civil rights

Yes on Prop. 8 Donors

Well, well, well. It looks like being anti-gay isn't exactly something folks want to associate their names with after all - even after they've associated their money. In a righteous reversal of fortune, gays are coming out of the closet at the same time folks who donated to pass Proposition 8 in California are trying to squeeze themselves in.

Lawyers for the pro-Prop. 8 group had requested a preliminary injunction to keep secret the names of 1,600 late-stage donors to the anti-gay measure.

Posted in civil rights, lgbt, prop8

Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence

Speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4, 1967, at Riverside Church in New York City:

Posted in civil rights, mlk

Gay but Equal?

PHILADELPHIA - As the country prepares to enter the Obama era, anxiety over the legal status and rights of gays and lesbians is growing. Barack Obama's invitation to the Rev. Rick Warren, an evangelical pastor who opposes same-sex marriage, to give the invocation at his inauguration comes just as the hit movie "Milk" reminds us of the gay rights activism of the 1970s.

Posted in civil rights, gay marriage, lgbt

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 9, 2008
4:04 PM

CONTACT: Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)
press@ccrjustice.org

CCR Argues Case of Canadian Rendition Victim Maher Arar Against Ashcroft, Thompson, Mueller, et al.

US Officials Must Be Held Accountable for Sending Arar to Torture in Syria

In Rare Rehearing CCR Calls for Justice Before Full Second Circuit Panel of Judges

NEW YORK - December 9 - Today the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) argued that high-level government officials must be held accountable for sending Canadian rendition victim Maher Arar to torture in Syria. The hearing was held before twelve Second Circuit judges after their extremely rare decision to rehear the case sua sponte, that is, of their own accord without a request by either party, in August of this year.

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The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.

Posted in civil rights, torture

Adoption Ban Targets Gay Couples, Critics Say

Fayetteville, Ark. - Anne Shelley and Robin Ross are unwinding after a jam-packed day of ferrying 4-year-old daughter Eva Mae from preschool to ice skating lessons to speech therapy.

"It's pretty much your mundane American family," said Shelley, 46, over a dinner of barbecue at their home near the Ozark Mountains.

But not everyone sees their domestic situation that way.

Arkansas residents recently voted to ban anyone "co-habitating outside of a valid marriage" from being foster parents or adopting children, as did Shelley and Ross, 52.

Posted in civil rights, gay adoption, lgbt

It's Irrational Not To Let Gay Couples Adopt

Martin Gill and his partner, licensed foster parents in Florida, were planning to move, so they told a state child placement official it wasn't a good time for them to take in two needy boys.

They put out the welcome mat, though, after the official begged them to give baby "James" and his 4-year-old brother, "John," a special Christmas.

Posted in civil rights, lgbt

Now Is the Time for Equality for All Americans

On Nov. 27, 1978, gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk was assassinated in San Francisco City Hall. Thirty years later, his struggle continues.

On Nov. 4, 2008, millions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans of all races proudly cast their ballots for Barack Obama, helping to elect the first African American president of the United States. On that same day, voters in Arizona, Arkansas, California and Florida approved initiatives denying basic civil rights to GLBT citizens.

Posted in Activism, civil rights, gay marriage, glbt

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 10, 2008
3:09 PM

CONTACT: Equality California
Ali Bay 916.284.9187

Governor Calls Proposition 8 Passage 'Unfortunate'

In CNN Interview, Gov. Schwarzenegger Says Prop 8 Should be Invalidated Because Court Has Ruled that Banning the Right to Marry is Unconstitutional

SAN FRANCISCO - November 10 - Equality California and National Center for Lesbian Rights are pleased Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has joined the millions of Californians who are disappointed with the passage of Proposition 8. In an interview with CNN Late Night on Sunday, the governor said the passage of Prop 8 is "unfortunate," and added that he believes the Supreme Court should invalidate Prop 8 because the state's highest court has already declared that denying same-sex couples the right to marry is unconstitutional.

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Posted in civil rights, gay marriage, glbt

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 6, 2008
3:54 PM

CONTACT: National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

Inga Sarda-Sorensen, Acting Director of Communications (Office) 646.358.1463 (Cell) 202.641.5592 isorensen@theTaskForce.org

Task Force Action Fund Deeply Disappointed in Passage of California’s Proposition 8

WASHINGTON - November 6 - The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund is deeply saddened and disappointed by the passage of California's Proposition 8, which will amend the state Constitution to eliminate the right to marry for same-sex couples.

Statement by Rea Carey, Executive Director National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund

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The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund, founded in 1974 as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Inc., works to build the grassroots political power of the LGBT community to win complete equality. We do this through direct and grassroots lobbying to defeat anti-LGBT ballot initiatives and legislation and pass pro-LGBT legislation and other measures. We also analyze and report on the positions of candidates for public office on issues of importance to the LGBT community. The Task Force Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) non-profit corporation incorporated in New York. Contributions to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund are not tax deductible.

Posted in civil rights, gay marriage, glbt

On Day of Hope, Disappointment: Bans in 3 States on Gay Marriage

$Protesters block Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008 during a \"No on Prop 8'' rally. In a defeat for the gay-rights movement, California voters put a stop to gay marriage, creating uncertainty about the legal status of 18,000 same-sex couples who tied the knot during a four-month window of opportunity opened by the state's highest court. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)$

SAN FRANCISCO - A giant rainbow-colored flag in the gay-friendly Castro neighborhood of San Francisco was flying at half-staff on Wednesday as social and religious conservatives celebrated the passage of measures that ban same-sex marriage in California, Florida and Arizona.

Posted in civil rights, gay marriage, lgbt