There is a schism in California between Equality California and the popular will of the people which is supported by the Courage Campaign. Equality California put out a big press release yesterday claiming the challenge to proposition 8 would not be until 2012. They claimed it would take that long to persuade 3% of California voters that equality is a good thing. Prop 8 only passed by a 2.5% margin in 2008. They also do not think they can raise enough money to make a go of it in 2010. Equality California was responsible for the highly criticized campaign that lost in 2008.

Enter Courage Campaign, an allied progressive grass roots campaign managed by Rick Jacobs. Their hundreds of thousands of supporters are pushing for a challenge to prop 8 in 2010. They are raising hundreds of thousands of dollars not only for California, but also for the fight in Maine to protect that state from a pending constitutional amendment supported by the same foes that sponsored prop 8. (In Maine support the No on 1 Campaign.) They polled their supporters several months ago and over 80% of the people were ready to roll for 2010.

Voter turn out is better during Presidential election years. The last prop 8 campaign cost each side approximately $40 Million, so fund raising is an issue. However, the GOP never misses an opportunity to turn gay bashing into votes as we can see in Iowa’s governor race right now. As progressives do we want to put California’s electoral votes on the line by placing a proposition on the ballot that is sure to motivate the teabaggers to turn out in droves? Is it fair to make people wait almost 4 years to restore their rights? Do we really want the same team that lost in 2008 to make any more important decisions on behalf of the LGBT community?

Or is Equality California right, the timing is just way off and we should just wait. After all same sex couples in California do enjoy a very strong domestic partnership program. A federal lawsuit challenging proposition 8 is working its way through the courts that could overturn the ban and open the door for all same sex couples to marry in all 50 states. $40 Million could go a long way in states that have no formal legal protection for same sex couples, such as the 30 other states that have constitutional amendments banning same sex marriage equality.

I’m afraid I have more questions than answers, but that seems to the common theme in the LGBT community right now. With so much at stake, no one wants to make a bad decision. But frankly, what do we have to lose that we haven’t already?

originally published on Current.com

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

Why was this scene deleted from the final cut?

SPOILER ALERT! I assume you saw the movie so I’m not holding back.

I’ll say it,  I’m gay and I love Bruno!  I admit I was guarded when I entered the crowded Seattle theater Friday night.  I  read the criticisms of  GLAAD and others who thought Bruno was gay black face. I’m sorry they didn’t get the joke.

Bruno is not gay black face, but rather a conglomeration of every stereotype imposed upon our community by the outside — the media, some heterosexuals, right wing religious leaders and even ourselves.  Bruno exemplified the absurdity of those stereotypes, and did so smartly.

The right wing always campaigns against us by falsely claiming gays and lesbians are a danger to children. In Washington we are fighting to protect Domestic Partnerships from a petition campaign.  The top of the petition says, “Preserve Marriage, Protect Children.”  Sasha Barren Cohen took this misguided argument and ran with it. The Bruno character did everything short of committing pedophilia with his African baby he purchased with a U2 Red Ipod.  Since we were in on the gag, the mostly heterosexual audience thought the scenario was hilarious.  Why? Because it is ridiculous to assume that gays would treat a child so carelessly, and by giving Americans an opportunity to laugh at that absurdity the next time they hear a talking head regurgitate the values of heteronormative Christian values and their superiority over any alternative family, perhaps subconsciously they will remember Bruno and realize that the image the anti gay agenda is trying to portray is insane.  Perhaps, just perhaps, they will laugh right in their faces as we should at anything so absurd.

I fail to see the danger of laughing at Cohen’s hyperbole of a gay, Austrian, fashionista. Perhaps it was the portrayal of Bruno’s sex life that made some members of our community squeamish.  Bruno’s repertoire was nothing short of delicious.  He is the freak in bed most of us would love to claim to be.  Of coarse, most of our sex lives are pretty vanilla.  I never used Champagne that way before and I doubt I could! But the audience got the joke.  They laughed just as hard as I did when Bruno gave his gaysian boifriend a spin. Gay men have a reputation for being adventurous in bed and I can only imagine what that must mean to some in the heterosexual community.  If they imagine my sex life is anything like Bruno’s, then I’ll wear that badge of honor.

While we are talking about sex, I think it is worth noting that the only time the mostly straight audience responded with revulsion was during the heterosexual swinger scene when a guy was performing cunnilingus on a woman. Why did that gross them out?  Why didn’t they laugh at that like they did when Bruno was getting plowed by a dildo powered by an exercise bike? The audience assumed the swinger scene was real, but they knew the sex scenes with Bruno were an act and not representative of the gay community. They got the joke.

There is a generational divide in the gay community. I don’t have any scientific data to back up my theory, but it is fair to guess  the majority of LGBTs who are offended by Bruno are more seasoned. They are trained to be offended by movies like Bruno.  I don’t blame them.  Their upbringing was far more repressed than some of our new tweener gays’.  The younger generation grew up with shows like South Park and more tamely the Simpsons.  They understand dirty in your face satire.  They know that to be offended by it makes them part of the joke.  Rashid Robinson wrote an op-ed on behalf of GLAAD in the L.A. Times about Bruno:

It’s not that we don’t get it. The makers of the film “Bruno,” Sacha Baron Cohen’s just-released follow-up to “Borat,” have said that they intend to satirize and expose homophobia. But even when filmmakers have the best of intentions, there can be a disconnect between the concept and the execution. In “Bruno,” the satire often loses sight of the way gay people are treated in real life.

Robinson does not get it. In fact it is GLAAD that is reinforcing the stereotypes of the gay community.  They make us look like uppity easily offended sissies. Robinson refused to validate Cohen’s exposure of homophobia in nearly all its forms.  Bruno was victim to workplace discrimination, he tried to pray the gay away and fails, he tried to marry his partner and is denied, and he even experienced violence for kissing another man. Mostly heterosexual audiences are introduced to these important realities while turning the homophobic culture into the punch line. Will anyone in the Friday night audience take homophobes seriously again?  I doubt it, but I doubt they did to begin with.

GLAAD and others also failed to see the power of celebrity.  The last few moments of the film were a celebrity packed We Are the World type song about Bruno. The last line of the song was sung by Snoop Dog, “Bruno’s gay” he shrugged his shoulders, “Okay.”  Celebrity power like Snoop Dog, Sasha Baron Cohen, Elton John, Bono, Sting, and others are far more valuable than any complaint GLAAD issues or speeches given by Joe Solemnese from the HRC. Celebrities appeal directly to the people we’re trying to reach, the next generation of voters.

Sure this movie is not going to win us any favor in the Focus on the Family crew.  Nothing will.  Will Bruno help us secure our rights?  Maybe, maybe not; but if we are depending on pop culture to secure our rights than we have a lot more problems in our movement than I already thought.

And finally, GLAAD is ignoring the amazing conversations that Bruno created.  The water cooler discussions are not jokes about gay parents as GLAAD said it would be, but rather a discussion of the violence Bruno experienced at the end of the film during the cage fight.  People are talking about the Christian trying to “cure” Bruno of his homosexuality.  People are talking about celebrity and the desperate lengths people will go to achieve it. People are talking about Paula Abdule sitting on the back of a Mexican.

Gays really need to learn to laugh more.  I know life is not easy for us. We’re getting attacked in a thousand different directions. But if we can’t take a break and laugh until we cry once in a while, even if we are laughing at ourselves, we’ve lost. I know it may not be popular to say it right now, but I’ll say it again.  Yes, I’m gay and I love Bruno!