San Franciso Mayor Gavin Newsom on Whether Civil Unions and Marriage are Equal

Gavin Newsom, the current Mayor of San Francisco and more than likely, the Democratic challenger to Governor Terminator, spoke at the Commonwealth Club recently. He lays out why civil unions can never be accepted as equal to marriage.

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Best Oscar Acceptance Speech 2009

Great Oscar Acceptance Speech

Best Screenplay - MILK




Umm - No Not That MILK












This MILK

THE POWER IS YOURS because you are THE POWER.

I have been asked to be an officer on THE POWER and am honored to do so.

The Power is an outgrowth of the spontaneous grass roots energy that erupted in the aftermath of California's Proposition 8 which took away the right of same-sex couples to marry

The first order of business for The Power is to ensure a Democratic majority in NY State Senate without any pre-conditions. .

Even though Democrats won enough seats to take control of the Senate for the first time in 40 years, three conservative Democrats want gay marriage off the table as the cost of keeping their votes with the Democrats. The threat being otherwise they'll cut a deal with the Republicans and give them back the majority. So a deal may have already been made with the Democratic leadership to not address the issue. More details on the reported deal here.

This is a typical Albany power grab, with equality as the bargaining chip. It is the kind of stuff that has always gone on in Albany, but for once it is seeing the light of day.

Please Join and participate! Help spread the word.

The Power on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=39366464226

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From Facebook page for THE POWER

THE POWER IS YOURS because you are THE POWER.

JOIN THE POWER in holding political leaders accountable to support equality, most immediately marriage equality, not on some arbitrary and convenient schedule, but right now.

UNLEASH THE POWER to enact marriage equality legislation in New York in 2009 and to achieve federal recognition of those marriages.

Please:
1. JOIN the Facebook group.
2. POST it to your Facebook profile.
3. INVITE all your friends, straight and gay, New Yorkers and out-of-staters.
4. Post articles and discussions about these Senators and the battle for marriage inNew York.
5. ORGANIZE events and demonstrations. If you are willing to do so, please contact the group leaders.

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Background:

THE POWER is the outgrowth of a Facebook group that harnessed the spontaneous grass roots energy that errupted in the aftermath of Proposition 8 to pressure a group of rogue Democratic New York State Senators known as "The Gang of Three" (Ruben Diaz, Sr., Carl Kruger, and Pedro Espada, Jr.) to abandon a scheme to back an anti-marriage Republican (Dean Skelos) over a pro-marriage Democrat (Malcolm Smith) for majority leader. Through thousands and thousands of calls to anti-gay Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., we put him and other legislators on notice that the people are prepared to take the fight for equality to our opponents in their own districts, and that we won't give up until we prevail.

On December 6th, The Gang of Three made a deal which gives Democrats control of the State Senate for the first time in forty years and which will make Malcolm Smith the President Pro Tempore, enabling introduction of marriage legislation in 2009.

Unfortunately, rumors surfaced in the press that as part of the deal, Smith had agreed to table marriage legislation until after the 2010 gubernatorial election. Though there has been no official confirmation of such a deal, it became clear that the thousands of people assembling under the banner of the old Facebook group needed and wanted to assemble under a different banner that wasn't tied to any one specific politician or political party, specifically for the purpose of pursuing marriage equality in New York.

Since Facebook does not allow anyone to change the name of a group after it has been created, the only solution was to create a new group with a more generic name.

Thus, The Power.

Go to Facebook Now and Join

Contact Info ThePowerNY@gmail.com

Crucial Links:
Join The Impact
Marriage Equality - NY
Empire State Pride Agenda
Capital District Gay and Lesbian Community Council

Upcoming Events: Marriage Equality Day in Albany February 3rd

Prop 8 Nationwide Protest Saturday

JOIN

THE

IMPACT

National Day of Protests
Against Proposition 8

Shepard Fairey, the graphic designer and illustrator who created the iconic images for Obama's campaign, has turned his focus to the current fight for equality in the gay and lesbian community, designing a poster intended specifically for use at this weekend's rallies in California and elsewhere.
More including a hi-res version at Towelroad

Albany
Location: 24 Eagle Street Albany, NY
Time: 1:30pm
More Info

New York City
Time: 1:30PM to 4:30PM
Organizers: Evan Terry, Carrie Harrington, Dani Ryan, Shalini Shah, Heath Tucker
Contact info: impactnyc@gmail.com or info@marriageequalityny.org
Supporting Organizations: Marriage Equality New York
More Info

Syracuse
Location: City Hall: 233 E Washington St Syracuse, NY 13202
Time: 1:30pm
Organizer: Ashley Wysocki
Contact info: anoel_43@yahoo.com
Supporting Organizations: CNY Pride, Marriage Equality NY, Syracuse University LGBT
Resource Center
More Info

Proposition 8 - What Is It To You?

Governor David Patterson Puts His Weight Behind the Push for Same-Sex Marriage

Governor Patterson recently made his support for legalizing same-sex marriage in New York State exceedingly clear.

"The religious line of attack is fair, because tenants of many religions hold that homosexuality is basically sinful conduct and many people believe that. I happen not to believe it, but I respect their beliefs. However, the problem with religion, sometimes, and people who are religious, is that they want to dictate through the law to everyone else what they think is right and what they think is wrong."

Read a post about it on the Albany Project.