Cross-posted at Pam's House Blend.
UPDATED to provide further information about Ohio's protests, and corrected a bad link. Thanks to alizard for the right one.
By now anyone who frequents the progressive blogosphere knows what's happening in Wisconsin. A "budget repair" bill is being considered that would effectively kill labor unions, and it has been met with mass peaceful protests since last week. People may or may not know that similar bills are currently being considered by the legislatures in Indiana and Ohio.
The bill put forth by Republicans in Wisconsin (opens as .pdf), at the behest and with the support of Teabagger Governor Scott Walker, is not a "budget repair" bill. First, there wasn't a budget crisis until Gov. Walker put a $140 million tax break in place for his wealthiest donors. Prior to that tax cut, Wisconsin actually had a projected budget surplus. In other words, this whole budget crisis is one of the Tea Party's own making. This bill not only places the financial burden on the backs of those who can least afford it. It's an unprecedented power grab by the Koch Brothers and their obscenely wealthy friends, who supported Walker in his Gubernatorial run, and now own him. This bill would strip unions of their collective bargaining rights. It would put public property and facilities up for no-bid sale to the corporation offering the best price, rewarding the richest corporate doners with yet more authority over the government. It would give DHHS authority to boot 50,000 poor people off of Medicaid without being subject to legislative review or oversight. This bill, and others like it, are an attack on the American people by corporate interests who want to make sure they never see a living wage again.
So what does this have to do with LGBT rights? More than you'd think. Come with me under the fold.
The right to form a collective bargaining unit is under attack in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio. You can bet that there are LGBT people in those unions who are, right now, desperately fighting for their livelihood, and for a way to support their families. You can bet that in Wisconsin there are LGBT people on Medicaid, particularly in view of the fact that in Wisconsin, domestic partners do not qualify for healthcare coverage unless they're a State employee (and it's safe to assume that the Teabaggers in the legislature will try to strip that away, too). You can bet that there are low-income LGBT people in Wisconsin whose utilities will be unaffordable if the Koch Brothers and their subsidiaries purchase, for pennies on the dollar, the public utilities that Governor Walker wants to put up for sale. Members of our own community will be negatively impacted by this bill, and those like it in other states.
The history of the shared partnership between the LGBT community and the Labor community is long and distinguished, going back to Harvey Milk's time. In the 1970s, during one of Harvey's runs for office, the Teamsters' Union wanted to strike against beer distributors, in particular Coors Brewing Company, for refusing to sign the Union contracts. One of the organizers asked for help from Harvey in organizing a Coors boycott in the gay bars, which he did in exchage for the Teamsters hiring more gay drivers. The Teamsters not only hired more gay drivers, but in the end supported Harvey's candidacy.
Harvey's work with the labor unions continued through Cleve Jones, who has worked as both an AIDS activist and at Unite Here. I can speak from experience that the labor unions backed the Civil Unions bill in Hawaii through Unite Here Local 5, to the tune of 11,000 people.
LGBT rights are workers' rights. Fair Wisconsin is in the thick of this. Executive Director Katie Belanger, along with Fair Wisconsin supporters, has been in the Capitol protesting, and calling legislators to let them know that it's never okay to take away the rights of human beings for any reason. She appeared on MSNBC's Ed Show on Friday night.
SCHULTZ: Katie, how do you see this unfolding as we go forward?
KATIE BELANGER, FAIR WISCONSIN: Well, I think that this is certainly about workers‘ rights. But the larger issue is about people‘s rights and the rights of citizens. And we‘re an organization that is about standing up for not just the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, but about the people of Wisconsin. And we knew labor stood with us. Time and time again, every time we‘ve had a challenge, they‘ve been right there with us. And this was our opportunity to stand with them.
...
SCHULTZ: Katie, your organization, your Americans suffer discrimination. Can you relate to what these workers are going through? Is it an issue of discrimination, economic discrimination?
BELANGER: Absolutely. The public employees are the foundation of our communities all across Wisconsin. And anyone who says that they shouldn‘t have a voice in their work place, and a voice in what goes on in their government is absolutely discriminating against people.
I had a chance to speak with Katie briefly today. She reiterated what she has said on the Ed Show, and to anyone who asks:
Labor was the first to stand with us against the Constitutional amendment against marriage equality and civil unions in 2006. Labor was the first to stand with us in the fight for domestic partnerships in 2009. Now it's our turn to stand with Labor as they are fighting for their right to exist.
LGBT rights are workers' rights. To their shame, none of the major LGBT organizations have vocally come out in support of the workers in Wisconsin, Indiana, or Ohio. Specific LGBT participation in these actions has been from GetEqual and the state-level organizations. Will our national organizations come out in solidarity with the workers of the Midwest, with the over 70,000 people in Wisconsin and Ohio who have stood up against these proposals?
For those in Ohio who want to support our brothers and sisters in Labor, there is an action planned for today at 1 pm local time. S.B. 5 will be heard in committee at 4 pm. Kim Welter of Equality Ohio is there now. For those in Wisconsin, check Fair Wisconsin's Facebook page, or just head on down to the Statehouse in Madison. Wear red.
In Peace and Solidarity.
UPDATE: Kim Welter of Equality Ohio caught up with me on the phone and reported that at the State Capitol in Columbus, only a few hundred people were allowed in, the rest were locked out due to building capacity. The protest actions will go on for several more hours. From Equality Ohio:
Many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Ohioans who work for public employers, including schools and universities, receive domestic partnership benefits as a result of collective bargaining. These benefits are in jeopardy.
Ohio's Senate Bill 5 contains language that could impact current and future domestic partner benefits for LGBT employees. Join us and thousands of other opponents of SB 5 at the Statehouse in Columbus tomorrow to stand up for equal access to health care and other benefits for all Ohio families. The rally is scheduled for tomorrow, February 22, at 1pm, and the committee hearing is scheduled for 3:30pm so we will be there for much of the afternoon. Look for the Equality Ohio banner and raise your voice with us.
S.B.5 puts the domestic partner benefits of LGBT public employees at grave risk. Those were achieved through the collective bargaining process because unions weren't going to leave their partnered LGBT members out in the cold. I ask again, where is the support from our national organizations??