Jared Polis celebrates the President's commitment to Diversity

Jared gave a great speech that noted how President Obama is unifier and hopes for an one America.

His vision for one America, one in which we can overcome our divisions to make our country greater, continues to be an enormous challenge to Washington, D.C., a town with professional pundits and pols, whose entire livelihood is never-ending partisan bickering.

But ladies and gentlemen, now is our chance to tell the dividers no, tell the special interests and cynical Washington insiders no, tell the lobbyists and PACs no, and tell our fellow countrymen and women, gay and straight, Christians, Jews, Mormons, Muslims and nonbelievers, rich and poor, black and white, Latino and Asian, east and west, north and south; it is time to tell them yes, together we are stronger, together we are better, together we are America.

He also spoke of the President's support of immigrants and the LGBT community:

That is why President Obama brought to Washington a vision for one America—an America in which we can overcome divisions of red and blue to make our country greater.

It is why he's fighting to make citizenship a reality for young immigrants who go to college or serve in our military. It is why he repealed "don't ask, don't tell," so that no person is prevented from serving the country they love because of whom they love. And it is why Barack Obama became the first sitting president in American history to show his personal support for same-sex marriage.

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Rep. Jared Polis is a Proud Daddy

The openly gay congressman is now a father of a little boy.

On Friday, Polis and his partner, Marlon Reis, sent out an announcement about the arrival of their son, Caspian Julius, who is 8 pounds, 12 ounces.


"Baby and parents are doing well, baby has learned to cry already! No gifts please, just nice thoughts for Caspian, humankind, the planet, and the universe!" read the announcement.


Polis and Reis have declined to comment on whether it was a surrogate pregnancy or an adoption.


“We are so thrilled for the congressman and his partner,” said Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council, an organization that advocates for LGBT families. “Little Caspian Julius is so lucky to have two wonderful and loving dads. On behalf of America’s growing number of LGBT parents, we want to send the family our warmest wishes.”

Congrats!

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Gay Representatives send an open letter to the LGBT Community

In a letter, Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin and Jared Polis reminds the LGBT Community how important this election is:

Dear Friends,

Elections matter.

Yes, we’ve all heard that simple phrase before – but so often we forget it. And as we stand on the doorstep of an election that will again decide the course of our government, our community is locked into an energetic and serious debate about how to engage, or whether to even engage at all in the midterm elections this November.

Why? Our community is frustrated with the pace of change. And as three LGBT Members of Congress, we share your frustration.  Despite this, an apathetic stance during such a critical time is fruitless.

We need not look too far into the past to see how inaction and
complacency truly pays us back.  Under Republican rule, we not only suffered from a lack of victories, but truly devastating setbacks. We all remember President Bush and the Republican Congress pushing for a Federal Marriage Amendment for political purposes and using our community as a wedge to advocate for state-wide marriage amendments across the nation. Republicans make no secret of their opposition to seemingly nonpartisan issues such as adoption by gay & lesbian couples despite the thousands of children in need of homes.

And we all remember federal agencies being told to ignore any grant request that said gay or LGBT, including grants for HIV/AIDS funding.

There has, indeed, been progress under the Obama Administration. In the 111th Congress, we passed the Matthew Shepherd and James Byrd Jr. Federal Hate Crimes Act, admittedly no small feat, while the State Department adopted inclusive passport procedures recognizing and accommodating our transgender brothers and sisters. Our voice was further strengthened when we achieved medical decision parity in America’s hospitals and strengthened polices that prevented discrimination against housing applicants based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Is it enough? No. The fight for equality is far from over. We face obstruction at every turn and it is incumbent upon us  to push harder to ensure swift action on the issues that affect us most.

Next month, the courageous and steadfast activism of the past year must be met by a vote cast on November 2nd. We ask that you look at your local ballot and scrutinize and measure candidates running for each seat. Which candidates do you see supporting issues that affect our community, which will champion our causes? Whether it is for employment non-discrimination, the repeal of DOMA or Federal Partnership benefits? Which candidates even believe LGBT issues merit space on their campaign website?

Elections matter. They matter to our country and to our community. We must go out and vote this November to ensure the forward momentum we have struggled for continues for our benefit and for that of future generations of LGBT individuals.

Sincerely,

Representatives:
Barney Frank
Tammy Baldwin
Jared Polis

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WTFrak Moments in Last Week's Gay Rights Stuff

Last week we saw some interesting steps in the Gay Rights movement. However, there are some things that gave me a WTF moment from this events.

Much to ado about a Face- Kerry Eleveld and several others talked about the "DARK ANGER" in Obama's face when he was heckled here in L.A. It's interesting that so many assumptions are drawn from this, or the belief his frown is a sign a change.


Dan Choi believing Robert Gibbs forced the media away from GetEQUAL protest in D.C.- He tweeted this odd statement: "Press Sec'y Gibbs was in park; park closed. Rookie cop? We got names. Stay tuned. Gibbs muzzle press."
Uh, okay. But Gibbs doesn't have that type of power. In fact, Gibbs was going to lunch, so that conspiracy theory should die.

Robin McGehee's crazy ass rant at Jared Polis over ENDA. Remember, he's on our side, Robin!


Remixing Obama's SOTU address- Obama said this about DADT in his State of the Union address:

"This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are. It's the right thing to do."

But somewhere that statement turned into, Obama was repealing DADT this year. Now, when I heard that statement, I didn't get "this year", I heard "will work to repeal it this year". Now all of a sudden, folks are claiming that Obama lied and betrayed us. Really? Maybe folks' perceptions betrayed them.

GetEQUAL- I saw these people at the Sen. Boxer's rally, and all I can say is "whoa". I'm concerned that this group will tarnished some things. So far, they just make folks mad instead of making changes.

Interesting Quote: Rep. Jared Polis

We have the votes to pass ENDA in the House and we hope to bring it before the committee I serve on – the Education Labor Committee – within the month – by the end of April. And then, once it passes the committee, it shouldn’t take more than a couple of weeks – a week or two – to schedule it for the floor. It’s just a scheduling matter.

We think we would have passed it by now if it wasn’t for healthcare taking up much of the workload of our committee.

I don’t know about the Senate – but in the House, we expect to pass out substantially. It has substantial support. The Senate requires 60 votes so it’s a matter of getting some Republican moderates to support it.

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Jared Polis gives us Real Talk about LGBT legislation

Congressman Jared Polis talks about the of LGBT state of affairs with Bilerico Project Editor-In-Chief, Bil Browning.

Something that got me was Jared's point about DOMA. He said in order to erase DOMA we need to win marriage equality in more states.

This was real talk. A great discussion.

Baldwin and Polis says We are Close to Passing LGBT friendly Bills

Okay, some good Sunday news. LGBT faves, Tammy Baldwin and Jared Polis revealed some hopeful info:

Speaking at an international conference in San Francisco today, Baldwin and Polis said the House is set to pass bills to provide health coverage for the same-sex partners of gay federal workers and to protect all gay and transgender employees from job discrimination. They said they expect a domestic partner benefits bill to come up for a vote by the end of the year and the employment bill to reach the floor early in 2010.

Baldwin and Polis said they are were also confident that the House will include a provision in the military spending bill to repeal the Clinton-era "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", which prohibits LGBT people from serving in the U.S. military. Both Baldwin and Polis said all three measures may face an uphill battle following the passing of gay rights pioneer Sen. Edward Kennedy, but they remain optiimistic.

They also reminded folks to lobby Congress to speed up the process for passing DOMA, DADT and ENDA. It's a measure we need to take up in order to succeed in our battles.

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Today... DOMA repeal!

Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Tammy Baldwin and Jared Polis made that move on DOMA today

First step, big step.

Interesting Quote: Jared Polis

"Sexual orientation has been a non-issue in our district. ...If any of my opponents tried to raise it, it would backfire."