“Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Martin Luther King
Dear Equality Texas members:
Optimism from Despair
We have all experienced a range of emotions since election night last week. The reality of the passage of the four ballot initiatives hit me when I read about a couple that walked into a California Clerk's office and asked what their marriage license now meant. The clerk broke down in tears and replied, "I'm so sorry, I don't know." Then, I thought about the children in Arkansas that are going to be removed from their foster parents, and the parents that will not be able to provide a safe home for children needing qualified and loving parents. Four amendments that succeeded on a foundation of orchestrated bigotry, lies, and blatant discrimination.
I have moved from elation, shock, disappointment, anger, and now hope. It is this mix of anger and hope that is moving millions of people across the United States and thousands in Texas to ask:
What Can I Do? How Can I Speak Out?
First: We must be vigilant.
The future of the anti-gay industry was revealed in the Arkansas ballot measure. The ballot measure, approved by a 57-43% margin, limits adoptions and foster care of children to married couples. The measure grew out of a state Supreme Court ruling last year that overturned a Child Welfare Agency Review Board policy that banned gay people from serving as foster parents.
In its unanimous ruling, the court said that “the driving force behind adoption of the regulations was not to promote the health, safety and welfare of foster children but rather based upon the board’s views of morality and its bias against homosexuals.” The Arkansas Family Council - the same group that spearheaded Arkansas’ constitutional ban on same-sex marriage - collected enough signatures to place the adoption referendum before voters.
Discussions have already surfaced about exporting this type of legislation to South Carolina and Tennessee. Equality Texas has successfully defeated bans and restrictions on qualified lesbian and gay foster and adoptive parenting. Equality Texas has worked to elect pro-equality legislators that represent the best interest of children and their need for qualified, safe, and loving homes.
Second: Get engaged in Texas.
Don’t just get angry. Get engaged in the work here in Texas and in your community. Engagement means being vocal about your belief in equality and asking anyone and everyone to step up and say...NO MORE.
• We must continue our efforts here in Texas to ensure that the well-being of children and youth in the state’s foster care system remains the guiding principle in setting policy.
• We must continue to advocate for safe schools for all children.
• We must continue to advocate for non-discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodation.
• We must continue to advocate for equal recognition of our relationships and our families.
We cannot advocate for equality without you.
We need your participation. We need you to share the reality of your life. We need you to educate others how policy impacts your life and the lives of those you love.
We need you to bring the voices of your straight allies into this movement. On some occasions, their peer-to-peer discussions will be more powerful and convincing than you can be.
Third: Act!
1. Send this email to at least 10 people that you know support equality and ask them to join Equality Texas Tell-a-Friend;
2. Join the grassroots efforts around Texas to protest Proposition 8 this Saturday, November 15th;
3. Invest in equality in Texas. These are tough times economically, but they are tough times for equal rights.
4. We are moving forward on pro-equality legislation this January and need you to make it happen.
o Volunteer to be a Lobby Day Captain;
o Contact us if you want to help us sign up people to support our mission;
o Visit your legislator and demand as a constituent that you be represented.
We will win when we can demonstrate that our pro-equality values and vision are shared by the people of Texas. We are not there yet. There are many hearts and minds to be reached. Reached and changed. Changed by our reality, our humanity, and our truth.
Save the date now. Lobby Day at the Capitol – Monday, March 2, 2009
Spend Texas Independence Day sharing the reality of your life with those elected to represent you. Commit today to make a difference in Texas by getting engaged in the movement for equality.
Sign up for Lobby Day 2009.
Watch for upcoming communications from Equality Texas on:
• Equality Texas' 5-year strategic plan, and
• Equality Texas' 2009 Legislative Agenda.
Paul Scott, Executive Director
P.S. The American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights have filed a writ petition before the California Supreme Court urging the court to invalidate Proposition 8. The petition charges that Proposition 8 is invalid because the initiative process was improperly used in an attempt to undo the constitution's core commitment to equality for everyone by eliminating a fundamental right from just one group – lesbian and gay Californians. Thanks to the tireless work of these organizations in their efforts to secure equality for everyone.
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It has been 41 years since the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1967 address to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference when he said, “There will still be rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here and there. There will be those moments when the buoyancy of hope will be transformed into the fatigue of despair. Our dreams will sometimes be shattered and our ethereal hopes blasted.”
Perhaps, we are at one of those “meandering points of bewilderment”.
But, I don’t think that is so. I merely have to look to the words of my colleagues in the ballot measure states to realize these are just “inevitable setbacks here and there”.
“Today, we fought to retain our right to marry and millions of Californians stood with us. We are humbled by the courage, dignity and commitment displayed by all who fought this historic battle. Victory was not ours today. But the struggle for equality is not over. Because of the struggle fought here in California – fought so incredibly well by the people in this state who love freedom and justice – our fight for full civil rights will continue.”
- California’s No on 8 steering committee
“What our reality looks like beyond today depends on you. Our community stood together to fight Prop 102. Divisive politics won that battle, but equality and justice will win in the long run when we stand united. We at Equality Arizona stand with you to continue to advocate for equal protection under the law. Of everything that happened on November 4th, we all can recognize that with the election of a new President, the era of divisive politics is coming to an end. As we move forward into the next legislative session, we will call on you to help strengthen our movement for equality in Arizona.”
- Equality Arizona executive director Barbara McCullough-Jones
“While 62.2% of Floridians voted to add this language to the constitution, there is a silver lining to this fight. There has never been stronger support for Domestic Partnership and Civil Unions than today in Florida. Every single poll has shown a broad and growing majority of Floridians believe in providing vital protections to unmarried couples."
- Equality Florida executive director Nadine Smith
