New Anti-Marriage Equality Yes on 1 Ad Hits Maine's Air Waves

It was only a matter of time before the Yes on 1 people realized that using outsiders wasn't a good idea in Maine. But unfortunately, they didn't have to look far to find an anti-LGBT local willing to go on the air.



Jeremy Hooper at Good As You does a good job on reporting who Donald Mendell actually is, adding "Love how Mr. Mendell says 'this Maine teacher is a gay activist' (in reference to his co-worker at his very own school, by the way) as if he's a mere layman. It would seem that those who live in glass political ads shouldn't throw "activist" stones!"

Of the course the Yes on 1 used that line in rebuttal to us objecting to their use of Charla Bansley in their last ad, portraying her as a public school teacher - but she isn't and is a well-known anti-LGBT activist.

Also, thanks to Jeremy, the Robert Skutch interview referenced in this ad is available below in full:


*Source: Here & Now, 5/3/05

What chills me to the bone is the reference to the curriculum at the center of the Alameda Unified School District lawsuit happening here in California. I've been working on a longer piece regarding this case and how it's intertwined with the marriage battles here in the Golden State, but before I've been able to finish, Frank Schubert, the man behind Yes on Prop 8, has wasted no time inserting it into the Question 1 struggle as a reason to ban marriage equality in Maine. Illogical? Yes. Effective? Unfortunately, yes.

The lawsuit against the Alameda school system, filed in August by the conservative Pacific Justice Institute, was brought by parents who were denied the option of opting their children out of curriculum teaching about bullying, and this included bullying of LGBT students. However, the school said they couldn't opt out because the curriculum doesn't fall under the California Education Code provisions which allow for it. So the parents sued. Obviously, I think they're pawns in a bigger scheme. And that scheme is already playing out in Maine and will soon again here in California.

I really do hope the NO on 1/Protect Maine Equality campaign responds just as quickly as last time (they've been amazing at fast responses), but this time, not just call the ad baseless but actually point out the lies. Somehow, Yes on 1 has successfully linked the marriage equality issue to school curriculum and the effects on kids, a tactic we already knew they would use.

Despite the NO on 1 ads, the opposition is able to successfully stick to their message discipline while we keep repeating that "outsiders are harming our families." Yes on 1 easily fixed that by using a local to do their dirty deeds.

We have to avoid Yes on 1's trap of getting us to respond to what is happening in California. Sure, the curriculum they refer to has nothing to do with marriage equality, but it DOES have to do with the fact that LGBT people exist. It's a fact of life.

As I've said before, "We need to tell Mainers, 'You're going to hear that marriage is going to be taught in schools, but you have the power to decide that yourself in your districts. You're going to hear that your church is going to be sued, but you already have protections in place by law. The other side is going to try and confuse this issue, to state things that are not in the law. They want to mislead you. They will lie to you.

"'This is not about curriculum, not about religion. What this is about is civil marriage for all. It's about protecting families. It's about being fair.'"

If we do this, anything Yes on 1 says going further will be overshadowed by doubt.

The "outsiders" argument isn't going to work now. We have to play fire with fire. Call a lie a lie.

Activists Attending National Equality March Plan to Lobby Congress

With the recent announcement that Congress will be in session during the National Equality March, I contacted Robin McGeHee, one of the chief organizers of the event, and asked her if this caused any new actions to be planned.

"We will be sticking to our main goal of training people and then sending them home to do the work that's needed to be done there," Robin said. "After their training [in Washington DC], they will be contacting their representatives at home."

Equality Across America, the organization forming out of the National Equality March, is actively involved in organizing all 435 congressional districts in the nation in an effort to gain full federal equality for all. Their goal is to have Congressional Action Teams per district, some of which have already formed and will be attending the march for training.

"Some Congressional Action Teams will be lobbying Congress over the weekend," Robin said. In order to accomplish this, they may miss out on some of the scheduled training.

The next big step to come out of the National Equality March will be to have the newly trained activists return home and plan for a national action day on November 5.

Depending on where they live and how LGBT-friendly their towns are, the activists will hold rallies or in more conservative areas, write persuasive op-eds in major local newspapers and perform other tasks to create more awareness. Some of the events may join in spirit others being planned in California to memorialize the damage caused by the passing of Proposition 8 which by then will have been a year ago. All will be encouraged to lobby their U.S. Representatives.

More information about November 5 will be given at the National Equality March.

Mainers See Through the Opposition's Lies and Stand Up for Marriage Equality

Periodic guest blogger for Unite the Fight, straight ally Jane Wishon does a great job of summarizing the underhanded tactics used by the anti-marriage equality Yes on 1 campaign in Maine and describes how "real Mainers" who see through the lies are being used for the NO on 1 ads.

Writing for JaySays.com, Jane reports:

Watch the current Yes on 1 ads in Maine and you’ll see some familiar faces. Yes, right there on your TV screen you’ll see Robb and Robin Wirthlin bemoaning the fact that their child’s teacher read the book King & King to the class. Why do they look familiar? It’s exactly the same footage used in the Yes on 8 campaign spots from California last year.

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“In each, according to our opposition, a young child is hurt or damaged when exposed to a book that depicts a gay couple as happy and healthy. This message – ‘your kids are in danger’ — is a lie designed to frighten and polarize voters, including but not limited to young parents of young children. This misinformation is what our opposition relied on as far back as Anita Bryant’s 1977 ‘Save the Children’ campaign, and they’re using it again in Maine this year,” according to David Fleischer, media analyst and Lead Organizer of the LGBT Mentoring Project in New York.

In Maine, you’ll also see a school teacher promising that homosexuality will be taught in public school and a law professor promising “a flood of lawsuits.” Meanwhile there is a casting call for a ‘Yes on 1’ commercial looking for a “working waitress type” and a “teacher type,” according to a recent article in the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. Sound familiar?

What may not sound familiar is the reaction these tactics are garnering in Maine. In his October 2nd Real Mainers step up for ‘No on 1’ ads, Bill Nemitz calls out the opposition for its subterfuge. He begins with pointing out that the handsome traditional family featured on the Stand for Marriage Maine website is actually clip art and calmly and systematically picks apart the spokespeople for the Yes on 1 campaign as not what they purport to be.

Read more of Jane's post to find out why the supposed law professor and public school teacher in the ads are anything but.

Though I have offered friendly criticisms to the NO on 1/Protect Maine Equality ads in the past, believing they can be more hard-hitting by truthfully calling out the lies in the opposition's ads before they even air (because, c'mon, we've seen these ads before!), Jane shows how real Mainers are already seeing through the lies of the Yes on 1 campaign.

The NO on 1/Protect Maine Equality campaign needs your help now more than ever. With less than a month to go before elections and Mainers already turning in early voting ballots, time is of the essence.

Volunteer and donate!

President Obama to Speak at HRC Dinner This Saturday Before National Equality March - Is It Enough?

The New York Times' Caucus Blog broke the news today the President Obama will be speaking at a HRC dinner this Saturday, the day before the National Equality March.

Mr. Obama’s appearance on Saturday at the annual dinner for the Human Rights Campaign, a leading gay rights advocacy group, represents a significant show of support for gay rights at a time when many prominent gay and lesbian activists have been questioning the president’s commitment to their issues.

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His appearance will mark only the second time a sitting president has spoken to the Human Rights Campaign. The first time was in 1997 when Bill Clinton spoke to the group. That was the first time a sitting president had ever addressed a gay rights organization.

Former top adviser to Bill Clinton, Richard Socarides, who in May wrote of his impatience with Obama and his lack of movement on LGBT rights, spoke to the AP on this new development.

"Eleven months after his election, he has failed to deliver on any of his commitments to gay Americans, but even worse has been his refusal to engage around these issues . . . What he needs to do now is engage and deliver,"Socarides told the AP. "Spend some of his political capital on ending the gay military ban, a hugely symbolic issue. And with no intellectually sound arguments left against it, come out squarely for gay marriage equality."

HRC President Joe Solmonese has responded, saying "We are honored to share this night with President Obama, who has called upon our nation to embrace LGBT people as brothers and sisters. It is fitting that he will speak to our community on the night that we pay tribute to his friend and mentor Senator Edward Kennedy, who knew that as president, Barack Obama would take on the unfinished business of this nation — equal rights for the LGBT community, and for every person who believes in liberty and justice for all."

Lady Gaga, the case of Glee and others will be at the dinner.

I've been told numerous times that I'm the happy-go-lucky type. Always smiling, easy to please and patient. I don't get angry that easily. I have a long fuse.

But when it's come to Obama, the president has snipped my fuse short and has lit it with a blow torch. I have not been quiet when it comes to Obama. Not at all. Nope.

I would like to think this bit of news is welcoming for me. But for some reason, it isn't.

Should I be appeased that Obama is interrupting at the last minute his pre-planned golf game to speak at a black tie dinner with celebrities in tow? Hosted by an organization that has let Obama off the hook one too many times?

Should I be happy that this historical president, who promised so much during his campaign including being our "fierce advocate", but who hasn't lifted a finger for LGBT rights since he's stepped into office with a Democrat controlled Congress, won't even bother to make a short appearance in front of a historical gathering of the LGBT grassroots the next day?

Should I be thrilled to hear that there's speculation that Obama will announce something in his speech, probably something similar to the LGBT White House cocktail party which was full of damn rhetoric or the crumbs he tossed an angry LGBT population when he gave federal LGBT employees benefits they already had?

I don't care if I should be pleased that he's speaking. Again. At another party. With more rhetoric and platitudes and empty promises.

So what will please me? Action.

Action speaks louder than words, Mr. President. A speech is a dime a dozen. Legislation is priceless.

VIDEO: Plaintiff in Texas Same-Sex Divorce Case, "I Don't Think the End of Anyone's Marriage Can Be Celebrated As a Victory."

The plaintiff, in what is now the famous same-sex divorce case in Texas in which a judge ruled that the state's ban on marriage equality is unconstitutional, speaks to Good Morning America Weekend's Bill Weir.

Only going by the initials JB, he says, "After ten months some of it is relief, some of it is sadness, and some of it is overwhelmed because then the floodgates opened again...I don't think the end of anyone's marriage can be celebrated as a victory."

JB also expresses frustration with LGBT legal groups who opposed his lawsuit but are now jumping on the bandwagon.

Guest Post: Shabbat Shalom and Hag Sameach from Maine!

Grounded in her Judaism, Kerry Chaplin is California Faith for Equality’s (CFE’s) Interfaith Organizing Director and has helped to grow CFE from a staff of one to a staff of five, and from a network of 600 to a coalition of 6,000 diverse faith leaders and faith communities from across California. Kerry holds both a B.A. in Religious Studies and an M.A. in NonProfit Management from Washington University in St. Louis, lives in West Hollywood, and plays wing for her Santa Monica Women’s Rugby Club.

Currently, CFE is supporting the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry by encouraging awareness within California’s faith communities of Maine’s current marriage landscape and by sharing its Interfaith Organizing Director, Kerry Chaplin, for one week. Kerry is helping to organize major marches and interfaith events in Portland and Bangor to make visible clergy and lay people of faith who are standing against discrimination in Maine.

This was originally posted on CFE's blog Friday, October 2nd:

Shabbat shalom and hag sameach from Maine!

We are entering the Jewish holiday, Sukkot, the Festival of Booths, during which Jews traditionally take our meals, even sleep, in temporary shelters reminiscent of the transitory wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.
On Sukkot, it is traditional to read Psalm 27:

• 11 Teach me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.
• 12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence.
• 13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
  

While reading this passage at Temple Beth El in Portland this evening, I thought of our oppressors, those who hold us LGBTI people and allies down, especially those who are currently doing so in Maine. In the Portland Press Herald this morning, Bill Nemitz described a marked difference between the Yes on 1 campaign and the No on 1 campaign: while the Yes campaign puts forth the same 4 spokespeople, uses website images from online stock photo galleries, and ultimately lacks realness, the No on 1 campaign speaks in diverse voices, uses photos of real Mainers on its website, and thrives on the authentic drive of Mainers, not agendas.

Even in the two days since I arrived in Maine, it is clear that our oppressors are using the same language to bear false witness against us. The Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry in Maine is standing for what is just and fair, led by that which is Holy on a path toward goodness.

On this Sukkot, let us all have the courage to be led to goodness in the face of our oppressors.

shabbat shalom and hag sameach,

Kerry Chaplin

Keep checking on CFE's blog for more updates on CFE's involvement in Maine's struggle to keep marriage equality legal! Get involved at NO on 1/Protect Maine Equality.

National Equality March News: Congress Will Be in Session; Senate Majority Leader Reid Endorses March; Lady Gaga to Attend

Quite a bit of news has developed over the weekend in regards to the National Equality March, which by the way is happening this weekend in Washington DC. Here's a recap:

Congress Will Be in Session During March

Surprising his colleagues and many others in D.C., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called off Congress' week-long recess that was planned for Columbus Day Weekend, which will make them be in session during the National Equality March after all.

The Hill reports:

Democrats at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue are gripped with a renewed sense of urgency in their effort to pass healthcare reform. As the Finance Committee continued into the second week of marking up its bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) surprised colleagues on Wednesday by canceling a weeklong Columbus Day recess. Reid’s move came after White House officials publicly called on lawmakers to pass a final bill by Thanksgiving. This ambitious timetable is more than a month before the goal set by congressional leaders, which is to pass a bill by the end of the year.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Endorses the March

More news from Sen. Reid. The following letter was sent to the organizers (click to enlarge):



Just a thought: it's great to see Reid's support and I accept it with open arms, but I couldn't help but notice that support for a DOMA repeal was missing.

Lady Gaga to Attend March

From Towleroad:

[Saturday] night, at Josh Wood's 'Get on the Bus for Equality' benefit for the National Equality March (following her SNL appearance) at Santos Party House in NYC, Lady Gaga urged the crowd to attend the March, and said that she'll be marching:

"I really believe in this cause, and as a woman in pop music I think that this is really an important weekend, and it's not a fucking joke. So get your asses to D.C. and wear something fabulous, and I'll see you guys there."

Someone could have told her it's the National Equality March, and not the Gay Pride March, but it's the action that counts...