Thanks for posting it. Everyone should watch and listen to the video itself. The more people hear it and think about it, the sooner more people will be able to lead better lives.
September 20, 2007 9:18 PM
Anonymous said...
"And so, one person at a time, the tide is turned."
Didn't the President of Iran say something like this recently?
I agree, David, this is a profoundly emotional video, this tax-cutting Republican mayor, former cop, father of a lesbian daughter, realizing that he needs to do the right thing, even though it may cost him his political career.
Watch it.
JimK
September 20, 2007 9:26 PM
Anonymous said...
"Watch it."
Didn't Emperor Palpatine say this about Anakin Skywalker's career?
September 20, 2007 9:30 PM
Anonymous said...
And so, one person at a time, the tide is turned.
The tide continues to turn:
"Denver lawmaker becomes first openly gay man in legislature By Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News September 20, 2007
Mark Ferrandino has become Colorado's first openly gay male legislator after being appointed to replace Rep. Mike Cerbo.
Cerbo, D-Denver, resigned last week in order to become director of the Colorado AFL-CIO. Cerbo endorsed Ferrandino, calling him an accessible, outgoing and responsive replacement whose experience will help the Legislature in its budgeting discussions.
A vacancy committee of party activists and local elected Democrats voted 23-3 in favor of the 30-year-old fiscal policy wonk at a meeting Wednesday night.
"I'm proud to be representing my constituents and the GLBT community," Ferrandino said Thursday. "I'm a qualified Democrat who wants to do good, who also happens to be gay."
The treasurer of the state Democratic Party and a former co-chair of the Colorado Stonewall Democrats, Ferrandino said he will resign his party posts after helping to smooth the transition to a new treasurer.
Ferrandino worked in the White House budget office before relocating from Washington to Denver in 2003, when his partner got a job in Colorado with the U.S. Customs Service...
...His appointment comes a week after Gov. Bill Ritter appointed the state's first openly-gay district court judge.
Sen. Jennifer Veiga, D-Denver, became the state's first openly gay female legislator when she was elected to the House of Representatives in 1996. She came out publicly as a lesbian in 2002. In 2003, a vacancy committee appointed her to fill an open senate seat, and she retained that seat in the 2004 election." Full story at: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5703375,00.html
September 21, 2007 7:33 AM
Man, you don't see politicians act like this very often. Watch this video, all of it: CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO.
It is a very emotional presentation; he can hardly get through it. Mayor Jerry Sanders was a cop for 26 years, including serving as Chief of Police of the City of San Diego from 1993 until 1999.
Here is the text of the statement by San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, as he announces that he will not veto the Gay Marriage Resolution that had been passed by the City Council. With me this afternoon is my wife, Rana.
I am here this afternoon to announce that I will sign the resolution that the City Council passed yesterday directing the City Attorney to file a brief in support of gay marriage.
My plan, as has been reported publicly, was to veto that resolution, so I feel like I owe all San Diegans an explanation for this change of heart.
During the campaign two years ago, I announced that I did not support gay marriage and instead supported civil unions and domestic partnerships.
I have personally wrestled with that position ever since. My opinion on this issue has evolved significantly -- as I think have the opinions of millions of Americans from all walks of life.
In order to be consistent with the position I took during the mayoral election, I intended to veto the Council resolution. As late as yesterday afternoon, that was my position.
The arrival of the resolution -- to sign or veto -- in my office late last night forced me to reflect and search my soul for the right thing to do.
I have decided to lead with my heart -- to do what I think is right -- and to take a stand on behalf of equality and social justice. The right thing for me to do is to sign this resolution.
For three decades, I have worked to bring enlightenment, justice and equality to all parts of our community.
As I reflected on the choices that I had before me last night, I just could not bring myself to tell an entire group of people in our community that they were less important, less worthy and less deserving of the rights and responsibilities of marriage -- than anyone else -- simply because of their sexual orientation.
A decision to veto this resolution would have been inconsistent with the values I have embraced over the past 30 years.
I do believe that times have changed. And with changing time, and new life experiences, come different opinions. I think that's natural, and certainly it is true in my case.
Two years ago, I believed that civil unions were a fair alternative. Those beliefs, in my case, have changed.
The concept of a "separate but equal" institution is not something that I can support.
I acknowledge that not all members of our community will agree or perhaps even understand my decision today.
All I can offer them is that I am trying to do what I believe is right.
I have close family members and friends who are members of the gay and lesbian community. These folks include my daughter Lisa, as well as members of my personal staff.
I want for them the same thing that we all want for our loved ones -- for each of them to find a mate whom they love deeply and who loves them back; someone with whom they can grow old together and share life's wondrous adventures.
And I want their relationships to be protected equally under the law. In the end, I could not look any of them in the face and tell them that their relationships -- their very lives -- were any less meaningful than the marriage that I share with my wife Rana.
Thank you. And so, one person at a time, the tide is turned.
"The Mayor of San Diego Does the Right Thing"
5 Comments -
Jim,
Thanks for posting it. Everyone should watch and listen to the video itself. The more people hear it and think about it, the sooner more people will be able to lead better lives.
September 20, 2007 9:18 PM
"And so, one person at a time, the tide is turned."
Didn't the President of Iran say something like this recently?
September 20, 2007 9:25 PM
I agree, David, this is a profoundly emotional video, this tax-cutting Republican mayor, former cop, father of a lesbian daughter, realizing that he needs to do the right thing, even though it may cost him his political career.
Watch it.
JimK
September 20, 2007 9:26 PM
"Watch it."
Didn't Emperor Palpatine say this about Anakin Skywalker's career?
September 20, 2007 9:30 PM
And so, one person at a time, the tide is turned.
The tide continues to turn:
"Denver lawmaker becomes first openly gay man in legislature
By Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News
September 20, 2007
Mark Ferrandino has become Colorado's first openly gay male legislator after being appointed to replace Rep. Mike Cerbo.
Cerbo, D-Denver, resigned last week in order to become director of the Colorado AFL-CIO. Cerbo endorsed Ferrandino, calling him an accessible, outgoing and responsive replacement whose experience will help the Legislature in its budgeting discussions.
A vacancy committee of party activists and local elected Democrats voted 23-3 in favor of the 30-year-old fiscal policy wonk at a meeting Wednesday night.
"I'm proud to be representing my constituents and the GLBT community," Ferrandino said Thursday. "I'm a qualified Democrat who wants to do good, who also happens to be gay."
The treasurer of the state Democratic Party and a former co-chair of the Colorado Stonewall Democrats, Ferrandino said he will resign his party posts after helping to smooth the transition to a new treasurer.
Ferrandino worked in the White House budget office before relocating from Washington to Denver in 2003, when his partner got a job in Colorado with the U.S. Customs Service...
...His appointment comes a week after Gov. Bill Ritter appointed the state's first openly-gay district court judge.
Sen. Jennifer Veiga, D-Denver, became the state's first openly gay female legislator when she was elected to the House of Representatives in 1996. She came out publicly as a lesbian in 2002. In 2003, a vacancy committee appointed her to fill an open senate seat, and she retained that seat in the 2004 election."
Full story at: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5703375,00.html
September 21, 2007 7:33 AM