LGBT Groups Speak Out Against DOJ Defense of DOMA

What they said, yes.

From the ACLU

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

We are very surprised and deeply disappointed in the manner in which the Obama administration has defended the so-called Defense of Marriage Act in a brief filed today in Smelt v. United States, a lawsuit brought in federal court in California by a married same-sex couple asking the federal government to treat them equally with respect to federal protections and benefits. The administration is using many of the same flawed legal arguments that the Bush administration used. These arguments rightly have been rejected by several state supreme courts as legally unsound and discriminatory.

We disagree with many of the administration’s arguments, for example, that DOMA is a valid exercise of Congress’s power, is consistent with Equal Protection or Due Process principles, and does not impinge upon rights that are recognized as fundamental.

We are also extremely disturbed by a new and nonsensical argument the administration has advanced suggesting that the federal government needs to be “neutral” with regard to its treatment of married same-sex couples in order to ensure that federal tax money collected from across the country not be used to assist same-sex couples duly married by their home states. There is nothing “neutral” about the federal government’s discriminatory denial of fair treatment to married same-sex couples: DOMA wrongly bars the federal government from providing any of the over one thousand federal protections to the many thousands of couples who marry in six states. This notion of “neutrality” ignores the fact that while married same-sex couples pay their full share of income and social security taxes, they are prevented by DOMA from receiving the corresponding same benefits that married heterosexual taxpayers receive. It is the married same-sex couples, not heterosexuals in other parts of the country, who are financially and personally damaged in significant ways by DOMA. For the Obama administration to suggest otherwise simply departs from both mathematical and legal reality.

When President Obama was courting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender voters, he said that he believed that DOMA should be repealed. We ask him to live up to his emphatic campaign promises, to stop making false and damaging legal arguments, and immediately to introduce a bill to repeal DOMA and ensure that every married couple in America has the same access to federal protections.

More later. I have some thoughts on this nation of laws argument that seems to be popping up all over the place. (*cough cough* I smell bullshit.)

I Just Don’t Know

Anyone that reads here should be well aware of the recent spate of Hate Crimes and Demostic Terrorist acts that have recently occurred here in the United States (Dr. George Tiller, The shooting of soldiers in Little Rock, and most recently, the shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum). While it should come as no surprise that I am sickened by these acts, it may come as a surprise that I have been quiet about speaking out against these acts.

Here’s the deal: I’m speechless.

I know. It’s hard for anyone that has spent any time around these parts to imagine me, of all people, being speechless; but really, I am. I just don’t know what to say, or how to get a grip on any of this.

I’ve read all of the blog posts pointing out that Janet Napolitano and the FBI pointed all of this out to us a few months ago. And yes, the fringe right had a field day trying to make it seem like some sort of left-wing conspiracy. Still, I’m taken back by it all. This strikes me as something that is happening in the United States that is so beyond politics. I feel like we are going back to a place where politics don’t matter, but the supremacy of power rules all. I fear that we are going back to a place where discourse means nothing, but the ability to prove that you are overwhelmingly stronger than everyone else means everything. Yes, my fellow Liberals and Progressives, I feel that we are walking into a trap, one where we will lose.

I can’t articulate why, right now, but I’m going to keep working on it, because I feel it is necessary.

For Those Lucky Enough To Be in NYC

There’s a party goin’ on!

It Is Better To SPEAK! Listening Party

Live readings by contributors Mamita Mala and Black Amazon

Saturday, May 16, 2009 – 7:00pm – 9:00pm

This party will take place in Brooklyn. For the address, please RSVP to katie@alliedmediaconference.org

All are welcome. Bring a friend and spread the word!

Who is Speak!?

Speak! is a women of color-led media collective. In the summer months of 2008, they created a CD compilation of spoken word, poetry, and song. After months of hard work, they are excited to finally share their first self-named album with the world! With artists and poets from all over the country, the Speak! CD is a testament of struggle, hope, and love. Many of the contributors are in the Radical Women of Color blogosphere and will be familiar names to you. Instead of just reading their work, you’ll be able to hear their voices.

Proceeds of this album will go toward funding financially restricted SPEAK! member activists wanting to attend the Allied Media Conference in Detroit, MI this July. This is our own grassroots organizing at its finest with financial assistance from the AMC. Here it is, ready for your purchasing!

You can buy the CD here.

It’s gonna be good. I promise.

Let Us Stop Deferring Dreams

Pass the Dream Act now.

What happens to a dream deferred?

Or does it explode?

“A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes

Please, go to Change.org and vote for the Dream Act. Also, see DreamActivist.org for more ways to get involved.

Props to Nezua for the heads up on this video.

Another Trans Woman Killed

*Sigh.* So soon in the wake of Duanna Johnson’s murder; so soon in the wake of feeling joy at the thought of people coming together and helping out their fellow humans, I learn that another trans woman of color has been brutally murdered.

Transgender Day of Remembrance is Wednesday.

I’m too sick and tired for words, but might I add a hearty screw you along with others to the media for refusing to respect her identity and referring to her as a him.

Let’s all send our thoughts to her family and friends.

Yay for Wanda!

I simply adore Wanda Sykes.

[h/t: Shakesville]

Update on Duanna Johnson Fundraiser

From the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition

For Immediate Release: Dated November 15, 2008

A Very Special Thank You

Yesterday afternoon, the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition issued a special appeal on behalf of the family of Duanna Johnson to help them cover funeral expenses.

In only four hours, nearly two hundred people responded by opening their hearts and their wallets. You donated over $5300 to the fund. We are still counting the final figures, but not only will this cover the costs of the funeral, but all of the remaining money is being given directly to the family to use as they see fit.

We realize your donations will not ease the pain of Duanna’s tragic loss to her family, but you have sent a message to the world that the lives of transgender people matter, and that we appreciate Duanna’s fight for respect.

Words cannot begin to express the heartfelt gratitude of all the members of TTPC who are touched by your incredble generosity.

The link to the Duanna Johnson Funeral Fund on our website is closed now, but if you still wish to make donations, either to Duanna’s family, or to assist TTPC in the work we do to provide a voice for Tennessee’s transgender community, you can still do so through our regular donation page. We will honor all requests to use the money as you designate.

We pledge to continue Duanna’s fight with the same dignity that she showed.

Thank you.

Rest in Peace Duanna.

Marisa Richmond
President