Showing posts with label SC Equality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SC Equality. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Gov. Nikki Haley Issues Budget Vetoes
The Governor's veto #18 cuts all operating funds - $417,750 - for the S.C. Arts Commission, eliminating their ability to function/administer any programs and services, including grants. She also vetoed the $25,000 in one-time funds for a plan a Cultural Districts Designation Program in her veto #56. More details to come but now is the time to urge your House and Senate members to vote to OVERRIDE VETO # 18 AND #56. The House is scheduled to take action Wednesday at 1PM and the Senate at 11AM on Thursday. Please act now!
Gov. Nikki Haley issues budget vetoes
In other news of things I care about: The US Supreme Court decisions about California's Prop 8 and the so-called 'Defense of Marriage Act' (aka DOMA) will come on Wednesday, June 26 at 10am.
Where can we learn about the decision?
Minute by minute updates are posted live Wednesday morning on SCOTUS Blog. You can log-on to watch for free. Also, if you have Facebook, sign-up to join this ONLINE Event page.
What can we do once we have a decision?
Many credit the beginning of our modern LGBT movement to the Stonewall Riots on June 28, 1969 which started at one of New York's LGBT bars.
In that spirit we will gather Wednesday from 5-6pm at PT's 1109 (1109 Assembly Street, Columbia) to organize a march through the streets of Columbia.
- At 6pm, we will march up Gervais Street past the State House which continues to deny our equality.
- We will turn down Main Street where the first SC Pride March was held in 1990 and pass the county courthouse at 1701 Main Street where many loving same-sex couples have been denied marriage licenses in the past.
- We will end our march out front of Columbia's City Hall, one of the places in our state which has granted equality to our state's residents and visitors through inclusive Human Rights Ordinances.
- From there we invite you to return to PT's 1109 with us so that we can spend time together as a community, processing the court's decisions and brainstorming ways to move forward for South Carolina. PTs 1109 will be offering Happy Hour specials till 8pm.
The results of the court's ruling will signify if this will be a celebration march or a march to call for more equality. We will have posters and supplies for you to make your own signs if you'd like. We will adjust the message of our signs based on how the court rules so come early to get ready. If it rains, bring your umbrellas!
Things you can do on Wednesday:
• Wear RED to symbolize love and commitment of marriage equality
• Tell all your friends about the march and ask them to join you in support of equality
• Post this information to Facebook and Twitter so everyone will know about the march
• Remember no matter the outcome, we will march peacefully and respectfully
• If you belong to an organization or business, bring your signs and banners so that the public will know you support equality
• Change your Social Media profile image to reflect LGBT equality in South Carolina.
If you don't live in Columbia but are organizing an event in your town, post those events this page to share with other residents of South Carolina.
United we will stand no matter the decision and we will move forward to advance other issues of LGBT equality till Equal Means Everyone.
If you haven't already, be sure to sign-up for South Carolina Equality action alerts to stay updated on the cases. http://goo.gl/PYmPW
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
"breaking news?" Oh Cooper, wherefore art thou?"
Everybody always asks me why I'm a gay man who chose to move to South Carolina. There were practical reasons, of course, and I patiently explain those, and people expect those answers and move on. But those who want to get to know me ask me why I STAY in South Carolina. I tell them about our (Frank's & my) brief moment of "celebrity," having been a part of the historic move by Gavin Newsome to allow same-sex couples to marry in his fair city of San Francisco. The local gay media, upon finding out about it, interviewed Frank and I and ran a few articles about our experience. It was a happy and personal day for us, but sharing that experience with others gave it an even deeper meaning, knowing that it had the power to provide encouragement and hope.
Since Frank and I came to South Carolina, we have made no effort to hide our relationship in our jobs, our theatre community, the religious community we were affiliated with, or in our everyday lives.
I truly feel like Frank and I are decent examples that a loving, healthy relationship can survive and thrive in the "deep south," a claim backed by the fact that we have lived here since 2001. We merely live our lives, and yet the power of our example always draws comments from people about the quality of our relationship. We can honestly say we have a rich diversity of friends from both the gay and straight persuasion who accept us for who and what we are, and even welcome us.
I ask you, what better way to change minds and hearts than to live our lives openly and honestly amongst a community generally considered to be conservative and under-exposed to the GLBT community? I see lots of local heroes who deserve much more credit for their time and talents spent championing the GLBT community rights, health and visibility as activists and advocates.
Yet, recently I found myself a little torn about how I felt when the news "broke" that Anderson Cooper had come out as gay. OK, our community can use all the support it can get in our awareness campaigns and battle for equality - and yet I feel like Anderson Cooper deserves little right to hero-status for his "bravery" in coming out. He did nothing, in my perspective, except to take advantage of the ground work the real heroes have already laid to make life better for the GLBT community. He comes out now, when it's much safer, less risky, to do so.
After all, where was he during the "It Gets Better" movement to save lives of despairing teens - could his celebrity have been used as a voice to further that movement, or maybe even save one of those lives? Where was he when same sex marriage was topical in his own state - again, could his celebrity have been used to further that cause, to speak out against opposers?
I don't necessarily believe that he could have changed anything, but I do believe that persons who achieve celebrity status have a responsibility to use said celebrity to do good deeds for those less fortunate in their immediate community, especially if the plight of that community is at risk. I am unsympathetic to arguments that claim secrecy was necessary to maintain/build a career; unsympathetic to claims that "danger" would have befallen him in his rather privileged life - we ALL run those same risks and many of us thrive despite them.
All of this drives home in my mind the idea that it is SO important to be "out and proud," not in a outrageous way, but in a way that actually carries the power to change minds and hearts. Christine Johnson, The SC Equality Executive Director, puts it quite simply: "Say Yes!" - say yes to powerful examples of living your life open and proud in the hope that one conservative mind might be changed, that one depressed teenage life might be saved, that one disenchanted person might find validation in the eyes of a religion they hold dear, or in that one happy couple who might find financial or emotional relief knowing the legality of their relationship is not a question in the eyes of the law. Can one person do all this? Perhaps not - but we ALL can.
Since Frank and I came to South Carolina, we have made no effort to hide our relationship in our jobs, our theatre community, the religious community we were affiliated with, or in our everyday lives.
I truly feel like Frank and I are decent examples that a loving, healthy relationship can survive and thrive in the "deep south," a claim backed by the fact that we have lived here since 2001. We merely live our lives, and yet the power of our example always draws comments from people about the quality of our relationship. We can honestly say we have a rich diversity of friends from both the gay and straight persuasion who accept us for who and what we are, and even welcome us.
I ask you, what better way to change minds and hearts than to live our lives openly and honestly amongst a community generally considered to be conservative and under-exposed to the GLBT community? I see lots of local heroes who deserve much more credit for their time and talents spent championing the GLBT community rights, health and visibility as activists and advocates.
Yet, recently I found myself a little torn about how I felt when the news "broke" that Anderson Cooper had come out as gay. OK, our community can use all the support it can get in our awareness campaigns and battle for equality - and yet I feel like Anderson Cooper deserves little right to hero-status for his "bravery" in coming out. He did nothing, in my perspective, except to take advantage of the ground work the real heroes have already laid to make life better for the GLBT community. He comes out now, when it's much safer, less risky, to do so.
After all, where was he during the "It Gets Better" movement to save lives of despairing teens - could his celebrity have been used as a voice to further that movement, or maybe even save one of those lives? Where was he when same sex marriage was topical in his own state - again, could his celebrity have been used to further that cause, to speak out against opposers?
I don't necessarily believe that he could have changed anything, but I do believe that persons who achieve celebrity status have a responsibility to use said celebrity to do good deeds for those less fortunate in their immediate community, especially if the plight of that community is at risk. I am unsympathetic to arguments that claim secrecy was necessary to maintain/build a career; unsympathetic to claims that "danger" would have befallen him in his rather privileged life - we ALL run those same risks and many of us thrive despite them.
All of this drives home in my mind the idea that it is SO important to be "out and proud," not in a outrageous way, but in a way that actually carries the power to change minds and hearts. Christine Johnson, The SC Equality Executive Director, puts it quite simply: "Say Yes!" - say yes to powerful examples of living your life open and proud in the hope that one conservative mind might be changed, that one depressed teenage life might be saved, that one disenchanted person might find validation in the eyes of a religion they hold dear, or in that one happy couple who might find financial or emotional relief knowing the legality of their relationship is not a question in the eyes of the law. Can one person do all this? Perhaps not - but we ALL can.
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