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CAMPAIGN FOR EQUALITY Winning on the Merits

CAMPAIGN FOR EQUALITY Winning on the Merits. THE WORDS OF DESMOND TUTU.

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CAMPAIGN FOR EQUALITY Winning on the Merits

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  1. CAMPAIGN FOR EQUALITYWinning on the Merits

  2. THE WORDS OF DESMOND TUTU “ALL OVER THE WORLD, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are persecuted. We treat them as pariahs and push them outside our communities. We make them doubt that they too are children of God — and this must be nearly the ultimate blasphemy. We blame them for what they are.”

  3. THE FREEDOM TO BE WHO WE ARE • HARM CAUSED BY DENYING US THIS RIGHT TO BE ★ HUMAN RIGHTS DUTY TO PROTECT ★ UNITED STATES CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS • LGBT MOVEMENT HAS LONG SOUGHT CIVIL RIGHTS • OUR DEMAND IS OUR DIGNITY

  4. ORIGINALLY RESPECTED • HOMOSEXUALITY EXISTS IN EVERY CULTURE • HISTORICALLY REVERED IN MANY CULTURES • THEN USED AS A POLITICAL WEAPON • DEMONIZED IN COLONIAL WARS IN AFRICA • USED IN KING OF ENGLAND v. THE CHURCH • ROOTED IN GENDER CONFORMITY -- MALE DOMINANCE • MODERN LAWS of CULTURAL REJECTION SEVERE CONSEQUENCES TODAY

  5. DISCRIMINATION AND ITS HARM IN AMERICA & THE WORLD • CULTURE OF HOMO/TRANSPHOBIA & ABUSE • POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS STIGMATIZATION • GOVERNMENT ABUSE, POLICE ABUSE • ATTACKS, HARRASSMENT, ASSASSINATIONS • JOBS, HOMES, PUBLIC, GOV’T SERVICES • REJECTION BY FAMILY AND COMMUNITY AMAZING WE SURVIVE, AND MANY DON’T

  6. ACTIVE SOCIETAL DISCRIMINATION • LONG HISTORY OF VICTIMIZATION – PERRY v. SCHWARZENEGGER • INTENTIONAL STIGMATIZATION (anti-gay campaigns, Anita Bryant, Prop. 8, etc.) • EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION – WILLIAMS INSTITUTE • WIDE SPREAD, 44% LGB 66% T (10 MILLION). CLOSET (5.6 MIL) • HOUSING DISCRIMINATION: No national study. 30% DIFFERENT • UNSAFE SCHOOLS: VERBAL & PHYSICAL HARRASSMENT/ATTACKS • 9/10 harassed; 6O% unsafe SO, and 40% GI. • 20% LGT VIOLENT ASSULT (PUNCHED, KICKED, WEAPON); 45% physical • FAMILY REJECTION; COMMUNITY ALIENATION

  7. ACTIVE SOCIETAL DISCRIMINATION MORE HARM • ACTIVE RELIGIOUS-BASED ABUSE: MAJOR CAUSE OF HARM • VIOLENCE AGAINST LGBT IS VISCIOUS & INCREASING • TARGETED for HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE by POLICE: profiling, selective enforcement; sexual, physical and verbal abuse; abuse in arrest and detention; rape. • ELECTED OFFICIALS IN ALL 50 STATES SHOW HOSTILITY • DENIED FAMILY RECOGNITION - DEMEANED

  8. INJURY FROM DISCRIMINATION • PREJUDICE, DISCRIMINATION, VICTIMIZATION: MAJOR MENTAL HEALTH CONCERN IN THE UNITED STATES • MUCH HIGHER RATES OF: MAJOR DEPRESSION, GENERAL ANXIETY, CONDUCT DISORDER, ALCHOLOL/SUBSTANCE DISORDER • COINED “GAY RELATED STRESS” or MINORITY STRESS, POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORER. MULTIPLE DISORDERS 6X more • HOSTILE POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS: MOOD DISORDERS UP 1/3 • 115 CAMPAIGNS TO REPEAL, OR MANDATE DISCRIMINATION: from 1974 to 2009 - 50% PASSED • STATES W/OUT PROTECTIONS (hate crimes, employment): 5 X more likely to have 2 or more disorders • HOMELESSNESS (2 million youth, 73% rejected by family, 8x suicide) • SUICIDE (33% of Youth Suicides, 2 per day; 41% of Trans people) • OVERALL SUICIDE: 4 X more likely

  9. Grand Central Flash Mob“HOMO/TRANSPHOBIA KILLS” Die-In NYC OCTOBER 8, 2010

  10. SOLUTION OBVIOUS IN 1975 • “The American Psychological Association supports and urges the enactment of civil rights legislation at the local, and state and federal level that would offer citizens who engage in acts of homosexuality the same protections now guaranteed to others on the basis of race, creed, color, etc.” Conger, J.J. (1975). • 1974 – 1st GAY CIVIL RIGHTS BILL FILED (ABZUG, TSONGAS, NGLTF).

  11. YET STILL NO FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTSprotection from SO+GI discrimination today • FEDERAL IN-ACTION • Sodomy de-criminalized by Supreme Court (June 2003) • Hate Crimes Laws (2009) (enhanced penalties for violent attacks) • DOMA remains (pro-active discrimination - 1996) • DADT repealed (2010), but not reversed • NO FEDERAL LAW outlawing SO+GI discrimination • STATE PATCH WORK NON-DISCRIMINATION • 29 NO employment protection for SO • 38 NO employment protection for GI • 30 NO housing protections for SO or GI • 40 NO anti-bullying/discrimination protections for students SO/GI • 44 states have laws or Constitutional amendments against same-sex marriage

  12. AMERICA’S LOST LEADERSHIP “The US has fallen behind many other countries in the legal recognition of the basic human rights of LGBT people.” Amnesty International ’05 U.S. IN VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW NORMS

  13. INT’L HUMAN RIGHTS LAW REQUIRES OUR PROTECTION & EQUALITY

  14. UNIVERSAL DECLARATION ONHUMAN RIGHTS - 1948 • PREAMBLE:Whereas recognition of the INHERENT DIGNITY and of the EQUAL AND INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF ALL MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN FAMILY is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,… • Article 1All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. • Article 7All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

  15. HUMAN RIGHTS ARE SUPREME • UNIVERSALITY: “LIFE, LIBERTY, SECURITY OF THE PERSON” • INALIENABLE REALM OF PERSONAL DIGNITY: TO DEVELOP OUR PERSONALITY • SPIRITUAL & NATURE – but also REASONED • STANDARD OF OUR BASIC HUMANITY, AS NATURALLY DERRIVED; MORAL NORM • RESPECTIVE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE (TOWARD EACH OTHER) AND THEIR NATIONS • DUTY OF GOVERNMENTS RESPECT & PROTECT: MUST DO & CANNOT DO BROKEN DOWN: • SECURITY RIGHTS (murder, rape); DUE PROCESS; LIBERTY RIGHTS; POLTICAL RIGHTS (assemble, protest); SOCIAL WELFARE; and EQUALITY RIGHTS: • Guarantee Equal Citizenship • Equality before the Law ✜ Non-Discrimination

  16. UNITED STATES BELIEVES IN HUMAN RIGHTS - USUALLY 1. UNIVERSAL DECLARATION ON HUMAN RIGHTS: ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE “ENTITLED” “WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF ANY KIND” TO ENJOY HUMAN RIGHTS 2. INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL & POLITICAL RIGHTS -UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE: Toonenv. Australia (1994) declared laws making “homosexuality illegal” in violation of human rights laws: “SEX & SO” • ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES (’08) • UNIV. DECLARATION ON SEXUAL SO+GI (‘O8)

  17. COUNTRY FOUNDED OVER 200 YEARS AGO ON SAME PRINICIPLES • DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE – LIFE, LIBERTY, PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS* • UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION • 14TH AMENDMENT: EQUAL PROTECTION • 1st OATH OF CONGRESS: TO EFFECTUATE INTENT • NOT REALLY DEBATED ACTUALLY • FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS RECOGNIZE THIS DUTY, BUT FALL SHORT BECAUSE HOMO/TRANSPHOBIA PREVAILS WE’VE BOUGHT INTO IDEA: WE ARE A DIFFERENT CASE BUT WE ARE NOT

  18. KENNEDY FILED THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT JUNE 11, 1963 • “This is one country. It has become one country because all of us and all the people who came here had an equal chance to develop their talents. • We cannot say to 10 percent of the population that you can’t have that right; that your children cannot have the chance to develop whatever talents they have; that the only way that they are going to get their rights is to go into the streets and demonstrate. I think we owe them and we owe ourselves a better country than that.” . . . • “We face, therefore, a moral crisis as a country and as a people. It cannot be met by repressive police action. It cannot be left to increased demonstrations in the streets. It cannot be quieted by token moves or talk. It is time to act in the Congress, in your State and local legislative body and, above all, in all of our daily lives. • It is not enough to pin the blame on others, to say this is a problem of one section of the country or another, or deplore the fact that we face. A great change is at hand, and our task, our obligation, is to make that revolution, that change, peaceful and constructive for all. • Those who do nothing are inviting shame as well as violence. Those who act boldly are recognizing right as well as reality.”

  19. 1963 CIVIL RIGHTS MARCHI HAVE A DREAM

  20. 1964 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT - TODAY  ASSORTMENT OF LAWS – CALLED “TITLES”  MADE AS THEY COULD BE: GROUPS & IDENTITY  ZONES OF DISCRIMINATION: PUBLIC ACCOMODATIONS, PUBLIC FACILITIES, ANY FEDERALLY FUNDED PROGRAMS, EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT, HOUSING • TRAIT-SPECIFIC GROUPS: RACE, COLOR, SEX, NATIONAL ORIGIN, RELIGION, MARITAL STATUS, DISABILITY  POWERFUL ENFORCEMENT: UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (AND OTHER AGENCIES) ASSISTANT ATT. GEN: GREG BROOKER, CIVIL DIVISION

  21. PRESENTATION BY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL GREG BROOKER UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

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