The June 2020 Lee Wind Video Newsletter

For me, being an ally to the Black community right now means 7 things...



This video was recorded around 5:30pm Pacific on Friday June 12, 2020. Just hours later, Rayshard Brooks was murdered by a police officer in Atlanta. Enough! BLACK LIVES MATTER.


While there's no need for a transcript this time, there are a bunch of links to share:

There's lots of media coverage of the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, but not every article helps us know who they were as people. Look for those.

One story that didn't get as much attention was the police murder of Tony McDade. This was largely because Tony was Trans. You can read more about Tony in this Advocate article: https://www.advocate.com/crime/2020/5/29/black-trans-man-tony-mcdade-killed-police-florida

Watch Trevor Noah speak about our society's broken contract with Black people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4amCfVbA_c&feature=youtu.be The quote I cite is from 11:09.

Watch Kimberly Latrice Jones spell out the injustice done to Black Americans so eloquently here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBGUPgBApio/ The quote I cite is from 3:28.

Watch Jacqueline Woodson speak about being Anti-Racist (and some of the microaggressions she's faced) in the Kid Lit Rally 4 Black Lives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fElXu_MdRrs&feature=youtu.be The quote I cite is from 24:48.

Watch this conversation with President Obama: Reimagining Policing in the Wake of Continued Police Violence: https://youtu.be/q_qB6SsErpA. The President Obama quote I cite is from 1:09:07.

Learn more about the diversity pride flag with the added brown and black stripes to recognize, celebrate, and advocate for LGBTQ people of color here: https://www.phillymag.com/news/2017/06/08/philly-pride-flag-black-brown/

Check out this "Anguish and Action" page at Obama.org with "resources to create a more just and equitable world": https://www.obama.org/anguish-and-action/

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Stay safe,
Lee

A Reminder of What Leadership Looks Like and Feels Like: Barack Obama's article: "How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change"

If you haven't yet read this piece,
How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change, 

by our last President on Medium yet, do so now.

The article includes these highlights:

“So the bottom line is this: if we want to bring about real change, then the choice isn’t between protest and politics. We have to do both. We have to mobilize to raise awareness, and we have to organize and cast our ballots to make sure that we elect candidates who will act on reform.”

“And if you’re interested in taking concrete action, we’ve also created a dedicated site at the Obama Foundation to aggregate and direct you to useful resources and organizations who’ve been fighting the good fight at the local and national levels for years.”

and

“...watching the heightened activism of young people in recent weeks, of every race and every station, makes me hopeful. If, going forward, we can channel our justifiable anger into peaceful, sustained, and effective action, then this moment can be a real turning point in our nation’s long journey to live up to our highest ideals.”

Inspiring, hopeful, and reminding us that people in positions of power can both care and help direct our collective energy toward creating lasting change and impact: Oh, hey! That's called leadership.

Thank you, Barack!

Read the full article here.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,

Lee

President Obama's Speech on the 50th Anniversary of the March On Washington

Watch this! (From Wednesday of this week...)



Moments that leapt out at me include at 8:36 in...

"Because they marched, America became more free and more fair, not just for African-Americans but for women and Latinos, Asians and Native Americans, for Catholics, Jews and Muslims, for gays, for Americans with disabilities.

America changed for you and for me. 

And the entire world drew strength from that example."

and at 12 minutes in...

"The arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice but it doesn't bend on its own."

and this part at 22 minutes in...

The March on Washington teaches us that we are not trapped by the mistakes of history, that we are masters of our fate.

But it also teaches us that the promise of this nation will only be kept when we work together. We'll have to reignite the embers of empathy and fellow feeling, the coalition of conscience that found expression in this place 50 years ago.

And I believe that spirit is there, that true force inside each of us. I see it when a white mother recognizes her own daughter in the face of a poor black child. I see it when the black youth thinks of his own grandfather in the dignified steps of an elderly white man. It's there when the native born recognizing that striving spirit of a new immigrant, when the interracial couple connects the pain of a gay couple who were discriminated against and understands it as their own. That's where courage comes from, when we turn not from each other or on each other but towards one another, and we find that we do not walk alone. That's where courage comes from.

Here's a full transcript of President Obama's speech from the Federal News Service (as reported by the Washington Post.)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: To the King family, who have sacrificed and inspired so much, to President Clinton, President Carter, Vice President Biden, Jill, fellow Americans, five decades ago today, Americans came to this honored place to lay claim to a promise made at our founding.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

In 1963, almost 200 years after those words were set to paper, a full century after a great war was fought and emancipation proclaimed, that promise, those truths remained unmet. And so they came by the thousands, from every corner of our country -- men and women, young and old, blacks who longed for freedom and whites who could no longer accept freedom for themselves while witnessing the subjugation of others. Across the land, congregations sent them off with food and with prayer. In the middle of the night, entire blocks of Harlem came out to wish them well.

With the few dollars they scrimped from their labor, some bought tickets and boarded buses, even if they couldn't always sit where they wanted to sit. Those with less money hitchhiked, or walked. They were seamstresses, and steelworkers, and students, and teachers, maids and pullman porters. They shared simple meals and bunked together on floors.

And then, on a hot summer day, they assembled here, in our nation's capital, under the shadow of the great emancipator, to offer testimony of injustice, to petition their government for redress and to awaken America's long-slumbering conscience.

We rightly and best remember Dr. King's soaring oratory that day, how he gave mighty voice to the quiet hopes of millions, how he offered a salvation path for oppressed and oppressors alike. His words belong to the ages, possessing a power and prophecy unmatched in our time.

But we would do well to recall that day itself also belonged to those ordinary people whose names never appeared in the history books, never got on TV.

Many had gone to segregated schools and sat at segregated lunch counters, had lived in towns where they couldn't vote, in cities where their votes didn't matter. There were couples in love who couldn't marry, soldiers who fought for freedom abroad that they found denied to them at home. They had seen loved ones beaten and children fire- hosed. And they had every reason to lash out in anger or resign themselves to a bitter fate.

And yet they chose a different path. In the face of hatred, they prayed for their tormentors. In the face of violence, they stood up and sat in with the moral force of nonviolence. Willingly, they went to jail to protest unjust laws, their cells swelling with the sound of freedom songs. A lifetime of indignities had taught them that no man can take away the dignity and grace that God grants us. They had learned through hard experience what Frederick Douglas once taught: that freedom is not given; it must be won through struggle and discipline, persistence and faith.

That was the spirit they brought here that day.

That was the spirit young people like John Lewis brought that day. That was the spirit that they carried with them like a torch back to their cities and their neighborhoods, that steady flame of conscience and courage that would sustain them through the campaigns to come, through boycotts and voter registration drives and smaller marches, far from the spotlight, through the loss of four little girls in Birmingham, the carnage of Edmund Pettus Bridge and the agony of Dallas, California, Memphis. Through setbacks and heartbreaks and gnawing doubt, that flame of justice flickered and never died.

And because they kept marching, America changed. Because they marched, the civil rights law was passed. Because they marched, the voting rights law was signed. Because they marched, doors of opportunity and education swung open so their daughters and sons could finally imagine a life for themselves beyond washing somebody else's laundry or shining somebody else's shoes. (Applause.) Because they marched, city councils changed and state legislatures changed and Congress changed and, yes, eventually the White House changed. (Cheers, applause.)

Because they marched, America became more free and more fair, not just for African-Americans but for women and Latinos, Asians and Native Americans, for Catholics, Jews and Muslims, for gays, for Americans with disabilities.

America changed for you and for me.

And the entire world drew strength from that example, whether it be young people who watched from the other side of an Iron Curtain and would eventually tear down that wall, or the young people inside South Africa who would eventually end the scourge of apartheid. (Applause.) Those are the victories they won, with iron wills and hope in their hearts. That is the transformation that they wrought with each step of their well-worn shoes. That's the depth that I and millions of Americans owe those maids, those laborers, those porters, those secretaries -- folks who could have run a company, maybe, if they had ever had a chance; those white students who put themselves in harm's way even though they didn't have to -- (applause) -- those Japanese- Americans who recalled their own interment, those Jewish Americans who had survived the Holocaust, people who could have given up and given in but kept on keeping on, knowing that weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning -- (cheers, applause) -- on the battlefield of justice, men and women without rank or wealth or title or fame would liberate us all, in ways that our children now take for granted as people of all colors and creeds live together and learn together and walk together, and fight alongside one another and love one another, and judge one another by the content of our character in this greatest nation on Earth.

To dismiss the magnitude of this progress, to suggest, as some sometimes do, that little has changed -- that dishonors the courage and the sacrifice of those who paid the price to march in those years. (Applause.) Medgar Evers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, Martin Luther King Jr., they did not die in vain. (Applause.) Their victory was great.

But we would dishonor those heroes as well to suggest that the work of this nation is somehow complete. The arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice, but it doesn't bend on its own. To secure the gains this country has made requires constant vigilance, not complacency. Whether it's by challenging those who erect new barriers to the vote or ensuring that the scales of justice work equally for all in the criminal justice system and not simply a pipeline from underfunded schools to overcrowded jails -- (applause) -- it requires vigilance.

(Cheers, applause.)

And we'll suffer the occasional setback. But we will win these fights. This country has changed too much. (Applause.) People of good will, regardless of party, are too plentiful for those with ill will to change history's currents. (Applause.)

In some ways, though, the securing of civil rights, voting rights, the eradication of legalized discrimination -- the very significance of these victories may have obscured a second goal of the march, for the men and women who gathered 50 years ago were not there in search of some abstract idea. They were there seeking jobs as well as justice -- (applause) -- not just the absence of oppression but the presence of economic opportunity. For what does it profit a man, Dr. King would ask, to sit at an integrated lunch counter if he can't afford the meal?

This idea that -- that one's liberty is linked to one's livelihood, that the pursuit of happiness requires the dignity of work, the skills to find work, decent pay, some measure of material security -- this idea was not new.

Lincoln himself understood the Declaration of Independence in such terms, as a promise that in due time, the weights should be lifted from the shoulders of all men and that all should have an equal chance.

Dr. King explained that the goals of African-Americans were identical to working people of all races: decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures -- conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community.

What King was describing has been the dream of every American. It's what's lured for centuries new arrivals to our shores. And it's along this second dimension of economic opportunity, the chance through honest toil to advance one's station in life, that the goals of 50 years ago have fallen most short.

Yes, there have been examples of success within black America that would have been unimaginable a half-century ago. But as has already been noted, black unemployment has remained almost twice as high as white employment (sic), Latino unemployment close behind. The gap in wealth between races has not lessened, it's grown.

As President Clinton indicated, the position of all working Americans, regardless of color, has eroded, making the dream Dr. King described even more elusive.

For over a decade, working Americans of all races have seen their wages and incomes stagnate. Even as corporate profits soar, even as the pay of a fortunate few explodes, inequality has steadily risen over the decades. Upward mobility has become harder. In too many communities across this country in cities and suburbs and rural hamlets, the shadow of poverty casts a pall over our youth, their lives a fortress of substandard schools and diminished prospects, inadequate health care and perennial violence.

And so as we mark this anniversary, we must remind ourselves that the measure of progress for those who marched 50 years ago was not merely how many blacks had joined the ranks of millionaires; it was whether this country would admit all people who were willing to work hard, regardless of race, into the ranks of a middle-class life. (Applause.) The test was not and never has been whether the doors of opportunity are cracked a bit wider for a few. It was whether our economic system provides a fair shot for the many, for the black custodian and the white steelworker, the immigrant dishwasher and the Native American veteran. To win that battle, to answer that call -- this remains our great unfinished business.

We shouldn't fool ourselves. The task will not be easy. Since 1963 the economy's changed.

The twin forces of technology and global competition have subtracted those jobs that once provided a foothold into the middle class, reduced the bargaining power of American workers.

And our politics has suffered. Entrenched interests -- those who benefit from an unjust status quo resisted any government efforts to give working families a fair deal, marshaling an army of lobbyists and opinion makers to argue that minimum wage increases or stronger labor laws or taxes on the wealthy who could afford it just to fund crumbling schools -- that all these things violated sound economic principles.

We'd be told that growing inequality was the price for a growing economy, a measure of the free market -- that greed was good and compassion ineffective, and those without jobs or health care had only themselves to blame.

And then there were those elected officials who found it useful to practice the old politics of division, doing their best to convince middle-class Americans of a great untruth, that government was somehow itself to blame for their growing economic insecurity -- that distant bureaucrats were taking their hard-earned dollars to benefit the welfare cheat or the illegal immigrant.

And then, if we're honest with ourselves, we'll admit that during the course of 50 years, there were times when some of us, claiming to push for change, lost our way. The anguish of assassinations set off self-defeating riots.

Legitimate grievances against police brutality tipped into excuse- making for criminal behavior. Racial politics could cut both ways as the transformative message of unity and brotherhood was drowned out by the language of recrimination. And what had once been a call for equality of opportunity, the chance for all Americans to work hard and get ahead was too often framed as a mere desire for government support, as if we had no agency in our own liberation, as if poverty was an excuse for not raising your child and the bigotry of others was reason to give up on yourself. All of that history is how progress stalled. That's how hope was diverted. It's how our country remained divided.

But the good news is, just as was true in 1963, we now have a choice. We can continue down our current path in which the gears of this great democracy grind to a halt and our children accept a life of lower expectations, where politics is a zero-sum game, where a few do very well while struggling families of every race fight over a shrinking economic pie. That's one path. Or we can have the courage to change.

The March on Washington teaches us that we are not trapped by the mistakes of history, that we are masters of our fate.

But it also teaches us that the promise of this nation will only be kept when we work together. We'll have to reignite the embers of empathy and fellow feeling, the coalition of conscience that found expression in this place 50 years ago.

And I believe that spirit is there, that true force inside each of us. I see it when a white mother recognizes her own daughter in the face of a poor black child. I see it when the black youth thinks of his own grandfather in the dignified steps of an elderly white man. It's there when the native born recognizing that striving spirit of a new immigrant, when the interracial couple connects the pain of a gay couple who were discriminated against and understands it as their own. That's where courage comes from, when we turn not from each other or on each other but towards one another, and we find that we do not walk alone. That's where courage comes from. (Applause.)

And with that courage, we can stand together for good jobs and just wages. With that courage, we can stand together for the right to health care in the richest nation on earth for every person. (Applause.) With that courage, we can stand together for the right of every child, from the corners of Anacostia to the hills of Appalachia, to get an education that stirs the mind and captures the spirit and prepares them for the world that awaits them. (Applause.) With that courage, we can feed the hungry and house the homeless and transform bleak wastelands of poverty into fields of commerce and promise.

America, I know the road will be long, but I know we can get there. Yes, we will stumble, but I know we'll get back up. That's how a movement happens. That's how history bends. That's how, when somebody is faint of heart, somebody else brings them along and says, come on, we're marching. (Cheers, applause.)

There's a reason why so many who marched that day and in the days to come were young, for the young are unconstrained by habits of fear, unconstrained by the conventions of what is. They dared to dream different and to imagine something better. And I am convinced that same imagination, the same hunger of purpose serves in this generation.

We might not face the same dangers as 1963, but the fierce urgency of now remains. We may never duplicate the swelling crowds and dazzling processions of that day so long ago, no one can match King's brilliance, but the same flames that lit the heart of all who are willing to take a first step for justice, I know that flame remains. (Applause.)

That tireless teacher who gets to class early and stays late and dips into her own pocket to buy supplies because she believes that every child is her charge -- she's marching. (Applause.) That successful businessman who doesn't have to, but pays his workers a fair wage and then offers a shot to a man, maybe an ex-con, who's down on his luck -- he's marching.

(Cheers, applause.) The mother who pours her love into her daughter so that she grows up with the confidence to walk through the same doors as anybody's son -- she's marching. (Cheers, applause.) The father who realizes the most important job he'll ever have is raising his boy right, even if he didn't have a father, especially if he didn't have a father at home -- he's marching. (Applause.) The battle-scarred veterans who devote themselves not only to helping their fellow warriors stand again and walk again and run again, but to keep serving their country when they come home -- they are marching. (Applause.) Everyone who realizes what those glorious patriots knew on that day, that change does not come from Washington but to Washington, that change has always been built on our willingness, we, the people, to take on the mantle of citizenship -- you are marching. (Applause.)

And that's the lesson of our past, that's the promise of tomorrow, that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it. And when millions of Americans of every race and every region, every faith and every station can join together in a spirit of brotherhood, then those mountains will be made low, and those rough places will be made plain, and those crooked places, they straighten out towards grace, and we will vindicate the faith of those who sacrificed so much and live up to the true meaning of our creed as one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. (Cheers, applause.)

What are the moments that resonated for you?

Obama's Inauguration Speech - Gay People (and our equality) are Included in the task and journey ahead! (But What About Transgender People?)

"We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths, that all of us are created equal, is the star that guides us still.  Just as it guided our forebearers through Seneca Falls, and Selma and Stonewall, just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great mall to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone, to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.  It is now our generation's task to carry on what those pioneers began.  For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts.
Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law.  For if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well." 
- President Barack Obama, January 21, 2013, emphasis is mine

[13:30 in...]

Watch the entire speech here:



It's very cool to be included - and very important as well.

However, as this 11 year old transgender girl Sadie asked, why weren't transgender people included in the speech?

Here's a great video dialog about it:

And here's Sadie's letter in response to President Obama's speech:

It reads in full:

Sadie's Dream for the World

The world would be a better place if everyone had the right to be themselves, including people who have a creative gender identity and expression.  Transgender people are not allowed the freedom to do things everyone else does, like go to the docter [sic], go to school, get a job, and even make friends.

Transgender kids like me are not allowed to go to most schools because the teacher think we are different from everyone else.  The schools get afraid of how they will talk with the other kids' parents, and transgender kids are kept secret or told not to come there anymore.  Kids are told not to be friends with transgender kids, which makes us very lonely and sad.

When they grow up, transgender adults have a hard time getting a job because the boss thinks the customers will be scared away.  Doctors are afraid of treating transgender patients because they don't know how to take care of them, and some doctors don't really want to help them.  Transgender patients like me travel to other states to see a good doctor.

It would be a better world if everyone knew that transgender people have the same hopes and dreams as everyone else.  We like to make friends and want to go to school.  Transgender people want to get good jobs and go to docters [sic] like they are exactly the same.  It really isn't that hard to like transgender people because we are like everyone else.

Find out more about Sadie and her letter here.

Here's to the next four years, and may they continue the progress forward toward full equality for all gay, lesbian, bi, transgender and gender non-conforming people in the United States of America and beyond!

Namaste,
Lee

ps - my thanks to Greg for the heads-up on Sadie's letter.  

pps - and an apology:  in my excitement about being mentioned in the speech, I didn't think about the people who WEREN'T mentioned.  I learned a lot from an 11 year old today, and I hope you did, too.

A 10 year old girl with two dads writes President Obama... and His Response!

This is a really sweet story, and the best thing of all is knowing this is the man we just elected to be our President for another four years!

Here's the letter Sophia sent to Barack Obama:

images from the post at Perez Hilton's blog

It reads:

Dear Barack Obama,
It's Sophia..., your friend who invited you to dinner.  You don't remember okay that's fine.  But I just wanted to tell you that I am so glad you agree that two men can love each other because I have two dads and they love each other.  But at school kids think that it's gross and weird but it really hurts my heart and feelings.  So I come to you because you are my hero.  If you were me and you had two dads that loved each other, and kids at school teased you about it, what would you do?
Please respond!
I just wanted to say you really inspire me, and I hope you win on being the president.  You would totally make the world a better place.
(heart) Your friend Sophia.  P.S. Please tell your daughters Hi for me!

And here's President Obama's response.

It reads:

Dear Sophia,

Thank you for writing me such a thoughtful letter about your family.  Reading it made me proud to be your president and even more hopeful about the future of our nation.
In America, no two families look the same.  We celebrate this diversity.  And we recognize that whether you have two dads or one mom what matters above all is the love we show one another.  You are very fortunate to have two parents who care deeply for you.  They are lucky to have such an exceptional daughter in you.
Our differences unite us.  You and I are blessed to live in a country where we are born equal no matter what we look like on the outside, where we grow up, or who our parents are.  A good rule is to treat others the way you hope they will treat you.  Remind your friends at school about this rule if they say something that hurts your feelings.
Thanks again for taking the time to write to me.  I'm honored to have your support and inspired by your compassion.  I'm sorry I couldn't make it to dinner, but I'll be sure to tell Sasha and Malia you say hello.
Sincerely,
(signed) Barack Obama

My thanks to Rob Jost for sharing this recently - it's awesome!

Namaste,
Lee

OBAMA WINS!!!

YES!

Huffington Post Announces Obama's Win

YES!!

CNN says "It's Obama"

YES!!!

Yahoo calls it for Obama!

Thank you, America!

Advocate.com celebrate, saying Obama's reelection changes the politics of marriage equality forever!

Obama's second term means progress towards true equality for all - including we gay, lesbian, bi, trans and queer people - will move forward!!!

And in Maine, voters APPROVED GAY MARRIAGE, reversing a 2009 ban.

Gay marriage also won in Maryland!

Despite the unfairness of voting on anyone's equality, winning these referendums in Maine and Maryland changes the conversation nationwide.  LOVE - our gay love - won!

Oh, and Tammy Baldwin won her election to become our nation's first out GLBTQ Senator!

For all this, I am so grateful.

Lee

#WhyIVote!

Voting in the USA takes place on Tuesday November 6, 2012.

We'll be voting for President, but there are lots of other contests across the country that are important.

If you're old enough to vote and a citizen, VOTE!

If you can't vote yourself, help someone else get to the polls.  Can you babysit for a half hour to let an adult have the time to vote?  Can you help get an older person to their voting place?

Most important - and everyone can do this - talk to people.  Talk to your parents, your grandparents, your friends.  Let them know the issues that matter for you, and share with them your hopes (and even your fears) for the future.  Let them know how every vote counts.

In particular, as GLBTQ and allied people, there is a lot at stake in this election, and I join my Kid Lit colleagues on blogs across the web in urging everyone to take part in this election and participate!

Why I Vote?

To Make Things Better for Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans and Queer Youth and their Allies!

Be sure to check out the master list of kid lit bloggers sharing their #WhyIVote stories at Colleen Mondor's blog, Chasing Ray.

Some resources for you:

An insightful article by Jonathan Rauch on Salon, GOP: Gays Out of the Party, about the stark difference between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama in terms of gay rights.

The League of Women Voters

Stonewall Democrats

Log Cabin Republicans 

Mitt Romney was a High School Bully... Does That Matter?

The ACLU's "Get Ready To Vote" resource


Electorially Yours,
Lee

The US Presidential Election: The Pro-GLBTQ Choice is Clear

We'll be voting in the USA for our next president... one more term for Barack Obama, or bringing in Mitt Romney.

I liked this video - I thought it said it very well.



Vote.

It makes a difference!

Namaste,
Lee

One Term More... A Broadway-style Musical Homage To Les Miserables... and the November 2012 USA Election!

The title image from the "One Term More" Video

Don DeMesquita wrote new words to the song "One Day More!"from Les Mis to create this partisan parody, with a lot of kidding-on-the-square truth in it...

Check out the remarkable and funny One Term More video.

Namaste,
Lee

President Obama's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month Proclamation!

Check this out: President Obama included support for gay marriage in his 2012 Pride Proclamation...

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release June 1, 2012

LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2012 -------

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

From generation to generation, ordinary Americans have led
a proud and inexorable march toward freedom, fairness, and full
equality under the law -- not just for some, but for all. Ours
is a heritage forged by those who organized, agitated, and
advocated for change; who wielded love stronger than hate and
hope more powerful than insult or injury; who fought to build
for themselves and their families a Nation where no one is a
second-class citizen, no one is denied basic rights, and all of
us are free to live and love as we see fit.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)
community has written a proud chapter in this fundamentally
American story. From brave men and women who came out and spoke
out, to union and faith leaders who rallied for equality, to
activists and advocates who challenged unjust laws and marched
on Washington, LGBT Americans and allies have achieved what once
seemed inconceivable. This month, we reflect on their enduring
legacy, celebrate the movement that has made progress possible,
and recommit to securing the fullest blessings of freedom for
all Americans.

Since I took office, my Administration has worked to
broaden opportunity, advance equality, and level the playing
field for LGBT people and communities. We have fought to secure
justice for all under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr.,
Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and we have taken action to end
housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender
identity. We expanded hospital visitation rights for LGBT
patients and their loved ones, and under the Affordable Care
Act, we ensured that insurance companies will no longer be able
to deny coverage to someone just because they are lesbian, gay,
bisexual, or transgender. Because we understand that LGBT
rights are human rights, we continue to engage with the
international community in promoting and protecting the rights
of LGBT persons around the world. Because we repealed "Don't
Ask, Don't Tell," gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans can serve
their country openly, honestly, and without fear of losing their
jobs because of whom they love. And because we must treat
others the way we want to be treated, I personally believe in
marriage equality for same-sex couples.

More remains to be done to ensure every single American is
treated equally, regardless of sexual orientation or gender
identity. Moving forward, my Administration will continue its
work to advance the rights of LGBT Americans. This month, as we
reflect on how far we have come and how far we have yet to go,
let us recall that the progress we have made is built on the
words and deeds of ordinary Americans. Let us pay tribute to
those who came before us, and those who continue their work
today; and let us rededicate ourselves to a task that is
unending -- the pursuit of a Nation where all are equal, and all
have the full and unfettered opportunity to pursue happiness and
live openly and freely.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in
me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do
hereby proclaim June 2012 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the
United States to eliminate prejudice everywhere it exists,
and to celebrate the great diversity of the American people.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve,
and of the Independence of the United States of America the
two hundred and thirty-sixth.

BARACK OBAMA

###

Happy Pride, everyone!

Namaste,
Lee

Newsweek calls Obama the nation's "first gay president" for supporting Gay Marriage. This article in Salon asks, what about Buchanan, our actual first gay - as in in-love-with-another-man - President?

This Salon article by Jim Loewen, in response to Newsweek's I-don't-really-understand-the-meaning-of-the-word-GAY cover

is fascinating reading, in which he talks about how the actual first gay president, James Buchanan, was a man who was in love with another man.

It includes this quote from

"Buchanan’s May 13, 1844, letter to a Mrs. Roosevelt. Describing his deteriorating social life after his great love, William Rufus King, senator from Alabama, had moved to Paris to become our ambassador to France, Buchanan wrote: I am now “solitary and alone,” having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them."

I love the article's premise that if we're not real about our history (and how sometimes in our history we've moved backwards on equality and tolerance) we'll have trouble actually making progress towards a world that celebrates differences.

President Buchanan, a gay man.  That's pretty cool.

But for Newsweek to call President Obama "The First Gay President" because he came out in support of gay marriage is like calling President Lyndon B. Johnson "The First Black President" because he signed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.  Come on, people.  "The First Outspoken Ally," maybe.

I really do like the mocked cover Salon ran:

Now THAT would be an issue of Newsweek I'd pick up.

Namaste,
Lee



ps - Jim Loewen's article first appeared here, on the George Mason University's History News Network.

pps - Actually, the cover article in Newsweek on page 22 is called "The President of the United States Shifted The Mainstream In One Interview" by Andrew Sullivan.  And it's pretty great.  But I still have issues with the magazine cover.

HUGE News: President Obama Supports Gay Marriage

He's evolved!

Barack Obama promised to be a "fierce advocate" for the GLBTQ community while running for office.

Once in office, that advocacy has felt, at times, tepid.  Hesitant.  More concerned with political expediency than with doing what was right.  What we believed he felt was right.  And yet progress was made.  Slow progress, but progress.

But on Wednesday May 9, 2012, President Obama finally stated, (you can watch the video here or here at the Obama campaign site)

"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."

Hurray!

While there is a lot of talk and conjecture about the possible damage this might do to his re-election campaign, by standing up for us GLBTQ members of the community and saying that he supports our equality, he's gained more than my tepid support.

He's gained me as an advocate.

And millions of other GLBTQ and Allied and fair-minded people.

This is a good thing.

Namaste,
Lee

GSA Mondays: U.S. President Barack Obama has a message for GLBTQ Teens, "It Gets Better"

Watch this with your GSA, or as part of this virtual Gay-Straight Alliance:



It's pretty awesome to hear it from our President.

It would be more powerful if he was more fierce about his advocacy for GLBTQ equality across the board - but I truly appreciate these words.

It Gets Better.

And hopefully all of us adults (including President Obama) will keep the GLBTQ teen community in mind as we continue to fight for full equality for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Americans - and for full equality for everyone who is different.

Yes, individually it does get better - you graduate school, you get out of your parents' house, you get away from the bullies - but for the overall culture to continue to get better for GLBTQ Teens, it requires all of us, Teens and Adults, the GLBTQ communities and our Allies, to keep working, fighting, and making our voices heard!

Namaste,
Lee

Progress And Pressure: The Mechanics Of Winning Gay Rights. Lessons From Scholastic, Maine, And President Obama.

Three recent events have really highlighted for me the mechanics behind how things change. In particular, how we achieve Gay Equality and Rights.

Scholastic's De-Gaying.

Maine's De-Marriaging.

And President Obama's D...well, "D" for Disappointing.

Scholastic's De-Gaying



Scholastic was caught asking "Luv Ya Bunches" author Lauren Myracle to change the two mom parents of a character in the book to a one-mom-one-dad family, in order to have her book included in their book fairs. When the author refused (Go, Lauren!) they told her they wouldn't carry her book in their fairs. When School Library Journal reported on this episode of censorship on October 21, 2009, there was a lot of pressure and complaint letters and a petition with over 4,000 signatures in just a few days... in short, a heap of bad publicity - and Scholastic responded.

Scholastic told the world they won't judge a book based on character's sexuality. But to this date they have not admitted that they were in error in requesting the de-gaying of the book. Nor have they apologized.

Scholastic also said that they would carry the book in their middle school book fairs.

In response to this, many progressive voices inside and outside of the gay community declared victory. However, no one (except School Library Journal, thank you!) seemed to notice that "Luv Ya Bunches" is a book about 5th grade girls, and it should be carried in the elementary school book fairs.

And yet, the letter writing stopped. The petition stopped collecting signatures. The "storm" of bad publicity passed...

and progress on achieving our Gay equality stopped.

Moving forward, I'm sure Scholastic will be more careful with what changes they request of authors in order to accept their books into their school book fairs.

But I wish Scholastic had gone the full distance on this. Publicly apologize to the author and to our community. And carry the book with lesbian moms for 9-13 year olds with all the other books for 9-13 year olds - in their Elementary School Book Fairs.

I think the reason they didn't go the full distance was that the pressure stopped. The fire seemed mostly out, and it seems they're just trying to move on and hope everyone forgets it happened.

The problem is, there's unfinished business. And Scholastic needs to find the courage (or feel the pressure) to finish it.


Maine's De-Marriaging.



On Tuesday, Maine voters decided that their legislature was wrong in passing a law that allowed Gay men and Lesbians to marry. 53% of Maine voters decided that Gay people should not be allowed the right to civil marriage. It's the 31st time a state has voted that. Millions of dollars are being spent, on both sides, in this continual assertion - state by state - that somehow, in this one instance, the majority should decide on the rights of a minority.

But without the grass roots pressure, without the millions of dollars to get our voices heard, and without the untold number of people standing up and talking about what it means to be denied your rights because of who you love, we would have lost it... even worse.

Every time, with Prop 8 in California, and with Tuesday's vote in Maine, we seem to be closer and closer to a majority who "approve" of our rights (I can't even begin to convey how much that very premise rankles...), and it's not because we're sitting back passively. It's because we're showing courage. Those of us who are in Gay and Lesbian relationships are standing up and demanding our rights - and our friends and families and fair-minded allies are often standing and marching and canvassing with us.

Without that effort... it's clear that we'd have even less rights than we do today.


President Obama is Disappointing.


Looking through my files I found this image from the day after Obama was elected President. I remember I felt so much hope...


From having President Obama choose anti-Gay Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration to his allowing servicemember after servicemember to be discharged under Don't Ask Don't Tell when he has had the power to stop it from the minute he took the oath of office, our newest President has shown us that while he talks the talk (and the talk is amazing) when it comes to walking the walk, pressure (and political cover) seem necessary.

Happily, President Obama signed the Hate Crimes Law.

And yet, President Obama seems so interested in building consensus for everything he does that it seems to preclude him from acting without it. We see that plainly in the Health Care reform (I was going to write "process" but I'm going to try to be more accurate and call it a "mess.") Democrats are falling all over themselves to compromise away everything that would truly reform the system - like a single payer option - all to appease the Republican minority who won't vote for it anyway.

This systemic lack of LEADERSHIP by our President and by the Democrats who are - at least by the numbers - in charge of both the House and Senate, leaves the Gay community and our allies frustrated that our elected leaders are not standing up for us. That President Obama is not being PROACTIVE in making the changes he promised to make. Where's the courage of his convictions?

Defense Of Marriage Act? Still the law of the land. My legal California marriage isn't recognized by the federal government.

Don't Ask Don't Tell? Still the law of the land. It basically says that you can be gay and in the military, but you have to lie about it. But of course, no one wants someone who they have to trust with their life to lie to them. Honor and all that. So these soldiers are honest. And then they get fired. At the rate of Two PER DAY! President Obama has let hundreds of valiant Americans be FIRED for being honest about who they love. That's shameful, and so disappointing.

"Every civil rights battle in the past 60 years has been fueled by strong presidential leadership," said former U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant David Hall, one of the Cook v. Gates plaintiffs seeking reinstatement. "And that same leadership is also needed now to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly. It's time the President begins fulfilling his campaign promise by publicly endorsing HR 1283 and working with Congress to find the votes."

The Employment Non Discrimination Act? Still NOT the law of the land. Yesterday they started discussing it (hearings, again) in Congress. Until it passes,

In 29 states, it's legal to fire someone because they're lesbian, gay, or bisexual; in 38 states, it's legal to fire someone for being transgender.

You can have marches on Washington, but marching on a non-business day where pretty much anyone can ignore the march if they want to doesn't really apply PRESSURE for change. And the latest gay rights march on Washington did not create change.

So where does Progress, especially in moving Gay rights forward, come from?

In the case of Scholastic, it was Pressure from bad publicity (and being shamed.)

In the case of Maine, even though we lost, we were close because of Courage. People coming out - not being ashamed - and sharing their stories... but maybe not enough of us.

In the case of President Obama, it seems he'll act when there's a consensus-delivered bill on his desk... but how can we get him to be the "fierce advocate" for Gay rights he promised us he'd be?

In case after case, it all seems to boil down to this. If we want people, or companies, or governments to change, we need them to either:

Find the courage. Or feel the Pressure.

I don't have all the answers.

But I think the questions are good ones to examine.

How do we encourage courage?
What forms of pressure actually result in progress?
Where's the line between pressure that works and pressure that alienates?

It's a discussion we really need to have, as individuals, and as a community.

What do you think?

Namaste,
Lee

President Obama ACTS! The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act is LAW!!!

He did it!

Here's the transcript of a portion of President Obama's remarks from the signing ceremony on Wednesday:

After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray, or who they are. (Applause.)

I promised Judy Shepard, when she saw me in the Oval Office, that this day would come, and I'm glad that she and her husband Dennis could join us for this event. I'm also honored to have the family of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, who fought so hard for this legislation. And Vicki and Patrick, Kara, everybody who's here, I just want you all to know how proud we are of the work that Ted did to help this day -- make this day possible. So -- and thank you for joining us here today. (Applause.)

So, with that, I'm going to sign this piece of legislation. Thank you all for doing a great job. All right.

(The Act is signed.) (Applause.)

As Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign said in their email blast about this,

This is the first time ANY federal equality measure protecting LGBT rights has become law. The very first time. And it is the first federal law to explicitly protect transgender people. It is a touchstone in our movement, a triumph of what is right. And I truly feel things will never be the same.

Joe goes on to say that:

It took twelve years, over one million emails, faxes and phone calls to Congress, and 14 separate votes on the floors of the House and the Senate to turn the hate crimes bill into law.

It took too many innocent people dying.

And it took so many people standing up for what is right - even when it was hard, or there was a cost to it.

We now have a Law that explicitly says that targeting Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender People is WRONG. A Law that proclaims that we, members of the Gay community, are legally protected.

I do think that all crime is a form of hate crime. But having the Law of this land state unequivocally that GLBTQ people are to be protected is huge.

Here's a quote from the text of the new Law:

A prominent characteristic of a violent crime motivated by bias is that it devastates not just the actual victim and the family and friends of the victim, but frequently savages the community sharing the traits that caused the victim to be selected.

And that's true.

This Law changes the MYTH of what's okay in our society. It's no longer "okay" to gay-bash.

And that is huge.

The world is changing. We finally have some solid ACTION, some results, from electing President Obama.

And we have Halloween weekend to celebrate.

And then, Monday morning, let's stand up and keep fighting for not just our equality, but for what we teach our kids that America is all about:

Equality for all. Liberty and justice for all.

I can see the future. And it's getting better.

Namaste, and Happy Halloween!

Lee

Here's the full text of the new Law on the Library Of Congress website.

President Obama Talks More Talk... But it's pretty wonderful talk!

The truth is when these folks protested at Stonewall 40 years ago no one could have imagined that you -- or, for that matter, I -- (laughter) -- would be standing here today. (Applause.) So we are all witnesses to monumental changes in this country. That should give us hope, but we cannot rest. We must continue to do our part to make progress -- step by step, law by law, mind by changing mind. And I want you to know that in this task I will not only be your friend, I will continue to be an ally and a champion and a President who fights with you and for you.

President Obama, at a LGBT Pride month reception Monday afternoon (June 29, 2009) at the White House.

I have to say, it's pretty wonderful talk -
read the full transcript here at the white house web site! -
and an article about the reception, here.
There's even a video of the event here!

Here's another choice quote from our President's remarks:

But I say this: We have made progress and we will make more. And I want you to know that I expect and hope to be judged not by words, not by promises I've made, but by the promises that my administration keeps. And by the time you receive -- (applause.) We've been in office six months now. I suspect that by the time this administration is over, I think you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration. (Applause.)

Okay President Obama, sounds good. But we're still waiting for ACTION!

Namaste,
Lee

President Obama Issues a Gay (GLBT) Month Proclamation - He's talking the talk. But, um... WHERE is the walk?

Would YOU wear this button right now?

We finally have a President who is talking the talk:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.

Now we need him to walk the walk.

We're waiting, President Obama. We've been waiting for YEARS. NOW is the time. Do it.

Lincoln didn't wait to sign the Emancipation Proclamation until his second term - he did it in his first, and still got re-elected. (Oh, and the country was at war, then, too. With itself! I guess he could do it even though his plate was full!) He was a man of his convictions. He was right, and history lauds him.

NOW is the time to stand up for what you say you stand for. What we voted you in for.

Change the laws of this nation so we can truly be a GREAT nation with equality for ALL - including us Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender citizens!

A Proclamation (click here for the full text) is nice, but ACTION - repealing DOMA, eliminating "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", federal recognition of same-gender civil marriages - is what changes the world.

And while your "Presidential Memorandum" this week, extending domestic partner benefits to federal employees, is nice, it's only a small step forward. (It's not a new LAW, and will only be in effect while you're in office.)

And we're still angry about last week's Justice Department brief supporting DOMA, which you said you opposed. Comparing our Same-Gender Marriages with Incest? This New York Times editorial summed up our anger well:

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization, said, “I cannot overstate the pain that we feel as human beings and as families when we read an argument, presented in federal court, implying that our own marriages have no more constitutional standing than incestuous ones.”

Come on, President Obama! Give us the change you promised. We bought into your vision of a Country that lives up to its ideals. Show us that vision becoming REALITY!

Come on, Barack! I have a button I want to wear.

Lieutenant Dan Choi comes out, gets fired under "Don't Ask Don't Tell," and what President Obama said about his commitment to end the policy

Rachel Maddow interviews Lieutenant Dan Choi about his recent coming-out and dismissal under "Don't Ask. Don't Tell." She also speaks with the highest ranking former military officer in the US Congress, Representative Joe Sestak, (Dem. PA)

Rachel starts off the segment by sharing a hand-written note President Obama sent a female officer, Lieutenant Sandy Xou [phonetic spelling of her last name] who wrote the President after she was also recently discharged from the military for coming out as gay.

It's essential viewing:



Lieutenant Choi's final words in the interview,

"We Want To Serve"

still ring in my ears!

For more info, you can check out the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network

All right, President Obama. We're waiting for you to come through on this!