gay rights

New York's passage of a law allowing same sex couples to marry was met with support from New Yorkers, according to a Quinnipiac poll released today. A core segment of that support comes from young voters:

New York State voters support 54 - 40 percent a law allowing same-sex couples to marry, with voters under 35 supporting the measure 70 - 26 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Voters 35 to 64 years old also support the measure, while voters over 65 oppose it 57 - 37 percent. Support remained consistent before and after passage of the bill.

The more the GOP resists, the more problems it brings upon itself. Civil unions aren't enough anymore, and the larger the presence Millennials have in the voting booth and in public office, the more society will be receptive to liberty and justice for all couples.

• Maine League of Young Voters Action on Youth Voting Rights. As you might have heard there has been an all out war on voting rights in Maine. It started with a voter ID bill and now the governor is trying to get rid of the 38 year tradition of Election Day Registration.

  In response, yesterday a group of Maine citizens - including the current president of the League of Women Voters - marched into the Secretary of State's office to take out paperwork for a People's Veto. There is a strong coalition of non-partisan organizations who are working to push this veto forward. Wisconsin people are fighting back against workers' rights attacks through the recall process. Maine people are now fighting back against the assault on voter rights through the one tool we have, a People's Veto.

More news on this

• Bangor Daily News: Same Day Voter Registration banned, but critics vow to fight.
• Press Herald, Bill Nemitz Column (A must read!): Ballot-box fraud? GOP fixes problem that isn't there
• (See follow-up documentation on the SOS shenanigans here)
• MPBN (NPR affiliate): Move to eliminate Maine's Same Day Voter Registration law draws protests
• NYT Voting Editorial: The Republican Threat to Voting (Word has it this article was barred from circulation in the Senate because it was too "sarcastic.")
• A great heart warming story aboutturning skilled trade students into entrepreneurs. A great way to get out of the rat race of the high cost of a 4 year college with skill specific training that can help youth then build small businesses and create their own jobs.
• U program turns youth into CEOs
  

  Last summer, Immanuel Jones walked through the doors of the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management as a shy 16-year-old struggling at Wayzata High School.

  This summer, he entered those same doors as a small business owner and CEO.

• Atlantic Youth Entrepreneur Summit Part 1
  
• Gay marriage becomes political wedge issue in the GOP
  

  "Not all GOP candidates are pushing for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. During CNN's GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire, candidates Herman Cain and Rep. Ron Paul opposed a federal amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Cain saying the matter should be left up to individual states, much as it is today and Paul taking the Libertarian approach that the government should not be in the business of marriage at all. In addition, the first openly gay Republican candidate, Fred Karger, who is not surprisingly in favor of marriage equality, was not invited to the debate. According to R. Clarke Cooper, Executive Director of Log Cabin Republicans, "The lack of pro-gay candidate participation in the debate perpetuates the myth that Republicans are uniform in their opinions on social issues - a myth which hurts the Republican Party among independents, moderates and younger voters."

• Pitkin County goes Mail Only ballot. A great decision for those who seek to have easy access to ballots for voters
  

  “We're cheapening democracy by this action,” said Commissioner Rachel Richards, suggesting the move makes it more difficult for some segments of society to vote, particularly low-income residents and young voters who may move frequently.

• A progressive christian youth ministry aims to be more inclusive and warm and fuzzy in efforts to bring youth who tend to reject more restrictive faiths.
• And last but not least - Wednesday's Daily Show talking about the young people rioting in Greece. The young come together with the old....
  
  
  

  The Daily Show - Grecian Burn
  Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Here is some youth news to get your week started:

• Does the Millennial Generation need to produce more career politicians? This guy argues that the Anthony Weiner saga demonstrates that they do.
• You know that whole thing where Republicans try to keep young people from voting because they know they pursue policy that is at odds with what young people want/need? Well, apparently that happens in Canada too, with conservatives.
• Meanwhile, E.J. Dionne demonstrates how states are rigging the 2012 elections. Yes, folks, it is happening.
• Here is Firedoglake's recap of the Netroots Nation Young Voter Turnout Session. Check it out.
• Tracy Morgan decided that telling people that he'd kill his son if he ever acted gay might not be a good thing (in fact, it's disgusting). Looking to make amends, Morgan recently met with gay youth.
• High school and college student activists are uniting to protect ethnic studies courses in Tucson's high school curriculum. Gov. Jan Brewer recently signed House Bill 2281 into law, which "prohibits a school from including in its program of instruction any course or classes that are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnicity or promotes resentment towards a race or class of people."
• Have law school debt? Here are six ways to tackle it.
• Did anyone catch the U.S. Open this weekend? Rory McIlroy kicked some major ass. He's 22 and the youngest U.S. Open winner since Bobby Jones in 1923.
• MTV's True Life is set to explore some compelling issues in youth culture.
• Continuing our commentary on K-12 history and civic education, the Wall Street Journal recently interviewed popular historian David McCullough. McCullough expressed his own concerns regarding history education:
  

  "'We're raising young people who are, by and large, historically illiterate," David McCullough tells me on a recent afternoon in a quiet meeting room at the Boston Public Library. Having lectured at more than 100 colleges and universities over the past 25 years, he says, "I know how much these young people—even at the most esteemed institutions of higher learning—don't know." Slowly, he shakes his head in dismay. "It's shocking."

  [...]

  And teach history, he says—while tapping three fingers on the table between us—with "the lab technique." In other words, "give the student a problem to work on."

  "If I were teaching a class," he says, "I would tell my students, 'I want you to do a documentary on the building at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. Or I want to you to interview Farmer Jones or former sergeant Fred or whatever." He adds, "I have been feeling increasingly that history ought to be understood and taught to be considerably more than just politics and the military."

  What about textbooks? "I'd take one of those textbooks. I'd clip off all the numbers on the pages. I'd pull out three pages here, two pages there, five pages here—all the way through. I'd put them aside, mix them all up, and give them to you and three other students and say, 'Put it back in order and tell me what's missing.'" You'd know that book inside and out.

  Though the Wall Street Journal leans conservative and the story's writer is from the right-wing National Review, I was impressed with this interview and the relatively radical problem-based pedagogy McCullough suggests.

Some quick hits for you as we head into the weekend (or, perhaps, just the end).

• A Washington Post piece asks if college is worth it
• Ezra Klein flags a graphic showing the percentage of recent college grads with jobs, by major.
  

  

• Speaking of college, here are ten reasons to get pumped for life following graduation.
• Nebraska's 4H organization and the YMCA team up to offer youth entrepreneur classes. An interesting partnership and initiative.
• CBS writes up the story we covered yesterday regarding Rockefeller's belief that young people are morally hollow. (Apparently 13 more people like him on Facebook between yesterday and today.)
• New Hampshire is aging.
• The Pope knows what's up--at least regarding the wisdom of listening to young people.
• Two young candidates in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area won primaries this week.
• Young Canadian city council candidate links young people to the local community.
• UK developing youth "underclass"
• The government: Just say no to sexting.
• Young people afraid to call themselves feminists.
• When will the GOP realize they are on the wrong side of history?

An Anti-GLBT group, National Organization for Marriage, is holding a rally today in Rhode Island in support of traditional marriage. The rally is going to serve as a local platform for Maggie Gallagher, the national leader of the organization, to tell fellow bigots in Rhode Island why straight men and women should enjoy more rights than gay Americans.

The encouraging thing about this is what happened after Change.org got a hold of some information linking the Canadian coffee shop Tim Hortons to sponsorship of the event.

Last Sunday, Change.org published the story, and the feedback funneled to Tim Hortons was amazing, prompting the company to take action:

Folks, this is huge. In the past 17 hours, we've had more than 1,600 folks send letters to Tim Hortons, asking why a franchise in Rhode Island was sponsoring an anti-LGBT festival hosted by the National Organization for Marriage. Well, guess what? Tim Hortons has answered our emails, loud and clear. Here's the message that just came in from their company headquarters.

Tim Hortons responds to inquiries about Rhode Island event sponsorship

Recently, Tim Hortons was approached in Rhode Island to provide free coffee and products for a local event, as we do thousands of times a year across Canada and the United States.

For 45 years, Tim Hortons and its store owners have practiced a philosophy of giving back to the communities in which we operate. As a company, our primary focus is on helping children and supporting fundraising events for non-profit organizations and registered charities.

For this reason, Tim Hortons has not sponsored those representing religious groups, political affiliates or lobby groups.

It has come to our attention that the Rhode Island event organizer and purpose of the event fall outside of our sponsorship guidelines. As such, Tim Hortons can not provide support at the event.

Tim Hortons and its store owners have always welcomed all families and communities to its restaurants and will continue to do so. We apologize for any misunderstanding or inconvenience this may have caused.

Yet another example of the value and possibilities of internet-based activism. Congrats to Change.org and to those who wrote the company. Consider thanking Tim Hortons for standing up for equal rights by contacting them here.

In an open letter to the New York Republican Party, Meghan McCain once again invited her chosen party to reconsider its position on gay marriage.

McCain has long been an advocate and ally to the LGBT community, speaking in April at the Log Cabin Republicans Convention.

"Gays and lesbians are a vital part of our communities. They are doctors, teachers, firefighters, emergency personnel and neighbors. In this way, marriage equality is also about supporting good citizens and strengthening our communities. When a committed gay couple seeks to declare their love for one another and get married, the whole community benefits from the added stability and strength of that family. On top of that, we don't give up anything by sharing responsibilities and protections with those whom we love.

That's why I believe in marriage equality."

McCain recalled the 5 Republicans in the NY Assembly that voted for the equality bill and asked that as the vote comes to a full vote before the Senate officials to recall the "Republican values and fairness by passing the marriage bill."

Despite being more aligned with the moderate wing of the GOP, McCain continues to be her party's best hope of going mainstream and connecting with a generation that abhors the "culture wars" and embraces values like equality, choice, and inclusion.

Young people are liking what they see out of Obama to this point, even while those over 30 don't believe the President has matched his policy output to his campaign rhetoric.

Over 70 percent of young voters between 18 and 24 believe that President Barack Obama’s message of change has matched his actions in office, according to those polled in a recent Zogby/Scoop44 survey (6/12-15).

In the expanded under-30 demographic, nearly two-thirds of young voters say that Obama’s policies as President have jibed with with his campaign rhetoric—that fervent trumpet of “change we can believe in.”

When I read this, I remembered another piece of data I saw, reflecting similar results. The Gallup weekly tracking poll, week ending June 14, showed mostly net declines in approval ratings in all age groups except for those in the 18-29 year old cohort. Three out of four 18-29 year olds approve of the job President Obama is doing, six percentage points higher than last week.

The age disparity between those who believe Obama is doing a good job and is on the right course to accomplish what he set out to do and those who don't approve of his job and do not believe he's doing what he promised to do is telling. Perhaps his young supporters -- many of whom followed the campaign from the beginning -- have heard Obama say over and over that change would take time. The latecomers and Washington elites and journalists can't help but rush to judgment (after all, that's the latter group's job!).

The main thing to remember is that we're only five months into a hopefully eight year-long term. And while the president has indeed taken on quite a bit initially, perhaps raising expectations even more, there's quite a bit of time with which to work. Health care and gay rights should get the priority treatment in my opinion -- health care's time is now, before the mid-term craziness emerges, and gay rights should have been taken care of yesterday.

Anyway, it looks like millennials are cutting Obama some slack. Rightfully so.

Remember that one time when people voted for George Bush?? Ahh seems like so long ago when we were all ill-informed and scared of dangerous terrorists like this. Look at them. I'm afraid for my life as we speak. From what I understand there is even a possibility of a covert mission in West Hollywood.

I am curious the extent to which this recent decision is reflective of the wonderfully evolving world of civil rights. An op-ed in The Nation yesterday quotes beautiful trends

"The California gay marriage debate illustrates important national trends for Democrats. Growing numbers of Americans favor gay rights, including some form of partnership recognition for same-sex couples, especially when framed as economic and legal rights. This is particularly true of young voters; in California 55 percent of voters under 30 support gay marriage, and nationwide 63 percent of voters under 40 support civil unions or domestic partnerships. But this trend also holds true for voters of all ages; a 2007 Field poll reported that Californians young and old were four times more likely to say they are becoming more accepting of gay relationships than less accepting. Moreover, when the symbolic weight of marriage is removed from the equation, support for gay rights becomes overwhelming. Nationwide, a whopping 89 percent of voters favor protecting gays and lesbians from employment discrimination."

I think its safe to say that regardless of who wins the White House, even if its John McCain, there will be a huge amount of progress for gay marriage and civil unions.

and

Sad when this is progress... but, I think it is. At the very least LGBT's will have the right to be carried under their partner's insurance (helps with the health care crisis a little), and adoptions will be easier. Its getting a tiny bit easier and considering that many states passed overwhelmingly these insane amendments just a few years ago this is great progress. Perhaps not as quickly, or as sweeping as many would like, but its a step in the right direction that will only get easier and better the more people fall in love with Ellen DeGeneres.

According to CIRCLE numbers that are from a couple of years ago (so those are likely low compared to today)



And my favorite and most encouraging (look at those super youngsters!!)

According to Gallup, for the first time EVER it is evenly split between 48/48 of those who find gay relations morally acceptable. That same survey had 36% of people who said that it was not morally acceptable to have sex without being married..... so there ya go...

It isn't going to happen tomorrow, or even next week, but its soon... and its hard to wait.