Moving Forward

Our Full Interview with Anne Levinson
By Gail Benzler and Mona Smith

[Note - a condensed version of this interview is included in the Winter 2013 print edition of GSBA's Perspective magazine; this interview was conducted in December of 2012]


Why did you believe that the time was right in Washington state for marriage in 2012?
There were two very important reasons to move forward with marriage equality legislation in 2012.  First, it was a presidential election year, which meant there would be a larger, younger and less conservative electorate than in non-presidential election years. Second, depending on the results of the governor and senate races, there was the possibility legislation might not be passed or could have been vetoed if Democrats lost control of either.

It had been 14 years since passage the state Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and six years since the State Supreme Court had ruled DOMA was constitutional. Meanwhile, our state had become the first in the nation to vote in favor of LGBT relationship recognition with the 2009 vote to retain the domestic partnership law and public opinion in support of marriage equality had shifted significantly all across the country. Gay and lesbian families in Washington had been denied this fundamental right for far too long. It was time to move forward.

As we saw in the Legislature and during the campaign, so many people knew LGBT people in their lives.  Legislators had LGBT kids, constituents, staff, friends, business colleagues and members of their congregations.  It was those personal relationships and hearing the journey stories of others like President Obama and Governor Gregoire that made all the difference.  It was stories such as that of former State Representative Betty Sue Morris, a Democrat, who recounted how much she regretted a vote she cast against same-sex marriage in 1996 – because her daughter had since come out and State Representative Maureen Walsh, a Republican, who shared that she had always wanted to put on a wedding for her daughter, also a lesbian.

Can similar coalitions (business, religious, community and others) be built in other states?
In some ways we were fortunate that, because there had been so many attempts over the years in our state to roll back laws protecting LGBT Washingtonians, we had already built strong relationships with progressive allies, with business and labor and with faith communities. We knew first-hand the importance of having a broad, inclusive coalition.  All four states with marriage ballot measures (Washington, Maine, Maryland and Minnesota) did a terrific job in coalition-building.  Each not only engaged progressive allies, but also had wonderful support from communities of faith, business leaders, libertarians and Republicans.  All broke records for involving the most volunteers, the most donors and so on. Minnesota, in the heartland, and fighting to stop a constitutional amendment for the first time anywhere in the country, raised more than $12 million and had something like 62,000 donors.



Now that we have marriage equality here in Washington, what are the next steps that our LGBT and allied business community needs to take in order to move forward in other states and federally?  What is the significance of the four wins you described for the future?
The Supreme Court will be ruling on two cases related to marriage, one involving California’s Proposition 8 and one involving the federal DOMA, and there are several states where we are looking to move forward on marriage equality in the coming months. We may see marriage equality bills in the state legislatures of Illinois, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Delaware, Hawaii, and New Jersey this year.

Our four ballot victories in 2012 were important not just for people in those states, but also because it provided a backdrop for the U.S. Supreme Court of four popular votes in different parts of the country with different demographics.  Adding additional states in the next few months will further improve the climate for the Court. 

What do you believe is the best messaging for equality going forward?  How can additional wins be secured?
The silver lining of having had 35 ballot measures banning same-sex marriage come before the voters since 1998 where 34 of them having passed was that we had a huge amount of knowledge of what didn’t work. The only measure that failed -- in Arizona in 2006 -- lost because it included limits on civil unions as well marriage, and voters then approved a marriage-only ban two years later. We knew that these campaigns were hard to win because it was always easier for the other side to exploit pre-existing prejudices or fear than it was for us to persuade voters to change thinking that was very ingrained. 

We know that we have to be thoughtful both about the message and the messenger. We needed to move from rational to emotional framing and we had to have a large voter contact effort where human beings talk one on one, giving people a chance to compare their fears and concerns with the actual lives of gay and lesbian people.  Let parents hear from parents, Catholics from other Catholics...  People need to hear from folks with whom they identify. In the past, our side has focused on rights and discrimination. But that framing doesn’t move those voters who are still conflicted. We need to have conversations from the heart, to take it from an abstract frame of mind and into the personal, reminding people that real people and their families can be hurt and to let people know it is ok to have been on a journey to get to a place of understanding. It is important to expect that people want to act with integrity, inclusiveness and decency, toward the common good, rather than assume that because people haven’t always been supportive, their intentions are not good.  We have to tell our stories. We have to listen to their stories. We have to have open hearts and open minds if we want voters to do the same.

What should GSBA's role be going forward at home and to assist other states in making sure that businesses -- large and small -- are supportive of equality and understand the value of equality and what it brings to business?
GSBA has played a critical role in every ballot campaign, helping to build support among small businesses and corporations, explaining why LGBT equality is good for recruitment, particularly in national and global competition for top talent and good for the economy. Understanding of this in the business community is no longer limited to the coasts or to just progressive business leaders.  As seven or more states take up marriage legislation this year, having GSBA reach out to its sister organizations in these states to share with them how business support can make such an important difference both in legislatures and during the campaigns would be terrific

What was it like being a part of history here in Washington state and officiating the two marriages at the Chorus?
Officiating weddings with the Seattle Men’s Chorus and Seattle Women’s Chorus on stage at Benaroya Hall on the first evening marriage was legal was wonderful.  The audience enveloped Jane & Pete-e and Donald & Neil in love and support (Jane Abbott Lighty and Pete-e Petersen; Donald Glenn Jenny and Neil Hoyt). When I said, “By the authority vested in me by the State of Washington,” and the two choruses sang One Hand One Heart, I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house.  I was privileged to be a part of a very special experience.

What do we need to be aware of as we move forward?
As important as marriage equality is, it is only one part of what we need to achieve and that is full equality for LGBT individuals and our families.  We need to address the issue of youth living on the streets. By some estimates, 40 percent of homeless youth are LGBTQ.  We need to improve our current health care system to provide culturally competent care and services for our seniors. Bi-national same-sex couples are still at risk until we have comprehensive immigration reform. Republicans in Congress have refused to pass the Violence Against Women Act because it includes LGBT Americans. Our transgender community has unmet needs. Even though DADT was repealed, as long as DOMA is on the books, LGBT military families are denied housing, benefits and even burial and notification rights.  Until we pass a federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), it will remain legal to fire people in many states solely based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.  So, as we celebrate a year of tremendous momentum, we need to reach back and make sure no one is left behind.

#MEDayWA

by Matt Landers, GSBA Public Policy and Communications Coordinator

When I drove my little MINI Cooper from Connecticut to Seattle 16 months ago, I didn't really know what I was getting myself into.  I had left my job in the executive compensation department at PepsiCo and decided to start over in the Northwest, specifically in Seattle.  With two degrees in Geography to my name, I have been well-trained to be conscious of a 'sense of place' on a regular basis. Place, in all that can mean, was the primary in my decision of where to move. Without a doubt the natural environment of the Pacific Northwest was a strong draw, but a very particular, if also vague, conception of urban Seattle culture was a key determinant as well.

My home state of Connecticut achieved marriage equality in 2008.  I got my undergraduate degree at Macalester College, ranked the most LGBT-friendly school in the country in 2007. Gay marriage was legalized in Spain while I was studying abroad there in 2004. I volunteered with Basic Rights Oregon to help out with the first day of domestic partnership registrations at the Lane County Courthouse in Eugene in the first year of my Master’s program at the University of Oregon.  Despite all this, I never planned to work at an LGBT organization or be professionally involved in the fight for civil rights and equality.

Which is all the more reason why I am so deeply appreciative of the experiences I have had over the last several months. When GSBA brought me on staff in February, it was just in time for this historic 10-month campaign that we’ve all just been through. 48 hours after she signed the marriage equality bill, Governor Gregoire would be the keynote speaker at our Business & Humanitarian Awards Dinner.  GSBA took a leading role in mobilizing the small business community to endorse and contribute to the Washington United Campaign. Senator Patty Murray held a roundtable forum on the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in our offices last April, which included testimony from Margaret Witt, whose story I knew long before moving to Washington.

The last week has been unforgettable. I had the privilege to wait for a few hours with some of the first couples to apply for their marriage licenses in King County, listening to and spreading their stories online. Couples like Dawn Rains and Heather Laird, who talked about how they had to sign 39 pages of legal documents to approximate the legal protections of a marriage at their commitment ceremony 11 years ago. Couples like Pam Keely and Claudia Gorbman – Pam lost her first job 40 years ago for being gay, but on election night she received news of R74’s results while treating victims of Hurricane Sandy in New York as part of her job with WA-1 DMAT (a federal medical disaster team). Couples like Gabe Verdugo and Adam Forcier who will be moving back to Spokane, where they met nearly a decade ago. The chance to stand in the recorder’s room to watch these first couples stand in line to receive the legal recognition of their love and commitment was incredibly powerful. Even this typically bureaucratic procedure, which seemed relatively emotionless for most of the straight couples in the walk through a few days before, was truly celebratory at midnight on December 6. 

For the rest of that Thursday I tried to keep up with the deluge of stories from around the state. John McCluskey and Rudy Henry in Tacoma, together for 53 years. Col. Grethe Cammermeyer in Langley and Maj. Margaret Witt in Spokane, two of the most important figures in the fight against Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Paul Harris in Camas, who after issuing marriage licenses as a Clark County Clerk for decades, was finally able to getone for himself and his partner of 40 years, James Griener. In Bellingham, Michael Butler said "It's a chance to be just like everyone else. What's really nice about this is that our fellow Washingtonians voted for this. That makes me so proud to say I'm a Washingtonian."

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/12/06/2393141/whatcom-county-same-sex-couples.html#storylink=cpy

On Sunday I continuously refreshed the Facebook and Twitter streams for the ecstatic images and videos from City Hall.  I spent most of the day glued to the City of Seattle’s live feed, easily tearing up at the weddings of couples I didn’t know and from their reactions as the newlyweds descended the grand staircase to the cheers of hundreds of people on hand to congratulate them. Later that night there were the wedding ceremonies of Neil Hoyt and Donald Glenn Jenny and Jane Abbot Lighty and Pete-Petersen in front of the combined Seattle Mens' Chorus and Seattle Women's Chorus and an audience of 2,000. Travel writer Rick Steves was at the concert and declared "What a great place this is to live! What a great place this is to be from."

I keep reading and hearing interviews from the couples who say, again and again, that this is Seattle. This is Washington. "I don't even have words for this,'' said Caren Goldenberg, who married her partner of seven years, Casey Evans, at City Hall. "It just makes me really proud of my city.'' This city and this state voted for the first time in the United States to grant marriage equality at the ballot box. Not only that, but Washington State had the highest voter participation rate in the whole country (registered voters, that is. My Minnesotan friends will quickly point out that they have the highest rate of eligible voters participating). These facts only reinforce my mental image of Seattle, of Washington, of the Northwest – these are places where this once-in-a-lifetime campaign was not only possible, but successful.

That's not to say that the journey to this momentous week wasn't long and full of frustrating obstacles and setbacks. But when we have a Republican from Walla Walla standing up for marriage equality alongside legislators from Capitol Hill, unions and businesses of all sizes, faith groups and community groups from all corners of society... that is what I hoped Seattle and Washington could be. Whereas there was little to no business opposition to the anti-gay constitutional amendment in North Carolina in May, in Washington our business community came out with vocal support for equality, not only because it was good business but because it was the right thing to do. Saracristina Garcia, waiting to marry her partner Teri Bednarski, told us that “The passage of marriage equality is an example of an extremely diverse community standing together to protect a minority as well as the well-being of everyone’s children. Washingtonians at their best.” 

This social and political reality is integral to my sense of my new home as a place, and I couldn’t be prouder to be here.

R74 Retrospective: Interview with Lacey All

by Thomas Pitchford, member of the GSBA Public Policy Task Force

From your perspective as the Chair for the Washington United for Marriage campaign, what factors you would you attribute to our overall success?

Photo care of Washington United for Marriage

We first had to understand the proper spirit in which to approach working together. By that I mean we knew the only way we could win was if the community worked together like we have never worked together before. Collaboration across a broad spectrum of local and national coalition partners was essential, as was the feeling that we were all working in the same direction. Our leadership team proved a tremendous asset as they moved immediately to put some strong leadership parameters in place.  This included both HRC local and national leaders as well as leaders across a coalition of dedicated organizational partners, including GSBA.

Additionally, facing 32/32 losses nationally, understanding the opposition was incredibly important. We needed to have a firm understanding of the range of messages that would be coming from the opposition, and be able to make the case for why voters should Approve Referendum 74. Persuading voters to support marriage equality required an entirely different framework than that needed to pass domestic partnership – and we anticipated would bring on a different reaction and fight from the opposition.

Many months of planning and hard work resulted in a tremendous campaign effort launched at first by seven paid staff as we sought to move the bill through the house and senate. Over the next seven months, that number would expand to over 60 paid staff members, deployed to work in one of seven action centers across Washington. Their extensive work resulted in a campaign field effort unmatched in the history of any campaign in the state as more than 50,000 volunteers were organized statewide.

Fundraising for the campaign also reflected a power in numbers – not only in meeting a $12.5M goal, but also through its number of donors. With the most common gift of $25, this was truly a campaign that captured the imagination of so many Washingtonians.

We worked closely with our experienced partners from around the country to frame a message that helped voters understand the importance of marriage equality in terms of basic human needs. Messaging about love, commitment and family, and communicating that these are values we all share, really put this message in perspective for Washingtonians.  We took the lessons from the past losses and used them to make sure we had a win here in Washington State.

Finally, some of our most significant support came from the Washington business community. In addition to the generosity of Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and so many other business leaders, many Fortune 100 companies across Washington joined us in affirming support for marriage equality. This was, without doubt, a tremendous influence in our success. As an employee of Starbucks, I could not be more proud to have their support as well as the support of so many other companies across the state.

I feel these factors really helped us capture the imagination of so many people across the state and build what became a coordinated effort not seen before in Washington.

Let’s talk about the role of the Human Rights Campaign, what partnerships were made along the way, and what future potential benefit do you see them providing for Washington’s LGBT community?

I am extremely proud of the coalition. We all worked in the same direction, and we all learned a lot along the way.

HRC was the single largest organizational contributor, with over $1.5M in financial and staffing contributions. Through working with our coalition partners we were able to build the infrastructure needed to make marriage equality in Washington a reality.  This included the work of Freedom to Marry at the national level, along with so many organizations including but not limited to ACLU of WA, Pride Foundation, Planned Parenthood Votes NW, ERW, Legal Voice, UFCW21, SEIU, and others who, without their involvement this would have not been possible.

In terms of our future here in Washington, we have built a significant coalition united around this effort. And this also presents a tremendous opportunity for us to continue to work on other issues affecting the LGBT community, something I have a great desire to see happen. At this morning’s Equal Rights Washington breakfast, Governor-Elect Inslee said it best: “This is the end of the beginning.” We have leveled the playing field in many ways, but there is still much left to be done. For now, we have an opportunity to step back and take a collective breath – and identify what’s next for Washington.

For the marriage movement, I believe HRC could use Washington as a model, and through building strong local partnerships pay those lessons learned forward, in particular for the marriage equality work soon happening in Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Illinois. 

Lacey All is the Director of Strategic Talent Initiatives at Starbucks Coffee Company and served as the Chair of Washington United for Marriage. She also is also on the Board of Directors for the Human Rights Campaign.

Fast-changing views on marriage equality

Attitudes on gay marriage have been shifting incredibly fast over the last few years.  We are all hoping that they are changing quickly enough to result in the victories for marriage equality at the ballot box here in Washington State as well as in Maryland and Maine, as well as halting the proposed constitutional amendment in Minnesota in a few weeks.

There have been a few very interesting articles on this cultural change. Third Way, a centrist think tank, put out a detailed examination of the demographic shifts between 2004 and 2011 behind the increasing support for marriage equality.  And while one oft-cited reason for the change is the coming-of-age of younger voters and the gradual replacement of older, more conservative voters, however Lanae Erickson Hatalsky, director of Social Policy and Politics at Third Way, find that three-quarters of the shift in opinion has come from people changing their minds, especially among older generations.  One of the greatest ways to increase support for equality is to have a conversation with your family and friends.

In the last few days of the election campaign, make sure that you have returned your ballot APPROVING Referendum 74.  Please encourage everyone you know to do the same.  Talk to them about why it matters to you.

Third Way “The Big Shift: Changing Views on Marriage for Gay Couples.”

The Advocate “Thank Your Grandparents for Equality Surging in Polls.”

Why Marriage Matters “Start a Conversation”

Get your ballots in!

For those of us in Washington State, our ballots will start showing up in our mailboxes this afternoon.  This is a big election year and we strongly urge all our members and friends to educate themselves about the candidates and issues on the ballot.

GSBA's Board of Directors has endorsed a vote to APPROVE Referendum 74 and a NO vote on Initiative 1185.  It is a given that the country's largest LGBT business chamber would be fully behind the push for marriage equality, and we are very proud of so many of our members' public stances on this defining issue.  Equality is good business and is good for business.

The Board also agrees that Tim Eyman's I-1185 will adversely impact our state's ability to effectively legislative and will unduly tie the hands of government to react to the needs of the citizens.  Education, transportation, health care and more will be negatively impacted by this initiative.

As a non-partisan organization, GSBA does not endorse individual candidates.  If you are looking for additional information on the many races this year, we suggest any of the following resources:

SEAMEC - 2012 General Election Candidate Ratings (also available in the Seattle Gay News)
Equal Rights Washington - Progressive Voters Guide
CityClub - Living Voters Guide
NARAL Pro-Choice Washington - NARAL Endorsements
The Stranger Election Control Board - Long Form
The Stranger vs. The Seattle Times via SeattlePI

Don't forget to vote and mail in your ballots (or drop them off) as soon as possible.
Campaigns will stop calling you after your ballot is received by the county.

Business Leaders Approve Referendum 74

From today's Seattle Times:

2012 GSBA Ballot Positions

GSBA Endorses Approval of Referendum 74, No Vote on Initiative 1185

SEATTLE – The Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA), the nation’s largest LGBT Chamber of Commerce and the second largest business chamber in the region has released its 2012 voter’s guide.  The GSBA’s Public Policy Task Force has taken the time to talk with representatives from several of the ballot measures that Washingtonians will face this November. Acting on the Task Force’s recommendation, the Board of Directors voted to take official positions on Referendum 74 and Initiative 1185.

With more than three decades’ experience fighting for equality, GSBA has worked as part of the coordinating committee for Washington United for Marriage since the start of the campaign.  Accordingly, the GSBA Public Policy Task Force and the Board of Directors endorse marriage equality and strongly recommend an “APPROVE” vote on Referendum 74. Marriage equality is good business and good for business.

It is the shared belief of the GSBA Public Policy Task Force and Board of Directors that Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1185 will hamper the state’s ability to effectively legislate and unduly tie the hands of government to react to the needs of the citizens.  Education, transportation, health care and more will be negatively impacted by this initiative.  GSBA recommends its members vote “NO” on Initiative 1185.

GSBA strongly encourages everyone to fill in and return their ballots by November 6.