California candidate for Governor Meg Whitman says she’s committed to discouraging illegal immigration eben though she employed an illegal immigrant for years.

If you’re in California check out Heal The Bay and contact your Senators. If you’re not in California, what are you doing to decrease your use of plastic bags? Are you using recyclable bags, canvas totes, backpacks?

Also, Rex Wockner compiled a list of the many rallies across the country

Join us today at Daley Plaza at 6 PM for a rally to celebrate and prepare for the oncoming court case form the other side.

Press Release from HRC-
Federal Court Declares California’s Proposition 8 Unconstitutional

Trial Judge Rules that Ban on Marriage Equality Violates Guarantees of Equal Protection, Due Process

WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign – the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization – today praised the historic decision of Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, which declared that the amendment to the California Constitution barring marriage for same-sex couples, adopted in November 2008 as Proposition 8, violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and due process.

“After hearing extensive evidence in support of marriage equality, and essentially no defense of the discrimination wrought by Prop 8, Judge Walker reached the same conclusion we have always known to be true – the Constitution’s protections are for all Americans, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “We thank the courageous plaintiff couples, the American Foundation for Equal Rights, and attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies for their tremendous efforts leading to today’s decision and their ongoing commitment as the case moves forward on appeal. The battle for marriage equality continues, and we must all continue our work – in courthouses and statehouses, in church pews and living rooms – until equality is reality for LGBT people and our families everywhere.”

In response to a 2008 decision by the California Supreme Court ending marriage discrimination in the state, anti-equality forces succeeded in placing a constitutional amendment on the November ballot. Despite over 18,000 same-sex couples having married, California voters adopted the amendment, known as Proposition 8. After the California Supreme Court determined in 2009 that the adoption of Prop 8 did not itself violate the California Constitution, two plaintiff couples — Kris Perry and Sandy Stier and Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo – filed suit against the State of California in federal court, represented by attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies and supported by the American Foundation for Equal Rights. The proponents of Prop 8 intervened in the case to defend the constitutionality of the amendment. Judge Walker held a historic trial in January, in which the plaintiffs presented substantial testimony and evidence to show that Prop 8’s only purpose is to discriminate against same-sex couples. Both sides have previously indicated that they would appeal Judge Walker’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the case may ultimately be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Here’s the ruling in full

Prop 8 Ruling FINAL

One of the main findings is that “No on Prop 8″ campaign lost the support of people with children under the age of 18.

Here’s a video where Dave Fleischer, the author, discusses the report.

Read the full Prop 8 Report

Olson & Boies

Olson and Boies, adversaries in 2000, put together one of the most rock-solid cases never to be broadcast on YouTube (because the Supreme Court said no!). Not only did Olson and Boies set up a strong case for the recognition of marriage equality in California and a striking down of the misguided voter referendum, Prop 8; Olson and Boies ripped apart witness after witness from the defense, even getting many of the defense witnesses to agree with the plaintiffs in their cross examinations and questioning.

Two weeks ago, the Honorable Judge Vaughn Walker released a series of questions that he guided each side to address during closing arguments. The questions–meant to assist Walker in crafting his decision–seem to allude that the plaintiffs did an excellent job in presenting their case and now he needs to examine the extent to which his ruling can push the boundaries.

However, yesterday again, the plaintiffs showed they clearly have a better grasp of reality than the defense, which the pro-Prop 8 side arguing that not only should the plaintiffs be ruled against, but that the 18,000 “limited edition” California equal marriages that occurred before Prop 8 passed ought to be invalidated. Meanwhile, Olson and Boies instead argued:

“We conclude this trial, your honor, where we began. This case is about marriage and equality. The fundamental constitutional right to marry has been taken away from the plaintiffs, and tens of thousands of similarly situated Californians. Their state has rewritten its constitution in order to place them into a special disfavored category where their most intimate personal relationships are not valid, not recognized and second rate… There is not a compelling governmental interest to put the plaintiffs in a class like this and take away what the Supreme Court has called a fundamental right, a right of liberty, privacy, association, intimacy and autonomy.”

And also:

“Our fundamental rights can’t be taken away unless the state has a very, very fundamental, strong, compelling reason to do so and acts with surgical precision so that it takes no more than the compelling reason justifies… Their state has stigmatized them as unworthy of marriage, different, and less respected… This is discrimination, the taking away from a fundamental right as articulated by the Supreme Court… The Supreme Court has said that marriage is the most important relation in life. Now that’s being withheld from the plaintiffs. Marriage, the Supreme Court has said again and again, is a component of liberty, privacy, spirituality and autonomy. [Prop 8.] prevents a complete choice as to marriage and designates gays and lesbians as less worthy and entitled to less honor, less status and fewer benefits. Marriage is special, the experts tell us. Domestic partnerships and civil unions are pale comparisons… This law is discriminatory. The evidence is overwhelming that it imposes great social harm on individuals who are our equals. They are members of our society. They pay their taxes. They want to form a household. They want to raise their children in happiness and in the same way that their neighbors do. We are imposing great damage on them by the institution of the State of California saying they are different and they cannot have the happiness, they cannot have the privacy, they cannot have the liberty, they cannot have the intimate association in the context of a marriage that the rest of our citizens do.”

For more information, visit the AFER trial summary page.

Judge Walker is expected to rule sometime this summer.

Closing arguments were made in the landmark Proposition 8 case yesterday in California, where not just the future of marriage equality but gay rights hang in the balance.

Even though the judge in the case is a gay, and the haters’ lawyers argued the case poorly, nobody knows for sure how it’s going to turn out.

A highlight of the closing arguments is the Attorney Charles Cooper ridiculous assertion that keeping same sex couples from marrying and having children was essential for the “survival of the human race.”

Joining us today is Bill Pritchard, community liaison for Chicagopride.com and author of the Mayor of Boystown blog on Chicagonow.com

Bill is throwing a party to launch the revamping of Chicagopride.com and they want you to come to it- June 24th at Roscoes.

Bill is here to weigh in on the Prop 8 trial, tell us about what it was like hanging out with Kathy Griffin at Milwaukee Pridefest and share his experience at the Tony Awards this past Sunday.

Join us for this and all the hot news:

Jason Andrews, aka DJ Veritas or Addison from Sean Cody wanted for murder

Actor Daniel Radcliffe cries after the taping the last scene of the Harry Potter films.

The search continues for the murder of Kevin Clewer.

Chicago gay porn star and DJ is sought for murder.

The World Cup is underway in South Africa, but fans are complaining about the satanic sound of vuvuzelas, 3 feet long plastic horns popular in South Africa used to disrupt the focus of soccer players.

And five of the most unintentionally ridiculous movie sex scenes.

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According to San Diego resident, and renowned gay journalist, Rex Wockner; the fifteen year old march in Mexico’s hottest party town is about to make history with a two-day festival downtown.

Tijuana’s 15th gay/lesbian pride march hits the streets Saturday, June 19, at 5 p.m.

Participants will gather in front of the community-based Alliance Against AIDS (ACOSIDA) Clinic at 7648 Calle 1ra, five blocks west of Avenida Revolución between Avenida E (Mutualismo) and Avenida F (5 de Mayo).

The launch of the two-day festival is historic.

Other pride events this year include a first-ever, two-day, outdoor pride festival smack in the center of downtown, stretching east, west and south from the arch. The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. both Saturday, June 19, and Sunday, June 20. Entrance is free.

According to the organizers: “Come and celebrate together with 10,000 other people the First Annual Tijuana Gay Festival in a three-block area of the center of the city. Discover the latest in gay art, culture and music, experience a variety of diverse food and drink options, and then take over the streets with thousands of friends for a massive hip street party Tijuana-style. Residents and community leaders, with support of the local police, invite you to discover the gay side of Tijuana.”

Last year’s Tijuana pride parade was nearly three times bigger — and twice as long — as in any other year.

The turnout was all the more amazing because the city had been hit with a serious crime wave as drug cartels and dealers battled for dominance. The situation has improved notably since last summer.

Wockner did point out that the city has been plagued with violence in previous years which has recently deterred San Diegons from crossing the border and attending the parade. Despite this, the Tijuana parade has grown.

Yet the gay parade was bigger, better, longer, more colorful and more spirited than ever. At least 1,000 people marched or rode in the parade itself — which stretched along seven blocks of Avenida Revolución, the main drag of the city of 2 million people. More than 10,000 people watched the spectacle pass.

…

“It’s been the best march that’s taken place in the city of Tijuana … the biggest and the most participants,” said organizer Lorenzo Herrera. “People have decided to come out, people no longer want to hide their sexual preference. We all have equality.”

Many many thanks to Rex Wockner for this exclusive!

I love him so much 1/3 of the way through and his message of doom at the end when he says goodbye to all of us Californians.

At the site you can view reenactments of the trial or upload your videos based on scripts selected with the help of Academy Award-winning producer Bruce Cohen, who culled through three weeks of oral arguments to get to the real meat of the trial.

I invite you all- readers, listeners, video bloggers, friends and family to pick a script and post it in the comments here and then I’ll assemble one big entry with all of them in it. (Use the “embed” code on Youtube- not just the link, but if you have a problem, I can easily fix it)

Also, please upload your video to their site as well. I don’t want to hijack their mojo but we have such a great community here I think it it would be neat to view each other’s interpretations of the trial.

I’d love to see all the folks at Feast of Fun do all 10 of the scripts. What do you say? Which script do you want to do? Maybe we can get Marsian to do the voice of Cookie Puss or Fausto as Eartha Kitt. I know Rick Aiello does a fabulous Miss Piggy and maybe Michael Lehet could return as horrible homophobe William Tam. Or some of our foreign friends with sexy accents!

Read more about it on Wall Street Journal
Prop 8 Trial Testimony Gets a Marisa Tomei Makeover

Today the Courage Campaign, an online organizing network for progressive causes, launched a Web site dedicated to re-enactments of the ongoing trial. At equalityontrial.org, they’ve posted videos of a handful of celebrities — including Oscar winner Marisa Tomei — giving dramatic readings of the court proceedings.

Acting in a West Hollywood park Tomei portrays Kristin Perry, one of the lesbian plaintiffs in the case seeking to marry her partner. Actor Josh Lucas plays Theodore Olson, one of the legal powerhouses supporting the challenge. The scene portrays the plaintiffs’ argument that gays and lesbians face discrimination in their everyday lives.

–Read the rest

Imma letchu finish...

From their press release:

Los Angeles, CA – Moments ago, several GetEQUAL activists interrupted President Obama during his speech at a fundraising reception for Senator Barbara Boxer in Los Angeles, expressing anger over the slow progress on repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ this year and demanding that he repeal it.

GetEQUAL activists shouted, “what about ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’” and “it’s time for equality for all Americans.” The President, at one point bringing his remarks to a halt, said, “Barbara and I are supportive of repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’.”

Activists David John Fleck, Dan Fotou, Laura Kanter, Zoe Nicholson, and Michelle Wright were then escorted out of the reception by security officers.

According to video posted by Real Clear Politics, the hijacking slowed the speech down about 11 or 12 minutes. The crowd became extremely agitated with the protesters, chanting “Yes we can!” to drown them out, but the President remained cordial eventually saying “we are going to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’”

The protest comes on the heels of the President’s surprise signature of a Thursday night Executive Order demanding hospitals allow all family in to sick patients’ rooms–including same-sex partners and children of same-sex partners–and demanding they be allowed to make crucial medical decisions for their loved ones.

While this was a major victory for the LGBT civil rights movement, many organizers and leaders are cautioning activists to ‘keep your eyes on the prize,’ and not to let up pressuring the White House and Congress to move forward with two major job-saving bills: the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

The video is available here

h/t Karen Ocamb over at lgbtpov.com

Davis knows his divas.

Last month, Republican Roy Ashburn and a male companion were pulled over in Ashburn’s car, and Ashburn received a DUI after leaving a Sacramento-area gay bar. Since then, Ashburn has confessed that he is, in fact, gay.

On Monday night, openly-Democrat Mike Davis was outed as gay by a close friend and LGBT-ally at the Los Angeles Stonewall Democratic Club. Straight ally Jimmie Woods Gray let the “open secret” slip during a debate about whether or not to endorse Davis as pro-LGBT. Strangely, the media has mostly ignored the matter.

Davis is a generally decent progressive, but has failed to deliver any enthusiastic support for LGBT-positive bills in California. Though he was against the passage of Proposition 8, he took a very unenthusiastic stance, not opposing because of personal support for marriage equality, but rather that he believed that the California Supreme Court ought not be overruled by the people. He also did not come out in support of the Harvey Milk Day bill, which Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law.

With an openly gay Speaker in the Assembly–John Perez–and now two newly outed lawmakers, its anyone’s guess as to how gay this year will be in California.

The Proposition 8 Repeal will not be on the ballot, so the Assembly certainly has an opportunity to really push the legislative boundaries this year. What do you think needs to be on California’s gay legislative agenda?

(h/t LGBTPOV)

Full story at NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125184608&ft=1&f=1006

Photo borrowed from: http://blogs.sfweekly.com

SF economist says gay marriage ban costs city
by Lisa Leff
Associated Press

High court’s broadcast ruling under microscope
By Robert Barnes
Washington Post Staff Writer

We Need an Open Debate on Prop 8
Antonio Villaraigosa
Mayor of the City of Los Angeles

Equality California’s Geoff Kors debates Andrew Pugno, general counsel for Protect Marriage and an architect of Prop. 8. Aired on Sunday, Jan. 10 on CNN

Here’s a fun video of a Signature Drive for the 2010 Marriage Protection Act. It’s a response to this parody PSA for2010 California Marriage Protection

The November 2008 election dealt an unsettling blow to the gay rights movement when voters in California narrowly passed Proposition 8 a measure to take away the state’s ability to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

After the measure passed, fashion photographer Adam Bouska and his partner, Jeff Parshley, founded the “NO H8 Campaign” to promote the overturn of Proposition 8.

The campaign shows photos of people dressed in white shirts against a white background with their mouths covered in duct tape in silent protest and the words NO H8 emblazoned across their cheek. Although it began with just photos of everyday people the campaign grew to include the enthusiastic participation of families, police officers, filmmakers, actors, musicians, celebrities, politicians and even Kathy Griffin.

Although some criticize the project as superficial, its anything but. The NO H8 Campaign has galvanized people on the internet to take a very active stand and to raise funds for this important cause.

Listen to the show to find out why Adam and Jeff were so inspired to start the campaign, what risque photos are too sexy to be included and how you too can participate.

And the Hate Crime Bill is finally passed and will be signed into law by President Obama, what does this mean for you?

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Stewart made the decision to change careers after attending a GLAAD national board meeting in Los Angeles in early June regarding the looming threat to same-sex marriage.

Listen as we talk with Bill about how we’re fighting to protect gay marriage and why it’s so important for you to get involved.

You can help by raising awareness and money for the cause and please, if you live in California vote No to Prop 8 in November. We can win this very important victory but we need everybody to help out.

And of course, Bill did work for K-Mart, so what I want to know is, what are Jacklyn Smith and Martha Stewart REALLY like?

John McCain Can’t let go of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton as ads on this very site tout the girls and ask “Who is the biggest celebrity?” The link of course takes you to an ad that proudly proclaims Obama as the world’s biggest celebrity.

College Presidents are begging lawmakers to lower drinking age to 18. They figure kids are drinking anyway so why not make it legal?

Now in supermarket shelves everywhere, we can be treated to seeing Olympic superstud Michael Phelps on a Kellogg’s box of corn flakes. Yummy! Now that’s good eating.

But what about openly gay Aussie hottie, and gold-medal upset Matthew Mitcham? Doesn’t he get to be on a box of cereal too? I know everyone is thinking “put him on a box of Fruit Loops” but that’s kind of disrespectful. I think he’d be great on the healthier Fruity Cheerios instead. If I ever win an Olympic Olympic medal, I’d like to be on the box of Trix.

More fruits and nuts than a bowl of cereal- Feast of Fools.

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