2014: A Year for Equality
By George W. Zander
Actually a review of 2014 cannot really be written without some nods to 2012 and 2013. Taking a pre-election risk, which turned out to be a winning move, President Obama endorsed Marriage Equality on May 9, 2012. He made that bold decision knowing that his blue states would be with him and the red ones would be against him. The Purple ones were the tricky ones, but the election showed that he made the correct calculations.
It was also the first run for now Congressman Ruiz. He strongly supported the President, and his opponent for reason never clear, was against us. She lost and has disappeared from public life.
The President’s inaugural address in January, 2013, contains the following words which made everyone in the room burst into tears of joy when he boldly said, ”We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths- that all of us are created equal- is the star that guides us still, just as it guided our forbearers through Seneca Falls, and Selma and Stonewall, just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on earth.”
As we head into the New Year, it is time to reflect on 2014 and chat about what 2015 will bring the LGBT community. After four states Washington, Minnesota, Maine and Maryland approved marriage in 2012, 2013 definitely began the year of marriage equality for our community. With the U.S. Supreme Court killing California’s Proposition 8 and declaring a key section of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. The state-by-state marriage equality strategy is working faster than we thought and continues to move quickly.
Moving through 2014, much has been accomplished. In 37 states – AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, ID, IA, IL, IN, KS, ME, MD, MA, MN, MS,MT, NC, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC (Took Effect 11/20), UT, VA, VT, WA, WV, WI, and WY, plus Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, Missouri – same-sex couples have the freedom to marry.
In an additional 7 states, judges have issued rulings in favor of the freedom to marry, with many of these rulings now stayed as they proceed to appellate courts: In FL, KY, MO, MI, and TX, judges have struck down marriage bans, and in LA, OH and TN, judges have issued more limited pro-marriage rulings.
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed pro-marriage rulings in KY, MI, OH and TN, and legal teams in each state have vowed to take the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could pave the way for a national ruling.
In MO, the marriages of same-sex couples legally performed in other states are respected.
With these advances, a record number of Americans live in states that recognize relationships between same-sex couples: Over 65% of the U.S. population lives in a state currently issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples state-wide. This is clearly a war that the social conservatives have lost. We look forward to marriage equality being decided in 2015.
In California, with the huge work and results from Equality California and other organizations, Californians have made great strides. In Sacramento, where we can pass pro- LGBT bills. We have passed so many bills, over 100 in 15 years, it is a national starting point for more legislation is more states. We are a model. BUT WAIT, there is still a huge challenge in 2015 and beyond. It is the implementation of many bills. Even “non-controversial bills such as Harvey Milk Day are not universally celebrated in every school district as the law states.
AB 1266, the School Success and Opportunity Act, is still being implemented in school districts around the state including our Desert. This law requires school districts to allow access to all programs and facilities based on the gender that the student identifies with.” The law creates a safe learning environment for all school students.
2014 exploded into the year of the transgender. Popular culture grasped onto folks like Laverne Cox and other models, actors, and political leaders. 2015 will follow and show all of us we really need to work and be more cognizant of transgender issues, be they immigration issues, imprisonment issues, or health care issues.
In President Obama’s last two years, we can really push agencies to make changes, do executive orders to say that when a transgender person is put in jail, if it’s a woman, you don’t put that her into jail with men. That’s just a recipe for rape. I think that there are a lot of agencies throughout the government that are ready to have some really simple ideas that President Obama, through executive order. His beautiful Presidential Letter recognizing Transgender Day of Remembrance will start things rolling. Laws like AB 1266 being implemented in School Districts around the state are a huge beginning.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Palm Springs, Indio and Desert Hot Springs Police Departments creating Transgender Interaction Policies are more huge signs of great recognition. Organizations such as Equality California, the Human Rights Campaign, Transgender Law Center, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, PFlag and many other established groups are jumping on board. These agencies and others will make a huge difference in people’s lives. It must happen, just as with lesbian and gays, working hard with agencies throughout the government and outside of government will make that kind of change.
As we move forward on LGBT equality in America, countries like Russia, Uganda, India and even Australia have implemented anti-gay laws. Many countries in the world have acted and spoken out against these laws, but with the help of conservative churches worldwide, and conservative anti-gay groups from our nation helping create anti-LGBT rhetoric for other nations, we won’t clear this mess up for years. As America passes laws to protect us, more and more of our anti LGBT will work overseas.
The bright side is that in America organizations such as NOM, Focus on the Family, and other far right organization are losing their strength and unable to raise large sums of money. By the time we begin 2016, more and more will move to our side through marriage and other important laws. Maybe even- gasp…ENDA!
