St. Petersburg, FL Elects First Openly Gay Official

by Stephanie Hayers | St. Petersburg Times

The City Council will welcome one fresh face: Steve Kornell.

He earned more than enough votes to beat fellow newcomer Angela Rouson in a District 5’s race. Incumbents swept the city’s other four council races.

When he takes office Jan. 2, Kornell will become the first openly gay person elected to office in St. Petersburg. It’s a significant milestone in a city with a large gay community that has faced opposition to pride displays under conservative leadership.

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President Pugh: Detroit Elects Openly Gay Man to Top Council Spot

by Jason Michael | PrideSource

Charles Pugh

Change has come. Five new faces will grace the council table in Detroit next year. Voters elected newcomers to the top three spots and placed an openly gay man at the head of the table. Charles Pugh is to be the new president of the Detroit city council.

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Referendum 71 Approved by Washington Voters, Making History for LGBT Families

by Joe Mirabella | Seattle Post-Intelligencer

In just 6 short weeks the Approve 71 Campaign engaged Washington voters in a conversation that lead to the historic vote to approve Referendum 71 to keep the domestic partnership law, on November 3, 2009.

A coalition of over 500 organizations came together in one of Washington’s shortest elections ever. Over 200 hundred faith based communities stood up for Washington’s lesbian, gay, and senior families. Major employers like Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks, and Google sent a strong message that they value all their employees.

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The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a proud partner of Approve Referendum 71-Washington Families Standing Together.

Ensuring Opportunity for All Americans

by Rachael Laser and Lanae Erickson | Huffington Post

This week, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will hold a hearing on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would protect gay, lesbian, and transgender Americans against workplace discrimination. Although it may seem obvious that no person should be fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity — according to Gallup, 89% of the country believes that gay and lesbian Americans “should have equal rights in terms of job opportunities” — in nearly 30 states across the country, a person can still be legally fired for being gay. And despite the fact that 71% of Americans agree that “how an employee performs at their job should be the standard for judging an employee, not whether they are transgender,” only 12 states and DC protect employees from being fired because of their gender identity.

So if Americans overwhelming support employment discrimination laws protecting the LGBT community, why have we not yet passed those protections on a federal level?

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More From Sen. Jeff Merkley Following Thursday’s ENDA Hearing

by Ryan Prado | Just Out

Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) had a busy day yesterday dicussing the significance, importance, and the necessity for the passing of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act – the bill that he has inherited from the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.

After Thursday’s Senate hearing, Merkley took time out of his busy schedule to talk with Just Out about the events, witness testimony, and the lack of a representative from the Republican party at the hearing.

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Bringing Your Whole Self to Work (Or Not)

by Mary Kitch | The Oregonian

Support in the U.S. Senate is building for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to ban  discrimination against gays and lesbians in the workplace. And you’ll be proud to hear an Oregon team is leading the charge.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Nike are working in tandem. Nike, remember, worked to galvanize business support in 2007, when Merkley, then Speaker of the Oregon House, successfully pushed for the Oregon Equality Act, banning discimination against gays and lesbians.

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Watch Anderson Cooper and Panel Discuss Marriage

Kate Kendell in San Diego This Weekend!

I’ll be in San Diego this weekend and would love to see you!

I’ll be with the San Diego Democratic Club (SDDC) on Saturday for a reception and presentation about the state of the LGBT movement including the latest events impacting our civil rights struggle.

I hope you’ll bring your friends and family.

Saturday, November 7, 2009
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Noel-Baza Fine Art
2165 India Street (at Ivy), Little Italy
San Diego, CA

Wine & Hors d’oeuvres

$15 Suggested Contribution
All proceeds shared by the SDDC & NCLR

RSVP to Kate Lyon at 619.248.1079 or katie.sd@hotmail.com.

For additional information contact Joann Mockbee, Media & Marketing Chair, at 619.200.8194 or jmockbee@san.rr.com.

See you this weekend,

Furthering Civil Rights for LGBT Americans

by Sen. Merkley | Blue Oregon

I know everyone is tuned in to the big political issues right now: the debate over health care, the battle to rein in the Wall Street banks, and the fight to invest in American energy independence.

These issues are ones that I’m working on each and every day, but I wanted to take a moment and give the Blue Oregon community an update on two pieces of important civil rights legislation that are going to make a huge difference in the lives of a lot of Americans.

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Governor Paterson Calls for Nov. 10 Vote on Marriage Equality Bill – Call Your Senator

Statement by Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle

November 5, 2009–“Marriage equality has been an issue Governor Paterson has long championed and we are thrilled he has called the State Senate back to Albany next Tuesday and put the marriage equality bill on the agenda. We now expect that we will get the respectful debate and vote that we’ve been waiting for since June.

There is never a wrong time or inconvenient time to debate human rights legislation because it’s always the right time. As long as a group of New Yorkers are being denied equal rights, addressing issues like marriage equality must always be a priority. Support for providing equal rights to LGBT New Yorkers has always been bipartisan, and we expect that this bill will be no different.

We look forward to hearing our lives and our families debated on the Senate floor next Tuesday. It’s now time that each of the 62 State Senators vote their conscience on this bill that has great implications for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers in all parts of the state.”

***

We now need to make sure that the State Senate takes action on the marriage equality bill when they return on Tuesday. It is time for the State Senate to give the marriage bill the respectful debate and vote that New Yorkers have been asking for since the Assembly passed the bill in May. We’ve waited long enough.

Now more than ever it is important that you call your State Senator and tell them that you expect a vote on marriage equality when they return to Albany. Let your Senator know that you’re done waiting. The time is now for all families in New York to be treated equally.

You can be easily connected to your State Senator by clicking here. In a few clicks of a mouse, you will be patched through to the office of your State Senator.

(thanks for the tip Rex Wockner)