Without You, Referendum 71 Could Lose in the Election (but Helping Defend Gay Rights Is Easy—Here’s How)
by Dominic Holden, The Stranger

Alisha knows what’s going on. She’s been involved in local political causes, has worked with various nonprofits, and is generally an engaged citizen. But when I told my old friend at the park on a recent Sunday about an upcoming debate on Referendum 71, she gave me a vacant look. My mom called me that same day, and I mentioned Referendum 71 to her. “Which one is that?” she asked. An informal poll of people I talked to last weekend—gay, straight, and overall informed—revealed this: Half of them don’t know what R-71 is, why it’s on the ballot, or why they should vote to approve it.

Okay, if you already know what Referendum 71 is, thank you, and please bear with me for one paragraph while everyone else gets up to speed.

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melliebee: Women Seeking Men Last spring, the state legislature voted to expand the state’s domestic-partnership law, thereby extending all of the state-granted rights of marriage to registered same-sex partners. The gay delegation in the legislature has been clear: Domestic-partnership laws promote the discussion about marriage equality while protecting gay and lesbian families from discrimination. There are about 6,000 registered couples in Washington, including a handful of senior straight couples who also qualify. But in an attempt to repeal the bill, an Oregon pastor and a Christian extremist teamed up to gather signatures to put it on the fall ballot. They lied all the way, claiming the bill would teach school kids about gay sex and that it is actually about gay marriage (even though there are 1,138 federal marriage rights that domestic partners don’t have, like Social Security and immigration rights, and it says nothing about school curriculum). A vote to approve the measure is a vote to uphold the domestic-partnership law, thereby advancing gay rights. But polling shows voters may reject it.

“It is the culmination of 29 years of work,” says state senator Ed Murray (D-43), the bill’s prime sponsor. “To lose would be a setback.”

“If the domestic-partnership law is repealed, families will suffer real and immediate harm,” says Josh Friedes, a spokesman for Washington Families Standing Together, which is running the Approve R-71 campaign. “We are talking about not being able to take leave from work for critically ill partners; we are talking about partners of public-sector employees not getting their pension benefits, which means living in poverty or near poverty in old age.”

In addition, he warns, losing would “embolden the radical right.”

Opinion research shows that R-71 holds a tenuous majority of public support. A poll released on September 22 by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research found that only 51 percent of likely voters would approve the measure. The key word here is “likely.” Scads of people don’t vote in off-year elections, and the people who don’t vote in these years are people like Alisha. If you’re reading this paper, a lot of your friends are those voters. But if lots of those people vote, the referendum will pass.

“Younger urban voters often don’t vote,” Friedes warns—the kind of voters who are likeliest to support gay rights. “And a person being supportive of gay rights who doesn’t vote is of no help.”

Records from the secretary of state’s office show that about 70 percent of registered voters between the ages of 18 and 34 voted in last November’s general election, when Barack fucking Obama was on the ballot. But when zero black men were running for president, in the 2008 primary election, less than 19 percent of that same demographic turned out. Only 27 percent of people between 35 and 44 voted. In contrast, 72 percent of people over 65 voted. Older, more conservative voters dominated last August’s primary election, and they are likely to dominate this year’s off-year general election. Bluntly put, R-71 will lose if too many voters under 50 skip the election.

There are three sorts of actions you can take to make sure this doesn’t happen.

Things You Can Do Sitting at Your Computer: You can reach more people in 15 minutes online than any other way. You can even do it while drinking a beer. Update your status message on Facebook and Gmail and Twitter to “Approve Referendum 71.” You can also post the link to Approve71­ .org. Tweet about it and repeat the Facebook message regularly. Next, change your primary image on Facebook to the “Approve R-71″ icon, which you can get at the website. Lots of people are already doing this. Be one of them.

In your e-mail, change the signature line in your messages to include the info mentioned above, such as “Did you know lots of young voters skip off-year elections? Don’t be one of them—vote to approve R-71.” Then give them a link. Hell, send them a link to this article.

Sign up for e-mails on the Approve71.org website and then forward the e-mails—especially to your friends and family who live in the suburbs and the sticks. “We don’t need to go far from Seattle to win, geographically,” says Murray. Then when new e-mails come, forward those, too.

Donate money to the campaign at Approve­71.org. The campaign needs about $800,000 more to cover the airwaves, pay for signs, and do everything a campaign needs to win, Friedes says.

Things You Can Do with Hot Volunteers: “The slightly more labor-intensive but perhaps even more fun activity is coming to our phone banks,” says Friedes. The Approve R-71 headquarters is downtown, near bars. Sign up at the website. “We have identified hundreds of thousands of voters who we believe are with us but may not vote because it is an off-year election. We need to have conversations with those voters to make sure they know how high the stakes are.” Later on in the campaign, you can hang out with hot homos and straight allies, and wave signs. You might even get a date.

Things You Can Do While You’re Doing Other Things: Talk to people about R-71 in your day-to-day conversations. It may seem dull explaining the same thing over and over, but it’s better than small talk. You can even don the dreaded campaign button.

Think it sounds too embarrassing and awkward to hang your neck out there like an activist clown? You don’t want to bug your friends or be that person who’s all wigged out over some cause. Am I right?

“I don’t know how to put this,” says Friedes, pausing. “People who are uncomfortable with taking action now because they don’t perceive themselves as advocates or political will feel a lot worse come Election Day if we lose this by a narrow margin,” he says.

“We need to stretch beyond our comfort zones and do more than we ever have,” adds Friedes. “That’s the only way progress has ever been made in any civil-rights struggle.”

In Washington State, we have three paths toward marriage equality: through the courts, through the legislature, and by public vote. In 2006, the Washington State Supreme Court upheld the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, removing the courts as an option. The legislature has passed the most progressive bill it can (first it created the domestic-partnership registry in 2007, then it added some more rights in 2008, and this year it added everything except the word marriage). “It is very difficult to get the legislature to pass what the people have voted down in the ballot,” Murray says. So if R-71 loses at the polls, it essentially halts the cause of gay civil rights in the legislature and by public vote, effectively blocking all three paths to gay equality in Washington State.

Don’t let R-71 get rejected. Your conversations about it—more than just increasing its chances—also advance the entire marriage-equality debate. Polling by the University of Washington shows support for full marriage equality jumped 7 percent from 2006 to 2008, the years Washington passed gay-civil-rights and domestic-partnership bills. The conversation this election season, as long as R-71 is approved, could bring marriage equality about sooner. And when election night comes and R-71 passes, you’ll be able to say that you helped protect and advance gay rights in Washington.

Sep 29 2009, 4:10 PM · UPDATED

The Washington State Legislature recently passed legislation, signed by the governor, to expand the rights of those in registered domestic partnerships recognized by the state. Those in opposition to this concept gathered a sufficient number of signatures to put this issue on the ballot.

This law should be approved! Voters should be reminded that, despite how the opposition may intend to mislead, this is not a gay marriage issue. The ballot statement clearly states, “a domestic partnership is not a marriage.” The Washington Legislature enacted the “Defense of Marriage Act” in 1998 and it was upheld by the Washington Supreme Court in 2006. This law will remain unchanged by this legislation. While some may feel that domestic partners should be provided marriage benefits, voting to approve this referendum at least extends a blanket of protection to the families of those in domestic partnerships for the time being.

Families with children need the protections provided by domestic partnership laws, such as health insurance under their parents’ work policies. By voting to approve Referendum 71, you will vote to ensure that all children are provided the same protections under the law. In addition, seniors need the protections provided by domestic partnership laws. For seniors, domestic partnerships mean that their hard-earned social security, military or pension benefits are not put at risk.

I urge those of us in the Snoqualmie Valley who care about protecting all families in Washington to vote to approve Referendum 71!

Janet Sailer

North Bend

A police report released Tuesday details another case of homophobic graffiti in West Seattle, which is similar to previous incidents in the neighborhood.

A woman walking by a business in the 7300 block of Fauntleroy Way Southwest noticed the homophobic message written with black marker on a sign. Police said similar offensive writing was on a bench and portable toilet in Lincoln Park.

As well as the homophobic message, the graffiti inside the portable toilet targeted Seattle police.

“In May 2009, there were similar incidents in which the same or similar homophobic phrases were written in black marker at several locations in West Seattle,” officer Adonis Topacio wrote in his report.

Two men living on California Avenue Southwest had homophobic messages left on their garage on May 1 and 2.

The first homophobic message on the victims’ garage was discovered about noon May 1; the second was found at 8 a.m. May 2, according to a police report.

Homophobic messages have been left at their home four times, including a case that occurred more than a year ago.

“I’m scared,” one of the men told our news partner, KOMO/4, in May. “I feel like I’m being watched constantly. I don’t trust anybody all of a sudden. It’s not a good feeling at all.”

A suspect in that case was arrested in May and charged in Seattle Municipal Court with six counts of property destruction-graffiti.

That man, 31, pleaded not guilty and the cases were dismissed without prejudice this summer, according to court records. He was released June 12 from King County Jail.

He is listed as a suspect in the most recent police investigation, but has not been arrested or charged, records show.

Posted by Casey McNerthney at September 30, 2009 12:04 a.m.

Read more at Seattle 911: A police blog
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/seattle911/archives/180604.asp

-BY STEVE ROTHAUS, srot...@MiamiHerald.com

A federal court in Miami has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Washington state lesbian who was not allowed to visit her dying partner at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

“The hospital took the position that we thought was pretty extreme — that it has no duty, no legal obligation, to allow visitors [of any sort] in the hospital. The court agreed,” said Beth Littrell, a staff attorney for Lambda Legal, a national gay-rights group representing Janice Langbehn, whose partner of 17 years died at Jackson in 2007.

Langbehn’s partner, Lisa Pond, suffered a fatal brain aneurysm on Feb. 18, 2007, shortly before they were to sail with their three children on a Caribbean cruise for gay families.

At Jackson, Langbehn said, a social worker would not let her visit Pond because Florida is “an anti-gay state.” Pond, 39, died the next day.

From the beginning, Jackson said Langbehn was not discriminated against and defended social worker Garnett Frederick, who denied making the comment.

Langbehn, with the help of Lambda Legal, sued the hospital. The case, which received publicity around the country, was thrown out Tuesday.

“We’re obviously devastated and disappointed in this decision,” Littrell said. “It highlights how vulnerable same-sex couples and their families are.”

Jackson on Tuesday again denied that gay patients and their families are treated differently.

“We have always believed and known that the staff at Jackson treats everyone equally, and that their main concern is the well-being of the patients in their care,” Jackson spokeswoman Jennifer Piedra said in a news release. “At Jackson Health System, we believe in a culture of inclusion. For more than 90 years, the institution has taken great pride in serving everyone who enters its doors, regardless of race, creed, religious beliefs or sexual orientation. We also employ a very diverse workforce, one that mirrors the community we serve.”

Added Piedra: “Jackson will continue to work with the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community to ensure that everyone knows they are welcome at all of our facilities, where they will receive the highest quality of medical care.”

Janice Langbehn photo by The Olympian

- posted by Pams House Blend, www.pamshouseblend.com, September 28, 2009

The Seattle City Council has passed by unanimous vote a resolution urging voters to vote “approve” on Referendum 71. The entire resolution is below the fold, but here’s the statement of resolution:
NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE, THE MAYOR CONCURRING, THAT:

Section 1. The City of Seattle urges Seattle voters to vote “approved” on Referendum 71 on the November, 2009 ballot, thereby retaining Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5688 and expanding the rights and responsibilities of state registered domestic partners as equal to those of spouses.

The resolution was sponsored by Councilmember Nick Licata. Mayor of Seattle Greg Nickels has already endorsed the Approve Referendum 71 campaign, so there is little doubt he will eagerly sign the resolution.
RESOLUTION 31154
A RESOLUTION urging Seattle voters to vote “approved” on Washington State Referendum 71 thereby retaining Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5688 which would expand the rights and responsibilities of state registered domestic partners to equal those of married spouses.

WHEREAS, on May 18th Governor Christine Gregoire signed Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5688 into law providing that, for all purposes under state law, state registered domestic partners shall be treated the same as spouses; and

WHEREAS, opponents of Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5688 filed Referendum 71 to send Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5688 to a vote of the citizens of Washington; and

WHEREAS, enough signatures have been gathered and the citizens of Washington will vote on Referendum 71 in Washington State’s November 2009 general election; and

WHEREAS, a vote of “approved” on Referendum 71 will allow Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5688 to become law and provide that state registered domestic partners be treated the same as spouses under state law; and

WHEREAS, a vote of “rejected” on Referendum 71 would repeal Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5688 and allow state registered domestic partners to be treated differently than spouses under state law; and

WHEREAS, the City of Seattle embraces legal equality and fair treatment for all residents, and values the contributions and personal dignity of all; and

WHEREAS, the City of Seattle has legally protected its citizens from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation since 1973, and on the basis of gender identity since 1999; and

WHEREAS, since 1993, the City of Seattle has provided its employees with health benefit coverage for city registered domestic partners; and

WHEREAS, since 1999, unmarried members of the City of Seattle Retirement City Employees’ Retirement System can designate a domestic partner as his or her beneficiary; and

WHEREAS, since 2000, the City of Seattle has required contractors on City contracts to provide employee benefits to their employees with domestic partners equivalent to those provided to their employees with spouses;

NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE, THE MAYOR CONCURRING, THAT:

Section 1. The City of Seattle urges Seattle voters to vote “approved” on Referendum 71 on the November, 2009 ballot, thereby retaining Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5688 and expanding the rights and responsibilities of state registered domestic partners as equal to those of spouses.

- posted by Empowering Spirits Foundation

A popular Manhattan deejay yesterday charged that cops “did nothing” after he and two friends were attacked in a gay-bashing incident in Hell’s Kitchen over the weekend.

“I am more angry at the lack of response than the incident,” said Blake Hayes, a WPLJ disc jockey. “We asked several times to file a report. They [cops] never opened a pad of paper.”

The NYPD hate-crimes unit is now investigating the incident, after City Council Speaker Christine Quinn intervened, Hayes and officials said.

Hayes said the disturbing incident occurred at about 12:30 a.m. Saturday as he and two friends, Danny Calvert and Alec Bell, were walking past McCoy’s, a bar on Ninth Avenue.

A patron standing outside threw a lit cigarette butt at one of his friends, saying, “Keep moving, faggot,” Hayes said.

This led to angry words, and the man threw Calvert against a car and punched Bell in the face twice, Hayes said.

By RACHEL LA CORTE (AP)

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Nearly a year after California voters overturned same-sex marriage, voters in three other states will weigh in this fall on whether to reverse gay rights initiatives ranging from anti-discrimination measures to marriage benefits.

In Maine, voters will decide whether or not to uphold the state’s legalization of same-sex marriage. In Washington state, a so-called “everything but marriage” law that expands the state’s current domestic partnership law will be on the ballot. And in Kalamazoo, Mich., voters will decide on an ordinance that prohibits discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals.

“In off-year elections, ballot measures gain much more attention, regardless of the topic,” said University of Washington political science professor Matt Barreto. But California’s battle over Proposition 8 is “certainly an important backdrop.”

Under a California Supreme Court decision, California had allowed same-sex marriages for five months before 52 percent of voters reversed the ruling in the contentious $83 million Prop. 8 battle last November. The state’s Supreme Court upheld the vote earlier this year.

Gay rights supporters see one silver lining in the loss in California.

“It has sparked a greater public conversation about gay people,” said Dan Hawes, a field director with the Washington, D.C.-based National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. “While we have lost in previous ballot measures, because the margin of loss continues to shrink, it does indicate that there is growing acceptance.”

Barreto said that the money involved in this year’s ballot measures won’t come close to Prop. 8 — California is a much more expensive market to run TV ads in, and the Prop. 8 ads came during a high profile presidential election year, driving the cost astronomically higher, he said.

In Maine, opponents of gay marriage had raised more than $343,000 through the end of the last quarterly reporting period in July, with $160,000 from the National Organization for Marriage, one of the groups that backed Prop. 8. Supporters of gay marriage raised $143,290 in that same period.

In addition to the loss in California, gay-rights supporters suffered setbacks elsewhere last fall, with amendments banning gay marriage being approved in Arizona and Florida. Arkansas voters approved a measure banning unmarried couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents.

“When the people have voted, they have voted to defend marriage,” said Carrie Gordon Earll, senior director of public policy for Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family.

Thirty states have voter-approved gay marriage bans in their constitutions. Several other states, including Washington, have bans that were passed by state lawmakers.

The 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, bars federal recognition of gay unions and denies gay couples access to federal pensions, health insurance and other government benefits.

Since then, six states have enacted laws or issued court rulings that permit same-sex marriage, including Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut and Iowa. New Hampshire’s law takes effect Jan. 1.

Maine’s gay marriage law was scheduled to go into effect on Sept. 12, but it was put on hold once opponents got enough signatures to force a public vote.

“There’s going to be victories and there’s going to be reversals,” said Washington state Sen. Ed Murray, one of the Legislature’s six gay lawmakers, who successfully spearheaded a gay rights law and three domestic partnership laws. “There is an impression that somehow because we elected a Democratic president and Democratic Congress, this is all solved. It isn’t.”

Lawmakers in Washington state have taken an incremental approach to increasing gay rights without actually taking on the state’s marriage ban, which was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2006. The following year, lawmakers passed the state’s first domestic partnership law granting a handful of rights, like hospital visitation, to gay and lesbian couples.

In 2008, that law was expanded to add more rights, and this year the latest law added such partnerships to all remaining areas of state law where currently only married couples are mentioned. The statutes range from labor and employment rights to pensions and other public employee benefits.

Nearly 12,000 people in Washington state are registered as domestic partners, and while the underlying law that was passed in 2007 allows some older heterosexual couples to register as domestic partners, most of the couples are gay.

Conservative Christians rallied to get Referendum 71 on the November ballot, arguing that Washington state’s latest move is the last step before full civil marriage for gay and lesbian couples in the state.

Opponents of the state’s law are also fighting in court to try to continue shielding the names of people who signed petitions to force a public vote.

Attorneys for Protect Marriage Washington say that referendum signers’ names and addresses should be exempt from the state’s public records disclosure law because release of the information would put them at risk of harassment, amounting to an unconstitutional infringement of free speech rights.

A federal judge in Tacoma granted the sponsors’ request earlier this month. But the state is appealing, citing the state’s open-government laws. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hold a hearing on the case in Pasadena, Calif. next month.

The constitutional argument is similar to that made by the National Organization for Marriage and other groups that sponsored Prop. 8. Those groups had sought to block their campaign finance records from public view, saying previous reports led to the harassment of donors. A federal judge in that case ruled earlier this year the names had to be disclosed. A lawsuit on the case is moving forward.

“No one should have to suffer vandalism and death threats just because they support government protection of traditional marriage,” attorney James Bopp Jr., representing Protect Marriage, said in a recent press release. Bopp was also involved in the effort to shield California donors.

If R-71 is rejected, only the most recent law would be rolled back; the two prior domestic partnership laws would not be affected.

Washington state, along with California, Oregon, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia, have laws that either recognize civil unions or domestic partnerships that afford same-sex couples similar rights to marriage.

While Maine and Washington state will get most of the focus in November’s election, a gay rights ordinance in the southwestern Michigan city of Kalamazoo is getting national attention from groups on both sides as well.

The city’s ordinance, which outlaws employment, housing and public-accommodation discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identification, took effect July 9 but was suspended once opponents turned in enough signed petitions to force a public vote.

On the Net:
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force: http://www.thetaskforce.org
Washington Families Standing Together: http://approvereferendum71.org
No on Kalamazoo Non-Discrimination Ordinance: http://responsiblevoters.org
Yes on Kalamazoo Non-Discrimination Ordinance: http://www.onekalamazoo.com
Maine Freedom to Marry: http://mainefreedomtomarry.com
Stand For Marriage Maine: http://www.standformarriagemaine.com
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

- Seattle Times September 24th 2009

A broad coalition of community support has rallied behind voter approval of Referendum 71, to extend legal rights and responsibilities to all Washington families.

THE campaign to affirm the legal rights and responsibilities of all Washington families has attracted an impressive coalition of support.

Approval of Referendum 71 has been endorsed by the region’s largest employers, civic groups, a spectrum of religious organizations, business and professional associations, labor unions and good-government groups.

All are drawn to the equal treatment for families at the heart of R-71, which will be on the November ballot. The measure seeks approval for a law already passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire.

Senate Bill 5688 gives registered domestic partners the benefits, obligations and responsibilities that apply to traditional marriages. This is about a relationship between couples and their families and the state — all the various legal connections that interplay when couples establish households and raise families.

Passage of the referendum requires an affirmative vote. Supporters of equitable treatment for all Washington families must fill in their ballot to approve R-71.

Among those calling for approval are Boeing, Microsoft, Nike, Puget Sound Energy, RealNetworks and Vulcan Development. Other endorsements have come from The Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, Washington State Bar Association and the Washington Association of Churches. Endorsements cover the state and cross the mountains.

As impressive as the coalition is for passage of R-71, it is no substitute for a strong turnout during an off-year election. An array of endorsements reinforces the importance of this thoughtful extension of the state’s domestic-partnership law. Adoption of R-71 is still grounded in casting votes to approve its passage.

A moment like this only comes around once in a lifetime.

Whatever your sexual orientation or gender identity may be, the best way to ensure that all of our struggles for social and economic justice progress is to stand together in solidarity. As the old labor slogan so aptly expresses, “An Injury to One is an Injury to All.” This year, on the fortieth anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, on the thirtieth anniversary of the first LGBT March on Washington, on the ninetieth anniversary of the Seattle General Strike, and on the tenth anniversary of the Battle in Seattle, we are excited to build a grassroots movement for civil rights and equality for all, starting with APPROVING Referendum 71 and keeping domestic partnerships legal.

These are just some of the opportunities we have to spread the word about this historic event. If you are planning to go or if you want to volunteer to spread the word, please let us know and we can coordinate materials (getting you flyers, signup sheets, etc). Hand out flyers, talk to people about APPROVING Referendum 71, invite people to march with us, sign up volunteers: let’s be creative and build a movement for equality and justice for all!

Seattle LGBT Equality March Outreach Opportunities: Shoot outr...@seattleoutprotest.org an email if you need supplies and which events you’re attending! Also, check out www.seattleoutprotest.org for flyers you can print out and updates on outreach!

Friday, September 25, 4:00 pm

Seattle Decibel Festival

The Chapel Bar, 1600 Melrose Ave

Friday, September 25, 7:30 pm

OUTDancing

Century Ballroom, 915 E Pine St

Friday, September 25, 8 pm

Billie Jean: The Legend

Open Circle Theater, 2222 2nd Ave, Ste. 222, Belltown

Friday, September 25, 9 pm

Comeback

Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison

Friday, September 25, 9 pm

Neighbors Ultimate Dance Party

Saturday, September 26, 9 am

Seattle Labor Rally, AFL-CIO

Georgetown Seattle Building Trades Campus, 6770 E Marginal Way E-321

Saturday, September 26, 9:30 am – 2 pm

Seattle AIDS Walk

Walk with the Washington Marriage Alliance

Tabling at Seattle Central Community College (on walk route), 11 a to 1 p

Post-Walk After-party/reception at Volunteer Park (until about 2 pm)

Saturday, September 26, 5:30 pm

Speak! HRC 10th Annual Pacific Northwest Dinner

Westin Hotel, 1900 5th Ave, Downtown

Saturday, September 26, 8 pm

Seattle Decibel Festival

Neumo’s, 925 E. Pike Street

Sole Repair Shop, 1001 E Pike Steet

Saturday, September 26, 8 pm

Latino Night

Galerias, 611 Broadway E

Saturday, September 26, 10 pm

Cherry! A Hot Night for Lesbians & Their Friends

Re-bar, 1114 Howell St

Sunday, September 27, 12 pm

Seattle Decibel Festival

Sole Repair Shop, 1001 E Pike Steet

Sunday, September 27, 1 pm

Canvassing Party for Referendum 71 and Seattle LGBT Equality March & Rally

Starbucks on Olive on Capitol Hill

Sunday, September 27, 6:30 pm

An Evening with Antiwar Correspondent Dahr Jamail

University Temple Methodist Church, 1415 NE 43rd Street, U-District

Resisting Homophobia in the Military: http://www.truthout.org/083109R

Tuesday, September 29, 5:30 pm

GSBA’s Young Professionals with Pride Networking Mixer

Bailey/Coy Books, 414 Broadway E

Wednesday, October 7, 6 – 8 pm

Washington Bus Parliament with Thee Satisfaction

Seattle Center: Warren & Republican Ave N

On October 7th the Washington Bus is hosting a super rad hip hop music show at the Vera Project with a focus on Referendum 71 and social justice.

Volunteer!
Planning to attend the Seattle LGBTQ Equality Weekend? Great! Want to make an even bigger impact to help our cause? VOLUNTEER! We have a variety of needs for people with all different talents, interests, and abilities. There will be many different shifts for all events on both Saturday and Sunday. Contact whit...@seattleoutprotest.org to sign up to make a difference!
Possible positions available:
Set-up
Clean-up
Peace keepers
Greeters
Route Directors
Candle Distributors
Outreach
and MORE!

Seattle LGBT Equality Weekend, October 10-11: http://seattleoutprotest.org
National LGBT Equality March: http://nationalequalitymarch.org

Vote for LGBT rights — Approve Referendum 71: http://approve71.org

- Press release from Love Honor Cherish who submitted ballot language today to repeal Prop 8 in 2010:

Today, a diverse group of Californians filed ballot language with the State of California for an initiative to repeal Proposition 8 in November 2010, and restore equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.

“Starting today, there is new hope for committed gay and lesbian couples who want to get married,” said John Henning, Executive Director of Love Honor Cherish, a grassroots group that is spearheading the effort to place the measure on the 2010 ballot. “We’re back on the path toward full equality.”

Love Honor Cherish is one of more than 40 groups that support repealing Prop 8 at the next general election in November 2010. The groups include Stonewall Democrats, the Latino Equality Alliance, the Mexican American Bar Association, and the San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality, among others. For a full list, go to www.RepealProp8.com.

Today’s filing is the first step in a process that will place the measure on the November 2010 ballot. In November, the broad coalition of groups supporting the initiative will begin circulating petitions to gather the 1 million signatures needed to qualify the initiative.

Henning called on supporters to mobilize immediately and start raising money for the effort. “Activists across the state have spent the summer organizing and recruiting signature gatherers and donors, and we’ll be continuing that work over the next 50 days,” he said. “When the petitions are ready, we’ll be ready.”

The goal of 1 million signatures, said Henning, will be reached primarily by using an army of motivated volunteers. The campaign will also use new social networking technology designed specifically by Love Honor Cherish, which will build community around the signature gathering process. The signature gathering process will last through April 2010.

Meanwhile, the campaign to restore marriage equality starts today. “Prop 8 passed with only 52% of the vote,” said Henning. “In the next 14 months, with hard work and inspiration, we can change the small percentage of hearts and minds that we need to win.”

Proposition 8 was an amendment to the California Constitution passed by voters in November 2008. It reversed a California Supreme Court decision in May 2008, which held that same-sex couples were guaranteed equal marriage rights under the California Constitution. The new ballot proposition is also a constitutional amendment.
See the proposed ballot language.

Press release from Restore Equality 2010 campaign:

Los Angeles – Today we are witnessing the launch of the campaign to restore civil marriage equality in 2010 with the submission of ballot language by a coalition of organizations and individuals led by Love Honor Cherish. It is an important step forward as we prepare to send activists throughout California to gather signatures to put the issue back on the ballot in 2010.

Restore Equality 2010 believes today’s submission of ballot language is an effective strategy, because it offers our community the most options as we prepare for the campaign ahead. We applaud all efforts that move us towards the restoration of marriage equality in California as soon as possible, including the important qualitative and quantitative research Courage Campaign is currently conducting as it seeks to determine the most effective message to use on the ballot.

We are in close contact with both Courage Campaign and the Love Honor Cherish coalition, and look forward to facilitating the efforts with all interested parties to determine the most powerful way to move towards our common goal. Courage Campaign’s research seeks the best strategy for the campaign while Love Honor Cherish seeks the advantage of a full 150 days for signature gathering. We are pleased to have the benefit of both strategies as we move forward together.

Should the research being conducted by Courage Campaign show us that another approach offers a greater opportunity for victory, Restore Equality 2010 will be able to refile language and push for fundraising to support a shorter signature gathering period. The campaign will also be ready to mobilize activists the day language is approved by the Secretary of State should the language submitted today prove to be the best choice, thus preserving the full 150 day window to gather signatures.
Rex Wockner reports that Equality California, who ran the No on Prop 8 campaign, helped draft today’s proposed ballot language.

“We helped Love Honor Cherish draft the language. We don’t agree on timing, but we wanted the language to be as good as possible,” said EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors.