|
||||
|
Saturday, Nov 21, 2009
|
||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
![[Valid RSS]](images/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed"){kind=small}
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
ERW celebrates election victories in Washington State
|
||
 |
||
| ERW celebrates election victories in Washington State | ||
|
by Beth Richer -
Special to the SGN The executive director of Equal Rights Washington Connie Watts beams when talking about the election results in Washington State. "The 2008 election will long be remembered as the tipping point in Washington State 's struggle to live up to its founding promise of liberty and justice for all. As an equality-driven organization, Equal Rights Washington can find nothing but joy from the majority of the election results in Washington. From the election of Barack Obama, our nation's first African American president, to the re-election of our equality-minded governor, Christine Gregoire, to the passage of King County Charter Change Amendment 2 Washington state voters made clear their commitment to building a more just society." "Our top priority was re-electing Governor Gregoire," said Joshua Friedes, Equal Rights Washington's advocacy director. "Towards the end of the election cycle we really went into overdrive to protect the re-election as did many progressive organizations. In the days before the campaign, ERW volunteer phonebankers made over 10,000 phone calls and every day ERW volunteers stood on overpasses above I-5 waiving Gregoire signs. I was really gratified at how many ERW advocates wrote letters to the editor in support of Gregoire," said Friedes. "We worked hard to make it clear that Rossi would roll back rights for LGBT families," said Friedes. According to Friedes, "Gregoire is effective during session because she lets others get the credit so ERW needed to really help equality minded voters understand how much Gregoire has done for the Gay community. During the election we sent out over 300,000 e-mails to our advocates encouraging them to support Gregoire and other equality-minded legislators. & I'm sure our members were sick of all the e-mails," said Friedes, "but we were constantly hearing from people thanking us and telling us the e-mails were pushing them to do more. In some cases the e-mails got people to vote for the Governor." Trick Dog Video produced a great online ad targeting LGBT and allied voters, which they posted on YouTube, and we blasted it out to 20,000 of our advocates on the eve of the election. One heterosexual ally responded, "It was YOUR e-mail that made all the difference, and now I'll cast my vote for Gregoire, knowing that the future is far too important for my little 'protest.' I'm a straight, middle-aged woman, but I know the fight for equal rights is PARAMOUNT. Thank you so much for giving me a dose of Reality Therapy!" Equal Rights Washington has been building momentum for the past three years and capitalizing on creative outreach and education tools to bring Washington voters to this point, and it is those same tools which will be vital in sustaining this movement. The Online Voters' Guide supported by ERW was used by over 35,000 Washingtonians, and district-specific e-mails reached over 100,000 citizens across the state. Not only will we have Chris Gregoire in office, but we will also have an equality-minded legislature. At this point, it should be really clear that voting for LGBT civil rights bills is not a political liability, but the right thing and the politically smart thing to do. The electorate once again reelected legislators who voted for Gay civil rights legislation, but seems poised to send packing a couple of legislators who voted against the domestic partnership bills. As of the writing of this article, it looks like ERW PAC endorse candidate Tim Knue defeated incumbent Norma Smith and - in perhaps the most-watched legislative race - ERW-endorsed candidate John Driscol appears to have defeated Representative John Ahern. Ahern, a vocal opponent of Gay rights, famously asked openly Gay representative Jamie Pedersen what would prevent him from registering as a domestic partner with a dog in front of his husband and infant son. Ahern's homophobic diatribes appeared to simply be too much for Spokane 's 6th legislative district. Ironically, the only incumbent who supports Gay rights not to be reelected this term is from the 6th district. "As happy as we are with the elections in Washington, several equality-minded challengers appear to have fallen just short of defeating anti-equality incumbents. Had we had more volunteers and money we possibly could have won a few more seats," said Friedes. "I'll be honest: The LGBT community could have and should have given more money to elect equality-minded candidates in Washington. We lost a few races - open seats and challenges to incumbents - by a few hundred votes, and every vote counts in the legislature when we are trying to build a marriage equality majority." While the results appeared positive as a whole, there were some real heartbreakers outside of Washington State. We lost Proposition 8 in California, as well as initiatives in Florida, and Arizona on marriage. And Arkansas passed a measure prohibiting Gay couples from adopting children. Equal Rights Washington executive director, Connie Watts, speaks to this point: "In Washington, we will roll up our sleeves yet again and shift from calling on voters to elect equality-minded legislators to asking neighbors, Gay and straight, to talk to their families and friends - in the most personal terms - about the lives of Gay and Lesbian people and the important role marriage plays in protecting families. & We have no intention of losing a ballot measure or referendum here in Washington and that means working today like there will be a vote tomorrow." ERW was also very pleased with the results with Washington State ballot measures. ERW was the primary proponent of King County Charter Change Amendment 2, which added gender identity and expression as well as sexual orientation and disability to the anti-discrimination section of King County Charter Change Amendment 2. The Amendment passed with 70% of the vote. "It's an incredible affirmation for the Transgender community," said Watts. The passage of 1-1000, Death with Dignity, also suggests that the people of Washington really believe that the government should not interfere with deeply personal choices. "Hopefully these attitudes will carry over towards voter attitudes towards marriage equality," said Friedes. The staff of ERW is now busy meeting with legislators and stakeholders to determine what legislation to move forward next year. Certainly, said Friedes, "we should expect to see legislation filed to expand the rights of domestic partners as well as a marriage bill. We are also looking at legislation dealing with safe schools and Transgender equality." However, Friedes cautions that, "while a marriage bill will be introduced, we should not expect the legislature to pass a marriage bill until we can defend the bill on referendum. The battle to win marriage in Washington has begun. The question is, are we ready to do what it takes to win?" |
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 post your own information onthe Seattle Gay Blog |
|
 |
: http://sgn.org/rss.xml | what is RSS? | 
use Google to set up your RSS feed
copyright Seattle Gay News - DigitalTeamWorks 2008
USA Gay News American News American Gay News USA American Gay News United States American Lesbian News USA American Lesbian News United States USA News