Bill C-16 Passes Senate Third Reading!

June 15, 2017 is a date that will be etched into Canadian trans history.

It's been a long time coming, with the first of these bills being proposed back in 2005.   It has been at times a long and frustrating road for my Canadian trans family, but when they celebrate their home and native land's 150th birthday on July 1, they will do so knowing that their human rights are covered federally as well as in every province and territory in the country.

I've talked about Bill C-16 in numerous blog posts.  It would add gender identity and expression to the list of prohibited categories under the Canadian Human Rights Act.

It would also make changes to the Canadian Criminal Code so that gender identity and expression are added to the nation's hate speech laws and make disseminating hate propaganda based on gender identity or gender expression a crime.

 Bill C-16 would also add "gender identity or expression" to section 718.2 of the Criminal Code. This section of it discusses sentencing provisions and would make gender identity and gender expression an aggravating factor, which would be the bias, prejudice or hate to commit a criminal offence against the targeted person. These criminal prohibitions would apply throughout Canada..

Translation:  Targeting trans people in Canada for simply being trans would become a hate crime.

As you probably guessed, the Conservatives hated Bill C-16, and did their utmost to kill it when it left the House of Commons and hit the Senate.   

This was the first time  the Trans Rights Bill was a government bill and not a private member's one as it has been on previous occasions thanks to NDP MP's Bill Siksay and Randall Garrison

Bill C-16 passed its Third Reading vote in the Canadian Senate without amendments today on a 67-11 vote with 3 abstentions!.  Transphobic Conservative senator Don Plett, who led the charge in the senate to kill it, was probably one of the 11 no votes

Now all it needs is Royal Assent from the Governor General to become Canadian law



When those 150th anniversary celebrations erupt all over Canada, my Canadian trans fam can do so knowing that their nation respects their humanity and human rights enough to protect it in their laws.

And that a wonderful thing to think about.  

Unjust SB 180 Passes KY Senate

Got the news from my old Kentucky stomping grounds that the GOP controlled Kentucky Senate in Frankfort went there and passed the unjust SB 180, a 'right to discriminate' bill sponsored by Sen. Albert Robinson (R-London).

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article66200452.html#storylink=cpy

It passed the Kentucky Senate on a 22-16 vote with five Republican senators, Julie Raque Adams (R-Louisville), Alice Forgy Kerr (R-Lexington), Christian McDaniel (R-Latonia), Carroll Gibson (R-Leitchfield) and Wil Schroeder (R-Wilder) joining the 11 Democratic senators in opposing the unjust bill.

It moves on to the Democratic controlled Kentucky House, where Speaker Greg Stumbo (D-Prestonburg) stated this bill was headed to committee to die.

"We took an oath to defend the Constitution, not violate it," said Speaker Stumbo.

The 2016 legislative session ends on April 12.and I'll be watching along with my former fairness campaign colleagues to make sure that the unjust SB 180 never makes it out of committee.

Down Goes The Unjust Washington Anti-Trans Bill!

Breaking news out of Washington state concerning the unjust SB 6443 bill sponsored by Sen. Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) specifically filed to overturn a Human Rights Commission ruling favorable to the Washington state trans community.

It unfortunately escaped the GOP controlled Commerce and Labor Committee on a party line 4-3 vote to the full GOP controlled Washington senate.

But thanks to your calls and protests, and the work of people walking the halls in Olympia  getting the word out about the unjust nature of SB 6443, the bill failed to pass on a 25-24 vote.

Three Republican King County senators were crucial in killing SB 6443, since Democratic senator Jim Hargrove voted for the bill.

The Gender Justice League's Danni Askini tweeted this moments after the bill died:

"We did it.  WE KILLED THE BILL.  Thank all D's except Sen. Hargrove and thank Sen. Hill, Sen. Litzow & Sen. Fain -- all R's who were with us"

Congrats Washington state trans community for your legislative win!  

Conservative Party Senators Mess With C-279 In Committee

Ever since C-279 passed with support of all the major Canadian political parties in the House of Commons in March 2013, trans people in the Great White North were cautiously optimistic that they would finally reach their political Holy Grail of having federal human rights protection.

C-279 simply amends the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Canadian Criminal Code to add gender identity as a protected class, and our Canadian trans cousins had good reason to be optimistic.

Since 2012, six provinces have followed the Northwest Territories 2004 lead and passed human rights protection for their trans citizens.   Ontario, Manitoba and Nova Scotia all did so that year, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador followed in 2013, and Saskatchewan in 2014

But one of the notable House of Common NO votes back in 2013 was Prime Minister Stephen Harper, with now Liberal leader Justin Trudeau not voting on it at all.

That's probably one of the reasons why the Conservative Party when it got to the Senate that they dominated, started acting like their south of the border Republican cousins and fracking with C-279 by bringing up the discredited bathroom predator lie. 

It also didn't help that the TERF's Canadian Division, AKA the REAL Women of Canada also started sticking their transphobic noses in the Conservative effort to halt passage of C-279.  

C-279 still continued to advance, passing first and second reading stage votes and getting successfully voted out of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights on June 10, 2013 chaired by Liberal Sen. Mobina Jaffer.

But on the cusp of a major human rights victory, the Conservatives went into full trans oppressor mode during the third reading stage that occurred just before the Canadian Senate went into its summer 2013 recess.   What was more disgusting that it was lesbian Tory Senator Nancy Ruth leading the charge. 

After the Conservative senate leadership ran out the clock and refused to call for that Third Reading vote, that was followed by Prime Minister Harper proroguing parliament in September, which forced C-279 to start from scratch in the Senate legislative process because it was a private member's bill.

Other more ominous signs were Sen Jaffer expressing her concerns during that summer 2013 recess the bill wouldn't pass, and Liberal Senator Grant Mitchell stating what was blatantly obvious to the TransGriot, our trans cousins and the world by calling out the Conservatives for stalling C-279.

When the Senate returned for business after Thanksgiving in October, instead of C-279 going through Sen Jaffer's committee, it was sent after passing another Second Reading vote to the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs chaired by Conservative senator Bob Rumciman. 

It also has transphobic Tory senator and longtime C-279 hater Neil Plett as a member.

Fortunately Sen. Jaffer is a member of that committee along with Senator Mitchell, but they were outnumbered   On Thursday the Conservative dominated committee passed Plett introduced amendments by a 6-4 margin to exempt C-279 from applying to public spaces including bathrooms and locker rooms.

The negative reaction to that from Canadian trans people and our allies was swift.

The federal NDP  released a statement criticizing what they characterize as the Senate’s attempt to block the bill from passing. “The Senate’s attempt to obstruct this bill that would finally give transgender Canadians the protection and equal status they deserve is reprehensible,” said Randall Garrison, the NDP's LGBT critic and sponsor of C-279, in the statement.

“Human rights are not conditional,” said Helen Kennedy of Egale Canada Human Rights Trust. “The human rights of transgender people must be protected in all spaces including public bathrooms and locker rooms. The amendment to Bill C-279 fuels discrimination against transgender individuals by making it seem like people have something to fear by sharing a bathroom with a transgender person, which of course they don’t.”

“As a transgender person I have been waiting a long time for federal human rights protections,” said Amanda Ryan of Gender Mosaic. “Bathrooms are dangerous for me. I fear what people will do to me if they realize I am transgender. Bill C-279 was meant to protect me from hate crimes, but in amending it, the Senate is putting me at risk. It will force me to use the men’s bathroom, and a transgender woman in the men’s room is a recipe for violence.”

“We appealed to all Senators to support Bill C-279 without any amendments,” said Alex Neve, Secretary-General of Amnesty International Canada. “The original Bill is what was needed. If Senators passed the bill in Committee with no amendments, we would be well on our way to having life-saving human rights protections in place in a matter of weeks.”

“We believe that vulnerable minorities are entitled to basic human rights and should have the full protection of the law; this Bill as amended falls short of providing that protection,” said Richard Marceau of The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.

C-279 is headed toward a third reading vote, and if it passes third reading with the amendments voted down, it would go to Canadian Governor general David Johnston for Royal Assent to become Canadian law.

But if it passes with the amendments, it has to go back to the House of Commons, and with a Canadian federal election looming on October 19, it's highly unlikely it would pass the Conservative dominate chamber before parliament is dissolved.

And it's sad that it has come to this for a sorely needed human rights bill.  

But the C-279 fight just reinforces what I have been saying for months in our below the 49th Parallel trans human rights struggle.   Thee most dangerous bigot is the one with the power to pass legislation.

You also can't get progressive laws passed out of a conservative legislative body.

Down Goes The Unjust SB 76 Anti-Trans Bill In Committee!

Received some wonderful and surprising news earlier today from my old Kentucky stomping grounds that had me happy dancing in my place after I heard it.

It's also a major reason why if you're able to do so, LGBT peeps need to be staying in red states to fight the hate and not running to some so-called coastal LGBT oasis that seems to have green human rights grass that at closer inspection is Astroturfed.

SB 76, the Bathroom Bounty Bill that Sen. CM Embry (R) filed at the behest of long time Kentucky homobigot Kent Ostrander of the Kentucky Family Foundation, died in spectacular bipartisan fashion in the GOP dominated Senate Education Committee.

If  Embry's unjust SB 76 had passed and been signed into law (doubtful with a Democratic House and Democratic governor), it would have mandated that Kentucky schools provide separate, private areas designated for use by students based on their genitalia where students could be in a "state of undress." The bill proposed allowing students to sue their school for up to $2,500 each time they saw a student who appeared to have a non-matching gender presentation in a facility "designated for use by the cisgender biological sex of the aggrieved student.”

Embry tried to make this unjust legislative pig more palatable before the hearing by offering an amendment to strip out the bounty language.   But the 'Bathroom Bounty Bill' as it was dubbed by opponents, was fought by the Fairness Campaign and other interested parties who braved the frigid below freezing temps to make the trek to Frankfort for the hearing that started at noon EST.

People testifying against the bill included Atherton HS principal Tom Aberli and trans teen Henry Brousseau .  He told the Huffington Post in an interview he was harassed in restrooms until he was allowed to use the men's room.  Once that happened, there have been no issues.

“A lot of folks think that having a separate and private restroom for trans kids is the way to go,” said Brousseau during his Senate committee testimony, “While that might work for some, when somebody tells us that we’re so different that the only way to accommodate us is to create a special restroom, the message is clear that we don’t belong. But the thing is, right now schools get to make their own decisions about what’s best to accommodate trans kids, and every school may decide differently. The problem with this bill is it would take away that right for schools to decide.”



Aberli said in his senate testimony that he and others at Atherton were forced to educate themselves about an issue they previously knew little about, and that the state should not take away their authority to do what they think is right.



“What I quickly found was that this is an issue of respecting people for who they are,” said Aberli. “I’m going to boil it down: This is a civil rights issue.”

The unjust bill died a painful death (at least in the opinion of the KY Family Foundation) in the Republican controlled committee, falling one vote short of being passed out of it. 

Six Republican members voted for it, while Sen Julie Raque Adams (R-Louisville) voted NO with the two African-American Democratic senators Neal and Thomas with no explanation for her vote.

Senator Johnny Ray Turner's (D-Prestonburg) decision to abstain left the unjust bill one vote short of passage to the full Republican controlled Kentucky Senate, where they have a 26-12 edge.

Bills need seven votes to be passed out of committee.

So proud of my former senator, Gerald Neal (D-Louisville), who voted against the bill, telling Brousseau: “Unfortunately, your situation is still subject to the fear, ignorance and loathing that results there from something that some individuals see as different from what they understand and what they embrace.”

That's our point, America.  We're tired of you haters trying to pick on trans people for right wing political game and to satisfy your oppression gene.  Let us trans people pee ,have human rights coverage and leave us the hell alone to live our lives..

And stop obsessing over what fracking bathroom we use when we need to handle a basic biological function.

Canadian Senate STILL Stonewalling Trans Rights Bill

Today according to the posted calendar on their  website was supposed to be last scheduled legislative sitting day for the Canadian Senate before they bounced for their summer break.

But according to the journal for the Canadian Senate, their last legislative activity day was back on June 19, and the Senate adjourned until September 16, 2014 at 2 PM EDT..

So that means that once again, justice and basic human rights for our Canadian trans cousins have been delayed, denied and put on hold by the unelected and Conservative dominated Senate.

Even Stevie Wonder can see what's going on here.   The Canadian Senate is STILL stalling the passage of C-279, the Trans Rights Bill that was passed in the House of Commons back in March 2013 and they think nobody's paying attention. 

Au contraire.   I damned sure am along with trans people in Canada and around the world, especially after the reprehensible committee stunt that was pulled June 10 on C-13. 

We're waiting on the Canadian government to show the same commitment to human rights for their domestic trans population as they have traditionally done for global human rights issues. 

But is seems to me, our Canadian trans cousins and other fair minded people in Canada and around the globe that Tories for whatever reason, don't want their trans and gender variant population to have the same human rights coverage they already enjoy.

The Conservative Party needs to be called out for being the shady human rights oppressors they are, and if that doesn't get the Canadian Senate they control to do the right thing on C-279, time to retaliate on their House of Commons colleagues.   

Elisa Chan Resigns From San Antonio City Council

There's good news and bad news for our TBLG peeps on the western end of I-10.

The good news is that transphobic and homophobic councilmember Elisa Chan has resigned from the San Antonio City Council effective October 18.

“I have done my best to represent the conservative values of these fine people. The people of this district take an active role in deciding policy, giving their input, volunteering their time and listening to the views of their neighbors,” she wrote in her resignation letter to Mayor Julian Castro. .

She was one of the three NO votes against the San Antonio non discrimination ordinance that added gender identity and sexual orientation language on September 5 and incredibly voted against the veterans protections that passed on a 9-2 vote the same day. 

In addition to he anti-gay comments, Chan also attacked former San Antonio city councilmember Leticia Ozuna and disparaged her marriage to a trans woman.

So now that I've given you the good news, hope you're sitting down for the bad news trans and SGL Texans. 

The bad news is that Chan resigned in order to run for the Texas state senate   She announced she was challenging incumbent Teapublican freshman State Senator Donna Campbell for the District 25 seat   Texas law requires that she resign from her council seat in order to run for the state legislature with the filing period starting on November 9 and running through December.

Please tell me San Antonio BTLG family y'all have a strong Democratic candidate running for the District 25 senate seat in case Chan knocks off Campbell and gets through that GOP primary.

The last thing I want to see in the 2015 Texas Senate is Elisa Chan sitting in it. 
 

C-279 Vote Stalled By Conservatives At Third Stage

Well, it was only a matter of time before the Conservatives in the Canadian Senate showed their anuses and did so as Bill C-279 was on the verge of passing.  

For those of you new to this story, C-279 is a  Canadian federal trans rights bill would add gender identity to the list of  grounds protected from discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act and under the hate propaganda section of the Criminal Code.  

It passed successfully out of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights on June 10, but with it being only a tantalizing two hours of debate, an affirmative vote and Royal Assent away from becoming law the fun started in the Conservative dominated Senate chamber to slow its roll toward that happening. 

First Conservative lesbian senator (why am I not surprised) Nancy Ruth added an amendment to C-279 on June 13 that adds "ethnic origin, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation” to the bill citing the specious reason 'that it was time to do so'.  

“This bill will add the category of gender identity to section 318 of the Criminal Code, but one of the categories missing in that enumerated ground is the category of ‘sex,’” Ruth said on the floor of the Senate

“We had a chance 10 years ago when we put ‘sexual orientation’ in that section of the Criminal Code. This is the time to add now the category ‘sex’ for the women of Canada.” 

You've been in the Canadian Senate since 2005 and you haven't been concerned about that issue until a bill that protects the rights of transpeople in the Great White North is about to pass.   Transphobic much? 

If Ruth’s amendment were to pass which was unlikely according to Sen. Mitchell since it didn't have support,  the bill would have to go back to the Conservative dominated House of Commons and pass again.  If the amendment was defeated and the bill subsequently passed, C-279 would move on to royal assent stage and become law.

But first it has to get a vote, which Conservative Senator and Government Leader Marjory LeBreton isn't allowing to happen according to Liberal Senator Grant Mitchell, the senate sponsor of C-279. 

“The real disappointment that has become clear in the last few days is they are not going to allow it to come to a vote. The bill will not be voted on, amended or unamended,” he predicted in an Xtra.ca interview.

“They are not calling a vote because the leadership in the Senate doesn’t want to have a vote. Because the prime minister voted against it, probably,” he said.

“I deeply care about this,” said Senator Mitchell. “My caucus deeply cares about this. It is a betrayal of democracy that elected MPs representing 65 percent of the popular vote supported this bill and the Conservative leadership in the Senate won’t even allow a vote.”

So do trans Canadians, who were hoping they would have something to really celebrate on Canada Day.

Even if they don't allow a vote on C-279 before the Senate goes on summer break June 28, it would return to the order paper at the third reading stage in the fall unless Prime Minister Stephen Harper prorogues Parliament.  If that happens, because it is a private member's bill, C-279 would start all over again in the Senate at the first reading stage.

Well, as Dr. King once stated, we must accept finite disappointment, but we must never give up infinite hope.

You will see that day my Canadian trans cousins when your human rights are protected by your federal legislature far sooner that it will happen south of the 49th parallel. 

It just won't be before July 1 as you'd hoped.

C-279 Passes Favorably Out Of Committee

The trans rights news is also wonderful coming out of the Great White North as C-279 passed another critical step in becoming Canadian federal law.

After hearings on June 3 and June 10, it passed favorably out of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights.

It moves back to the Canadian Senate floor for another two hours of debate and a final Third Reading vote that its Senate sponsor, Sen. Grant Mitchell is hopeful the bill will pass.. 

If it passes Third Reading,C-279 goes to the Governor General for Royal Assent and becomes Canadian law. 

I am in admiration of you trans folks who live in Canada.   You are living in a nation that is about to pass a law that codifies your human rights as a trans person. That IS something for Canada to be proud of and it's something I wish my nation would replicate on our side of the border

I will keep hoping and praying that C-279 becomes a reality and you have something to really celebrate when Canada Day happens July 1..

SB 723 Update 5

We're now into the last month of the 2011 Texas Legislative session, and the clock is ticking toward the end of it on May 30.  We're keeping an eye on an anti bullying bill now on the House floor among with a few others.  

The Legislative Queery blog is an excellent resource to keep with with all things Texas Legislature related from a TBLG perspective, and if you want to get a feel for Texas politics, Burnt Orange Report is one of my fave sites as well.

But let's get to what you trans peeps want to hear about, SB 723.   

Sen Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands) had to make a decision as to whether to put his bill back on the senate intent calendar or let it go onto the general calendar, where as of April 22 it was 74th in line.   The  general calendar is where bills go that are more controversial in nature and don't have 2/3 support of senators to expedite the process.   

Well, there is good news and bad news concerning SB 723.    The good news is that it is NOT on the intent calendar any more, it's on the general calendar.

The bad news is that Sen. Williams has until May 20 to get SB 723 voted out of the Senate, and then it must work its way through the House process by May 25.   HB 3098, the companion bill to SB 723 is still languishing in committee right now as it has been since March 18.   The bad news is that the sponsor of that bill is the chair of the committee, and she can call a meeting at any time.   

Still keeping an eye on it until the clock strikes midnight on May 30.

Joe Lieberman, You Are NOT JFK

I watched with amusement Joe Lieberman's press conference announcing he would not seek reelection in 2012 to the US Senate.   He was going to have a problematic road to reelection to begin with since he's an independent and liberal Dems in Connecticut have been pissed at him since 2002.

They and the rest of us in the country haven't forgotten Ned Lamont beat him in the 2006 Democratic primary and instead of taking his butt whipping and moving on, he filed as an independent.  Republicans sandbagged their own nominee in order to cross over and vote for Lieberman to put him back in the Senate.

And Connecticut Democrats haven't forgotten it or his sellout appearance at the 2008 Republican convention.
.

So as I watched his press conference, I was happily watching him make that retirement speech until he tried to take another swipe at the party by spouting the same tired right wing spin line that John F. Kennedy would be a Republican today and he was in the mold of John F. Kennedy..

 But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."

Sen. John F. Kennedy  What Is A Liberal Speech  September 14, 1960


To paraphrase the late Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, you are no John F. Kennedy and how dare you even part your lips to say that GOP lie.  


Goodbye and good riddance to Joe Lieberman.  Don't let the door hit you in your behind on the way out.

Sen. Bernie Sanders Breaks It Down

This is Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT a self identified and proud socialist.    'Socialist' is not a pejorative to whack Democrats and liberals with who oppose the conservafool agenda. 

Class is in session, vanilla flavored conservafools .  Sen. Sanders is taking y'all to school about the class war against you your fellow rich white peeps initiated that your bamboozled votes for Republicans on November 2 enabled

And oh yeah Senate Democrats, this what y'all should have been doing since 1981 to fight the Republican noise machine and their agenda.

Senators Franken And Gillibrand Introduce Anti-TBLG Bullying Act

I mentioned that one of the three openly gay members of the House, Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) introduced HR 4530, the Student Non-Discrimination Act of 2010 back in January.

Senators Al Franken (D-MN) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) have introduced the Senate version of the legislation aimed at combating anti-LGBT bullying in public schools.

The bill, known as the Student Non-Discrimination Act, currently has 21 Senate cosponsors and "would establish a comprehensive federal prohibition against discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity," according to a press release from Sen. Gillibrand's office. "It would forbid schools from discriminating against LGBT students or ignoring harassing behavior."

Penalties for public schools that fail to address anti-gay bullying could include loss of federal funding and legal recourse for students who have suffered discrimination.

Sen. Franken indicated last month that he would introduce an anti-bullying bill when he criticized current laws during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing.

“There’s something very specific that has been on my mind ... LGBT youth being bullied,” Franken told a panel of education experts in the April hearing. “Right now we have laws that prohibit bullying based on pretty much everything, but not on gender identity and gay and lesbian kids. And the evidence is that gay kids are bullied a lot and that their achievement goes down. There’s a lot of absenteeism and even suicide.”

Sitting Out An Election Is Not An Option

I read the post from Paula Brooks of Lez Get Real urging GLBT people in Massachusetts to sit out today's US Senate special election, between Martha Coakley and Scott Brown and I have a few things to say about that.

Are you fracking crazy? It is never a smart play for a minority group to sit out an election.

I don't care how mad or upset you get with the party hierarchy, or couch your displeasure with 'tough love' rhetoric, you're not 'punishing them' by sitting out the election, you're punishing yourselves.

I have to chuckle and shake my head in sadness at the fact that once again, white fauxgressive GLBT people wallowing in vanilla flavored privilege are falling for the okey-doke from Republifools like Brown and acting against their own economic and political interests because they're 'mad' at President Obama and the Democratic Party.

Yeah, right. You white gays are pissed off because the Prez hasn't done what you wanted him to do in one year on the job and supports civil unions but not marriage.

Hello..we were on the brink of a depression when he took office. Let's also not forget that Obama is still cleaning up the mess from Dubya's toxic waste of a presidency.

And let's get real, you're still hatin' on him because he beat Sen. Hillary Clinton, the HRC endorsed candidate in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary.

He's the president that SIGNED hate crimes legislation and made it the law of the land and will sign ENDA when it hits his desk.

It's also time to smell the legislative coffee and deal with the reality that permanently repealing DOMA requires CONGRESSIONAL action, not an executive order. If Congress doesn't pass that DOMA repeal legislation, it can't appear on his desk to sign it.

Frankly, while I'm in favor of marriage equality, I still believe that making it the lead GLBT issue was a colossal mistake. It has slowed the positive forward momentum the GLBT community built up with the previous strategy of passing comprehensive rights laws. It has wasted precious time, resources and treasure on a issue that isn't going to benefit the vast majority of GLBT people, and only serves as a intersectional organizing and fundraising mechanism for the Sacreligious Reich.

You peeps like Paula Brooks who are advocating sitting out today's election got it wrong. If you vote in today's election, you INCREASE your leverage. If your votes are the ones that allow Martha Coakley to finish out the late Ted Kennedy's senate term, it's a little difficult for Senator Coakley to ignore GLBT issues if its shown that GLBT voters were the ones that put her over the top.

My observation that it's never a smart play to sit out an election comes from bitter experience.

Back in 1994 we African descended Texans were pissed about minor disagreements we were having with Gov. Ann Richards administration and the same 'sit out the election to teach them a lesson' call went out.

The problem was that call went out in the same year of the 'Angry White Male midterms'. Our sitting out that 1994 election cycle in the face of an energized GOP leaning electorate paved the way for George W. Bush to be elected governor of Texas, and halted the progressive cleanup of the mess the previous Republican governor left behind.

The only reason we kept anti GLBT and anti civil rights legislation at bay in the 90's was Democratic control of the Texas House, where we killed bad legislation in committee. Us sitting out the 1994 cycle narrowed the Dem advantage in the Texas House to a scant six seats and put the GOP in a position to illegally buy their way into a majority in 2002.

We also lost the $2.5 billion budget surplus that Gov. Richards had painstakingly built up over her term after inheriting a $6 billion budget deficit. In my home county it cost us the seats of every sitting African-American judge as well.

How many times will white gay peeps continue to fail to get the message that voting for anti-GLBT rights Republicans because you're 'mad at Democrats' or sitting out elections is a politically delusional act?

If that wording is harsh, then what would you call letting someone into political office who hates the GLBT community as Scott Brown does and giving them the power to negatively impact it?

Damned sure wouldn't call it 'smart politics'.

If African American and other GLBT peeps of color know that Republicans are not our friends, will fight tooth and nail to see they DON'T get elected, and under any circumstances will not vote for them, why haven't y'all gotten that message?

And that's keeping it real for you vanilla flavored GLBT peeps who agree with Lez Get Real.

Sitting out an election is not an option.

Sen. Al Franken Calls Out Sen. Thune

I love Sen. Al Franken (D-MN). This is what the GOP and the conservative movement was afraid of when they fought his election by the citizens of Minnesota.

Check out this video of Sen. Franken smacking down Repugnican Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and rebutting the lies he just told about the health care bill.

Say Hello To Justice Sotomayor

When the Supreme Court kicks off it's fall term in October, it will be another historic moment for our country.

For the first time in our country's history, the Supreme Court photo will include a Latina justice.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor was just confirmed confirmed by the Senate moments ago on a 68-31 mostly party line vote as our 111th associate justice of the Supreme Court.

Only nine Republicans voted for her such as Mel Martinez of Florida.

This is a great day not only for Latino Americans but all Americans. Congratulations to Justice Sotomayor who will be sworn in Saturday by Chief Justice John Roberts as our third female justice and third* non-white justice.

Clarence Thomas is a BINO-Black in Name Only. Now can we get a sistah on the Court to counteract Clarence Thomas' self-hating bullcrap?

When she finally joins the court this October she'll be the only justice who wa a prosecutor, has trial court experience, and 17 years experience at two levels of the federal court system.

No Joke, It's FINALLY Senator Franken!

Almost eight months and two recounts after the 2008 election, the Minnesota Supreme Court threw out Norm Coleman's last ditch legal Hail Mary to overturn the electoral will of the people.

The Minnesota Supreme Court earlier today ordered that Democrat Al Franken be certified as the winner of the state's long-running Senate race.

Franken won the razor thin race by 318 votes, and he graciously embraced his hard fought victory at a press conference.

It means that Franken will become the junior senator for the state of Minnesota Minnesota. It also means the Dems have the magic 60 votes they need to shut down filibusters.

And not a moment too soon.

With critical votes coming up on health care, energy policy, ENDA and hate crimes, and the upcoming Sotomayor confirmation hearings, Sen. Franken will definitely be welcomed with open arms by his Democratic colleagues.

President Obama said in a statement, "I look forward to working with Senator-Elect Franken to build a new foundation for growth and prosperity by lowering health care costs and investing in the kind of clean energy jobs and industries that will help America lead in the 21st century."

Congratulations Sen. Franken. Today Paul Wellstone and Hubert Humphrey are smiling. May you serve the people of Minnesota and our country ably and well.

60!

Say hello to Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

"Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans."

Specter was greeted by a loud, sustained round of applause by dozens of constituents outside his Washington office shortly after the news broke.

"I don't have to say anything to them," a smiling Specter said. "They've said it to me."

The five term senator announced today that he is switching parties, thus guaranteeing that once sore loser Norm Coleman get the legal smackdown again and Sen Al Franken finally gets to take the senate seat he earned almost 100 days ago on behalf of the people of Minnesota, the Democrats will have the ability to shut down filibusters in the Senate.

First elected in 1980, he was once of the few GOP moderates left in the northeast United States. It's now a conservative, increasing ideological party that has shrunk to basically being strong only in the Deep South. Specter joins the 200,000 Pennsylvania Republican moderates fleeing the increasingly batturd crazy GOP.

President Obama's reaction was the same as many Dems. According to Politico.com the president reached Specter, one of only three Republicans to support his stimulus package, on the phone at 10:32 AM EDT and told him "you have my full support." He added that we are "thrilled to have you."

Specter however sounded a cautionary note that just because he's now a Democrat doesn't mean that he won't be as independent as he was on the GOP side.

“I will not be an automatic 60th vote,” Specter said. “I would illustrate that with my position on employee choice, also known as card check. I think it’s a bad deal and I’m opposed to it. I will not vote to impose cloture. If the Democratic Party asks too much, I will not vote with them."

Welcome to the party Sen. Specter. As long as you're with me 80-90% of the time, I'll forgive the times you vote your conscience and aren't.