| Dear Corey, We may have a president-elect immeasurably more supportive of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community's rights than his predecessor, but that certainly doesn't guarantee smooth sailing toward equality. This is going to be a long, hard fight, and the Human Rights Campaign won't stop fighting it until it's over-regardless of who's in office. This week, the presidential inaugural committee announced that anti-LGBT Rev. Rick Warren would be delivering the invocation at President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration. Warren was a vocal supporter of California's Prop 8 and has publicly equated loving, committed same-sex relationships with pedophilia and polygamy. Less than one hour later, HRC forcefully responded. We delivered to the president-elect a letter telling him that, by inviting Rick Warren to his inauguration, he had tarnished the view that LGBT Americans have a place at his table. What followed was a veritable tsunami of national media attention. Today, we've followed up on all of this press attention with an action alert asking President-elect Obama to recommit himself to LGBT equality by supporting HRC's Blueprint for Positive Change, a five-point plan for our community's progress. We have a chance to turn all of our energy and outrage into action. Make no mistake-this is a moment of opportunity we must not squander. If you do nothing else today to fight for our rights, take one minute of your time and sign on to a letter urging President-elect Obama to support these five specific policy actions: - Issue an Executive Order within the first 100 days that reaffirms protections for federal workers based on sexual orientation and expands them to also include gender identity;
- Work with Congress to sign Hate Crimes legislation into law within 6 months;
- Support only a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA);
- In the first 100 days develop a plan to begin the process of eliminating the failed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy; and
- Work with Congress to end unequal tax treatment of domestic partnerships benefits.
This morning, the Washington Post published an op-ed I wrote describing the LGBT community's hurt and anger that Obama's team would let Warren's bigoted voice set the tone for America's new day. And between yesterday and today, the HRC team has appeared on or spoken with dozens of local and national media outlets. For a full accounting and to view video of these appearances, click here. To find more about this issue and view even more video, visit the HRC Back Story blog at www.hrcbackstory.org. Buried beneath all the coverage of the controversy surrounding Rick Warren's role at the inauguration was news of another step HRC has taken against religious bigotry. Late last week, I sent a letter to the president of the Church of Latter-day Saints asking the Church to stand by its assertion that it supports non-marriage legal recognitions of same-sex relationships by supporting Equality Utah's Common Ground Initiative. The Associated Press ran a story about our efforts yesterday. HRC also launched an action alert from HRC Board of Director's member Bruce Bastian, a Utah native, asking our members and supporters to contact the LDS church to urge them to publicly support civil unions and other pro-equality legislation in the Church's home state. This was a whirlwind of a week for HRC and the LGBT community, and over the coming months, we can expect much more. I'll keep you all updated as developments occur and let you know how you can take action to make a difference. Warmly,
Joe Solmonese
President, Human Rights Campaign P.S. Congratulations from the entire HRC family to tireless transgender activist Diego Sanchez, a member of our Business Council and Boston Steering Committee, on his new job as Legislative Assistant for LGBT, Healthcare, Labor, Veterans and Census issues for Congressman Barney Frank. Diego becomes the first openly transgender person to serve on Capitol Hill-an incredible step forward for our whole community. Diego, you're a gentleman, a friend, and a hero. We wish you all the luck in the world.
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