A new union-backed effort aims to harness the power of queer youth in the fight for economic justice issues. Dubbed the Youth Organizing Project, it is an offshoot of the San Francisco chapter of Pride at Work, whose aim is to build coalitions between the labor movement and the LGBT community.

Union officials have hired two campaign organizers, both in their 20s and out of the closet, to network with the city's queer youth and recruit them to work on both political campaigns and labor-endorsed initiatives. The project is focused primarily on queer youth, whether union members or not, between 16 and 25 years old.

"The goal is to build a base of queer youth activists who will get involved in social issues and political movements," said Josue Arg�elles, 22, who was hired last month to work on the project.

Molly Goldberg, 23, began working for the local union SEIU last fall educating young voters about several measures on the November ballot. The queer activist said at first many people doubted she would be able to sign up young adults.

"People told us, 'You're crazy if you think you can get a bunch of young people to do precinct work.' We knew where to find each other," she said. "Within a month we had 30 new volunteers to do this stuff."

The Vermont native said she signed on to help launch the Youth Organizing Project because she believes it can be successful.

"Not only are there a lot of young people in this city, they are looking for avenues to be engaged politically. But they aren't finding it," said Goldberg. "Anytime an election comes up, we want to make sure queer people come out for those issues that matter to us."

A four-year resident of San Francisco, Arg�elles said he and his co-worker have been doing bar crawls through the Castro, South of Market, and Polk Gulch neighborhoods, looking for other young people to register to vote and educate them on how to get involved politically. They have also begun to network with gay-straight alliances in the public schools and to meet with gay groups on local college campuses.

He said so far the response "has been very favorable."

"If you don't have a hook for youth they are not going to invest any time in volunteering," added Arg�elles, who identifies as gay.

Robert Haaland, co-chair of the local Pride at Work chapter, said the idea for the youth project was hatched six months ago when he and Claire Bohman , the other co-chair, attended a national conference for LGBT union members in September and noticed a lack of young people in attendance.

"There were very few members under 30," recalled Haaland.

Upon returning to the Bay Area, the co-chairs decided to launch the youth project. They estimate it will cost $50,000 in its first year, and a fundraiser earlier this month raised $20,000. They hope to raise the remaining funds from additional donors and events, and see the youth project as something other Pride at Work chapters can duplicate.

"We are trying it out here in San Francisco and hope to replicate it nationally," said Haaland.

Already, the two youth leaders are focused on gentrification concerns in the Polk Gulch area, housing needs for queer youth, and employment issues trans youth face. They are planning a gender-queer fashion show at the gay-friendly El Rio in the Mission and a Castro-focused get together in the coming months. For more information, visit http://www.prideatwork.org or e-mail Goldberg at mailto:mollyprideatwork@gmail.com.

Ammiano, Cabaldon line up early support

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell endorsed West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon's state Assembly bid last week, becoming the second statewide officeholder to back the openly gay politician's campaign. State Controller John Chiang is also supporting Cabaldon in the race to replace Assemblywoman Lois Wolk (D-Davis), who will be termed out of office in 2008. 

"Christopher and I have worked closely for years to improve the state's schools and he has been a very active leader in providing educational opportunities for students on the K-12 level and on the higher education level," O'Connell told elected officials and students gathered Thursday, March 22 in a classroom at the Los Rios Community College District's Davis Center. "No other candidate brings the commitment and the experience that is needed for our students and classrooms, so that is why I am supporting his candidacy for the Assembly."

Cabaldon, a UC Berkeley alumnus, has a long history working on education matters. He served for five years as vice chancellor of California community colleges and was a top policy expert with the state legislature for nearly a decade, serving as the staff director of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, as well as legislative director to the University of California Student Association.

President and CEO of EdVoice, a nonprofit network of citizens and education philanthropists working to improve public schools, Cabaldon is an adjunct faculty member in public policy and administration at CSU Sacramento. He is also a member of the advisory board for the School of Education at UC Davis.

As mayor Cabaldon lobbied voters to win support for construction of education centers in both his hometown and Davis. A number of education officials from both Yolo and Solano counties, which fall within Wolk's 8th Assembly District, have also thrown their support behind Cabaldon.

"I'm proud of my career-long efforts to improve our schools and the learning conditions of students," Cabaldon said in a statement. "In the Assembly, I will continue my work to make sure that teachers have the right tools to succeed and students get the best educational opportunities as possible."

A former chief of staff for out lesbian state Senator Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) when she served in the Assembly, Cabaldon has the support of all five of the legislature's out lawmakers as well as early endorsements from the Stonewall Democratic Club's Sacramento chapter and the LGBT-focused Capital Political Action Committee. The capital region group, known as CAPPAC, has made Cabaldon's campaign one of its top priorities in next year's elections.

If elected the 41-year-old Cabaldon, who is Filipino American, will be the first LGBT person of color to serve in the California Legislature, and the first openly gay state legislator ever elected from inland California, noted CAPPAC endorsement chair Rebecca Darling . He would also be the first Filipino American to serve in Sacramento, according to AsianWeek.

So far his only challenger in the Democratic primary next June is Yolo County Board of Supervisor Chair Mariko Yamada . A trained social worker, the 56-year-old Yamada was born in Denver after her family's release from a Japanese American internment camp established during World War II, reported the Sacramento Bee.

A heavily Democratic district, the primary winner is expected to easily win the November election.

Openly gay San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano also has lined up early backing from labor leaders for his bid to replace termed out Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco). Unite Here Local 2 and the San Francisco Building and Trades Council both gave Ammiano early endorsements. So far, Ammiano is running unopposed for the 13th Assembly District seat.

Santa Clara pols back marriage

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday, March 27 to back marriage rights for same-sex couples and urged state lawmakers to adopt AB43, Leno's Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act. It is the first time that the South Bay lawmakers have formally taken a stand on the issue of gay marriage.

The vote came at the request of openly gay Supervisor Ken Yeager, who had asked county staff to review Leno's bill to see what impacts it would have for the county's clerk-recorder. In their report, the staff found that adoption of the bill would have minimal impacts on the county clerk's office.

They also wrote that "providing equal access to an esteemed institution such as marriage is consistent with the policies and practices of the County of Santa Clara that affirm the dignity and worth of all persons through equal protections and enjoyment of benefits."

Yeager said he called for the vote because of the importance to have all elected officials on record where they stand for marriage equality. Since the county hands out marriage licenses, he said it was especially important to have his colleagues take a public stand.

"It was long in coming," said a jubilant Yeager after the 4-1 vote. "I think it is particularly important for counties because they are the ones that issue marriage licenses. This building is where you come to for your marriage license. It is sort of where you are confronted with the discrimination first hand."

Supervisor Don Gage cast the lone dissenting vote. Yeager said Gage had told him prior to the meeting he could not support the measure due to "personal reasons."

Leno's bill is similar to one passed by state lawmakers in 2005 that would make the state's marriage licenses gender-neutral. It leaves in place a voter-approved law that gay marriages performed outside the state would not be recognized. An Assembly committee is expected to hold the first hearing on the bill in early April. While Leno has said he has the votes to send the bill to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor already has pledged to veto it, as he did two years ago.

In other action, the Santa Clara supervisors approved a revision to the user fees for the county's wedding chapel. The board had instructed the county-recorder to revise the fees so that same-sex couples could use the facilities.

The old fees included the cost to have a county official observe the ceremony and sign a marriage license at a charge of $75. Since same-sex couples are not allowed to marry, as of yet, the clerk-recorder recommended couples holding commitment ceremonies could book the chapel at a charge of $40 per 10-minute interval. The new fee schedule is set to take effect on April 10.