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Alice in the News
There is a new section of the Alice web site -- Alice in the News. It's listed in the menu to your left. Click here to see the most recent items resulting from the Pride breakfast!
Letter from Barack Obama to Alice
Dear Friends,
Thank you for the opportunity to welcome everyone to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club's Pride Breakfast and to congratulate you on continuing a legacy of success, stretching back thirty-six years. As one of the oldest and most influential LGBT organizations in the country, you have continually rallied to support Democratic candidates and causes, and have fought tirelessly to secure equal rights and opportunities for LGBT Americans in California and throughout the country.
As the Democratic nominee for President, I am proud to join with and support the LGBT community in an effort to set our nation on a course that recognizes LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. That is why I support extending fully equal rights and benefits to same sex couples under both state and federal law. That is why I support repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy, and the passage of laws to protect LGBT Americans from hate crimes and employment discrimination. And that is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states.
For too long. issues of LGBT rights have been exploited by those seeking to divide us. It's time to move beyond polarization and live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. This is no less than a core issue about who we are as Democrats and as Americans.
Finally, I want to congratulate all of you who have shown your love for each other by getting married these last few weeks. My thanks again to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club for allowing me to be a part of today's celebration. I look forward to working with you in the coming months and years, and I wish you all continued success.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
Letter from Hillary Rodham Clinton to Alice
Dear Fellow Democrats,
I am delighted to send my greetings to each of you gathered
with the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club of San Francisco. Please know
how much I wish I could join you today for your wonderful
breakfast.
As I travelled across America during the course of my
campaign, I met individuals and families who were accepting and
embracing the gay and lesbian men and women in their lives as never
before. This country is changing, and it is individuals like you who
are making that change possible and helping to ensure that this
country fulfills its promises to every American.
I am so grateful for the work that you do every day, as well as
for the work you did on my behalf over the course of my campaign.
I have been truly touched by the outpouring of friendship and
encouragement from the LGBT community, and going forward I will
continue to cherish my relationship with you. I see the courage with
which you live your lives, the devotion with which you persevere in
the name of change, and the necessity that this country recognizes
real equality for all, both in our hearts and in our laws.
You have my very best wishes for an enjoyable breakfast.
Working together, I know that we still can bring about change and
restore the promise of our country.
Sincerely yours,
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Op-Ed in Bay Area Reporter:
Why We Support Re-Electing Scott Wiener
as SF Democratic Party Chair
By Julius Turman, Susan Belinda Christian, Theresa Sparks, Connie O’Connor, Cecilia Chung, Thom Lynch, John Lewis, Stuart Gaffney, Laura Spanjian, Rebecca Prozan, Bob Dockendorff, Neil Sims, John Marez, Linda Scaparotti, Dean Goodwin, Martha Knutzen, Fran Kipnis, Jeff Soukup, Jeff Anderson, Luke Klipp, Michael Costa, Kirk Oatman, Brian M. Wong, Kevin Cheng, Sabrina Riddle, Elizabeth Falkner, Frank Woo, Amy Errett, Myong Leigh, Reese Isbell, Charles Sheehan and Brian Leubitz.
This is an exciting, and risky, time for the LGBT community. We need to elect Barack Obama in November. We need to beat back the anti-marriage ballot measure and preserve our freedom to marry. We need to make sure that the Democrats have strong majorities in Congress, so that our civil rights are protected. And, now more than ever we need strong, competent, and ethical LGBT Democratic Party leadership. Leadership to protect our civil rights and to make sure that the Democratic Party is strong and responsive to our community’s needs.
That is why we support reelecting Scott Wiener as Chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party. Scott – whose reelection is also supported by Assemblyman Mark Leno – has done a tremendous job as Chair and has a long track record of leadership in the LGBT community. We urge the Democratic County Central Committee to reelect Scott when the DCCC convenes in mid-July.
Under Scott’s leadership over the past two years, the Democratic Party has been highly successful. The party has registered 15,000 voters. It has been financially strong and thus been able to hire talented field organizers to build the party. And, because of Scott’s inclusive leadership style, all segments of the Democratic Party – from left to moderate – have been included, welcomed, and urged to participate. The past two years have seen far less division and rancor on the DCCC than in the past, which allows the party to focus less time and energy on internal turf wars and more time and energy on the nuts and bolts of building the Democratic Party.
Scott Wiener has also had a long and distinguished track record of leadership in the LGBT community. Scott played a significant role in building the LGBT Community Center and co-chaired the Center’s board. He co-chaired Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF), co-chaired the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, and has been active in efforts to improve the Castro by making it a safer, more livable, and more inclusive place. Some of us do not agree with Scott's decision to remain on the board of directors of the Human Rights Campaign. However, we all support his leadership in the Democratic Party and in the community.
We must be unified going into the fall elections, and we need a Democratic Party Chair who knows how to bring people together. Scott Wiener fills this role. We also need to promote LGBT leadership in the Democratic Party. We cannot afford to lose a successful LGBT Chair.
We understand that Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who is the President of the Board of Supervisors, may be running against Scott. By supporting Scott, we are not expressing any negativity toward Aaron, or toward Supervisor Chris Daly, who is promoting Aaron’s candidacy. We respect Supervisor Peskin’s and Supervisor Daly’s work on the Board of Supervisors and urge them to focus on that important body, which needs to resolve the City’s budget crisis, implement universal health care, and address our crime problems. We were particularly distressed to learn that Supervisor Daly threatened to “take out” any member of the DCCC who voted for Scott. That kind of threat has no place in politics.
Scott Wiener has been an effective and successful LGBT Democratic Party Chair. We encourage the Democratic County Central Committee to reelect Scott so that we can continue this strong LGBT leadership.
An open letter to the LGBT community & our allies,
from the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club
June 18, 2008
After much consideration by our board and members, it is with regret that we write this letter
announcing our decision to forgo this year's Human Rights Campaign (HRC) dinner in San
Francisco, scheduled for July 26, 2008. We also encourage others in the LGBT community and
our allies to forgo HRC’s gala event this year, due to HRC’s ongoing refusal to advocate for
federal legislation that protects all Americans from discrimination based on gender identity and
expression – as well as sexual orientation.
At the end of the last century, the LGBT community arrived at a consensus: that the full
membership of the LGBT community would be honored and embraced, regardless of differences
among us, be they based upon race, class, gender, gender identity and expression, or other
factors. What was once called a "gay" community in the past, now self-defines, and is known
internationally, as the LGBT community. United, the LGBT community works diligently to ensure
that all LGBT community members are protected from discrimination based on sexual orientation,
gender identity, and/or gender expression.
It is especially important that our leading civil rights institutions, like HRC, uphold our shared
commitment to diversity and inclusion, and lead our movement in a responsible and forwardlooking
manner.
Unfortunately, last Fall HRC betrayed its own legacy and values, and betrayed the LGBT
community, when the organization’s leadership reversed its long-standing commitment to
inclusive legislation, suddenly advocating passage of a federal Employment Non-Discrimination
Act (ENDA) that, for sake of expediency, deliberately excluded gender identity and expression
protections. This cynical move left millions of Americans vulnerable to gender discrimination in
employment, and implied that, while discrimination based on sexual orientation was
unacceptable, bias and intolerance based on gender identity or expression were negotiable.
Even worse, HRC’s leadership made its decision in secret, breaching its collaboration with every
other national LGBT organization, including PFLAG, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force,
the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Stonewall Democrats, the National Center for
Transgender Equality, the Transgender Law Center, and over 350 other national, state, and local
LGBT organizations – including the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club.
Since that time, HRC has made little effort to reverse course on this issue. HRC’s Executive
Director, Joe Solomonese, now asserts that his prior statements about HRC’s unwavering
commitment to inclusion were simply "misstatements". In fact, even to this day, HRC remains
uncommitted to introduction of an inclusive employment non-discrimination bill – even though
Congress must introduce an entirely new bill during its next session in January 2009.
As the nation's oldest LGBT Democratic club, Alice and its members are deeply committed to
inclusion within our community, and expect other LGBT organizations to uphold this commitment
as well. While we have supported HRC in the past and look forward to doing so in the future, in
light of the above we cannot in good conscience support this year’s HRC gala fund raiser and,
regrettably, feel compelled to ask our fellow San Franciscans, also, to forgo the HRC gala this
year – until such time as HRC reaffirms its commitment to inclusion, especially with respect to
introduction and passage of an inclusive employment non-discrimination bill.
Particularly at this point in time, it is important that we support LGBT organizations working
actively, on all of our behalf, against non-discrimination and for full equality – and especially those
organizations working for passage of an inclusive ENDA. Instead of attending this year's HRC
event, we kindly ask that you consider investing in an explicitly trans inclusive organization, such
as the Transgender Law Center, or any of the 350+ other local, state, and national organizations
working toward this end (listed at www.unitedENDA.org).
Many thanks for your time, attention, and continued commitment to diversity and inclusion in our
community.
Sincerely,
Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club
June Newsletter Online
Click here to read our June Newsletter. If you're not
getting it by email, update your address by writing us at info@alicebtoklas.org.
Remember! This version on the website and
the email version are much longer and more complete than the paper version some of you are still
receiving. So if you aren't
receiving it by email, let us know by writing us at info@alicebtoklas.org.
Here's the table of contents for it:
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