Equality Goals Priorities
What are the priorities for achieving the Equality Goals? What do you think? What can be achieved in the next two years?
WHAT A SURVEY SHOWS
A survey conducted by Patrick Egan, Murray Edelman, and Kenneth Sherrill presents new discoveries about LGB identity, political attitudes, and civic engagement (pdf file). Among the many interesting results, note the priorities for LGB rights by age (see chart below), as well as by the level of information of the people taking the survey (second chart). The rights that they highlight match the Equality Goals (with the addition of AIDS funding). Note that their survey did not include transgender individuals. Our Equality Goals and eQualityGiving are transgender inclusive.
WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS
Beyond the wishes expressed in this survey, what is politically achievable? By when?
We believe that all Equality Goals are achievable in a few years---and several of them within the next two years. The order in which they can be achieved depends on a multitude of factors.
What we can expect:
- Passage of an inclusive Hate Crimes bill and signed into law in the first six months of 2009.
- Passage of the Employment Non Discrimination Act and signed into bill in the first six months of 2009. If the community remains united, this bill can, and should, be inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.
- Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell by early 2010.
- Repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act by early 2010. The community will have to fight to ensure that the whole DOMA is repealed.
- Passage of legislation to provide equality to all married couples, whether heterosexual or homosexual. Repeal of DOMA is not enough and several federal statues need also to be changed since some rights and obligations of marriage at the federal level depend on the marriage to be legal in the state where the couple resides, not where the marriage took place.
- Passage of federal anti-bullying/anti-harassment legislation to keep schools safe for all students and enumerating, in particular, sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.
- Marriage equality is likely to advance significantly in the next 2 years. Several states are very likely to pass legislation for marriage equality in 2009. All the states in New England are expected to pass legislation for marriage equality in the next four years.
All of these gains will only come through a clear understanding of the political and legal process and our willingness to invest the time and money to affect it. This includes electing pro equality candidates at the federal, state, and local levels as well as educating conservative Democrat and moderate Republican elected officials about voting for equality (and reassuring them that their seats are not in jeopardy for voting that way --- or, alternatively, that we are committed to defeat elected officials who are anti equality).
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Your thoughtful comments about strategy are welcome below.
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