President's Address By: Christopher Moore The November 2^nd General Election is nearly upon us and there is much at stake for the LGBT community in Sacramento and across the state. This election is all about beating homophobia! We will beat homophobia when we elect an Attorney General and Governor that absolutely refuse to defend Proposition 8 and potentially impact the direction of the entire nation with regard to legalizing same-sex marriage. We will defeat homophobia when we elect Mary Hernandez to School Board and give the LGBT much-needed representation! We will defeat homophobia when we defeat the author or Proposition 8, Andrew Pugno, in his bid for Assembly! In the federal lawsuit challenging Proposition 8 (Perry vs. Schwarzenegger) a key element to our success thus far, and a crucial element of our ability to succeed in the U.S. Supreme Court, is the State of California’s official stance in the case.  In federal lawsuits such as this, states are responsible for defending the merits of their laws, however in Perry vs. Schwarzenegger both Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown refused to defend Proposition 8. However, if we suddenly had a Governor and/or Attorney General that chose to defend Proposition 8, this could all change and move the case toward the U.S. Supreme Court. The Democratic candidates for Governor and Attorney General, Jerry Brown and Kamala Harris, have committed to maintaining the state’s present position in not defending Prop 8. The Republican candidates, Meg Whitman and Steve Cooley, have both stated that they would defend Proposition 8, thereby throwing the legal weight of the State behind defending Proposition 8. Because this lawsuit, unless stopped at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, will most certainly end up at the Supreme Court, California’s races for Governor and Attorney General have a very serious impact on marriage equality across all 50 states. Aside from the impact on marriage equality, this election is a crucial moment for Sacramento Stonewall. We have the opportunity to carry out the heart of the missions of this club and elect a qualified openly-LGBT candidate to local office – Mary Hernandez to School Board. Tragedy has struck across the United States time after time during the last few moments when young LGBT people across the nation have chosen to end their lives. LGBT youth are still feeling isolated, scared, and desperate so much so that ending their own lives seems like the best option. It is our sincere hope that increasing the political representation of the LGBT community will help combat this tragic situation our youth continue to face today. Defeating homophobia in this election cycle couldn’t be any more obvious than defeating Proposition 8 author Andrew Pugno in his bid for Assembly District 5. If you don’t know about Pugno’s history on marriage Inequality, check out our website devoted to the race at www.stopandrewpugno.com. Pugno’s competitor, Dr. Richard Pan, is an outstanding candidate, dedicated to equality for the LGBT community. Dr. Pan would make an outstanding endorsed-candidate regardless of his opponent, but given the circumstances of this race we need to work even harder to support Dr. Pan in this seat! If you have not done so already, please consider giving a financial contribution to Mary Hernandez (www.maryhernandez.org), or Dr. Richard Pan (www.panforassembly.com). Additionally, Stonewall is mobilizing our members to volunteer directly for campaigns. If you would like to volunteer for a campaign, send an e-mail to info@sacstonewall.org. Here’s to defeating homophobia in 2010! In Solidarity, Christopher Moore President Sacramento Stonewall Democrats

Stonewall Holds Stop Andrew Pugno Town Hall! By: Christopher Moore On September 13^th Sacramento Stonewall held a Town Hall meeting to mobilize our region’s LGBT and allied communities in Assembly District 5. The evening was a big success for Stonewall and our community! Assembly Distrcit 5 is being vacated by Assemblymember Roger Niello (R – Fair Oaks). The district was once a Republican strong-hold, but has been trending more and more Democratic. The registration is basically even for Democrats and Republicans with a large decline-to-state population. The Democratic nominee is Dr. Richard Pan, a pediatrician and educator with UC Davis Children’s Hospital and the Republican candidate is Andrew Pugno – a political operative that has been working primarily on anti marriage equality efforts. Pugno’s career has nearly exclusively focused on defeating same-sex marriage in California, with highlights including: working for infamously anti-gay legislator Pete Knight, crafting Proposition 22 and spending several years defending it in California’s courts, and co-authoring Proposition 8 and serving as chief lawyer for the Yes on 8 campaign. Stonewall has been working hard to spread the word about Pugno’s career and this town hall accomplished just that. For more information visit www.stopandrewpugno.com. The town hall featured an original video, created by Stonewall Vice President Heather Minton, which highlighted Pugno’s past and our community’s solidarity following the passage of Proposition 8. We also heard from Stonewall President Chris Moore about the political dynamics of the race which shows that this race is going to be very, very winnable, but depends on the ability of the Pan campaign to get the message out about both his and Pugno’s records. Dr. Pan and his campaign manager Pat Dennis addressed the crowd and talked about exactly what we can be doing to help the campaign. The campaign was able to sign up approximately 50 volunteers for upcoming campaign actions! Since the town hall, Stonewall Members have been canvassing neighborhoods and participating in phone banks to get the word out about the race in Assembly District 5. There will be much outside money spent in this race. Special interests on both sides of the race will be flooding voters in the 5^th Assembly District with campaign propaganda. This will certainly wear out the voters very quickly. That is why it is absolutely imperative that Sacrament Stonewall mobilize volunteers to have one on one conversations with voters. These are the connections that will make a difference in this race! Please consider volunteering in this race! Do so by visiting Dr. Pan’s website at: http://panforassembly.com/get-involved/ With your help we will elect Dr. Pan and Stop Andrew Pugno!

Stonewall Hosts General Election Kickoff Fundraiser By Bryce Gardella Left to Right: Patrick Holstine, Melanie Ramil, Bryce Gardella, Rep. Doris Matsui, Chris Moore, Heather Minton On Thursday, September 9, Sacramento Stonewall honored Congresswoman Doris Matsui at their reception and General Election Fundraiser for her ongoing commitment and support of the LGBT community. Other special guests included Assembly Member Mariko Yamada, AD 9 candidate Roger Dickinson, AD 5 candidate Dr. Richard Pan, and Mary Hernandez, candidate for the Sacramento City Unified School District - Board of Education. Congresswoman Matsui was introduced by Stonewall President, Chris Moore, who also thanked the sponsors of the evening and talked about the upcoming Stonewall priority races for the 2010 election - Dr. Richard Pan and Mary Hernandez. The Congresswoman was acknowledged by the business professionals, community leaders, and constituents who attended the event. She talked about the importance of equality for the LGBT community and the ongoing work that everyone be accepted whether it's by color, race, disability, sexual orientation, etc. The Congresswoman shared about the hard work that is being done in Washington and the impact it is having on California and our community. As an established and informed Representative, Congresswoman Matsui has emerged in Washington as an influential and hard working advocate for the people of the Sacramento region. As a member of the House LGBT Equality Caucus, her goals include working toward the extension of equal rights, the repeal of discriminatory laws, the elimination of hate-motivated violence, and the improved health and well being for all regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. The Congresswoman had a significant impact on the opening and creation of the Capital Unity Council project in Sacramento. In addition to her work with the LBGT community, Congresswoman Matsui is continuously working hard on flood protection, ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the National Children's Study, health care and much more. Stonewall is proud to have her representing our community in the congressional fifth district. The event took place at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, at 1215 K Street, Suite 1900 in Sacramento. The proceeds from the event go to Sacramento Stonewall in preparation for the November election.
Reaching Out to Support Students By Sacramento Stonewall's Board Many of us have all been made aware of the recent nationally publicized suicides of young students. On behalf of the Stonewall Board, we would like to express our condolences to all those that have been touched by these tragic events. We are reaching out to the LGBT Community and Straight Allies to remind everyone of the various community resources in place to assist students in managing the many stresses and pressures associated with academic and social life. Most importantly, we must all realize that we are a resource for each other. It should be our responsibility to check in with friends and colleagues who feel might benefit from the many resources available throughout our community. Specifically, the following links may be helpful: Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center – The Center offers youth groups and Counseling Services to those in need. http://saccenter.org/index.php/programs/peer-programs/youth-groups PFLAG Sacramento - PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, their families and friends. http://www.pflagsacramento.org/ Sacramento Gender Health Center – This is a great new resource in town that provides affordable counseling for all, with a special emphasis on the transgender community. http://www.thegenderhealthcenter.org/ We also invite you to review a recent report by the UCLA Williams Institute (a research institute that advocates on sexual orientation law and public policy), “Safe at School: Addressing the School Environment and LGBT Safety through Policy and Legislation.” The report seeks to help make schools safe environments for all students and families. http://www.law.ucla.edu/WilliamsInstitute/pdf/LGBT-FINAL.pdf According to the report’s authors “The mistreatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students is worse today than many might realize, and far too often involves school personnel that ignore the problem and in some cases make the situation even worse.” The UCLA report highlights the fact that we need to have effective policies and school administrators to protect all our students, including LGBT children. Ensuring we have a safe learning environment for everyone requires that we have effective political and demographical representation on our local school boards. This is one of the main goals of Sacramento Stonewall. We take ensuring fair representation of the LGBT population on all levels of decision-making very seriously. This is also underscores the rationale for Stonewall Sacramento to actively support the campaign to elect Mary Hernandez for Sacramento City Unified School Board, in Area 2. As the recent news has shown us, school officials can be unresponsive in the face of bullying or discrimination. That's why we all need to work together to create environments where LGBT students are safe on campus and all families have a strong voice in protecting our schools. This drives at the heart of our club's mission: "The mission of the Stonewall Democratic Club of Greater Sacramento is to advance equal rights for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. We will support public policies that advance that mission in the United States, the State of California, and the greater Sacramento area. We will help elect qualified, openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people to public office, as well as Democratic Party candidates that support equal rights for the LGBT community." We would like to close our statement with a principle from the UC Berkeley “Principles of Community”, which states the following: "Respect the differences as well as the commonalities that bring us together and call for civility and respect in our personal interactions. We know that our community is strongest when all members feel a true sense of belonging that we each create and maintain." This poignant principle is also our responsibility to each other, here in the Greater Sacramento Region. Sincerely, The Sacramento Stonewall Board
National Organization for Marriage is Using Children as Political Pawns... Again. By Chris Moore The folks behind the divisive and hurtful Yes on Proposition 8 T.V. ads just couldn't help themselves -- The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is once again using children as political pawns, but this time in an attempt to elect one of their own, Andrew Pugno, to the California State Assembly by smearing his pro-equality challenger Dr. Richard Pan. The two are facing off in a hotly contested race for Assembly District 5 in the Sacramento region. Pugno is the golden boy of the nation-wide anti marriage equality effort. His career sets him apart from your standard anti marriage equality activists and includes such highlights as: Chief of Staff to the notoriously homophobic late Senator Pete Knight, Co-Author of Proposition 8, and lead attorney for the Yes on 8 Campaign. It is no surprise that NOM is spending big to have their go-to California political operative elected to the Assembly. NOM has spent over $112,000 to air a new television ad in which they warn that Pugno's opponent, Richard Pan, will support the teaching of gay marriage to 2nd graders. See the ad below: It is fairly ironic that NOM is divisively using children as political pawns in an effort to smear Dr. Richard Pan, a pediatrician that has focused his career on building community partnerships to increase children's health coverage. Dr. Pan co-founded the Healthy Kids Healthy Future program, which secured health, dental and vision coverage for over 65,000 children in the Sacramento region. Assembly District 5 was drawn as a Republican district in 2000 but has been trending more and more Democratic. The polling for the race shows that Dr. Pan will win as long as his campaign can get the message out about Pugno's extremist past. In addition to Pugno's anti-gay past, he has also worked to eliminate all abortions, even in the case of incest and rape. To learn more about this race and Andrew Pugno's extreme past, visit http://www.stopandrewpugno.com/. To help Dr. Richard Pan, please visit http://www.panforassembly.com/
A Day in the Life of Walking for Stonewall By Patrick Holstine, Communications Chair Donuts:  I try to eat healthy breakfasts so it’s not very often that I start my day with donuts.  But the last few Saturday mornings have started with donuts, coffee, and walking door-to-door and telling people why I believe that Mary Hernandez should be elected to the Sacramento City Unified School Board from Area 2.  While many of you reading this newsletter are veteran canvassers who have walked for candidates in the past, others may never have taken advantage of the opportunity to have those face-to-face conversations with voters in a critical race like Mary’s.  Hopefully after reading this article you’ll be ready to Walk for Stonewall and help us elect equality in November! 8:45 a.m.:  After hitting snooze a few times too many, I finally get out of bed.  I don’t have a lot of time to get ready, so I take a quick shower, throw on weather-appropriate casual clothes, a baseball cap (Sacramento River Cats – got to stick with the home team and not alienate any voters!) and I head out with my boyfriend Miguel to Mary Hernandez’s Campaign Headquarters at her home on 33^rd and M Streets.  We are going to walk together for Mary this Saturday morning. 9:30 a.m.:  We stop for coffee on the way to wake us up a bit, and once we arrive at Mary’s we find lots of beverages, fresh strawberries, and of course donuts.  We fuel up real quick with some breakfast goodies and then get our precinct folders from Mary’s Volunteer Coordinator, Michael Williams.  The folders have maps to show us where to go, and lists of voters telling us everything from their names and addresses right down to the party affiliation and age.  We also get talking points explaining Mary’s stance on the issues and we do a little practice Q&A to make sure we are ready to talk to voters one-on-one about this particular campaign and why they should vote for Mary. 10:00 a.m.:  Miguel and I arrive in the precinct where we are going to walk.  We take a look at the map to decide where to start and how best to cover the whole area in the next few hours.  Since it’s his first time walking for a candidate, I also talk to him about what we will say to the voters, and how to use the voter information to tailor our pitch to the particular voter we’re talking to at the time.  For example, people with young children may be very interested in building a high school in Area 2, and that is one of Mary’s top priorities.  It’s important for us to emphasize this with those voters.  Or perhaps we will speak with a retired Republican voter who would more closely identify with Mary’s goal of eliminating administrative bloat and making sure that education dollars are getting spent in the classroom. 10:55 a.m:  We’ve been walking for nearly an hour.  Miguel now realizes just how easy it is to walk for a candidate after having a little bit of trepidation about talking to voters before we get started.  A lot of folks are not home or do not come to the door, so we leave them with one of Mary’s brochures describing her background, her goals, and how to learn more about her on maryhernandez.org.  The people who do answer the door are usually very friendly and for the most part have not spent a lot of time researching the school board race.  They are happy to have information about a candidate in front of them for the first time, and I am happy to tell them why I believe in Mary enough to give up my Saturday morning to spread the word about her campaign.  While many voters have not yet thought enough about the race, I have now put Mary’s name in front of them and given them every reason to vote for her. 12:10 p.m.:  We’ve been walking for more than two hours and the time is flying.  Lots of great conversations with voters, and I have the feeling that most of the people we talked with will actually vote for Mary because of our positive interaction.  This is really a great feeling and it motivates us to come back and talk to even more voters, knowing we can make the difference in such a tight race by knocking on doors and having conversations. 1:20 p.m.:  We did it!  We’ve covered the whole precinct and talked to dozens and dozens of people about why Mary is the right candidate for Area 2.  Only one person has anything negative to say all day, but it turns out it was a misunderstanding based on his research and once we finish our conversation, he’s no longer feeling negative and is thankful I stopped by and met him.  Maybe instead of voting for another candidate or spreading misinformation to fellow voters, now he can take another look at the race since he knows Mary a little bit better because of our chat.  I feel good that I was able to change his opinion of Mary just by talking with him one-on-one. 1:35 p.m.:  We are back at Campaign HQ.  Mary is there, and there are chili cheese dogs, pizza, and all kinds of beverages so we can once again fuel up after three-and-a-half hours of walking.  I think we have done enough walking to not even feel guilty about the donuts and pizza!  There’s so much energy and excitement there, knowing that we are making a difference in the race and working to elect Sacramento County’s only openly-LGBT candidate!  It’s that energy and excitement that make it easy to say we’ll be back next week, same time, same place, with the same goal in mind:  have one-on-one conversations with as many voters as possible to get out our message and help elect a Stonewall-endorsed candidate who believes in full LGBT equality.  We say goodbye to Mary, Michael, and some of the other walkers who have returned from their precincts, and we head home, determined to come back next week and do it all again.  Election Day is Coming Up Quickly:  Have you had the chance to make the difference in this election?  If you haven’t, then it’s not too late!  You can knock on doors for Mary or any other Stonewall-endorsed candidate in the final week before the election.  If you want to join us to help elect equality (and enjoy some donuts, pizza, or even something healthier like strawberries and orange juice) then e-mail us at info@sacstonewall.org and we will make sure you get the chance to Walk for Stonewall and elect equality this November!  And remember, the walking will help burn off those calories from the donuts and pizza, too!
Building Bridges Within our Community By Heather Minton It's been a busy season for Sacramento Stonewall Democrats! Along with our usual commitment of campaigning for LGBT and LGBT-friendly elected officials, we have been working to build more bridges inside of our local community, as well. This includes participating in grassroots community events. We were proud to sit on the event committee for the Gender Bender Ball, benefiting the Sacramento Gender Health Center. The Gender Health Center opened its doors this summer and is dedicated to providing affordable counseling services to all people, with a concentration on the transgender community. Sacramento Stonewall understands the importance of this organization and was pleased to be a financial sponsor of the event and participate in the planning of its auction. Another event Sacramento Stonewall was able to participate in was the Gender Resource Day at the Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center. This was a day at the Center that highlighted various services and resources specific to the transgender community. Sacramento Stonewall financially sponsored this event and tabled at it, registering voters and handing out Stonewall membership information. Finally, our club enjoyed financially sponsoring and tabling at Sacramento's 31^st Annual Women Take Back the Night (WTBN). WTBN is an event that affirms our community's commitment to ending the violence that restricts women's personal freedom and safety. At the event, we were able to hand out Stonewall's newly created Vote for Equality guide. As the election season ends, our club looks forward to shifting our focus to building even stronger bridges within our local area. We know that the only way that our community can succeed is together. We look forward to making this a reality.
STONEWALL VOTER GUIDE Click Here for a printable PDF version of the Guide! STATEWIDE ·         Governor: Jerry Brown ·         Attorney General: Kamala Harris ·         Insurance Commissioner: Dave Jones ·         Lt. Governor : Gavin Newsom ·         Secretary of State: Debra Bowen ·         State Controller: John Chiang ·         State Treasurer: Bill Lockyer ·         Supt.of Public Instruction: Tom Torlakson ·         U.S. Senator: Barbara Boxer ·         Board of Equalization District #1: Betty Yee ·         Board of Equalization District #2: Chris Parker US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ·         Congress 10th District: Garamendi ·         Congress 3rd District: Ami Bera STATE ASSEMBLY & SENATE ·         State Assembly District 5: Richard Pan ·         State Assembly District 8: Mariko Yamada ·         State Assembly District 9: Roger Dickinson ·         State Assembly District 10: Alyson Huber ·         State Assembly District 15: Joan Buchanan ·         State Senate District 6: Darrell Steinberg LOCAL OFFICE ·         Sacramento City Council District 7: Ryan Chin ·         Sacramento City Council District 5: Patrick Kennedy ·         Sacramento City School Board Area1: Ellyne Bell ·         Sacramento City School Board Area 2: Mary Hernandez ·         Sacramento City School Board Area 6: Darrell Woo ·         Sacramento County Sheriff: Jim Cooper ·         Los Rios Community College Area 1: Dustin Johnson ·         Los Rios Community College Area 6: Deborah Ortiz ·         SMUD Ward 4: Genevieve Shiroma ·         West Sacramento: Christopher Cabaldon ·         Roseville City Council: David Larson ·         Roseville City Council: Neil Pople ·         Natomas Unified School Board: Lisa Kaplan ·         Natomas Unified School Board: Terri Burns ·         Arden Arcade City Council: Warren Harding ·         Arden Arcade City Council: Ryan Arba ·         Arden Arcade City Council: Patricia Cole ·         Arden Arcade City Council: Matt Gray ·         Cosumnes Community Services District: Rod Brewer ·         Elk Grove City Council District 2: Davies Ononiwu ·         Folsom Cordova School Board: Zak Ford
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