In the Life: Ep. 1801, "Civil Rites & Civil Rights"

[Host, Michael Billy, over music and cheers] On this episode of, "In the Life," the marriage wars reach a fevered pitch in California. [Kate Kendell] What's at stake is what kind of country are we gonna live in? [Billy] NAACP Chairman, Julian Bond on why he supports full equality for LGBT citizens. [Julian Bond] The right to be married is a civil right. And I believe civil rights ought to be extended to everybody. [Billy] And one very special wedding. [S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom] an extraordinary day. [Billy] All this and more on, "In the Life," documenting the people and issues shaping the gay experience. [Announcer] "In the Life," is funded in part by, [Announcer] The H. Van Ameringen Foundation. [Announcer] Newpol Foundation. [Announcer] Arcus Foundation [Announcer] The Estate of Richard W. Weiland. [Announcer] David Beitzel and Darren Walker. [Announcer] Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro. [Announcer] And these funders. [Announcer] And by the annual support of, "In the Life," members like you. [City Clerk] I need both of you to raise your right hands. [Clerk] And do you solemnly swear that the information provided on this license is true and correct to the best of your knowledge? Yes. [Billy] On February 12, 2004 Del Martin and Phyllis Lion became the first same-sex couple to be issued a marriage license in the State of California. [Deputy Marriage Commissioner] I now pronounce you, spouses for life. [Billy] Set in motion by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, the mass marriage event that followed, captured the world's attention. [Billy] Six months later however the marriage of Del and Phyllis, as well as four thousand others, were made null and void. [Billy] But, four years later, [Billy] Del and Phyllis once again exchanged vows, this time in front of the Mayor himself. [Billy] And with the legal blessing of the California Supreme Court. [Billy] Tonight on, "In the Life," an in-depth look at our most populous states journey to marriage equality. And the real possibility that it could all once again be stripped away. [Theme music] I'm Michael Billy and you are watching, "In the Life." Now in a new half-hour format. During our seventeen years on National Public Television, we have returned often to the difficult struggle, states have had with the controversial subject of marriage for same-sex couples. [Billy] In Hawaii, in Vermont with civil unions. And in Massachusetts, where in 2004 same-sex couples for the first time, [Billy] received full marriage equality in a state. We lead once again, with marriage. This time, in California. Because on May 15th, 2008 the Supreme Court of that State ruled four to three, that the State Constitution protects a fundamental right to marry that extends to same-sex couples. The storm that followed that historic ruling, has all culminated in a proposition and a vote that could very well decide the future of the gay rights movement in this country. [Applause] [Newsom] What a day in San Francisco! What a day in California! [Newsom] What a day for America! What a day for equality! [Cheers, applause] [Woman] This is so great! [John Lewis] The decision today, it just expresses, ah, our deepest held values of human being. [Kendell] It is a wonderful day. To be in this movement and to be alive and to be here to see this happen. We're Gonna get married. We're gonna get married. The best day of my life was when Diane and I met and so this is the second best day of my life. [Music] [Geoff Kors] The ruling by the California Supreme Court is, one of the, if not the, most significant, ruling from any court, on LGBT rights in the history of this country. [Kendell] What the court seemed most moved by, was the understanding of what marriage means. The word, the ceremony, the opportunity to say I'm married. I'm getting married. [Stuart Gaffney] When people ask us, well, why aren't civil unions enough? I really think of my parents, and think well, what if I had grown up thinking, [Gaffney] my parents aren't able to marry, but they got an interracial union. While the neighbors parents, they're married because they are the same race. [Kendell] The court understood that for lesbian and gay people to be excluded from that, meant that we were denied a whole way of interacting with our families and our community. [Cheers] [Billy] Kate Kendell heads up the National Center for Lesbian Rights. [Billy] Which served as lead counsel on behalf of same-sex couples in the marriage equality case. [Kendell] It is about love. It is about dignity. [Kendell] It is about our children and the fundamental principles of the most basic human values of, [Kendell] opportunity and fairness extend to every one of us. [Cheers] [Billy] While the scene on the ground in California was pitched high that day last May. [Billy] People from across the country were watching and waiting at their computers for the historic decision to come down. [Billy] Evan Wolfson heads the organization, Freedom to Marry, and we were with Evan the moment he got the news from California. [Man] It's , yes [Wolfson] We won and we won now. Yes. That's just fantastic. [Billy] He has been working to win marriage equality for same-sex couples for twenty five years. [Wolfson] Now the fight begins. [Wolfson] Oh God, but we won. [Wolfson] The opinion was written by a republican appointed Chief Justice, [Wolfson] who's considered to be very cautious, very conservative and very respected. [Wolfson] Not only, upheld the freedom to marry, but because it even went further. It talked about how wrong discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is. [Brass band music] [Billy] One month later, June weddings took on a whole new meaning on the West Coast. [Brass band music] [Music] [Gaffney] Now in California, separate and unequal is a thing of the past. [Gaffney] And I'm really happy to see this day come. [Commissioner] We are gathered here in the presence of witnesses, [Commissioner] for the purpose of uniting in matrimony, [Cheers] [Fernandez] We want to be able to say here, we were there on that day, and you know we love each other and now people have to respect that. [Commissioner] I pronounce you married. You may kiss. Congratulations. [Music] [Kors] Here we are at a time when our economy's in trouble. All the people who are planning weddings and all the expenses tied to weddings. [Kors] That's gonna help small businesses all throughout this state, and it's gonna help the state coffers. [Andrei Krylov] I definitely feel like I'm in the history of making the first, ah, [Krylov] weddings. I'm a small business, but then all of a sudden, I'm becoming a lot larger than I thought I would. [Lorri Jean] We think the implications for the economy in California are gonna be huge. And we don't just, don't think it. The Governor thinks it. [Jean] The Mayor of Los Angeles thinks it. [L. A. Mayor Anotonio Villaraigosa] Marriage is also a promise made in the hearts of two people. [Villaraigosa] California Supreme court has spoken, and what is more fundamental than the right to marriage. [Newsom] It's about human dignity. It's about civil rights. It's about time. [Applause] [Newsom] By the way, as California goes, so goes the rest of the nation. [Applaluse] [Wolfson] It's important because it's California. Because that immediately brings us to over fifteen percent of the United States. The ramifications around the country will be unlike anything else. This is ground zero for our movement, for the next five months. [Billy] While the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision in 2004 alarmed the conservative right, [Billy] the ruling in California set the stage for a battle of epic proportions. [Billy] This November, Californians will vote on Proposition 8, [Billy] which would amend the state constitution to prohibit marriage for same-sex couples. [Billy] Proposition 8 would reverse the California Supreme Court decision. [Dramatic music] [Brian Brown] The same-sex marriage redefines this fundamental social good. And it, and it changes the public meaning of marriage. And it puts into the law the idea that those of us who understand that there's something unique and special about a mother and a father, a husband and a wife, are bigots. [William May] The objection we have is, is you know, it's not right to change the foundation of society, restructure marriage just to conform to the lifestyles of a small group of people. [Kors] Their goal is to change the State Constitution. To say that the only marriages that will be valid and recognized in California, are marriages between one man and one woman. [Billy] One thing both sides know is that victory may well be decided by the amount of money raised to deliver their message. [Brown] It's obvious we need to raise a lot of money, because in the medium, in California media market, it costs a lot of money to get your message out. My dad married a man, who would be my mom. I'm confused. [Narrator] Marriage means a mom and a dad. Our opponents are saying they're gonna raise, fifteen million dollars or more, ah, to basically spread misinformation about the, ah, California Marriage Amendment. [Kendell] California is a huge state. Thirty million people. Eighteen million registered voters. That is a huge audience of people that we need to move and come to understand why they should vote no on this amendment. [Billy] And the money has been flowing. [Billy] Conservative groups spent an estimated two million dollars just to gather the signatures needed to get Proposition 8 on the ballot in November. [Kors] Whatever. It takes they'll spend. They have groups like, Focus on the Family that have, enormous budgets who could pour tons of money into California. [Jean] We cannot afford to let right wing extremist forces out money raise us. Both sides have raised considerable sums for their campaigns. Fueled by individual donors, nonprofit organizations and labor and corporate groups. With experts predicting the combined total could reach 30 million dollars. Ultimately, the fate of Proposition 8 lies squarely in the hands of non gay voters. [Billy] One of them, Dale Kelly Bankhead is working hard on the ground with the LGBT community to defeat Proposition 8. [Dale Kelly Bankhead] If every LGBT person in California voted no on this initiative that wouldn't be enough people. And so, the community has to reach out to its natural allies. And those natural allies, there are other groups, who believe in fairness and equality and fundamental freedoms. And so we've put together this amazing coalition of, [Kelly] well over a hundred organizations. Labor, faith-based organizations, women's groups. [Billy] Brian Brown sees potential support for Proposition 8 in communities with traditionally strong family ties. [Brown] We've been invited on Spanish radio, Spanish television and our message has been received very well. [Villagriasso] Unfortunately there are too many people, who want to turn back the hands of time. Divide us, on issues, ah, that frankly, ah, we need to get beyond. What I think, is that, ultimately the voters of California are going to think back over the summer, to all the couples they've seen getting married and making those commitments, and they're going to say, "I don't want to take that away. That would be unfair. They deserve the same freedom that I have. We have to be focused on our one chance to give the voters the chance to say, "we know what marriage is we want to protect it." And that's in November. People understand. There's something wrong about four judges, trumping, 4.5 million California voters. [Wolfson] The California Supreme Court was the first court in the country to strike down race restrictions on who could marry whom. [Wolfson] And it did so in 1948. This year being the 60th anniversary. [Wolfson] And taking that profound legacy from 1948, here, in 2008, the very same court took our country forward. And, as in 1948, history will vindicate. [Gaffney] I think again of the example of my parents when they were able to marry almost 60 years ago, [Gaffney] Polls show that if interracial marriages have been put up for a vote in California, [Gaffney] my family would have been voted out of existence. [Fernandez] Hi wife. [Kendell] What's at stake is what kind of country are we gonna live in? [Kendell] That is the nature of what we are facing in November, and if we were to beat this amendment. [Kendell] And continue to have couples being married in California, [Kendell] we could really hit that tipping point and turn the corner where lesbian and gay people finally, no matter where you live, enjoy a measure of protection and security. [Cheers] [Music] We will continue to follow the marriage debate closely as it unfolds in states across the country. And later this season, an interview with Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers. [Billy] The Trevor Project, a lifeline for LGBT youth at risk. [Billy] And an exclusive interview with New York State Governor David Paterson. [Governor David Paterson] I'd like to believe that Dr. King, as soon as he became aware, [Paterson] would have spoken for gay and lesbian citizens in this country. And now Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and Washington Post Editorial Writer, Jonathan Capehart, sits down with NAACP, Chairman Julian Bond, to discuss the intersection of gay rights and civil rights. Marriage equality for all and a friendship with a gay man who was the architect of the 1963 March on Washington. [Jonathan Capehart] You've been Chairman of the NAACP, since 1998, correct? [Julian Bond] Right. [Capehart] How has the organization changed or evolved since this civil rights movement? Well, it has, um, changed focus in a slight way. Because we've always had the same focus which is fighting racial discrimination. We've done that since 1909 and I I'm sorry to say we'll probably be doing it for some time in the future. Let's talk about the time back during the Civil Rights movement. And you've said, [Capehart] that there were many gays and lesbians involved in the movement of course and you credited them with shaping your views on gay rights. Did you know Bayard Rustin? Yes. [Capehart] Talk about Bayard Rustin. He was part of Dr. King's inner circle. He helped pull off the March on Washington in 1963. And he was gay. He, as you say, he was just a seminal figure in this movement because King, depended on Bayard for so many things. He was King's first educator in non-violence. And he just expanded Kings knowledge of this a hundred fold. [Bond] You know, Bayard wrote the first article, ever published under Dr. King's name. [Capehart] Hmm. [Bond] I think it was, I'm not sure, if it was in, "The Nation," magazine, but, ah, an article sort of revisiting the Montgomery bus boycott and saying what it meant and Bayard Rustin wrote that. [Bond] To say he organized the March on Washington really doesn't give him enough credit. He put this thing together. [Bond] Now, we're used to, you know, big protests in Washington, nowadays. It happens it seems almost every week or so. [Bond] But this was almost a first. And it was certainly the first involving black people. [Bond] And it was a first involving bringing people from all over the country here, [Bond] in Washington for this event. And Rustin just was such a superb organizer. He pulled it off and [snaps fingers] no problem. [Capehart] You're one of the few prominent members of the civil rights movement to come out full square in favor of, gay marriage. [Bond] It just seems to be something right to do. [Bond] It seems to me, that the right to be married is a civil right. [Bond] And I believe civil rights ought to be extended to everybody. Who, who ought not have these rights? What, what category of people ought not have these rights? I can't think of one. I've been married twice. [Bond] And I know how, what the benefits are, the economic benefits are to a couple. [Bond] And, ah, I don't want to shut other people off from these benefits. [Capehart] Earlier this year you opened the 20th annual Creating Change Conference. Um, sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian, Task Force. You said then, quote, "Like race, our sexuality is not a preference. [Capehart] "It's, it is immutable, unchangeable and the constitution protects us all against prejudices and, [Capehart] "discrimination based on immutable differences." What do you say to those who flat-out disagree with that assessment? Well, if they seem to be open to some kind of rational argument, [Capehart chuckles] [Bond] then I try to make a rational argument. Your sexuality is an immutable characteristic. It's something you're born with. You don't say, "Hey, I think I'll be gay. Ah, you are gay when you're born or you're not gay. So what is the connection, between, the, civil rights movement, and the gay civil rights movement as we know it today. [Bond] At the bottom, it's these immutable characteristics. You are, what you are. And you cannot be discriminated against in this country, for what you are. [Bond] That's, that's the similarity that's the closeness. And the fact that the black civil rights movement came to public attention, [Bond] before the gay civil rights movement, [Bond] Which is existing at the same time, but I don't think well known to people. [Bond] These draw from each other. [Bond] And the gay movement draws tactics and techniques, [Bond] and, and songs and slogans as did the, [Bond] Hispanic movement. As did the women's movement. And it's not that these movements are taking from us. [Bond] Because the black movement took from other movements before. We took from the labor movement. [Bond] And I never heard any people from the labor movement complaining about this. And for black people to complain about this, we ought to be proud of this. [Bond] Say, look what we did. We created a model that other people have followed. And they followed it successfully. Good for us. [Capehart] The widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, that was Coretta Scott King. Did you ever talk about this? No? I never did I never talked her about this. [Chuckles] Just as I had never talked about [?] in the movement. [Laughs] About these things. I never talked to her about it. Ah, but I quoted her as often as I could. And when she died, and it was announced that, Ebenezer Baptist Church, where her, ah, husband had been pastor, was too small for the funeral ceremony, and it was instead headed, for a church run by a notorious homophobic, minister in Atlanta, I decided not to go. [Capehart] What should gay people know about her that they might not already know? [Bond] Well, first, I don't think many of them know that she was a strong advocate for, [Bond] ah, gay rights, for all of the things that gay people want and need. [Bond] I think her advocacy of these things is relatively unknown. [Bond] And when I speak to audiences and quote her, I can see some of the people saying, "Really?" [Bond] You know, happily, but, "Really?" and so I think they could learn some more about her. She was in many ways a remarkable person. [Bond] And to think of her as the the wife and widow of Martin Luther King, in some ways diminishes her. [Bond] Because she was more than that. She was greater than that. She had a life of her own. She was an independent person. [Bond] Ah, so of course she was the wife. Of course she was the mother. Of course she was the standard-bearer after he died. [Bond] But she was more than that. [Capehart] You have gone basically around the country, um, campaigning against, um, anti-gay marriage amendments, ah, in various, in various states. Do you, were you, Did you voluntarily do this? Did people come to you, and say, you know, we could really use, your name and your stature behind this. Both those things happened. Um, the NAACP, ah, is opposed to these amendments. We don't have a position on marriage equality. We're neutral on that. Or agnostic on that. Ah, but we do oppose these amendments because we think it's wrong to single out any group of people, for special treatment. And that's what these amendments do. And so wherever they've raised their heads we've campaigned against them and where I've been able to physically go, I've done it myself. [Capehart] Mm, hmm. [Capehart] Just before she died, Mildred Loving, who was the wife of the couple, [Capehart] in the famous supreme court case Loving vs. Virginia, which ended the ban on interracial marriage. [Capehart] Just before she died, she came out in favor of marriage equality. [Capehart] To the gay community, what's the significance of that, do you think? Well, it ought to have significance not just to the gay community, but the African American community and the American community. Here's this woman, who, with her husband, fought to eliminate this barrier to interracial marriage. Making it possible for me, to get married in Virginia. Because I married a white woman in Virginia. And making it possible for others around the country who, [Bond] previously couldn't get married, to get married now. She's an icon, of the marriage movement. And now she can become an icon of the marriage equality movement. So again, like Mrs. King, I don't think as many people know, as should know, about Mrs. King's attitudes. And I don't think as many people know, as should know, about Mildred Loving's attitudes. And I'd hope, she'd be raised up, and used as an example. [Bond] Here's this woman who fought for her own rights, and now feels that she must also fight for others rights. [Capehart] Here's the closing, cosmic question. [Capehart] I am, [Capehart] a seventeen, eighteen year old, [Capehart] black kid, [Capehart] anywhere in the United States. Urban America. Rural America. Suburban America. Ex Urban America. [Capehart] And, I just don't get the connection, that there is even a connection between, [Capehart] the civil rights movement that you helped lead, and the gay rights movement that I see all sorts of people, [Capehart] ah, pushing and leading from people on television, people in politics, [Capehart] um, people in business. [Capehart] Why, one, why should I care? And two, what is that, what is the connection? Convince me. The connection is rights. Rights. That's the key word. These are movements for rights. And these are movements to ensure that, ah, everyone has these rights. And this seventeen year old kid, ah, may not think he's ever going to get married. Or, if he's straight is going to marry a woman. But, ah, this guarantees his rights. And if he's not interested in his rights, then I wouldn't spend much time talking with him. Thanks, Mr. Bond. Thank you. [Music] Founding members of, "The Daughters of Bilitis," Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon celebrated more than fifty years of love and activism on June 16, 2008, when they were married for a second time, by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. [S. F. Mayor, Gavin Newsom] We're gathered here today, in the presence of all of you as witnesses for the purpose of uniting in matrimony, [Newsom] Phyllis and Del. The contract of marriage is most solemn, and is not to be entered into lightly, but thoughtfully. [Laughter] [Newsom] Do you, Phyllis, take this woman Del, to be your lawful wedded spouse? [Phyllis Lyon] I do. [Newsom] Do you promise to love her and to comfort her, to honor her and to keep her in sickness and in health, [Newsom] For richer, for poorer, for better or for worse, [Newsom] and to be faithful to her, [Laughter] as long as you both shall live? [Lyon] I do. [Newsom] And do you, Del, [Del Martin] Yeah. [Newsom] take this woman, Phyllis, to be your lawful wedded spouse? [Martin] Yes. [Newsom] And do you promise to love her and to comfort her, [Newsom] to keep her in sickness and in health, for richer, and for poorer, for better, and for worse, [Newsom] and to be faithful to her as long as you both shall live? [Del Martin] Yeah. [Newsom] I give you this ring, [Lyon] I give you this ring, [Newsom] in token and pledge, [Lyon] in token and pledge, [Newsom] of my constant faith, [Lyon] of my constant faith, [Newsom] and abiding love. [Lyon] And abiding love. [Newsom] With this ring, [Lyon] With this ring, [Newsom] I thee wed. [Lyon] I thee wed. [Newsom] Now that you have joined yourselves in solemn matrimony, [Newsom] delight in each other's company and never take the other for granted. [Newsom] For, [laughter] [Newsom] For you've always been destined, [Newsom] to enjoy this blessed and extraordinary day. It is my extraordinary honor, [Newsom] to pronounce you spouses for life. [Cheers and applause] [Billy] Thank you for watching "In the Life." To sign up for monthly air date alerts or to download episodes 24/7, please go to our website at, inthelifetv.org. Or call one eight hundred six two seven, ONTV. We'd love to hear from you. I'm Michael Billy. Thanks for tuning in and please join us next month. [Audio content removed due to copyright restrictions. Hedwig & The Angry Inch, "The Origin of Love" [Announcer] "In the Life," is funded in part by, [Announcer] The H. Van Ameringen Foundation. [Announcer] Newpol Foundation. [Announcer] Arcus Foundation. [Announcer] The Estate of Richard W. Weiland. [Announcer] David Beitzel and Darren Walker. [Announcer] Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro. [Announcer] And these funders. [Announcer] And by the annual support of, "In the Life," members like you. [Theme music] [Theme music] you