Florida Agenda

Last December, Florida’s former Republican Governor, Charlie Crist, told a group of reporters who asked if he regretted signing a petition banning same-sex marriage in the state constitution, “I think the best way to judge where my heart is, is to look at the deeds that I have done, whether as attorney general [or] as governor…”

Since last September’s Democratic National Convention, I’ve been eagerly awaiting Charlie Crist to prove that he has a compassionate heart, and clearly argue his position on marriage equality. I have also been waiting for the Democratic National Committee and President Obama to make things right with LGBT Convention delegates, and facilitate a meaningful dialogue with Crist on issues important to LGBT Floridians. Both the DNC and President Obama have fallen flat on their faces and failed miserably to ensure such opportunities existed between Crist and LGBT activists.

In the days leading up to the 2012 Democratic National Convention, I publicly raised the issue as the only openly-gay elected delegate (out of eight delegates who were representing DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s congressional district at the Convention). Officials from the DNC shamefully berated me when Steve Rothaus of the Miami Herald published a blog post entitled “Gay Democratic Delegate: Convention Speaker Charlie Crist ‘the Ultimate Political Whore’.”

On March 27, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). LGBT activists have been applauding the leadership of many Democrats and Republicans who signed on to amicus briefs arguing DOMA’s unconstitutionality.

Remarkably, no amicus brief was submitted by Charlie Crist, who is reported to be employed by the Orlando-based mega-law firm of Morgan & Morgan. Crist is said to be earning an annual salary of $1,000,000, and I find it mind boggling that given all the resources of that law firm, Crist decided instead to audition for the hybrid role of the  Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion (from the “Wizard of Oz”), choosing to remain silent on the DOMA arguments before the Supreme Court.

It was a missed opportunity for Crist to prove he has a compassionate heart, as well as an opportunity for the DNC and President Obama to make amends for their insensitivity concerning Crist’s speech last year at the Democratic National Convention.

Throughout Crist’s political career, he always hid in the closet or pandered to religious conservatives when a controversial issue demanded a real leader to step forward.

Charlie Crist, I’m following your advice: I’m judging you on your past action for supporting a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Florida, and for the absence of your leadership in the argument about the unconstitutional nature of DOMA.

Michael Emanuel Rajner is the Legislative Director for the Florida Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Democratic Caucus, and serves on the Broward County Human Rights Board. A slightly different version of this piece originally appeared at The Bilerico Project.

SEATTLE, WA – Retailer Nordstrom has announced its support for marriage equality. The Seattle-based brand sent out a company-wide memo last week, written by CEO Blake Nordstrom and co-signed by brothers Erik and Pete Nordstrom that spelled out the luxury chain’s “philosophical approach” to business, which includes a workplace where “every employee is welcomed and respected.”

Although the company currently offers domestic partnership benefits to its same-sex employees, “We feel the next step in this journey is to now support freedom to marry, also called marriage equality,” wrote Nordstrom. “We gave this thoughtful consideration and felt the time was right to come out in support of this civil rights issue,” he explained.

“It is our belief that our gay and lesbian employees are entitled to the same rights and protections marriage provides as all our employees,” Nordstrom added, noting that “the decision is consistent with our longtime philosophy of inclusivity and equality.”

The retailer joins other Washington-based corporations, including Amazon.com and Starbucks, in supporting the state’s Referendum 74, which would legalize marriage equality.

Other Fortune 500 companies are likewise actively proclaiming their courtship for LGBT customers, and support for LGBT rights. This year, retailer JC Penney hired openly-gay talk show host Ellen DeGeneres as its spokesperson, and Kraft Foods recently posted a rainbow-colored Oreo cookie on its Facebook page.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – A new survey of Illinois delegates to the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina this week indicates that President Obama’s support for legalizing same-sex marriage helps his reelection chances. Almost 78 percent of respondents to a Chicago Daily Herald survey said that the president’s announcement this year supporting marriage equality will help him among independent voters. The remainder thinks his position will neither help nor hurt him.

The responses of the 40 Prairie State delegates stands in stark contrast to those of GOP delegates surveyed by the newspaper prior to last week’s Republican National Convention in Tampa. In those answers, 33 percent said that Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s opposition to gay marriage will help him with independent voters. Only 4 percent said that his position will hurt his chances, while 64 percent think it will neither help nor hurt him.

In Illinois, lawmakers have approved civil unions, while a suit seeking to legalize marriage equality is working its way through the state’s courts.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – Last week, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, donated $2.5 million to the campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in Washington State—a contribution that effectively doubles the electoral war chest of gay marriage supporters. Washington is one of four states where same-sex marriage referendums will be on the ballot this year.

In February, Washington State lawmakers legalized same-sex marriage, a move pushed by Gov. Christine Gregoire, a Democrat. But opponents collected enough signatures to add a ballot measure that would repeal the law. Although most Americans say they support marriage equality, voters in 32 states have rejected such measures at the ballot box.

Bezos, who founded Seattle-based Amazon.com in 1994, is among top Washington State business leaders who have donated in support of the same-sex referendum, including Bill Gates and Steven A. Ballmer of Microsoft, who have each given $100,000.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – In separate but coordinated pastoral letters to their respective flocks, the Roman Catholic and Anglican archbishops of Sydney condemned parliamentary efforts to legalize same sex marriage.

LGBT rights activists and marriage equality supporters accused the churches of utilizing fear-mongering tactics from pulpits for political purposes.

In a letter read Sunday to Anglican congregations, the Archbishop of Sydney, Rev. Dr. Peter Jensen said called gay marriage a “state-imposed idea,” and referred to “a blatant propaganda war fought on this issue, with what amounts to product placement and celebrity endorsements.” The Anglican prelate called on his flock to pressure their Members of Parliament to oppose marriage equality bills,” and to those lawmakers, he added, “my advice to people is to take this into account as you cast your vote.”

In a similar epistle to Roman Catholic congregations, Sydney’s Cardinal George Pell said that same-sex relationships are “contrary to God’s plan for sexuality,” and that the two proposed bills for marriage equality “will cause” “discrimination and injustice,” “instead of removing” them.

And the Primate of Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, Archbishop Stylianos Harkianakis, wrote “Our Orthodox view is contrary” to same sex marriage, “because the proposed alteration to the traditional form of marriage is diametrically against the sacredness of marriage and of the family, as taught by the Christian faith and Greek Orthodox Tradition.”

The prelates’ opinions will likely prevail, at least for now, because although a majority of Australians support marriage equality, a senior lawmaker said on Monday that MPs will likely maintain the ban on same sex marriage, when the issue comes to a vote later this year. Graham Perrett— who has two gay brothers and supports gay marriage—chairs the Australian parliamentary committee that examined gay law reform, and said that he believes a majority of lawmakers don’t share his views.

By Cliff Dunn

“Personally, I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.” -President Barack Obama, May 9, 2012

WASHINGTON, DC – President Barack Obama made history on Wednesday, saying he “personally affirms” his support for marriage equality for all Americans. “I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point, I’ve just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama said.

During an interview with ABC reporter Robin Roberts (which aired in full this morning on “Good Morning America”), Obama gave LGBT Americans the nod they had been waiting for after four years of coy winks concerning his “evolving” views on full marriage rights for every citizen.

The president, invoking the images of same-sex families and households possessing the same goals and concerns as any straight family unit, spoke of his evolution from a supporter of civil unions to a history-making proponent of full marital rights.

The president’s comments came during a week that was filled with good news for LGBT Americans. On Sunday, during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Vice President Joe Biden said that he is “absolutely comfortable” with gay marriage, remarks that were followed on Monday by Secretary of Education Secretary Arne Duncan offering ‘his own “public” support on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“It’s interesting, some of this is also generational,” President Obama offered. “You know when I go to college campuses, sometimes I talk to college Republicans who think that I have terrible policies on the economy, on foreign policy, but are very clear that when it comes to same sex equality or, you know, believe in equality. They are much more comfortable with it. You know, Malia and Sasha [the president and Mrs. Obama’s daughters], they have friends whose parents are same sex couples. There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table and we’re talking about their friends and their parents and Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them and frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective.”

By publically announcing his support, Obama was formalizing a process that has already begun, with the rollback of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), and the Justice Department ending its defense of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)—which defines marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman—in court. Analysts say that the president is taking some political risk in his overt support for same-sex marriage. In 2008, his presidential campaign won North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes by a 0.3 percent margin of victory. On Tuesday, the pivotal swing state’s voters overwhelmingly—61 to 39 percent—passed legislation which enshrines the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman in the state constitution. For Obama, it will be a long road until November.WASHINGTON, DC – President Barack Obama made history on Wednesday, saying he “personally affirms” his support for marriage equality for all Americans.

JAMESTOWN, NY – The comments of a Jamestown councilman suggesting that the community consider marketing itself as a Mecca for gay marriage has sparked a firestorm, with the official receiving calls for his resignation and even threats against his life.

Councilman Greg Rabb, who also serves as the municipal body’s president, proposed during a recent meeting that the state’s marriage equality law could benefit the community by putting out the call for gay tourists and those looking to tie the knot.

When council members reviewed ideas for building tourism dollars within the community of 31,000 (Source: 2010 Census data), Rabb floated the suggestion that Jamestown “market itself as a same sex destination.”

Following the remarks, a flood of emails and comments hit the Web site of the Post Journal, the local newspaper. “I was appalled when I read Greg Rabb’s idea to make Chautauqua County a destination for ‘same sex marriages,’” wrote one reader. “What a despicable thing to say!

This is an abomination and is against all natural law. The morals of our country are at an all time low and it is time we turn ourselves around.”

Another reader, Pastor Donald V. Erickson, wrote with outrage “What! Is this how we are going to put Jamestown on the map? A baby San Francisco? We’ve already been in the national limelight (recall one who went about Jamestown knowingly infecting girls with the HIV virus),” adding “News flash, fellas: The second half of Romans, chapter one, is just as true as every other page in God’s Holy Word (The Bible).” Another criticized Rabb for pushing a “personal agenda.”

Supporters of Rabb organized a demonstration on front of the Post Journal editorial offices this week, to show their solidarity with the embattled councilman.

They said that the councilman had received threats since his suggestion, and note that town officials have seen an increase in tourism since the passage of marriage equality in New York, since Jamestown is near the border with Pennsylvania, a state where gay marriage is still not legal.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – A prominent British barrister says that rulings in favor of marriage equality by the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Appeal mean that British churches will soon be compelled to perform same-sex marriages, despite promises to the contrary by Prime Minister David Cameron.

Cameron’s government issued a consultation document last month that said a marriage equality law will “make no changes to religious marriages.” The document said that church marriages “will continue to only be legally possible between a man and a woman.”

Neil Addison, the director of the Thomas More Legal Centre in London, which represents religious and social conservative organizations in court, says this isn’t the case. “The Government will be obliged to permit same-sex marriage on religious premises on exactly the same basis as it permits heterosexual marriage,” said Addison.

“Certainly a good legal case can be made that any place or person who is registered to perform marriage must be willing to perform same-sex marriage on the same basis as they conduct heterosexual marriage since, in law, there will be no difference between the two,” he added.

Addison pointed to the recent decision in a European Court of Human Rights case involving two French lesbians which found that, although no country has an obligation to legalize marriage equality, once such a law is passed, the state must apply it equally to all citizens.

“Churches which perform heterosexual marriages will have to be willing to perform same-sex marriages and they will have no legal grounds to resist since the courts have determined that the ‘orthodox Christian view of marriage’ is not a ‘core’ part of Christian belief,” Addison noted.

MANCHESTER, NH – Lawmakers rejected a bill that would have made New Hampshire’s legislature the first to repeal a marriage equality law.

Members of the state House voted 211-116 to defeat the bill, which ended attempts by the chamber’s new GOP majority to overturn the Granite State’s two-yearold same-sex marriage law.

“They blew it,” said Craig Stowell, co-chair of Standing Up For New Hampshire Families, citing conservatives’ efforts to undo the existing gay marriage law. “This was supposed to be the most favorable legislative climate for repeal and they couldn’t even get a majority.”

Republicans hold a 189-seat majority in the state’s House of Representatives.

The Republican-backed measure would have ended same-sex marriage effective March 2013, and replaced it with a previous civil unions law that had been in effect in 2008 and 2009. Under the bill, those same-sex marriages that were made prior to the repeal taking effect would have remained valid.

State Rep. David Welch, a Republican, said he had been against same-sex marriage, but that the time for repeal had come and gone. “The Legislature has given certain rights to members of our community and now we’re being asked to take them away,” said Welch.

Another Republican, state Rep. Warren Groen, supported the bill because, in his view, marriage equality is a gateway to legalizing polygamy and other non-traditional lifestyles. “We are indeed on a slippery slope,” Groen said.

STRASBOURG, FRANCE – The European Court of Human Rights ruled last week that its member states are not required to grant access to marriage to same-sex couples.

The judges were deciding upon the case of two gay women who are registered in France under a civil partnership. The couple argued that their status prevents them from adopting a child as a couple.

The women, Valerie Gas and Nathalie Dubois, were asking the court to establish their marriage rights under European anti-discrimination laws.

Among other rights the women were petitioning for Gas to be allowed to adopt Dubois’s 11 year-old daughter.

But the judges said there had been no discrimination. “The European Convention on Human Rights does not require member states’ governments to grant same-sex couples access to marriage,” the court ruled.

“With regard to married couples, the court considers that in view of the social, personal, and legal consequences of marriage, the applicants’ legal situation could not be said to be comparable to that of married couples,” they added.

But the judges noted the importance of parity in all instances: “Where national legislation recognizes registered partnerships between samesex, member states should aim to ensure that their legal status and their rights and obligations are equivalent to those of heterosexual couples in a similar situation.”