House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is the new target for LGBT activists

November 8, 10:59 PMSF LGBT Issues ExaminerEric Ross

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Nancy Pelosi (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The election in Maine marks the second time that the LGBT community had their rights stripped away from them at the ballot box. It was a devastating blow to the LGBT community, but the fight for equality is far from over. Now, activists across the country are expanding their fight by petitioning Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, to stand up for full federal rights for LGBT citizens.

Pelosi is second in the line of succession to the presidency, thus making her the third most powerful elected official in the country. While she has announced that she supports the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), she has not actively pushed for any of them. The Speaker of the House is supposed to actively work on setting that party's legislative agenda, so why isn’t LGBT equality up there with the war, the economy, and health care?

Because there seems to be a lack of urgency in Congress, local activists have started a petition to get Pelosi to act.

“Twice in the last year, our rights have been stripped away at the ballot,” said Kip Williams, co-organizer of the National Equality March and organizer for One Struggle One Fight. He continues in a message on his website by saying, “We want to know what Speaker Pelosi is going to do to make sure this doesn’t happen to our community again. We know she’s in a fight over health care right now, and we support her to focus on progressive health care reform. But when health care reform is passed, we’re coming back, and we expect real answers and real commitments.”

So what exactly are the activists expecting from Pelosi? Well, here’s a message from their website:

“The rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community have twice been stripped away at the ballot in the last year: first in California, and then in Maine. This is not just an attack on marriage equality. It is an attack on civil rights.

It's simple: Prop 8s and Question 1s will continue to happen as long as the federal government sits idly by.

Speaker Pelosi, we want to know what you will do to ensure that this will not happen again. We expect real leadership from you: that means commitments, benchmarks, and accountability.

We demand equality, and we will not accept compromises.”

You can join the petition demanding that Nancy Pelosi commits to taking a stronger stance on LGBT equality by going to http://speakforequality.org.

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