council candidate Bob Zuckerman, a progressive Democrat, who would be Brooklyn’s first out, gay member of the City Council.

Bob has headed the Greenwich Village-Chelsea Chamber of Commerce, the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation (GCCDC) and Gowanus Canal Conservancy (GCC), the New York Nightlife Association, the Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC, and Brooklyn’s Independent Neighborhood Democrats (IND). He is also the current Chair of the Environmental Protection Committee of Community Board 6.

Recently, Bob has been helping Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal area residents to access affordable housing and realize their dream of environmentally-sound and community-sensitive strategies for new parks and development along the canal’s waterfront. Additionally, he has been organizing events in support of marriage equality for LGBT Americans.

Bob has a J.D. from American University, and graduated from Emory University. His partner of 11 years, Grant Neumann, is a multi-talented veteran editor and marketer at Random House.

Become a Fan of Bob's campaign on Facebook. Simply by joining as a Fan—regardless of whether or not you live in the 39th councilmanic district—you help the cause. Also, please consider making a contribution at Zuckerman2009.com. A contribution of any size is appreciated! There you can also  sign-up to follow Bob on YouTube and Twitter.

Israel contingent in NYC's gay pride march

ESB 2009 - Marking Pride

Each year, the Empire State Building is illuminated pink for Pride weekend. Hat-tip to Joe.My.God for the photo of the ESB this weekend.

40 years

Frank Rich, The New York Times, June 28, 2009:

if the current administration really is worried that it could repeat Clinton’s history on Don’t Ask, that’s ludicrous. Clinton failed less because of the policy’s substance than his fumbling of the politics. Even in 1992 a majority of the country (57 percent) supported an end to the military ban on gays. But Clinton blundered into the issue with no strategy at all and little or no advance consultation with the Joint Chiefs and Congress. That’s never been Obama’s way.

The cultural climate is far different today, besides. Now, roughly 75 percent of Americans support an end to Don’t Ask, and gay issues are no longer a third rail in American politics. Gay civil rights history is moving faster in the country, including on the once-theoretical front of same-sex marriage, than it is in Washington. If the country needs any Defense of Marriage Act at this point, it would be to defend heterosexual marriage from the right-wing “family values” trinity of Sanford, Ensign and Vitter.

June 28, 1969. The Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village, New York City. Police enforcing a long-standing state-sanctioned, immoral, and unethical system of prosecution and persecution of Americans who happened to be born attracted to their own sex were bested and beaten by representatives of the most marginalized of gay Americans.

You know, the guys there were so beautiful—they've lost that wounded look that fags all had 10 years ago. – poet Allen Ginsberg
.....

Before the rebellion at the Stonewall Inn, homosexuals were, as historians Dudley Clendinen and Adam Nagourney write,

    a secret legion of people, known of but discounted, ignored, laughed at or despised. And like the holders of a secret, they had an advantage which was a disadvantage, too, and which was true of no other minority group in the United States. They were invisible. Unlike African Americans, women, Native Americans, Jews, the Irish, Italians, Asians, Hispanics, or any other cultural group which struggled for respect and equal rights, homosexuals had no physical or cultural markings, no language or dialect which could identify them to each other, or to anyone else ... But that night, for the first time, the usual acquiescence turned into violent resistance ... From that night the lives of millions of gay men and lesbians, and the attitude toward them of the larger culture in which they lived, began to change rapidly. People began to appear in public as homosexuals, demanding respect.

.....
In 1994, New York City celebrated "Stonewall 25" with a march that went past the United Nations and into Central Park. Estimates put the attendance at 1.1 million people... Attendance at Gay Pride events has grown substantially over the decades. Most large American cities have some kind of Pride demonstration, as do most large cities around the world. Pride events in some cities mark the largest annual celebration of any kind. The growing trend towards commercializing marches into parades—with events receiving corporate sponsorship—has caused concern about taking away the autonomy of the original grassroots demonstrations that put inexpensive activism in the hands of individuals.

In June 1999 the U.S. Department of the Interior designated 51 and 53 Christopher Street, the street itself, and the surrounding streets as a National Historic Landmark, the first of significance to gays and lesbians. In a dedication ceremony, the Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior stated, "Let it forever be remembered that here—on this spot—men and women stood proud, they stood fast, so that we may be who we are, we may work where we will, live where we choose and love whom our hearts desire."

On June 1, 2009, President Barack Obama declared June 2009 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month, citing the riots as a reason to "commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans"

Marriage Equality by the Numbers

1,138 Federal (national-level) marriage rights and protections that exist
0 Federal marriage rights granted to same-sex couples

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6 States granting same-sex marriage (all state-level rights & protections granted)
Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont
29 States banning same-sex marriage by constitutional amendment*
11 States banning same-sex marriage by law**

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9 States offering same-sex civil unions/partnerships (some state-level rights & protections granted)***
1 State only recognizing same-sex marriage or civil unions/partnerships of other states
New York (and Washington D.C.)

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7 Countries with marriage equality
Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, Norway, South African, Spain, Sweden

15 Countries with national-level same-sex civil unions/partnerships (many rights & benefits)
Andorra, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Slovenia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Uruguay

5 Countries with some jurisdictions (e.g., states, territories, etc.) recognizing same-sex civil unions/partnerships (some rights & benefits)
Argentina, Australia, Mexico, United States, Venezuela

1 Country only recognizing same-sex marriages or civil unions/partnerships of other nations
Israel

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Some Highlights in the Struggle:
1989, October 1 - World's first legal civil union in modern history in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1999 - Vermont legislature creates a category, "civil union," that gave same-sex couples the same state-level rights and benefits that married couples enjoy.
2003, November 18 - Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court declares in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that denying marriage to same-sex couples violates that state's constitution, marking the first time a state supreme court recognized the right of same-sex couples to marry.
2004, November - 11 states outlaw same-sex marriage by constitutional amendments.
2006, November - 7 more states outlaw same-sex marriage by constitutional amendments.
2008, February 1 - NY State Court of Appeals rules in Martinez v. County of Monroe that marriages of same-sex couples entered into outside of New York must be recognized, as is in keeping with New York's longstanding practice of recognizing marriages from other jurisdictions.
2008, May 15 - California Supreme Court overturns the state's ban on same-sex marriage.
2008, October - Connecticut Supreme Court declares that denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples was unconstitutional discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, even though Connecticut law already granted same-sex couples all the legal benefits and rights of marriage under the label of "civil unions."
2009, April - Iowa Supreme Court unanimously rules that Iowa's state ban on same-sex marriage denies equal protection of the law to gays and lesbians.
2009, April - Vermont legislature enactes a law to make same-sex marriages legal, overriding the governor's veto.
2009, May 6 - Maine enacts a same-sex marriage law.
2009, June 3 - New Hampshire enacts a same-sex marriage law.

*Alabama (2006), Alaska (1998), Arizona (2008), Arkansas (2004), California (2008),
Colorado, Florida (2008), Georgia (2004), Kansas (2005), Idaho (2006), Kentucky (2004),
Louisiana (2004), Michigan (2004), Mississippi (2004), Missouri (2004), Montana (2004),
Nebraska (2000), Nevada (2002), North Dakota (2004), Ohio (2004), Oklahoma (2004),
Oregon (2004), South Carolina (2006), South Dakota (2006), Tennessee (2006), Texas (2005),
Utah (2004), Virginia (2006) and Wisconsin (2006).
**Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.
***California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

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SOURCES:
http://www.hrc.org/documents/marriage_prohibitions_2009.pdf

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22791

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage

IMAGES:
My versions of the 2009 marriage equality US flag, 2009 marriage equality "New Glory" flag, 2009 marriage equality Bennington Flag

NY Bar Association Votes To Support Gay Marriage

NY Bar Association Votes To Support Gay Marriage.

White House for including same-sex households in census

More good news. (Some will call it a sop, but I'll take it. I just hope it ends up being a prelude to real effort on the part of the White House, and not just talk.)

From the Wall Street Journal:

The administration has directed the Census Bureau to determine changes needed in tabulation software to allow for same-sex marriage data to be released early in 2011 with other detailed demographic information from the decennial count. The bureau historically hasn't released same-sex marriage data

Dept. of Justice will meet with Lambda Legal et al

Hat-tip to Joe.My.God. "The DOJ has agreed to meet next week with Lambda Legal, Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and other LGBT orgs to "hash out how to proceed with pending DOMA cases."

"Back of the Bus" Theme for 2009 Pride Month?

So, to Obama's pattern (as candidate and President) of mostly tepid, reactive, and arguably cynical steps for the LGBT community, proponents of civil rights can add another reason to be unimpressed.

As we already know, the President's limited and compelled memo on June 17, 2009, extended but a handful of benefits (like some  relocation assistance) to domestic partners and non-biological, non-adopted children of non-military Federal employees.

Additionally, the memo's potential was limited further because of the Defense (sic) of Marriage Act (DOMA), which Obama's Justice Department defended with vile vigor using retrograde and demeaning reasoning on June 12, 2009. (DOMA should be re-named the Denial of Marriage Act.)

But now it turns out, at least one right the memo supposedly granted was already in place since President Clinton's administration. (Hat-tip to craigkg on dKos)

The number of activists and Democratic donors dropping out of the DNC Pride Month fundraiser continues to increase daily.

So, is the Obama Administration telling gay Americans to sit down and shut up, to sit at the back of the bus?

I believe President Obama when he says that he wants to see DOMA repealed and Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) ended. I also believe that six months into a first term isn't a long time, that on a range of pressing issues the Administration has accomplished a remarkable amount, and that issues related to civil rights for gay Americans is one of several groups of issues that the Administration hasn't had time to address yet.

However, at this point I am less concerned about inaction than I am about how tepid and reactive have been those steps the Administration (and before that candidate Obama) has taken, and in particular about the language and nature of the defense of DOMA. I grow increasingly concerned that Obama is personally uncomfortable with people who happen to be gay, and that the rumors of Rahm Emmanuel's homophobic influence within the White House are true (or at least the rumors that he considers the LGBT community to be political pariahs). Something must account for the Administration's surprising tone-deafness relative to LGBT issues. But, I also put those worries in a larger perspective: a politician need not like a constituency in order to do the right thing for them.

Certainly the lesson of this week is that the Administration still can't be counted on to do much of anything--even minor things--for LGBT civil rights without political pressure being applied. It's very, very disappointing.

Still there remains Obama's pledge regarding DOMA, which he reiterated with these words on June 17, 2009:

I believe it's discriminatory, I think it interferes with states' rights, and we will work with Congress to overturn it.... We've got more work to do to ensure that government treats all its citizens equally; to fight injustice and intolerance in all its forms; and to bring about that more perfect union. I'm committed to these efforts, and I pledge to work tirelessly on behalf of these issues in the months and years to come.

We'll see.

Looking into the Past

The Looking Into the Past photographers group on Flickr.

This group is for images you make where some part of a modern day scene is overlapped by an old photograph. For example, you hold up an old photo so that you can see its place in the modern context.

(Photo: 537 Congress Street by Corey Templeton; click to enlarge. Another example here.)