8/31/09

ENDA S.1584 UPDATE 8/31/09 We 12 Need VOTES!


Dr. Jillian T. Weiss
Inclusive ENDA
Email 18 Critical Senators

We're almost there, kids. We have 95% of the gas we need to get there in the House, but only 80% of what we need in the Senate. Face it, you're going to have to get out and push at some point.

To help you, here the scoop on what's happening in the Senate, followed by email links and telephone numbers after the jump. Print this out and paste it on your wall. Play "ENDA: The Home Edition" by ticking off the Senators as they come on board. You'll get a prize if you collect all 60!
Okay, gang, here's what's going on. We need 60 votes to win against a likely Republican filibuster. There are 48 Senators with confirmed yes votes on S.1584. The game is a treasure hunt to find another twelve votes so it can pass. Can you find all twelve?

Thirteen of the Senators with unconfirmed positions have track records that include co-sponsorship of legislation containing the language of sexual orientation and gender identity. (See the Senate spreadsheet for info on that track record. Their local district telephone numbers are set out below so that you may contact them. If you click on the name, you will get a link to their email page.

(If you prefer to call them in DC, the telephone number is 202-224-3121.)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) 907-271-3735
Sen. Blanche Lincoln
(D-AR) 870-910-6896
Sen. Michael F. Bennet
(D-CO) 719-328-1100
Sen. Thomas R. Carper
(D-DE) 302-674-3308
Sen. Ted Kaufman
(D-DE) 302-424-8090
Sen. Evan Bayh
(D-IN) 812-218-2317
Sen. Richard G. Lugar
(R-IN) 812-465-6313
Sen. Mary Landrieu
(D-LA) 504-589-2427
Sen. Kay Hagan
(D-NC) 336-333-5311
Sen. John Ensign
(R-NV) 702-388-6605
Sen. George Voinovich
(R-OH) 216-522-7095
Sen. Tim Johnson
(D-SD) 605-226-3440
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, IV
(D-WV) 304-253-9704

The following five Senators are also considered potentially supportive based on their track records.

Sen. Mark Pryor
(D-AR) 501-324-6336
Sen. Bill Nelson
(D-FL) 850-942-8415
Sen. Max Baucus
(D-MT) 406-756-1150
Sen. Kent Conrad
(D-ND) 701-852-0703
Sen. Robert C. Byrd
(D-WV) 304-264-4626

If at least twelve of these eighteen Senators come on board, as seems likely, then S.1584 will pass the Senate.
Email them, call them, get them on board for S.1584!
And, if haven't already, join our Inclusive ENDA campaign on Facebook. (Link: http://bit.ly/endanow)

Posted here on Bileric Poject Click Here To Email 18 Crucial Senators on ENDA

Epworth United Methodist Church To Rev. David Weekley: All Means All!

The United Methodist Church is perceived by many as a denomination that discriminates openly against LGBT people.

The Methodists, who have as recently as the 2008 conference reconfirmed its legal right as a religious institution to discriminate, have been challenged in that conscript by a small Oregon church in their affirming love for it's own pastor as he came out as the second openly transgender minister.

Much to Pastor Weekley's amazement his church of 27 years threw it's arms wide open in love and affirmation after learning of his transition. The Epworth Methodist Church's congregation is composed of people who live the incredibly difficult, but richly rewarding reconciling process in their daily lives. The memories of injustices of heart and soul are confronted daily as many faced hysterical persecution becuse of there ethnicity which resulted in 'resettlement' prior to World War Two. Because of that injustice, and what truly lays in the hearts of this congregation, they have long ago transcended bigotry!

What we might learn here could literally save our world.

Please read more about the 'Congregation embraces transgender minister as his secret is revealed' at the Beaverton Valley Times.

MLK’s 1964 address to the Methodist Student Movement

I was called to the 2008 Methodist Conference and attended with Soulforce.

Soulforce to Mark 10th Anniversary in 2008 with Direct Action at United Methodist General Conference

by Kelli Busey/planetransgender/August 31,2009