Stonewall Oregon

Conversations on the street about the exchange on relationship recognition at the VP debate between Biden and Palin have been mixed as to what exactly was said and what it means.

Below is the transcript of the entire exchange thanks to CNN and the video clip found on youtube.com.

FILL: The next round of — pardon me, the next round of questions starts with you, Sen. Biden. Do you support, as they do in Alaska, granting same-sex benefits to couples?

BIDEN: Absolutely. Do I support granting same-sex benefits? Absolutely positively. Look, in an Obama-Biden administration, there will be absolutely no distinction from a constitutional standpoint or a legal standpoint between a same-sex and a heterosexual couple.

The fact of the matter is that under the Constitution we should be granted — same-sex couples should be able to have visitation rights in the hospitals, joint ownership of property, life insurance policies, et cetera. That’s only fair.

It’s what the Constitution calls for. And so we do support it. We do support making sure that committed couples in a same-sex marriage are guaranteed the same constitutional benefits as it relates to their property rights, their rights of visitation, their rights to insurance, their rights of ownership as heterosexual couples do.

IFILL: Governor, would you support expanding that beyond Alaska to the rest of the nation?

PALIN: Well, not if it goes closer and closer towards redefining the traditional definition of marriage between one man and one woman. And unfortunately that’s sometimes where those steps lead.

But I also want to clarify, if there’s any kind of suggestion at all from my answer that I would be anything but tolerant of adults in America choosing their partners, choosing relationships that they deem best for themselves, you know, I am tolerant and I have a very diverse family and group of friends and even within that group you would see some who may not agree with me on this issue, some very dear friends who don’t agree with me on this issue.

But in that tolerance also, no one would ever propose, not in a McCain-Palin administration, to do anything to prohibit, say, visitations in a hospital or contracts being signed, negotiated between parties.

But I will tell Americans straight up that I don’t support defining marriage as anything but between one man and one woman, and I think through nuances we can go round and round about what that actually means.

But I’m being as straight up with Americans as I can in my non- support for anything but a traditional definition of marriage.

IFILL: Let’s try to avoid nuance, Senator. Do you support gay marriage?

BIDEN: No. Barack Obama nor I support redefining from a civil side what constitutes marriage. We do not support that. That is basically the decision to be able to be able to be left to faiths and people who practice their faiths the determination what you call it.

The bottom line though is, and I’m glad to hear the governor, I take her at her word, obviously, that she think there should be no civil rights distinction, none whatsoever, between a committed gay couple and a committed heterosexual couple. If that’s the case, we really don’t have a difference.

IFILL: Is that what your said?

PALIN: Your question to him was whether he supported gay marriage and my answer is the same as his and it is that I do not.

IFILL: Wonderful. You agree. On that note, let’s move to foreign policy.

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Laura Calvo, Portland OR

Trans Bloggers and the trans community can see a whole lot of folks who believe in the hope of a better future for ALL Americans. We can see whole lot of folks who believe in the change we need to have in the way ALL Americans are treated equally and with respect, regardless of who they are.

We can see a whole lot of people coming together to bring the hope and change to put America back on track as a world leader and who believe we can do it!

When you look out your front porch, you can see all the different and wonderfully diverse people who share in the belief that hope and change are just around the corner.

To be honest, I was not on my front porch when I was a small part of the 84,000+ people who came together from every walk of life to celebrate the Democratic Party nomination of Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States of America.  Actually it was more like I was sitting my living room with all of my family around me. Plus knowing there were tens of millions of people around the country who shared what I was experiencing and believe in was reason to give rise to the hope of a real future.

Among the throngs of people all across America were transgender people who feel as deeply as the rest of the country believing in the message of hope and change. Transgender people have a life stake in the outcome of this election. Transgender Americans, like everyone else in America recognize the crucial juncture we are faced with in this election.

With the partnership of National Stonewall Democrats, Transgender Americans and their allies have launched a fundraising drive to help elect Barack Obama. People all across America are encouraged to go to the secure contribuiton page to help elect Obama. Contributions made on the secure Act Blue page go directly to the Obama campaign. But just as important your contribution helps to bring attention to the voice of trans Americans in fighting for the equal and basic rights for all Americans.

For those not familiar with Act Blue, it is an extremely innovative grass roots oreinted way for anyone to help support candidates over a braod spectrum. Act Blue pages, like Transgender Community and Allies Support Obama, have raised nearly 3/4 of a million dollars from over 10,000 supporters. The Transgender and Allies Support Obama page is in the top 10 fund raising sites on Act Blue and rising.

If you are blessed enough to give the full maximum amout of $2300 to support Obama as President of the United States, please don’t hesitate.  At the same time don’t be mistaken that your contribution of even $5 won’t make a difference. Your contribution, no matter how small, does and is making a profund difference. The Obama campaign has repaeatedly proven that fact over and over again.

If you support Obama and you support trans people’s fight to have an equal and basic right to hold a job, not be victimized by violent crime, have equal access to housing and healthcare, like every other American value we hold dear, give a little to show your support.

That is why so many Trans Americans and their allies have thrown their support to elect Barack Obama as the next President of the United States.

Please leave a comment when you contribute or voice your support for all the Trans Americans you can see from your front porch.

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The Associated Press is reporting that Sarah Palin, as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, tried to ban a book from the local library. When the librarians refused, Palin tried to fire the librarian. The book in question: Pastor I Am Gay:

The Rev. Howard Bess, a liberal Christian preacher in the nearby town of Palmer, said the church Palin and her family attended until 2002, the Wasilla Assembly of God, was pushing to remove his book from local bookstores.

Emmons told him that year that several copies of “Pastor I Am Gay” had disappeared from the library shelves, Bess said.

“Sarah brought pressure on the library about things she didn’t like,” Bess said. “To believe that my book was not targeted in this is a joke.”

Of course, the McCain campaign is trying to downplay this vehemently anti-gay, unconstitutional act:

Taylor Griffin, a spokesman for the McCain campaign, said Thursday that Palin asked the head librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, on three occasions how she would react to attempts at banning books. He said the questions, in the fall of 1996, were hypothetical and entirely appropriate. He said a patron had asked the library to remove a title the year before and the mayor wanted to understand how such disputes were handled.

This must make Fred Phelps and James Dobson proud.

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Our Oregon delegation is back from the Democratic National Convention.  I can only speak for myself, but it would probably fair to say we were all left breathless with emotions at one point or another during our  convention.

KC Hanson, Sam Sappington and myself arrived three days ahead of the DNCC to attend the National Stonewall Democrats convention. Frank Dixon was there too. With his duties as Vice Chair of the DPO, Frank was left with a few unavoidable scheduling conflicts.  All of us suspected we too would be having our fair share of scheduling problems in the coming days.  There were just so many events and too little time. I had over 20 pages of spread sheets with event information. Everything from political forums and receptions to baseball games and rock concerts. There was even a poker tournament with Ben Affleck to benefit paralyzed veterans.

At last count,  continuing to rise at the convention, 374 LGBT people officially registered as delegates, alternate delegates, committee people, or convention pages at the 2008 DNCC in Denver. Interestingly, if the 374 person delegation were a state delegation, we would be the third largest state delegation, with only California and New York having more delegates.

The aftermath of last years non-inclusive ENDA struggle some of the detracting sentiment heard by our community was related to trans people not being considered a  part of the larger gay and lesbian community, trans folk had been riding on the coat tails of the gay and lesbian community, and that trans people had done a really poor job of lobbying their congressional representatives to be included in ENDA. On the flip side of that issue was over 300 LGBT advocacy organizations that opposed the non-inclusive ENDA, holding fast to the commitment that we are a community which can not be divided.

The convention personally and politically touched me on so many levels as a latina lesbian transwoman with a gay son, another son in the military, a gay nephew who adopted a child with his partner, a lesbian niece who works her fingers to the bone in health care, and as an American. Not to mention being a member of one of possibly one of the most marginalized groups of people in society, doubly complicated by being a part of another traditionally marginalized group of people.

September 5th will mark the thirteenth anniversary of the time I was involuntarily outed at work and forced into a disability retirement solely because my trans history was discovered and was labeled a freak.  It took a long time for me to recover from that ugly time in my life to get where I am at today.

For anyone, gay, straight, or otherwise, who has any doubt that I, or any other trans person,  have no worth, do not deserve equal rights, can wait while the rest of the community moves forward to equality under some sort of instrumentalist theory, or are not a part of the larger gay and lesbian community, I don’t have the words to respond politely.

We are not gay people. We are not lesbians. We are not bisexual or trans persons. We are people, inseparable and inextricably connected to one another. Our allied brothers and sisters come from a diverse mix of colors, issues, and unique personal histories.

On the anniversary of the “I have a dream speech” delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. another momentous time in history also happened at Invesco Field in Denver Colorado.  The Democratic Party became united. But that is not the whole of the legacy of Barack Obama. I believe the message of hope and change for a better and brighter future for all of us was heard around the world.

Barack Obama is the real deal. Certainly our world is not in a happy place and will likely never be a perfect place. If you’re view is the “glass is half empty”, as is much of the the world in this time in history, then perhaps it is time to start viewing your world as a glass being half full. Fill yourself with the hope that we can work together to change our world for the better.

We must end the war in Iraq but maintain our security at home and elsewhere with intelligence and diplomacy. We must never again adopt a policy which includes the preemptive invasion of another country. We need a commander-in-chief who will not squander our best and brightest for the sake of a dollar.We need to feel the safety of our homes and streets.

We urgently need to begin the restructure of our health care delivery here at home, making health care a basic right for all people.

We must change the way the system works against families of all kinds. Children should not go hungry and parents should not have to work three or four jobs just to keep a roof over their heads and safe nutritious food on the table.

We must all work to guarantee that the people who we elect to represent us do actually represent us and work for our benefit.

We must continue to be vigilant of those who wish to keep us oppressed and deny basic civil rights to us and our families simply because of who we love, our skin color, or how we are born. Not just LGBT people, but all people must be equal in all respects.

Having come from Denver this last week, I see what is meant by the saying that politics is the art of the possible. The possibilities for LGBT people and all people is palpable.

Our brush stroke in the art of the possible is clearly defined and well within our means.  We must indivually and as a whole and united community engage in the belief of change and hope for a better future.

We have a very clear calling, along with some very clear steps we all need take to be bring about the change we all hope for.

We are democrats. Our core values are adopted and defined in our party platform. We are included and a part of the intrnsic fabric of our democratic party. Our well being is woven into those core values expressed in the party platform and echoed in the true meaning of our constitution. We have the tools and means to effect the change we want. We as gay, lesbian, bisexual an transgender are empowered to participate in the change and hope for a better future for all our sakes. We simply can not afford to stand back and watch our future dissolve before our eyes.

Here in Oregon, we have a responsibility as a community to step up to the plate. As a community we have no choice choice but become fully engaged as a community.  Where ever we are in life, we must consider the intolerable outcome if we fail to act now!

We are less than two months away from the election. If you have any spare time or resources to spare in the next two months, consider making an investment in your future.

If you ask yourself or doubt that you can make a difference, please reach out to any democratic campaign office in the state. Call or write your friends and relatives, even those in other states and beg them to support democratic candidates where ever they may be. If you’re still not convinced you can and do make a difference feel free to email treasurer (at) stonewalloregon (dot) org.

Here are a couple of links to get you started:

Jeff Merkley for US Senate

Jeff Merkley is a champion for GLBT people everywhere. As our Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives, Jeff Merkely was one of the crucial keys to bringing the Oregon Equality and Family Fairness Act from a dream to reality.

Unlike Jeff Merkely’s republican opponent who tries to pretend to be good on our issues, while voting in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment twice and comparing relationship equality to polygamy. Please contrast that to the fact that the republican nominee for president voted against the Federal marriage Amendment Act.

The Democratic Party of Oregon, Basic Rights Oregon and eQuality Giving have all enthusiastically endorsed my personal freind Jeff Merkley.

LGBT for Obama

This site has been specifically set up for the LGBT community to easily get involved in helping to elect Barack Obama. The site and drive behind it is the work Oregonian Terry Bean.

Transgender Community and Allies:

Trans folk and their allies with National Stonewall Democrats have set up an easy to use web page to support Barack Obama. It’s a great way to show your support for Obama and the trans people in your life.

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Jared Polis (D-CO) is likely to become the first-ever openly gay man elected to the U.S. Congress as a non-incumbent, according to the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. Polis won his Democratic primary tonight in the race to represent Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. As the Democratic nominee in an overwhelmingly Democratic district, Polis is nearly certain to win the seat in November. He would join Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.) as the only openly gay or lesbian members of Congress.

Rep. Tammy Baldwin, elected from Wisconsin in 1998, was the first openly gay person to be elected to the U.S. House as a non-incumbent.  Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts announced he was gay in 1987 after having served several terms in the House.

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Congress just held a hearing on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT). The hearing was the first public hearing on the military policy since it’s implementation in 1993.

An estimated 12,500 U.S. Soldiers have been discharged from the armed services under DADT.

United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Eric Alva, the first US military casualty in the Iraq war and a gay man, testified at the Congressional Hearing. Here’s the testimony of a hero.

After hearing Sgt. Alva’s testimony it is difficult to not think of all the heroes who served in our military under the don’t tell policy, but were never discharged, instead came home injured, scarred, broken, or worse.

When we hear the rhetoric of those who would deny our freedom to love or our equal protection under the law, we need to rededicate ourselves to taking back our America and remembering the sacrifices made by our own heroes in the military and everyday life who happen to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender.

We are living the pages of history as we march towards Change in America. We need to honor GLBT Americans who have so bravely stood up to defend our country.

“But on that bloody tuesday morning,

he died an American“

Melisa Etheridge

Tuesday Morning

Let’s Roll……….

Mark Bingham, September 11, 2001

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