Opinion Nov. 2 | Gay San Diego

This election, it?s about taxes and jobs for LGBT community

By Mark Segal, Philadelphia Gay News publisher

Taxes. Could you imagine a Jew or Catholic voting for a candidate who was opposed to Catholics marrying Jews, or interracial marriage? Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney says marriage is for one man and one women, not you, and goes on to say that if elected, he will use his office to keep the Defense of Marriage Act in force, denying you more than 1,000 basic rights, including tax rights. Taxes are an LGBT issue. Romney will deny you your tax rights, and Obama will fight to get you the same tax relief heterosexual married couples already have.

Jobs. Can you imagine the African-American voter voting for a man who would not voice his opinion on their right not to face employment discrimination? Well, Romney states that non-discrimination is a state?s right, and refuses to endorsee the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, which would stop discrimination against the LGBT community. Jobs are an LGBT issue and Romney, by refusing to publicly speak up, is anti-LGBT nondiscrimination.

Economy. When LGBT health, youth and senior organizations receive federal funding to supply needed services to our community, those organizations spend dollars in our community to provide everything from medicine to shelters. That is millions of dollars of LGBT economic empowerment. Romney has offered no LGBT economic program for the LGBT community. Economics is an LGBT issue.

Women?s health. Most of this campaign has been devoted to women?s health issues, and recent studies indicate that lesbian women are more at risk for breast cancer than heterosexual women. One way to combat breast cancer is through mammograms. Romney will cut funding to the largest provider of mammograms in the nation, Planned Parenthood. He has not even spoken word one on LGBT health issues. Women?s health is an LGBT issue. Romney, by his silence, is against your health.

Family and Childcare. Family values have been an issue in this race. As he sought to become governor of Massachusetts, a state that legalized marriage equality, Romney promised to treat the LGBT family?s with dignity. However, Romney refused to allow birth certificates for children of LGBT couples to list both parents. Family and childcare is an LGBT issue. Romney?s action was heartless and insensitive to children.

Voting rights. While the Obama administration has championed a host of trans issues, Romney hasn?t even uttered the word ?transgender.? But he does have a record. He?s supported the new Republican-sponsored voter registration laws that have sprang up in 29 states, many of which would make it almost impossible for a transperson to vote. Voting rights is an LGBT issue.

Public safety. The first job of any president is to secure the safety of all Americans. Romney has opposed the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in hate-crimes laws. Romney does not care about your safety. Public safety is an LGBT issue.

Bullying. While the presidential candidate speaks up against bullying, he has not endorsed a single piece of legislation anywhere in the nation that deals with bullying. And, as a student, he personally bullied a fellow student who was believed to be gay. What did he do? While the other boy was held down by Romney?s friends, Romney pulled out scissors and cut his hair. Was it a spur-of-the-moment act as he has said? How many people walk around with a pair of scissors?

President Obama has done the most for LGBT equality than any other president in our nation?s history, better than all of the other presidents combined. If you?re voting for jobs, vote for the man who will not discriminate against you or your community. If you are voting for tax equality, there is only one candidate. If you are voting for public security, there is only one candidate. If you want to vote with your head held high and with pride, there?s only one vote: President Barack Obama.

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The Center leads community effort to turn out ?Equality Voters?

By Amber Cyphers Stephens, The LGBT Community Center director of communications

The San Diego LGBT Community Center is in the home stretch of its Equality Voters campaign, an effort to identify, educate and empower Equality Voters.

Just what is an Equality Voter?

?Equality Voters are not single-issue voters: they care about many different policy and political issues,? said Dr. Delores A. Jacobs, CEO of The Center. ?As they prepare to vote, they also bring with them a commitment to ensuring fundamental fairness and dignity for themselves and for their family, friends, neighbors and co-workers.?

Jacobs continued: ?For Equality Voters, equality is not the only issue, but it is a threshold issue, and perhaps one of the most important things about Equality Voters is that they do actually get out and vote. Our votes do make a difference in elections at all levels,? she said.

?To me an Equality Voter is someone who believes in social justice for everyone,? said Denise Serrano, The Center?s director of public affairs and civic engagement. ?I don?t see it as just being the LGBT community. There are these multiple intersections ? color, gender, nationality, environmental issues ? sometimes they all intersect in one person. But exercising that right to vote is imperative.?

In recent years, The Center has engaged in voter registration and voter turnout efforts. ?At The Center, we are non-partisan and non-candidate focused, so we are offered a unique opportunity to just encourage people to exercise their right to vote. We are excited to be working with Environmental Health Coalition, Equality Alliance, San Diego Pride, North County LGBTQ Resource Center, GSDBA and others to energize our whole community to vote.?

Serrano said that she and volunteers who are on the phone and walking San Diego neighborhoods continue to hear a familiar refrain, one they are working tirelessly to change.

?We still hear people saying, ?My vote doesn?t matter.? There is still an apathy or a helplessness or just a disillusionment with the process,? Serrano said. ?We were really able to counteract that on the day of the Pride parade. We had 100 volunteers out in teams of 10, and they were up and down that parade route as part of a massive effort to register voters and get Equality Voters pledge cards signed. Our volunteers still heard, ?It?s just one vote,? but they were able to turn around and say, ?Look, there?s 200,000 of us here. If everyone here votes for equality, that?s a huge impact.? People understood that.?

Those volunteer teams, out in force in bright orange T-shirts, have also been at several other community events, on the phone and out in local clubs to register voters and to get them to sign the Equality Voters pledge card, a card that ultimately gets mailed back to them to remind them of their pledge and to vote.

?When people get back that pledge card, it increases the likelihood that they will indeed turn out to vote,? Serrano said.

Volunteers are vital to this effort. They are phone banking at least three times a week until Election Day, Nov. 6. In addition, The Center?s front desk staff and volunteers have been trained and can register voters as well.

?So many people have been turned off by the negative politics of things they hear,? Serrano said. ?By not having any partisan or candidate focus, we can truly focus and emphasize the process: how empowering an experience it is to walk into a voting booth and have a say in the direction we all go in.?

And that is exactly the point.

?We have made tremendous gains because people have been active, because people have knocked on doors,? Serrano said. ?We can?t afford to be complacent. There is so much on the line for us.?

It?s not too late to join in the effort. To get involved, or for more information, contact Serrano at 619-692-2077 x103 or via email at dserrano@thecentersd.org.

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Getting over campaign negativity: volunteer to make a difference in your community

By Benjamin Nicholls, Hillcrest Business Association executive director

It?s the political silly season out there. With only a couple of days left before San Diego elects a new mayor, local newspapers and political organizations are digging up any wafer-thin reason to argue why their guy is better than the other guy. As with other local elections, this year I?ve seen that politicians and their surrogates have no qualms making neighborhood volunteers, activists and organizations into campaign fodder.

I am sick of the ?fair and balanced? journalism from some publications and the negativity that the political season creates. When I get the campaign blues, I focus on getting involved in community projects. The Hillcrest Business Association?s projects are volunteer-run, and our goal is to improve the neighborhood.

That?s it, no politics and no hidden motives!

This season, HBA volunteers have been focusing on new projects and new events, which have raised thousands of dollars for the community. Just a couple of weeks ago, outgoing HBA Board President Nick Moede and Special Events Committee Chair Johnathan Hale presented a check to San Diego LGBT Pride for almost $24,000 from proceeds raised at the first Pride of Hillcrest Block Party.

Next month the HBA will partner with San Diego?s transgender community to fly their pride flag for the Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20. We?ll raise the United States Flag on Veterans Day. Our landmark flag pole is becoming a wonderful symbol of the diversity of Hillcrest.

The HBA is also gearing up for the holiday season. Our many volunteers on our marketing committee, such as Amy Capano from Cathedral, Ann Callahan from Hillcrest House, Matt Harding from the GSDBA and Johnathan Hale from Hale Media,? are busy planning the annual holiday restaurant walk, Hillcrest Taste ?n? Tinis, and our annual shop local campaign, SHOP Hillcrest for the Holidays.

This year we?re also planning new decorations for the neighborhood, hoping to install beautiful wreaths on the Hillcrest Sign. That project is coming from the HBA?s beautification committee, lead by Cecelia Moreno from the Crest Caf? with others including Nick Papantonakis from Snooze Eatery, Nancy Younan from Hillcrest Shell and Michael Brennan from Urban Green.

So if the campaign season is getting you down, I have the perfect cure: volunteer for your local business association. Get involved in a neighborhood committee. We?ve got some great projects coming up.

Find out when our committees meet by visiting hillcrestbia.org or by calling 619-299-3330. It?s the best way to deal with the negativity of the campaign season while making a real difference in your community.

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Source: http://www.gay-sd.com/opinion-nov-2/

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