Birmingham Blues

Remember how the Jefferson County Commission voted to allow two commissioners to give $15,000 to support a conference put on by the right-wing Eagle Forum? Yeah, me too. Despite some outcry from taxpayers, the Commission went ahead with the donation, and yesterday the Eagle Forum brought Phyllis Schlafly to town.

Schlafly, wearing her usual red power suit, spoke to about 350 people, mostly older and almost all white [I'm stunned], at the Eagle Forum of Alabama’s 27th annual leadership conference. It was a get-together paid for in part with the help of a $15,000 donation of public tax dollars from the Republican-dominated Jefferson County Commission.

In an hourlong and sometimes rambling presentation, Schlafly said she senses a defeatist attitude among conservatives looking ahead to the fall’s presidential election. In a thinly veiled shot at presumptive GOP nominee John McCain, Schlafly told the crowd to take heart, that real conservatives took “control of the party in 1964 and again in 1980 and we can do it again.”

McCain’s conservative credentials long have been questioned by social conservatives such as Schlafly.

Schlafly told the group that if they were unhappy with “our” candidates, to look at the other party.

“But, don’t you feel sorry for the Democrats?” Schlafly said. “They have to choose between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.” [Gosh, yes, isn't it dreadful to be forced to choose between two good candidates who happen to be a woman and a black man? I'm sure Phyllis would find that too icky for words.]

The crowd burst into applause.

She spent part of her hour railing against the threat to national security posed by gay marriage and told the crowd we need more Supreme Court justices like Clarence Thomas. Well, gosh, at least she didn’t endorse anyone. I guess her McCain hatred will protect her tax-exempt status, at least for now. It doesn’t matter; I still want my money back.

I know it’s getting a little easier. I don’t fall apart every single day now, but there’s still such a huge hole in my life. I guess there always will be.

The 10th annual hate crimes vigil in remembrance of the murder of Billy Jack Gaither and of other victims of violence will be held this Sunday at 4 pm on the steps of the state capitol in Montgomery. There will be a reception following at the Civil Rights Memorial Center at 400 Washington Avenue.

This year, the vigil will include the presentation of the Billy Jack Gaither Humanitarian Award to recognize the person who has done the most in the past year to reduce violence against the LGBT community. Nominations opened before Ken died, and I expect he would have been the recipient regardless, but I wish he could be here to be recognized for his work. Even if he would have been embarrassed, he deserved all the kind words that will no doubt be spoken.

Join us. Remember.

I posted below on the general excellence of last night’s health care forum sponsored by Over the Mountain Democrats. It’s unfortunate that my strongest negative response was invoked by the Democratic politician on the panel.

I was not terribly surprised to hear Congressman Artur Davis advocating improvements and expansion of our existing system for health care coverage. He quoted polls that show a plurality of people who currently have health coverage are satisfied with it. He pointed out that people want choice and that anything short of abolishing private insurance would result in some percentage of the population opting out of a public plan, likely taking wealthier and healthier people out of the pool. And he said, quite realistically, that providing universal coverage will be expensive and we must incorporate effective cost containment measures. I would have preferred to hear him talk about some more innovative approaches, but I was glad to hear him advocate, forcefully and repeatedly, for universal coverage.

Well, almost universal.

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Alabama native Cody Lyon has a nice piece up at Edge on the Birmingham LGBT community, acknowledging progress in a city (and a state) that many people around the country still perceive as mired in prejudice. It features interviews with Equality Alabama’s Executive Director Danny Upton and newly elected school board member (and former EA Board Chair) Howard Bayless. Go read.

We’ve had a hell of a week around here. I wish I had the words to describe it; perhaps that would exorcise some of the pain. My brother’s memorial service was beautiful, a reflection of his life and work. The church was full to overflowing with family, friends, and colleagues who came to remember his dedication, his courage, his humor. His pastor, a wonderful, gifted woman who was a close friend, shared the pulpit with others who were touched by his kindness and his commitment to equality for all people. We buried his ashes in the memorial garden that he designed and helped to build.

Ken founded an organization called Equality Begins at Home, which was merged with another LGBT rights group in 2002 to form Equality Alabama. This week brought home to me the importance of that name. Equality does indeed begin at home, and when inequality persists, it is our family and friends who suffer. Everywhere Tony turned during this ordeal, he had to wait for our approval of his decisions. Thank God I could get to the hospital quickly; I had to sign the form that gave permission to release Ken’s body. When we changed our minds about which funeral home to use, I had to get on the phone and say yes before the hospital could make the change. When we made arrangements for Ken’s cremation, my mother had to sign the consent form, even though Tony was “allowed” to sign the contract for payment. Although he consulted us at every turn and knew that we would approve his decisions, he wasn’t permitted to perform the duties of a spouse — the spouse that he was and is in every sense other than legal. He, being the wonderful person that he has always been, never complained, but I found it painfully offensive and intrusive. (I do need to point out that all of the people we dealt with were sympathetic and understanding, particularly at the funeral home, but their hands were tied by legal requirements.)

Those of us who’ve read up on the subject of marriage equality have likely run across the oft-quoted statistic that marriage brings with it over 1,000 legal rights that are not granted to couples like Ken and Tony. That’s a good fact to remember, but dry numbers can’t begin to portray the reality of the experience. Yes, I know couples can take some steps to protect their interests in case of, oh, say, a medical emergency, but who exactly is going to be digging through the file cabinet looking for paperwork when the paramedics are trying to get the patient to the hospital? And it’s likely, although I can’t say so with complete certainty, that my mother or I could have walked in and taken over as “real” next of kin even if Tony had had papers in hand. We do, after all, live in Alabama.

So. If you were sitting on the fence about marriage equality — maybe you’re straight and don’t see why it’s so important, maybe you’re young and can’t foresee a sudden death or catastrophic illness, maybe you assume everything can be handled with (expensive, time-consuming, and subject to legal challenge) paperwork — it’s time to climb down on the side of justice and compassion. Speak up. Tell your friends, your co-workers, your family members. Talk to your elected representatives. Join Equality Alabama and other organizations that work for equality and justice, and donate what you can to support their work. There is strength in numbers, and even small contributions add up quickly.

Ken left us a legacy and a challenge. Equality begins at home. My home — and yours. Let’s make it a reality sooner rather than later.

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Note: If you make a donation to Equality Alabama and designate it in memory of Ken Baker (you can do that on the online form), your gift will be used to maintain the newly-renamed Ken Baker Equality Alabama Justice Center in Montgomery. Read more about it here.

I also want to thank Zach, Liss, Pam, Blue Gal, and BAC for their lovely tributes to Ken; Tom, Danny, and Kristopher for posting condolences; and everyone who emailed or left a comment (and please let me know if I’ve missed a post).

UPDATE: Liss links to this post in Equality Matters. Alabamian links to this post in It’s Not Just an Abstract Concept. Kristopher links to it in On the Fence…, Deb links to it at Deb’s House Concerts, The Ridger links to it at The Greenbelt, and it was reprinted at Marriage Equality News and Yikes.

Gee thanks, guys…

Reps. Artur Davis and Bud Cramer (D-Supposedly) voted yesterday against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which includes protections for gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. I wish I thought they voted “no” because the bill doesn’t include protection for transgender people, but — nah, no chance of that. Davis wants to be governor of Alabama someday, and he can’t be voting to protect the rights of those icky homasexshuls. And Cramer faced such a strong challenge in 2006 that he only got, um, 98% of the vote in his district. So I can understand his reluctance to stand up for what’s right. Not.

You know, I generally like Artur. He’s bright, he’s accessible, and he at least talks a good game about caring for the least among us. But he just pisses me off on the issue of LGBT equality. A few weeks ago, I listened to him speak, along with Professor Susan Pace Hamill and Rev. Jim Evans, about the importance of championing high-sacrifice issues. He talked about how easy it is for a politician to be anti-gay marriage and anti-choice in Alabama and how much harder it is to support tax reform or universal health care. And he patted himself on the back just a bit for championing those high-sacrifice issues. Does it not occur to him that advocating equality for all citizens, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, might be another one that’s too important to ignore?

I guess not.

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ENDA passed the House 235-184, happily garnering the support of 35 Republicans (although I would have been even happier had it included trans protection). It now moves to the Senate. If it passes there, Bush will be sure to veto it. He doesn’t want to lose the few supporters he has left.

I’m slipping in under the wire to celebrate National Coming Out Day. Rather than encourage LGBT citizens to come out, I’ll ask straight allies to do so. Being an ally takes more than just objecting when you hear an anti-gay slur, more than walking away or refusing to laugh at stupid jokes. That’s just common decency, which I realize is in short supply today.

Allies speak out in a positive way, making their support public and obvious. They call their elected officials and object when said officials want to flog LGBT citizens for political gain. They embrace their LGBT family and friends all the time, whether or not it’s safe to do so, and they refuse to accept second-class citizenship for anyone, regardless of orientation or gender identity.

So come on out, allies, and let your rainbow flag fly. You’ll help make a better world for all of us.

Sen. Larry Craig announced today that he will remain in the Senate for the rest of his term, despite a judge’s refusal to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea for disorderly conduct. Republican leadership is not happy.

The decision did not seem to go over well among Republicans on the Hill, many of whom have made it clear they want Craig to go.

“He ought to keep his word,” said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.

“It’s a distraction,” said Sen. John Thune, R-SD.

“The original decision (to resign) was the right thing to do,” added Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn.

But by far the harshest words came from Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, in remarks many interpreted to be reflective of what Senate GOP Leadership as a whole feels.

“He said that if the judge would reverse his guilty plea he would fight on, if not he would resign from the Senate and remember — that was going to be effective at the end of September,” said Ensign. “He had his day in court, the judge ruled against him, and I’m calling on Senator Craig to keep his word,” said Ensign.

“It’s the right thing to do for the Senate, it’s the right thing to do for his party,” Ensign said, adding that he “could not feel more strongly about it. I think it would be a mistake to put the Senate through an Ethics investigation process that potentially could lead to public hearings. It’s embarassing for the Senate, it’s embarassing for our party.”

Note that none of these people seems to be embarrassed by David Vitter. Do I detect a whiff of homophobia in the air?

Asked why a senator should resign for pleading guilty to a misdemeanor, Ensign said, “this is not just an ordinary misdemeanor charge. …the type of behavior that we’re talking about here is not exactly something that I think senators should be engaged in.”

Yeah, well, neither is flogging family values while you visit hookers. So I guess they’ll start calling for Vitter’s resignation any day now. Uh huh.

The Senate passed the Matthew Shepard Act yesterday on a voice vote after nine Republicans joined in a 60-39 vote to end debate. The Act was attached to the defense authorization bill, which makes a threatened veto at least somewhat problematic (the House passed the bill as a standalone in May). The Bush administration says it just wants to prosecute all violent crimes the same way, but I haven’t heard it proposing a repeal of existing federal hate crimes law, which covers race, religion, color, and national origin.

The Matthew Shepard Act adds sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and disability, and authorizes the federal government to provide assistance to states in tracking, investigating, and prosecuting these crimes — or to step in and prosecute if state governments fail to do so. That’s what they’d have to do in Alabama, which, despite repeated efforts, has not added sexual orientation or gender identity to its existing law. (And, of course, Alabama Sens. Shelby and Sessions both voted no on the cloture motion.)

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UPDATE:  Pam has a new post with more pictures and some video here.

Busy times around here. Although Equality Alabama terms its yearly celebration the Day of Equality, the festivities actually kicked off on Friday night with a party for the event speakers at Parkside Home & Garden in Avondale. If you’ve never been to Parkside, you have missed a real treat. It’s located in a wonderfully rehabbed old building right across the street from Avondale Park. At one time the owner lived on the second floor, but now all the space is devoted to lovely home and garden items in a wonderful ambiance. Great party, great company.

Yesterday I attended Pam Spaulding’s workshops on “Educating Potential Political Allies” and “Urban v. Suburban v. Rural and Perceptions of Rights & Community” — in other words, trying to build support for equality in a red state that is frequently written off as hopeless by national activist organizations. It is disheartening to see commentary suggesting that more progressive states secede from the South, as if the South were a hopeless monolith of ignorant, barefoot, cousin-marrying rednecks. Hint: it’s not. The Democratic establishment wasn’t too excited about Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy when he first introduced it, but the party is reaping the benefits now. A similar push by national LGBT organizations would likely have similar positive results — if the leadership could take off its collective blinders.

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