WATCH: MA Congressional Delegation "It Gets Better"

Note, it's almost the entire congressional delegation of Massachusetts. Missing is U.S. Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) who surprisingly won a special election in January 2010, thus giving the Republicans a filibuster-sustaining 41 votes in the United States Senate.

To date, not a single Republican elected official has made an It Gets Better video. Instead, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has started verbally attacking Dan Savage, who has made his feelings about Republicans known. Scott Brown explains his absence from the MA congressional delegation IGB video:

"Senator Brown believes all people regardless of sexual orientation should be treated with dignity and respect. He has been a leader in fighting for anti-bullying legislation at the state and federal level. His main focus is creating jobs and getting the economy moving again. In this case, the individual behind the video has made vile and sexually crude comments about Senator Brown. It's reprehensible for Senator Brown's opponents to associate with this person in order to score cheap political points." -- Eric Fehrnstrom, political adviser.

I'd like to hear from the Log Cabin Republicans an explanation for why not a single Republican elected official can not seem to appear in a video whose intention is to help students who are being bullied (probably because they are LGBT or are perceived to be LGBT) survive the experience and reduce teen suicide.

Lesbian Confirmed To MA Supreme Court

As expected when she was nominated for the post a month ago, Barbara Lenk has become the first openly gay person on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the state's highest court. The 7-member SJC is (in)famous for being the first state court to rule definitively that marriage equality is a fundamental right and that there is no rational reason or legitimate governmental purpose for denying civil marriage licences to same-sex couples (way back in November 2003).

The Boston Globe reports "Lenk approved for SJC; first openly gay justice on state's highest court":

The Governor’s Council confirmed Lenk on a 5-3 vote. She is Governor Deval Patrick’s fourth appointment to the seven-member SJC, which issued the landmark 2003 ruling that made Massachusetts the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. 

Lenk, who married her partner, Debra Krupp, after the ruling, has 18 years’ experience on the bench, a degree from Harvard Law School, and a doctorate in political philosophy from Yale. Patrick nominated her to replace Justice Judith A. Cowin, who is retiring. 

Lenk's confirmation hearing last week lasted more than seven hours, and was often contentious.
Critics raised questions about Lenk’s ruling in an incest case, and about whether she had avoided conflicts of interest when Krupp represented clients at the Appeals Court in her capacity as a lawyer for the state public defenders’ office. 

Social conservatives blasted Lenk, saying her appointment to the SJC would encourage the indoctrination of children into homosexuality. 

But Lenk had the full backing of the state’s legal establishment. Bar association leaders, former judges, and Lenk’s former clerks wrote letters to the Governor’s Council, saying Lenk’s critics were inappropriately focused on her sexuality and ignoring her legal credentials.

A frickin Ph.D from Yale AND a Harvard Law degree and heterosexual supremacists and homophobes were still complaining? That's just sick! "Have you no, decency, sir?"

Celebrity Friday: Barbara Lenk, Openly Lesbian MA Sup Ct Justice

Barbara Lenk, 60, will become Massachusetts
 first openly lesbian Supreme Court Justice

Governor Deval Patrick has apparently decided to appoint the first openly gay member of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court by naming Barbara Lenk, an Associate Justice of the Appeals Court.

“I am honored to nominate Justice Lenk to the supreme judical court,” said Patrick. “She is a brilliant and thoughtful jurist, with a deep sense of justice. Justice Lenk will continue to make extraordinary contributions to the commonwealth and our judical system as a member of the highest court.”

With this latest appointment, Gov. Patrick will have appointed  a majority of the justices of his state's highest court. Interestingly, the number of openly gay State Supreme Court justices has taken a dramatic increase lately, with courts in Colorado, Hawaii and now Massachusetts all getting openly lesbian appointees. California currently has an open position on its  highest court. There have been calls on Governor Brown to appoint an openly gay Justice.

Surely one of these openly gay state supreme court justices will be prime for a federal appellate position within the next 5-10 years?

Marc Solomon Joins Freedom To Marry As National Campaign Director

Marc Solomon

NEW YORK, NY, March 1, 2011) – Marc Solomon, who led the historic campaign to defend the freedom to marry in Massachusetts and has worked with Freedom to Marry as senior consultant since November, is joining Freedom to Marry’s staff as National Campaign Director, effective immediately.

 

"This is a moment of great opportunity for the movement to win the freedom to marry.  The Obama Administration has said it will no longer defend marriage discrimination in court, we have a nationwide majority for marriage that we will continue to grow, the freedom to marry is within reach in several states in 2011, and crucial lawsuits add urgency to our work.  Now is the time to expand our central campaign strength, with Freedom to Marry’s Roadmap to Victory as the pathway forward and personal stories making the case for why marriage matters as our fuel,” said Freedom to Marry founder and President Evan Wolfson.  “With his deep campaign experience and unparalleled track record in marriage battles around the country, Marc Solomon is the best person bar none to manage the all-hands-on-deck Freedom to Marry national campaign to get the job done.”

 

As Executive Director of MassEquality, Solomon led the campaign to defeat two constitutional amendments in the first freedom to marry state in the nation, beating back attacks by the Catholic Church, President George W. Bush, Gov. Mitt Romney, and the right-wing anti-gay industry.   Following the victory in Massachusetts, Solomon consulted with state-wide equality organizations in Connecticut and Vermont, as well as Freedom to Marry, as part of the nationwide effort to end marriage discrimination.  During his tenure as Marriage Director of Equality California following Proposition 8 , Solomon led the largest state effort in movement history to make the case for marriage through face-to-face conversations, with a special focus on building support in communities of color, helping grow public support for the freedom to marry in California from 44 percent to 50 percent.

 

"I am thrilled to join Freedom to Marry and help grow the urgently needed campaign to win marriage nationwide,” said Solomon.  “Freedom to Marry’s vision has always been to move forward on personal, state, and federal fronts, with focus and collaboration, with multiple methodologies and partners in the work, with a relentless focus on  victory.  Freedom to Marry has a tremendous team and visionary plan, and I am excited to bring what I’ve learned over the past decade to Freedom to Marry and enlist more people am across the country in this cause and campaign.”

 

As National Campaign Director, Solomon will take on responsibility for integrating all parts of the organization’s work in addition to continuing his role overseeing the campaign on several signature projects, ranging from enlisting new and compelling public figures as Voices for Equality to supporting key states in the final push to win marriage.  He will also help guide the organization’s new federal push and support Freedom to Marry’s groundbreaking new Why Marriage Matters campaign, , which aims at  persuading the next slice of reachable Americans.   

 

“In Massachusetts, we believe that every person ought to be able to marry whomever they love, and thanks to the efforts of people like Marc that is now a reality,” said Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.  “I congratulate Marc on his new role, and know that he will continue to be an effective advocate for advancing marriage equality efforts across the nation.”

 

Solomon has extensive background in advocacy, public policy, and media, having served as a Senate policy adviser in Washington, D.C. and researcher for Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward.  In May 2009, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick presented Marc with the Massachusetts Democratic Party’s prestigious Franklin Delano Roosevelt Award, given each year to someone who espouses FDR’s ideals “with respect to democracy, justice, individual freedoms, and citizenship.”

 

Solomon graduated Magna Cum Laude with Honors in Political Science and Economics from Yale University and holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.  In 1999, the Rockefeller Foundation named Solomon as one of 24 of America’s next generation leaders and invited him to participate in its prestigious two-year Next Generation Leadership fellowship program.  

 

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Freedom to Marry is the campaign to win marriage nationwide. We are pursuing our Roadmap to Victory by working to win the freedom to marry in more states, grow the national majority for marriage, and end federal marriage discrimination. We partner with individuals and organizations across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage and the protections, responsibilities, and commitment that marriage brings.

MA Gov. Patrick Issues Gender Identity Executive Order

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is a strong ally of
LGBT rights and was re-elected in November 2010

The Democratic Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick has issued an executive order banning discrimination in state government based on gender identity or gender expression.

The order expands the state’s current civil rights policy by forbidding state government and its contractors from discriminating on the basis of “gender identity or expression.’’ The state already forbids discrimination based on a host of other characteristics, including race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, and religion. 

Patrick said he signed the order after being asked to do so by advocates. 

“It’s really this point about leading by example,’’ he said following an unrelated event late yesterday. “We have so much talent in this Commonwealth, and it resides in every single corner and in every single community, and we want to make as clear as possible that we welcome that talent and its contributions.’’

The order only covers only the public sector. There is a bill ending before the state legislature which would ban discrimination against transgender individuals in housing, employment, public accommodations and education. Gov. Patrick also supports that legislation.