Equality Florida: 'Same-sex couples want to marry for the same reasons others do – because they love each other'

News release from Equality Florida:

Equality Florida released the following statement, by Managing Director Brian Winfield, regarding today's Federal Appeals Court ruling that found California's Proposition 8 unconstitutional:

“Today's decision is a wonderful victory, not only for same-sex couples, but also for everyone who knows the value of love and fairness.

Same-sex couples want to marry for the same reasons others do – because they love each other and marriage provide them the best means of caring for each other. Recent polls show that a majority of Americans understand this and now support marriage equality for everyone.

As the news of Prop 8 being ruled unconstitutional broke today, more than 50 citizen advocates were walking the halls of Florida's Capitol, talking to lawmakers about passing a statewide domestic partnership law. When passed, Florida domestic partnership law would provide certain basic protections, including: hospital visitation, the ability to make medical decision when a partner is incapacitated, and end of life decision making for a partner.

Florida is already moving in the direction of equality, and today 6.7 million Floridians live in communities that recognize our families with domestic partnership benefits and protections.
Today’s victory is a yet another turning point that brings us closer to full marriage equality for all of our families."

Romney: 'Unelected judges cast aside the will of the people of California who voted to protect traditional marriage'

Associated Press

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney pounced after a federal appeals court ruled that a voter-approved ban on gay marriage in California violated the Constitution.

"Today, unelected judges cast aside the will of the people of California who voted to protect traditional marriage," he said in a written statement. "I believe marriage is between a man and a woman and, as president, I will protect traditional marriage and appoint judges who interpret the Constitution as it is written and not according to their own politics and prejudices."

R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans in Washington has this rebuttal:

"In a time when conservatives agree that the institution of marriage is in need of support, Republicans should celebrate gay and lesbian Americans embracing the ideals of marriage and creating families.  Governor Romney's comments attacking the court for striking down Proposition 8 reflect an unfortunate kneejerk opposition to expanding liberty and a poorly calculated political effort to appeal to a shrinking base of primary voters opposed to marriage equality.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that marriage is one of the most fundamental rights Americans have under our Constitution, found in the Constitutional protections of liberty, privacy and equal protection.

While politically more Americans are supportive of that fundamental right for all citizens, it is the Court's job to uphold these constitutional promises, and today the Ninth Circuit did so - no more and no less."

Top Miami-area mayors to lunch Thursday with gay activists, business people

BY STEVE ROTHAUS, SROTHAUS@MIAMIHERALD.COM

Four of the most powerful mayors in Miami-Dade County will meet Thursday for lunch with the state’s leading lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender political and business activists.

“It’s the first of what we hope will be an annual interchange between elected officials, community advocacy leaders and the business community, the LGBTA community, A being allies,” said Steve Adkins, president of the Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, which is organizing a gay “State of Our Community” luncheon sponsored by Shutts & Bowen law firm.

The mayors — Carlos Gimenez of Miami-Dade County, Tomás Regalado of Miami, Matti Herrera Bower of Miami Beach and Jim Cason of Coral Gables — will discuss local and national issues with Stratton Pollitzer, deputy director of statewide Equality Florida, and C.J. Ortuño, executive director of SAVE Dade, the county’s leading gay-rights group. The public is also welcome, with space for up to 200 people.

“In speaking to the mayors, and this audience in particular, one thing we want to emphasize is how corporate America has come to realize how important quality of life in a community is to attracting top talent,” Pollitzer said. “Strong nondiscrimination policies are something prospective employees look at when they’re making decisions where they want to live and work. We are partnering with local allies across the state to pass comprehensive nondiscrimination ordinances, including sexual orientation and gender identity.”

Many Florida jurisdictions already have gay-inclusive nondiscrimination policies. “Ten million people in Florida live in a community that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation,” Pollitzer said. “Half the state include gender identity, as well, including most metropolitan areas.”

Miami-Dade County’s antidiscrimination law does not include gender identity. Similar laws in Monroe, Broward, Palm Beach, Orange, Volusia and Leon counties do, Pollitzer said.

“Most sexual orientation discrimination is based on gender expression, not sexual orientation alone,” he said, citing subtle reasons given for firing workers who don’t conform to traditional gender roles: “We have gay employees, but he didn’t just fit in, and this person wasn’t feminine enough.”

Other issues Ortuño plans to address:

• Stronger anti-bullying policies in Miami-Dade County schools.
• Hospital visitation rights for same-sex couples and their families throughout South Florida.
• Relationships recognition in the form of domestic partnerships.

“There’s a lot at stake,” Ortuño said, adding that gay activists must remain vigilant about keeping recent political gains, including repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and a state appeals court overturn of Florida’s ban on gay parents adopting.

“When we have immediate wins, they’re susceptible to being overturned,” Ortuño said. “If we get the right people elected, they’ll carry the torch for us.”

Many of South Florida’s elected officials strongly support the local gay community.

“Human rights is not limited to human rights in Cuba or Haiti. Human rights should cover everyone,” Miami’s Regalado said.

“The gay and lesbian community has tremendous clout in politics, but they also are victims of bullying,” he said, adding that schools and police must better address and enforce current anti-bullying laws.

Regalado, who voted for Miami’s nondiscrimination ordinance in 2008, said he is kept keenly aware of gay issues by his longtime city office manager, Eric Duran, a gay man.

The mayor was a local broadcast journalist in 1977 when singer Anita Bryant famously led a repeal of the county’s first gay-rights ordinance.

“It was to me like we were on another planet,” Regalado recalled. “People in the Cuban community said, ‘Why [are we discussing] this? Everyone has one in the family, but we just don’t talk about it.’ They seemed amazed by the whole debate.”

Thirty-five years later, the world has changed, he said: “This is not a taboo issue that you can’t discuss. People are comfortable talking about the issues of the gay and lesbian community.”

IF YOU GO

What: The gay “State of Our Community” luncheon sponsored by Shutts & Bowen

When: Begins 11:30 a.m. Thursday

Where: Hilton Miami Downtown, 1601 Biscayne Blvd., Miami.

Tickets: $35 (Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce members), $45 nonmembers. Valet and self parking.

The chamber will hold its fourth annual LGBT Explore / EXPO from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Moore Building, 191 NE 40th St. in Miami’s Design District. A reception follows at Alberto Linero Gallery, 2294 NW Second Ave. Free.

Luncheon reservations or more information: mdglcc@bellsouth.net, 305-673-4440 or 786-586-4286.

Family Research Council criticizes appeals court ruling 'to overthrow definition of marriage'

News release from Family Research Council:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) today criticized a decision by the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which overturned California's Proposition 8, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman. FRC filed an amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief in the case, now known as Perry v. Brown.

Today's ruling by a three-judge panel upheld a lower court decision by now-retired federal Judge Vaughn Walker in August 2010. Judge Walker later admitted he is himself a homosexual and has had a long-term partner, meaning that he potentially stood to personally benefit from the legalization of same-sex "marriage."

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:

"Today's decision was disappointing but not surprising, coming from the most liberal Circuit Court in the country. This Hollywood-funded lawsuit, which seeks to impose San Francisco values on the entire country, may eventually reach the Supreme Court. This is not about constitutional governance but the insistence of a group of activists to force their will on their fellow citizens.

"This ruling substitute's judicial tyranny for the will of the people, who in the majority of states have amended their constitutions, as California did, to preserve marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

"However, we remain confident that in the end, the Supreme Court will reject the absurd argument that the authors of our Constitution created or even implied a 'right' to homosexual 'marriage,' and will instead uphold the right of the people to govern themselves.

"Voters in 31 states have voted to uphold the historic and natural definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Twenty-nine, a majority of American states, have actually inserted such a definition into the text of their state constitutions," concluded Perkins.

Freedom to Marry cheers federal court ruling tossing California's gay marriage ban

News release from Freedom to Marry:

LOS ANGELES – Today, Mayors Michael Bloomberg of New York City, Annise Parker of Houston, Jerry Sanders of San Diego, and Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, who are all Chairs of Mayors for the Freedom to Marry, the bipartisan group of more than 130 mayors from across the nation who have pledged their support for ending marriage discrimination against gay and lesbian couples, released the following statement:

“As Mayors for the Freedom to Marry, we know how important marriage is to our neighborhoods, our cities, and our nation.  When committed couples are able to pledge their love to one another and share in the responsibilities and protections of marriage, our communities flourish and our cities are more competitive. Today’s decision by the 9th Circuit reaffirms that the American Dream is possible for everyone and brings us one step closer to ending marriage discrimination once and for all.  We look forward to a day when all of our citizens will be able to share fairly and equally in the freedom to marry.”

Evan Wolfson, founder and President of Freedom to Marry, the campaign to win marriage nationwide, added:

“America’s mayors understand why marriage matters – to loving and committed couples, to their families, to communities navigating tough economic times.  Today’s important court ruling affirms basic American values, and helps tear down a discriminatory barrier to marriage that benefits no one and make it harder for people to take care of their loved ones.”

California's gay marriage ban unconstitutional, federal appeals court rules

• Excepts from the ruling on California's gay marriage ban

BY LISA LEFF, ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court on Tuesday declared California's same-sex marriage ban to be unconstitutional, putting the bitterly contested, voter-approved law on track for likely consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that a lower court judge correctly interpreted the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court precedents when he declared in 2010 that Proposition 8 was a violation of the civil rights of gays and lesbians.

The court said gay marriages cannot resume in the state until the deadline passes for Proposition 8 sponsors to appeal to a larger panel of the 9th Circuit. If such an appeal is filed, gay marriages will remain on hold until it's resolved.

Lawyers for Proposition 8 sponsors have repeatedly said they would consider appealing to a larger panel of the court and then the U.S. Supreme Court if they did not receive a favorable ruling from the 9th Circuit.

Click here for continuous updates.

Amid furor, controversial Karen Handel resigns as senior vice president of Susan G. Komen

Conservative Karen Handel, caught in the middle of last week's Susan G. Komen controversy, has resigned from the cancer-cure organization.

Handel, who once ran for Georgia governor, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2010 that gay parents are not as "legitimate" as heterosexual ones.

She also told the AJC her feelings about gay marriage. "I’ve been very clear. And you know, as a Christian, marriage is between a man and a woman. I do not think that gay relationships are — they are not what God intended."

Here's the Associated Press article about Handel's resignation:

BY RAY HENRY, ASSOCIATED PRESS

ATLANTA -- A high-ranking official resigned Tuesday from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast-cancer charity after a dispute over whether the group should give funding to Planned Parenthood, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

Karen Handel, the charity's vice president for public policy, told Komen officials that she supported the move to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood. She said the discussion started before she arrived at the organization and was approved at the highest levels of the charity.

"I am deeply disappointed by the gross mischaracterizations of the strategy, its rationale, and my involvement in it," Handel said in her letter. "I openly acknowledge my role in the matter and continue to believe our decision was the best one for Komen's future and the women we serve."

Click here to read the complete AP article.

White House commemorates National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Today is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Here is a statement from Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to President Barack Obama:

On this, the 12^th annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, I remember my sister-in-law’s fight with the disease. Tragically, she did not win that fight – she left behind a devastated husband and five-year old daughter. But it is in her memory, and the memory of all the friends and loved ones we have lost, that we vow to keep working toward the day when HIV/AIDS is history.

This past December, on World AIDS Day, President Obama spoke about the United States’ commitment to ending HIV/AIDS. In a speech at George Washington University, he told the audience, “Make no mistake, we are going to win this fight.  But the fight is not over … not by a long shot.”

Sadly, this is especially true in the African-American community. Black Americans represent 12 percent of the U.S. population, but they account for 44 percent of new HIV infections. Among young black gay men alone, infections have increased by nearly 50 percent in just three years, and black women account for the largest share of HIV infections among women. We each must do our part by getting tested regularly, and by educating those in our community about what they can do to help end the epidemic.

President Obama is committed to doing his part as well. In 2010, he released the nation’s first comprehensive HIV/AIDS plan. Together with Secretary Clinton, he has helped assemble a coalition of governments, healthcare professionals, and service providers. They have set a goal that would have been unthinkable just a few decades ago: an AIDS-free generation, in which virtually all children are born HIV-free, and prevention tools help them stay HIV-free throughout their lives.

We will not achieve this goal overnight. But we know that we must keep making progress, each and every day. For our communities and our families, the stakes are simply too high for us to be satisfied with anything less.

So today, we do more than commemorate those we have lost. We rededicate ourselves to the work ahead. Because even when it comes to an epidemic as devastating as HIV/AIDS, we have the chance to write our own destiny. As President Obama  said in December, “We can end this pandemic.  We can beat this disease.  We can win this fight.”

For more information about National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and this Administration’s efforts to fight HIV/AIDS in the Black community, visit www.aids.gov.

Gallery | GOP congressional candidate speaks with Broward Log Cabin Republicans Club

Following a presentation I gave Monday night to the Broward Log Cabin Republicans Club, GOP congressional candidate Osvaldo "Ozzie" F. deFaria Jr. introduced himself to members meeting at Atlantic Properties in Wilton Manors.

DeFaria, who describes himself as a "social conservative," got into a spirited debate with members about whether gays should be allowed to openly serve in the military. He hopes to win the GOP primary next summer and then challenge incumbent Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz in the fall.

Click the picture to view a brief gallery. Photos by STEVE ROTHAUS / Miami Herald Staff.

'No faggots in Jack City': Websites post video of gang-related gay bashing in Atlanta

Going viral: Video that appeared on The Smoking Gun of a gay bashing in Atlanta from the website Worldstarhiphop.com:

Police are asking anyone with information about the incident shown in the video to call Zone 3 police officers at 404-624-0674 or to call anonymously to Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-8477 Federal authorities joined Atlanta police Monday in investigating video footage posted online of an apparent gang-related beating in southwest Atlanta.