Joe Solmonese
Joe Solmonese
Joe Solmonese was the president of the Human Rights Campaign of the United States and its affiliate the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. He was appointed to this position on March 9, 2005, replacing Cheryl Jacques. A native of Attleboro, Massachusetts, Solmonese lives in Washington, D.C. He graduated from Boston University in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science degree in communications...
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Twenty-five years ago, there were no companies that offered same-sex domestic partner benefits. Today, there are more than 8,000. Twenty-five years ago, there were no states with laws that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Today, there are 16 that ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Twenty-five years ago, the Human Rights Campaign endorsed only one candidate for Congress. Last year, we endorsed 201. We were proud to have to opportunity to celebrate those and so many other benchmarks with some of our strongest allies in the fight for equality.
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The Human Rights Campaign has been proud to be part of the enormous progress made on the road to equality over the last 25 years, ... While we have miles to go, the national dinner gave us an opportunity to look at the distance we've crossed.
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We have a war raging in Iraq, we have a Gulf Coast that needs to be rebuilt, we have an economy barely hanging on. The last thing America wants is this Republican-controlled Congress spending time writing discrimination into the Constitution.
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I was certainly disappointed. But I would trade that Oscar for all the positive conversations that this movie spurred between parents and their gay children, or between employees and their gay co-workers. That impact transcends any accolades.
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placate the far right instead of appealing to the fair-minded values of the American people.
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Justice O'Connor was a voice of moderation and cast several votes to protect the GLBT community in recent years. Justice O'Connor's replacement should continue the model of fairness she and others have set. We join Republicans and Democrats alike in continuing to call on President Bush to nominate a justice who will keep the court balanced.
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Judge Roberts as chief justice threatens decades of a federal court system tipped against equality.
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It certainly, for me, raises the possibility that she's more fair-minded than our opponents are hoping.
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When the church makes gay men a scapegoat for paedophiles, it ignores one problem and creates another. It does nothing to keep children safe or punish criminals.
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The American people deserve justice, not prejudice. With judges like Pryor on the courts of appeal, the Supreme Court is more important than ever.
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The American government shouldn't be in the business of sidestepping anti-discrimination policies. This case didn't even address the military policy keeping recruiters at bay from thousands of patriotic Americans who want to serve but can't.
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With a Chief Justice who's been given a stamp of approval by the extreme right-wing, it's critical that the next Justice preserve a fair and balanced Court,
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We asked them to disavow any relationship with the American Family Association. As a group, we were pretty united in our extreme disappointment at Ford's willingness to even take a meeting with this right-wing extremist group.
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The conversation was more about the message and how to talk about the issues. I think that everyone in that room was committed to us on the issues.