Washington State Next On The Way to Full Marriage Equality...

On Wednesday night, with a vote of 28-21, the Washington state Senate passed a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage. The House is likely to vote next week, and Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire has promised to sign the bill into law. 

All in all, 24 Democrats and four Republicans--Steve Litzow, Cheryl Pflug, Andy Hill, and Joe Fain--voted yes, while remaining Republicans and just three Democrats--Jim Hargrove, Tim Sheldon and Paull Shin—voted no.

Congratulations to those who are working to make marriage equality a reality in Washington State, including our very active chapters in the area, who we hear were packing the halls at the vote last night!

Full History...Full Inclusion

Today we kick off Black History/African American History Month with a blog entry from Robby Gregg, PFLAG National's Associate Director of Equality & Diversity Partnerships.

 

As a child I can remember looking forward to Black History now simultaneously called African American History Month.  It was a time of conversations, or reports about famous black people and their contributions to humankind.   I am reminded of the programs that would go on and the attention that was given to sharing the struggles and success of a group of people that although black, were always  Americans.

I have spent a good part of my adult life studying inclusion. As Dr. Maya Angelou suggests in her poem, Human Family, “we are more alike my friend, than we are unlike.”   How then have we come to differentiate American history with  respect to race? In the work that I do as a diversity practitioner, we sometimes suggest that the goal is to work ourselves out of a job.  With that suggestion comes the realization that we would no longer need to accentuate our differences and seek to understand similarities because they would have all been integrated.

I think the same thing might be said about our need for a period of time dedicated to the discovery, conversation, and sometimes lively debate around those individuals whom, for one reason or another, have not been included in our history records of note.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to move beyond what we think we know and be willing to move into an area of the unknown and sometimes mysterious?

I recently attended a pre-opening reception for the National Museum of African American History and Culture slated for construction on the Mall in Washington, D.C. in 2012.  At the reception, there was an exhibit called, Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello…A Paradox of Liberty. The exhibit showcased the paradox of the American Revolution and the fight for liberty in an era of pervasive slavery.  The work examines the dilemma of slavery in the United States as well as the lives of the enslaved.  It’s serves as a reminder of the duality that exists in our lives. In fact, Jefferson was a man who believed that liberty and equality were human rights, yet he was actually a slave owner himself.  

This year I invite you to have the courage to share a story, or experience that brings the importance of understanding our black or brown brothers and sisters as we all try to be better stewards of the promise of liberty and equality for all. Remember, in the words of Dr. Angelou, “History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”  Until the time that we have so integrated  African American or Black History into our collective history/herstory – just like the diversity work I do – we will continue to acknowledge difference until full inclusion is the standard of the day.

Maryland Gov. O’Malley Adds Marriage Equality to Legislative Package

This week Gov. Martin O’Malley introduced a marriage equality bill as a part of his legislative package for the year. At his press conference Gov. O’Malley’s announced, “We are going to be successful in this legislative session by recognizing the dignity in one another, by recognizing the common humanity we all share.” The bill is scheduled to be debated on January 31^st during the Senate Judicial Proceedings hearing and will not last more than four hours.

The new bill contains clearly defined religious protections which have been expanded since the state’s former marriage equality bill was debated in 2011. The new language states that each religious entity “has exclusive control over its own theological doctrine, policy teachings, and beliefs regarding who may marry within that faith.” Openly gay Delegate Heather Mizeur (D-Dist. 20) said the language was expanded to “include provisions from other states that have passed marriage equality with religious exemptions, just to take away any ambiguity…it’s just a more wordy way of providing for religious exemption.”

Gov. O’Malley has also pledged his support for the states’ transgender protections bill. If approved, the bill would ban discrimination against gender identity in housing, credit, and employment. “I support it wholeheartedly,” the Governor said. However, this bill will not be a part of his legislative package. 

In His Absence

Our Guest Blogger today is Kathy Gillern, whose son Aeryn disappeared in Vienna, Austria in 2007. Aeryn has yet to be found. Kathy has been met with extreme homophobic hostility and resistance within the Vienna police because of Aeryn’s sexual orientation. She has been fighting for justice ever since:  

When I speak of my son, Aeryn M. J. Gillern, I find myself interweaving the past and present tense, but never the future.  I do this because my son disappeared in Vienna, Austria on October 29, 2007.  

My son was 34 years old when I last saw him, September 19, 2007. On October 31, 2007, I received a call from UNIDO in Vienna, Austria, where my son worked; they told me my son was missing.

Aeryn is the older of my two sons.  He attended high school in the small upstate village of Groton, NY.  When everyone wore flannels and jeans, Aeryn wore button down shirts and pressed pants.  While his friends listened to rock, Aeryn listened to the Carpenters and classical music.  He graduated from Franciscan University Steubenville in 1997, and completed a Master's in 1999. He went on to obtain two additional Master's Degrees, while living in Vienna, at Webster/American University. 

Aeryn found solace in religion, and attended Mass regularly.  He loved singing in the choir.  He regularly ran, biked, rollerbladed, and worked out. He enjoyed cooking and baking for friends. He had a great sense of humor and loved British comedies. He wrote poems.  As I write about him, I picture his eyelashes curled above his green eyes, the way he would wrinkle his nose, and scrunch up his face when he was thinking.  I can hear his deep voice and silly laugh.  I called him my Eurobrat. 

My son was also openly gay.  Aeryn did not define his life by his sexuality and was a man with many skills and passions.  His grand, unique personality could not be condensed into a single characteristic. And yet, over the past four years, attempts have been made to reduce my son to one, small, word.

On my web site for my son—www.aeryngillern.com—I detail my interactions with the Vienna Police and US Embassy which began November 2, 2007. 

I thought that being a retired police officer would help me deal with the police in Vienna. I was wrong. After my first encounter with them I realized they were not interested in helping me find my son. Their aim was to discredit my son.  They constantly referred to his sexuality with mocking, denigrating remarks that were shocking, sadistic, and sexually explicit. The officers’ physical gestures, which accompanied the remarks, needed no translation.  These were not isolated incidences perpetrated by one officer.

This treatment continued through several meetings with multiple officers. Their insensitivity, rudeness, and lack of empathy, could not be tossed away as cultural misunderstanding.  Through the officers’ lies, inconsistencies, deception, and undisguised disgust towards my son, they attempted to reduce my son to a caricature.  In his absence, they treated my son as someone less than deserving of their time, interest, and respect. My son’s accomplishments, interests, and humanity were suddenly irrelevant; my son was gay, and to them that was, and remains, the end of the story. 

My son has never been found.  Initially the Vienna Police had told us that an elaborate search was conducted. Supposedly this search involved canine units, a boat, divers, dredging a canal, all within a 30 minute window of time.  After a later inquiry into police actions, a new story was released on February 2009. Remarkably, everything which had been previously disclosed to me and the UNIDO witnesses had changed. The official story now is that there was no search.  The Fire Department responded, but did not enter and clear the water. 

Since February 2009, the Police have refused to meet with me. I have requested and been denied the Case File. They refuse to hand my son's case to their newly formed Cold Case Squad. I am told that Aeryn’s case remains open, although others who inquire have been told it is closed.

On December 6, 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a historic speech to the UN regarding LGBT rights worldwide.  On that same day President Obama issued a Memorandum to all Heads of Departments and Agencies: "By this memorandum I am directing all agencies engaged abroad to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons."

Does this include US Citizens abroad that are LGBT?

I am asking that my New York State Senators and Marco Schreuder (Green Party Representative, Vienna) assist me in getting Aeryn’s case file from the Vienna Police and ensuring that the file be given to the Cold Case Squad for further review.

Please, help raise awareness for Aeryn’s case by signing my petition at Change.org. The petition is addressed to Senator Gillibrand (D-NY) and Marco Schreuder (Green Party-Vienna) and is easy to sign through this online website.

Someone asked me how long will I continue to fight for answers; for the possibility of bringing my son home; for the justice denied to my son?  The answer is simple: Forever. In his absence I am his voice, and in his absence I will continue to fight.

Thank you,

Kathy Gillern

Policy Matters 1/25/12

Front Page Headlines

Gay Bishop Documentary Takes Center Stage at Sundance: “Love Free or Die,” a documentary about the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop, Bishop Gene Robinson, is premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. The film follows Robinson as the Church wrestles with equality for gays and lesbians, including his trip to the Episcopal Church’s General Convention in 2009 where leaders voted to allow gay men and women to be bishops. Bishop Robinson hopes that his story will inspire and comfort gay boys and girls. [Washington Post]

Best Companies List Hits Gay Rights Milestone: For the first time, each of the 100 companies on Fortune’s ‘Best Companies to Work For’ list has a non-discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation. Nearly nine out of ten of the companies also offer benefits for same-sex domestic partners. Both of these indicators of workplace equality have become more prevalent in companies over the past decade. [CNN]

ABC Kills ‘Work It’: ABC’s new show, “Work It,” was cancelled after only two episodes. The comedy, which followed two men who dress as women in order to get jobs in a slow economy, was criticized by LGBT equality organizations because it gave “license [to audiences to laugh at] transgender women.” The show had poor reception with audiences and TV critics from the beginning. [New York Times]

Policy Watch

Washington State Has Enough Votes to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage: During the first public hearing on legalizing same-sex marriage, a Democratic state senator announced her support for the legislation, making her the last vote needed to get marriage equality passed. The bill now has enough support to pass in the state House and Senate, and Gov. Chris Gregoire has said that she would sign the bill into law. It is expected that after the bill legalizing same-sex marriage passes, opponents will challenge it with a referendum, and Washington voters will ultimately decide its fate. [New York Times]

Anti-Bullying Bill Moves Forward: The Education Committee of Maine’s state legislature unanimously approved a bill that would provide enumerated protections for LGBT students who experience bullying or harassment. The bill includes a clear definition of bullying, prevention strategies for teachers, as well as discipline strategies. Now that it has been approved by the committee, the bill will be considered by the state House and Senate. [Bangor Daily News]

O'Malley Introduces Same-Sex Marriage Bill: Gov. Martin O’Malley has submitted a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland. A bill for marriage equality was introduced in last year’s General Assembly, but the legislation was halted because it would not have garnered enough votes to pass in the House. Gov. O’Malley says that his bill would provide equal rights for gays, while protecting the rights of religious organizations that oppose same-sex marriage. [Baltimore Sun]

Question from the Field

Dear Policy Matters,

A friend of mine works for an adoption agency; when I asked recently if her organization has a lot of clients who are LGBT, she embarrassedly admitted that they do not allow LGBT couples to adopt. I was shocked to learn that this kind of discrimination is completely legal in my state. How can my chapter advocate for LGBT couples who want to adopt?

Thanks for your guidance.

Steven

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Dear Steven,

Thank you for writing to Policy Matters! Sadly, as you discovered, there is no federal law that outlaws discrimination against prospective foster or adoptive parents because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. There are some states, like Wisconsin and Michigan, that even have laws that explicitly prohibit LGBT people from fostering or adopting children. In states where adoption and foster care are legal for LGBT people, many couples experience discrimination. This discrimination can take place at the level of an individual social worker who falsely believes that LGBT people will not make good parents, or at the level of an entire adoption organization that has a policy (explicit or otherwise) that excludes LGBT people from being prospective parents because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Given that there is more than 30 years of rigorous social science research proving that LGBT parents raise children who are just as happy, healthy, and well-adjusted as children raised by straight parents, the absence of a national law protecting prospective LGBT parents from discrimination is appalling. LGBT people and their families, however, are not the only groups that are negatively impacted by this discrimination. There are 107,000 foster children in the United States alone waiting to be adopted. Many of these children, around 27,000, will age out of the foster care system without ever being placed in permanent homes. It is truly a tragedy that LGBT individuals are systematically sent to the back of the line to adopt, and in some cases outright forbidden from adopting, when there are so many children in need of loving families.

The Every Child Deserves a Family Act (H.R. 1681 / S. 1770) is a landmark piece of legislation that would outlaw discrimination against prospective adoptive or foster parents because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status. If your chapter is interested in advocating for LGBT people who want to adopt, you can lobby your members of Congress on ECDF. Have everyone in your chapter call the offices of their Senators and Representatives and ask them to cosponsor the Every Child Deserves a Family Act. Be sure to have everyone share personal stories that highlight the need for these protections. Also, be sure to point out that by ending discrimination against LGBT people who want to adopt, many new safe and loving homes will be opened to children in foster care. Every child deserves a loving home.

Thank you for moving equality forward,

Policy Matters

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P.S. Have you downloaded our new edition of Bringing the Message Home yet? Get your 2011 version of the how-to guide to PFLAG advocacy now and share it with your chapter. Visit PFLAG nationals' website for more information now!

If you would like to have a policy-related question featured in our next edition, please e-mail rperry@pflag.org with your question no later than Friday, February 10th, 2012.

National GSA Day: Honoring the Work of LGBT Students and Allies

January 25^th is National GSA Day! GSA Day was created in 2006 when Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack declared October 25^th “Iowa Gay-Straight Alliance Day” to honor the accomplishments of youth-led Gay-Straight Alliance groups. Since then, Iowa Pride Network has put on “Iowa Gay-Straight Alliance Day” each year. Over time, more and more states have wanted to join and this year the celebration has become a national event!

PFLAG National is proud to be partnering with National GSA Day to honor over 3,000 Gay-Straight Alliance groups across the country who have provided safe spaces for LGBT students and their allies while working to end violence, homophobia, transphobia, and hate in their schools. When schools have a GSA, incidences of verbal harassment are 10-25% less likely to occur, physical assault is 23% less likely to happen, and students are 15-23% less likely to miss school because they feel unsafe.

These school assemblies represent an important bond between LGBT individuals and their straight friends, teachers, and community members. “Americans need to know that thousands of students each day go to school or college and endure LGBT violence and harassment” says the GSA Day website. “They must also know that GSAs are a tool in helping end violence, and that these student groups save lives.” A toolkit is available online for free, and helps student groups plan their own GSA Days at their schools.

Though the National GSA Day events usually take place at schools and colleges, all allies are able to participate! You can show your support by being a visible ally at work or amongst friends, by making fliers about the Day’s purpose, or write thank you notes to the supportive educators in your community. These suggestions, and many more, can be found on National GSA Day’s website in their section for Adults.

Take Action: Spread the word about this celebratory day! "Like” National GSA Day on Facebook, pass along the message on Twitter, or join the National GSA Day’s video campaign and express the importance of GSAs and LGBT-Straight alliances!   

“No Name Calling Week” Educates about the Power of Words

January 23^rd to January 27^th is “No Name Calling Week,” an awareness campaign inspired by James Howe’s young adult book called “The Misfits.” The story tells of a group of friends who are teased and bullied. The self-professed “Gang of Five” decides to run in their student elections, promoting a “No Name-Calling Day” at their school. The spirit of the story has now become an annual week of education where students, parents, and educators call for the elimination of bullying in their communities.

GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) has hosted the event each year, providing lesson plans for elementary, middle, and high school levels, resources on how to plan your own NNCW event locally, resources about school-age bullying, and a chance for students to enter original work regarding their feelings on bullying and how to stop it.

This year GLSEN has released a new report on bullying in elementary schools called “Playground and Prejudice: Elementary School Climate in the United States,” the first national study to look at homophobia, gender nonconformity and bullying at the K-5 level. 

The study found that 45% of students and 49% of teachers heard the word “gay” used in a negative way regularly; 75% of students reported that students at their school are harassed regularly—23% of this harassment is against gender non-conforming children and 21% is against students who are perceived to be gay. Nearly one out of every ten elementary students from 3^rd to 6^th grade indicated that they did not conform to “traditional” gender roles or norms. These students were less likely to feel safe at school and less than half of teachers thought these students would feel comfortable at their school. Only 34% of teachers have reported attempting to create safe classrooms for gender non-conforming students.

Based on this report, GLSEN has developed the Ready, Set, Respect! toolkit, which PFLAG National was proud to review prior to release and excited to promote on our National Blog earlier this month. Created to help educators ensure all students and families feel valued and respected, the toolkit is a unique resource for teaching the concept of respect. The toolkit contains lesson plans which focus on name-calling, bullying and bias, LGBT-inclusive family diversity and gender roles and diversity, and is available for free on glsen.org! 

Education surrounding “No Name-Calling Week” and GLSEN’s incredibly informative, yet concerning, study are being released at a time when we have an opportunity to help create change for our students at the federal level. The reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (also known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act or NCLB/ESEA) is being discussed in Congress, and Senators are considering adding the Student Non-Discrimination Act (S.555) into their version of the bill. If added, SNDA would ban discrimination and harassment against a student’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. The bill will be introduced by Senator Al Franken (D-MN) as an amendment to NCLB/ESEA, and is crucial to ensuring that every week is “No-Name Calling Week” in our nation’s schools.

Take Action: Please, take a stand for students’ safety in public schools by contacting your Senators and urging them to become a co-sponsor SNDA. Every phone call counts! The more we express the urgency of building safer schools today, the more attention we will receive. For up-to-date news on upcoming legislation and action alerts as they happen, subscribe to PFLAG National’s Action E-List!

If you would like to get involved in “No Name-Calling Week” please visit the NNCW website.