Kalamazoo, MI voters will decide tomorrow whether or not to overthrow the city's new anti-discrimination ordinance which will make it illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, work and public accommodations.
The opposition has spewed misinformation, claiming women and children will be the prey to sexual predators in restrooms. And now they have released this ad:
And an other ad:
How blatantly wrong is that? They're claiming that assault was made legal. Such liars.
View this local news report about more attacks on LGBT residents.
Help the One Kalamazoo campaign today to help protect LGBT residents from discrimination!
Who we are:Approve Referendum 71 is the campaign to preserve domestic partnerships in Washington State. By voting to approve, voters retain the domestic partnership laws that were passed during this year's legislative session, including using sick leave to care for a partner, adoption rights, insurance rights, and more. What we need: We need phone bankers to get our supporters out to vote. Washington is an all mail-in ballot state, and we need to ensure our supporters put their ballots in the mail. Also, youth turnout is a critical component of our campaign, and youth turnout historically drops in off-year elections. So we need a lot of help to turn them out.
How you do it:Sign up here to make remote calls for Approve 71. We'll then contact you for a training, and you can make GOTV calls.
Washington Voters:Check here to be sure your ballot is properly counted.
Maine:
Who we are: The No On 1/Protect Maine Equality campaign is working to protect Maine's recently-passed law legalizing marriage equality for same-sex couples. Our opponents have put the issue on the ballot for Nov 3, 2009. Because of Maine's early voting election laws, people are already voting at the polls, so we need help immediately to turn out our side at the polls. What we need: We need you to devote a few hours to Call for Equality. Call for Equality is a virtual phonebank set up so that you can call Maine voters wherever you are. Much of Maine is rural, where canvassing isn't effective, so we need to reach these voters- along with other supporters- by phone. All you need is a phone and internet connection. No experience required! We'll provide the training, and all you need is a a few hours to help get a win in Maine. How you do it:Click here to sign up for a training and your shift. There are lots of times available for your convenience.
Kalamazoo, MI:
Who We Are: The Yes on Ordinance 1856 / One Kalamazoo campaign is working in Michigan to support the City Commission of Kalamazoo's twice approved ordinance for housing, employment, and public accommodation protections for gay and transgender residents. Opponents forced a public referendum on the ordinance so dedicated local volunteers, led by former Stonewall Democrats Executive Director Jon Hoadley, are working to ensure voters say YES to fairness and equality and keep Ordinance 1856. Why The Urgency: In the final weeks, the opposition has gone all out with aggressive disinformation and misleading red herrings to try to defeat the ordinance. This includes signs that say "No to Discrimination" (even though voting No actually supports continued discrimination of GLBT residents), transphobic door hangers and fliers, and now radio ads that falsely suggest that criminal behavior will become legal when this simply isn't true. The Yes on Ordinance 1856 supporters are better organized but many voters who want to vote for gay and transgender people are getting confused by the opposition.
How To Help:
1) Help the One Kalamazoo campaign raise a final $10,000 specifically dedicated to fight back against the lies on the local TV and radio airwaves and fully fund the campaign's final field and GOTV efforts. Give here:http://www.actblue.com/page/3-2-1-countdown
2) If you live nearby and can physically volunteer in Kalamazoo sign up here. If you know anyone that lives in Kalamazoo, use the One Kalamazoo campaign's online canvass tool to remind those voters that they need to vote on November 3rd and vote YES on Ordinance 1856 to support equality for gay and transgender people. Contact voters:http://www.onekalamazoo.com/tellfriends2
Sen. Schumer Calls for Full, Nationwide Marriage Equality
Sen. Chuck Schumer spoke at a Empire State Pride Agenda dinner, the largest LGBT advocacy group in New York. In his speech, Schumer made a call to his colleagues to full marriage equality in all fifty states.
"If Dick Cheney can support marriage, so can every Senator. So can every Democrat, Republican, Liberal Conservative. Equality should know no bounds, and we must not rest until we have marriage in all fifty of these United States."
"We are not going to give them legal advice. We trust that their legal counsel will advise them to comply fully," she said. "The court has ruled that it is in the public interest to do so, and the law couldn't be clearer.
"I would hope that they would file before the election," Mills said. "Why not? What is there to hide?"
Kalamazoo In the Middle of a LGBT Rights Battle
Kalamazoo, MI residents will have to decide whether or not to reject the city commission's non-discrimination ordinance which would outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in work, housing and public accommodations.
Mary Balkema, the Kalamazoo County Treasurer, heads the opposition group Kalamazoo Citizens Voting No.
Balkema was instrumental in gathering thousands of signatures two different times to get the measure rescinded by the city commission and placed on the ballot.
Their main argument is that an ordinance protecting the rights of gays and lesbians in hiring, housing and public accommodation isn't necessary. They say discrimination against gays and lesbians simply doesn't happen in Kalamazoo.
"The opposite side cannot site one example of discrimination in housing, employment or public accommodation," Balkema said. "So this discriminatory ordinance is looking for a non-existent problem."
But David Garcia, the Executive Director of the Kalamazoo Gay and Lesbian Resource Center, says the ordinance is not only necessary, it's past due.
"When we hear the opposition say that Kalamazoo doesn't need an ordinance because it just doesn't happen here in Kalamazoo, gay people aren't being fired, I'm quick to say come on down here to the Resource Center and volunteer with us for a month, answer the phone calls and you'll see that's' simply not true," Garcia told 24 Hour News 8.
Balkema was responsible for passing an offensive flyer that has scared residents into voting against the ordinance. The flyer shows pictures of men in women's clothing and stating that they will infiltrate women's bathrooms and commit assault, adding that children will have to share bathrooms with sexual predators.
Help the campaign One Kalamazoo! Find even more info here. Washington Post Columnist Debunks D.C. Anti-Marriage Testimonies
The Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy, the District's first delegate to Congress, was probably the most prestigious person who testified against same-sex marriage. He spoke at the election board hearing about what he sees as the importance of allowing a vote; afterward I asked him about the substance of the issue.
Fauntroy said that same-sex marriage threatens children. "Every child needs to be bonded to a man and a woman," he said. That ignores research showing that same-sex couples do a perfectly good job of raising children. Also, same-sex couples can already adopt in the District.
Fauntroy also said the "survival of the species" is at stake. "I have some brilliant friends who are gay, and it bothers me that they're not going to pass those genes on," he said.
I've got news for Fauntroy. His friends are more likely to pass on their genes, such as by artificial insemination, if they are permitted to marry. He and the other opponents should get out of the way and let them do so.
Yes on 1 in Maine Claims Their Defaced Signs Is A Hate Crime
Kalamazoo, MI residents have a choice to make at the ballot this November - that is, whether they will vote in favor of the city's new non-discrimination ordinance which will bar discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, or vote to reject it.
Is it right, then, that a person in Kalamazoo can be fired or denied employment or housing simply for being gay? Voters in the city have the opportunity on Nov. 3 to remove that inequity and deliver a strong message about the type of community we want to have.
Of course we’re referring to City of Kalamazoo Ordinance No. 1856, the city’s non-discrimination ordinance, which is on the ballot seeking to add “sexual orientation or gender identity” to the list of traits for which discrimination is prohibited. The ordinance already prohibits discrimination against people because of their race, religion, age, marital status and other characteristics. (You can read the entire ordinance, as proposed with the new inclusions, here. A new window will open up.)
The ordinance change, approved unanimously by the Kalamazoo City Commission, has been the subject of vigorous public debate in our community for more than a year. Other debates are being held across the country on issues relating to rights for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people — such as gay marriage and hate crimes legislation — but we must not concern ourselves with any of those or confuse them with the issue at hand.
The ordinance we have before us, we believe, has been carefully considered and constructed. We have read it, talked with city commission members and other candidates about it and met with groups advocating for and against it. We have read the Letters to the Editor and Viewpoints submitted for publication here, listened to the public debates and forums and done our own research. And we have concluded that amending the ordinance as proposed is fair, reasonable and necessary.
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Together, we can send the message that Kalamazoo is open, inclusive and values equality enough to say that our city will not discriminate against anyone. Vote “Yes” to pass this ordinance.
Thank you, Kalamazoo Gazette, for seeing past the lies and fear tactics and getting to the truth of the matter.
Get involved in protecting the basic freedoms of LGBT citizens of Kalamazoo. Go to One Kalamazoo.
The One Kalamazoo campaign is fighting the efforts of anti-LGBT groups who wish to overturn at the ballot Kalamazoo's new anti-discrimination law passed by the Michigan city's commission. The new law would make it illegal to discriminate at places of work, housing and public accommodations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Here's their new video:
Currently, the anti-LGBT groups are playing dirty and are playing upon people's fears by passing out flyers that have pictures of transgender people. Using scare tactics, they tell residents that their children will be forced to use public accommodations sexual predators.
This tactic was used in Florida, but the residents there didn't fall for it. Hopefully Kalamazoo won't either.
Here's Kalamazoo's WOOD with a news report:
Get involved with protection LGBT citizens against discrimination by going to One Kalamazoo's website!
From the One Kalamazoo campaign website in Michigan: "One Kalamazoo is the campaign to educate voters about the need to vote YES this November and support the Kalamazoo Non-Discrimination Ordinance. A grassroots organization, one Kalamazoo believes that all people—including gay and transgender people—should be treated fairly and equally when they live, work, or visit Kalamazoo."
This is the campaign's first ad.
Check out a little bit of irony about the images used by One Kalamazoo at Good As You.
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Kalamazoo, MI voters will decide tomorrow whether or not to overthrow the city's new anti-discrimination ordinance which will make it illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, work and public accommodations.
