Old news, I know. (It was announced last week.) I have met Mr. Montgomery personally, and have been deeply impressed. I look forward to seeing what he does next. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing great things out of him for a while yet.
This Detroit News article describes him and his accomplishments well.
Detroit gay activist transforms Michigan
Monday, October 01, 2007
Deb Price
Nice to see that someone hasn’t forgotten gay republicans exist. I always get so frustrated when I’m at gay events (especially political ones) because I always here the same bias. They kick 1/3-1/2 of our community out of the room just by assuming everyone there agrees with them on _all_ their issues.
The gay voter’s guide to the GOP
How should a right-wing homosexual vote in the upcoming primaries and caucuses? Salon rates the Republican candidates for gay friendliness.
By Michael Scherer and Ben Van Heuvelen, Salon.com
I’m reminded once again of why I’m so utterly disgusted by this guy. I figure if God does exist, Fred will have his own little circle of hell when he finally dies.
Group Plans To Picket Va. Tech Funerals
Anti-Gay Religious Group Known For Protesting At Services For U.S. Soldiers Killed In Iraq
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/18/national/main2699800.shtml
I thought this article was pretty interesting. Its amazing how much word connotations effect political polls. In this case, I think gay rights activists and the media need to take note. While four percent doesn’t sound like that much, in politics it is huge. (Note: I am assuming that the error margins on the two samples don’t overlap. If they do, this entire article and my comment on it are pointless. The results wouldn’t have statistical validity in that case.)
Editorial: Homosexual Tendencies: How the H Word leads to more hatred against LGBT folks
The Washington Blade
Saturday, MARCH 31, 2007
http://www.newyorkblade.com/2007/3-30/viewpoint/editorials/
This is a bill that should be a no-duh bill, but it probably won’t be. Call me a cynic, but I don’t expect it to pass easily.
CRISIS OF ABUSE AGAINST LGBT YOUTH ADDRESSED IN NEW LEGISLATION
Migden Bill, Sponsored by EQCA, Protects Youth in Juvenile Justice System
From Equality California
http://www.eqca.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=9oINKWMCF&b=40337&ct=3714261
Just passing this along.
Hello all,
My name is Brian Curtin and I work for State Rep. Greg Harris. I wanted to send along my thanks as well as thanks from Rep. Harris for all of your e-mails filled with kind words and your dedication to action for House Bill 1826. In many of the e-mails people asked how to become more involved and how to help further assist in the effort for House Bill 1826. On April 18th, Equality Illinois is organizing a lobby day event for House Bill 1826 which will give you the opportunity to do just that. By attending this lobby day and speaking with legislators, you can put a face on this issue; you can help alert legislators to the lack of basic fairness for Same-Sex committed couples; you can let legislators know what this bill means to you; and you can make a difference. Although this bus leaves from Chicago and its suburbs, people from all around the state are invited to join Equality Illinois in their lobbying efforts for House Bill 1826. So please, if you can, come to Springfield on April 18th. Also, do not forget to RSVP for this event with Equality Illinois, whose information is listed in the e-mail below.Thank you,
BrianBrian Curtin
Chief of Staff
State Representative Greg Harris
13th District
1967 W. Montrose Ave.
Chicago, IL 60613
Brian@gregharris.org
773/348-3434
773/348-3475 Fax
I urge everyone to contact the senator on this. FIOA is one of most powerful tools citizens have to watch our government. Expanding it is a _very_ good thing!
From an EFF newsletter:
* Action Alert - Tell Congress to Update the Freedom of
Information Act!The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) helps protect the
public’s right to know, and new legislation would provide
some much-needed updates to this crucial law. One open
government bill has already passed the House — make sure a
similar one passes in the Senate:H.R. 1309 and S. 849 give federal agencies, like the FBI
and the FCC, greater incentive to follow the law and make
it easier for all FOIA requesters to access government
documents. Among other reforms, the bills will help
government watchdogs keep track of FOIA requests they’ve
sent and ensure that more journalist requesters get
preferred treatment under the law. The bills will also
penalize agencies that don’t respond to requests within the
time limits set by the FOIA.Revelations about the secret NSA spying program, the FBI’s
misuse of a key PATRIOT Act power, and other privacy-
invasive initiatives clearly demonstrate the importance of
government transparency. EFF’s FOIA Litigation for
Accountable Government (FLAG) project relies on FOIA to
expose the government’s expanding use of new technologies
that invade Americans’ privacy, and these bills would
greatly help in our and other organizations’ efforts to
protect your rights.
Quoted directly from an Equality Illinois announcement.
CIVIL UNION BILL PASSES ILLINOIS HOUSE COMMITTEE!
Please Thank Our Yes VotesAn Illinois House committee passed a bill today (March 21) that would extend legal recognition and many of the benefits of civil marriage to same sex couples.
The Religious Freedom and Civil Union Act (HB1826) passed the Illinois House Human Services Committee with a vote of 5-4 today. The bill now goes to the full House for consideration.
HB1826 guarantees many of the rights and responsibilities to persons in civil unions that are currently granted to persons in civil marriages. Among those rights are the ability to participate in healthcare visitation and decision making for one’s partner, survivor benefits and the right to make disposition decisions about deceased partner’s remains.
The bill also affirms religious institutions’ right not to recognize such unions or to solemnize a civil union.
“While this bill does not provide for recognition of same-sex marriages in the State of Illinois, it does give gay couples legal recognition and many of the same benefits and responsibilities of marriage,” said Rick Garcia, political director of Equality Illinois. “It is a step in the right direction for full equality in Illinois.”
Please contact the sponsor Representative Greg Harris (D-Chicago) and thank him for his sponsorship:
Email: greg@gregharris.org
Phone: 217-782-3835 Fax: 217-557-6470Also, please contact the following Human Services Committee members who voted for this bill:
Representative Naomi Jakobsson (D-Champaign)
Email: naomi@naomijakobsson.com
Phone: 217-558-1009 Fax: 217-557-7680Representative Constance Howard (D-Chicago)
Email: staterep-constance-a-howard@comcast.net
Phone: 217-782-6476 Fax: 217-782-0952Representative Annazette Collins (D-Chicago)
Email: annazettec@sbcglobal.net
Phone: 217-782-8077 Fax: 217-557-7643Representative Elizabeth Coulson (R-Glenview)
Email: coulson@earthlink.net
Phone: 217-782-4194 Fax: 217-782-7613Representative Al Riley (D-Matteson)
Email: rep.riley38@sbcglobal.net
Phone: 217-558-1007 Fax: 217-557-1664
See there are some decent Republicans out there. This is probably the single best opinion piece I’ve seen on this issue. I strongly suggest everyone read it.
Bigotry That Hurts Our Military
By Alan K. Simpson (”The writer was a Republican senator from Wyoming from 1979 to 1997.“)
Wednesday, March 14, 2007; Page A15
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/13/AR2007031301507.html
It turns out there are now TWO marriage related bills in the Illinois legislature this year. One is the original marriage bill that I already mentioned and the second is a civil union bill. Most importantly, I’m being told that WE MIGHT ACTUALLY PASS the civil union bill THIS YEAR.
Below is a quick briefing from Allie Carter with Equal Marriage Illinois. Apparently, the hearing mentioned below was delayed one week, but everything else should still be accurate.
Philip-
I got permission to send you the media advisory. Here’s my take:
House Services Committee to Vote on Civil Unions Bill
Several weeks ago, Rep. Greg Harris filed a historic piece of
legislation to end the denial of marriage to LGBT couples in Illinois.
However, despite his tremendous efforts, he and the other sponsors
simply could not find enough support to move the bill out of committee.What Rep. Harris did discover was the potential to pass, this year, a
comprehensive civil unions bill. This bill represents an enormous step
towards full equality for gays and lesbians, and will guarantee many of
the rights and benefits needed by LGBT families in Illinois.While there is a great deal of work to be done, I am told that this bill
has a great deal of support through out both chambers - and has a real
chance of passing this year. While full marriage equality is, obviously,
our goal, I think this legislation will add momentum to the fight and
move us closer.Allie
P.S. I’m attaching a copy of the media advisory. Below are Rick Garcia’s
comments on the bills:The Religious Freedom & Marriage Fairness Act (HB1615) sponsored
by Representatives Greg Harris (D-Ravenswood), Constance Howard
(D-Chicago), Sara Feigenholtz (D-Lakeview) and Harry Osterman
(D-Edgewater) has been assigned to the House Human Services
Committee.Unfortunately, we do not have the necessary votes to pass this
bill out of committee at this time — but we continue to educate
legislators and their communities on the importance of equal
marriage for glbt Illinoisans.A comprehensive Civil Union Act (HB 1826) has also been introduced
by Rep. Harris and is co-sponsored by more than a dozen members of
the Illinois House. This bill is assigned to the House Human
Services Committee and a hearing and committee vote is scheduled
for Wednesday, March 14, 8 a.m. in Room D-1 of the Stratton
Building in Springfield.This bill has an excellent chance of passing the committee on
Wednesday and going to the full House of Representatives for
consideration.For copies of the bills, list of their sponsors, list of committee
members and schedules please go to www.ilga.gov
.