Ballot Measures
FLORIDA SayNo2.com

Amendment 2 Debate
John Stemberger vs. Nadine Smith

FloridaRedandBlue.com


CALIFORNIA
Another Anti-Gay State Constitutional Amendment

Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced in a non-"girlie-man" way that he will veto or work to defeat any such amendment or law if it gets as far as his desk.

Then-governor Pete Wilson (R) made a promise in his day too, to sign legislation guaranteeing the equality of Californians who were or were thought to be gay, lesbian, or heterosexual if it got to his desk.

Pete Wilson is also the former presidential candidate who killed his own campaign on Day One by staging the announcement of his candidacy at the Statue of Liberty. It was a big, badly timed political turd because of the national public's heightened awareness of the race-based controversy and division Wilson was causing as governor of California. Incompetent GOPher Neo-Christian Nationalist hypocrisy writ large.

When California's Congress did pass the anti-discrimination bill easily and it got to his desk, soon after he was elected governor with the help of California's gays despite his (R), he vetoed the law instead, after running out the clock while "we" prematurely celebrated its passage.

Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego; many state offices experienced a wide range of Queer Rage that historic day and night. Fire was involved, and broken glass.

Although Pete Wilson was based in San Diego there was no spontaneous protest here when the news came out. Our response was scheduled and arranged for us, for the next day, after work. Except for me, it turned out to be an orderly, medium-sized, permitted protest (speak-out) based within a very small area on a short, blocked-off side street, directly in front of an entrance to the State's building downtown. There were cops on the rooftops. Cops with video cameras. Undercover cops pretending to be gay. Properly outraged gay and lesbian community representatives spoke from a stage created by a rented medium-sized flatbed or flatbed trailer. We marched in a small circle and said a few chants. There were a few protest signs.

Yours truly was the only one "arrested" that day in San Diego. That's what the local fishwrap reported anyway. In the world of reality, I was cuffed and held, interrogated and threatened with video evidence. Then they gave up and let me go.
After they already decided to bust me for what they thought they had me doing on film, I apparently surprised them by going into the public building immediately when they re-opened it after the protest ended. Along with other people who had been waiting for the state building closed by the protest to re-open, I had to take the elevator up to whatever floor held the governor's San Diego office. The actual office of the governor is way up in Sacramento. I had attempted, through his secretary, to make an appointment to see the governor the next time he was in town. They "arrested" me just outside the governor's office. All very dramatic. Then they took me into an office and I sat at a table while holding court for the captive audience of state cops.

I was pretty manic of course by that time so I had a blast brainfucking the cutest of the "undercover gay" state cops, the one who had been standing next to me in the crowd listening to the speakers, who had changed out of his "undercover gay" drag into his un-uniformed state cop drag. I never let up with questions about knowing him from a local gay bathhouse, loud enough for the other cop alphas to hear.

Plus I was annoying as a friendly, talkative, intentionally button-pushing gay activist who couldn't wait to get into a court room and turn it into a Queer Nation protest platform for any media willing to air it.

I repeatedly invited them to look at the video evidence again to see if they had enough evidence against me. When they came back it was clear they knew they didn't have enough to prove what they were trying to charge me with, or anything else, and they were not happy because it was also clear to them that I wasn't going to give them anything.

Once they had given up on busting me, they lead me back down through the building in handcuffs, which I think went well with my in my protest regalia, which included a black leather biker's jacket, down through the back offices until they decided to let me go out the front door. No arrest at all, and I had a wonderful time.
You can imagine how lovely "we" all felt recently when the City of San Diego installed a statue of Pete Wilson downtown in a showcase position. The unfortunate and angry victims of one of the kind of propositions and laws Pete Wilson signed - pure Neo-Christian Nationalism - victims of a particularly nasty law which wrote anti-Mexican racism into state law turned out on statue installation and dedication day in large enough numbers to frighten the locals. "We" were there also, in typically small San Diego numbers inadequately representing San Diego's big gay strength. There is at least one 24/7 security camera watching Pete Wilson's statue continue to waste San Diego's money for Pete Wilson's personal gain.

U.S. Senator Barack Obama On Gay Americans I’m running for President to build an America that lives up to our founding promise of equality for all – a promise that extends to our gay brothers and sisters. It’s wrong to have millions of Americans living as second-class citizens in this nation. And I ask for your support in this election so that together we can bring about real change for all LGBT Americans. Equality is a moral imperative. That’s why throughout my career, I have fought to eliminate discrimination against LGBT Americans. In Illinois, I co-sponsored a fully inclusive bill that prohibited discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity, extending protection to the workplace, housing, and places of public accommodation.

In the U.S. Senate, I have co-sponsored bills that would equalize tax treatment for same-sex couples and provide benefits to domestic partners of federal employees. And as president, I will place the weight of my administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes and a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. As your President, I will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws. I personally believe that civil unions represent the best way to secure that equal treatment. But I also believe that the federal government should not stand in the way of states that want to decide on their own how best to pursue equality for gay and lesbian couples — whether that means a domestic partnership, a civil union, or a civil marriage.

Unlike Senator Clinton, I support the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) – a position I have held since before arriving in the U.S. Senate. While some say we should repeal only part of the law, I believe we should get rid of that statute altogether. Federal law should not discriminate in any way against gay and lesbian couples, which is precisely what DOMA does. I have also called for us to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and I have worked to improve the Uniting American Families Act so we can afford same-sex couples the same rights and obligations as married couples in our immigration system. The next president must also address the HIV/AIDS epidemic. When it comes to prevention, we do not have to choose between values and science. While abstinence education should be part of any strategy, we also need to use common sense. We should have age-appropriate sex education that includes information about contraception. We should pass the JUSTICE Act to combat infection within our prison population. And we should lift the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users. In addition, local governments can protect public health by distributing contraceptives.

We also need a president who’s willing to confront the stigma – too often tied to homophobia – that continues to surround HIV/AIDS. I confronted this stigma directly in a speech to evangelicals at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, and will continue to speak out as president. That is where I stand on the major issues of the day. But having the right positions on the issues is only half the battle. The other half is to win broad support for those positions. And winning broad support will require stepping outside our comfort zone. If we want to repeal DOMA, repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and implement fully inclusive laws outlawing hate crimes and discrimination in the workplace, we need to bring the message of LGBT equality to skeptical audiences as well as friendly ones – and that’s what I’ve done throughout my career. I brought this message of inclusiveness to all of America in my keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention.

I talked about the need to fight homophobia when I announced my candidacy for President, and I have been talking about LGBT equality to a number of groups during this campaign – from local LGBT activists to rural farmers to parishioners at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Dr. Martin Luther King once preached. Just as important, I have been listening to what all Americans have to say. I will never compromise on my commitment to equal rights for all LGBT Americans. But neither will I close my ears to the voices of those who still need to be convinced. That is the work we must do to move forward together. It is difficult. It is challenging. And it is necessary. Americans are yearning for leadership that can empower us to reach for what we know is possible. I believe that we can achieve the goal of full equality for the millions of LGBT people in this country. To do that, we need leadership that can appeal to the best parts of the human spirit. Join with me, and I will provide that leadership. Together, we will achieve real equality for all Americans, gay and straight alike.

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