Breakfast w/Greg: Ted Kennedy’s record on LGBT rights; Harvey Milk Day in California is a no-brainer

Good morning.

It is so very sad that Sen. Ted Kennedy has died. Even though he was 77 years old and in ill health, it still feels like he’s gone too soon.

In it’s coverage of Kennedy’s death, Advocate.com writes that the had scored a 100 percent rating from the Human Rights Campaign for introducing historic pieces of pro-LGBT legislation and making critical votes.

For example: Kennedy was one of only 14 senators who voted against the 1996 Defense of Marriage of Act that prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.

Then there is this: during the unsuccessful attempt by conservatives to pass the 2004 Federal Marriage Amendment constitutionally banning same-sex marriage, Kennedy said from the Senate floor, “We all know what this issue is about. It’s not about how to protect the sanctity of marriage, or how to deal with activist judges. It’s about politics and an attempt to drive a wedge between one group of citizens and the rest of the country, solely for partisan advantage …  The Constitution has never been used as a tool to entrench currently popular views at the expense of an unpopular minority – and it should not be used that way now.”

Kennedy also pushed such bills as the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).

HARVEY’S DAY: Wouldn’t it be great to have more elected officials, like Kennedy, just do what is right?

His nephew-in-law, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, had a chance to sign Harvey Milk Day into law last year but vetoed a bill passed by the legislature.

Arnold, who also twice declined to sign gay marriage into law in California, said Milk was a figure of only local significance.

Thanks to the movie Milk and Oscar wins for screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and lead Sean Penn, the statewide significant of the man has become far more difficult to ignore – particularly in this time in history when the battle for LGBT rights and marriage equality is on the front burner both in the state and nationally.

On Tuesday, the governor took to Twitter to solicit feedback with the following Tweet: Some interesting bills coming down. Give me your thoughts on the water package, Harvey Milk Day, and the prison reform bills.

Schwarzenegger

Equality California is doing more than Tweeting, it has started an online petition that you can access HERE.

The petition reads in part: Harvey Milk was—and still is—an inspiration not only as one of the first openly gay men elected to office, but as a trail blazer who understood the value of working with allies, the importance of living our lives openly with authenticity and the power that our stories have to change hearts and minds.

This really is a no-brainer and could be one of the few things Arnold would be able to be proud of once he leaves office.