Dear Friends,

After last year’s devastating loss on Prop 8, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, and Queer/Questioning community is in danger – including in our Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Intolerance is on the rise, homophobic bullying of children is increasing, as well as incidents of hate crimes, and in state after the state the lives of LGBT people are being subjected to public referendum.

In the Asian and Pacific Islander communities, misinformation and misunderstanding continue to aggravate this situation. The 66,000+ API LGBT people of California cannot afford to wait any longer. We are endangered and we need your help.

We need you to come to a special convening on Saturday, September 19th to help us increase awareness of LGBTIQ justice issues, reduce harmful misinformation in our API communities, and to promote justice issues in all of our communities

WHEN: Saturday, September 19th from 10AM to 1PM
WHERE: San Francisco LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market St., SF
WHAT: API Equality and its allies are calling for a convening of diverse members and representatives of the API LGBT and Allied communities to discuss the issues and strategize together. By the end of the day, we hope to have concrete strategies and opportunities to address these issues in our communities and organizations.

Additionally, any contributions in terms of financial support or in-kind donations would be much appreciated.
If you have any questions, please contact Tawal Panyacosit, Director, API Equality | www.apiequality.org, 415-274-6760 ext. 316; tpanyacosit [at] caasf [dot] org

Please download and circulate the flyer for the event.

Recently, API Equality learned that two months ago, Paulo, a cook at the Hyatt Santa Clara and union committee member, was fired from his job. We believe Paulo was unfairly targeted both because he was a union committee leader and because he identifies as transgender.

At API Equality, we are committed to all forms of equality, in the workplace, in our homes, and in our hearts. The same misunderstanding and fear that targets our families and couples and bars them from marriage is the same ignorance that has eliminated the job security and equality in the workplace that folks like Paulo so desperately need in today’s economy.

We invite you to a community hearing tonight to learn about Paulo’s situation, and to discuss how the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) community and the labor movement can be stronger allies.

What: A Community Hearing on the experiences of LGBT workers at the non-union Hyatt Santa Clara
When: August 20th, 6 p.m.
Where: Metropolitan Community Church, 65 S 7th St, San Jose

Please join us!

In solidarity,

Tawal Panyacosit Jr., Director

A public statement on how to win back marriage equality in California

July 13, 2009

Issued by: API Equality-LA, HONOR PAC, Jordan Rustin Coalition
www.apiequalityla.org l www.honorpac.org l www.jordanrustincoalition.org

Unlike Proposition 8 in 2008, any upcoming electoral campaign for marriage equality would be one of choice, not one of necessity in fending off an attack from religious-right foes. Timing is ours to determine. Going back to the ballot to remove the voter-imposed ban on same-sex marriage from the state constitution in 2010 would be rushed and risky. We should proceed with a costly, demanding, and high-stakes electoral campaign of this sort only when we are confident we can win. We should choose to Prepare to Prevail.

We have much work to do before we proceed to the ballot. Many of us, which includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) organizations and progressive allies, have been doing critical educational and organizing work for years, intensified it during the Prop. 8 campaign in 2008, and have continued to communicate with key constituencies after the election. We vow to intensify our efforts until we win back marriage equality in California. We invite all groups and individual leaders to sign on to this statement and join us in building a solid battle plan for equality. We must step up our work, collectively and in concert, as soon as possible.

Prepare to Prevail requires making progress on the following before proceeding to the ballot:

1. Winning requires full LGBT community support and a broad coalition of allies. Only a few segments of the LGBT community have announced their intention to pursue a “vote-yes” campaign next year. Energy and passion are a necessary prerequisite for any effective campaign but are not a sufficient substitute for a broad coalition with a clear strategy backed by ample resources. For California to win back marriage equality, broad segments of the LGBT and progressive community including critically important people-of-color groups, LGBT families, and other allies need to pull together. We should proceed when we have a unified strategy and a massive coalition of progressive non-LGBT allies ready to act in unison. Anything short of a broad coalition of allies would place our campaign in a strategic disadvantage from the onset.

2. We need to build strong majority support before placing the issue before voters. Popular support for marriage equality for same-sex couples has not changed since the last election. Today, California voters’ opinions on a constitutional amendment to overturn the voter-imposed elimination of marriage equality remain evenly split, according to all recent polls. In order to seek major investments of time and money from key stakeholders and allies in an affirmative ballot-measure campaign seeking a “yes” vote from voters, seasoned campaign experts advise against proceeding to the ballot without evidence of a strong majority in favor of the measure. Failure to begin with a sizable majority puts sponsors in a more likely position to lose. More than two-thirds of all ballot initiatives fail to pass on

Election Day. Moreover, polls can overstate actual public support for LGBT rights because respondents may be reluctant to reveal their bias to pollsters. In 2008, some polls indicated majority support for marriage equality and against Proposition 8, which was not the result on Election Day. This was also true for Proposition 22, when opponents of the measure thought there was more support for marriage equality than the final vote demonstrated. In Washington State in 1997, some gay-rights activists pushed forward with a pro-active ballot measure aimed at outlawing antigay discrimination in the state. Despite having public opinion narrowly on their side, they lost 60 to 40 at the polls on the measure. It took nine more years for LGBT rights supporters to secure passage of a nondiscrimination law by the Washington state legislature. Proceeding with campaigns seeking a “yes” vote without support from a strong majority of voters holds foreseeable danger.

3. Campaign donors will be constrained given the current unprecedented economic downturn. Over $81 million was raised and spent by both sides in the Proposition 8 campaign, more than in any previous anti-gay ballot initiative. Many of the LGBT nonprofit organizations doing critical work for our communities have suffered layoffs and cutbacks in services. The current economic downturn has also reduced the capacity of campaigns both educational and electoral to amass multi-million-dollar war chests from small, large, and institutional donors. The scope of anxiety and human need in California means that individual donors are making hard choices about charitable dollars. Major donors, including foundations that provided funding for critical educational campaigns, have endured hits to their portfolios, and many are exercising caution. Any successful “vote-yes” campaign will require generous support from pro-LGBT institutional donors. These donors give based on evidence of likely success, which for 2010 is filled with grave doubts. It is unlikely that we will be able to raise the necessary funds to undertake an effective electoral campaign until after 2010.

4. Educational, voter-ID (not electoral) campaigns with specific goals should begin immediately. To reach a threshold of support for marriage equality suitable to begin an electoral campaign, supporters need a voter-ID campaign aimed at moving an identifiable subset of California voters. Vote-no campaigns typically seek to plant doubts and promote confusion among voters about measures. Several arguments used to pass Proposition 8 have not been widely rebutted and thus retain their appeal as attack strategies with particular currency as part of a vote-no campaign. A campaign of changing hearts and minds of selected groups of voters requires time, diligent research, and targeting of specific communities. The worst time to attempt to educate voters is in the midst of a heated campaign, which makes it difficult to rebut lies and fear-mongering. The voter-ID campaign should precede the electoral campaign aimed at mobilizing support to remove from the state constitution the discriminatory language already approved by voters.

5. We need time to build a coordinated data infrastructure that can support a winning campaign. We need time to establish robust get-out-the-vote (GOTV) data systems and a statewide online voter contact database to make and measure contacts with California voters in a coordinated fashion with participation from the many pro-marriage stakeholder groups across the state. Unlike narrow special interests, our cause is a broad-based movement that will require coordinated data collection among multiple groups working in concert. Many individual groups have started this work, but winning will require buy-in and participation in a singular statewide and coordinated data system. Agreements and accountabilities need to be worked out and trust needs to be rebuilt. Time and true collaboration are vital to developing organizational partnerships and the data systems needed to tap and deploy our grassroots network and measure our progress toward specific voter-contacts goals.

6. Time and greater effort is needed to build trust and relationships in communities that represent the full diversity of California voters, including limited-English-speaking voters and voters of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. The 2008 campaign against Prop 8 did not adequately reach non-English-speaking voters and failed to engage or empower allied groups poised to communicate with millions of such voters. The Yes-on-8 campaign, in taking its victory laps, bragged about the many tongues into which it translated its materials and the diverse congregations whom it mobilized. This lapse must be overcome in a future campaign to win back marriage equality. We must learn from our mistakes made during the last campaign and not repeat them. Doing so will require deepened relationships with partner organizations and leaders who can reach diverse racial, ethnic, and non-English-speaking communities. It will require working to increase the ability of LGBT parents and caregivers with children across these communities to effectively communicate the impact of marriage equality on their children. We must establish the communications capacity needed to achieve cultural competency as well as fluency in persuading immigrant, people-of-color, and non-English-speaking communities to support marriage equality. Most of all, it requires time to build trust and relationships in targeted communities in order to succeed.

7. Labor, religious allies and communities of color are indispensable to winning. More time is needed to convert general support into full organizational backing to secure increased grassroots engagement, resources, and votes. Coordinated outreach with labor and religious institutions remains crucial to building a strong majority for marriage equality in California. Forging lasting collaboration with and among these organizations must be a top priority for both the education and electoral campaigns. In addition to traditional civil-rights and community groups, as well as entertainment and sports celebrities, the same labor and religious organizations already highlighted will be critical in mobilizing people of color voters to support marriage equality. Rather than simply asking for support from allies, a winning campaign must be prepared to welcome these entities to the planning table and demonstrate reciprocity with them in the course of the long campaign to regain marriage equality. Winning a majority of “yes” votes on a future ballot measure will not be easy. But it will be impossible if we work in isolation or avoid competent and fluent communication with California’s diverse voters.

8. More time means more “yes” votes for marriage equality. The demographics of opinion on marriage equality indicate that natural changes in the state electorate, with new and younger voters replacing older voters, contributes over time to increased support for marriage equality. In weighing the options of presenting a ballot measure on statewide ballots either next year, in 2010, or in a future year, the latter portends a much greater capacity by marriage equality supporters to leverage and benefit from the natural shift in voter opinion.

THE UNDERSIGNED COMMIT to PREPARE to PREVAIL. Evidence and data should guide political strategy. Running and winning a statewide ballot-measure for a “yes” vote on marriage equality depends not on haste, but on preparation. Expanding public support and developing the infrastructure to mobilize our communities should be our top priorities. We commit to continuing the hard work of identifying the partnerships, commitments, and resources to launch necessary public education campaigns and setting the foundation for a solid and winning campaign. We call on all interested organizations to join in a collective body to coordinate the critical educational work that we must do. When we go back to the ballot, we intend to be active players to ensure its success just as we have always participated in the fight for marriage equality. Please join us in winning back marriage equality in California.

WE CHOOSE to PREPARE to PREVAIL
ACLU of Northern California
ACLU of San Diego and Imperial County
ACLU of Southern California
API Equality-LA
API Equality-Northern California
Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team
Asian Pacific American Legal Center
Asian/Pacific Islander Queer Women/Transgender Activists (AQWA)
Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation
Chinese Rainbow Association
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA)
Elections Committee of the County of Orange (ECCO-PAC)
Equality Action Project (Santa Cruz)
Gamba Adisa Quilombo
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
Harvey Milk Stonewall Democrats of Orange County
HONOR PAC
Imperial Court of Los Angeles and Hollywood
Inland Counties Stonewall Democrats
Jordan Rustin Coalition
Martin-Lyon Leadership Institute
Office & Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), AFL-CIO
Our Family Coalition
SATRANG, South Asian LGBT Organization
The Wall Las Memorias Project
Robert Chacanaca, President, Monterey Bay Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO*
Kerry Chaplin, Interfaith Organizing Director, California Faith For Equality*
Rev. Dr. Jonipher Kwong, Interfaith Organizer, California Faith For Equality *
Jerry Sloan, President Emeritus, Lambda Community Fund, Sacramento*
-list in formation-
*affiliation listed for identification purposes only.

Ruling on California Proposition 8 Cases allows a bare majority of voters to enshrine inequality into our constitution and to deprive an entire class of Californians of the fundamental freedom to marry.

(Tuesday, May 26, 2009) – The California Supreme Court today ruled in a 6 to 1 decision that the initiative process in California can be used to strip away fundamental rights from a minority group that has historically been subject to discrimination.

API Equality and API Equality–LA, two organizations that have worked single-mindedly to build public support for same-sex marriage in the Asian and Pacific Islander communities since 2004, are severely disappoint e d that the Supreme Court will uphold a proposition revoking marriage rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.

“We are extremely saddened that the Court saw it fit to take away rights from a minority group,” said Khanh Nguyen, a staff attorney at API Legal Outreach, “Essentially, the court has set forth a dangerous precedent where a simple majority vote is enough to exclude a minority group from equal protection under the state constitution.”

“As Asian and Pacific Islanders, we are no strangers to the perils of selective justice,” stated Tawal Panyacosit, Director of API Equality. “From bans on immigration and interracial marriage, our community has often been the victim of such discrimination. We cannot stand silent as the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender members of our communities come under fire from the same sort of prejudice that has so often hurt our families.”

According to the Williams Institute, an LGBT think tank based at UCLA, there are approximately 66,000 LGBT Asian and Pacific Islanders living in California—the largest in the nation. With the court’s decision to uphold Prop 8, the fundamental right to marry is no longer a right afforded to them.
Fortunately, the Court has chosen to maintain the marriage status of the 18,000 couples who married during the short period that same-sex marriage was legal.

“While today’s decision is heartbreaking,” uttered Vincent Pan, Executive Director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, “We are confident that public opinion trends are on our side. Just look at what happened in Iowa, Vermont, Maine and DC. In due time, justice will be served.”

Whereas a little over ten years ago, only a handful of API organizations were visibly and vocally supportive of same-sex couples right to marry, among the first was the Japanese American Citizen’s League. Today, through API Equality – LA and API Equality’s efforts, more than 60 API organizations and our leading API elected officials and community leaders have come on record in support of marriage equality for same-sex couples via an amicus brief supporting last year’s In Re Marriage Cases and more recently in public endorsements opposing Proposition 8.

Bilingual attorneys and API LGBT couples are available for interviews in Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Korean, and Vietnamese.

(end)

This is it! The day has finally arrived and it’s going to be a rollercoaster. The California Supreme Court has just announced that they will issue their ruling on Prop 8 on Tuesday, May 26th. Regardless of the decision, this is an important opportunity to come together as a community and show Californians that this is an extraordinarily crucial issue not just to some but to all who value civil rights. We want to be visible and we want to be vocal. Be sure to join us for the many events leading up to D-Day. Check out our events page for more detailed information. (http://apiequality.org/getinvolved/events.php)

Dear Members,

Momentum, momentum, momentum…

Last week, Iowa became the first state in the Midwest to legalize same-sex marriage. And, on Tuesday, Vermont has now become the fourth state in the nation to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples. To top it off, also on Tuesday, our nation’s capital has moved closer to full equality by choosing to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples from other states.

While we wait anxiously here in California for the Supreme Court to issue their decision, weeks like these remind us that we are in it for the long haul! And, in the end, we will be triumphant! No matter what the ultimate decision may be, time is on our side, momentum is on our side, and we must be prepared to launch full-sail once the decision comes down.

Here in California, the Day of Decision is quickly approaching. While no firm date is yet in place, most legal experts expect a decision to be rendered sometime between mid-April and mid-May.

API Equality is working with local groups to organize a media response and rally on D-Day. While we cannot be sure what the ultimate decision will be, many expect the CA Supreme Court to uphold Prop 8 while maintaining the validity of the 18,000 marriages that took place prior to Prop 8’s passage.

But, win or lose, when the decision comes down we need to ensure that we are ready to mobilize, speak out, and continue to build the necessary support for full equality both in the letter and the spirit of the law.

With that in mind, we need your help!

TAKE ACTION

We are looking for couples, families, advocates, single folks, youth, and others to join our Speaker’s Bureau and speak out on D-Day and after. If you are conversant in English or an API language, particularly in Mandarin/Cantonese, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese, please sign-up to join us. We will provide training and talking points to all potential speakers. (Please contact apiequality [at] caasf [dot] org with your name(s), phone number, who you are (i.e. couple, student, advocate, etc…), ethnicity, and languages spoken.)

Additionally, we want to organize a large API contingent to join us in a rally and march on Decision Day. We are also seeking volunteers to join us on Decision Day to help us recruit volunteers to join us in our outreach efforts in the Bay Area. Since, at most, we will have 24 hours to organize so please join our Facebook group and become a fan. We’ll be sending out an events link as we hear more. (Click here to join!)

Finally, as we move forward in the fight, regardless of the decision, we will need to be proactive and share our stories and let people into our lives wherever we can. Therefore, API Equality is compiling a list of any and all upcoming events (Membership meetings, Organizational Banquets, Festivals and Fairs, Conferences, etc…). If you know of any events, small or large, that we should target to get the word out and continue to build support, please let us know. (Event suggestions should be sent to Choon Chong, choonkiat [at] hotmail [dot] com )

Thanks again for all your help!

In solidarity,

Tawal

“Fidelity”: Don’t Divorce… from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Hi Folks,

This is the week.

In preparation for Thursday’s arguments before the CA Supreme Court, the California Legislature today passed resolutions opposing the passage of Proposition 8, sending a clear message to the Courts that denying fundamental rights to minorities is just plain wrong.

API Equality is working closely with LGBT leaders to ensure that the voices of all LGBT people are heard as we move forward in this process. This week, we also want to make sure that the face of the LGBT community is one that represents us and to that end will be organizing an API contingent at Wednesday’s candlelight vigils and working to ensure that our stories are heard in both ethnic and “mainstream” press.

Please come out and join us this week!

UPCOMING EVENTS & ACTIONS

3/4/09 – SF Candlelight Vigil for Marriage Equality
Join us at a candlelight vigil on the night before the Supreme Court Hearing. All members are welcome to attend! API Equality’s contingent will be meeting in front of Orphan Andy’s on the corner of 17th and Castro. Look for the API Equality Banner.

From Market and Castro for a 5-6pm for pre-march rally, we’ll march down to the CA Supreme Court (Civic Center) at 6:30pm for short program

You can find out similar events being held across the state at Marriage Equality USA’s website, http://www.marriageequality.org

3/5/09 – Supreme Court Hearing on Validity of Proposition 8
Just like last year, you can watch it on TV/Online Webcast via the California Channel, view it via satellite broadcasts in the following locations (note: seating is limited and will be offered on a “first come, first served” basis):

• The Milton Marks Conference Center, Lower Level, Hiram Johnson State Office Building, 455 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, and
• Hastings College of the Law’s Auditorium, 198 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA.
• SF LGBT Center, 1800 Market Street, SF, CA

In Solidarity,
Tawal Panyacosit Jr., Director
API Equality | www.apiequality.org

Dear Members,

Thank you again to everyone who came out and joined our marching contingent in this year’s San Francisco’s Chinese New Year’s Parade! We had the largest contingent ever in the 5 years that we have participated in the Parade.

As many of you know, next week on March 5th, the California Supreme Court will be hearing arguments regarding the validity of Proposition 8 in San Francisco. With all the hustle and bustle, we wanted to take a moment and update you on some of the work we’ve been doing as well as inform you of several important changes and upcoming events.

Over the past few months, API Equality staff has been meeting with local and state coalition partners and members to develop a plan of action for the coming year. Since the election, we had a resurgence of activity and interest and have been working to form a new local steering committee, of both continuing and new coalition members and individuals, who will help lead and advise the work of API Equality over the next months and years. With the formation of our local steering committee, we hope to connect our work more deeply to the communities we represent and to expand our reach and impact across the Bay Area and beyond.

Additionally, we have been collaborating with state and national LGBT leaders to review lessons learned from the No on 8 Campaign and to start identifying overall next steps. Over the next few weeks, we will be co-sponsoring a series of events focused on moving the community forward from Prop 8 and preparing for the oral arguments.

Finally, on a sad note, due to the recent funding challenges, complicated by the economic climate, API Equality will be saying good-bye to our community organizer, Amos Lim, at the end of March. Amos has been a strong addition to the API Equality team and we are extremely sad to lose him. While we continue to face similar challenges, API Equality, as a whole, remains robust and will continue to endeavor as we secure full equality under the law.

In Solidarity,
Tawal Panyacosit Jr., Director
API Equality | www.apiequality.org

Come join API Equality and a whole host of organizations for a Community Building Town Hall Meeting in San Francisco on the No on 8 campaign at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on Thursday, February 26, 2009 – 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Click here for more information.