AFER Calls It Quits

Last month Freedom To Marry triumphantly declared that it was "going out of business." Today we get the same news from the American Foundation for Equal Rights. Via press release:

Together, we made history. Nearly six years ago, the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) was created with the specific mission of arguing for marriage equality before the U.S. Supreme Court and to, while doing so, dramatically advance the American conversation on equality. And we accomplished that ... and so much more.

* We returned marriage equality to California—our nation's most populous state—and, later, to the Commonwealth of Virginia.

* With David Boies and Ted Olson as lead counsel, we smashed the partisan barrier that traditionally divided supporters and opponents of marriage equality. Namely, we brought prominent conservative voices to the debate and proved that marriage is not a partisan issue, but an American issue.

* We put equality on trial. For the first time ever, a federal court heard evidence as to why denying gay and lesbian Americans the right to marry is unconstitutional. And, more importantly, for the first time, we forced our opponents to make their best cases, under oath, as to why marriage bans based on fear and hatred should stand. And we shared that story with the world.

* But, perhaps, most importantly, we drew a line in the sand. We demanded that every American--whether a regular citizen, an editorial board writer, a member of Congress, or a Supreme Court justice--not only listen to the stories of Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, and Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo--the brave plaintiffs fighting for justice--but that they also take a side.

The statement goes on to urge support for former AFER leader and current HRC head Chad Griffin as the HRC moves forward on the just-launched Equality Act campaign.

VIDEO: Equality Act Introduced

Lambda Legal reacts:

We applaud the introduction of this essential bill. Today, it spotlights the pervasive, unjust, and unacceptable discrimination facing LGBT Americans and their families; when passed, it will be a crucial next step forward in ending that discrimination. Its introduction comes nearly one month after the Supreme Court’s historic decision in Obergefell v. Hodges that made marriage equality the law of the land and just one week after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) landmark ruling in Baldwin v. Foxx that the sex discrimination provisions of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, properly understood, protect employees who suffer workplace discrimination because of their sexual orientation. LGBT equality keeps advancing because fairness is a fundamental American value.

The ACLU reacts:

Today is a historic day that has been decades in the making. The Equality Act would transform the lives of countless women and LGBT people. Our country’s most basic promise of equal treatment under the law will never be real if you fear losing your job, being kicked out of your home, denied access to healthcare or turned away from a business because of who you are. Both the lack of clear and explicit federal protections for LGBT people and the lack of protections for women in core areas of American life are unacceptable. We urge Congress to take up this landmark bill and make our country a more just nation for all.

The Center For American Progress reacts:

This historic legislation would provide clear and vital protections from discrimination for LGBT Americans in all areas of life, from the workplace to the public marketplace. Despite last month’s historic Supreme Court decision, many LGBT people and their families live in constant fear that discrimination could lurk around any corner at school, in the office, or on Main Street. Modernizing our federal nondiscrimination laws to include sexual orientation, gender identity, and, where currently excluded, sex, will bring our laws into the 21st century and ensure that all Americans, including our LGBT friends and neighbors, are judged on their merits, can provide for their families, and live free from fear. The progressive cause in our country has always been about ensuring people can live free of fear regardless of who they are. This bill promises to be a major priority for the LGBT movement and broader progressive community moving forward, and CAP applauds Sens. Merkley, Booker, and Baldwin and Rep. Cicilline for their leadership on behalf of all Americans.

The HRC reacts:

The time has come for full federal equality -- nothing more, nothing less. While America is now a marriage equality nation, the tragic reality is that millions of LGBT Americans face persistent discrimination in their lives each and every day. In most states in this country, a couple who gets married at 10 AM is at risk of being fired from their jobs by noon and evicted from their home by 2 PM, simply for posting their wedding photos online. Congress must pass the Equality Act to ensure that LGBT people and their families are just as safe at work or at school as they are in their marriages. This bill will guarantee all LGBT Americans have the clear, permanent, and explicit protections from discrimination that they deserve.

Chad Griffin Vs. Ryan T. Anderson

Yesterday ABC's This Week hosted Heritage Foundation wonk Ryan T. Anderson and Human Rights Campaign head Chad Griffin to spar about tomorrow's SCOTUS hearings. When host George Stephanopoulos brings up the children of gay parents, Anderson immediately pivots to the SCOTUS brief filed by Robert Oscar Lopez.

Apple's Tim Cook Tops Out's Power 50 List

Out Magazine today published its ninth annual ranking of the 50 most powerful LGBT people in the United States.  Taking the top spot from last year's list leader, Ellen DeGeneres, is Apple CEO Tim Cook, who formally came out six months ago. Here is this year's top ten:

1. Tim Cook
2. Ellen DeGeneres
3. Rachel Maddow
4. Sen. Tammy Baldwin
5. Anderson Cooper
6. Anthony Romero 
7. Chad Griffin
8. Mary Kay Henry
9. Laverne Cox
10. Andy Cohen

Romero is the executive director of the ACLU and Henry is the head of the SEIU. Missing from the list for the second year is closeted homocon blogger Matt Drudge, who ranked at #21 in 2013 and at #16 in 2012. Fellow homocons Peter Thiel and Ken Mehlman appear on this year's ranking at #13 and #41 respectively, with closeted Fox anchor Shepard Smith coming at #20. Also gone this year is recently retired blogger Andrew Sullivan, who ranked at #26 last year. Hit the top link for the full 2015 list.

ARKANSAS: Activists Rally For Changes To License To Discriminate Bill

HRC Claims Record With "People's Brief"

According to the Human Rights Campaign, their People's Brief to the US Supreme Court has garnered over 207,000 signatures, a record for an amicus brief. HRC head Chad Griffin: "Each and every signature on this brief – more than 200,000 of them – is a piece of evidence that this country is ready for marriage equality. Through this historic document, the American people, LGBT and allies alike, are standing shoulder to shoulder to insist on fairness for all. Ultimately, this brief tells a simple truth – the Constitution cannot tolerate discrimination, and it's time for all couples to be treated equally under the law." The brief will be delivered to SCOTUS on Friday.

HRC & DOMA Attorney Roberta Kaplan Launch "People's Brief" To SCOTUS

Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed:

Two of the biggest figures in the battle for marriage equality are joining forces to give the Supreme Court their take on the marriage cases before the justices. The Human Rights Campaign, headed since 2012 by Chad Griffin, is joining with Robbie Kaplan, who represented Edie Windsor in her challenge to DOMA, to submit an amicus curiae — or, friend of the court — brief to the justices in the marriage and marriage recognition ban cases out of Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee.

Kaplan and HRC are already joined by Windsor, the first of whom HRC hopes will be thousands of people across the country signing onto what the group is calling the “People’s Brief.” HRC is launching a campaign at its site to collect signatures for the brief over the next four weeks — a viral effort aimed at a court that still lacks online filing.

“When it comes to marriage equality, the Supreme Court has heard from business leaders and elected officials, faith leaders and even the President of the United States,” HRC President Chad Griffin said in a statement. “But, until now, they’ve never heard from the fair-minded American majority who simply wants to see their LGBT friends and neighbors treated fairly and equally under the law.”

Read and sign The People's Brief here.

UPDATE: In response to an inquiry from JMG reader Str8 Grandmother, Roberta Kaplan clarified that the HRC is not harvesting or saving the contact details of those who sign the brief.

A supporting video was posted last night.

The Human Rights Campaign has launched an unprecedented “People’s Brief” to the U.S. Supreme Court. Roberta Kaplan, the leading civil rights litigator who won a landmark Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Windsor striking down Section 3 of the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act in 2013, is the author and lead counsel on the brief. The historic effort, joined by Edie Windsor as first signer, gives every American a chance to share their view on marriage equality with the Supreme Court. Sign today at www.thepeoplesbrief.com.

HRC Head Calls For Immediate "Remedial Action" In Those Other Six States

WaPo Profiles Signorile & Griffin

The Washington Post today published a lengthy profile of SiriusXM radio host Michelangelo Signorile and Human Rights Campaign head Chad Griffin. Here's a setup:

In 2004, 38 percent of respondents supported same-sex marriage, according to a Washington Post-ABC poll. Ten years later: 59 percent. And today, only a decade after Massachusetts ushered in same-sex marriage, Freedom to Marry says that nearly 44 percent of Americans live in jurisdictions that have legalized it — 19 states and the District of Columbia.

Even observers who welcome the gains often seem pleasantly puzzled: How did that happen so fast? But the changes are the result of decades of struggle, from early gay-marriage efforts in the 1970s along with AIDS and anti-discrimination activism in the 1980s and ’90s, to challenges at the Supreme Court in the new millennium. In Lawrence v. Texas, Lambda Legal, another major gay-rights group, won a huge victory in 2003, as the justices struck down state laws that criminalized sodomy.

Gay-rights activists — including the “Let’s get this done NOW!” camp and those who proceeded more methodically in order to build support — kept pushing. In a way, Mike Signorile and Chad Griffin framed a remarkable generation, each each representing a different historical moment, Signorile at the start and Griffin at the close. Here are their stories.

Hit that link, it's an interesting piece.

Chad Griffin Joins Twitter

.@ChadHGriffin welcome to twitter. Hope everyone sends you a tweet guessing what your middle name is. Hunter? Henry? Howard? Hiram? Hogwarts
— Jason Collins (@jasoncollins98) October 1, 2014

HRC Head Chad Griffin: Obama Should Consider LGBT Successor To Eric Holder

"Some Attorneys General wait for history, others make history happen. Attorney General Holder made history for the LGBT community. He was our Robert F. Kennedy, lightening the burden of every American who faces legal discrimination and social oppression. We owe him a profound debt of gratitude for his legacy of advocacy and service. President Obama faces a historic opportunity in light of Attorney General Holder's departure. The President has expressed a commitment to appointing a cabinet that reflects the full diversity of the American people, and there are many richly-qualified candidates available to serve as the first openly-LGBT cabinet secretary. It would be a natural extension of this administration's enduring commitment to equality to send a message of visibility and inclusion by nominating such a candidate to serve in this historic role." - Human Rights Campaign Chad Griffin, via email.

Chad Griffin: HRC Supports ENDA, But...

"The Human Rights Campaign supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act for a very simple reason. It will guarantee millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in all 50 states explicit, reliable protections from discrimination in the workplace. We call on our allies in Congress to improve this bill’s overly broad religious exemption. A strong ENDA is worth fighting for because we cannot ignore the urgent need of countless LGBT people who do not have the luxury of waiting for these protections.

"All of us in the LGBT movement knew that passing ENDA wasn’t going to be easy in the 113th Congress. In fact, we knew it would require the biggest legislative campaign in the history of this movement. We all knew the bill wouldn’t be perfect, because legislating always involves compromises. But we also knew that there were two red lines we would not cross. The bill had to be inclusive of the entire LGBT community, and it had to ensure that private employers could never cite a religious reason to fire or refuse to hire an employee.

"But regardless of whether or not ENDA passes in this session of Congress, it is time for the LGBT movement to throw its weight behind a fully comprehensive LGBT civil rights bill. A bill that, at long last, would bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in all core civil rights categories — including housing, public accommodations, credit, education and, if ENDA fails to pass, in employment. This is a visionary idea that Congresswoman Bella Abzug brought to Congress in 1974. Its time has come." - Human Rights Campaign head Chad Griffin, writing for Buzzfeed.

Read the full essay.

HRC Head Chad Griffin On Nigeria

Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin joined HuffPost Live today to talk about the situation in Nigeria and Goldie Hawn, who yesterday issued a mortified apology after posting a photo of Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan with the caption, "Met the wonderful president of Nigeria." In the clip below, Griffin blasts NOM's Brian Brown and other American Christians for exporting their hate around the world.

HRC Demands US Action On Nigeria

The Human Rights Campaign has written to Secretary of State John Kerry, demanding a "strong and proactive American response to the humanitarian crisis" in Nigeria. From the list of suggested actions:

Directing the U.S. Embassy in Abuja to perform in-country refugee processing for LGBT Nigerians who are being targeted for arrest under the newly passed law. Recommending that President Obama evaluate removing Nigeria from the list of countries currently eligible for assistance under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The law requires the President to determine on an annual basis which countries are eligible based “on progress in meeting certain criteria, including progress toward the establishment of a market-based economy, rule of law, economic policies to reduce poverty, protection of internationally recognized worker rights, and efforts to combat corruption. ”Suspending bilateral engagements between the United States and Nigeria that are of particular importance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, such as suspending Nigeria’s participation in the Young African Leaders Initiative. Using any regulatory, administrative, or statutory means in your arsenal to combat implementation of this law.

Read the full letter.

HRC Denounces Uganda's Anti-Gay Bill

"Representatives of the Ugandan government have launched a shameful sneak attack on their own people.  If this bill becomes law, countless LGBT Ugandans will be condemned to violence or prison. The United States government has a moral obligation to use every tool at its disposal to put a stop to this legislation. Perhaps most disgusting is the fact that American extremists have worked tirelessly in the name of Christianity to see this bill passed. True people of faith know that calling for the imprisonment of an entire community is not in line with Christian values. American Christian faith leaders with ties to Uganda must speak out and call on their colleagues in Uganda to oppose this bill from becoming law." - Chad Griffin, head of the Human Rights Campaign, in a press release that blames (in part) American evangelical Scott Lively for the passage of today's bill.

HRC's Chad Griffin: A&E Should Denounce Duck Dynasty Star Phil Robertson

"Phil Robertson’s remarks are not consistent with the values of our faith communities or the scientific findings of leading medical organizations. We know that being gay is not a choice someone makes, and that to suggest otherwise can be incredibly harmful. We also know that Americans of faith follow the Golden Rule – treating others with the respect and dignity you’d wish to be treated with. As a role model on a show that attracts millions of viewers, Phil Robertson has a responsibility to set a positive example for young Americans – not shame and ridicule them because of who they are. The actions of Phil Robertson unquestionably reflect on A&E. The network should take immediate action to condemn Phil Robertson’s remarks and make clear they don’t support his views." - Human Right Campaign head Chad Griffin, via press release.

HRC Slams IOC Over Russia Inaction

"If this law doesn’t violate the IOC’s charter, then the charter is completely meaningless. The safety of millions of LGBT Russians and international travelers is at risk, and by all accounts the IOC has completed neglected its responsibility to Olympic athletes, sponsors and fans from around the world. The IOC and its new president, Thomas Bach, are putting the good reputation of the Olympic Games and its corporate sponsors in jeopardy." - Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin, via email.

HRC Praises Pope Francis

"With these latest comments, Pope Francis has pressed the reset button on the Roman Catholic Church's treatment of LGBT people, rolling back a years-long campaign at the highest levels of the Church to oppose any measure of dignity or equality. Now, it's time for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to catch up and drop their opposition to even the most basic protections for LGBT people. Otherwise, they risk being left far behind by American Catholics and this remarkable Pope. At a moment when Pope Francis is re-dedicating the Church to tirelessly helping the poor, it's unacceptable for American bishops to continue wasting millions of parishioner dollars on harmful anti-LGBT political campaigns that target members of their own flock. For the sake of LGBT Catholics, it's essential that Pope Francis' inspiring words lead to transformative change throughout the Church hierarchy." - Human Rights Campaign head Chad Griffin, responding to today's message from Pope Francis.

HRC's Chad Griffin Slams Sochi Sponsors

Image via Memeographs.

Russian Minister: IOC Is Wrong, We WILL Enforce Anti-Gay Laws During Olympics

Russian Minister of Sports Vitaly Mutko says that despite the "assurances" claimed by the International Olympic Committee, Russia will indeed arrest any athlete or fan who violates their ban on "homosexual propaganda." Via Russia's state news agency:

The IOC told R-Sport Friday it "has received assurances from the highest level of government in Russia that the legislation will not affect those attending or taking part in the Games," which start February 7. But in the first reaction from the government since the IOC made that claim, Mutko appeared to set the record straight. "No one is forbidding an athlete with non-traditional sexual orientation from coming to Sochi, but if he goes onto the street and starts propagandizing it, then of course he will be held accountable," Mutko told R-Sport. The legislation, signed into law by President Vladimir Putin in June, levies fines for such offenses from 800,000 rubles ($24,000) to 1 million rubles ($30,500) for legal entities, from 4,000 rubles ($120) to 5,000 rubles ($150) for individuals and from 40,000 rubles ($1,220) to 50,000 rubles ($1,530) for officials.

Human Rights Campaign head Chad Griffin was totally correct last week when he told the IOC that they could not trust the Russian government.