If we do not have a strong voter turn out for the 2009 election in Washington, the domestic partnership law may not survive. 77% of the electorate may support treating all families equally under the law, but if history repeats itself than we have no one to blame but ourselves for not protecting ALL Washington families. The solution is simple. We must vote, register to vote, register our friends to vote, and verify our voter registration is up to date with the Washington Secretary of State. When you receive your ballot in the mail, do not procrastinate. Vote early. Expect ballots to arrive on or around October 14. Ballots are due November 3. Approve Referendum 71.

The Secretary of State continues to verify signatures during the referendum 71 qualification process. There is a lot of chatter on blogs and newspapers about whether referendum 71 will qualify, and several people are beginning to jump to the false conclusion that because the data is showing an increasing number of invalid signatures that this fight is nearly over. At this early stage it is not only mathematically inaccurate to draw conclusions based on daily counts, it is politically dangerous.

We should be more focused on telling our story and continuing the conversation about why LGBT families desperately need legal protection.  We need to invite those we know to approve referendum 71 to preserve domestic partnerships.  If we lull ourselves into complacency by believing we are out of the water now we could be caught with our pants down if referendum 71 pulls out ahead at the end of the signature count. It is simply too close to call.

The Secretary of State doubled the shifts so two numbers will come out daily until the predicted completion date of August 17. I expect that twice a day there will be  significant conversation generated about those numbers. Horse races are fun to watch and talk about, but again a year from now the horse race won’t matter.  What will matter is whether the domestic partnership law was preserved and whether our story continues to be told as we move forward.

I also want to address a second conversation trend that is gaining momentum. Some people are beginning to turn their frustration towards the Washington voter with this question: “How could so many people sign this petition in the first place?” When we compare the potential number of signatures with the actual number of voters in Washington State we learn that at least 96% of Washington voters chose to support equality by not signing the petition.  Millions of people did not reach out to sponsors of referendum 71 to help them. This is a significant point that should be celebrated.  We do live in a progressive state so LGBT residents should remain hopeful.

The Approve Referendum 71 campaign is running full steam ahead with preparations for an election this fall.  No one is taking anything for granted. Each side has three observers watching the count to make sure that the count is fair and accurate. Volunteers began to reach out to voters on Wednesday through phone banks. We need lots of volunteers to help out so please sign up if you have not already. You should also consider a donation to help fund the phone banks. They are not cheap so every donation is welcome large and small.

While you are out and about this weekend hanging out with friends and family, remember to tell them to approve referendum 71 to preserve domestic partnerships, and have a conversation with them about why legal recognition is so important. If you have been affected by the domestic partnership law I would love to hear your story in the comments section below.

Wisconsin started registering domestic partnerships yesterday. Wisconsin passed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman, so domestic partnerships are the closest to marriage same-sex couples can expect to get until the ban is overturned by the voters, or more likely the Federal Supreme Court.  Domestic partnerships were the consolation prize for gays and lesbians in states that have over zealous right wing activists who will jump at the opportunity to prevent gays and lesbians from having full marriage equality.  It was the “sanctity of marriage” argument that won them 30 state constitutional amendments banning same sex marriage.  Some in the gay community thought domestic partnerships were a safe alternative with the philosophy, “if it is the word that bothers them, let’s call it something else.”

It is not the word “marriage” that bothers them, it is gay people that bother them.  They would prefer our families to be completely isolated from society — completely separate.  They do not want to share ANYTHING with us. In Wisconsin the fundamentalists immediately filed suit against the state, claiming domestic partnerships are “close enough to marriage” to violate the constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Ultimately the court will decide whether domestic partnerships are marriage or not.  The court will determine if the thousands of families that register prior to the decision will get to keep their domestic partnerships or whether they will be invalidated.  If they lose at court, the fundamentalists will likely go back to the voters to change the amendment to prevent domestic partnerships. They won’t rest until all references to us in the law are gone, until we can’t visit our partners in the hospital, until we can’t leave our property to the people we choose, until we are illegal just for being who we are so they can lock us up.

They won’t rest and they will find every opportunity to attack us.  This morning I received an e-mail that AAA (American Automobile Association) finally recognizes same sex relationships for their family plans.  I thought it was AAA that sent the message because I’m a member, so I was feeling pretty good about it.  I was planning to call them at lunch to add my partner.  But no, it was from the American “Family” Association:

The American Automobile Association (AAA) has begun offering “Family Memberships” to homosexual couples, recognizing the homosexual couple as being “married,” according to a homosexual activist organization in Florida.

Thirty states have overwhelmingly voted to define marriage as being between one man and one woman. Yet AAA is treating homosexual couples as if they are married.

The homosexual couples need only state that they are married to receive the family benefit. In the eyes of AAA two homosexuals living together constitute “marriage” and make a “family.” All they have to do to get the “family membership” benefits is to say “we are gay and married.”

They called on their followers to whine about this as much as possible.  They hope to reverse AAA South’s decision to include all families in their policy, even though AAA is a private club with private memberships. But I’m not surprised, the AFA would prefer to jail us.

If we allow extremists like the AFA and others to take away rights from one group of people, they will ultimately go after everyone’s rights.  They would like to rule this country with a theocratic hand similar to the Taliban.  They will lie, cheat, and do anything possible to get their way.  Fair minded Americans, hear my warning now.  Stop these people.  You must help us protect ourselves so we can protect each other from their heavy handed extremist point of view.

Yes,  business by business, state by state, our civil rights movement moves on as we defend ourselves. In Washington approve referndum 71 to preserve domestic partnerships. In Maine vote no on No. 1 to protect marriage equality. In Iowa elect fair minded representatives and do not change your constitution.  In California, overturn proposition 8 and return to marriage equality.  In Washington DC join us for the National Equality March October 10 – 11, because we will only achieve fully equality by winning at the Federal level.

I am hopeful when I think about our neighbors to the north in Canada.  They enjoy marriage equality at the federal level and have for several years. The debate is largely over for them. Their religious foes have moved on, because as we can all see the sky has not fallen.  The end of the world is not here.  Heterosexual marriages are not suffering.  Children are still children and they are happy to be happy. Our foes realize this, but they will continue to lie and scapegoat, and cheat and attack because this is their way.  This is their last stand. Once they lose Federally they will lose for good, because our country will know that their lies are evil and hate filled. We will learn our lesson.  We will learn like we have so many times before when civil rights are denied from one group of people.  We will learn like when we ended slavery. We will learn like when women became voters. We will learn like when we ended segregation. We will learn like when we elected our first black president.  We will learn that no one group is more superior to another, and the government — the people have no right to create artifical separations. Yes we will learn.  We will grow, and we shall overcome.

Referendum 71 has absolutely nothing to do with same-sex marriage equality. This man is blatantly lying about his intentions.

More at Joshalot

It appears opponents to domestic partnerships are hiring petition gatherers with long histories of alleged fraud to achieve their 120,557 goal to quality referendum 71 for the ballot. The Lewis County Chronicle reported on an incident in front of a Wal-Mart in which a paid signature gatherer intimidated voters. His name tag said he was Dan Ricca. The petition gatherer neither confirmed nor denied his identity, but for there to be two Dan Ricca’s with long histories of intimidating citizens to collect signatures is just too coincidental not to be true.

Here is a photo of the suspect:

Is this Dan Ricca?

In October 2006 a Daniel Alwin Ricca was charged in Orange County, California for falsifying voter registration cards.  He allegedly told people they were signing a petition to cure breast cancer and fight child molestation.  Instead the victims were flipped from their previous political party to Republican. He was allegedly paid $10.00 per flip. At the time the warrant was issued Daniel Alwin Rica was 33. He plead not guilty in November of 2007. A jury acquitted Ricca of the charges in March of 2009.

In 2002 Dan Ricca was accused of forging signatures  by former co-workers in Oregon. During a December 2001 Video Taped deposition of Saul Klein, he claimed he saw Ricca forge signatures and alleged Ricca even hired people to forge signatures for him.  The testimony was part of a civil lawsuit brought by OEA and AFT-Oregon against various companies owned or operated by Bill Sizemore. OEA and AFT-Oregon alleged fraud and racketeering  by the various businesses, including forgery of signatures on various initiative petitions. During the trial Leesa Beaudoin, a former employee of Oregon Taxpayer United who worked for a short time on initiative petitions testified that Dan Ricca’s petitions were associated with “round table”, a practice of several petition gatherers sitting around a table and forging signatures.  In fact during the hearing 376 petitions were presented that were identified as forgeries that were gathered by Dan Ricca. “The jury awarded damages to OEA/AFT-Oregon for a total of $842,000. Because the racketeering charges were proven, under statutes the damages were tripled to just over $2.52 million.”

People are innocent until proven guilty in this country, but there is certainly enough evidence  that Dan Ricca is a suspicious individual whose activities should be monitored extraordinarily closely.  If there is even a slight chance the Dan Ricca the Chronicle encountered is the same Dan Ricca accused of fraud and forgery, I demand the Secretary of State validate every single signature turned in on Saturday. Standard operating procedure is a 3% review of signatures turned in.  Considering what’s at stake, nothing less than a 100% review of the signatures will satisfy me. And if you are on the fence about signing the petition, you should ask yourself, “do I want to give my personal information to someone like Dan Ricca?”   If you agree please contact the Washington Secretary of State’s office to let them know your feelings:

Nick Handy, Director of Elections

Location:
520 Union Avenue SE
Olympia, WA

Mail:
PO BOX 40229
OLYMPIA WA 98504-0229

Telephone: Toll-Free
(800) 448-4881
(800) 422-8683 TDD/TTY
(360) 902-4180