2009 Oscars Acceptance Speech: Dustin Lance Black, Best Screenplay, Milk:
DUSTIN LANCE BLACK:
When I was 13 years old my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California, and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life. It gave me the hope that one day I could live my life openly as who I am and maybe even I could fall in love and one day get married.
I want to thank my mom who has always loved me for who I am even when there was pressure not to.
But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there who have been told that they are "less than" by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures that have value. And that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you. And that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally across this great nation of ours.
Thank you, thank you, and thank you God for giving us Harvey Milk.
And here's Sean Penn accepting his Oscar for Best Actor, Milk:
SEAN PENN:
For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, and, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren’s eyes if they continue that way of support. We’ve got to have equal rights for everyone.
America Forever !! Yeah, those guys. They're back:
And so is Chris Buttars !! And unapologetic to boot:
In any case, here's that 9:30 a.m. MST press conference:
And a second version of the same 9:30 a.m. MST press conference:
Senator Buttars responds to today's events:
"I was disappointed to learn of the Utah State Senates censure on February 20, 2009. However, this action will not discourage me from defending marriage from an increasingly vocal and radical segment of the homosexual community.
In recent years, registering opposition to the homosexual agenda has become almost impossible. Political correctness has replaced open and energetic debate. Those who dare to disagree with the homosexual agenda are labeled "haters" and "bigots," and are censured by their peers.
The media contributes to the problem. Increasingly, individuals with conservative beliefs are targeted by a left leaning media that uses their position of public trust as a bully pulpit. This pattern of intimidation suppresses free speech.
For the record, I do not agree with the censure. I see it as an attempt to shy away from controversy. In particular, I disagree with my removal as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, since my work there is entirely unrelated to my opposition to the homosexual agenda.
Still, I'm a grown man and I can take my knocks. When it comes right down to it, I would rather be censured for doing what I think is right, than be honored by my colleagues for bowing to the pressure of a special interest group that has been allowed to act with impunity.
Thanks to the many citizens who have written and called to express their support. Please know that I'll live through this to fight another day. In years to come, we'll all look back at this point in history and see it as a crossroads. I have no intention of resigning."
And the Mormon church weighs in:
“From the outset, the Church’s position has always been to engage in civil and respectful dialogue on this issue. Senator Buttars does not speak for the Church.”
Utah's Fox13: Utah Senator Chris Buttars is a Liar
Utah Rep. Christine Johnson rocks. Utah Sen. Chris Buttars? Not so much.
Utah Senator Chris Buttars: Bigmouth Strikes Again
Jacob Whipple rocks. Utah Sen. Chris Buttars? Not so much.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Businesses in Utah will continue to be allowed to fire someone for being gay.
A House committee voted down a bill 5-8 Tuesday that would have made discriminating against someone in the workplace based on sexual orientation or gender identity illegal.
House Bill 267 also would have made it illegal for landlords to discriminate against gay and transgender people.
The bill was part of a package of bills called the Common Ground Initiative being promoted by the gay rights group Equality Utah that Gov. Jon Huntsman supports.
This is the second bill in the initiative that has died in a committee.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Gayle Ruzicka and Karen Merkley persuade Utah legislature to block another Common Ground bill:
Next door, LaVar Christensen and Stan Rasmussen persuade Utah to block child adoption by unmarried couples:
And a worthy round-up:
Not to be outdone, Chris Buttars weighs in (audio):
Getting back to Gayle, here's something that I found interesting: the list of members of the 'Utah Coalition for Traditional Families' that lined up against fairness and equality this time around (this is their list, not mine):
Citizens for Principled Government
Sutherland Institute
Pacific Justice Institute
Marriage Law Foundation
Utah Eagle Forum Utah Federation of Republican Women
Utah County Republican Women
United Women's Forum
United Families Utah
Citizens for Families
Latter-day Patriot Foundation
Citizens for Strong Families
Family First Foundation
Lifeline Community Church
World Class Education
Standard of Liberty
CEAG
Constitutional Defense of Marriage Alliance
Utah Republican Coalition for Life
Utah Families
America Forever Principled Liberty Foundation
LifeLines Family Services Inc
Kimber Academy
Citizens for Tax Fairness
Defend Utah Values PAC
Citizens for Better Education
Utah Republican Assembly
The Home Feeling
Amazing. Hate group America Forever is included on their list.
Apparently, the only thing you're allowed to flaunt in Utah is the law.
America Forever broke Utah law with their recent ad that ran in the Utah papers seeking donations.
They broke the law. That's indisputable. We are all witnesses to the crime.
When State Commerce Department Director Francine Giani was asked by The Salt Lake Tribune this week if she would do anything about the anti-gay group America Forever for spending and soliciting money even though its registration as a nonprofit had lapsed, she said she didn't want to ding the group, but would send it a "cordial" letter.
Good grief. You break the law in Utah, and the only consequence is a friendly note from the folks who are paid to enforce the rules?
How many people have to notice before Dept. of Commerce Dir. Francine Giani decides to do her job? Does she even know what her job is?
Complaints: fgiani@utah.gov
Utah's Fox13 reports and confirms that Chris Buttars is a liar:
And if you're not acquainted with Gayle, please, please go read this.
I suspect Gayle also knows how and why it is that a fringe outfit like America Forever suddenly has the funds available to pay for full-page ads in the Utah press.
And hey, today (Feb. 17) is Matthew Fenn Hilton's 55th birthday! Happy Birthday, Matt! I'd love to hear your thoughts on my speculation that somebody dusted off this "America Forever" group, gave them a quick injection of funds, and is now deploying them in a PR scheme designed to improve public perception of the Eagle Forum's anti-gay rhetoric by making it suddenly sound less extreme when compared to the undiluted hate speech coming from America Forever.
In the meantime, I'll be dropping related links below the video clips.
Fast forward to the 1:00 mark to catch a glimpse of the America Forever crew:
Skip to the 1:37 mark to see more of America Forever in action:
And they show up here around the 0:30 mark:
Beyond sharing attorneys, the minutes of Utah senate and house committee hearings place America Forever and Eagle Forum together in the room speaking for the same side. In some instances, these two groups were the only people in the room speaking for their side. These folks know each other very well:
And beyond the Matthew Hilton connection, and their shared appearances at state legislative committee hearings, America Forever and Eagle Forum share this tactic:
... neither [Gayle] nor the Eagle Forum register as lobbyists. Once in 1998, Eagle Forum attorney Matthew Hilton registered—once. The law requires registration not only if you disburse money, but if you intend to influence legislation. The lieutenant governor’s office, however, says they’d have to have a complaint to act.
The incorporation papers for [America Forever] have since lapsed. But that didn't stop the Rodrigues family from placing a full-page ad in both of Salt Lake City's daily newspapers Sunday -- price tag: about $15,000 ... America Forever asks for donations. And part of me hopes they get them. For one thing, it's illegal for a nonprofit whose many registrations with the State Department of Commerce have lapsed -- the last time in 2007 -- to take money and use it for political purposes.
If nobody's gonna complain, if Utah's Dept. of Commerce is not going to enforce its own rules, perhaps, at least, someone local might summon the temerity to ask Gayle to comment on America Forever and that ad of theirs, ask her how well she knows Sandra Rodrigues, ask her who first introduced her to Sandra, ask them if they're happy so far with the audience reaction to their latest bit of political kabuki.
Follow this story over the coming days. How many times do you think we'll see quotes from otherwise anti-gay Utah legislators denouncing America Forever? Plenty. They're going to be lining up to distance themselves in the press from America Forever. In fact, it's already begun. Here's one of them speaking to The Salt Lake Tribune:
"Herriman Republican Rep. Carl Wimmer blocked America Forever from bringing its posters to a rally last week. 'They make a lot of us look bad,' he says."
Nonsense, Carl. They make you look good. And you've had a hard time making yourself look good ever since Gov. Huntsman came out in favor of civil unions, haven't you?
But here's the deal: Right now is as good as it gets for you.
If you're Utah Eagle Forum, Gayle Ruzicka, Sutherland Institute, Jeff Reynolds, Paul Mero, or any of the other usual suspects, this latest report from KSL has got to have you worried for your jobs. Here's KSL (Mormon-owned KSL!), delivering the news about the latest KSL-commissioned polling:
47% of Utahns favor civil unions.
80% of Utahns approve of their civil-union approving governor.
Right now is as good as it gets ... for you. For the rest of us, it only gets better.
Except for America Forever. For them, things are going to get worse pretty quickly now.
It's time for all Utahns to remind their Department of Commerce Director Francine Giani that she's paid by your taxes to do her job, not ignore a crime to which we are now all witness: America Forever's ad broke Utah law.
Does the law matter in Utah? Or is it all just who you know?
I'm curious and I intend to email Francine Giani at fgiani@utah.gov and ask her to explain.
I'd suggest y'all do the same.
Paul Rolly, SL Trib columnist, weighs in about Giani:
When State Commerce Department Director Francine Giani was asked by The Salt Lake Tribune this week if she would do anything about the anti-gay group America Forever for spending and soliciting money even though its registration as a nonprofit had lapsed, she said she didn't want to ding the group, but would send it a "cordial" letter.
That sounds like a different Giani than the one who, as director of the Division of Consumer Services nine years ago, sent a threatening letter to then-Attorney General Jan Graham, who raised $4,000 for her "Beagle Forum" to counter the ultra-conservative Eagle Forum. Graham argued it was a political account and exempt from charitable organization rules, just like then-Gov. Mike Leavitt's political accounts (he was not hassled by Giani, who, by the way, had been the campaign manager of Graham's Republican opponent, Scott Burns).
Apparently, the only thing you're allowed to flaunt in Utah are the rules.
And a few random thoughts from my side: Opponents of the Common Ground Initiative will increasingly turn to appeals to nativism to justify their opposition to measures that most Utahns would likely consider innocuous and that nearly as many Utahns would probably find so commonsensical and fair as to wonder why they'd not been implemented earlier. To counter such apparent reasonableness on the part of pro-equality forces, a campaign will be waged to paint the proponents of the CGI as transplants, imports, aliens - or worse, Californians - bringing hidden agendas and extravagant lifestyles. Among the initial responses to this campaign will be understandable howls of indignation from Utah activists at such an undeserved characterization, but the sad fact is that the contest will be lost before it's begun if it winds up being fought solely on the ground - on the sacred ground - of defending local identity.
"We're Utahns, too" isn't going to cut it. Rather, the case needs to be made for why and how modest progress toward finding common ground now will translate into substantial benefits for the entire state later. To that end, local activists should increase their outreach to national organizations and constituencies with any ability to lend a hand, and not allow the confrontation to devolve into a family squabble in the face of nativist posturing by Chris Buttars, Gayle Ruzicka, LaVar Christensen and the like, who've already begun to exploit your instinctive urge to prove your Utah bona fides.
Don't be drawn in. This is about Utah's political leadership proving its American bona fides.
And speaking of leadership and bona fides, my initial impression of Sutherland Institute President Paul Mero is that he's a bonafide nutcase.
That is, until I started reading several of Paul's speeches, and realized that we actually agree on the absurdity of expending political energy to deny a powerful force of attraction that we all know exists. As Paul notes:
"We might wish away gravity; indeed, we might create a whole political movement toward that end."
But that would be plumb crazy, wouldn't it, Paul?
Kinda like wishing away the existence of our gay children, neighbors and fellow citizens.
I mean, only a complete ignoramus would attempt to promote a politics that depends on denying that these folks even exist, right? Which is why I marvel that after more than a decade spent promoting your agenda, Paul, that is still the best you can come up with:
"The grand delusion is that you truly believe there is this human called 'gay' ... you all believe you’re born that way ... That’s just nonsense."
Good luck wishing it away, Paul. Good luck wishing away tax-paying, law-abiding Utah residents who have as much right to fair treatment under the law as you do.
By the way, I've got a question about one of your staff: David Kirby wouldn't happen to have a brother, Dan, who serves as Mayor Pro Tem out in Monrovia, California, would he? Just curious. I had a brief correspondence with Dan Kirby during the Prop 8 campaign, some questions about his lucrative work for Ron Prentice and the California Family Council in the run-up to that contest. Lots of folks feeding at the trough of anti-gay antipathy, aren't there, Paul? With so many rewarding lines of work to choose from, I'll always wonder what's behind your particular career choice. Or maybe you'd argue it's the kind of thing you were born for?
OK, that was fun, but I'll now stop pretending I'm addressing Paul directly.
Can't say enough good things about this blog. If you're following events in Utah surrounding the Common Ground Initiative, check it out.
And then check this out:
Utah Hoping for Hollywood Dollars.
Really? For some reason, I was under the impression that Utah was all about keeping us decadent Hollywood types as far away from that pretty great state as possible.
Admittedly, the Utah legislature might be right that dangling the carrot of tax incentives could be all that's required to get our producers to cave and overlook the odd bit of local Utah discrimination against their creative talent.
That said, why can't Utah simply ask Paul Mero, LaVar Christensen, Chris Buttars and Gayle Ruzicka to kindly exit stage left and allow Utah to naturally become an ideal locale for shooting our feature films?
Zero-sum knuckle-draggers. The bunch of them. The only way they understand winning is for us to lose. No concept of win-win. No ability to recognize that our wanting to feel good about doing business with Utah in no way implies that we want them to feel bad about carrying on with their own lives as they see fit.
They're a drag on the entire state. How long is it gonna take before Utahns themselves recognize this?
Parting thought: Based on what I've seen wandering around online, I suspect that Paul Mero spends a good part of each day either googling his own name or following up all the Google Alerts that land in his Inbox under the header "Paul Mero" ... Seriously. That's 90% of the guy's job description right there. Am I wrong, Paul?
Anyway, who cares what Paul thinks? Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has now come out in support of both the Common Ground Initiative and civil unions.
Ms. Ruzicka makes it clear that she intends to cede no ground, even in the wake of the Prop 8 battle, during which the LDS church made it clear that they are not opposed to the protections being sought under the legislative proposals that make up the initiative.
Update (September 3, 2009): Looks like Gayle has found another hobby horse:
The Gayle Ruzicka Show, Episode Umpteen: I Pledge ... to be outraged at Obama
Buttarspalooza -- The Wrap
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