Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1998 13:09:26 -1000 From: Mia H H Lam Subject: Re: Fw: FN 1367: WE LOOSE BIG TIME (fwd) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1998 08:11:32 -1000 From: Susan B Miller Subject: Re: Fw: FN 1367: WE LOOSE BIG TIME (fwd) These articles(below) were published in Island Lifestyle in 1992. We had the opportunity to lay the ground work for a successful campaign in 1998. Unfortunately, for a long list of reasons why, the island gay and lesbian community failed itself, turned on itself and virtually defeated itself. The valiant efforts by Jackie Young and her network of straight allies were a tremendous gift that we all should be thanking them all for, because we lost despite their best efforts. Yes, we are in a collective closet. One of our own making. The question is why? We have nothing to gain being in the closet, hating each other. Katharine English shares A Blueprint for Changing Heart and Minds and Passing Gay Civil Rights Legislation Civil rights activist Katharine English knows how to read the writing on the wall -- and she's scared. Scared and angry at the latest plan by extremist right religious groups, with longstanding ties to the Klu Klux Klan, to put anti-gay initiatives on the ballot in at least 11 states including her home state of Oregon in next year's election. English is afraid that, without systematic and immediate grassroots education of people who know little about gays and lesbians extremist christian groups will stage electoral upsets that will have devastating repercussions to America's gay and lesbian civil rights. She also said lobbying lawmakers and special interest groups to support gay civil rights is vital action to stop the backlash. The forthcoming attacks have English worried enough to take leave from her family court position to work to stop the extremist right at work in Oregon. She's also made herself available to help organize grassroot education campaigns and lobbying efforts outside Oregon. English, a lawyer and family court referee, has begun efforts with national civil rights activists to develop a network to fight for federal and state laws to permanently protect gay and lesbian civil and human rights. "It's one thing to say you support the constitutional civil rights of gays and lesbians, its another to work for it," English said at a Honolulu meeting of the Hawaii Organization for Political Empowerment (HOPE) in April. "As activists, our job is to show people who believe in civil rights how to put their beliefs in action. We've expanded what we learned defeating Measure Nine and developed a two-pronged campaign that we're offering other states," she said. A proposed amendment to the Oregon state constitution in 1991-92, Measure Nine would have gone beyond the usual discrimination practices against homosexuals in employment, housing and public accommodations. Had the proposed amendment passed, English said Oregon gays and lesbian would have been "declared perverse, abnormal and wrong." "It would have required the firing of all of us who work for government in contact with children," English said, "whose judiciary responsibilities include overseeing the progress of juveniles on probation in the family court system. "It would have forbidden any funds to be expended by any government to present homosexual as positive, which would have included meeting spaces, parade permits, licenses for practicing professionally." The measure would have also required schools to teach that "homosexuality is an abnormal lifestyle and perverse," she said. The Multnomah County family court referee, who has the same power and status as a judge in matters before the family court, jeopardized her position on the bench and the bar to help defeat the Oregon Citizen Alliance's (OCA) Measure Nine. English says that the first time, in 1984, the extremist religious right attempted to pass a statewide anti-gay ordinance, she was "bound by judicial cannon not to do political work." But in 1991-92, with the impending threat of Measure Nine's passage, English defied the law. She went as far as to appeared in her judge's robe on state and national television and stumped in small conservative towns in remote areas of Oregon speaking against the measure. " I love my job, but I just could not remain quiet," she said. Although no formal complaints were filed, English knew she was pushing the limit in what would be tolerated by the legal community. "My judicial peers and lawyers were very, very silent," she said. "They did not complain about me, although they could have probably gotten me both debenched and disbarred." After the measure was defeated by a narrow margin, English, 46, stepped down to return to civil rights work. She had been a gay civil rights activist in the late '70s and early '80s. "I decided I could no longer straddle the fence," said English, the mother of two college-age sons, who raised them with Janet Metcalf, an assistant Oregon state attorney general and English's lesbian partner of 14 years. The power of English's conviction that gay civil rights are "inalienable and not up for vote," compelled her to put her legal career on hold for at least a year. ."My heart broke during that campaign," English said. "It was so brutal, so ugly. I had never realized the level of hatred and betrayal that exists against us." Since the narrow victory, English said the OCA has filed at least 33 measures in Oregon cities to amend local government charters. English, an excommunicated Mormon who was barred from the church because of her lesbianism, advises gays and lesbians to avoid the mistake of fighting the extremists religious right from a defensive posture. "In 1984 and again, almost, in 1991(-92) we made terrible mistakes in how we did our political organization. We organized in a crisis mode like we always seem to do in lesbian politics. "We fought the electoral fight, the legislative fight -- and when it was over, we had nothing left. We had no broad-based community statewide organization to continue the fight for human. "We decided this time we were going to do it differently," English said. (The civil rights alliance is divided into two separate legal entities: A 501C3 non-profit educational organization, which has a strict educational only mission statement and allows for supporters to make tax-deductible contributions. The statewide 501C4 organization, which purpose is lobbying, influencing legislation and the promotion of civil rights laws. Contribution to this organization are not tax-deductible. The Oregon Alliance for Civil Rights is eager to share information in the form of on-site trainings, telephone consultations and written materials. The group has funding to travel to states requesting help in organizing to end civil rights violations against gays and lesbians. English can be reached by writing to: 24350 SW Nodaway Lane, Wilsonville, Ore., or calling (503) 638-1333). Side-bar story: The Model developed by the Oregon Alliance for Civil Rights: After the narrow defeat of Measure Nine, Oregon's Alliance for Civil Rights began traveling to small communities across the state to build a broad-base organization to fight the right-wing backlash against gay and lesbians. Lesbian civil rights worker Katharine English said supportive groups of Oregonians in these small cities and towns organized under individual umbrellas groups called "Coalitions for Human Dignity." She said the coalitions are organized by activists who visit communities to enlist the support of community members -- gay, straight, or a people of faith against bigotry -- who are willing to organize meetings to start a coalition with a two-fold purpose. English discussed with Island Lifestyle the two-pronged community organizing model developed by the Oregon Alliance: "One is our 'Political Electoral Organizing Arm.' We have very specific legislative strategies: What do we do about the house bills we can't get out of community? What do we do about drafting pro-gay instead of defensive legislation? What do we do about getting an agenda -- a package of legislation -- that is really guaranteeing human rights throughout the state for all gays and lesbians? are some of the questions we take on. Our other arm is what we call our 'Changing Hearts and Minds Arm.' Sure, it's important to win the elections and lobby the legislators, but what is more important is to change the hearts and minds of the voters, the lay people, of the little people out in these small communities who don't understand or know us -- to change their thinking about us. That's are grassroot organizing arm of our political approach. Once we've identified supportive community members, at the meetings we talk about things that needs to be done and who is interested in doing what. We discuss such things as: How do we talk to kids in the schools? What are we going to do about school talking about gay issues? Can we have kitchen klatches, neighborhood coffees where we start talking about who are gay people? What do gay people want? When you have these kitchen conversations, you've got to have answers and know the things to do. As soon as we can get people in neighborhood groups organized to start doing human rights work -- standing up for human rights in their community -- then we go in and have training (called "Oregon Speak Out" training) for lay people, citizens, who have never been politically active. We train them in how to command the media's attention; how to prepare videos; how to arrange speaking engagements; how to request that public libraries to set up town hall information meetings to talk about gay and lesbian issues. In anticipation of the most asked questions about gays and lesbians, the civil rights alliance prepares packets on how to answer questions for lobbyists who are trying to get legislation passed, and how to answer questions for civil rights workers at neighborhood coffee klatches and informational town meetings who are trying to change hearts, minds and neighborhood attitudes. We are finding this is really a very, very successful approach, because the neighborhoods are taking it over for themselves. And so as an organizing board, we're sitting there saying, 'we have so many people working for us,' and really lots of them are straight and lots of them are people of faith who have come up against bigotry of all kinds -- discrimination of all kinds -- and under that umbrella, they are fighting for civil rights of gays and lesbians. We applied the same community organization methods to special interest and professional groups to gain their support of gay civil rights. I took on organizing judges. Someone else organized the lawyers. We try to use personal contacts to reach state and congressional lawmakers -- someone who would appeal to them -- a nurse, a doctor, a psychiatrist, a judge, possibly someone they know real well. The churches turned out to be our biggest allies. We had a special interest group called 'People of Faith Against Bigotry." A whole list of churches in the city that came out against Measure Nine. On Thu, 5 Nov 1998, Mia H H Lam wrote: > > > Mia H. H. Lam, Graduate Secretary > University of Hawaii at Manoa > Department of Political Science (http://www2.soc.hawaii.edu/pols/) > 2424 Maile Way, Social Sciences Building, Room 640 > Honolulu, HI 96822-2223 > Phone: (808) 956-7513 > Fax: (808) 956-6877 > E-mail:mial@hawaii.edu > > $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ > $ Your response to this message is welcome! $ > $ +++++ $ > $If you have info of any upcoming events, please do not hesitate$ > $to send your message to mial@hawaii.edu $ > $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 06:22:44 -1000 > From: Patricia Shields > Subject: Re: Fw: FN 1367: WE LOOSE BIG TIME (fwd) > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 21:04:06 -1000 > From: Lilian de Mello > Subject: Re: Fw: FN 1367: WE LOOSE BIG TIME > > > > HI YOU ALL! WHAT A BIRTHDAY I AM HAVING! BUT IN THIS KIND OF ALTERED > STATE (DON'T FEEL LIKE BEING TOO RESPONSIBLE FOR IT) I WANT TO PUT MY > 2PENNIES IN...MAYBE WE REALLY START A GOOD DISCUSSION ABOUT ALL THESE > THINGS... > > I don't know if this is one of the reasons why we lost - but one of the > > things I *didn't* like about the campaign was how the YES ppl made the > > debate about SS marriage (which although that wasn't it _technically_, > > underneath it all, that's *exactly* what it was about) And the NO campaign > > I thought did play a little too much dodge-ball with the gay bit of it - > > all the ads and stuff did nothing to alleviate fears of SS Marriage, or say > > much about why gay ppl should be able to get married, or say anything about > > gay people at all! > > > > They obscured the *real* issue by focusing on the constitutional bit, and > > using regular straight folks to fight our battles. Viewed through the > > myopic eyes of the media it was like we were in a collective closet > > watching this fight that *other* people were having about *us*! I mean I > > know the constitutional bit was *technically* the issue, but really not > > powerful enough to combat the emotional stuff. WELL, I WOULD SAY THAT I DO AGREE TOTALLY WITH TRISH N O W , AFTER THE FACTS, BUT BEFORE, WE WERE ALSO DOING POLITICS AND CALCULATING WHAT APPROACH WOULD BENEFIT US MORE... IT WAS ABOUT GETTING VOTES! UNFORTUNATELY... (YES, I HATE POLITICS!, AND YET, I HAVE TO KEEP FIGHTING WHATEVER BATTLES WE HAVE!) > > > > I really felt horrible watching the YES folks denounce gays, and the NO > > side not offering much in a way to combat or counteract the homophobia. (YES, I FELT THE SAME, BUT I IMAGINE THOSE WERE THE TACTICS THAT WERE THOUGHT TO BE THE BEST IN OUR INTEREST...) > > > > > > > > The other thing I wanted to comment on was... your reference about trying > > to get into more mainstream fundraising and making ourselves look good and > > prosperous to the outside world. I understand the logic behind that, and > > certainly that's how we got our help from HRC, but there's also something > > about the idea of making ourselves look good to the mainstream world that > > strikes me in a really visceral way, and I know this isn't what you meant, > > but.... well, it seems self-defeating from the get-go trying to style > > oneself to gain someone else's approval and seems like a real self-esteem > > blow.(I HAVE TO AGREE TO THAT ONE TOO.............) > > > > > > > > And lastly, a suggestion on building community...what about someone > > starting an email discussion list for queers on Kauai. I've participated in > > several email lists and found them to be remarkably effective in community > > building. When someone posts something, the note goes to everyone > > subscribed, and people can respond. And dialogue gets going instead of it > > just being a one-way process. For example if yours or Martin's postings to > > your lists went to an email list, then any comment or reply would also go > > to the entire list and everyone would benefit from it. This particular > > letter/discussion, in fact, might be beneficial for a wider audience rather > > than simply me writing to you. Might provide fodder and a means for others > > to get involved. (NO CLUE AS HOW THIS WORKS, BUT IF IT DOES, I THINK IT IS A GREAT IDEA!) LET'S GET ALL INVOLVED... > > > > This election feels like kind of a wake-up call for me, too, in a way. Here > > I was going along in my merry little world, thinking it doesn't matter what > > anyone else thinks, I get along ok, ppl like me well enough, etc. etc. > (WELL, AND I WAS THINKING THAT WE LIVED IN THE ALOHA STATE, WHERE > DIVERSITY > WAS AT LEAST "KIND OF" ACCEPTED AND TOLERATED...) But > > when it comes right down to it, you realize that you're NOT *really* > > acceptable to the majority of people and they don't really have a problem > > using their power to fuck you over. > > > > Anyway those are my thoughts about things. > > > > Love and aloha to you, too, and thanks for yours and Martin's hard work > > keeping us all abreast of things. > > > > Trish > SO.................. MAYBE THIS WILL HAVE A POSITIVE SIDE : MAYBE WE > WILL GROW AS A COMMUNITY, MAYBE PEOPLE WILL GET MORE INVOLVED, MAYBE WE > WILL DISCUSS AND GROW.... AND PLEASE LET'S REMEMBER, AS MARTIN SAID, > THIS IS JUST ONE BATTLE ... THE WAR IS NOT OVER. OR PUT IT ANOTHER WAY: > WE ARE DOING IT A STEP AT A TIME, AND WE CANNOT SEE THE WHOLE PICTURE, > BUT WE ARE DOING WHAT WE HAVE TO DO, AND FOR SURE IN THE FUTURE WE WILL > BE ABLE TO LOOK BACK AND SMILE!!! > LET'S KEEP GROWING... ALOHA, lilian > > > > >