Voices

Some eloquent voices this week worthy of being heard:

The Father of a Transgendered 10 year-old, from Andrew Sullivan's blog.

A gay Peace Corps volunteer on being gay in Mozambique. Thanks to Towleroad for the link.

Thoughts on a Anti-Gay Ballot Initiative from a young gay political staffer - from California Majority Report.

An Ohio University freshman kicked out by roommates because he is gay. Again, thanks to Towleroad.

Will.i.am Campbell's moving essay on his reaction to a photo of a quake victim in China. From Los Angeles Metblogs.

We Shall Not Be Moved

Marriage Equality in California!

The California Supreme Court just issued a ruling saying that the voter-approved ban on gay marriage in the state is unconstitutional. The vote was 4-3.

You can read the 172-page ruling here.

Good Times

It is easy to diss the Los Angeles Times. It does so many things so badly. But when they do something right, it's only fair to point it out. So, kudos to the folks responsible for publishing this photo in the Health section earlier this week. It made quite an impression:)

The hot guy in the photo is Ahmad Saleh, 32. He is doing one-hand push-ups.

Yacht Party

I recall an episode of the West Wing, where Sam Seaborn, Rob Lowe's character, chastised congressional Democrats for suggesting he pepper a presidential speech with what he considered cheap, caricatured attacks on Republicans as favoring tax breaks for yachts and swimming pools for the wealthy.

Well, not so fast, Mr. Seaborn. Apparently, here in California, the increasingly hard-line, ideological and flaky Republican caucus in Sacramento is refusing to address the yawning state budget deficit by closing a tax loophole for yacht purchasers.

The Courage Campaign, a network of progressive activists, wants to call the GOP out on this and is trying to rebrand the state GOP as the "Yacht Party." The organization is raising funds to help the following ad to get the message out:

Breaking: Marcus Allen Withdraws

Breaking News from LA City Hall: we've just been told by City Hall sources that Marcus Allen has withdrawn his name as the mayor's nominee for the city's top fiscal post.

In March, Villaraigosa nominated Allen, his former deputy chief of staff, to succeed Karen Sisson as Chief Administrative Officer. Widely respected in many circles for his work in the city for more than a decade -- including work for Villaraigosa, City Controller Laura Chick, and the office of the Chief Legislative Analyst -- Allen's nomination still ran into trouble.

The CAO is responsible for the city's multi-billion dollar budget, labor relations, and debt management. It is considered the highest non-elected position in city government.

Allen's nomination was vigorously opposed by the Los Angeles Daily News, which warned of a revolving door between government and lobbying. (He went to work for a lobbying firm when he left Villaraigosa's office.) He was also opposed by a few councilmembers often opposed to Villaraigosa, including Councilwoman Jan Perry.

Word at City Hall is Allen withdrew his name over money. Sisson makes about $220,000. Allen demanded $290,000. Those who opposed Allen used the salary issue as political cover to scuttle the nomination.

Winter Soldiers

The Congressional Progressive Caucus will hear testimony tomorrow from nine members of Iraq Veterans Against the War as part of "Winter Soldier" hearings examining the ongoing problems with the U.S. war in Iraq.

According to the veterans group, "Winter Soldier on the Hill will allow the US Congress to be more fully informed about the situation in Iraq through soldiers’ eyewitness accounts of the on-going military occupation, while they debate (more than likely for the last time during the Bush-Cheney administration) the funding for U.S. military operations in Iraq."

The hearings start at 6 a.m. PST. CSPAN3 will broadcast the hearing live. If you don't get CSPAN3, you can watch it on the CSPAN website. Or you can listen on Pacifica Radio 90.7 FM, KPFK.

On Pins and Needles

Tomorrow at 10 a.m., the California Supreme Court is scheduled to announce its ruling on the issue of gay marriage here in the Golden State.

Will California follow in the footsteps of Massachusetts and become the second state to legalize same sex marriage? According to this post at Towleroad, many observers think so.

Regardless of what the court decides, the City and Lambda Legal–among others–will be staging an event in West Hollywood at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and San Vicente at 7:00 PM.

On his blog, Andrew Sullivan waxes typically eloquent on the import of the moment:

"Those in favor of civil equality better get ready. The gay civil rights movement will never have waged a battle this big, this expensive or this important. We can win at the ballot box as well as in the courts and legislatures. And the good news is that the Republican governor has said he will oppose any initiative to take marriage rights away, if they are granted. Hold on tight."

America's Shame, Continued

The Washington Post continues its week-long series on the U.S. government's disgraceful treatment of immigrants being held in detention. I mentioned the first part of the series earlier this week. Today's installment reveals that many detainees are given psychotropic drugs against their will:

"The U.S. government has injected hundreds of foreigners it has deported with dangerous psychotropic drugs against their will to keep them sedated during the trip back to their home country, according to medical records, internal documents and interviews with people who have been drugged.

"The government's forced use of antipsychotic drugs, in people who have no history of mental illness, includes dozens of cases in which the "pre-flight cocktail," as a document calls it, had such a potent effect that federal guards needed a wheelchair to move the slumped deportee onto an airplane."

and . . .

"Such episodes are among more than 250 cases The Washington Post has identified in which the government has, without medical reason, given drugs meant to treat serious psychiatric disorders to people it has shipped out of the United States since 2003 -- the year the Bush administration handed the job of deportation to the Department of Homeland Security's new Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, known as ICE.

"Involuntary chemical restraint of detainees, unless there is a medical justification, is a violation of some international human rights codes. The practice is banned by several countries where, confidential documents make clear, U.S. escorts have been unable to inject deportees with extra doses of drugs during layovers en route to faraway places."

Renters, Revolt!

The website www.angryrenter.com gives appropriately angry voice to the plight of those of us who rent, and can't fathom why elected officials keep chipping away at renters' rights while rushing to bail out homeowners who gambled on risky loans.

Renters make up 32% of the national population and a whopping 60% of the people who live here in Los Angeles. But we have a disproportionately small voice in government, especially here in Los Angeles, where elected officials tend to take their marching orders from either developers or homeowners.

I'll have more on the plight of LA renters -- and the statewide assault on rent control -- in future posts, but right now I want to draw attention to Angry Renter, which has collected 46,000 signatures urging Congress to stop the bailout of homeowners and house flippers.

Madame Speaker

Today California made history. Assemblywoman Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, took the oath of office as Speaker of the Assembly -- the first African-American woman to lead a state legislative chamber in U.S. History.

Karen Bass rocks -- in every way. She is progressive, smart, eloquent, passionate, creative, hard-working, focused, and a lot more. The fact that Karen can serve only one more term is a proof of the stupidity of term limits. Given a choice, voters would surely elect Karen again and again and again.

Karen, 54, is no lifetime pol. She was elected to the Assembly in 2004 after years as a community organizer in South Los Angeles. A physician's assistant raised in the Venice-Fairfax area, left the medical field in the early 1990s to try to find solutions for drug addiction, gun violence and other social ills she witnessed in treating emergency room patients. The nonprofit group she founded, the Community Coalition, helped limit the number of liquor stores that reopened in South Los Angeles after the 1992 riots.

Karen is also a state co-chair for the Barack Obama campaign.

More coverage at the LATimes and LAist. The text of her acceptance speech is here.

Not Your Father's Graffiti

Thanks to LAist for the news that an international exchange called LA Goldrush brought graffiti artists from Italy to Los Angeles. On Sunday, they visited the Venice Art Walls. LAist photographer Tom Andrews spent some time with the visiting artists in both locations and documented what happened.

Stroll down to the beach and check out the walls. The artists rotate every week, so it is a living, ever-evolving canvas for a beautiful and under-appreciated form of art.

Man Candy

One of my favorite blogs is Towleroad, a daily collection of LGBT news and information, with a sprinkling of photos of hot guys. So, many, many, many thanks to Andy Towle for bringing to my attention rugby stud Danny Cipriani.

Justice for Janitors

In a major victory for organized labor in Los Angeles, a potentially disruptive and high-profile strike by the janitors union has been averted, with custodial workers in Los Angeles County winning higher wages and better benefits.

Joined by janitors, leaders of SEIU Local 1877, business owners and members of the City Council, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced today that management and labor reached a broad agreement for workers in Los Angeles County, and are making progress on negotiations for workers in Orange County.

Los Angeles County janitors won a tentative agreement that would boost total compensation nearly 25 percent over the life of the contract. Janitors won wage increases of more than $1,000 a year every year over the life of the four-year pact for a compounded total of $10,000 per janitor. Janitors will continue to receive full employer-paid family healthcare, a pension, and, for the first time, will receive vision coverage. Janitors working on the outskirts of the county will be able to move into higher-paying buildings and earn better benefits based on seniority, once the contract is ratified.

Today’s announcement comes just days after the janitors voted overwhelmingly to approve an unfair labor practice strike. The janitors began staging walkouts May 7 after round-the-clock contract negotiations broke down. After a day of walk-outs Villaraigosa intervened, asked for a cooling off period, and brought both sides back to the negotiating table.

When negotiations broke down last week, the cleaning companies and their corporate clients had refused to adequately raise wages for janitors who clean some of the most expensive office buildings in the entire country. The contractor’s proposal would have forced the majority of union janitors into second-class status, which was unacceptable to the janitors’ union.
The tentative agreement for Los Angeles county will begin to bring those janitors out of second-class status and raise wages from $22,256 to $26,728 a year by the end of the four-year pact. Janitors that work in downtown and Century City will see their wages jump from $24,960 to $29,328 a year when the contract expires, April 30, 2012.

SEIU Local 1877 represents 20,000 janitors statewide. The union won national recognition in 2000, when they staged a three-week work stoppage that drew national political figures, including former Vice President Al Gore and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. That strike helped galvanize immigrant workers across the nation and was considered a watershed moment for Los Angeles labor.

Who is a Gang Member?

Just who is a gang member? What is a gang affiliation? How does a child go to public school in many parts of Los Angeles without knowing a gang member? Does that constitute "gang ties"?

Witness LA, an excellent blog about crime and social justice issues, examines those questions by looking at the case of Jamiel Shaw, Jr., the 17-year old high school football star who was gunned down by a gang member outside his home in March.

The local media has jumped all over this murder, advancing the storyline that the young victim was the ultimate Good Kid, victimized by a gang member. Over the past few days, news has leaked that Shaw made some gang references on his myspace page, prompting some to question whether he was really was the Good Kid, and subtly suggesting that gang ties would have made his murder slightly less tragic. (Surely, it would have caused the media to give it less attention.)

The truth is this: for most kids in LA, life ain't that black and white. As the Witness LA blog post illustrates, it is murky, gray, and all too dangerous. There is no straight and narrow; just a windy, bumpy, hazardous road.