Dear Members,

Thank you again to everyone who came out and joined our marching contingent in this year’s San Francisco’s Chinese New Year’s Parade! We had the largest contingent ever in the 5 years that we have participated in the Parade.

As many of you know, next week on March 5th, the California Supreme Court will be hearing arguments regarding the validity of Proposition 8 in San Francisco. With all the hustle and bustle, we wanted to take a moment and update you on some of the work we’ve been doing as well as inform you of several important changes and upcoming events.

Over the past few months, API Equality staff has been meeting with local and state coalition partners and members to develop a plan of action for the coming year. Since the election, we had a resurgence of activity and interest and have been working to form a new local steering committee, of both continuing and new coalition members and individuals, who will help lead and advise the work of API Equality over the next months and years. With the formation of our local steering committee, we hope to connect our work more deeply to the communities we represent and to expand our reach and impact across the Bay Area and beyond.

Additionally, we have been collaborating with state and national LGBT leaders to review lessons learned from the No on 8 Campaign and to start identifying overall next steps. Over the next few weeks, we will be co-sponsoring a series of events focused on moving the community forward from Prop 8 and preparing for the oral arguments.

Finally, on a sad note, due to the recent funding challenges, complicated by the economic climate, API Equality will be saying good-bye to our community organizer, Amos Lim, at the end of March. Amos has been a strong addition to the API Equality team and we are extremely sad to lose him. While we continue to face similar challenges, API Equality, as a whole, remains robust and will continue to endeavor as we secure full equality under the law.

In Solidarity,
Tawal Panyacosit Jr., Director
API Equality | www.apiequality.org

Come join API Equality and a whole host of organizations for a Community Building Town Hall Meeting in San Francisco on the No on 8 campaign at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on Thursday, February 26, 2009 – 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Click here for more information.

Hi Everybody,

I just want to take this opportunity to all of you bringing your members to march at the parade. An estimated count has us with about 75 marchers. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves that evening and I thank you all for praying for nice weather!

We did so much with so little time! I was busy getting things ready and did not have any time to speak with all of you, so I just want to use this opportunity to express my appreciation!

Thanks goes to Arthur and Tee for helping me fix the convertible into a wedding sedan.

Thanks also goes to Jen-Mei and Choon for gathering the marchers and getting Trinity and Desiree to throw the bouquet.

Thanks to Trinity and Desiree for putting on the Hawaiian Wedding Dresses beautifully and loving tailored by Trinity’s mom for the 4th time for the parade.

Thanks for Jen-Mei for providing the sound system and to Deborah for the red wagon.

Thanks goes to API Family Pride for the ponchos and the cowbells.

Thanks goes to Michelle, Jen-Mei, Tee, Choon for inflating the balloons and bringing them to the meeting area.

Thanks to Stuart and John for providing the double happiness sign.

Thanks to Elizabeth for getting the red costumes for NRJ’ers and securing Rev Oda for the parade.

Thanks to Kevin for putting on a suit and driving the convertible.

Thanks to all the organizations who turned out their members in force!

Finally, thanks to all the committee members from participating organizations who came together 6 weeks ago to start planning this. Without all of you contributing, we would not have a contingent marching at all.

You can view some of the pictures here:

Lastly though, I apologized for the change in meeting area. We were supposed to be on market street but the parade monitor directed us to second street. I found out later after the march that we were not supposed to be on second street and the monitor gave us the wrong information.

It has been a real pleasure working with all of you!

Yours sincerely,
Amos Lim, 林明利, Community Organizer

The California Supreme Court announced today that it will hear oral arguments on Thursday, March 5, 2009 in the Proposition 8 legal challenge.

On November 19, 2008, the California Supreme Court agreed to hear the legal challenges to Proposition 8 and set an expedited schedule. Briefing in the case was completed on January 21, 2009.

The California Supreme Court must issue its decisions within 90 days of oral argument.

On January 15, 2009, 43 friend-of-the-court briefs urging the Court to invalidate Prop 8 were filed, arguing that Proposition 8 drastically alters the equal protection guarantee in California’s Constitution and that the rights of a minority cannot be eliminated by a simple majority vote. The supporters represent the full gamut of California’s and the nation’s civil rights organizations and legal scholars, as well as California legislators, local governments, bar associations, business interests, labor unions, and religious groups.

In May of 2008, the California Supreme Court held that laws that treat people differently based on their sexual orientation violate the equal protection clause of the California Constitution and that same-sex couples have the same fundamental right to marry as other Californians. Proposition 8 eliminated this fundamental right only for same-sex couples. No other initiative has ever successfully changed the California Constitution to take away a right only from a targeted minority group. Proposition 8 passed by a bare majority of 52 percent on November 4.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU filed this challenge on November 5, representing Equality California, whose members include many same-sex couples who married between June 16 and November 4, 2008, and six same-sex couples who want to marry in California.

The California Supreme Court has also agreed to hear two other challenges filed on the same day: one filed by the City and County of San Francisco (joined by Santa Clara County and the City of Los Angeles, and subsequently by Los Angeles County and other local governments); and another filed by a private attorney.

Serving as co-counsel on the case with NCLR, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU are the Law Office of David C. Codell, Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.

The case is Strauss et al. v. Horton et al. (#S168047).
Click here for more information.

Come march with API Equality at the 2009 Southwest Airlines Chinese New Year Parade!

This will be the fifth year that the API LGBT Community and our allies are marching in the Chinese New Year Parade.  Let’s continue to show the world that there are LGBT API people in our community and that we all support marriage equality.

Some of the participating organizations include API Family Pride, API Legal Outreach, Asian Law Caucus, API Queer Women & Transgender Coalition, API Wellness Center, Gay Asian Pacific Alliance, Network for Religion and Justice for API LGBT People, Our Family Coalition, PANA Institute and UC Berkeley Queer and Asian.

When:                      7^th February, 2009, Saturday

Meeting Time:   4.45pm

Meeting Location:   Market Street – Section V (cross street is Second Street)  Please meet on the south side of Market Street.

Contingent Number:   Vanguard Contingent 39

Attire:   We are asking everybody to wear RED or YELLOW top and dark pants.  Please wear layers as it will be cold.  We will be providing ponchos too to the marchers.  The weather forecast as of today shows that it will be rainy.

RSVP:   Please RSVP through Facebook (http://www.tinyurl.com/2009cny) or sent an email to Amos Lim at alim [at] caasf [dot] org.  We need a firm count to make sure we have enough ponchos for everyone.

Additional Notes:

Please arrive at 4.45pm so that you can be briefed on what the marchers will be doing as they march along the Parade Route.  Look out for a white banner that says “Asian Pacific Islander for Marriage Equality”.  If you are lost or cannot find our contingent, please contact Choon Kiat at 408.421.2481, Jen-Mei at 415.601.7972 on day of parade.

Our contingent will feature a Convertible decorated with flowers and garlands.  We will have a lesbian couple who have been together for 23 years wearing their traditional Hawaiian wedding dresses that was made by their moms and sisters.  They have worn the dress when they were married about 10 years ago, then in 2004 when San Francisco allowed gay marriage and one more time last year in 2008 when the state of California allowed gay marriage.  They will put on that dress again this year especially for the Chinese New Year Parade.

The parade is a lot of fun! You will be walking about 15 city blocks, and the entire route will take about 2 hours once we start moving. Since we are at the front of the parade and the parade will start moving at 5:15, we hope to be done marching by 7pm.  There will be TV cameras at Union Square (in front of MACY’s) for the live telecast,   Food and restrooms may not be readily available.

WHAT NOT TO BRING: please note that we do not have storage space to store your stuff.  You will have to carry what you bring.  So, do not bring purses, wallets valuables, or flashy jewelry. Be careful of your cell phones and cameras as well.

RULES & REGULATIONS: No materials may be distributed or handed out during the parade, no alcoholic beverages allowed anywhere near the float, and ABSOLUTELY no flags or political signs allowed.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS: Finally, if you have never marched in the Chinese New Year Parade, you are in for a real treat–and a very memorable night of fun, empowerment, and friendship. It’s an evening that you will always remember fondly.

Please e-mail Amos Lim, alim [at] caasf [dot] org if you have any questions or on the day of the parade call Choon Kiat at 408.421.2481 or Jen-Mei at 415.601.7972.

Regards,

Amos Lim, 林明利, Community Organizer

As 2007 draws to a close, API Equality is proud to reflect on its accomplishments this year. Among other things, 2007 marks the year that API Equality joined with Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), one of the nation’s oldest and most reputable API civil rights organization, and became a fully-funded, fully-staffed project. Prior to its merger, API Equality was an all-volunteer run organization.

Some of its proudest accomplishments this year include encouraging hundreds of API community members to take action in support of marriage equality legislation, generating sustained media coverage of marriage equality in the API and English language press, and organizing the first-ever coalition of API faith leaders to speak out in support of LGBT families.

For a recap of API Equality’s accomplishments in 2007, click here.

On December 8, 2007, over 250 API allies of marriage equality came out to support API Equality at HOLIDAY LOVE 2007, a fundraiser hosted by Emi Gusukuma, Emily Lam, Tina Lee, Steve Ngo, and Richard Pio Roda at Zebulon Bar and Cafe. Sponsored by the law firm Minami Tamaki, led by notable civil rights lawyer Dale Minami, the event raised critical funds to support API Equality’s important work. Many thanks to our hosts and sponsor for their generous support and to all of our allies for coming out to show their love.

Hey Folks,

The state legislature yesterday introduced a non-binding resolution supporting the repeal of Proposition 8 on the grounds that it was a revision of the state Constitution and not a simple amendment, similar to the basis for the current lawsuits under way. If passed, this will put the state’s lawmakers on record against Prop 8 and will be an important step in demonstrating widespread opposition to its recent passage.

You can read about it at SF Chronicle

SAVE THE DATE: Post-Election Debrief Part II – Monday, December 15^th, 2008

Our post-election debrief on Saturday, November 22^nd was a huge success. We had many new and old faces in attendance. Much of the discussion centered on how we could learn from the lessons of the recent campaign and devise new action plans to educate the API community on the importance of marriage equality. We are currently consolidating all the notes from our discussion and will be sending out a detailed summary next week. But, in the meanwhile, we wanted to notify you of a subsequent meeting planned for Monday, December 15^th to review our brainstorming from the first meeting and prioritize and finalize next steps. Your attendance at this meeting will be important in determining the future direction of API Equality.

Date:                December 15^th, 2008

Time:                7pm – 9pm

Location:          Community Room at Chinese for Affirmative Action.

17 Walter U Lum Place, San Francisco, CA

Light Dinner Provided

Agenda and notes will be send out next week prior to the meeting.

We know all of you are busy during this festive season but we hope that you will allocate some time to attend this important meeting.  Please RSVP to Amos at alim [at] caasf [dot] org and let us know if you need childcare to be provided.

After Prop 8:  Marriage Equality Community Forum

We also want to remind you that Marriage Equality is organizing a Community Forum tomorrow to discuss the next steps after Proposition 8.  We would encourage our members to attend and share your observation with the larger LGBT community.

Date: Thursday, December 4, 2008 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Location: Milton Marks Auditorium, 455 Golden Gate Ave. San Francisco

You can RSVP for the forum at http://activelyOUT.com/activeEvents/events/10534

GAPA Banquet

GAPA celebrates 20 years of A&PI LGBT History in the Bay Area with ‘Urban Jungle’, GAPA’s annual Banquet & Fundraiser on December 6^th, 2008 at the San Francisco Zoo at 7pm

API Equality, John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney are being honored by GAPA this year for their work on Marriage Equality & No on Prop 8 campaigns.  We would like to encourage members to attend the event and celebrate with GAPA on their 20th Anniversary.  Margaret Cho will be the keynote speaker and honorary guest.

Please contact Alex Baty at alex [at] gapa [dot] org to purchase your ticket to this event and support an important organization!

SAVE THE DATE: December 14, “What God Has Joined Together: Hope for All Families”

We would like to invite our members to join San Francisco + Oakland + Bay Area Faith Leaders for an evening of Healing, Affirmation & Hope for LGBT Families & Friends in the aftermath of the passage of Proposition 8

Come Join in an ecumenical celebration of LGBT families & learn about resources and organizations supporting and advocating for LGBT family needs

Date:                Sunday, December 14
Time:                4pm-7pm

Location:          Historic Sweets Ballroom
1933 Broadway Oakland

Spanish Translation will be available

Sponsors includes:

Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder
Presiding Prelate, The Fellowship
Senior Pastor, City of Refuge United Church of Christ

Rev. Darlene Garner
Vice – Moderator, Metropolitan Community Churches
Elder, Southern Conference, MCC

Rev. Dr. G. Penny Nixon
Pastor, Congregational Church of San Mateo
United Church of Christ

Bishop Tonyia M. Rawls
Prelate, Southern Jurisdiction
Unity Fellowship Church Movement

Rev. Nancy Wilson
Moderator, Metropolitan Community Churches

And Marriage For All
www.andmarriage4all.org

Freedom to Marry

Religion and Faith Program,
Human Rights Campaign Foundation

Amos Lim, 林明利, Community Organizer

Hey Folks,

Now that the election is over and the passage of Proposition 8 is sinking in, we want to let you know that we are not giving up the fight for marriage equality!

Despite last week’s loss, we have achieved great strides in the struggle for marriage equality.  We have made great inroads in building support in the API Community and have helped to amass a strong coalition of organizations and elected leaders who have stood out with us in the fight for full equality under the law.

It is time for us to regroup, evaluate our successes and challenges, and harness the energy and momentum amongst us to move strategically forward in this struggle.

To that end, we want to invite all members to join us for a API Equality Post Election Debrief.

Please RSVP to Tawal at Tawal [at] caasf [dot] org.

Other Upcoming Events include the following:

For a list of rallies around the nation, you can find them here:  http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/?t=anon

Show Your Support in AsianWeek

John and Belinda Dronkers-Lauretta of API Family Pride host a regular column in AsianWeek.com.  Their column last week, titled “After Proposition 8: The Path Forward” (http://www.asianweek.com/2008/11/06/lgbt-perspective-after-proposition-8/)  has attracted numerous comments on its page.  We are encouraging all members to read the article written by John and Belinda and offer your perspective on why you supported No on 8.

The defeat last week does not and will not stop us from moving forward to achieve marriage equality for all.  We will continue to fight for the day where every Californian is equal, where every person can marry the person of their choice!  Please make it a priority to attend our post-election debrief. In the interim, please come out to Saturday’s Rally against Prop 8 and show your support on AsianWeek.

Every day gay and lesbian Californians are denied the freedom to marry the person they love. Let California Ring is a public education campaign to open hearts and minds about the freedom to marry and the respect, support, protections, and responsibilities that come with marriage.

Comprising a coalition of more than 45 diverse local, state, and national organizations, including API Equality, Let California Ring is a project of Equality California Institute. It will forever change the way Californians feel about LGBT people and the freedom to marry.

Find out more at www.LetCaliforniaRing.org.