Actress Michelle Clunie Says, “Approve 71”
October 27, 2009
Michelle Clunie, an actress and activist, released a video today that encourages Washington voters to Approve Referendum 71 and get involved with the campaign.
“It’s just wrong,” Clunie says about the attempt to take away the protections that Washington’s domestic partnership law provides to lesbian and gay couples.Watch Actress/Activist Michelle Clunie on Approve 71 here.
Washington voters have until Tuesday to mark their ballots, “Approved,” stamp and sign the envelope and mail them. Washington voters should not delay and mail their ballots today to help ensure Referendum 71 is approved.
Michelle Clunie
When Clunie called the Referendum 71 campaign last week and asked, “What can I do to help?” GLAAD’s Senior Media Strategist Adam Bass began working with her to develop a video message to voters in Washington encouraging them to get involved in the campaign and cast their ballots. Her video today is the results of that work between Clunie, GLAAD and the Referendum 71 campaign.
Related Posts:Approve Referendum 71 Maintains Slight Lead While GLAAD Continues to Contribute to Campaign
October 26, 2009
GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios, Senior Media Strategist Adam Bass and 20-plus volunteers made more than 4,000 phone calls on Sunday, October 25th.
GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios calls voters for Approve 71
The campaign released a tracking poll on Monday, showing that the hard work of Washington Families Standing Together (WAFST) is beginning to pay off. Although the polling shows a lead for the “approve” vote – this lead could easily be lost if lesbian and gay couples stop sharing their stories or if they fail to vote. This is why the last week of the campaign is so important.
GLAAD has been on the ground in Seattle assisting the WAFST coalition since August. We continue to be committed to helping Washington voters understand the real life struggles and successes of lesbian and gay couples and understanding the harms that would result if voters take away domestic partnership protections.
Related Posts:Referendum 71 Earns Endorsement by Editorial Boards throughout Washington
October 26, 2009
Newspapers throughout Washington have endorsed Approve 71
The coalition to Approve Referendum 71 is growing stronger. In addition to major contributions from large employers like Microsoft, Starbucks, Puget Sound Energy, Boeing, and Nike, numerous editorial boards are also endorsing Approve Referendum 71. As the Nov. 3 election date nears, influential media like the Seattle Times, the Olympian, and the Oregonian editorial boards are casting their votes to keep the domestic partnership law. Here is what they have to say:
The Union Bulletin Editorial Board calls domestic partnership protections “sound public policy” and the Federal Way Mirror “recommends approving Referendum 71” because “this legislation helps maximize personal freedom and independence for a small slice of the population.”
The Oregonian Editorial Board states that the Approval of Referendum 71 “would be a big, and important, lurch forward” while students at Western Washington University are using their independent newspaper, The Western Front, to endorse Referendum 71: “Should the families of dedicated public servants be denied basic rights simply because their family breaks the traditional mold?”
The Olympian makes sure to note in its endorsement that Referendum 71 is about protecting families, creating legal protections for domestic partners and “ensuring that the 12,000 registered domestic partners in committed relationships in Washington State enjoy the same rights, responsibilities and benefits as married couples.”
The Seattle Times Editorial Board has been even more vocal about Referendum 71: penning multiple endorsement articles that urge the public to remember that these adjustments are vitally important, but “hardly radical” and that “nothing is taken away from one person, one couple or one family and given to another. This is about equal treatment for all Washington residents going about their private lives.”
Despite strong support from Microsoft, Nike, and others, The Seattle Times Editorial Board warns that these endorsements are only part of the equation and that they are “no substitute for a strong turnout during an off-year election. An array of endorsements reinforces the importance of this thoughtful extension of the state’s domestic-partnership law. Adoption of R-71 is still grounded in casting votes to approve its passage.”
Above all, it states, “The law at the heart of R-71 is about fundamental fairness for Washington families. Of course it should be approved.”
Endorsements have flooded in from the editorial boards of The Spokesman Review (“many people changed their minds because the basic unfairness violated their traditional values”), the Chinook Observer (“Discrimination based on who someone falls in love with just isn’t right”), the Daily Herald (“these protections are necessary precisely because gays and lesbians cannot legally marry,”) and the Wenatchee World.
Community groups, professional organizations, civic associations, and many of the region’s largest employers support the Referendum because it is about protecting committed couples, and they believe it’s wrong to take away the protections the domestic partnership law provides these couples.
Other endorsements have come from such groups as The Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, Washington State Bar Association and the Washington Association of Churches.
By endorsing Referendum 71, each of these groups displays a commitment to basic fairness for all Washington families.
Related Posts:GLAAD, Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and Approve 71 Team Up
October 22, 2009
GLAAD continues to work with local leaders and organizations in Washington to help get Referendum 71 approved. One unique way we are reaching voters is by teaming up with the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. The festival, organized by Three Dollar Bill Cinema, runs for ten days and expects up to 10,000 visitors.
With ballots due on Referendum 71 in only two weeks, it’s important to energize voters to head to the polls, mail in their ballots and volunteer to help others do the same.
GLAAD teamed up with several local activists led by Shad Reinstein and Jody Laine to produce trailers for the Approve 71 campaign to run before all film festival movies. There are three trailers running throughout the festival. At the film festival’s opening night film, “An Englishman in New York,” the Approve 71 trailer was met by widespread applause.
In today’s world of digital media, everyone has the ability to communicate to a broad audience. Shad and Jody are examples of community members who had something to contribute. Their idea to create these trailers could potentially generate hundreds or thousands of votes for the Approve 71 campaign. Mail-in ballots have already been distributed in Washington and people must postmark their ballots by November 3rd for them to be counted. We hope these movie trailers will help encourage people to get involved and remember to vote.
At GLAAD we always encourage people to stand up and tell their stories – whether through a blog, a letter to the editor or making a video like Shad and Jody did.
Additionally, GLAAD partnered with the film festival for a special screening of “Training Rules,” on Saturday, October 24th. GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios will be in Seattle for the screening and a special panel on “Homophobia in Sports” will follow. Please join us at the event!
For those in Washington or interested in the campaign, visit the Approve 71 website today to see how you can get more involved.
Related Posts:Celebrating Pride in New York and Across the Country
June 30, 2009
Hundreds of thousands crowded New York City’s streets Sunday for the city’s annual LGBT Pride festivities. Sunday’s march marked an especially significant occasion for LGBT people and their allies as it commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the event that most view as sparking the modern LGBT rights movement.
San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and other cities across the globe celebrated on Sunday as well – marking 40 years to the day since the famed uprising took place.
New York’s march, which ends its two mile course near the historic Stonewall Inn, drew prominent figures from the LGBT movement, both past and present. Dustin Lance Black, who recently won an Oscar for his screenplay Milk, was one of four grand marshals at the parade. Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg, both of whom worked closely with the iconic LGBT rights leader, Harvey Milk, also grand marshaled the event. Additionally, hundreds of organizations, companies, and political groups marched in support of the local and national LGBT community.
New Yorkers appeared hopeful that soon they would join the ranks of such states as Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, Delaware and New Hampshire and become the seventh state to legalize marriage for same-sex couples. A bill that would extend marriage protections to same-sex couples is currently pending a vote in the NY senate.
Gov. David Paterson (D-NY), a strong proponent of the bill, was an honorary grand marshal in yesterday’s parade. Gov. Paterson told The Associated Press yesterday that “if we have an end to the stalemate in Albany, [he] would think that [the bill] would be passed shortly after.”
But some were in more somber spirits, reflecting on what they see as President Obama’s lack of commitment to the LGBT community. The New York Times, for instance, published an editorial on Sunday, in which columnist Frank Rich noted that “Obama’s inaction on gay civil rights is striking.”
Rich goes on challenge President Obama to action, saying:
Gay Americans aren’t just another political special interest group. They are Americans who are actively discriminated against by federal laws. If the president is to properly honor the memory of Stonewall, he should get up to speed on what happened 40 years ago, when courageous kids who had nothing, not even a public acknowledgment of their existence, stood up to make history happen in the least likely of places.
Blogger ‘ARDem’, however, said to readers on DailyKos and Pam’s House Blend that LGBT people should celebrate their progress, rather than ruminate over their losses:
the fact that a popular President is being held to task for his lack of action on behalf of [the LGBT] community is something that should be reassuring… instead we could be facing the same things those that went before us did – organized state oppression, a world where hatred of LGBT Americans isn’t simply a disgusting fact of life but something to be expected and uplifted. . .
‘ARDem’ bids his readers to “channel the courage of Stonewall” in their struggle toward equality.
Yesterday, President Obama honored the 40th anniversary of Stonewall alongside 250 plus LGBT leaders in the East Room of the White House.
Shin Inouye, a White House spokesman, said of the event:
[It] is a chance for the White House to recognize the accomplishments of LGBT Americans. Invited guests include families, volunteers and activists, and community leaders. This event was long planned as a way to applaud these individuals during Pride month.
GLAAD’s incoming President, Jarrett Barrios, attended the White House event with his 17-year-old son, Javier. Barrios said the event “was a symbol of the fact that the administration recognizes our community at a time when there has been growing frustration about his administration’s seeming reticence to follow through on campaign promises.”
GLAAD will continue to report on the media’s coverage of Stonewall’s 40th Anniversary. Updates can be found on GLAADblog.org as they become available.
Related Posts:“For My Wife” Premieres Sunday, Oct. 19th
October 17, 2008
We recently highlighted the story of Charlene Strong, the woman who lost her partner of 9 years, Kate, during a flood in their Seattle home in 2006. Charlene was initially denied access to be with Kate at the hospital due to the lack of legal recognition for their relationship, and was subjected to further discrimination when trying to deal with the painful task of making funeral arrangements.
Motivated by her experiences, Strong became a powerful advocate for the rights of gay and lesbian couples, and worked to help pass Washington State’s Domestic Partnership Registration Bill.
GLAAD worked with Charlene, providing her with media trainings and preparing her to be an effective spokesperson and advocate for the rights of gay and lesbian couples. Her story was featured in many publications, including Newsweek and The Advocate.
In order to help people understand the difficulties she faced and to make sure others don’t have to repeat them going forward, Strong decided to take her experience and make a documentary which she entitled “For My Wife.”
The documentary will be premiered this Sunday, October 19th, at the Seattle Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. GLAAD is excited to be featured in the film, and to be attending the premiere.
We encourage supporters and allies in Seattle to join us:
“For My Wife” Premiere
Seattle Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
Sunday, October 19, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Cinerama Theatre
2100 4th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98121
Tickets: $9 and can be purchased here
A Q&A session will follow the film.
There will also be an after party at Design Within Reach for ticket holders:
6:30 – 9 pm
1918 1st Ave
Seattle, WA 98101
Swing Batter Batter Swing!
September 5, 2008
Last week more than 3,000 players, coaches and fans headed to Seattle, Washington for the Gay Softball World Series. (Click here to view pictures from this event.)
The series, dubbed the “Northwest Quest,” is the largest LGBT sporting event held annually. It was a perfect opportunity for GLAAD’s Sports Media program to do some outreach and help shine a light on LGBT athletes, coaches and fans. It was also the first time GLAAD helped sponsor the tournament, and we provided media outreach assistance to the organizers and a free one-year membership to GLAAD for every athlete in attendance.
Stories about Northwest Quest ran in various LGBT publications across the United States, and both LGBT and mainstream media outlets highlighted some of the wonderful stories of the athletes that participated. Check out the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Gaywired, Seattle Gay News, and the Southern Voice for more.
Despite a torrential downpour during the opening ceremonies (it is Seattle, after all), the rest of the week played out fairly well with mostly cloudy skies and cool weather. Over the course of five days of competition, 175 teams from 41 different cities played games in eight divisions, with over 3,000 players, coaches and fans participating.
Throughout the week there were cheers, chants, skinned legs, iced shoulders, and above all, fun. By Saturday afternoon there were eight division winners. Take a look at the winning teams and scores below:
| Division |
Northwest Quest Series 2008 Championship game scores |
| Open A | LA Vipers 32 San Francisco D2 28 |
| Open B | Boston Café Crew 17 Long Beach Rough Riders 15 |
| Open C | Dallas Xplosion 13 Philadelphia Triple Play 11 |
| Open D | Seattle Atomic 7 Atlanta Muddogs 5 |
| Women’s A | Seattle Vibe 12 Long Beach Not Done Yet 2 |
| Women’s B | Kansas City Pride 16 San Diego Urban Mo’s 7 |
| Women’s C | Seattle LunaChix 25 Atlanta Gamma 24 |
| Women’s D | LA Nemesis 8 Atlanta Gamma Lite 7 |
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In addition to the superb competition that took place, organizers managed to keep everyone busy at night as well, with parties, events, and excursions to Seattle Storm and Seattle Mariners games. It was a great chance to meet organizers, athletes and fans in order to extend our support and provide them with information about GLAAD’s Sports Media program.
Hats off to the Host Committee for running the tournament so smoothly and for presenting a wide range of activities after the games were over.
Next year, the series will be split between two host cities in Wisconsin. Milwaukee will host the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA) tournament for men and Madison will host the Amateur Sports Alliance of North America (ASANA) tournament for women.
Start planning now!
