Friday afternoon, February 17, 2012
To: Steven Goldstein, Chair and CEO, Garden State Equality, Montclair, New Jersey

Dear Steven,

Thank you for sharing your "Statement on Governor Christie's impending veto of the marriage equality bill." (Follow the link below this letter to Steven's post-veto statement.) Your openness about your cordial relationship with him, despite your differences is reflective of who and what we must be in this democracy of ours.

I came of political age where leaders who disagree passionately on the issues, who even fight with one another like cats and dogs in the political arena, were able put the fights aside and see one another as people. I grew up at a time when the legendary Democratic Speaker of the U.S. House, Tip O’Neill – a hero of mine – and President Reagan did exactly that. And it’s always been my philosophy in dealing with Governor Christie and his Administration... That doesn’t obviate the pain of the Governor’s veto. Because I do know him, I also know he is not some anti-LGBT nut. He is no Rick Santorum. Frankly, I don’t think Chris Christie has an anti-gay bone in his body, however much I cannot say the same about his impending veto. His veto will be a brutally anti-gay act, pure and simple. ~quote from full statement by Steven Goldstein

This week I received an e-mail from a friend who is not a resident of New Jersey who reminded me of something I had forgotten; Governor George Wallace's words in his January 14, 1963 Inaugural Address; "Segregation today, Segregation tomorrow, Segregation forever." My friend asked, "Is Governor Christie in his pledge to veto the Marriage Equality legislation a modern day Governor Wallace?"

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

I wrote back and said, "Governor Chris Christie is no Governor George Wallace." Although many of us have our points of disagreement with him, we believe he is acting out of character when he dismisses the action of the New Jersey Legislature. His suggestion of a ballot initiative that would allow New Jersey voters to determine the Constitution-granted equality rights of same sex couples is contrary to the bold, brave and bodacious spirit he has shown on many issues.

I believe he will, upon reflection, acknowledge that a ballot initiative on marriage equality weakens Constitutional intent, makes a mockery of heterosexual marriage (54 years for my wife Grace and me), and opens the door for violations of church and state; in this case church prohibitions against same sex marriage, superseding the equality intent of our Constitution.

Grace and I want same sex couples to experience the joys, struggles and more joys that have been ours in 54 years. The voters of New Jersey cannot define marriage, it has already been defined in the love, companionship and joy and sorrow we who are married have known. A ballot initiative would trivialize, rather than "protect" marriage.

I believe Governor Christie understands that. My prayer is that, what he knows in his heart will be reflected in his decision on marriage equality.

Rev. Gilbert H. Caldwell
Asbury Park, NJ

Steven Goldstein, Chair and CEO, Garden State Equality

By Roberta (Bobbie) Zenker, Montana's first and only transgender attorney

Born and raised in Ohio, Roberta Bobbie Zenker, author of TransMontana: A Memoir of Transformation in Body, Mind & Spirit, has lived in Montana for thirty years. She obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Dayton in 1980 with a BA in Photography and Fine Arts, and minors in English and Religious Studies. She came to Montana as a Jesuit Volunteer, and worked as the Director of a Residential Youth Treatment program for Native American Youth in Eastern Montana until attending law school at the University of Montana, graduating in 1992. In nearly twenty years of public service law, she has been a prosecutor, county attorney, and an appellate defender. Bobbie has submitted numerous briefs to the Montana Supreme Court, and currently is a disability and civil rights lawyer. Bobbie's guest column is taken from a presentation she made at the Martin Luther King Day event held by the Montana Human Rights Network in Helena, MT, on Monday, January 23, 2012.

In the justice arena, every day is MLK day.

Denise Juneau, Montana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, wrote in a MLK Day email as follows:

"As we commemorate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. today, it is important to reflect on the values he taught us through example - the values of courage, truth, justice, compassion, dignity, humility, and service. His belief that we could all be better human beings simply by accepting and respecting others is one we should try to live out daily. We must believe that every person is worthy of equality and fairness."

She hit it on the head.

Dr. King infamously said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

I believe that, such that I think there can be no justice for anyone until there is justice for everyone. So long as any one group or class of people is denied their equal place and status among us, we are all marginalized.

As Montana’s first and only transgender attorney I experienced being humiliated and ostracized. The worst of it was professional employment discrimination. I chose to stay in Montana as I transitioned and beyond because it is the place and the people I love. It is my home. I kept my last name and my profession. Not a big deal? Well, when you are a popularly elected official, an active member of a state bar with less than 3,000 members, and a few years of experience behind you, it is hard to escape notice. Stealth was not an option.

It took me twenty-two months to find professional employment as an attorney in the state capital where state’s attorney positions came open at a rate of at least one per month. I experienced outright hostility at two state agencies, including the highest levels of the Department of Justice. There is a certain irony in that in light of Dr. King’s above statement. I had to take a second job for a while there, but found discrimination in that pursuit as well in Montana’s university system and one of its largest corporations.

So, now I qualify. I know how the other-half lives. I am amongst the marginalized.

Those experiences hurt. But I thank God for them now. They have opened my eyes, not just to the plight of trans people, not even only to the LGBT class to which I ostensibly belong, but to the broader notion of justice.

Justice! It is a good word. I often think of Morgan Freeman in the Bonfires of the Vanities as he describes justice to an angry crowd of onlookers following their disappointment after a high profile criminal trial. He said, "Justice is decency. What your grandmother taught you." He exhorted them to be decent to each other. We must be decent to each other certainly, but that is only the beginning. We must do more.

Dr. King said,

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

In short, everybody matters. We must realize the interrelatedness and commonality amongst all who experience injustice. Dr. King referred to it as a "…call- for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class, and nation; it is a reality call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind."

Love? Yes, love! Dr. King drew a distinction between this kind of unconditional love for humanity and "emotional bosh." It involves support, concern and mutual respect that uplifts each member as it uplifts us all. I do not wish to wax gospel-ish here, but really, what would Jesus say?

And as we love one another even as we have been loved, we cannot at the same time hate. Dr. King talked about hate too. He said,

Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other.

It is true, as hate at base is no more than fear; we must overcome this fear of the unknown in one another, for we are much more alike than we are different. We must rely on this as we seek to know each other, even those who oppose us, and make ourselves known to them. I am trans, I am gay, and I want everyone to know it. I want them to know too, that I am a beautiful daughter of God, for all that it means.

As I come to know and love others I begin to lose intolerance. I stop judging and criticizing the wrong I perceive and allow others to be just who and what they are.

Dr. King said,

First, we must massively assert our dignity and worth. We must stand up amidst a system that still oppresses us and develop an unassailable and majestic set of values." Yes we are beautiful children of God!

In somewhat prophetic fashion, Dr. King said about his passing,

I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for peace; I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind.

That is a call worth listening too.

The following is from chapter 24 of my new book TransMontana: A Memoir of Transformation in Body, Mind & Spirit. It describes how I first experienced this call and involves some reflections about the passing of the city of Missoula's non-discrimination ordinance.

On February 18, now four years almost to the day of my moment of truth in Silver Star, I got an email from Jamee Greer at the Montana Human Rights Network.

Yet, these are happy people. They have loosed their fears and abandoned their pretenses. They are authentic, without judgment of others and demands for approval. They are passionate and dedicated. What exactly is wrong with that?

Now that we have moved beyond another Martin Luther King Observance, the first celebrated with the presence of the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, I invite you to join me in what will be a re-reading for some of us, and a first time reading for others of us. The Read: MARTIN LUTHER KING: THE INCONVENIENT HERO by Vincent Harding, (Orbis Books, 1996, revised edition 2008).

This book provides a number of informative, prophetic and soul, heart and mind-stretching essays that serve as a counterpoint to the poem of Carl Wendell Himes, that Dr. Harding includes within the book:

Now that he is safely dead,
Let us praise him
and build monuments to his glory
and sing hosannas to his name.

Dead men make
such convenient heroes. They cannot
rise to challenge the images we would
fashion from their lives.

And besides, it is
easier to build monuments,
than to make a better world.

And after re-reading the book, rather than immediately moving to a pointing of a finger at others, I will remember that when I do that, I am pointing 3 fingers at myself. These moments will not be well served in memory of Dr. King if we fail to acknowledge that each one of us, must join others of us, no matter how different may be their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion or politics from ours. "A better world" requires all of us to contribute to its making, by discovering and then living, the best that is within us.

TiP and the ACLU of Montana appreciate the religious leaders who told the Montana Supreme Court that they support fairness

By Ninia Baehr, ACLU of Montana LGBT Advocacy Coordinator

During the Fair is Fair Tour this fall, from Billings to Bozeman, Butte to Missoula, Kalispell to Great Falls and in Montana’s capital city of Helena, the TiP team – Rev. Gil Caldwell and Marilyn Bennett – joined ACLU of Montana staff in talking with clergy and lay people about how communities of faith can promote fairness. Although many of the people we talked to held differing theological understandings of sexual orientation, most came to agree that all Montanans deserve equal rights and protections under the law.

During and immediately after the tour, 20 additional priests, ministers and other clergy members (103 total as of today) signed the Clergy Statement of Support for the ACLU's domestic partnership lawsuit Donaldson and Guggenheim v. State of Montana. Lay people also requested, and participated in drafting, a People of Faith Statement.

The tour’s timing was fortuitous. The ACLU of Montana appealed on Nov. 14 a District Court decision dismissing the Donaldson case. Now the matter rests with the Montana Supreme Court.

Now religious leaders are letting the Montana Supreme Court know their views on domestic partnership. On Nov. 21, 66 Montana clergy submitted an amicus (friend of the court) brief to the Montana Supreme Court in support of domestic partnership. Their brief explains that the state’s failure to recognize gay and lesbian relationships harms loving, committed couples because it leaves them vulnerable to being treated as legal stranger during times of illness, emergency or death and violates their constitutional rights to privacy, dignity, and the pursuit of safety, health and happiness.

The state of Montana has until mid-January to file its response to the ACLU’s appeal brief. A trial could follow later in 2012. In the mean time, clergy and people of faith have an important role to play in promoting fairness for all Montanans, including gays and lesbians.

For more information on what you can do contact Ninia at niniab@aclumontana.org.

MISSOULA

Fun facts about Missoula!

-The name "Missoula" comes from the Salish name for the area, "Nemissoolatakoo."

-Jeannette Rankin, born in Missoula, MT, became the first woman to serve in Congress in 1917.

-The first luge run in North America was built at Lolo Hot Springs on Lolo Pass, just south of Missoula, in 1965.

ACLU's Ninia talks about our organizing efforts in Missoula

(Footage by Marilyn, no professionals were harmed in the making of this film.)

Loons and famous people of Missoula:

-North of Missoula is the largest population of nesting common loons in the western United States.

-In his novel, A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean wrote that "The world is full of bastards, the number increasing rapidly the further one gets from Missoula, Montana."

-David Lynch and Dana Carvey are from Missoula.

Gil and Marilyn spent a rich afternoon with Eden and Claude at their Pinewood Studios in Missoula. See excerpts from Eden's interview and some fun with "RESPECT" on the tour film.

Gil and Marilyn with Eden Atwood and Claude Pineault

Two days before, Eden's son Ben was very excited to meet Gil, someone who had worked with Martin Luther King Jr.

Benjamin Atwood Anderson with Gil and Gil's picture with King.

THEN WE WERE OFF TO KALISPELL

KALISPELL

What about Kalispell?

-The name Kalispell is a Salish word meaning "flat land above the lake"

-Flathead Lake, just south of Kalispell, is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Great Lakes.

-L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology lived in Kalispell.

Ninia on meetings in Kalispell

TO GREAT FALLS

GREAT FALLS

Fun facts!

-Great Falls is the third largest city in the state with a metropolitan area of 81,327 .

-At the Rocky Mountain Front Eagle Migration Area west of Great Falls more golden eagles have been seen in a single day than anywhere else in the country.

-One of the first films ever taken of a UFO occurred in August 1950 in Great Falls when Nicholas "Nick" Mariana, the general manager of the Great Falls "Electrics" minor-league baseball team saw two silvery orbs fly over the baseball stadium.

Reflections on Great Falls by Marilyn

We arrived in Great Falls on the morning of September 24th. As in the other cities, we were gratified by the turnout for the event held at the Great Falls Public Library. There were a variety of faith communities represented and a strong showing from the local PFLAG chapter. As we did at the other tour events, Gil led off by talking about the influences on his commitment to justice issues, experience during the Civil Rights Movement, support of the LGBT equality movement, and how he talks about the comparisons people make of the two movements. He then turned it over to me to talk more about these comparisons. One of my points was about "passing," that African American people cannot hide the color of their skin whereas many LGBT people can chose whether or not to identify themselves as such (though we don't recommend staying in the closet and the life-draining consequences of such secrecy). This difference in discernible identity changes when and how one experiences bigotry and prejudice.

The connection between about the invisibility of passing and the church's need for visible welcome had occurred to me quite the same way before. I hope it was as helpful to those who were present as it was to me. Thank you, Great Falls community, for what you are doing to bring people together and break down the barriers to full equality for all people!

Last of the fun facts.

-Great Falls takes its name from the series of five waterfalls in close proximity along the upper Missouri River basin that the Lewis and Clark Expedition had to portage around over a ten mile stretch; the effort required 31 days of arduous labor during the westward leg of their 1805-06 exploration of the Louisiana Purchase and to the Pacific Northwest Coast of the Oregon Country.

-The Roe River, claimed to be the world's shortest river, is located in Great Falls.

Roe River

For more information on becoming a welcoming church, go to Institute for Welcoming Resources. Click here to find out more about The Shower of Stoles Project (stole image above is from their exhibition).

Highlights and interviews from the Fair is Fair in Montana Tour
10 days, 7 cities, and 1300 miles
The tour was co-sponsored by Truth in Progress & ACLU of Montana to gain and organize support for FAIRNESS for domestic partnerships in Montana.

As we traveled across the state, Truth in Progress spoke with members of the LGBT and Two Spirit communities as well as allies about the intersection of race, sexual orientation, gender identity, and religion. Here is some extraordinary footage representing the diversity of Montana and insights from those who fight for fairness and equality.

By TiP Production Manager Tonya Easbey

Marilyn discusses the tangible contributions Truth in Progress and the Fair is Fair in Montana Tour make to the larger LGBTQI equality movement and whatever the so-called "Gay Agenda" is. The discussion on race, sexual orientation, gender identity, and religion is a key element of the national work as well as church and clergy organizing.

Ninia Baehr, LGBT Advocacy Coordinator for the ACLU of Montana, describes how we were able to expand the conversation beyond those who are already supportive of it.

Just tuning in to Truth in Progress. Click here to get more information about the Fair is Fair in Montana Tour co-sponsored with the ACLU of Montana.

We've had a few videos from the Fair is Fair in Montana Tour of Gil and Ninia describing their tour cohorts. I want to take this opportunity to describe Gil, his strategic work on the tour, some behind the scenes incidents, and his amazing unflagging commitment to the LGBT equality movement.

I've included stories of our time in Helena so let's get some fun facts about Helena before the video clip!

-Helena was founded with the July 14, 1864 discovery of gold in a gulch off the Prickly Pear valley by the "Four Georgians". About $3.6 billion (in today's dollars) of gold was taken from Helena's main street over a 20-year period.

-In 1888 Helena had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the world.

More fun facts:
-Gary Cooper (1901 - 1961) was born in Helena.

-In 1884, the citizens of Montana Territory were fed up with lawlessness and forming a large-scale vigilante force, they executed thirty-five horse and cattle thieves that year. Helenans, stil celebrate "Vigilante Day." Helena teenagers every spring get a day off from school to build floats for the Vigilante Parade, which the longest running, non-corporate sponsored parade in the United States.

Just tuning in to Truth in Progress. Click here to get more information about the Fair is Fair in Montana Tour co-sponsored with the ACLU of Montana.

...BUT, MUCH MORE JOY THAN SORROW!

I have found the writings of the Lebanese American artist, poet and writer Khalil Gibran (1883-1931) helpful in my 78-year journey as a southern-born (North Carolina) and Texas-raised African American. The sadness and sorrow of the unfairness of my treatment as a black American may have infected me in ways quite different from the ways others were affected. Early on I realized that there was a brooding, isolating sadness about me that most of my friends were able to avoid. It could have been that the sicknesses caused by my asthma soon after I was born, shaped both my emotional as well as my physical being. Thus, the racism that hurt and harmed my community, my family and me, may have had a deeper impact upon me because of my health or lack thereof. When I first read these words of Khalil Gibran, they seemed to be written especially for me:

"Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And, the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears. And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain."

I finally discovered as a teenager that despite the sorrows that racism caused, I should never allow those sorrows to deny or diminish my capacity for joy. I experienced this to my surprise in the Civil Rights Movement. I do not remember the southern city where we were demonstrating during the day, but I will never forget the joy that permeated our gatherings in the evening. The music, laughter, dancing, and celebrating that was ours after confronting the bias, bigotry and hatred of the day, would have appeared to be contradictory to the casual, non-participant observer. But, it was an expression of the joy that is possible when a person or a people refuse to allow the negation of some to drown out the joy and laughter that is possible when one is "standing up on the inside" in actions that challenge those who seek to limit full expressions of their humanity.

I EXPERIENCED THIS JOY AT THE PFLAG NATIONAL CONVENTION IN ALEXDRANDIA, VA!

The Convention included parents, families and friends of Lesbians and Gay persons, Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender and Intersex persons, all gathered to celebrate and continue the significant work of PFLAG. We know that at various times when in the weather there is a combination, maybe confrontation of rain and sunshine, the result is often a multi-colored rainbow. I know more than I ever did before why rainbow colors have become the visual expression, in the flags and banners and posters of that we call the "Gay Human Rights Movement". The tears evoked by the negatives of homophobic heterosexism in faith institutions and in society have been met by the smile/laughter/joy of "PFLAG PEOPLE" who know more than ever that, "In the End, we are going to Win." (Because we already have won within ourselves.)

I understood in Alexandria, what Khalil Gibran meant when he wrote, "Your joy is your sorrow unmasked." I saw, I felt, I experienced this joy with my PFLAG sisters and brothers. May each and every day be a "Rainbow Day" for you who read this.

Gilbert H. Caldwell
Member, National Board of PFLAG

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT PFLAG!

FAIR IS FAIR IN MONTANA

FIRST, a few fun facts about the fabulous state of Montana. With fall in full swing and winter around the corner, here are a couple that will confirm what you non-Montanans think about Montana being as cold and snowy as you imagined. We had a first snow in Helena yesterday, which left just enough to look like a sprinkling of powdered sugar across the landscape. Gil got the big storm over the weekend!

-The largest snowflake ever observed was 38 cm wide was recorded in Montana on January 28, 1887. That’s just darn near 15 inches. Amazing!

-Montana holds the world record for the greatest temperature change in 24 hours. On January 14-15, 1972, the temperature went from from -54°F to 49°F a whopping 103 degrees in Loma!

Fair is Fair after Butte Clergy Lunch

NOW FOR THE RESULTS OF THE FAIR IS FAIR TOUR'S organizing efforts for domestic partnerships for loving, committed same-sex couples:

Ten days, seven cities, 1300 miles...

+ 320 people attended the tour events.

+ 196 people signed statements of support for fairness in Montana. This includes those who signed the new People of Faith Support Fairness statement initiated by Billings clergy on the first stop on the tour. (For more information, please contact Ninia Baehr at ninia@aclumontana.org)

+ 75 people signed up to take action, send links to statements, go through speakers training, hold a house party, write a letter to the editor, among other tasks.

+ 111 people asked to be put on the TIP e-mail list

AND

+ 94 clergy have signed the statement of support for fairness for same-sex couples. We started the tour with 78. (For more information, please contact Ninia Baehr at ninia@aclumontana.org.) The goal is 100 and more clergy are signing every day!

READ MORE about the tour in the ACLU of Montana Autumn 2011 Newsletter, with Ninia's front-page article "Fair is Fair Tour Takes Montana"

Click here for Gil's newest addition to his "Letters to Montana," which includes the poem he read at each event, "The Power of One" by Dr. Cheryl Sawyer.

MORE MONTANA FUN FACTS

-No state has as many different species of mammals as Montana.