Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and HRC President Joe Solmonese speak at a press conference on soon-to-be-passed hate crimes legislation.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuldELb9KDs[/youtube]

At the 77th annual U.S. Conference of Mayors, mayors have passed a resolution titled “Equality and Civil Rights for Gay and Lesbian Americans,” defining support for gay marriage, ENDA and hate crimes legislation and opposing DADT. From the press release issued by Freedom to Marry:

“By passing this resolution, America’s mayors spoke for the families they know and serve in communities across the country, and said that excluding those families from the freedom to marry must stop,” said Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry and author of Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality and Gay People’s Right to Marry. “The mayors have their fingers on the pulse of the country, and their voices today said loud and clear that ending discrimination in marriage is the way to go.”

In reference to the freedom to marry, the resolution stated, “BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors supports marriage equality for same-sex couples, and the recognition and extension of full equal rights to such unions, including family and medical leave, tax equity, and insurance and retirement benefits, and opposes the enshrinement of discrimination in the federal or state constitutions.”

“The nation’s mayors are proud to take the lead in recognizing the importance of protecting all our citizens equally. It is now time for state legislatures and our federal government to enact the same protections for all our nation’s citizens,” said U.S. Conference of Mayors President Greg Nickels, Mayor of Seattle.

The resolution which was submitted by Mayor Christopher Cabaldon of West Sacramento, CA, Mayor David N. Cicilline of Providence, RI, and Mayor Sam Adams of Portland, OR, reads as follows:

EQUALITY AND CIVIL RIGHTS FOR GAY AND LESBIAN AMERICANS

1. WHEREAS, The U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution in 1984 calling for the legal protection of gay and lesbian rights at all levels of government, and within two years dozens of cities had adopted anti-discrimination policies or executive orders; and

2. WHEREAS, The U.S. Conference of Mayors has long supported granting the protection of federal hate crimes laws to all citizens, including lesbian and gay communities, and adopted its first resolution calling for increased vigilance in preventing hate crimes in 1991, citing statistics compiled by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; and

3. WHEREAS, subsequent hates crimes resolutions were adopted by the Conference in 1992 and 1994, designed to strengthen protections for all communities; and

4. WHEREAS, the Conference of Mayors, in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has awarded nearly $12.6 million in HIV/AIDS prevention grants, and the Conference took the lead in issues affecting gay/bisexual men of color, conducting a national HIV prevention needs assessment as well as 48 local HIV prevention project; and

5. WHEREAS, hundreds of mayors have been at the forefront of the battle for marriage equality, from the historic leadership of Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco in early 2004 granting marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, to a paradigm-shifting news conference by Mayor Jerry Sanders of San Diego in 2008, to Mayor Adrian Fenty of Washington DC in 2009 signing legislation to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states; and

6. WHEREAS, then-Conference President Wellington Webb of Denver spoke on behalf of the nation’s mayors at the Millennium March for Gay and Lesbian Rights in 2000 calling for federal action on hate crimes, employment discrimination protection, repeal of don’t-ask-don’t-tell, and marriage equality; and

7. WHEREAS, current Conference President Manuel A. Diaz of Miami co-chaired the statewide campaign against marriage discrimination in 2008, and incoming President Greg Nickels of Seattle issued an executive order recognizing same-sex marriages; and

8. WHEREAS, The U.S. Conference of Mayors has a long record of leadership in advancing civil rights and equality for all, answering President Kennedy’s call for national mayoral action in support of the civil rights movement at the Honolulu annual meeting in 1963,

9. NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors endorses the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, the Uniting American Families Act, and the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act; and

10. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors supports marriage equality for same-sex couples, and the recognition and extension of full equal rights to such unions, including family and medical leave, tax equity, and insurance and retirement benefits, and opposes the enshrinement of discrimination in the federal or state constitutions.

Outstanding. Our nation’s leaders could definitely learn a thing or two from the folks at the local level.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has vehemently denied allegations by Daily Beast reporter Jason Bellini that they had lobbied to delay DADT in favor of ENDA and hate crimes legislation. HRC responded with the following statement:

“This story is not only an outright lie, it is recklessly irresponsible. HRC never made such a deal and continues to work with congress and the administration on a full range of equality issues including a swift end to the military’s shameful ban on lesbian and gay servicemembers.”

However in an interview with Sirius radio host Michael Signorile several weeks ago, the allegations against HRC seem to be confirmed by Dr. Aaron Belkin, Director the Palm Center, a research institute which focuses on sexual minorities in the military. Belkin addresses the issue in the interview with Signorile at around the 2:20 mark.

The anti-gay lobby must be having a good laugh at our expense.

We had the good fortune yesterday to meet Judy Shepard, mother of Matthew Shepard, at a “meet and greet” here in San Francisco for the Matthew Shepard Foundation. She is a extraordinarily kind and brave woman who deserves all our thoughts this Mothers Day.

I would encourage everyone who is able to donate to her Foundation which is doing wonderful work in fighting hate and promoting LGBT equality.

State Senator Mike Leno, Top Chef contestant Jennifer Biesty and local entertainer Donna Sachet were also in attendance. A few snapshots from the event are below.