Celebration from the SF gay men's chorus (video Sunday)

California FAIR Act, Prop8, and Harvey Milk.

CA governor Jerry Brown this week signed SB48, The Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act , which mandates inclusion of gay people in instructional materials. The fundies' heads are exploding.

You see, one of the big scare tactics they used for Prop8 was that if gay people got married, then children would learn about gays! But if gay people didn't get married, they wouldn't!

On Twitter, I saw a post that said,

This is exactly WHY I voted YES on Prop8. Cuz I don't want my children influenced to be gay in any kind of way!!

So, this parent thinks that by learning that gays exist, their kids will be gay. Clearly one of those who thinks we all choose to be gay. (Aside: why would anyone choose to be gay? My personal opinion is that the fundies think that gays have better sex, and thus more people knew about gay sex they'd become gay. This suggests the fundies have lousy sex lives. But I digress.)

The first thing is that this exposes the Prop8 backers as liars. You see, denying marriage equality never did have anything to do with the schools. My favorite tweet is from The Rev Susan Russell:

Since we're going to teach about gays in school anyway, can we have marriage equality back now in CA, please?

You have to wonder if the supporters of Prop8 will realize that their backers lied to them.

The second thing is what the FAIR act, and the kerfuffle it's causing, reveals about the antis. And what it reveals is their desire to make us invisible. If they have to admit we exist, then they might get to know us. They might have to justify their abusive treatment of loving gay families.

Still, you might ask, isn't this a bit much? Mandating teaching about gay people>?

Well, In 2009, a school in Southern California told a sixth grader that she could not present a school report about Harvey Milk unless her classmates had parental permission to attend.

Natalie Jones, a sixth grader at Mt. Woodson Elementary School in Ramona, California, was given an assignment in an independent study project class to write a report on any subject she found interesting. She chose Harvey Milk. Milk, the United States’s first openly gay elected official, was one of Time Magazine’s “Time 100 Heroes and Icons of the 20th Century” in 1999, has been the subject of several books, an opera, a documentary film that won the 1984 Academy Award for Documentary Feature, and a feature film released in 2008 that won two Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor.

After Natalie got a near-perfect score on her report, her class was told to make PowerPoint presentations about their reports, which they would show to other students in the class. The day before Natalie was to give her 12-page presentation she was called into the principal’s office and told she couldn’t do so.

The school said that because Harvey Milk was gay, a report about him fell into the category of sex education and the students would have to get permission slips to hear her presentation. Simply by mentioning his sexuality, it was "sex education". You see, the very fact that gay people exist is a threat, because of course it's all about SEX.

Really, that's their obsession with sex again.

Harvey Milk was an immensely influential progressive politician. He was gay. He was assassinated. This is an important period in California history and students should learn about it. Now they will.

Happy Birthday Harvey

Hope will never be silent.

--Harvey Milk

31 years ago (video)

I was a high school student in the Bay Area.

I remember Harvey Milk and George Moscone.

we all should.

This video comes from last year in the run-up to Prop H8, but its message is worth remembering.

ya gotta give 'em hope.


(H/T Lawdork)

Way to go, Ah-nuld

The Governor of California is an old-style Republican. You remember those: the ones who believe that the government did not belong regulating your life.

Good on you, Governor Schwarzenegger. He has signed two important bills.

First, after getting a veto from the governor last year, the state will now declare May 22 Harvey Milk Day (not a day-off though). The recognition for a man who was dedicated to pushing for equal rights for himself and his community is an important marker for the fight for full equality for the LGBT community. It does not win us any additional rights, but it does give the state a chance to pause and reflect on a man who gave everything for the struggle.

On the other hand, Sen. Leno's SB 54 does have an immediate and real impact that goes beyond symbolism. The bill would grant marriages performed outside of the state before Prop 8 was passed full marriage status, just as the same-sex marriages performed between June and November. Marriages that were performed after that Nov. 5 date will get all the rights and benefits of a California marriage save the moniker "marriage."

Apparently Arnold saw the confusion brought about by the situation that Californians who had previously been married in, say Massachusetts, were in. They were told that they didn't need to renew their marriage, but the law was entirely unclear on the issue.

It ain't perfect. On TG rights, he still lags. But you know? This is a start. A Republican governor voted for equality. And that's something.

And the sad thing? This Republican Governor has a better record on gay rights than our president. Please, someone, explain why gay Americans are better off today than 18 months ago?

Bigots attacking Harvey Milk

From EQCA e-update:

On Tuesday, extremists started a coordinated attack on the Harvey Milk Day Bill.

Catholic Exchange, the premier Catholic website, placed an **URGENT** message on their homepage urging their readers to call Governor Schwarzenegger and stop the bill.

The Christian News Wire also carried a story calling Harvey a notorious sexual predator, a public liar, a terrible model for kids and demanded the Governor veto the bill.

Now is the time to take action and show your support for Harvey’s legacy and for our community.

The Governor’s office has dedicated a special, automated phone line for you to express your support.

Phone the Governor right now at 916.445.2841, and call one of his district offices.

Capitol Office: 916.445.2841
Fresno Office: 559.477.1804
Los Angeles Office: 213.897.0322
Riverside Office: 951.680.6860
San Diego Office: 619.525.4641
San Francisco Office: 415.703.2218

You can also tweet @Schwarzenegger with your support.

Harvey Milk and the Medal of Freedom (video Sunday)

Silencing Harvey Milk

There's an effort in California to have May 22nd, Harvey Milk's birthday, noted as "Harvey Milk Day" in the state. Not a holiday, but simply a named remembrance of someone who was a tireless worker for social justice as well as the first openly gay man elected to public office in the state. (The governor doesn't agree.) Of course, Harvey Milk was the subject of a recent biopic, and was a victim of assassination.

In Ramona, CA, a rural, conservative town in the hills of San Diego County, a student who wanted to do a presentation on Milk was forbidden to present it to her classmates.

Jones was told she could not talk about Milk because it violated the school district's strict policy on "family life and sex education." Days later, Jones was told she could only give the presentation during recess, and students would be required to get parental permission before they could attend.

The school's policy stresses that parents will be notified if their children are being exposed to lessons about "human reproductive organs and their functions, processes, or sexually transmitted diseases" as well as "family life, human sexuality, AIDS, or sexually transmitted diseases."

Bonnie Jones, Natalie's mother, called the ordeal "unbelievable" in a press release on Wednesday. "To say my daughter's presentation is 'sex education' because Harvey Milk happened to be gay is completely wrong."

Unfortunately, this makes perfect sense in the current right wing strategy. It has nothing to do with Milk's sexuality, which (aside from the adjective "gay") has nothing to do with his story. It's not about gay marriage, which wasn't even on the radar when he lived. It's nothing explicit about his sex life. It's his act of existence...it's OUR act of existence, that the school, and the conservatives, want to eliminate. This is about enforced discrimination.

"Schools that act as if any mention of the existence of gay people is something too controversial or 'sensitive' to discuss are doing a disservice to their students," the ACLU's Elizabeth Gill said in a statement.

Indeed. No newspaper or television is free of "teh gay". Will and Grace, Queer Eye, the L Word, are all years old. It's not as though kids are unaware that some people are gay. What are they afraid of: Milk's sexuality, or his message of equality and social justice? "My name is Harvey Milk, and I'm here to recruit you!!" was not just a rallying cry for the GLBT community. It was how he brought together a coalition of groups for a progressive agenda in the City.

But they are trying to hide that because he was gay. Because we are gay, they are trying the same thing. Claiming we are too controversial for prime time has been increasing of late. Trying to hide us. To deny us rights, and protections. Do not be silenced. Be Harvey. As he said, “I finally reached the point where I knew I had to become involved or shut up.”. Now it's up to us to be the change we need.

The Day of Decision is Tuesday, May 26th. BE THERE!