Don Korotsky Norte

Last updated
Don Korotsky Norte
Arnie&Maria (cropped) - Don Korotsky Norte.jpg
Norte in 2006
Born
Don Korotsky

1961or1962(age 61–62)
Education Montclair State University
New York University
SpouseKevin Norte (m. 2008)

Don Korotsky Norte (born 1961/1962 [1] ) is an American gay rights political activist. Norte's career covers over thirty years of public service with federal, state, and local government, including the US Defense Department the US General Services Administration (GSA) and the New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Norte received a Bachelor of Arts in geography from Montclair State University and master's degree of urban planning from New York University. [3]

Norte began dating his husband Kevin Norte, a high school classmate, in 1978. They married on June 28, 2008, in California, 30 years after their first date. [1]

Career

Norte is a city planner. [1] He worked for West Hollywood's Department of Transportation and Public Works between 1990 and 2017.Norte joined the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's management team in 2017. He and his husband marched in the City of Los Angeles LGBTQ Pride Parade in Hollywood in 2022. [4] [5]

In 2004, Norte was involved in the Bobby Shriver for Santa Monica City Council Campaign.[ citation needed ]

Norte has served on the board of directors and later as president of the California Public Parking Association. [5]

Log Cabin Republicans

(l-r) BoiFromTroy Conservative Blogger Scott Schmidt, California Secretary of Business Regulations Heather Peters, Log Cabin Republicans - Los Angeles President Charles Moran, & LCR-CA-PAC Board Member Kevin Norte at the California State Republican Convention. Scott Schmidt, Heather Peters, Charles Moran & Kevin Norte at the Log Cabin Republicans 2007 Luau.jpg
(l-r) BoiFromTroy Conservative Blogger Scott Schmidt, California Secretary of Business Regulations Heather Peters, Log Cabin Republicans - Los Angeles President Charles Moran, & LCR-CA-PAC Board Member Kevin Norte at the California State Republican Convention.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Don Norte, Maria Shriver, Kevin Norte, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Hotel Bel-Air in 2006. Arnie&Maria.jpg
Don Norte, Maria Shriver, Kevin Norte, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Hotel Bel-Air in 2006.

In 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Norte to the Governor's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. [6]

On April 11, 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger officially announced his opposition to the Initiative at LCR's National Convention. [7] At Log Cabin's 2009 convention, Kevin Norte received the group's "Grassroots Leader Award". In May 2010, the couple represented LCR at the Long Beach Gay & Lesbian Pride Festival. [8]

Resignation

During the last days of the 2012 Presidential election, when Log Cabin Republicans announced their last minute endorsement of Mitt Romney, the Nortes resigned from Log Cabin Republicans and changed their political affiliation. [9]

Context of same sex couples taking one name in California

Remaining Schwarzenegger appointee Don Norte and California Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Fiona Ma. Don Norte and Fiona Ma (2009).jpg
Remaining Schwarzenegger appointee Don Norte and California Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Fiona Ma.

Norte tested California's "Domestic Partnership" law that promised equality except for the word "marriage" in 2005 by attempting to change his last name to test the applicability of AB 205. That law was intended to match the rights of domestic partnerships to married couples. The language provided in California Family Code § 297.5 (a), reads as follows:[ citation needed ]

Registered domestic partners shall have the same rights, duties, protections, and benefits, and shall be subject to the same responsibilities, obligations, and duties under law, whether derived from statutes, administrative regulations, court rules, government policies, common law, or any other provisions or sources of law, as are granted to and imposed upon spouses.

During the Legislative Session 2006–07, California AB 102 was drafted by San Francisco Assemblymember Fiona Ma after the Norte's legal name status was called into question after the CA DMV adopted a policy to intentionally block other domestic partners after the Nortes from applying the California Family Code in a similar manner.[ citation needed ] The Nortes' involvement was mentioned in the description of a George Takei interview on Larry King. [10]

AB 102 expanded on the concept of allowing domestic partners to take the name of a spouse, to include married couples so the husband would have the right to assume the last name of the wife. AB 102 was inclusive and consistent with Fam. Code § 297.5 by addressing marriages of different or the same genders. Name changes processed for domestic partners after AB 205 and prior to AB 102 originally permitted individuals to proceed with subsequent name change actions, including social security and passport documents. AB 102 passed the Assembly with three Republican votes: Sam Blakeslee, Roger Niello, and Anthony Adams. [11] It passed the Senate on a straight party vote. [12]

The reaction from opponents was swift after the Governor signed the bill. "AB 102 allows homosexual couples to hold themselves out as married by permitting them to choose the same surname upon registration of their 'domestic partnership,'" said Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families. The bill granted unmarried couples married last names. "Schwarzenegger and the Democrat politicians have created the public image of homosexual "marriages" in California," said Thomasson in response to the signing of AB 102. "It's hypocritical for Arnold Schwarzenegger to veto homosexual "'marriage'" licenses and at the very same time aggressively promote the public image of gay and lesbian "'marriages'" in every community for every child to see." [13] Nortes' position on their name was resolved in the 2006-07 legislative session when AB 102 was signed into law by the Governor because the law was made retroactive.

See also

Related Research Articles

A domestic partnership is a relationship, usually between couples, who live together and share a common domestic life, but are not married. People in domestic partnerships receive legal benefits that guarantee right of survivorship, hospital visitation, and other rights.

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheila Kuehl</span> American politician

Sheila James Kuehl is an American politician and retired actress, and served as the member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for the 3rd District and as board chair and chair pro tem. Kuehl was California's first openly gay state legislator, having previously served in the California State Senate and the California State Assembly, where she was the Assembly's first female speaker pro tem.

The Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) is an organization affiliated with the Republican Party which advocates for equal rights for LGBT+ Americans.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in California since June 28, 2013. The U.S. state first issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples on June 16, 2008 as a result of the Supreme Court of California finding in the case of In re Marriage Cases that barring same-sex couples from marriage violated the Constitution of California. The issuance of such licenses was halted from November 5, 2008 through June 27, 2013 due to the passage of Proposition 8—a state constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriages. The granting of same-sex marriages recommenced following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hollingsworth v. Perry, which restored the effect of a federal district court ruling that overturned Proposition 8 as unconstitutional.

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2005.

A California domestic partnership is a legal relationship, analogous to marriage, created in 1999 to extend the rights and benefits of marriage to same-sex couples. It was extended to all opposite-sex couples as of January 1, 2016 and by January 1, 2020 to include new votes that updated SB-30 with more benefits and rights to California couples choosing domestic partnership before their wedding. California Governor Newsom signed into law on July 30, 2019.

Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in New Jersey since October 21, 2013, the effective date of a trial court ruling invalidating the state's restriction of marriage to persons of different sexes. In September 2013, Mary C. Jacobson, Assignment Judge of the Mercer Vicinage of the Superior Court, ruled that as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2013 decision in United States v. Windsor, the Constitution of New Jersey requires the state to recognize same-sex marriages. The Windsor decision held that the federal government was required to provide the same benefits to same-sex couples who were married under state law as to other married couples. Therefore, the state court reasoned in Garden State Equality v. Dow that, because same-sex couples in New Jersey were limited to civil unions, which are not recognized as marriages under federal law, the state must permit civil marriage for same-sex couples. This ruling, in turn, relied on the 2006 decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court in Lewis v. Harris that the state was constitutionally required to afford the rights and benefits of marriage to same-sex couples. The Supreme Court had ordered the New Jersey Legislature to correct the constitutional violation, by permitting either same-sex marriage or civil unions with all the rights and benefits of marriage, within 180 days. In response, the Legislature passed a bill to legalize civil unions on December 21, 2006, which became effective on February 19, 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pride at Work</span>

Pride at Work (P@W) is an American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender group (LGBTQ+) of labor union activists affiliated with the AFL-CIO.

"Lincoln Lover" is the fourth episode of the third season and the twenty-seventh overall episode of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on November 5, 2006, and is written by Rick Wiener, Kenny Schwartz and Nahnatchka Khan and directed by Brent Woods.

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2008.

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2009.

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2010.

The history of LGBT residents in California, which includes centuries prior to the 20th, has become increasingly visible recently with the successes of the LGBT rights movement. In spite of the strong development of early LGBT villages in the state, pro-LGBT activists in California have campaigned against nearly 170 years of especially harsh prosecutions and punishments toward gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people.

This is a list of events in 2011 that affected LGBT rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in California</span>

California is seen as one of the most liberal states in the U.S. in regard to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights, which have received nationwide recognition since the 1970s. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in the state since 1976. Discrimination protections regarding sexual orientation and gender identity or expression were adopted statewide in 2003. Transgender people are also permitted to change their legal gender on official documents without any medical interventions, and mental health providers are prohibited from engaging in conversion therapy on minors.

SaveCalifornia.com is a United States nonprofit organization founded in 1999 by Randy Thomasson as part of Campaign for Children and Families (CCF). The organization is active in influencing public policy on various social issues, and has opposed California's FAIR Education Act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT conservatism in the United States</span> Movement with conservatism

LGBTQ+ conservatism in the United States is a social and political ideology within the LGBTQ+ community that largely aligns with the American conservative movement. LGBTQ+ conservatism is generally more moderate on social issues than social conservatism, instead emphasizing values associated with fiscal conservatism, libertarian conservatism, and neoconservatism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of LGBT history in the United States</span>

This is a timeline of notable events in the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnold Schwarzenegger and LGBT rights</span> Overview of the relationship between Arnold Schwarzenegger and LGBT rights

Arnold Schwarzenegger was an early opponent of same-sex marriage in the United States, including during his Governorship of California. As an elected official he opposed legal recognition of same-sex marriage but otherwise he supported LGBT rights legislation, including civil unions.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Stockwell, Anne (2008-10-08). "Love Stories Kevin and Don Norte". The Advocate . Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  2. ↑ Gilbertson, Christopher (2007-08-27). "Governor Appoints Another Log Cabin Member to State Council". Archived from the original on 2008-10-11.
  3. ↑ "2017 IPI Board of Directors Slate of Nominees" (PDF).
  4. ↑ "Gov. Schwarzenegger appoints Log Cabin Republicans". IN Los Angeles Magazine. September 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28.
  5. 1 2 "CA Gay Republicans Appointed". Long Beach Post. October 2, 2007. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  6. ↑ Bajko, Matthew S. (September 20, 2007). "Political Notebook: Out GOP duo campaign as ticket". The Bay Area Reporter .
  7. ↑ "LCR's National Convention on YouTube". Youtube.com. 2008-04-11. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  8. ↑ Article re the 2010 Long Beach Gay and Lesbian Pride Festival Archived July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ "Log Cabin Republicans' Mitt Romney Endorsement Prompts Los Angeles Couple To End Membership". The Huffington Post. October 31, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Kevin Norte". Wn.com. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  11. ↑ "Why Did 26 of 32 California Assembly Republicans Vote Against the Name Equality Act?/". California Progress Report. May 9, 2007.[ permanent dead link ]
  12. ↑ "California Senate Passes Gun Microstamping--Governor to Get Prescription Labeling, Police Interrogation, College Textbook Bills--and Measure Gutting Local Campaign Finance Laws /". Tom Torlakson, California State Senator. September 8, 2007.[ permanent dead link ]
  13. ↑ "Terminator Roils Conservatives". Wright County Republican. October 19, 2007.[ permanent dead link ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.