Earlier this month, we saw new evidence that our country has entered a real era of change whenPresident Barack Obama issued a proclamationcalling on all Americans to celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month. “As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected,” the president’s proclamation states. “If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit.”

This is a special year in many ways. This month, we mark the 40th anniversary of Stonewall, when the struggle for full citizenship for LGBT Americans began in earnest. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is proud of the role we have played to advance the cause of equal rights for LGBT Americans throughout the years. We are proud of the work of our members and our staff. We are going to continue to fight until we end every policy that treats any group of Americans as second class citizens. Discrimination is wrong. It hurts us all. It must stop.

Decades ago, AFSCME councils and locals across the country took the lead in negotiating employment non-discrimination policies. They used union power to create collective bargaining agreements to protect LGBT public employees. Those victories helped pave the way for non-discrimination policies in the private sector.

But workplace discrimination still goes on. In fact, it remains legal in 30 states to discriminate based on sexual orientation, and in 38 states to do so based on gender identity or expression. As a result, LGBT people face serious discrimination in employment. Too many people are being fired…or being denied a promotion…or experiencing harassment on the job. That is wrong and it must stop. That’s why we’re fighting to pass the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Working with President Obama and our allies in the Congress, we’re going to get this done.

As we celebrate LGBT Pride, it’s also appropriate to remember that AFSCME has been fighting alongside the LGBT community on a host of other important issues. We’re working to pass a federal hate crimes law so that local law enforcement will get the resources they need to keep LGBT families safe and secure wherever they choose to live. We’re fighting to change the tax laws so that domestic partners benefits will not be taxed. We’re fighting to fund programs to protect LGBT youth from harassment. And we’re working to secure a sound retirement for LGBT seniors by ending discrimination in Social Security and tax laws.

We stood with the LGBT community during the darkest days of the AIDS crisis. We fought to end discrimination against People With AIDS. We fought to expand research and treatment programs.

Later this month, the AFSCME Pride Committee at our headquarters in Washington, DC — composed of LGBT and straight employees — will host a guest lecture named in honor of our departed brother, Van Sheets. Van spent 17 years working for AFSCME. Van was taken from us much too early. He loved this union with his heart and soul. We loved and cherished Van in return. Van was the driving force behind the creation of Pride at Work, which does so much to give the LGBT community a voice in the labor movement. I know Van would be very proud of the work the Pride Committee is doing and the event that has been scheduled to honor his memory.

Finally, let’s not forget that the values we share require us to continue to push forward. That’s always been the case in the on-going battle for freedom, fairness and equality. Just look at the fight for marriage equality. AFSCME members — straight and gay — have been fighting on the front lines. Yes, we were disappointed with the results in California last November. But today, let’s celebrate the great progress we’ve seen this year. Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire have now joined Massachusetts in providing marriage equality for all of their citizens. That’s real progress.

So there is much to celebrate this month. But there is more work to be done. We’re going to do that work, year in and year out, until equal rights exist for the LGBT community and for all Americans. All of us at AFSCME, working together, are going to do our part. We’re going to make equality happen.

It is the right thing to do . . . for our union . . . for our families . . . for our country.

Happy LGBT Pride Month.
This article is adapted from remarks President McEntee delivered at the AFSCME LGBT Pride kick-off event at the union’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Recently, many of our members have come to believe that they will no longer receive reimbursements from the county for travel as in the past.  We have clarified this issue with the office’s Chief Labor Counsel and have come to understand that there has been no change in the policy, but only a pledge to strictly adhere to the current policy.

The net effect this has on our members in MDD and LRD is that there is no change. Continue to submit reimbursement forms in a timely fashion and you will continue to receive reimbursements.

Washington D.C. — The International Executive Board of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) unanimously declared its support for Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, and promised to help secure her confirmation by the Senate.

“President Obama’s nomination of distinguished Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is the right move for our nation,” said AFSCME President Gerald McEntee.  “Judge Sotomayor is exactly the kind of experienced, capable and fair jurist the working men and women of this nation need to serve on our highest court.”

Sotomayor is a graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School.  She was a prosecutor and private attorney before being appointed as a federal judge by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 (and confirmed by the Senate).  In 1997 she was named to the appeals court by President Bill Clinton. She would bring more federal judicial experience to the bench than any Supreme Court justice in 100 years.

“Judge Sonia Sotomayor has worked to preserve the rights of workers to receive fair pay, health benefits, and to be free of workplace discrimination,” said McEntee. “The Senate should promptly confirm Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.”

Here is the full text of the AFSCME resolution:

JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR

WHEREAS:

President Barack Obama has nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor to serve as a Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court; and

WHEREAS:

Judge Sonia Sotomayor has outstanding educational credentials; including being valedictorian of her high school class, winning a scholarship to Princeton University, and earning a law degree at Yale University, where she served as editor of the Yale Law Review; and

WHEREAS:

Judge Sotomayor has served with distinction as a litigator, prosecutor, trial court attorney and U.S. appellate judge and possesses more federal judicial experience than any of the current members of the Supreme Court and than any Justice in the last century prior to their nomination to the high court; and

WHEREAS:

Judge Sotomayor has been consistent and fair in her interpretation of labor laws and has worked to preserve the rights of workers to receive fair pay, health benefits, and to be free of workplace discrimination; and

WHEREAS:

Judge Sotomayor has demonstrated a commitment to civil liberties and equal justice under the law, and has a record that shows that she is fair minded and that she has an understanding of the struggles of working people in this country; and

WHEREAS:

Judge Sotomayor’s nomination  marks a milestone, as the first Hispanic and the first woman of color to be nominated to the high court, thereby fulfilling President Obama’s promise to add diversity to the Supreme Court; and

WHEREAS:

AFSCME has consistently supported judicial nominees in the U.S. Senate who have a history of protecting the rights of all Americans.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That AFSCME strongly support the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court and that AFSCME work to secure the confirmation.

June 2, 2009