EQCA ALAMEDA COUNTY CHAPTER NEWS & UPDATES

Dear AC Chapter Members,

Whether you celebrate Kwanzaa, Hanukah, Summer Solstice, Christmas, none or all of
the above...we know we are headed for the holidays. We want to wish you a happy and
safe holiday season.

As we gather with our families and friends, our opponents are in the process of
collecting signatures for at least two anti-gay ballot initiatives for either June
or November of 2006. Both initiatives would write discrimination into our state
constitution to ban marriage equality as well as eliminate all domestic partnership
benefits.

We know that sharing stories about why marriage equality is important to us and our
families really makes a difference. So this holiday season, talk to your families
and friends about the importance of marriage equality and the harm these initiatives
will have. And then make a new year's resolution to join us in being the first
state in the nation to vote down these hateful anti-gay, anti-family initiatives.

If you can, come to our next chapter meeting and help us plan our 2006 speakers
series project, along with a Valentine's event to celebrate our relationships. Our
meeting (described below in more detail) will be: Monday, December 12th at 7:00pm at
Innersport Chiropractic in Berkeley (1250 Addison Street - cross street is Bonar).

In the next year, our Alameda County chapter will be working on a series of projects
(described below) with the goal of educating Alameda County voters about why we need
marriage and the harm that could be caused by these 2006 ballot initiatives.

Please check out our chapter website where we will share resources so you can learn
how you can help make a difference. To get to our chapter website, click on
http://www.eqca.org and then click on the chapter link on the right column of the home
page. You will find a map of the state where you will click on Alameda County and
be taken to our page.

Finally...if you have any questions or ideas, please contact us at Alameda [at] eqca.org.


Take care,
Robin Barnett and Pamela Brown, EQCA Alameda County Chapter Leaders

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Heads Up: Registered Domestic Partners Who Are Property Owners

If you or anyone you know is a registered domestic partner who recently has had
property reassessed for tax purposes based on a transfer of ownership between
registered partners due to a death, a relationship break up, or simply one partner
adding the other's name to the title, you may have been subjected to unfair and
discriminatory taxation. Make sure you have accurate information about your rights
as registered domestic partners by calling:

National Center for Lesbian Rights Call at(415) 392-6257 and ask for Liz Terry at
extension 325 or email to Terry [at] NCLRights.org.

Lambda Legal Call (213) 382-7600 and ask for Help Desk Coordinator Estuardo
Ponciano at extension 249 or email to eponciano [at] lambdalegal.org. Hablo Español
tambien.

Why seeking legal information may be important to you:

On September 29, 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB 565, which was authored by
Senator Carole Migden and supported by Equality California. Its purpose is to
protect registered domestic partners from unfair tax reassessment of their property
or businesses and ensure domestic partners the same protection given spouses under
California law.

The new law will take effect in 2006. It is important that all registered domestic
partners who will be protected by this new law know about it, and also that any
registered domestic partners who are being threatened with property tax
reassessment before this new law takes effect seek informed legal advice now.

____________________________________________________________________________


December Meeting and Chapter Plans

At our December meeting, we will begin planning for our chapter's speakers series
project. We want to develop a panel of speakers that represents the diversity of
our community, as well as identifying groups or organizations where we can speak.
If you have any suggestions on either speakers or groups to target and you can't
make the meeting, please e-mail us your input at Alameda [at] eqca.org.

Also, if you are interested in party planning, we could use your help. We will be
hosting a Valentine's Day event in Oakland to celebrate our relationships.

____________________________________________________


Our Alameda County EQCA projects include:


Speaker Series Project: Identifying a set of organizations (e.g., LGBT, religious,
political, etc.) where EQCA volunteers will speak on the importance of marriage
equality and the upcoming ballot initiatives.

Local Legislative Project: Building on previous efforts to get the Alameda County
Board of Supervisors and City Councils of Berkeley and Oakland to approve marriage
equality resolutions, we will identify other local city councils to approach for
their support on similar resolutions.

Local Media Project: Focusing on media outlets in Alameda County (e.g., KTVU,
Oakland Tribune, Tri Valley Herald, etc.), we will work with reporters that have
covered marriage equality issues in the past, meet with editorial boards on marriage
equality issues, and/or develop a core group of interested writers to participate in
future letter to the editor writing drives.

Canvass Voter ID Project: Building on a successful effort to walk door-to-door and
speak directly with registered voters in Berkeley, we will identify other favorable
neighborhoods in Alameda County to visit with this canvass project.

Visibility Project: Identifying locations and/or community events for tabling
efforts where we can get out in the community to talk with and identify individuals
who would be willing to support future EQCA projects.

Founded in 1998, Equality California is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots-based,
statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to ensure the dignity, safety,
equality and civil rights of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)
Californians. Equality California is one of the largest and fastest growing
statewide LGBT organizations in the country. For more information, please visit
http://www.eqca.org.