Media Takes Note of Latest Statewide LGBT Developments
August 21, 2009
Every week at state and local levels, there are numerous developments taking place about the many key issues that deeply affect our community—domestic partnerships, marriage, hate crimes, employment discrimination and DOMA to name a few. The media is paying attention. Here is a brief summary:
Maine:
Gearing up for Vote on Marriage for Gay and Lesbian Couples
Last year, Maine legislators passed LD 1020—a law allowing marriage for gay and lesbian couples—but LS 1020 only stands if Maine residents vote to uphold it this November.
So the clock is ticking.
The Advocate wrote that in Maine, both sides, marriage and anti-marriage advocates are working aggressively:
Opponents of Maine’s same-sex marriage law have the upper hand financially thus far, raising more than $343,000 compared to [Equality Maine-based] No on 1’s $143,000, according to mid-July filings with the State Ethics Commission.
Marriage equality proponents had a total of 501 donors, according to a campaign spokesman, with the largest donation of $50,000 coming from Maine resident Diane Sammer, $25,000 from the Human Rights Campaign, $10,000 from the American Civil Liberties Union, and $10,000 from another state resident Jane Begert. An HRC spokesperson said the organization plans to chip in an additional $100,000 over the next couple months.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Maine-based advocates of same-sex marriage are not in this alone–people in California are lending a helping hand:
Equality California, one of this state’s largest gay rights groups, sent out a fundraising appeal urging supporters to send their donations to Maine.
The appeal noted that opponents of gay marriage, including many who were active in California’s $80-million battle over Proposition 8, have raised more than twice as much money.
View “Together”, the Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, Equality Maine Foundation and the Maine Civil Liberties Union Foundation’s new ad for upholding LD 1020.
Ohio:
Same-Sex and Unwed Partners of Employees to Receive Benefits
On August 18, Franklin County commissioners and employees voted unanimously to offer benefits to unmarried and same-sex partners of county employees.
The Columbus Dispatch reported on Wednesday that all county offices and independent agencies including Franklin County Children Services, the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission and Metro Parks are to adopt this new policy.
This new policy, which goes into effect January 1st, 2010, could benefit roughly 60 domestic partners and 21 dependants in the area.
Tennessee:
Metro Council Votes to Ban Workplace Discrimination against LGBT Workers
In a 23-16 vote, the Metropolitan Council— the legislative body of Nashville and Davidson County —voted on member Meghan Barry’s proposal to ensure that all gay and lesbian workers were protected from discrimination in the workplace. According to the Nashville Scene, the majority of those who opposed the bill expressed that they wanted a bill that would protect all employees better based on “non-merit” factors.
This vote comes six years after a similar 2003 vote that refused to ban this type of discrimination.
Texas:
El Paso Officials Will Make Public Accouchement on Domestic Partner Benefits Next Week
This July, council members in El Paso voted to include benefits for partners of gay and unmarried employees. Kiva.com reported that on August 18, at a city council meeting, both those who support and oppose this new policy spoke out in the allotted public comment portion of the meeting. What exactly was said is unknown to the public, because council members are not allowed to divulge what community members say if it is not the agenda of the meeting.
Next Tuesday, council members will officially make a statement about this new measure to the public. Mayor John Cook stated that he will have a special meeting about this as well.
Ft. Worth Police Revising Policies After Raiding Local Gay Bar
Almost two months after the Rainbow Lounge raid, which resulted in six arrests and one hospitalization, Fort Worth police announced on Tuesday that they are revising some of their policies, reports the El Paso Times:
Chief Jeff Halstead told the City Council that problems happened at the Rainbow Lounge in the early morning hours of June 28 because the department’s bar inspection policy lacked specific guidelines, which he said was why no policies were violated.
He said a revised policy should be in place by Sept. 1 with rules for a three tiered-system: bar checks, inspections and investigations.
A final report should be finished in late September or October, Halstead said. It will include the department’s findings on whether allegations against some officers—including excessive force and unprofessional conduct—are justified and any recommended disciplinary actions
The June raid sparked accusations that police were targeting gay bars in the area. After public protests and marches, the city’s police chief announced the appointment of an interim liaison to the city’s LGBT residents and issued a public apology for the incident.
Washington State:
Referendum 71 Aims to Dismantle Domestic Partnerships Laws
Over the past few years, Washington’s state legislature has passed progressively more inclusive versions of a domestic partnership law. In 2009, the legislature passed Senate Bill 5688, a bill that would make domestic partnerships equivalent to marriage in the state, with the exception of the title of the agreement. Governor Chris Gregoire (D-WA) dubbed the bill, “everything but marriage,” and anti-gay forces have continued repeating the phrase. After contentious fights among leading conservatives in the state on whether it was a good strategy to force a referendum on the bill, a fraction of the anti-gay activists began gathering signatures for Referendum 71 (R-71)—an appeal that could overturn existing law if it wins majority vote this November.
On July 25th, Protect Marriage Washington turned in 137,689 signatures from registered Washington State voters supporting R-71–only 120,577 valid signatures were required. The Secretary State’s Office is still verifying all of the signatures on R-71 and will most likely make an announcement later this month.
The Seattle Times reported that the Protect Marriage Washington asked the Public Disclosure Commission on Thursday to hold an emergency hearing—they claim that they have received threats of violence.
GLAAD will be on the ground in Washington working with local LGBT organizations and media in reporting on this matter.
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GLAAD will continue keeping up with the latest developments on legislative LGBT issues around the country.
Related Posts:Local Activists Respond to Anti-Gay Assault in Cincinnati
March 20, 2009
Cincinnati's LGBT community rallied to protest the hate crime yesterday. (Photo by Barry Floore)
Learning about the amazing LGBT media advocacy work local activists in Cincinnati, Ohio, have been accomplishing this week made me prouder than ever of my home town!
Cincinnati is known for its history being one of the least LGBT-friendly large cities in Ohio. And as local community members will tell you, the local media’s LGBT coverage isn’t perfect.
That point was driven home again after I heard that two students at the University of Cincinnati-where my younger brother will attend school next year-were victims of an anti-gay assault.
Local activists wrote at the Bilerico Project, about their work uncovering news of the assault:
Sadly, our information about the attack and the condition of the victims is limited because both the UC Police Department and the local mainstream media have seemed reluctant to inform the public about this crime…
Jamie Royce of the blog Stuff Queer People Need to Know and Donald Caster of Cincinnati Blog have searched court records…
Both the UCPD and the local mainstream media have seemed reluctant to inform the public about this crime until they were virtually forced to action.
Though information about the attack was not disseminated until 12 days after the crime occurred, local community members did not let that hinder their activism. Cincinnati activists got to work quickly, organizing a protest against anti-gay attacks, and securing media coverage at local and national blogs, the local ABC affiliate, and the city’s largest paper, the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Utilizing Facebook, Twitter, and good old-fashioned e-mail, local activists created momentum for their protest rally yesterday in just one day, garnering 250 participants along with print, online, and broadcast media coverage. Check out local blogger Barry Floore’s photos from the rally: http://tinyurl.com/c9q8dm
Over 250 folks attended the rally. (Photo by Barry Floore)
GLAAD’s Media Field Strategy team works with local individuals and organizations across the country every day to provide media relations assistance. We have reached out to folks in Cincinnati to offer support, and to congratulate them on the amazing work.
As we learned in the poll GLAAD comissioned from Harris Interactive at the end of last year, seeing stories of real LGBT people in their communities in the news is one of the leading factors Americans cite in why their perceptions of LGBT folks have gotten more favorable.
If you’re working on a local LGBT issue, don’t hesitate to reach out to GLAAD for support! Media Field Strategy contacts: Eastern U.S.: mediastrategyec@glaad.org Western U.S.: mediastrategywc@glaad.org
GLAAD Supports Local Activists’ Successful Efforts to Prevent Anti-Gay TV Program from Airing
February 11, 2009
On Monday morning, we heard concerns from community members about the anti-gay infomercial Speechless: Silencing the Christians, created and distributed by the anti-gay organization the American Family Association. When we found out the program was scheduled to air in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Columbus, Ohio, we reached out to partner organizations on the ground to find out more information and support local efforts.
After viewing the infomercial, the intent was clear - it was designed to perpetuate a climate of hostility toward our community and to create a culture where we are less safe, less secure, and where our families are put in harm’s way.
Since Monday, we have been working with local community members in Grand Rapids, offering them assistance as they led efforts to mobilize community members to express their concerns to the station management at WOOD-TV (NBC), where it was set to air.
The organizing was led by Colette Beighley, who serves as assistant director of the LGBT resource center at Grand Valley State University and a GLAAD-trained spokesperson. Colette is also serving as the community’s lead spokesperson on the issue, and she continues to work with GLAAD on media monitoring and interview prep this week.
Thanks to the efforts of community members on the ground, WOOD-TV first postponed the airing. The station then said it offered the American Family Association another timeslot. General Manager Diane Kniowski said: “We made a gesture of the 2-3 p.m. Saturday time period. It’s been 24 hours and we had no response. Our station is being bombarded with calls and messages, and we find ourselves in the middle of someone else’s fight. Ours was a fair offer and we are removing ourselves from this matter.”
WSYX-TV (ABC) in Columbus, Ohio, has also decided to postpone airing the anti-gay informercial after hearing concerns from community members, and will issue a decision later after the general manager has had an opportunity to review. A new air date has not been set.
The anti-gay infomercial aired in Traverse City, Michigan (WPBN – NBC); Toledo, Ohio (WUPW – Fox); and Charlotte, North Carolina (WJZY – The CW) on Saturday, Feb. 7, with very little fanfare, and the information aired with no traction. Yesterday afternoon Equality Toledo issued an action alert urging community members to engage in dialogue with WUPW about their decision to air this anti-gay programming.
Many Wins for the LGBT Community Since Election
December 19, 2008
While much of the media is still concentrating on the passage of anti-gay legislation back in November, many gains for LGBT equality are being made across the nation.
- Just yesterday, our community and elected officials made these changes!
- Columbus, Ohio, and Binghamton, NY’s, city councils both, extended their nondiscrimination laws to include discrimination based on gender identity and expression.
- Sioux City, Iowa’s, city council decided to delay action on a proposal that would publicly oppo
se marriage equality. - A federal judge denied Birmingham, Alabama’s, request that the court dismiss an anti-gay discrimination lawsuit.
- Ankeny, Iowa’s, school board denied a request to bar children from reading the children’s book And Tango Makes Three, which features two male penguins who raise a chick together.
- New York’s governor mandated that gay parents be allowed to appear on birth certificates.
- And since the election:
- Nov. 12: Same-sex couples legally wed in Connecticut for the first time.
- Nov. 14: Michigan’s House voted to extend hate crimes protections to the LGBT community.
- Nov. 18: Vermont Sen. John Campbell introduced a marriage equality bill.
- Nov. 25: a Florida judge declared the state’s anti-gay adoption law unconstitutional.
- Dec. 1: Indiana’s leaders said a ban on marriage equalityis unlikely in ‘09.
- Dec. 5: Alaska’s Senator-elect told the New York Times he supported partner benefits for gay couples.
- Dec. 8: Cleveland, Ohio, enacted a domestic partner registry and the Virginia Supreme Court granted child-visitation rights to lesbian parent
- Dec. 9: Iowa’s Supreme Court began hearings on marriage equality case Varnum v. Brian.
- Dec. 10: the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission released a report that explains the state’s civil union law is not adequate, and that the legislature must take action to ensure marriage equality.
With the discouraging losses on Nov. 4, it’s important to point out all of our steps forward and to know that for the most part these issues have been covered by the media in a fair, accurate, and inclusive way. Fair media visibility of our community on the local level-everywhere from Florida to Alaska to Iowa-makes a big change in the way our neighbors perceive us.
In addition to the media coverage in your community, sharing your story with your community helps change hearts and minds too! Check out GLAAD’s Announcing Equality toolkit to learn all of the ways to share your story locally: http://www.glaad.org/AnnouncingEquality/
Announcing Equality: Oregon Newspaper’s Policy Change Part of Growing Trend
December 16, 2008
Thursday’s news that the Oregon’s Eugene Register-Guard will now publish birth announcements for sam
e-sex couples was met with celebration by folks not only in Eugene, but at also at GLAAD. For the past six years we have been studying the announcement policies of newspapers across the country, lobbying for more LGBT-inclusive policies.
Announcing Equality
We launched our Announcing Equality campaign in 2002 after working with the New York Times to open its weddings and celebrations pages to same-sex couples. Seeing gay and lesbian couples’ wedding and other commitment ceremony announcements in the New York Times was great. But what about the rest of the country?
Back in ‘02, there were 70 daily newspapers in the U.S. willing to print a wedding/commitment ceremony announcement from a same-sex couple. By the time we surveyed every daily U.S. newspaper in 2008, that number jumped to 1,050!
This means an estimated 83 percent of all U.S. newspaper consumers read a paper t
hat accepts wedding announcements from same-sex couples.
Over 1,050 Strong!
Make that 1,051 exactly, with our newest addition! This fall, Dennis Vaughn and Mark Neal called GLAAD letting us know they were having trouble placing their wedding announcement in Dennis’ hometown newspaper, the Pantagraph, out of Bloomington, Illinois. After conversations with key editors at the paper, the Pantagraph made the choice to print their very first wedding announcement for a gay couple, for Dennis and Mark on October 5, 2008.
GLAAD has worked with couples across the country to help them make headway at their local newspapers, but not every newspaper is as open to fair-minded discussion as the folks at the Pantagraph are. For example, let’s take the case of Ronda Moorhead and Kelli Shaw in Canton, Ohio. Ronda and Kelli have made their home in Canton, and this spring they had hoped to place their engagement announcement in their hometown paper, the Repository.
Though the Repository’s editor Jeff Gauger still refused to place the couples’ announcement after conversations with both the couple and with GLAAD, we were able to draw attention to the issue and spark conversations in their hometown and beyond.
With GLAAD’s help, the paper’s discriminatory policy has been discussed in the Gay People’s Chronicle, alternative weekly Cleveland Free Times, and the local Cleveland Fox and CBS TV affiliates. The local CBS affiliate held a live blog forum on its website, during which many community members voiced support for their neighbors Ronda and Kelli. One wrote: “I think it’s wrong to deny them the announce
ment, because they are just like everyone else. They are just another couple who love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together.”
Announce YOUR Equality!
Sure, more than 1,000 papers will include gay and lesbian couples’ announcements. However, only 340 of these papers have actually received an announcement from a same-sex couple to print. Be the first same-sex couple to submit your announcement! Check out GLAAD’s new online resource for a list of inclusive papers, and let us know how it goes! Email us your stories at: announcingequality@glaad.org
