Hunger...

Obama...Obama...Obama...I love saying that. Now that we can say...well soon say President Obama...lets remind him to keep a few of those promises he made to us on his campaign trail and tell him to make it CLEAR where he stands on hunger and disease in third world countries. Sign "One" petition, ask Obama to help by raising his voice, to be our voice.

Article...read.

How can a free society reconcile the often competing values of democracy, religious liberty and the separation of church and state? This challenge was vividly illustrated by the recent controversy over California's Proposition 8, which forbade same-sex marriage.

In a democracy, the majority of citizens ordinarily may enact whatever laws they want. Some laws, however, are prohibited by the Constitution. For example, the majority of citizens may want a law denying African-Americans the right to vote or prohibiting Muslims from attending public schools, but such laws violate the Constitution.

Does Proposition 8 violate the Constitution? There are several arguments one might make for this position. One might argue that Proposition 8 discriminates against gays and lesbians in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. One might argue that Proposition 8 unconstitutionally limits the fundamental right to marry. One might argue that Proposition 8 violates the separation of church and state. It is this last argument that interests me.

Laws that violate the separation of church and state usually take one of two forms. Either they discriminate against certain religions ("Jews may not serve as jurors"), or they endorse particular religions ("school children must recite the Lord's Prayer"). Proposition 8 does not violate the principle of separation of church and state in either of these ways. It neither restricts religious freedom nor endorses religious expression.

What it does do, however, is to enact into law a particular religious belief. Indeed, despite invocations of tradition, morality and family values, it seems clear that the only honest explanation for Proposition 8 is religion. This is obvious not only from the extraordinary efforts undertaken by some religious groups to promote Proposition 8, but also from the very striking voting patterns revealed in the exit polls.

Proposition 8 was enacted by a vote of 52% to 48%. Those identifying themselves as Evangelicals, however, supported Proposition 8 by a margin of 81% to 19%, and those who say they attend church services weekly supported Proposition 8 by a vote of 84% to 16%. Non-Christians, by the way, opposed Proposition 8 by a margin 85% to 15% and those who do not attend church regularly opposed Proposition 8 by a vote of 83% to 17%.

What this tells us, quite strikingly, is that Proposition 8 was a highly successful effort of a particular religious group to conscript the power of the state to impose their religious beliefs on their fellow citizens, whether or not those citizens share those beliefs. This is a serious threat to a free society committed to the principle of separation of church and state.

The Framers of the American Constitution knew that throughout human history religious self-righteousness has caused intolerance, discrimination and injustice. They understood that religious self-righteousness is dangerous, divisive and destructive, and that it has led to untold ignorance and misery. It was for that reason that they embedded in our Constitution a fundamental commitment to the separation of church and state.

The Framers were not anti-religion. They understood that religion could help to nurture the public morality necessary to a self-governing society. But religion was to be fundamentally private. It was for the individual. It was not to intrude unduly into the political sphere.

But here's the rub: From a strictly legal perspective, it is next to impossible for courts to enforce the separation of church and state in the context of laws like Proposition 8. When a law does not directly restrict religious activity or expressly endorse religious expression, it is exceedingly difficult for courts to sort out the "real" motivations behind the law. As a consequence, courts are loath to invalidate laws on the ground that they enact a particular religious faith.

This does not end the inquiry, however. Courts also have difficulty in dealing with laws that do not expressly discriminate on the basis of race or religion or gender, but that were motivated by racial, religious or gender prejudice. But we know - as an essential part of our national character - that we as citizens should not support laws because they advance our discriminatory biases about race, religion, and gender. We know that it is un-American for us to enact laws because they implement our prejudices. We know that it is our responsibility to be tolerant, self-critical and introspective about our own values and beliefs and to strive to achieve our highest national aspirations.

The separation of church and state is one of those aspirations. Indeed, regardless of whether courts can intervene in this context, it is as un-American to violate the separation of church and state by using the power of the state to impose our religious beliefs on others as it is to use the power of the state to impose our discriminatory views of race, religion or gender on others.

This is the fundamental point that the religious advocates of Proposition 8 fail to comprehend. Like other citizens, they are free in our society to support laws because they believe those laws serve legitimate ends, including such values as tradition, general conceptions of morality, and family stability. But they are not free - not if they are to act as faithful American citizens - to impose their religious views on others. That is, quite simply, un-American.

This is not to say that individuals cannot attempt to persuade others freely to embrace and to act in accord with their religious beliefs. The First Amendment gives us virtually absolute protection to preach, proselytize and evangelize. But the fundamental point about religious liberty in the United States is that it is private. Christian Evangelicals have every right to try to persuade others to accept and abide by their beliefs. But they have no right - indeed, they violate the very spirit of the American Constitution - when they attempt to conscript the authority of the state to compel those who do not share their religious beliefs to act as if they do.

For Tomorrow...

Friends,
This weekend, due to it being public record, I learned that a Mr. Scott Eckerd, Artistic Director, California Musical Theatre (where "HAIRSPRAY" was performed last year, one of our first licensed regional theatre productions) donated $1000 towards YES on Prop. 8

Well, I did what I felt I needed to do, I called him right up. "Hi, it's Marc Shaiman, co-creator of HAIRSPRAY, would you please call me back?" He did. I asked him how a man who makes his life and living working with (and I assume befriending and loving) gay men and women could possibly think we were less entitled to the same basic rights he enjoys. He basically said "it's not a personal thing against people, it's my belief regarding the protection of marriage…etc. (I'm paraphrasing his words, but that is the gist of it).

I then told him the idea that money from his salary that was, in a small way, made from a production of HAIRSPRAY had now been put to use to pass this bigoted Proposition truly hurt and sickened me and that no future project of mine would ever play his theatre.

(Oy, let's hope I have some future projects!)

So, ladies and gentlemen of the-ay-tuh, what can we do? We can picket (our own shows!), deny rights, etc. And I am all for that.

But how can we CHANGE MINDS?

Oscar Hammerstein (what a guy!) wrote "You've Got To Be Taught". That's what gets me. People aren't born with the belief that gays are "sinners", they HAVE TO BE TAUGHT. All of religion is TAUGHT.

As the pie of reality hit me (and so many others) in the face last week about how many people still believe that one sentence from one lovely book "proves" we are an "abomination", (a book that also allows for the stoning of wives or people who wear two different threads of material and don't get that book started on shellfish…) I believe I must now greet every person I meet with "Hello, my name is Marc, God made me gay and I think that THAT and He are both fabulous."

Or maybe "Hi, God made me gay, so please doll, take it up with Him"

I have a gospel station programmed in my car radio, and when it came on yesterday morning, I found myself turning it off due to quotes I've read these last few days. For me personally, there is nothing more gut-wrenchingly sad to me than that moment. I joyfully bypass talk radio, I enjoyed muting the TV when Sarah Palin came on or changing the channel anytime Bush appears, but TURNING OFF GOSPEL MUSIC? It was then that I truly realized I have got to do something to start changing minds because people, I AM NOT GIVING UP GOSPEL MUSIC!!

I'm blabbering now, and to people I have great respect for, so, what am I trying to say here?

Please contact Mr. Scott Eckerd, Artistic Director, California Musical Theatre

http://www.californiamusicaltheatre.com/index.cfm?page=572414

and ask him why he thinks I (and maybe you) am less a person than he. I don't want to attempt to affect the livelihood of folks who work at this particular theatre (as if that was in my power) but we have GOT to stop sitting back and accepting this bigotry, particularly from people in our own field.

No more apathy! I believe we all thought there was NO WAY discrimination could actually be written into the constitution, but WE WERE WRONG. And what the hell (pardon the pun) happened to the separation of church and state??

Today I will read my morning paper, and take a plane to New York and do many other things that people who believe as Mr. Eckerd will profit from it and I can't YET figure out how to live an entire life without inadvertently supporting folks like that, but for the love of God (pardon the pun), can we all start putting our money where our mouths are??!

e-mail from a friend of a friend...

It shouldn’t be remarkable, but it is, because no one in the executive branch of government has asked us for suggestions in eight years, so I must, as a citizen, celebrate the fact that the Obama-Biden transition team is running a government website (.gov, not .org!) asking for input from Americans about how this country should operate and what we should stand for. Wow. Participatory democracy and good citizenship! Remember those ideas? Take a moment this weekend to visit the site and share your thoughts, no matter who you voted for.

http://www.change.gov/page/content/americanmoment

For Tony!!

Unfortunate news has dimmed the exhilaration of this historic, life-changing election.

I am deeply disappointed to report anti-LGBT marriage bans passed in Florida and Arizona, and in Arkansas voters voted to bar all unmarried people, LGBT or straight, from adopting children or serving as foster parents.

Meanwhile media outlets have begun to report bad news for marriage equality in California. However, the Human Rights Campaign just participated in a conference call with our coalition partners and we firmly believe that all votes should be counted before calling the race. Several million votes in California have yet to be counted. Now is not the time to speculate on somebody's fundamental rights. So we are waiting to see the final results from those ballots and will be issuing a statement after the race has been called. Please stay tuned.

While this news certainly put a damper on such a historic election, we should celebrate the fact that our movement came together in an unprecedented way, and worked tirelessly to defeat these amendments, and millions voted with us yesterday.

It is indeed a bitter pill to swallow. But we cannot allow distorted facts or shallow tactics – the foundation on which our opponents built their campaigns – to break our spirits. We are on the right side of history – and we will continue this journey.

Let us not forget that we saw many glimmers of hope for LGBT equality across the country last night. We increased the ranks of pro-equality lawmakers in both the House and the Senate. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO), ringleader of the campaign to write discrimination into the U.S. Constitution, was soundly defeated. Jared Polis (D-CO) became the first openly gay man ever to be elected to Congress as a non-incumbent. Democrats took the New York State Senate, giving us our best chance ever to pass a same-sex marriage law in a legislature. We beat back a ballot question in Connecticut that could have threatened our recent victory there. In fact, marriages begin next week. And we elected Barack Obama as our next President, ending eight years of anti-LGBT policies. I truly believe that despite these setbacks, our nation is moving in the right direction.

After fighting for years, so many victories are now within reach. And thanks to yesterday's victories, we can now pass critical LGBT equality measures like the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act and begin unraveling the damage of the last eight years.

I vow to you today that HRC will not give up, nor will we retreat. Moving forward, HRC will:

* Continue our efforts to win incremental victories for relationship recognition, so that legally married lesbian and gay couples in Massachusetts and Connecticut have full standing under federal law; the same holds true for civil unions and domestic partnerships in places like New Hampshire, Vermont and Oregon.

* Use amendments and other legislative vehicles in Congress to establish growing equality for LGBT Americans under federal tax, Social Security, pension, insurance and other laws – piecing together as many of the rights of marriage as we can until the full victory is achieved in years to come.

* Work with our allies in New York to make good on the extraordinary opportunity presented by the election of a new fair-minded majority in the State Senate, which paves the way for the nation's first-ever legislatively achieved marriage equality victory. We are also simultaneously working on marriage equality in New Jersey.

Together, like we have done some many times before, we fought the good fight until the bitter end.

In Florida, HRC contributed $120,000 to Florida Red & Blue (backers of the SayNo2 campaign), including $50,000 of early seed money that allowed the campaign to raise significant additional funds and provided high-level fundraising consulting for the campaign. We started building an early base for campaign operations by sending staff to Florida and conducting volunteer trainings during the January Presidential Primary. We held a Camp Equality election skills training in Fort Lauderdale and mobilized hundreds of volunteers. And in the final weeks, four additional HRC staffers and a Campaign College participant were sent to work on the ground in Florida.

In Arizona, HRC contributed $50,000 to Arizona Together for media production and air time. We had three HRC staffers and one Campaign College participant on the ground. We also held a Camp Equality election skills training in Phoenix and mobilized the participants to work on this issue.

In Arkansas, HRC provided half of the funding necessary for the Arkansas Families First campaign to hire a campaign manager. We deployed a Campaign College participant to work on the campaign for 12 weeks, and an HRC staffer to work on the campaign during the final push.

And in California, HRC participated fully as a member of the marriage coalition executive committee, with unprecedented on-the-ground support, and extensive voter mobilization efforts. I am proud that HRC was the second largest funder of No on Prop. 8, behind Equality California, in what ended up being the most expensive campaign in the nation next to the presidential race. When all was said and done, HRC and our members invested nearly $3.5 million directly to the efforts in California. But our messages of fairness and reason were met with appalling messages of fear, distortion and downright hate that our opponents put forth on television, on radio, across the Internet, and in Sunday sermons.

In 2000, a similar marriage ban in California was passed by a margin of 61% to 39%. So the closeness of this race and the positive shift in public opinion underscores that it is only a matter of time before we add more states to the march for marriage equality. As Obama said last night, "That's the true genius of America – that America can change."

Yesterday, an unfortunate majority of voters stood with the most extreme and negative elements of society to deny the rights of loving and committed gay and lesbian couples. But it's not the first time that has happened to us, and it won't be the last. It doesn't change the fact that we are married. It doesn't change the fact that we have families. Make no mistake. We are bowed, but not discouraged. We are sad, but not disheartened. We grieve, but not as those who are without hope.

Today we will mourn the losses in Florida, Arizona and Arkansas, but tomorrow let's resolve to lift one another up, and continue our march forward.

Remember, our marriages didn't begin with a decision of the court, and they will not end with a vote of the people.

Warmly,

Joe Solmonese
President

YEAH OBAMA!!

I thought in celebration of Obama making it to the great White House, todays action should be to just once look at your prejudices. Whether for fear or lack of belief in who we are as a people or a country; we do just as much damage by not hoping, by not continually looking for the best in people as the ones who hate and discriminate. The thing I heard most last night was "If you had said a black man would be president, I never would have believed you." But not only is it possible, it is now a FACT. Until last night I believed our country was in worse shape than it is. I believed the race war that exists in this country would never end. We are still a country divided...but we are slowly crawling back to the place in the world where we need to be...to where our forefathers meant us to be. So today, look at someone anew. Don't let your past experience force judgment on them before you've even met them. Believe in the good in one person you would normally would write off. The good is there in everyone. Sometimes no one has seen it, not even the person being seen. We are in a new world, we are living history in the making...lets live up to what they will write about us.

HHS vs HIV

The Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) maintains a list of diseases that barres visitors and immigrants from entering the US, HIV remains on this list. Meaning, if you have HIV that means you can not take refuge, apply for citizenship, visit your family or even vacation. HIV although a very serious disease is communicable by only blood and sexual contact, and is therefore one of the more "preventable" diseases. If you feel as I do that this needs to be taken of HHS's list of diseases visit the Human Rights Campaign and help them out.

Thank for your time.

Rachel