FOR PROGRESS, FOR RENEWAL,
FOR REVITALIZATION, FOR IDAHO,
MOST OF ALL FOR YOU IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY!!!
Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, you will achieve....Napoleon Hill
What is Bus Rapid Transit? What BRT could mean for Nampa and The Treasure Valley
BRT is an innovative, high capacity, lower cost public transit solution that can significantly improve urban mobility. This permanent, integrated system uses buses or specialized vehicles on roadways or dedicated lanes to quickly and efficiently transport passengers to their destinations, while offering the flexibility to meet transit demand. BRT systems can easily be customized to community needs and incorporate state-of-the-art, low-cost technologies that result in more passengers and less congestion. After reading the plan below (go to link) I know that this will work and I want it to start in Nampa. as I travel I-84 daily Mon-Fri and traffic creeps. The Ada and Canyon County Area population demographics is 599,110 people in 2009.Areas of the same population in the US support Light Rail and Bus Rapid Transit. Here is the Compass (Community Planning Association) study :
Does Melissa Think That She Can Win This Election? "She's Got High Hopes"
Paid for by Equality Idaho,
Melissa Sue Robinson Chairman
Nampa Idaho 83651
(208) 442-3920 or (206) 579-4190
msuerobinson@msn.com
www.equalityidaho.org
About Light Rail Service or Bus Rapid Transit
When elected as your State Representative, Ipromise to push for light rail service or Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) from Caldwell to Boise. Traffic on I-84 (even when there's no construction) is frustrating to all. Those that drive into Boise for work, lose way to much time off from their personal lives waiting in heavy traffic,accidents rates are too high, and we are polluting our air. We needed a lite rail or BRT system yesterday, and I will fight hard for that until we get one or the other.
Dear Citizens of Idaho, Neighbors, and Friends:
As candidate for State Representative in the 2010 general election I would like to clarify my resolve to gain your vote for that esteemed office. Having been in business most of my life, I know many people through my remodeling and
construction company. Others befriended me during my education at Pattengill, Eastern High, LCC, and
Michigan State all in Michigan. My company repaired and altered the appearance of many homes.. In so doing,
many times the market value of the home was helped as well.
Owning that business, I became disciplined in management, successfully for ten years, overseeing up to twenty-five employees at a time. My responsibilities included interviewing, hiring, and managing employees. Then came purchasing, payroll, general ledger, accounts payable and receivables. I also handled advertising, and sales. These duties require diligence, hard work, and an eye for detail. It is not a nine-to-five job, just as I am not a nine-to-five person. My business was not run by others, it depended on my insight, people skills, willingness to do whatever it took to get the job done, and a stubborn streak that made me forge ahead rather than quit.
We all know representing Idaho is a large responsibility with many problems, people, and politics. That does not
faze me because I am a good judge of character and excel at designating or helping to designate things to the right persons. Superior listening and communication skills, combined with perseverance and understanding are required to realistically lead in any Idaho District. There is need for positive change here to keep us from stagnation. The human condition is my passion, as my degrees in humanities from Lansing Community College and MSU (Michigan State University) can attest. As your State Representative I want to help legislate using past enlightenment and expertise, and give back to my community through public service. My siblings and I learned about hard work at an early age. Our father left us in 1959. I was only nine then, but have been working every day since.
My brothers and I worked in Michigan, shoveling walks, raking leaves, mowing lawns, and more to help mother put food on the table. We are a family of eight, and that's a lot of leaves.As for my political qualifications, the majority of it was hands-on experience with clients through my business. There was a time when I helped elect a president as a precinct delegate for Lansing's ward three, and another in 1997 when I ran for city council at large. In 2003 in Lansing I ran for Mayor and the Lansing School Board, in 2004 State Representative in Michigan’s 68th District. I also helped in two of the Presidential campaigns in 1992 and 2004 and was a Precinct Delegate in the First Ward in Lansing. In 2009 I ran for Mayor of Nampa.
As your State Representative I would be present unless an act of God prevented it, to listen to issues you may have pertaining to our great State. The voters needs are crucial for appropriate State government.I also promise to you that I will remain in opposition to unwanted urban renewal districts and will help fight against those that take your tax money away from you. If you want a State Representative dedicated to you, the people, then I am that person. My desire is that you remember me in the upcoming 2010 general election when your Representative is chosen.
Sincerely,
Melissa Sue Robinson
Equality Idaho supports HUMAN RIGHTS for ALL in Idaho We feel that Idaho's human rights act should protect transgender and gay people from discrimination in employment, housing & education. No one should be fired from their job for being transgender, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or for their personal expression of gender. We support the bill before the 2010 Idaho legislature that will add these words "sexual orientation or gender identity and gender expression" to Idaho's human rights act. This allows the Human Rights Commission to investigate, mediate, protect and pursue justice both for victims and for those businesses accused of discrimination. This bill simply (and finally, after decades) adds protection for transgender and gay people along side protections for age, religion, sex, race, national origin and disability.
Help us change Idaho's Human Rights Act to be sure no one in Idaho is fired just because they are transgender or gay. We need everyone in Idaho who cares to stand up with and for their transgender and gay friends, family, coworkers, classmates & neighbors this year.
If you live in or near Boise or if you can travel and represent your community, please plan to come to the legislative HEARING this year. To be NOTIFIED of the hearing please sign up for Senator Nicole LeFavour email list here: Website:http://www.4idaho.org/HumanRights Office: Idaho State Capital Box 775 Boise, ID 83701
If you live outside Boise you can have a major impact. Please plan to express your support on MLK Human Rights Day on January 17th but printing and bringing the sign posted on Nicole's Human Rights website to YOUR city hall that day. Please let us know what time the gathering in your community will be and they will gladly help pass that information on to others.
If you want to help, you can help gather names of businesses and business leaders who will endorse this year's bill. they also welcome names of teachers, professors, administrators and education leaders who would be willing to endorse the bill's provision to ban discrimination in Education. Please send names/business/position or affiliation and contact info to: humanrights@4idaho.org and they will add them to the list to use in passing legislation in the 2010 session.
Volunteers wanted in order to get over 56,000 signers for an initiative petition for a light rail or BRT system. You will volunteer for my newly formed non-profit "The Idaho Coalition on Good Transportation and Clean Air". these signatures must be obtained by September 2010 and will be used to get a light rail or BRT initiative on the statewide ballot that brings these services from Caldwell to Boise. Signers must be registered voters. Folks this will save Treasure Valley citizens money on fuel and upkeep for their vehicles, and will save them precious time to and from work. Some funds for this would be throughTransportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants and would come from stimulus funds through the U.S. Department of Transportation To volunteer contact Melissa Sue Robinson at (208) 442-3920 or email us at: msuerobinson@msn.com
Fighting For Idaho.
Fighting For America
KAPA RADIO NAMPA, BOISE PRESENTS:
MONDAY-FRIDAY'S 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM THE MELISSA SUE ROBINSON SHOW
Listen to political activist Melissa Sue Robinson Counteract "Right Wing Radio" with her middle of the road and sometimes leftist comments. Melissa will take your call in comments at: (208) 442-3920 or (206) 579-4190
Sunday thru Saturdays Melissa will host an oldies music show times to be announced on Twitter, Facebook, and My Space. Send your comments to: Equality Idaho Radio msuerobinson@msn.com Taking Your Requests At Equality Idaho Radio KAPA NAMPA IDAHO Equality Idaho Radio Now Has AN OLDIES MUSIC station playing all of your favorites.
Fighting For You
I want to help Sen. Nicole LeFavour get her LGBT anti- discrimination law passed in 2010. I'm asking you to help. You can contact Nicole at: District 19, Boise 1210 N. 11th, Boise, 83702 Home (208) 724-0468 Bus (208) 724-0468 nlefavou@senate.idaho.gov
For Immediate Release: Press Release
From Equality Idaho
and its Chairman, Melissa Sue Robinson
About our establishment and mission
Sunday Nov. 9th, 2009
Equality Idaho is a 501c3 Non Profit Incorporated in Idaho
Our main website has an area for donations. We are in existence to push for anti-discrimination and hate crimes laws and ordinances in Idaho and its municipalities. We will hold protest marches, send letters to legislators,mayors, and city councils, We will visit government officials and their meetings until our mission is accomplished. Civil union laws will also be on our agenda. We will work in unison with other LGBT and human rights organizations in our quest. Our main website is http;//www.equalityidaho.org Our Yahoo Groups Address is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/equality_idaho/message/3
Equality Idaho
Chairman:
Melissa Sue Robinson
(208) 442-3920
Cell: (206) 579-4190
msuerobinson@msn.com
www.equalityidaho.org
Salt Lake OKs gay rights laws with Mormon backing
By JENNIFER DOBNER - Associated Press Writers
Published: 11/10/09
SALT LAKE CITY — The Mormon church for the first time has announced its support of gay rights legislation, an endorsement that helped gain unanimous approval for Salt Lake city laws banning discrimination against gays in housing and employment.
The Utah-based church's support ahead of Tuesday night's vote came despite its steadfast opposition to gay marriage, reflected in the high-profile role it played last year in California's Proposition 8 ballot measure that barred such unions.
"The church supports these ordinances because they are fair and reasonable and do not do violence to the institution of marriage," Michael Otterson, the director of public affairs for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said.
Passage made Salt Lake City the first Utah community to prohibit bias based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Under the two new ordinances, it is illegal to fire someone from their job or evict someone from their residence because they are lesbian, bisexual, gay or transgender.
Utah lawmakers tend to quickly fall in line when the influential church makes a rare foray into legislative politics. So Tuesday's action could have broad effects in this highly conservative state where more than 80 percent of lawmakers and the governor are church members.
"What happened here tonight I do believe is a historic event," said Brandie Balken, director of the gay rights advocacy group Equality Utah. "I think it establishes that we can stand together on common ground that we don't have to agree on everything, but there are lot of things that we can work on and be allies."
But the church has pointed out an inherent dispute it has with gay relationships. Mormonism considers traditional marriages central to God's plan. Gays are welcome in church, but must remain celibate to retain church callings and full membership.
Its strong support for Proposition 8 in California last year drew a sharp reaction from gay rights supporters nationwide, with many protesting outside temples that singled out Mormons as the key culprits in restricting the rights of gay couples.
Since then, however, Utah's gay community has sought to engage church leaders in quiet conversations to help foster better understanding, said Valerie Larabee, executive director of the Utah Pride Center.
"I thought this conversation would never come to be while I was here in Salt Lake City," said Larabee, adding that the discussions have "shifted her perspective of what's possible" and could foreshadow a different relationship between the two sides.
But addressing the council on Tuesday, Otterson said the endorsement is not a shift in the church's position on gay rights and stressed it "remains unequivocally committed to defending the bedrock foundation of marriage between a man and a woman."
Church support for the ordinances is due in part to the way the legislation was drafted to protect those rights. Exceptions in the legislation allow churches to maintain, without penalty, religious principles and religion-based codes of conduct or rules.
"In drafting these ordinances, the city has granted commonsense rights that should be available to everyone, while safeguarding the crucial rights of religious organizations," Otterson said Tuesday.
Previous Utah legislation that sought statewide protections for the gay community did not contain those exceptions.
And although this was the church's first public endorsement of specific legislation, it is not the first time the church has voiced support for some gay rights. In August 2008 the church issued a statement saying it supports gay rights related to hospitalization, medical care, employment, housing or probate as long as they "do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches."
Last year, church leaders were silent on a package of gay rights bills known as the Common Ground Initiative, dooming them from the start, despite the bill having the support of the most popular governor in state history, Jon Huntsman. Huntsman resigned this summer to become U.S. ambassador to China.
His successor, Gov. Gary Herbert, has repeatedly said it shouldn't be illegal to discriminate against someone for being gay.
This website paid for by Equality Idaho
Melissa Sue Robinson Chairman
Dear Mayors and Legislatures of Idaho, The Debate Has Started
Dear Mayors and Legislatures of Idaho,
As many of you may know, I am Melissa Sue Robinson, founder of Equality Idaho, a 501c3 non-profit organization founded to advocate for human rights. I am asking you at this time to write and pass anti-discrimination laws and ordinances (also Civil Union laws) that includes "gender identity,gender expression, and sexual orientation" pertaining to housing, employment, and other areas of legal protection, in your cities and the State of Idaho. To not do so would show the rest of our great country that Idaho is a state, and your cities are governments that discriminate against LGBT people. I understand that this was tried on a yearly basis at the state level. We will hold protest marches, advertise, and do other things to hype public awarness of this issue. We prefer to save time and money by coming to an agreement with you. Please reply.
With Regards,
Melissa Sue Robinson
Equality Idaho
The debate has started:
http://boise.craigslist.org/pol/
Read this: http://www.towleroad.com/2009/11/mormon-church-to-shift-on-gay-policies.html IF SALT LAKE CITY CAN PASS THIS LAW SO CAN NAMPA,CALDWELL, MERDIAN, AND THE STATE OF IDAHO!!!
EQUALITY IDAHO
Debates on Craiglist http://boise.craigslist.org/pol/
OTHER LINKS:
The following partial list [US and Canada Murders] for 2003 is from the Remembering Our Dead website: ©2003 Gwendolyn Ann Smith A project of Gender Education and Advocacy
Tamyra Michaels
Location: Hyland Park, Michigan
Cause of Death: Shot
Date of Death: December 21, 2002
My name was Tamyra (ta-MEER-ah) Michaels of Highland Park, Michigan. I was 21, and I had been living full-time as a woman since age 17. I was shot by a white male with a foreign-sounding accent, on December 14th, and passed away in the hospital on December 21, 2002.
Roberta Nizah Morris
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsulvania
Cause of Death: Beaten with a crowbar
Date of Death: December 24, 2002
My name was Roberta Nizah (NEE-jah) Morris. I was from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where I was a popular transgender performer. Police say they initially attempted to assist me on December 22nd, but I refused medical treatment. I was found a few minutes after that by a passing motorist, and died in the hospital on Christmas Eve. A medical examiner declared my death a homicide, but the police want to assume it was somehow an accidental bludgeoning. The police have seemed reluctant to follow-up on my death.
Timothy "Cinnamon" Broadus
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Cause of Death: Shot Mutiple times
Date of Death: January 8, 2003
My name was Timothy Broadus (BRODD-uss), also known as "Cinnamon," and I died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 8th, 2003. I was a 21 year old sex worker, and I shot several times by the driver of a Honda Civic or Accord.
Nikki Nicholas
Location: Green Oak Township, Michigan
Cause of Death: Shot to Death
Date of Death: February 21, 2003
My name was Nikki Nicholas, and I was a 19 year old African-American transwoman. I was making a living as a female impersonator at nightclubs around Detroit, and was well-known for my impersonations of singer Beyoncé. My body was discovered on February 21st during a routine property check of an abandoned farmhouse in Green Oak Township, Michigan.
Danisha Victoria Principal Williams
Location: Brandenton, Florida
Cause of Death: Murdered
Date of Death: February 28, 2003
My name was Danisha (da-NEE-sha) Victoria Principal Williams, and I was very open and proud to be a transgendered woman. On February 28th, my body was discovered in my apartment in Bradenton, Florida after neighbors discovered a trail of blood in the hall. My body had been left in the bathtub.
Kim Mimi Young
Location: Washington, DC
Cause of Death: Stabbed to Death
Date of Death: April 9, 2003
My name was Kim Mimi Young, and was a transgendered sex-worker in Washington, D.C. I had also been a key prosecution witness in a murder trial in 2000. I was initially found on the 9th of April, gasping for air, by a D.C. resident. I had been stabbed, and I succumbed to those injuries later that morning. 34-year-old Corena Niko Watkins has been charged with my murder.
Jessica Mercado
Location: New Haven, Connecticut
Cause of Death: Stabbed Multiple Times then body burnt
Date of Death: May 9, 2003
My name was Jessica Mercado (mair-KAH-thoe), and I was a 24 year old transwoman living in New Haven, Connecticut. My body was found on May 9th, draped across my mattress in the charred remains of my apartment. I has been stabbed multiple times before my apartment was set on fire. I was laid to rest in my native Puerto Rico.
Tanesha Starr
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Cause of Death: Stabbed Multiple Times
Date of Death: May 22, 2003
My name was Hendricks Thomas, though I was known on the drag circuit around Birmingham, Alabama as Tanesha (tah-NEE-sha) Starr On May 22nd, I was stabbed several times, and died in route to the hospital. In spite of a $2000 reward put out by the local LGBT community, my death remains unsolved.
Shelby Tracy Tom
Location: North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canda
Cause of Death: Murdered
Date of Death: May 31, 2003
My name was Shelby Tracy Tom, and I was a 40 year old Asian transsexual living in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. My body was discovered in a shopping cart behind a North Vancouver laundromat on May 31st. Jatin Patel, a 29-year-old, was charged with 2nd degree murder for my death.
Michael Charles Hurd
Location: Houston, Texas
Cause of Death: Shot to Death
Date of Death: June 18, 2003
My name was Michael Charles Hurd of Houston, Texas, and on June 18th, I was found shot to death in a car wearing a wig, makeup, and feminine attire.
Cinnamon Perry
Location: Houston, Texas
Cause of Death: Shot to Death
Date of Death: July 20, 2003
My name was Cinnamon Perry, and I was a 32 year old African-American living in Houston, Texas. I was shot by a person in a passing car while walking down a street in the Montrose area shortly after dawn on the 20th of July. I was taken to a local hospital, but died that afternoon.
Nireah Johnson
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Cause of Death: Shot to Death
Date of Death: July 22, 2003
My name was Nireah (ni-REE-ah) Johnson, and I was a 17 year old African-American transwoman from Indianapolis, Indiana. People knew me for being sweet and funny. On July 22nd, I was sitting in an SUV with a friend, when I was shot in the head. My murderer, allegedly Paul Anthony Moore, then set the truck on fire. Both me and my friend were burnt beyond recognition. A second person, Curtis L. Ward, has been arrested as a possible accomplice to Moore.
Brandie Coleman
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Cause of Death: Shot to Death
Date of Death: July 22, 2003
My name was Brandie Coleman, and I was 18 years old. I had become a mother in May of this year. I was not transgendered, but I was a close friend to Nireah (ni-REE-ah). I was also shot in the head while sitting in my mom's SUV with Nireah (ni-REE-ah).
Selenas Alvarez-Hernandez
Location: Council Bluffs, Iowa
Cause of Death: Stabbed several times
Date of Death: July 31, 2003
My name was Selena Álvarez-Hernández (seh-LAY-na ALL-vah-rez hur-NAWN-dez). I was a resident of Nebraska, and worked at an Omaha, Nebraska meatpacking plant. I was last seen alive leaving an Omaha bar. On July 31st, I was found stabbed several times and unconscious on the lawn of a house in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and was pronounced dead a short time later at a nearby Hospital.
Bella Evangelista
Location: Washington, DC
Cause of Death: Shot
Date of Death: August 16, 2003
My name was Bella Evangelista (BAY-yah eh-vawn-heh-LEESS-tah), and I was a popular entertainer in Washington, D.C., and periodically performed at Club Chaos. On August 16th, I was shot multiple times at close range. A man by the name of Antoine D. Jacobs has admitted to my murder, but he says it was in self-defense. The police do not believe his story, and are treating my death as a hate crime.
Emonie Spaulding
Location: Washington, DC
Cause of Death: Shot
Date of Death: August 20, 2003
My name was Emonie Spaulding (ee-MAWN-ee SPALL-ding), and I was 25 years old. I was from Massachusetts and North Carolina, and had been living in Washington, D.C. for about two years. My Uncle say that I loved music as a child and sang in a church choir. On August 20th, just four days after Bella, my partially nude body was discovered by police in a field. I had been shot but also had suffered severe head wounds. There was a second near-fatal shooting of another transgendered woman the very same evening.
Casandra "Tula" Do
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Cause of Death: Strangled
Date of Death: August 26, 2003
My name was Cassandra Do (cas-SAND-rah DOE), or "Sandra" as my friends knew me. I had many friends. I was working as a sex-worker under the pseudonym "Tula" (TOO-lah) in Toronto, saving up for genital surgery and nursing school. I was found in my 11th-floor apartment on August 26th. I was strangled to death.
Sindy Cuarda
Location: San Pablo, California
Cause of Death: Shot Multiple Times
Date of Death: September 30, 2003
My name was Sindy Cuarda (SIN-dee KWAR-tha). I was 24 years old, and lived in Richmond, California after emigrating from Acapulco, Mexico about two years ago. I had been working as a hair stylist. Police Officers found me on September 30th in the driveway of a business in San Pablo, wearing a blouse and pants, bleeding heavily from several gunshot wounds. I died a short time later at a medical center. While police would not confirm details, a friend of mine stated that I was shot in the chest and genitals.
Stanley Van Dyke Traylor
Location: Oakland, California
Cause of Death: Shot Multiple Times
Date of Death: November 6, 2003
My name is Stanley Van Dyke Traylor, and I was a 38-year-old transperson living in Oakland, California. In the morning of November 6, I was shot mulitple times and left for dead in the middle of the street. When my body was found, I was wearing a halter-top and earrings. A wig was also found nearby.
More Transgender Murders in 2009
Read: Human Rights Violations in Idaho at: http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2009/05/08/idahopolitics/human_rights_violations_idaho
EQUALITY IDAHO RADIO
EQUALITY IDAHO: WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY: WE ARE IDAHO’S NEW MOVEMENT IN 2010 http://www.equalityidaho.org
Give us anti discrimination laws and ordinances in Idaho; we go away
Ignore us; we expand. Repeal LGBT INCLUSIVE anti-discrimination laws and ordinances after they are passed; we come back
EQUALITY IDAHO RADIO
Oldies Music Shows
As we embark on a new decade, it is easy to become discouraged by the current climate in the gay rights movement. Marriage equality has been stolen away in Maine and California, anti-gay military policy is still in place and there is still no federal employment non-discrimination legislation inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity. However, when put under the lens of where this movement has been and where it is going, it appears that the movement is at least on the right track.
When this decade began in 2000, not one U.S. state offered legal recognition of gay and lesbian couples. There were a handful of cities offering domestic partnership registries, but marriage equality wasn’t even a blip on the radar screen in most states. In July 2000, Vermont enacted a legendary civil unions law, which was hailed as a landmark moment in this movement’s history. Over the past 10 years, a lot has happened on the relationship recognition front and now we are to a point where that previously heroic civil unions legislation is now seen as separate, unequal and unacceptable.
The last decade has taught us that a lot can happen in 10 years, so let's do the time warp to Dec. 2019 and take a look at what is possible in the next decade.
Commencing Time Warp to 2019…
The first major victory of the decade was in 2010, when the federal Employee Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) was signed into law by President Obama. The law is inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity and it is now illegal everywhere in the country to fire someone simply because they are gay or transgender. Another major legislative victory came when the removal of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" was attached to the 2011 defense authorization bill. America has now joined every other industrialized nation in allowing LGBT servicemembers to serve openly and honestly.
2012 was a major year for marriage equality. Since all of the New York Democratic state senators who voted against marriage in 2009 were ousted, the New York legislature was able to easily pass full marriage equality. New York was joined by California and Maine, which both mounted persuasive campaigns to convince voters of the harms caused by unequal marriage laws. This marked the first time that marriage won at the ballot box.
Why Doesn't This Suprise Us?
— Idaho's anti-discrimination enforcement agency is facing a phase-out of state funding, along with several other agencies focused on civil rights or social justice issues.
Gov. Butch Otter aims to cut funding to six state agencies by 2014, including the Human Rights Commission, the Hispanic Commission, the Independent Living Council, the Developmental Disabilities Council, the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Council and the Digital Learning Academy.
