Tammy Baldwin and Tommy Thompson Debate on Gay Marriage

Here is a piece of the debate between Tammy Baldwin and Tommy Thompson.


Watch the entire debate after the jump

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

source

Barney Frank: ENDA vote is coming soon

According to Barney Frank, the ENDA vote will be coming in the next couple of weeks (I hope).

Metroweekly has the scoop:

Frank, speaking to Metro Weekly after his appearance at the Victory Fund's annual Champagne Brunch, said the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) – currently in the House Education and Labor Committee – has been ''promised'' a quick vote in the full House by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) once the bill leaves committee.

Noting that he's been speaking to Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) ''constantly,'' Frank said of the ENDA mark-up, ''It will be this week or next week.''

As both he and Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) have said previously, Frank reiterated that he expected a floor vote to follow the expected committee passage in short order. ''The speaker has promised that,'' Frank said. ''We will get this done fairly quickly.''

I hope so. But until then, we should start contacting our congressmen to support and pass ENDA.

Barney and Tammy moving forward on DADT and ENDA

Interesting news from Barney Frank and Tammy Baldwin about ENDA & DADT.

Rep. Frank said in a phone interview Monday that he does not believe the increased rancor between Democrats and Republicans [over the health reform bill] will jeopardize passage of ENDA. He noted he recently picked up another Republican co-sponsor for the bill because the representative had received a visit from a couple of gay constituents.

Frank said he told Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee, “Now, it’s our turn.”

Meanwhile Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) told the San Diego Gay & Lesbian News the House has the votes to pass both ENDA and the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” ”As someone who has actually counted the votes, I believe that there are [enough],” Baldwin said.

Asked whether the LGBT community can expect a vote on ENDA and DADT this year even though midterm elections are coming up, Baldwin said, “We want the votes [taken] as soon as possible.”

“Certainly there are members of Congress who are nervous because of the economy, the rate of joblessness,” she said. “Across the country, people are agitated. On the other hand, my constituents want to see bolder and quicker change, and so I actually see positive signs to follow through [on DADT and ENDA].”

No Need to Panic about Obama's Health Care Proposal

So, there are a few folks up in arms about how Obama left out LGBT provisions in Health Care Bill.

But if these folks actually read closely, they will learn something different.

I will try to provide some perspective.

• The bill is NOT a bill. This is a proposal, so this is not set in stone.

• The proposal calls for $11 billion for ''the operation, expansion, and construction of community health centers", this can cover AIDS/HIV education, testing and follow-up.

• Rep. Tammy Baldwin has been working of the LGBT provisions. She is still working with Obama on those provisions. So they are not abandon as some may think.

• This proposal is not solely Obama's, this mostly comes from the Senate earlier bill proposal.

''The President's proposal assumes the base Senate bill,'' said Shin Inouye, a spokesman for the White House with LGBT media. But Inouye pointed out that the president's proposal does include ''data collection.''

• "Data Collection" is still included. This means that the collection of data about ''sexual orientation'' and ''gender identity'' could help match health issues and the need for programs for the people involved.

We are not abandoned, in fact, they are still working on several issues besetting the future bill. But what really bothers me is how some folks jumped the gun.

On Twitter, gay folks were passing tweets like, "Obama cheats us again on HCR". When I asked them to elaborate, their responses were, that he betrayed us or I got it from Pam's blog.

So, I read Autumn Sandeen's post: Our "Fierce Advocate" Not Being Fierce Again. She only included a part of the info and nothing about this being a draft, what's actually in the proposal or how this is a work in progress.

I'm really seeing the malarkey here. If you're going to talk about it, then talk about it. Please don't use Fox News-styled tactics to prove a point that nonexistent. There's no reason to blame Obama or to stir up salt and water and call it soup.

And more thing, we should look deeper into any matter involving LGBT right. Seeing how folks just passed this tweet on, without fully reading it or understanding it is unacceptable. We can not let our frustrations lead us into ignorance. We have to challenge each other as much as we challenge the Obama Administration.

I'm not trying to be preachy, but I'm tired of some of our LGBT fam falling for this panic mode of thinking. Hell, we are acting like teabaggers! Let's not go there.

source

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.

source

Today... DOMA repeal!

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

First step, big step.