Freedom

This week has turned out to be quite the watershed moment for Nevada. After years of seeing the state government fight equality, its leaders are starting to signal that the fight is finally starting to come to an end. When Governor Brian Sandoval (R) and Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto (D) announced their decision to drop their legal defense of marriage discrimination in the Sevcik v. Sandoval suit, we couldn't help but see it as a critical turning point in this story.

Yet even with that occurring, the fight is not quite over just yet. We were also reminded of that this week when a host of G-O-TEA politicians decided to follow Richard Ziser's lead (instead of Governor Sandoval's) and continue fighting against equality.

With all of this taken into consideration, there isn't a better time than now for Freedom Nevada to launch. While the Sevcik suit is working its way up the federal judiciary chain, there's still the matter of SJR 13. Even though it passed the Legislature last year, it must pass there again next year before it can reach voters in 2016.

This is why now is the perfect time for Freedom Nevada and other marriage equality advocates to spring into action this year. In order for SJR 13 to pass the Legislature next year, voters must elect a pro-equality majority to send to Carson City this year. And even should the Sevcik plaintiffs prevail in court in the mean time, it always helps to build a pro-equality majority to cement in place those legal victories.

We're closer now than ever before to securing the freedom to marry in Nevada. But even now, a final push is needed to make it happen. The past decade plus of fights haven't been easy and occasionally offered painful setbacks, but now is the time to finish the job. Freedom is almost here.

So Who's Really "Extreme"?

Last week, we saw a burst of emotion and a new round of reflection as the Nevada (State) Senate passed SJR 13. Perhaps the biggest story last week (other than the actual Senate passage of SJR 13) was Senator Kelvin Atkinson (D-North Las Vegas) coming out on the Senate floor... And to the national media. Fortunately, he's received an outpouring of support since then.

Yet with that being said, he's now on the receiving end of trash talk from a very usual suspect. He (politically) threatened Senator Justin Jones (D-Enterprise) for supporting SJR 13 and marriage equality. And now, he's whining about "Teh Big Bad Demon-rat Hoe-mo-SEX-shul LIB'RULZZZ!!11111!!!!11111!!!!" Poor Ray Hagar, he had to listen to this BS.

[Richard] Ziser points to first-time Sen. Pat Spearman, D-Las Vegas, as the main driver in the movement he so ardently opposes. Spearman is one of five openly LGBT legislators in Carson City. Spearman, a minister, is a primary sponsor of SJR13.

To Ziser, Spearman is the poster-person for extremism in Carson City. Perhaps some of the GOPers were "extreme" during Gov. Gibbons' reign. Now Ziser sees the same extremism from Democrats.

"We are reaching for extremes," Ziser said. "We are definitely doing that on the Democratic side. [...]

Ziser also recalls that Spearman beat a Democrat in the 2012 primary who didn't support marriage equality –former Sen. John Lee, now the mayor-elect of North Las Vegas.

“And I remind you that she beat Sen. Lee,” Ziser said. “He was a socially conservative Democrat and they replaced him with an ultra liberal. I have a hard time believing that the majority of Democrats stand for the things she pushes."

Here is Spearman’s response:

"Polls show that a clear majority of Nevadans support marriage equality and it is time the voters are given the choice to remove this discriminatory ban from our state's constitution," Spearman said. "Passing marriage equality will bring a much needed boost to Nevada's economy at a time that we desperately need it while ensuring the government can no longer tell Nevadans who they can or cannot love."

And here are Richard Ziser and his anti-equality campaign in a nutshell.



And Senator Spearman is correct. The polls here in Nevada and nationally have shifted dramatically in favor of equality just in the last five years. Attitudes have changed. Many of our hearts & minds have changed. And because John Lee refused to keep up with change and reconsider his strident opposition to LGBTQ civil rights, he lost to Pat Spearman last June.



Oh, yes. That's right. A solid (63%) majority of Democrats chose the pro-equality Spearman over the anti-equality INCUMBENT Lee last June. And now, a majority (54%) of Nevadans overall support marriage equality. So who's really "extreme" here?

Equality is NOT "extreme", far from it. Rather, the "tea party" continues to embrace extremism with its strident opposition to equality. And as long as most Republicans continue to follow the lead of Ziser and the rest of the "tea party", they will be the ones seen as extreme and out of touch with most voters.

Keep this in mind next time the "TEA" fueled anti-equality campaign tries to spin away momentum for equality and civil rights.

Profiles in Courage

Last night was truly one to remember. SJR 13 passed the Nevada Senate 12-9. And during the debate on the Senate floor, we saw many surprises. For one, Senator Kelvin Atkinson (D-North Las Vegas) came out. And BuzzFeed ran with the story, which made it national.

Late Monday, the Nevada Senate became the first legislative chamber in the country to vote to overturn a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex couples from marrying.

After a little more than an hour of debate in which one senator publicly declared that he was gay for the first time, the Nevada Senate voted 12-9 to repeal the state's 2002 amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman and replace it with language requiring the recognition of all marriages between two people, "regardless of gender."

In addition to out LGBT Sens. David Parks and Pat Spearman, Sen. Kelvin Atkinson declared on the floor during the debate, "I am a black, gay male." Because he was speaking about his sexual orientation publicly for the first time Monday night, he said he had heard negative comments about the marriage amendment repeal from others prior to the vote. But, he said, "People should mind their business and allow people to do what they want to do."

State Sen. Ben Kieckhefer was the sole Republican to vote for the marriage amendment's repeal.

Coming out isn't easy. Nope, it can be difficult. And for some, it takes time. So it's incredibly courageous for Senator Atkinson to not only come out, but do so on the Nevada Senate floor. Oh, and he came out just as his colleagues were about to vote on his civil rights. Whoa.

And that wasn't all. As BuzzFeed also mentioned, Senator Ben Kieckhefer (R-Reno) was the sole Senate Republican to cross the aisle and support marriage equality last night. On one hand, this wasn't too surprising. After all, he "came out" in support of equality last month at the first SJR 13 hearing.





Yet on the other hand, this was quite surprising. Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson (R-Henderson) did a total back-flip on SJR 13. And he was whining about amendments. And he was blaming Democrats (??!!) for his flip-flop. And he was arguing that "marriage shouldn't be in the Constitution", even as he was voting to keep marriage discrimination in the Nevada Constitution. And in case all that wasn't confusing and ridiculous enough, he also ultimately whipped Republicans against the current version of SJR 13.

Yet despite this intense intrigue and pressure, Senator Kieckhefer stood by his principles. He showed true courage. And he ultimately did what he knew was right.

And that wasn't all. We also saw this.

RT @SethBRau: Senator @Jones4Nevada says he'd rather lose an election than not give his brother-in-law equal rights #SJR13 #nvleg #powerful

Against tons of pressure, Senator Justin Jones (D-Enterprise) voted for SJR 13 last night. He was even threatened by the mastermind of the Question 2 marriage ban himself! And some didn't expect him to do this anyway because of his faith. Yet despite the misperceptions and the political threats, Senator Jones voted for equality anyway. Now that's true courage.

At first, last night was a bit disappointing and frustrating. Yet again, our civil rights were being treated as political footballs. But this time, we saw a difference. This time, 12 Nevada Senators ultimately showed true courage. Oh, and they took some advice from one of my favorite philosophers on what to do with the pure political BS.



This isn't even a full list, far from it. Again, all 12 Senators who voted for SJR 13 last night are true profiles in courage. I just thought we should talk about this before we see more spin suggesting otherwise.

NV-03/NV-04: Richard Ziser Strikes Yet Again!

He's back! If you thought we were finally done with him, then you're about to be proven wrong. Richard Ziser is back in full force this election season. And in fact, he has a brand new "Values Voter Guide" to prove it. And yes, there are some truly scary answers in there...Thanks to Joe Heck and Danny Tarkanian!

Let's see what's in it:

- Both Heck & Tarkanian want to reinstate "Don't Ask Don't Tell" and discrimination against LGBTQ servicemembers in the military.

- Both Heck & Tarkanian oppose ENDA, meaning they approve of workplace discrimination against LGBTQ workers.

- Both Heck & Tarkanian oppose marriage equality and the repeal of DOMA, meaning their talk of "state's rights" is hogwash and they want the federal government to tell states and communities which relationships deserve respect & which don't (such as gay & lesbian couples).

- Both Heck & Tarkanian support defunding Planned Parenthood and all the women's (and men's, too!) health care services they provide.

- And both Heck & Tarkanian oppose comprehensive immigration reform.

Well, now we know why both candidates missed Las Vegas Pride last month. And we know why Joe Heck doesn't like to talk about LGBTQ issues. And we know why Danny Tarkanian doesn't like to talk about immigration reform. And we now know why both Heck & Tarkanian are afraid to talk about women's health.

We now know Richard Ziser loves them both. And that's downright scary for a whole lot of Nevadans.

Who's Afraid of Kermitt Waters?

He's brilliant. He's edgy. He's visionary. He's radical. And perhaps he's managed to bring folks together (while simultaneously driving away powerful players on the left and on the right) in a way that hardly anyone else has.



He's Kermitt Waters, and he wants to lower your taxes... Unless, that is, you're a multinational corporation looking for an "onshore tax shelter" here in Nevada. If that's the case, watch out.

But before Waters can even launch a campaign for his tax initiative, he has to sue in court to strike down the state statute that's been holding him back. And he's formed a strange alliance on this law suit, one that actually scares some local progressives. (I'll explain this later.)

On Saturday, I finally had a chance to meet Mr. Waters myself and ask him the questions that I sense many Nevadans have been wanting to ask. I started with what I thought was the most obvious: Why bring forth such a complicated and radical restructuring of Nevada's entire state budget that openly violates the single subject rule that only allows for an initiative to address one policy matter? Waters gave me a simple deadpan of an answer: "You want to give me $500,000?"

Waters complained about how expensive it is to push a ballot initiative. This led me to my next question: Why do this? Isn't this why we have a Legislature? Again, he gave a clear and concise answer: "Gaming and mining own The Legislature." He then went on to express his deep distrust of pretty much anyone and everyone in Carson City, and especially of what he considers the center of "booze, broads, and bribes". It seems that he's felt the same frustration with the way business is done in Carson City that most voters in Nevada (and especially Clark County) feel... But he's taking it to another level in threatening their power over perhaps the biggest decision made there, which is the one made every two years on the state budget.

Waters and I then went back to the matter of his law suit. He sounded especially frustrated over The Legislature intervening in the law suit, as well as Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto (D) sending this law suit to federal court.

I then asked about the other big elephant in the room: Is Kermitt Waters about to open a "Pandora's Box" of "tea party" crazy by making it easier for the likes of Chuck Muth and Richard Ziser to unleash the full radical right wish list, from TABOR to zygote personhood to domestic partnership repeal and more, on our ballots? After all, it's impossible that Chuck Muth is backing Waters' law suit because he likes Waters' tax plan. (Remember that if Waters wins this law suit, a precedent is set that will allow virtually everyone else to start collecting signatures to put whatever one wants on the ballot.) So what was Waters' answer? Simple: "If you don't like it, beat it at the damned polls. Don't kill the goose. Just beat them at the polls."

It's interesting. Kermitt Waters may be very cynical and pessimistic when it comes to the death of good policy caused by the people running Nevada's government, but he sounds hopeful and downright optimistic about the triumph of good policy among the people voting in Nevada elections. It sounded like he genuinely believes Nevada will be better off with more of the California/Arizona style direct democracy regularly practiced there than with what we have now.

OK, so Kermitt Waters likes direct democracy. But again, why pursue this long, complicated initiative when there are simpler initiatives floating around that are not being challenged in court? When I asked about the AFL-CIO's proposed business margin tax, Waters flatly dismissed it. "It's a waste of time. In three years, they'll take it off." And since the AFL-CIO proposal is just a statute instead of a constitutional amendment, he thinks it may face the same fate in the hands of The Legislature that the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act has experienced. Waters pretty much said the same thing about Monte Miller's proposed gaming and mining tax initiatives when I asked about those.

At this point, Kermitt Waters then dropped a bomb on me. He told me that other progressive organizations did not want to work with him on his initiative, and that they didn't want to touch this because of his association with Chuck Muth, and because they fear Waters' victory in court would lead to the likes of Muth and Ziser throwing the entire "tea party" wish list on Nevada ballots in a matter of no time.

When I asked him if the concerns of other progressives should be noted, Waters stood behind his plan. "We're trying to accomplish something. We'll get nothing done if we don't [change the rules on initiatives]. We'll all starve to death if we don't let someone get two hamburgers. This is just insane."

Now before I wrap this up, I want to give a reminder of what's at stake with Waters' initiative. If Kermitt Waters succeeds, his initiative will:

- Eliminate the property tax for single family homes

- Establish a 20% levy on mining companies

- Set up a gross receipts tax on businesses earning over $1 million a month

AND

- Use the new revenues to set up a fund separate from the state's general fund (so legislators and the Governor can't use any of this new money to cover everything else in the general fund and/or pay for new tax cuts somewhere else) to pay for a new system of Nevada appeals courts, increased investment in public education, more renewable energy investment, expanded health care coverage, and more.

Honestly, this is why I've personally been at conflict with myself on this. And this is why I was willing to meet with Kermitt Waters himself last weekend to hear his side of the story.

I personally believe Kermitt Waters is genuine in his desire to remake Nevada Government, and especially Nevada's broken budget process, for the better. And when glancing at everything in Waters' initiative, from renewable energy investment to public education investment to generating the new revenue our state so desperately needs, it really does read like a progressive's wish list come true.

However, I can also see that Waters' route isn't the only route that progressives have to use to enact needed reforms to our budget and our tax system. That's why later this week, we'll be looking at the other progressive tax proposal making waves: the AFL-CIO's. We'll probably also do more analysis, along with some needed comparison & contrast, on both initiatives later this week.

In talking with Kermitt Waters, I can see why he's become feared in recent years. He may be dismissed at times as a "gadfly", but he truly does have the determination to follow through on his fights. We'll have to see how far he wants to go on this one.

Mr. H8 Rears His Ugly, Bigoted Head... AGAIN!

In case you were wondering when perpetual professional bigot Richard Ziser would start attacking Nevada families again, we now know he's back and he's trying to shove more than a few anti-equality zealots down our throats in this year's Clark County Municipal Elections. What? You don't believe me? Here's the voter guide!

Now just to be clear, the candidates supporting #6 are saying LGBTQ families deserve no legal recognition and no human dignity. The candidates opposing #7 and #12 want our schools to do nothing as LGBTQ kids to be bullied to death (often literally!). Basically, the candidates who are standing with Richard Ziser agree to carry out his agenda to attack many thousands of Southern Nevada families just for who they are.

In addition, these candidates want to take away women's right to make their own health care decisions. And they want to take away our religious freedom. And they want to waste time (and our local tax dollars!) on xenophobia.

Here in Henderson, city council candidates Ed Hamilton, John Simmons, Ron Hubel, and Mike Mayberry are pro-bigotry. In North Las Vegas, Carl Gatson and Wade Wagner are pro-bigotry. In Las Vegas, Steve Ross is apparently pro-bigotry again. And you can read the rest of the list to see who to watch out for in other Clark County cities.

I just thought you should know.

No Mo' Ziser "Zygotes Are People, Too!" Initiative? Yes, They Did.

Finally, we have some good news to start the week. I guess Richard Ziser just suffered another defeat for his extreme right, anti-women agenda.

A Nevada district court judge threw out a proposed "personhood" state ballot measure Friday arguing that the language is "too general in nature."
District Judge James Russell further ruled that the initiative which seeks to extend constitutional protections to fertilized eggs has sweeping implications for reproductive health care and thus violates state law which limits initiatives to a single subject.
"There's no way for the voter to understand the effects of the initiative," Russell said.
Silver State anti-choice activists have been pushing a constitutional amendment that proposed to upend the law with a scant 14-word sentence: "In the great state of Nevada, the term ''person' applies to every human being."
Critics charge the hazy wording was meant to shadow its true intent to ban abortion, contraception, in-vitro fertilization and embryonic stem cell research.

Of course, Ziser's minions tried to compare health care professionals and women in need of reproductive health care to Nazis... But it looks like more level heads prevailed.

Taking a decidedly less bombastic approach, ACLU of Nevada attorney Lee Rowland argued on behalf of Planned Parenthood of Nevada and three plaintiffs that the constitutional amendment would have broad repercussions for reproductive health. She refuted the so-called simplicity of the language as a legal nightmare.
The judge agreed with Rowland ruling that the petition language didn't meet the test of state ballot law. It has "complex implications." said Russell.
"Today's decision rightfully prevents this sweeping and misleading initiative from being placed on the 2010 ballot,” said Rowland in a prepared statement by the ACLU and Nevada Advocates of Planned Parenthood Affiliates following the ruling.
“This initiative could have impacted literally thousands of laws, inviting lawyers and the courts to reinterpret every Nevada law and regulation that contains the word ‘person’ all at the expense of Nevada taxpayers. The key problem is that it covered too many issues, and failed to explain to voters its intent and impact on Nevada law."

Thankfully, the court did the right thing and tossed out this frivolous initiative. We really don't need any more ridiculous challenges to women's rights and women's ability to make their own decisions on their own health care.

KKKhris Buttars Is Keeping It Klassy in Utah

Even when he considers supporting some LGBT civil rights, he still has to spit in LGBT Utahns' faces. Disgusting.



I guess it's better for us to have Buttars' support on some things than for him to oppose everything, but it's still bone-chilling for him to spew out such bile. It's even worse to see H8-mongers like the Eagle Forum creeps trash-talk like this.



Yep, our queer friends and family next door in Utah are still being brutally discriminated against and it doesn't look likely yet that they'll even get what we have now in Nevada. Sad. I guess this is what our state would look like if it were actually run by Richard Ziser.

Even the Forced Birthers Think Ziser Has Gone Too Far This Time

No really, even the big anti-choice groups are opposing Richard Ziser's "give the zygotes personhood" initiative!

Four groups that for more than 30 years have fought for anti-abortion legislation say they are opposed to a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at banning abortions.

Janine Hansen, president of Nevada Eagle Forum, says that while the backers of the initiative petition have good intentions it will not stop abortions.

The Forum, the Independent American Party, Nevada Families and Nevada Life issued a statement opposing the “Personhood” initiative petition, saying the proposed constitution amendment “is so vague and general that it may not even apply to abortion at all.”

They said, “This amendment will harm the Pro-Life movement by giving pro-abortion courts more power to decide all matters relations to abortion, such as parental notification, informed consent and taxpayer funding of abortion.”

Richard Ziser, a spokesman for the “Personhood” plan, said that's another opinion and "everybody has their own.” He said those who drew up the initiative petition believe it is clear.

Ziser said this was a peoples’ amendment, not the courts.

Of course, they oppose it because they know it will be thrown out in state & federal court even if passed. And since Nevada's known for its civil libertarian ways (including passing a constitutional amendment affirming a woman's right to choose in 1990), it's doubtful this will even pass. And since even much of the anti-choice far right is opposing it, Richard Ziser may finally be forced to call it quits.

And now the women, the queers, and all the other oppressed minorities who have been hurt by one or another of Richard Ziser's mean-spirited initiatives can soon rejoice! :-D

SB 283: Richard Ziser Rears His Ugly, Bigoted Head... AGAIN!

Buried in today's R-J story of SB 283 becoming law today is Richard Ziser whining, moaning, screaming, and complaining that LGBT families are given ANY legal protection in this state.

Richard Ziser, who led the drive in Nevada to define marriage in the state constitution as being between a man and a woman, said no decision has been made by his Coalition for Protection of Marriage organization to challenge the domestic partnership law.

Lawyers told him it would be easier to overturn the law through a public referendum rather by going to court. But public referendums require petition gathering, which is very costly, Ziser added.

Tod Story, a board member of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center in Las Vegas, said passage of the domestic partnership law shows Nevada remains a "live and let live state."

He and his longtime partner will receive their domestic partnership certificate today.

"What same sex couples are trying to accomplish is equal rights," Story said. "We want to have the opportunity to have our relationships recognized by law and to be treated equally."

Ridiculous. Today should be a day of celebration in our community, but hateful people like Ziser always try to poop on our parade by threatening to roll back even the slightest of achievements for our community.

Give me a f*cking break! If Ziser really wants a rematch, I'm sure we're ready to beat him this time. In fact, I know we will.

It's just sad that just as LGBT families in Nevada start to receive something close to equal treatment under the law, the homophobic anti-equality extremists are always out to get us. Well, they won't succeed this time!