Today, June 28, 2019, is the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising that sparked the militant gay liberation movement and was the seed of PRIDE festivals and widespread advocacy for LGBTQIA rights. Today, we commemorate Stonewall and commit to continuing to work for equal rights for all. The Howie Hawkins 2020 campaign stands in solidarity with people seeking equal justice under law and for a society that is accepting and welcoming of the entire spectrum of human gender and sexuality. We oppose prejudice on any front including toward that continuum of sexuality, which our culture is only beginning to understand.

When I joined the Army over 27 years ago, I was asked three times if I had sex with a partner of the same sex. I was asked twice if I used illegal drugs. This was the first evidence I saw of structural prejudice towards the LGBTQ+ community.

When Bill Clinton became president, in a half-hearted attempt to allow equal rights of LGBTQ+, he instituted the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” program that said if you are willing to stay in the closet, you can serve your country. Don’t forget under President Clinton, the Defense of Marriage Act passed, preventing the marriage of same sex couples.

This has been a horrendous week of hate: Beginning with the Administration’s efforts to persecute and threaten the lives of millions of transgender people through a change in the official definition of gender, and ending with the unspeakable, anti-semitic tragedy in Pittsburgh.  

Green Party of Pennsylvania members extend our deepest sympathies and offer our support to the victims of these acts of violence. These unspeakable anti-semitic, cissexist, bigoted attacks are a tragic indignity to our American values. We stand in solidarity with the Tree of Life Synagogue, the trans community, and the victims of these horrific hate crimes.

Don't miss the first in a series of important forums in NYC sponsored by the Hawkins/Lee for Governor campaign! TODAY, September 25th! See below for details. More forums to come. We will keep you updated.

Also, please join us for the Green Party of Brooklyn regular Thursday night campaign meeting this week on Thursday September 27th at 7:00 pm at 31 Smith Street in Brooklyn.

Greens are leading the way on critical policies like strong local schools, municipal utilities, public banks, support for small businesses and worker cooperatives. We're calling for millions of jobs to achieve 100% clean renewable energy by 2030, Medicare For All, and requiring the wealthy few to pay their share of taxes.  

We support Green campaigns at every level. Plus we also help them with campaign infrastructure: training their volunteers, providing technical support, leading campaign schools... the list is endless. We have hundreds of Greens all over the country working hard on their campaigns and they are counting on the support of people like you!

State Green Parties are running statewide candidates in the midterm elections in many states to gain new ballot lines and defend existing ones. Achieving the votes required for ballot access in elections for statewide office is essential for the Green Party’s political survival because it enables other Green Party candidates to run with lower petition requirements, or without petitioning. In the 2016 general election, the Green Party had ballot lines in 44 states plus DC, including the seven largest states. Voters in three additional states could write in the presidential candidate, Jill Stein. Snapshots of some of these ballot access–critical races are below.

Hundreds to gather in New Haven to urge humane reform of Connecticut's and US Prison policy

August 20, 2018 — On Saturday August 25th, residents from across Connecticut will mobilize in New Haven to voice their support for prisoners around the United States who will be participating in strike actions, calling for an end to inhumane conditions of confinement, including overcrowding, lack of rehabilitation services, labor at a fraction of the minimum wage, and the absence of any meaningful process by which prisoners may voice grievances.

Jennifer V. Kurland, Michigan Green Party candidate for Governor, praised members of Michigan's LGBTQIA community and their supporters for continuing pressure on Michigan's elected leaders to include gender identity and sexual orientation in our state's civil rights laws. Kurland also sharply criticized Attorney General Bill Schuette for overreaching his constitutional authority in issuing a "legal opinion" that claims Michigan law does not provide for the protection of the civil rights of LGBTQIA people.

"In May, Michigan's Civil Rights Commission ruled that discrimination because of sex, which is prohibited by the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, also prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation," Kurland said. "The Attorney General does not have the authority to determine what the law is. His job is to enforce the law."

The Green Party joins advocacy groups in urging U.S. Education Secretary Betsy Devos to retain essential guidance on school discipline in regard to race.

Devos is considering whether to rescind a 2014 letter — jointly issued by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice – that offers guidance to public elementary and secondary schools on administering student discipline in a manner that does not discriminate on the basis of race. This follows her rescission of guidance on the protection of transgender students and on campus sexual assault.