Queer Notes: Small victories
Sometimes you take small victories where you can get them. This week incremental progress was made on a few fronts.
The letter to GLAAD urging them to move their event from the boycotted hotel
The open letter to GLAAD has really taken on steam. Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic club signed on to the letter. Assemblymember Mark Leno also just signed on yesterday. To be fair, he only heard about it yesterday and Mark didn’t even blink. He immediately got it and signed on. He is also making extra efforts to reach out to GLAAD to communicate how important it is to LGBT San Franciscans that GLAAD honor our coalition partners. From what I understand, Supervisor Dufty has been making calls to GLAAD too. Props to Michael Goldstein for showing up to the GLAAD pre-event fundraiser last Tuesday night and handing out flyers urging GLAAD to move their event. Apparently Cornell Fowler, a consultant for the boycotted hotels, showed up to the event as well. Hmmm. Glad to hear that he cares about GLAAD.
Supervisor Dufty
I’m incredibly proud of our community. People really get how important it is that Local 2 was the first union in the country to secure domestic partner benefits for their workers and to force the hotels to give to a HIV/AIDS fund. My hope is that GLAAD will begin to understand the linkages and common ground between LGBT Civil Rights and Labor.
The LGBT community is also facing a huge battle in California during the next year over Marriage Equality for same sex couples. We really need labor to win this battle in California and it is my hope that Labor will stick their neck out for us. It is also my hope that GLAAD will understand how important our local work is and not undermine our efforts to achieve unity between the LGBT Community and Labor.
Marriage warriors Molly McKay and her partner Davina
There is a great article about the effort to move the GLAAD event in this week’s Bay Area Reporter by Matthew Bajko. In the article, the Executive Director of GLAAD told Matthew that they have not ruled out moving the event. This is a significant step forward. Wouldn’t it be great if GLAAD did the right thing and moved? They could end up being heroes, along with the other folks who have done their best to communicate the importance of the boycott.
The Panic Defense
Earlier this week, I wrote about how the defense attorneys in the Araujo trial used the panic defense– which is really no legitimate defense at all -- to try and get their clients off last year. A group of activists and allies are working on changing the Penal and/or Evidence Code to prevent defense attorneys from using transphobic and homophobic arguments to try to reduce their client’s culpability in homicide trials. State legislation was introduced earlier this year by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber (D-San Jose) to limit tactics that utilize bias against the victim by arguing that they were “provoked” to kill someone because they “discovered” the victims, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, race, or religion. The bill was sponsored by Equality California, a statewide LGBT advocacy organization. AB 1160, a first-of-its kind effort, became a two-year bill so that the Assemblywoman and community groups could get the language right, which means that the Assembly will take the bill up next year.
When District Attorney Kamala Harris heard about these efforts, she immediately offered her help with language for the bill and offered to be a spokesperson on the issue. Yesterday, Chris Daley from the Transgender Law Center and Debbie Mesloh from the D.A.’s office spoke and will be working together to ensure passage and build community support in San Francisco and in the legal community.
District Attorney Kamala Harris
No family should have to endure sitting through a trial where attorneys blame the victim for their own murder, like Sylvia Guerrero had to last year.
The SF Labor Council and Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club also Boycott Badlands
Les Natali came out swinging this week in the BAR making suggestions that the folks behind And Castro for All are simply shills for other bar owners in the Castro. Yeah, right. What a joke. Tommi Avicolli Mecca is a shill for bar owners. Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, Local 790, and APRI are all shills too. What planet is this guy from?
If you are wondering why I think this is a small victory, I guess I would say if they are this desperate, then we must be winning. Also, the SF Labor Council and the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club endorsed the boycott this week. Small victories…Yep.
Tommi Avicolli Mecca
Reminder
Saturday night, join And Castro for All, SEIU Local 790, A. Philip Randolph Institute, Pride at Work, and Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club for a picket in front of Badlands a bar which was recently found guilty of discrimination against African American gay men by the Human Rights Commission. The boycott picket begins at 10PM and lasts until 1AM, Saturday May 14 from 10PM-12AM in front of Badlands on 18th St., just up from Castro St. Please note the time change.
The letter to GLAAD urging them to move their event from the boycotted hotel
The open letter to GLAAD has really taken on steam. Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic club signed on to the letter. Assemblymember Mark Leno also just signed on yesterday. To be fair, he only heard about it yesterday and Mark didn’t even blink. He immediately got it and signed on. He is also making extra efforts to reach out to GLAAD to communicate how important it is to LGBT San Franciscans that GLAAD honor our coalition partners. From what I understand, Supervisor Dufty has been making calls to GLAAD too. Props to Michael Goldstein for showing up to the GLAAD pre-event fundraiser last Tuesday night and handing out flyers urging GLAAD to move their event. Apparently Cornell Fowler, a consultant for the boycotted hotels, showed up to the event as well. Hmmm. Glad to hear that he cares about GLAAD.
Supervisor Dufty
I’m incredibly proud of our community. People really get how important it is that Local 2 was the first union in the country to secure domestic partner benefits for their workers and to force the hotels to give to a HIV/AIDS fund. My hope is that GLAAD will begin to understand the linkages and common ground between LGBT Civil Rights and Labor.
The LGBT community is also facing a huge battle in California during the next year over Marriage Equality for same sex couples. We really need labor to win this battle in California and it is my hope that Labor will stick their neck out for us. It is also my hope that GLAAD will understand how important our local work is and not undermine our efforts to achieve unity between the LGBT Community and Labor.
Marriage warriors Molly McKay and her partner Davina
There is a great article about the effort to move the GLAAD event in this week’s Bay Area Reporter by Matthew Bajko. In the article, the Executive Director of GLAAD told Matthew that they have not ruled out moving the event. This is a significant step forward. Wouldn’t it be great if GLAAD did the right thing and moved? They could end up being heroes, along with the other folks who have done their best to communicate the importance of the boycott.
The Panic Defense
Earlier this week, I wrote about how the defense attorneys in the Araujo trial used the panic defense– which is really no legitimate defense at all -- to try and get their clients off last year. A group of activists and allies are working on changing the Penal and/or Evidence Code to prevent defense attorneys from using transphobic and homophobic arguments to try to reduce their client’s culpability in homicide trials. State legislation was introduced earlier this year by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber (D-San Jose) to limit tactics that utilize bias against the victim by arguing that they were “provoked” to kill someone because they “discovered” the victims, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, race, or religion. The bill was sponsored by Equality California, a statewide LGBT advocacy organization. AB 1160, a first-of-its kind effort, became a two-year bill so that the Assemblywoman and community groups could get the language right, which means that the Assembly will take the bill up next year.
When District Attorney Kamala Harris heard about these efforts, she immediately offered her help with language for the bill and offered to be a spokesperson on the issue. Yesterday, Chris Daley from the Transgender Law Center and Debbie Mesloh from the D.A.’s office spoke and will be working together to ensure passage and build community support in San Francisco and in the legal community.
District Attorney Kamala Harris
No family should have to endure sitting through a trial where attorneys blame the victim for their own murder, like Sylvia Guerrero had to last year.
The SF Labor Council and Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club also Boycott Badlands
Les Natali came out swinging this week in the BAR making suggestions that the folks behind And Castro for All are simply shills for other bar owners in the Castro. Yeah, right. What a joke. Tommi Avicolli Mecca is a shill for bar owners. Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, Local 790, and APRI are all shills too. What planet is this guy from?
If you are wondering why I think this is a small victory, I guess I would say if they are this desperate, then we must be winning. Also, the SF Labor Council and the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club endorsed the boycott this week. Small victories…Yep.
Tommi Avicolli Mecca
Reminder
Saturday night, join And Castro for All, SEIU Local 790, A. Philip Randolph Institute, Pride at Work, and Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club for a picket in front of Badlands a bar which was recently found guilty of discrimination against African American gay men by the Human Rights Commission. The boycott picket begins at 10PM and lasts until 1AM, Saturday May 14 from 10PM-12AM in front of Badlands on 18th St., just up from Castro St. Please note the time change.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home