ERW invites all our friends and allies to join us. In your own words, tell us why marriage equality is important to you and why it is crucial to pass a full marriage equality bill.
Although the project focuses on Washington residents, submissions from friends and allies everywhere are welcome. After all, marriage knows no boundary and equality is a universal human right.
Here are a few of the videos posted so far.
This is a little personal for me. A transgender person named Moses "Teish" Cannon, in Syracuse, NY was murdered for the outside presentation. The killer, Dwight DeLee was arrested for murder a short time later. The case is being referred to the Syracuse District Attorney to qualify as a hate crime.
SYRACUSE, NY - Dwight R. DeLee shot and killed Moses "Teish" Cannon with a .22-caliber rifle Friday night because he didn't like that Cannon was openly gay, Syracuse police said.
Cannon, 22, and his brother, Mark Cannon, 18, both of 404 Arthur St., were shot as they sat in a car parked in front of 411 Seymour St., where they had been invited to a party. The bullet grazed the left arm of Mark Cannon, who was in the driver's seat, and hit Moses Cannon in the chest, police said.
Police have charged DeLee, 20, of 420 Gifford St., with second-degree murder. DeLee went into the home at 411 Seymour St. to get the rifle after guests at the party started "making profane and vulgar comments in regards to the sexual preference of our two victims," police Chief Gary Miguel said.
"There was no previous argument between these individuals, there was no previous fight, there was no bad blood," Miguel said. "Our suspect took a rifle and shot and killed this person, also wounding his brother, for the sole reason he didn't care for the sexual preference of our victim. Isn't that sad? Isn't that a sad situation that that's the sole reason why?
I know some of you are scratching your heads and wondering why this is personal for me. It's personal because I'm from teh Syracuse area of Central New York and sadly, knowing the climate I grew up in, this isn't surprising. There are very few schools that participate in the "Day of Silence." There are few bars or places where gay people can go and feel comfortable.
Growing up, I was not out for the very reason above. And since growing up and moving away, I've only learned of one other person being gay and he moved to Las Vegas since being out of high school.
As the Transgender Day of Rememberance comes up soon we need to make sure to remember Teish and all others who have died at the hands of those who hate. While we lick our wounds from the elections, we need to remember our brothers and sisters who've died in this struggle for equality.
The release of this letter is sure to stir some in the LGBT community, still fuming over the results anti-gay propositions in California, Arizona, Arkansas and Florida, to call on the Obama Administration to act with haste and repeal the law. Haste however makes waste -- remember it was Bill Clinton's naïve haste in 1993 which resulted in "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Furthermore, it is not Obama's law to overturn. Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" must come from Congress. That means that a sensible legislative strategy must be set, and patience must be exercised.
No one can defend the law; it is a primitive relic of bygone attitudes towards gays and lesbians. It is a self-defeating measure which has cost the armed forces the service of 12,340 people since 1994, including Arabic linguists, medics, intelligence officers and specialists. Just last year the law resulted in the expulsion of another 627 otherwise ready, willing and able Americans, at the same time that tours are being extended, stop-loss is being enforced, and recruitment and retention is down. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" does not make sense either in terms of justice or military preparedness.
However idiotic this law is, there is no quick way of repealing it. So instead of getting frustrated, the LGBT community should spend its time developing a sober and purposeful legislative strategy aimed at overturning this terrible law. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate must introduce bills, hold hearings, mark-up bills, hold more hearings, and further mark-up the bills. Then, if the two bills pass both houses of Congress, the inconsistencies between the two bills must be ironed out, and a final version carried down Pennsylvania Ave to the White House. This process takes time, time, and still more time -- there are no short-cuts.
Certainly, President-Elect Obama supports lifting the ban. Speaking back in April 2008 he told the Advocate:
"there's increasing recognition within the Armed Forces that [Don't Ask, Don't Tell] is a counterproductive strategy -- ya know, we're spending large sums of money to kick highly qualified gays or lesbians out of our military, some of whom possess specialties like Arab-language capabilities that we desperately need. That doesn't make us safer, and what I want are members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who are making decisions based on what strengthens our military and what is going to make us safer, not ideology."But the Bush Administration has left Obama's plate full with very large, very complicated problems, including: the economy, the war, and health care. This means that until some of these issues are resolved, the LGBT community must give the Obama Administration some breathing space. The day will come when the Obama Administration has the resources to dedicate to our issues, but until that day we must continue thinking strategically, acting methodically and demonstrating patience.
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