ENDA, Club La Zeez, HRC, & more

Inclusive ENDA campaign kick-off meeting: Saturday, March 22 @ 12pm @ the Center!

Help us build a campaign to ensure that the next ENDA bill is an inclusive bill! Opportunities for tabling, public speaking, lobbying, and more! Hope to see you on Saturday!

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Club La Zeez declared "a hit"!

Last Saturday was the grand opening of Club La Zeez, one of four new "social ventures" supported by AC4A, the SF LGBT Center, and the Edge Bar, among other sponsors. The party was a huge success! Check out the coverage in this week's BAR, and please join us for the next party on April 19: http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=2811

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Cast your vote for Pink Brick and Pride Grand Marshal! Ballots due by March 31 (ballots at http://www.sfpride.org, under "Grand Marshal nominees announced")

There's been lots of noise in the BAR about HRC's nomination for the Pink Brick. HRC has organized quite a write-in campaign, including a letter of protest today from HRC's local Board of Governors, who claim to be "making change from within" but haven't bothered to speak out at all about transgender equality, attend any meetings, organize anything, etc.

To set the record straight: HRC falsely told the LGBT community that it would support an inclusive bill. Then -- on the day of the vote -- HRC organized a counter campaign, to the shock of PFLAG, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Lambda, the Stonewall Democrats, the National Center for Transgeder Equality, and over 300 other LGBT organizations. So, yes, there are lots of dictators who deserve a Pink Brick (I'll add Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to the list). But, unlike Bill O'Reilly, HRC might actually take notice of incoming masonry.

Also in the spirit of "credit where credit is due", we'd like to put in a plug for a few of this year's Grand Marshal candidates, more than are actually eligible (so, you decide where to cast your lot).

Brett Andrews: Executive Director of the Positive Resource Center, member of the Alice B. Toklas board, and a strong advocate for the rights of people with HIV, people of color, and others in our community whose voices often get marginalized

Miguel Bustos: A key AC4A ally during the "bad old days", Miguel has served as Congresswoman Barbara Lee's Deputy Director, advocating for justice and peace; for Mayor Newsom; and now works for Mayor Dellums. Miguel has consistently sought to draw attention to the needs of low-income people of color.

Shannon Minter: In his capacity as staff attorney at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Shannon is leading the marriage equality argumentation in CA. Also, Shannon was one of the loudest and most effective voices for an inclusive ENDA last fall, calling SF from DC on a daily basis.

Julius Turman: Lead attorney in the case of "Turner, Willis et. al vs. SF Badlands", Julius is the first African-American co-chair of the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, and just last month was recognized by Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom for writing a ground-breaking report about discrimination in the legal field.