The Equal Right to Marry Project in Las Vegas was established in 1996 through the LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada to fight for marriage equality. One of the organization's first events was a panel discussion at the Clark County Library featuring Evan Wolfson, an attorney with the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. This videotape of the panel discussion is Part 1 of 2. For a short history of the Equal Right to Marry Project in Las Vegas, see Out of the Neon Closet: Queer Community in the Silver State, by Dennis McBride [North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016], pp. 274-275. Still photographs of this event may be found in photograph collection 00263 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' Special Collections Department, photo nos. 2728-2737. Oral history interviews with panel members Dan Hinkley, Lori Lipman Brown, Lee Plotkin, and Mike Mas are also deposited in the Special Collections Department. [00:00:00 - 01:53:10]
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The Equal Right to Marry Project in Las Vegas was established in 1996 through the LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada to fight for marriage equality. One of the organization's first events was a panel discussion at the Clark County Library featuring Evan Wolfson, an attorney with the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. This videotape of the panel discussion is Part 2 of 2. For a short history of the Equal Right to Marry Project in Las Vegas, see Out of the Neon Closet: Queer Community in the Silver State, by Dennis McBride [North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016], pp. 274-275. Still photographs of this event may be found in photograph collection 00263 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' Special Collections Department, photo nos. 2728-2737. Oral history interviews with panel members Dan Hinkley, Lori Lipman Brown, Lee Plotkin, and Mike Mas are also deposited in the Special Collections Department. [00:00:00: - 00:38:33]
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This video records the commitment ceremony between African American lesbians Caroline [dressed in a gown] and Elsa [dressed in a suit]--their surnames are not given--in the courtyard of the LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada in celebration of National Freedom to Marry Day. Among those attending the ceremony are Lori Lipman Brown and Gary Peck of the ACLU. [00:00:00 - 00:07:30]
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Question 2 was an anti-same-sex marriage constitutional amendment passed by popular referendum in Nevada in 2000 and 2002. This video records a debate among Richard Ziser, director of the referendum's sponsoring organization, the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage in Nevada [CPM], and pro-same-sex marriage activists including Lee Plotkin and his husband, Robert Smith; Vincent Frey, then executive director of the LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada; former Nevada State Senator and sponsor of legislation overturning Nevada's sodomy law in 1993, Lori Lipman Brown; and Gary Peck, president of the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] in Nevada. The program which hosted this debate was POV Vegas, a half-hour public affairs program which debuted on July 12, 1999, sponsored by the Las Vegas Sun newspaper and broadcast on Las Vegas ONE, a 24-hour local news network which was a collaboration among the Las Vegas Sun, KLAS-TV Channel 8, and Prime Cable [Prime was purchased in 1998 by Cox Cable/Cox Communications], on channels 1 and 39. The general manager of Las Vegas ONE was Robert "Bob" Stoldal. The network operated from April 6, 1998 through January 9, 2010. For the story of Question 2, see Out of the Neon Closet: Queer Community in the Silver State, by Dennis McBride [North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016], pp. 103, 257, 273, 277-302, 309-312. For the history of POV Vegas, see "Sun to Launch Daily Television News Talk Show" [Las Vegas Sun, June 27, 1999]. Oral history interviews with Lee Plotkin and Lori Lipman Brown are depoisited in the Special Collections Department of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. [00:00:00 - 00:26:24]
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Question 2 was an anti-same-sex marriage constitutional amendment passed by popular referendum in Nevada in 2000 and 2002. This video records a debate between Richard Ziser, director of the referendum's sponsoring organization, the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage in Nevada [CPM], and Liz Moore, director of Equal Rights Nevada [ERN], an organization established by the Nevada queer community to fight Question 2. The program which hosted this debate was POV Vegas, a half-hour public affairs program which debuted on July 12, 1999, sponsored by the Las Vegas Sun newspaper and broadcast on Las Vegas ONE, a 24-hour local news network which was a collaboration among the Las Vegas Sun, KLAS-TV Channel 8, and Prime Cable [Prime was purchased in 1998 by Cox Cable/Cox Communications], on channels 1 and 39. The general manager of Las Vegas ONE was Robert "Bob" Stoldal. The network operated from April 6, 1998 through January 9, 2010. For the story of Question 2, see Out of the Neon Closet: Queer Community in the Silver State, by Dennis McBride [North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016], pp. 103, 257, 273, 277-302, 309-312. For the history of POV Vegas, see "Sun to Launch Daily Television News Talk Show" [Las Vegas Sun, June 27, 1999]. [00:00:00 - 00:19:40]
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Nevada Assembly Bill 496, titled, Family Fairness Bill, was introduced by Assemblyman David Parks in the 2001 legislature to establish reciprocal beneficiary relationships in state law. AB 496 was an attempt to establish some legal protections for same-sex and other "non-married" relationships under threat of the success of Question 2. AB 496's failure was blamed on Question 2. Question 2 was an anti-same-sex marriage constitutional amendment passed by popular referendum in Nevada in 2000 and 2002. This video records a debate between Richard Ziser, director of the referendum's sponsoring organization, the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage in Nevada [CPM], and Las Vegas queer activist, Vincent Frey over AB 496. The program which hosted this debate was Face to Face, a half-hour public affairs program hosted by renowned Nevada journalist, Jon Ralston [who has a transgender son named Jacob "Jake" Ralston], sponsored by the Las Vegas Sun newspaper and broadcast on Las Vegas ONE, a 24-hour local news network which was a collaboration among the Las Vegas Sun, KLAS-TV Channel 8, and Prime Cable [Prime was purchased in 1998 by Cox Cable/Cox Communications], on channels 1 and 39. The general manager of Las Vegas ONE was Robert "Bob" Stoldal. The network operated from April 6, 1998 through January 9, 2010. For information on Nevada AB 496, see Out of the Neon Closet: Queer Community in the Silver State, by Dennis McBride [North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016], pp. 292, 304, 307, and MS-00802, Box 8 ["Domestic Partner Benefits - Nevada: AB 496 (2001)"] in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Special Collections Department. For the history of POV Vegas, see "Sun to Launch Daily Television News Talk Show" [Las Vegas Sun, June 27, 1999]. An oral history interview with David Parks is deposited in the Special Collections Department of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. [00:01:27 - 00:30:06]
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Question 2 was an anti-same-sex marriage constitutional amendment passed by popular referendum in Nevada in 2000 and 2002. This video records a debate between Richard Ziser, director of the referendum's sponsoring organization, the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage in Nevada [CPM], and Liz Moore, director of Equal Rights Nevada [ERN], an organization established by the Nevada queer community to fight Question 2. The program which hosted this debate, moderated by announcer Nancy Byrne, was Day One Vegas, a call-in half-hour public affairs program sponsored by the Las Vegas Sun newspaper and broadcast on Las Vegas ONE, a 24-hour local news network which was a collaboration among the Las Vegas Sun, KLAS-TV Channel 8, and Prime Cable [Prime was purchased in 1998 by Cox Cable/Cox Communications], on channels 1 and 39. The general manager of Las Vegas ONE was Robert "Bob" Stoldal. The network operated from April 6, 1998 through January 9, 2010. For the story of Question 2, see Out of the Neon Closet: Queer Community in the Silver State, by Dennis McBride [North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016], pp. 103, 257, 273, 277-302, 309-312. [00:00:00 - 00:31:11]
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This video records the second debate among the primary election candidates for Nevada Supreme Court seat E in 2004. This race was notorious as one of the most expensive in Nevada's election history to that date, and became known derisively as the "$1 Million Race." The candidates here are former Nevada State Senator Lori Lipman Brown; former chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, John Mason; then Nevada Eighth Judicial District Court judge, Ron Parraguirre; and Douglas "Doug" Smith, then a Clark County Justice of the Peace. Parraguirre won this primary election on September 7, 2004, and went on to win the general, as well, on November 2, 2004. The program which hosted this program was renowned journalist Jon Ralston's Face to Face. [debate only: 00:00:00 - 01:30:47]
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Established in 1982 in Las Vegas, the queer Satyricon Motorcycle Club hosted an annual run they called Hell on Heels, which was attended by queer motorcycle clubs from throughout the Western United States. Celebrated over two or three days, the run included a fundraising stage production featuring musical numbers and lip-synched drag performances by club members. This video records the 8th annual Hell on Heels stage production, which includes Las Vegas lesbian activist and Satyricons member Lisa Hernandez--here in top hat and tails. See "Satyricon Bash Celebrates 8th Year" [Las Vegas Bugle, May 1989, 1]. [00:00:00 - 01:56:00]
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Established in 1982 in Las Vegas, the queer Satyricon Motorcycle Club hosted an annual run they called Hell on Heels, which was attended by queer motorcycle clubs from throughout the Western United States. Celebrated over two or three days, the run included a fundraising stage production featuring musical numbers and lip-synched drag performances by club members. This video records the 9th annual Hell on Heels stage production, titled, Ankles Aweigh, which includes Las Vegas lesbian activist and Satyricons member Lisa Hernandez. This version includes an advertising introduction. See "Ankles Aweigh: A Satyricon Show" [Las Vegas Bugle, April 1990, 1].[00:00:00 - 02:03:19]
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