Tuesday, February 23, 2010

DON'T LET HIMBO "AMERICA'S WORST GOVERNOR" GIBBONS TAKE YOUR CIVIL RIGHTS AWAY FROM YOU!


I know what you're thinking.

Really.

I swear.

You're thinking that Nevada's adulterous dolt of a Governor, Jim "Hi, I'm, hiccup, the Governor. Need a walk to your car?" Gibbons couldn't go any lower.

Actually, no one would think that.

No.

One.

After doing all he can to make sure that our educational system makes the deep south look like Harvard.

And Yale.

Combined.

Himbo has decided that in addition to that pesky learnin', you also can do without your civil rights.

How's that back of the bus thingy going for you?

You're about to find out.

Soon.

UNLESS.

You demand your representatives stop Zirconia Jim from decimating yet another feature of our state, Civil Rights.

Check out the following and get on your "Internets" and demand that your rep stop ole frisky pants in his tracks.

Now.


One of many things on the chopping block at this week's special session is NERC, Nevada's Equal Rights Commission. Governor Gibbons has proposed that this agency - responsible for enforcement of Nevada's civil rights and anti-discrimination laws be eliminated entirely. This proposal is not acceptable. It would have dire consequences for civil rights across the board, especially for LGBT rights.

* Eliminating NERC would make the passage of SB207, the bill that provided protection against discrimination in places of public accommodation based on sexual orientation, meaningless. SB207 provided that NERC had authority to investigate and pursue these complaints - without NERC, there is no enforcement mechanism and no relief for victims of anti-gay discrimination.
* It would also be meaningless to try to pass the new state protections for Transgender people and women we'd all like to see, because there would be no state agency to enforce them. LGBT rights are not enshrined in federal law, so the parallel federal agency, the EEOC, cannot enforce employment and public accommodation protections.
* This is not just a severe danger for LGBT rights: NERC extends important resources that the EEOC is simply too overburdened to grant to Nevadans who have claims that include sex discrimination in employment, or racial discrimination in places of public accommodation. For example, the EEOC provides mediation services and factual investigation. In terms of mediation in particular, this is a critical informal method of resolving employment and public accommodation discrimination claims - frequently without going to state court. The elimination of NERC would undoubtedly lead to more filings in state court - which of course should be weighed in any serious cost savings analysis.

The ACLU believes that NERC serves a truly important place in our state, as an expression of our state's public policy against discrimination in employment and places of public acommodation. Getting NERC into place was the result of years of civil rights advocacy; we can't let things move backwards.

NERC sends the message to Nevadans -- and visitors to Nevada -- that this is a state that values all its citizens and vistors. Please join with us in calling on legislators to resist attempts to balance the budget at the expense of our civil rights. Call or email your legislators now!

Here is contact information for some of the Nevada Legislature's leaders:

Steven Horsford, Senate Majority Leader: shorsford@sen.state.nv.us
Bill Raggio, Senate Minority Leader: wraggio@sen.state.nv.us
Barbara Buckley, Speaker of the Nevada State Assembly: barbara@barbarabuckley.com
John Oceguera, Assembly Majority Floor Leader: joceguera@asm.state.nv.us
Heidi Gansert, Assembly Minority Leader: hgansert@asm.state.nv.us


And here's a link that you can use to figure out who your legisltors are: http://mapserve.leg.state.nv.us/website/lcb/viewer.htm

Monday, February 8, 2010

An Open Letter Of Thanks to Members of Stonewall 2.0 (Stonewall Democratic Club of Southern Nevada)




Dear Fellow Members of the new Stonewall 2.0,

I wanted to take a moment and thank you all for helping to make Stonewall Democrats of Southern Nevada a rising star in the Nevada political theater. Together over the last few months, since I have been fortunate enough to have been at first Vice Chair and then Chairman, we have added new members at an amazing rate and managed to almost (if not) double our club's bank account.

More importantly than numbers, we have become a family. One of the things about being a Gay man is that I am quite well aware that we in the LGBT community often can't take for granted that our natural families will welcome us as who we are. Often times, we must go out into the world and find people who share our interests, our highs and our lows. People we can count on in times of need who don't judge us because of who we are. Rather than find that sad, I feel that all of us in Stonewall have chosen to be with people that we want to be around. We actually got to choose our “family”. I have to say that I am more than happy that in addition to my own loving natural family, I have managed to find a second family that I truly am happy being a part of.

Stonewall is a home for any and all progressive Democrats regardless of gender, race, faith or sexual orientation or identification. I have made a very strong effort to ensure that the Stonewall board is the most diverse political board in Nevada and I feel I am well on my way to achieving the goals that I have set as a personal challenge in that regard. I am proud of us for all pulling together for the good of our party and our club and proving that diversity can be achieved with a concerted effort.

I hope you will all continue to think of Stonewall as not only your home, but, also as an incubator for fresh ideas and ways of getting the progressive message out as we head into what promises to be a make or break election. We must take back America from those who hate what our country stands for. We must continue to help our candidates, such as Senator Harry Reid, for without great men and women like him, we are (insert Dina Titus Quote here).

Our next meeting will be a laboratory of new ideas and exercises to, hopefully, help improve our preferred candidates performance in front of the media. I am sure we will make some more waves like our Stonewall Straw Poll did this past month. Our profile is on an upward trajectory and therefore so is the political profile and power of the LGBT and Progressive groups working towards victory in 2010. We will be a force from now on, there is no holding us back.

I hope you are all having a good time and I welcome any questions you may have or suggestions to improve Stonewall 2.0. I also would like you all to take time at our next meeting to meet and speak to all of our greatly expanded board after they take a bow for all of the hard work they are doing behind the scenes.

Thank you so much for having me as your Chairman,

Derek Washington

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

STONEWALL DEMOCRATS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA STRAW POLL RESULTS





Contact: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Laura Martin

Director of Communications

Stonewall Democratic Club of Southern Nevada

702-292-1279

laurakmmartin@gmail.com

STONEWALL DEMOCRATS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA HOLD FIRST DEMOCRATIC STRAW POLL OF 2010



Monday February 1st, the Stonewall Democratic Club of Southern Nevada held an informal straw poll during its general membership meeting in Las Vegas, at the Satay Malaysian Grille.



While this is the first straw poll of the 2010 midterm elections, it will not be the last. Several other Democratic clubs have planned their own straw polls for their membership meetings.



The straw poll was conducted by secret ballot. Ballots were counted by two Stonewall board members, and the count was observed by a member of the Clark County Democratic Party executive board.


RESULTS:


US Senate: Harry Reid 96.2% uncommitted 3.8%



Congressional District 1: Shelley Berkley 100%



Congressional District 2: Dean Heller 7.6% Democratic challenger 77% uncommitted 15.4%



Congressional District 3: Dina Titus 92% uncommitted 8%



Governor: Rory Reid 96.2% uncommitted 3.8%



Lt. Governor: Paul Murad 73.1% Robert Randazzo 7.9% uncommitted 19%



Commission District G: Greg Espisito 46% David Parks 42% uncommitted 12%


If a candidate is not listed, it is because they received 0% or no votes. In no way are these results to be construed as officially sanctioned or as an endorsement of any one candidate.


The straw poll is just one of the many ways Stonewall will engage its members and candidates as we move closer to primary and general elections this year. Stonewall continues to foster change by "educating the LGBT community about the differences between the political parties; mobilizing the LGBT community to get out to vote on Election Day for fair-minded Democrats; and standing up when Republicans attack our families and our civil rights while we lead the Democratic party to continue improving its record on issues important to our community." *



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If you'd like more information about our straw poll and the results, please contact Laura Martin 702-292-1279 or email laurakmmartin@gmail.com


*http://www.stonewalldemocrats.org/about/who