The Mad Professah Lectures

Alphonso David, a 48-year-old Liberian refugee and civil rights attorney who served as counsel to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been named the next president of the Human Rights Campaign, America's largest LGBT political advocacy organization.


I haven't given HRC a red cent since they endorsed a Republican senator (Al D'Amato) instead pf a Democratic challenger (Liz Holtzman) in 1992! This decision may cause me to reconsider my boycott.

Vice President Joe Biden appeared as the keynote speaker at the Human Right Campaign's National Gala last night and in his speech reiterated and explained his support for full LGBT equality. This excerpt is today's Queer Quote:

Interestingly, a few hours before Biden's speech, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton made some news of her own in an address to staffers and volunteers at HRC by obliquely calling out homophobes Kim Davis and Mike Huckabee.

“We assure [gay youth] it gets better, but it can still be really hard to believe that especially when you turn on the TV and you see a Republican candidate for president literally standing in the courthouse door in Kentucky calling for people to join him in resisting a Supreme Court ruling, celebrating a Kentucky clerk who’s breaking the law by denying other Americans their constitutional rights.”

Hat/tip to TowleRoad

The fatal shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old Black man named Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri (just outside St. Louis) has been roiling the internets since it happened on Saturday August 9.

LGBT groups are often criticized by other progressive groups, especially African American civil rights organizations for a lack of reciprocity when it comes to coalition work but today comes word of a joint statement from numerous LGBT groups about the heinous Michael Brown killing:

When communities experience fear, harassment and brutality simply because of who they are or how they look, we are failing as a nation. In light of the recent events in Missouri, it is clearer than ever that there is something profoundly wrong in our country. The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community cannot be silent at this moment, because LGBT people come from all races, creeds, faiths and backgrounds, and because all movements of equality are deeply connected. We are all part of the fabric of this nation and the promise of liberty and justice for all is yet to be fulfilled. 

The LGBT community stands with the family of Michael Brown, who was gunned down in Ferguson, Missouri. We stand with the mothers and fathers of young Black men and women who fear for the safety of their children each time they leave their homes. We call on the national and local media to be responsible and steadfast in their coverage of this story and others like it--racialized killings that have marred this nation since the beginning of its history. We call on policy makers on all levels of American government not to shrink from action, and we are deeply grateful to Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice for their immediate commitment to a thorough investigation. At this moment, we are inspired by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies … but the silence of our friends." 

ACLUCenter for Black Equity, Inc.Equality FederationGay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)GMHCHuman Rights CampaignNational Black Justice CoalitionNational Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)National Center for Transgender EqualityNational Gay and Lesbian Task ForceNational Minority AIDS CouncilNational Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA)PFLAG NationalPride at Work, AFL-CIOSoulforceSoutherners on New Ground (SONG)United AIDS

Good work!

Even while on vacation, President Barack Obama has also commented on the shooting, calling it "heartbreaking."

Ruh-Oh! Things have started to come off the rails for the current version of the "federal LGBT rights bill," also known as ENDA or the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The problems is that the current version of the bill (which passed the United States Senate last year) includes an "overly generous" religious exemption that would allow discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in certain settings where the equivalent discrimination on the basis of race or sex.

In light of the recent 50th anniversary of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision focusing more attention on religious exemptions and how they apply to federal statutes, a number of mainstream LGBT organizations have taken the unusual step of coming out to oppose legislation that they have previously supported, legislation which would expand prohibitions on discrimination for millions of workers in the United States, but would also codify a religious exemption to discriminate against LGBT people.

Joint Statement on Withdrawal of Support for ENDA and Call for Equal Workplace Protections for LGBT People

The following national LGBT legal organizations have signed onto the below statement: American Civil Liberties Union; Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders; Lambda Legal; National Center for Lesbian Rights; and Transgender Law Center. 

The provision in the current version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that allows religious organizations to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity has long been a source of significant concern to us. Given the types of workplace discrimination we see increasingly against LGBT people, together with the calls for greater permission to discriminate on religious grounds that followed immediately upon the Supreme Court's decision last week in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, it has become clear that the inclusion of this provision is no longer tenable. It would prevent ENDA from providing protections that LGBT people desperately need and would make very bad law with potential further negative effects. Therefore, we are announcing our withdrawal of support for the current version of ENDA. 

For decades, our organizations have challenged anti-LGBT workplace discrimination in the courts and worked for the passage of inclusive non-discrimination laws at the local, state, and federal level. We do this work because of the devastating toll workplace discrimination has had, and continues to have, on the lives of LGBT people. It is unacceptable that in the year 2014, men and women are forced to hide who they are or whom they love when they go to work. 

The current patchwork of legal protections at the state and local level has left LGBT people vulnerable to discrimination. For this reason, we have supported federal legislation to explicitly protect LGBT people from discrimination in the workplace, and have urged President Obama to sign an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. 

ENDA's discriminatory provision, unprecedented in federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, could provide religiously affiliated organizations - including hospitals, nursing homes and universities - a blank check to engage in workplace discrimination against LGBT people. The provision essentially says that anti-LGBT discrimination is different - more acceptable and legitimate - than discrimination against individuals based on their race or sex. If ENDA were to pass and be signed into law with this provision, the most important federal law for the LGBT community in American history would leave too many jobs, and too many LGBT workers, without protection. Moreover, it actually might lessen non-discrimination protections now provided for LGBT people by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and very likely would generate confusion rather than clarity in federal law. Finally, such a discrimination provision in federal law likely would invite states and municipalities to follow the unequal federal lead. All of this is unacceptable. 

The Supreme Court's decision in Hobby Lobby has made it all the more important that we not accept this inappropriate provision. Because opponents of LGBT equality are already misreading that decision as having broadly endorsed rights to discriminate against others, we cannot accept a bill that sanctions discrimination and declares that discrimination against LGBT people is more acceptable than other kinds of discrimination. 

Our ask is a simple one: Do not give religiously affiliated employers a license to discriminate against LGBT people when they have no such right to discriminate based on race, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information. Religiously affiliated organizations are allowed to make hiring decisions based on their religion, but nothing in federal law authorizes discrimination by those organizations based on any other protected characteristic, and the rule should be the same for sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. Religious organizations are free to choose their ministers or faith leaders, and adding protections for sexual orientation and gender identity or expression will not change that. 

These concerns are not hypothetical. Increasingly, this is what employment discrimination against LGBT people looks like. Take the example of Matthew Barrett. In July 2013, Matthew was offered a job as food services director at Fontbonne Academy, a college prep high school in Milton, Massachusetts that is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston. Fontbonne Academy has employees and admits students of various faiths. Yet, two days after Matthew listed his husband as his emergency contact on the standard employment paperwork, and despite twenty years of work in the food services industry, his job offer was rescinded. Although nothing about the food services job involved religious rituals or teaching, Matthew was told by an administrator that the school was unable to hire him because "the Catholic religion doesn't recognize same-sex marriage." The current version of ENDA would authorize this sexual orientation discrimination. 

As the national outcry against SB 1062 in Arizona (and similar proposals in numerous other states) demonstrates, the American people oppose efforts to misuse religious liberty as an excuse to discriminate against LGBT people. It is time for ENDA (and the LGBT non-discrimination executive order for federal contractors) to reflect this reality. Until the discriminatory exemption is removed so that anti-LGBT discrimination is treated the same as race, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information under federal workplace laws, we think ENDA should not move forward in Congress. In addition, we will oppose any similar provisions at the state and local level. We are hopeful that the many members of Congress who support this historic, critically important legislation will agree that singling out LGBT people for an unequal and unfair exemption from basic workplace protection falls unacceptably short of the civil rights standards that have served our nation well against other types of discrimination for fifty years. We stand ready and eager to work with them to achieve the long-sought goal of explicit, effective federal non-discrimination protections for LGBT people.

That's pretty deep!

Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins became the fourth sitting Republican Senator to endorse marriage equality on Wednesday. Collin, Republican of maine, joins her colleagues Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).

Collins told the Portland Press-Herald:

On Wednesday, however, her campaign issued a statement that many in the gay-rights community had expected much earlier from a lawmaker who is viewed as one of Congress’ friendliest Republicans on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. 

“A number of states, including my home state of Maine, have now legalized same-sex marriage, and I agree with that decision,” Collins said in the statement. “Today, same-sex couples can be legally married in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Nearly 44% of Americans live in a state where same-sex couples can be legally married, and I believe this number will only continue to grow.” 

Earlier Wednesday, Collins was endorsed once again by the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT advocacy organization.

Many Democratic LGBT observers (like myself) are dismayed that HRC is endorsing a Republican who had not endorsed marriage equality yet when her opponent is someone who was a champion for marriage equality in Maine as head of the local chapter of the ACLU. Shana Bellows issued a statement in response to the news of the endorsement:

"I've been proud and very privileged to be a leader in the LGBT equality movement for many years. As executive director of the ACLU of Maine, I spent every day bringing Republicans and Democrats together to expand civil liberties and strengthen equal protection under the law. I believe in taking strong stances in favor of Constitutional protections and equal rights even when they're unpopular. Remaining silent on some of the biggest civil rights issues of our generation, even after the voters have spoken, isn't leadership, and it isn't how Maine became one of the most inclusive states in the country for LGBT rights. 

"My opponent, Republican Susan Collins, had the chance to speak up in favor of marriage equality in 2012 or any time in the previous decade. Two years after her constituents made their feelings known at the ballot box, she has refused to break her silence. I believe Mainers need, want and deserve more proactive representation on equal rights -- on allowing LGBT students to learn without fear of bullying, on applying for jobs and going to work without fear of discrimination, and on much more. I'm running for Senate to provide that proactive representation and to expand Constitutional protections for our LGBT community.

I understand that HRC feels like it needs to endorse Republican incumbents over Democratic challengers, but I disagree with the lack of political principle involved. The largest LGBT political organization in the country should make its endorsements based on which candidate actually has the best pro-LGBT record. By endorsing a Republican, HRC is endorsing someone who will vote for Mitch McConnell to be Senate Majority Leader, which will mean absolutely no legislative progress on LGBT rights while Republicans control the Senate.

Well, well, well! Expressing publicly thoughts which many LGBT activists (like myself) have had privately for years, Matt Foreman, former head of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and eminence rose of the LGBT movement has said that the current "federal gay rights bill," commonly known as ENDA (which passed the United States Senate for the first time in its 40-year history last year) is a waste of time.

To be precise he said this:

"It's pathetic that four decades have gone by without Congress extending basic civil rights protections to LGBT Americans. It's even more pathetic that what's left of Bella Abzug's comprehensive legislation is ENDA - a small-bore bill that is now riddled with giveaways to anti-gay forces, including a religious exemption big enough for an 18-wheeler to cruise through. It's time to pull the plug on this essentially lifeless corpse and demand full equality under the federal civil rights statutes."

ENDA is (and has been for at least a decade) the #1 priority of HRC, the nations largest LGBT political advocacy organization. But with a Republican-controlled House of Representatives, no pro-LGBT legislation will be enacted in the near-future, since only a handful of House Republicans (well, 7) are publicly supportive of the measure. The hardest thing about banning anti-gay discrimination in federal law is that most Americans already think it is illegal (and think that it should be), which paradoxically reduces momentum for enacting such a policy into law.

I agree with Matt that ENDA should be replaced by a comprehensive civil rights bill that calls for an end to discrimination in public accommodations, employment, education and housing, basically amend the 1964 civil rights act and add "sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression" to the words where "race, color, religion, sex, or national origin" appear in the text.

However, it does seem like pushing for a more comprehensive measure will make enacting basic projections in the 23 states where you can currently be fired for being LGB even less likely to happen in the near term.

So, I disagree that ENDA should be withdrawn, I think it should be supported, IN ADDITION to a comprehensive bill.

What do you think?

The largest LGBT political advocacy organization in the United States has announced the launch of Project One America, an $8.5 million, 3-year project to advance LGBT equality in the Deep South states of Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas.

There are nine specific goals of Project One America:

1. Empower LGBT people (and straight allies) to come out.
2. Raise the visibility of LGBT people and issues with the general public.
3. Create safer environments for LGBT young people.
4. Build partnerships with faith communities, communities of color, business communities, and conservatives.
5. Create a more inclusive workplace for LGBT people
6. Build support for enduring legal protections that ensure LGBT equality.
7. Expand participation in HRC’s Municipal Equality Index in these three states.
8. Create a more inclusive healthcare environment for LGBT people
9. Equip LGBT people and non-traditional allies as spokespeople

ABC News reports:

The aim is to first change hearts and minds so that people hiding their sexual orientation will be more comfortable about coming out publicly. As that occurs, organizers believe, communities and states will be more likely to adopt laws to prevent discrimination. 

"You overcome all of the objections by having conversations and getting to know your neighbors," Chad Griffin, an Arkansas native and president of Human Rights Campaign, said in an interview with The Associated Press. 

With a checkered history in race relations, Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi resisted civil and voting rights for blacks in the 1960s. And unlike other Southern states, the three still haven't enacted legal safeguards to prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation in areas like housing and employment. 

Yet surveys have shown the states have roughly the same percentage of gay residents as other states, Griffin said, and Human Rights Campaign has a total of 57,000 members and supporters in the states, which have a total population of 10.7 million people. 

Organizers hope to accelerate change that already has included four Mississippi towns passing non-binding resolutions against LGBT discrimination. In Alabama, a civil rights museum is currently showing a photo exhibit of LGBT youth aimed at promoting acceptance. 

"The pace of progress really has been fast, but you can't leave anyone behind," said Griffin.

As Vice President Biden would say, this is a BFD. I am curious as to what the local LGBT groups in those states feel about HRC coming in and essentially becoming the statewide LGBT group in each of these states. On one hand, they will build capacity for LGBT equality in the targeted states, but I
find it hard to believe that there was no organizing going on in those states (Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi) before this.

This is a risky but encouraging move for HRC. The South is also the region with the largest African-American fraction of the population and HRC is not known as the most racially diverse or
progressive of organizations so there are bound to be some complications and fractures along race and class lines while the work advances.

But I give them much props for trying, and putting their money where their mouth is.

The Human Rights Campaign noticed that today was the deadline for the appeal to be filed in the landmark case of Abbott Laboratories v. SmithKline Beecham in which the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled recently that laws that classify based upon sexual orientation require heightened scrutiny.

Abbott is an incredibly significant ruling that already has had immediate impacts on the lives of LGBT citizens. As a direct result of the issuance of this ruling the Attorneys General of Nevada and Oregon declined to continue to defend their state's marriage licenses.

It is hard to see how marriage laws that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation survive judicial review anywhere in the 9th Circuit as long as Abbott is good law.

Juror Discrimination Case Will Not Be Appealed
Ninth Circuit's Application of Heightened Scrutiny for Sexual Orientation Will Stand
WASHINGTON – In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in a pharmaceutical contract dispute, Abbott Laboratories v. SmithKline Beecham, that it violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection to exclude someone from jury service because of his or her sexual orientation.  In doing so, the court also concluded that discrimination based on sexual orientation should be subject to heightened scrutiny, a higher standard of judicial review that requires a stronger justification for laws and policies that treat gays and lesbians differently.  Only days after the Ninth Circuit's decision, the Attorney General of Nevada ended the state's defense of its marriage ban in another case before that court, concluding that Nevada's justifications for excluding same-sex couples from marriage could not withstand that higher level of review.  

Yesterday, the deadline passed for AbbVie (the pharmaceutical spin-off of Abbott Laboratories that is a party in this litigation) to seek review of the January decision by a larger panel of the Ninth Circuit.  Furthermore, HRC has learned that AbbVie will not seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court.     

 “AbbVie’s decision not to appeal this ruling may turn out to be a pivotal moment in the quest for marriage equality in every state in this country and greater constitutional protections for all LGBT Americans,” said HRC President Chad Griffin.  "We thank the company for standing on the right side of history."   

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

• According to a poll by Third Way and the Human Rights Campaign 69 percent of Americans don’t think a business owner should be allowed to refuse to provide products or services to an individual because that person is gay or lesbian, compared to an incredibly small 15% that do. And when asked about small business owners in particular, a full 68% of Americans don’t think they should be able to refuse service to gays or lesbians, regardless of their religious beliefs. This supermajority included 55% of Republicans, 75% of Independents, 67% of people without college degrees, and 68% of Christians.
• When asked specifically about wedding-related services, like catering, flowers, or cakes, being provided by small businesses, 64% of voters were still opposed to new laws that would allow small businesses to deny wedding-related services based on their religious beliefs, compared to 31% in favor.

• Undermining local non-discrimination ordinances protecting LGBT individuals.
• Interfering with licensing organizations that have professional regulations protecting LGBT individuals.
• Employees may potentially bring litigation against employers who are enforcing internal nondiscrimination policies, including employer provided benefits for same-sex spouses (health insurance, retirement) and LGBT non-discrimination policies.
• Pharmacists could potentially refuse to provide HIV and hormone replacement therapy drugs.
• Restaurants, inns/hotels could potentially turn away same-sex couples celebrating an anniversary, adoption or pregnancy.
• Wedding garment shops, bakeries, photo studios, and reception halls could close their doors to same-sex couples planning their weddings.

Ellen Page, 26, is best known for her Oscar nominated role in Juno but you may also remember her from her appearance in Christopher Nolan's Inception. Page made news this weekend when she gave a keynote address at HRC's Time To Thrive conference for LGBT youth in Nevada and promptly came out of the closet herself.

The video of her speech has been viewed more than 3 million times since it was posted to YouTube on Friday.

It is becoming clearer that the next frontier for LGBT equality is in the area of public accommodations for transgender people. This story about Jeydon Loredo caught my eye. The school board of La Feria High School in La Feria, Texas is refusing to allow Jeydon to appear in his yearbook picture wearing a tuxedo, saying that it offends "community standards."

A major milestone in life would be summed up in one image: Jeydon in a crisp tuxedo with his hair neatly combed. As time passes, this may be the only image his classmates have to remember him by.

That’s why Jeydon, a transgender student, was upset to learn from the school district’s superintendent that his photo would not appear in the yearbook because it supposedly violated “community standards.” Jeydon, while he grew up female, is now a young man. He is transgender, meaning that his gender identity is different from what he was assigned at birth.  District Superintendent Rey Villarreal told his mother that Jeydon’s photograph would be included only if he wore stereotypically feminine attire, such as a drape or blouse.

“I’ve lived here my whole life, and I’ve grown up with the kids here,” Jeydon said. “I’ve seen those in my community go through troubles, and denying my tuxedo photo would be a way for the district to forget me and everything I’ve brought to this community. The yearbook is for the students, not the faculty or the administration. It is a way for us to remember each other.”

The Human Rights Campaign and the Southern Poverty Law Center are fighting for Jeydon's right to appear in the senior yearbook picture that his family paid for and have sent the La Feria School Board a strongly worded letter explaining why the school board's (in)action is discriminatory.

HRC and SPLC are encouraging people to contact the school board.

The same day that the U.S. Senate took an important step towards passage of a federal LGBT rights bill, the Speaker of the House made it clear he opposes the legislation from becoming law, provoking sharp words from the head of the largest LGBT rights group in the United States. The Senate voted 61-30 to bring ENDA to the floor, but before that happened John Boehner had his spokesperson release a statement saying "The Speaker believes this legislation will increase frivolous litigation and cost American jobs, especially small business jobs." Additionally, the Speaker's office also said that "We have always believed this is covered by existing law. [This is] not a new issue or a new position -- it's a longstanding position, and, frankly, not 'news' at all. This has been his position, on the record, for years, stated publicly many times."

Chad Griffin, head of the Human Rights Campaign, reacted to the false assertion that current law already protects LGBT people from employment discrimination by saying: "The Speaker, of all people, should certainly know what it's like to go to work every day afraid of being fired. Instead of letting the far right trample him again, it's time for Speaker Boehner to stand with the majority of everyday Republican voters and support ENDA."

What the Speaker is doing is continuing to bolster the incorrect impression held by 69% of Americans that anti-LGBT discrimination is already illegal, thus decreasing the momentum to actually enact the policy into law. This is truly odious behavior by a public official, because lack of LGBT employment discrimination has actual negative impacts on actual people.

Hat/tip to Talking Points Memo

Good news! The chances of historic action on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) improved recently with the news that U.S. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida has signed on to co-sponsor the federal bill to ban LGBT employment discrimination nationwide.

The Washington Blade reports on recent ENDA developments:

After months of lobbying and public pressure, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) on Monday became the 54th sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

The senator’s name is listed as among the sponsors of ENDA on “Thomas,” the website for the Library of Congress that monitors legislation. According to the website, Nelson signed on as a supporter Monday, the same day Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced that a Senate vote on ENDA would take place before Thanksgiving.

[...]

Republicans Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) also voted for ENDA in committee. That means the legislation now has 57 votes, which is three short of overcoming a filibuster.

The Florida Democrat’s support arguably places the legislation well ahead of any other legislation specific to an LGBT issues in terms of the number of co-sponsors. Since Sen. Jay Rockfeller became a supporter, ENDA has exceeded the number of co-sponsors for legislation that led to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal in 2010 and the 2001 version of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

It is perfectly legal to fire employees because of their sexual orientation in twenty-nine states; while technically it is illegal to fire someone based on their gender identity only 17 states have laws explicitly prohibiting the practice, which is believed to be widespread.


Even if there are 60 votes in the Senate to pass ENDA (which is likely since it is only 3 votes shy right now) it is considered almost impossible for ENDA to pass the House of Representatives while it is under Republican control.

Hat/tip to HRC

As expected, marriage equality reached New Jersey at 12:01am this morning and soon afterwards U.S. Senator-elect Cory Booker officiated his first marriage as Mayor of Newark, the state's largest city.

Interestingly, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced a few hours later that he had decided to drop his administration's appeal of the September 26 ruling that is being implemented today to the New Jersey Supreme Court, thus removing any ambiguity about the future status of marriage equality in the Garden State.

Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry released a statement making it clear that his organization is not willing to stop at the 14 states (and Washington, DC) that now have marriage equality:

"At long last, the freedom to marry is now permanently law of the land in New Jersey. The marriages of loving, committed couples throughout the Garden State, combined with Governor Christie's withdrawal of his appeal, is joyous news to New Jerseyans, both gay and non-gay. The momentum continues to build nationwide and we are working hard to deliver victories in Hawaii, Illinois and New Mexico yet in 2013."

And Chad Griffin of Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBT rights group in the country, emailed supporters reminding them of their goal to reach 50 marriage equality states within 5 years of this year's Supreme Court ruling in U.S. v. Windsor and listed the states that they are focused on in the foreseeable future:

• In Hawaii, we've sent three senior field organizers to work with the Hawaii United for Marriage campaign, and we're expecting a vote in the legislature any day now.
• In Illinois, we have invested more than $255,000 in the legislative marriage campaign. Nine HRC organizers are on the ground working to generate constituent contacts and secure a favorable House vote for the marriage equality bill, which has already passed in the Senate.
• In New Mexico, we have hired two field organizers to mobilize support as a marriage equality lawsuit is pending before the State Supreme Court.
• In New Jersey, we have deployed four field organizers and a senior field organizer to partner with the New Jersey United for Marriage campaign following Governor Christie's appeal of a pro-marriage trial court decision and his veto of the marriage equality bill.
• In Oregon, HRC is part of the governing board of the Oregon United for Marriage campaign that seeks to replace the state's existing marriage amendment with full marriage equality. HRC is also funding the campaign's faith director and has deployed a senior field organizer to be part of the campaign.
• In Indiana, HRC is fighting alongside the bipartisan coalition Freedom Indiana to defeat an anti-marriage constitutional amendment.
• In Arizona and Ohio, we helped launch educational campaigns with the aim of repealing and replacing the states' "Defense of Marriage" Amendments at the ballot in 2016.

Only time will tell what will happen next. What do YOU think? Will there be 50 states with marriage equality within 5 years?

I think it is possible, but I would probably give it until 2020. In order to do so one would need a ruling from the United States Supreme Court recognizing that the freedom to marry explicitly includes the right to marry someone of the same-sex. In order for that to happen within the next five years it is likely one needs to reach a majority of states (twenty-six) that have marriage equality as well as a majority of Supreme Court justices (five) that would endorse the concept. That would almost certainly require at least one (if not more) Republican-appointed justices to retire.

What do you think?

Today is National Coming Out Day, which has been celebrated since 1988, on the first anniversary of the 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. HRC has put together a lovely video that highlights the many celebrities who have come out over the last 25 years, including one I have characterized as the most memorable to me, Ellen Degeneres. It also includes a diverse list of celebrities who are now out of the closet such as George Takei, Jason Collins, Jason Lambert, Wanda Sykes, Chaz Bono and Ricky Martin.

Todd Hughes made history today as the first openly gay person to be approved by the United States Senate to become a federal judge on a federal appellate court, just one level below the United States Supreme Court.

HRC (Human Rights Campaign), the country's largest LGBT political advocacy organization, sent out a press release:

WASHINGTON – Today the United States Senate by a vote of 98 to 0 confirmed Todd Hughes to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, making him the first openly-gay person to serve as a federal appellate judge.  President Obama nominated Hughes, who is currently a Deputy Director in the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice, in February and his nomination was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in July by a voice vote.

"Judge Hughes is a remarkably qualified jurist who has served his country tirelessly, and today that commitment to service made history,” said Human Rights Campaign (HRC) president Chad Griffin. “As an openly gay man takes to the federal appellate court bench for the very first time, barriers to achievement for the next generation of LGBT young people are crumbling every day.”

HRC urged President Obama to nominate Hughes and has strongly supported his confirmation by the Senate.  He has served at the Justice Department for nearly thirty years and is a recognized expert in government pay and personnel law, whistleblower claims, international trade litigation and veterans’ benefits claims. He has personally argued over 50 cases before the Federal Circuit in multiple areas of the court’s jurisdiction, including appearances before the en banc court.

Hughes graduated from Duke University School of Law and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert B. Krupansky on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.   

The Federal Circuit is based in Washington, D.C. and, uniquely among federal appeals courts, has nationwide jurisdiction in a variety of subject areas, including international trade, government contracts, patents, trademarks, certain money claims against the United States government, federal personnel, veterans' benefits, and public safety officers' benefits claims.

Hughes becomes the eighth openly-gay federal judge with a lifetime appointment to the bench, including seven federal district court judges who were nominated by President Obama: Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro, Pamela Ki Mai Chen, Michael Fitzgerald, Michael McShane, Alison Nathan, and Paul Oetken.  They joined Judge Deborah Batts of the Southern District of New York, who was nominated by President Clinton in 1994 and took senior status in 2012.

Another historic first! Amazing to think that from 1992 to 2011 there was exactly one openly gay federal judge who had been approved by the Senate. Two years later, there are eight! Do you think an openly LGBT Supreme Court justice is possible within your lifetime?

A bipartisan coalition of individuals and organizations called Freedom Indiana was launched this week to defeat a proposed state constitutional amendment (or min-DOMA) to prohibit marriage equality in the Hoosier state. The Republican-controlled legislature has passed the measure once and needs to do so again in order to get the discriminatory amendment on the November 2014 statewide ballot.

Good news today on the campaign to end employment discrimination against LGBT people in the United States! A huge coalition of groups has launched a group called Americans for Workplace Opportunity as part of a $2 million campaign to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act through Congress.

The Washington Post reports:

Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and 17 of those states and the District extend that protection to gender identity. Such policies have also become common in major companies: 88 percent of Fortune 500 include protections for gay, lesbian and bisexual employees, and more than half have safeguards for transgender employees. 

Until recently the push for workplace protections has been overshadowed by the battle over gay marriage. But on July 10 the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved anti-discrimination bill by a bipartisan vote of 15 to 7, providing fresh momentum to the initiative.

The coalition, which also includes the American Civil Liberties Union, American Federation of Teachers, National Center for Transgender Equality and National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, will focus on senators in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. With the exception of Democrats Mark Pryor (Ark.), Bill Nelson (Fla.) and Joe Manchin III (W.Va.), all the targeted senators are Republican.

The campaign will be managed by Matt McTighe, who managed the successful campaign to win marriage equality in Maine last November. The Steering Committee of Americans for Workplace Opportunity includes familiar organizational names like American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), American Federation of Teachers, American Unity Fund, Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Amazingly, there are still three Democratic U.S. Senators who refuse to say whether they support prohibiting workplace discrimination against LGBT people: Joe Manchin (D-WV), Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Mark Pryor (D-AR).

What's bizarre about this trio of Democratic Senator holdouts on ENDA is that one of them, Sen. Nelson, supports marriage equality and is representing a blue state (albeit one that has a very red legislature which has not passed a state LGBT rights bill).

Of course, even if ENDA gets 60 votes and passes the Senate, it is not very clear at all that it has the ghost of a chance of passing the U.S. House. The legislative body led by House Speaker John Boehner has passed just 15 bills which have become law so far in the 113th Congress. That is on pace to be the least productive session of Congress ever. Some form of a federal gay rights bill has been languishing in Congress since 1973, so history is not on our side, but the future is!

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

A group of organizations in New Jersey have joined together to form a coalition called New Jersey United for Marriage which is dedicated to winning the freedom to marry in New Jersey by January 2014. They are reading from a playbook that has been run in many states, like Hawaii, New York, Washington, Maine, Rhode Island and Minnesota.

“Today’s announcement is a game-changer.  Over the past decade, Garden State Equality has moved public opinion from minority to majority support for marriage,” said Troy Stevenson, Executive Director of Garden State Equality.  “With over 60 percent of New Jerseyans supporting marriage equality, we are in the last leg of a marathon race and are inviting everyone to run the last mile with us.” 

[...] 

Speaking at the rally will be leaders of New Jersey United, several families who are directly impacted by the state’s  civil union law, clergy members and local small business owners.  Modeled after successful efforts in New York, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Maine, the campaign will broaden the existing coalition of supporters to engage new groups, including Main Street businesses, large corporate employers, industry organizations and Republicans. 

[...] 

The Marriage Equality and Religious Exemptions Act passed in the State Senate and Assembly in February 2012, but was vetoed shortly thereafter. NJ United for Marriage seeks an override of the veto by early January 2014.

The coalition launched on July 24 with partners Garden State Equality, American Civil Liberties Union of NJ, American Unity Fund, Freedom to Marry, Gill Action Fund, Human Rights Campaign, and Lambda Legal.

New Jersey goes to the polls in November 2013 to decide the fate of Governor Chris Christie and elect state legislators. Following that election

Good news out of the Commonwealth of Virginia for supporters of LGBT equality! A new bipartisan poll conducted for Human Rights Campaign reveals that Virginians strongly support LGBT equality.

For example, support for marriage equality is at 55%, which jumps to 71% for voters under the age of 30. There is interesting geographic distribution too:

• 68 percent in Northern Virginia 

• 53 percent in Central Virginia

• 51 percent in Eastern Virginia 

It's great to know that the area in which I have been living (Ballston section of Arlington) has such strong support for marriage equality. But there is even more good news. Virginia also supports state recognition of same-sex couples (civil unions) as well as overwhelmingly support (by 74 percent) protections from employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

In fact, support for a state LGBT right law is strong among several demographics:

• 70 percent of Independents

• 62 percent of Republicans

• 71 percent of African Americans

The item "on the gay rights agenda" that is least supported by Virginians is adoption by same-sex couples, which is "only" supported by 60 percent.

Great news from Virginia! Maybe Virginia is for lovers, after all!