Shelly Bailes and Ellen Pontac

In an effort to promote a more open dialogue, discussion about the content of this page should continue at Shelly Bailes and Ellen Pontac/Talk

Sue Greenwald handing them the resolution of the City Council declaring June 12th Yolo County Gay Pride Day in Davis. Shelly Bailes and Ellen Pontac have become the town "poster children" for gay rights. The two women, who have lived in a committed relationship for more than 32 years and who raised their family in Davis, are at the forefront of the fight for gay rights in Davis, in California, and in the country. They were married in San Francisco in February of 2004 and experienced the pain of watching their marriage be invalidated six months later, at which time they staged a rally at the Yolo County Registrar's office. Both are active as founders and heads of the local chapter of Marriage Equality California. In addition to working for gay rights they are also activists in many Davis activities.

Accomplishments

• In 1984 they worked to establish the Davis Civil Rights Ordinance which eliminated discrimination based on sexual orientation (the first such ordinance in the country).
  

• In 1996 they founded and continue to run Gay Pride Day in Davis.
  

• They ran the No on 22 campaign (which banned gay marriage in California). Yolo County was one of only 6 counties in the state to defeat that initiative.
  

• They started FORGE ("For Gay Equality") FORGE is part of the Rainbow Coalition which conducts candidate forums for local elections
  

• Shelly attended meetings of the Human Rights Commission at Davis Senior High School - (a student organization similar to the present day Davis High School School Climate Committee)
  

• Shelly and Ellen have been active in raising the awareness of our community about the discriminatory policies of the Boy Scouts of America, which excludes gays and atheists. They spear-headed the local campaign to evict the Davis Boy Scouts from the Davis Boy Scout Cabin in 2002, in protest of BSA National's policy. During this time and while Shelly was the Chair of the City's Human Relations Commission, leading the commissons' discussions regarding Davis Boy Scouts, Shelly and Ellen appeared in numerous newspaper articles, organized a letter writing campaign to the local media, organized picketing in front of the Boy Scout Cabin, and lead an annual boycott of the local troop's Christmas Tree fundraiser.
  

• They organize protests/rallies at the post office on April 15 to demonstate that gay couples pay the same taxes but don't get the benefits of marriage
  

• They organize a yearly event at the Yolo County recorders office on Feb. 14 (National Freedom to Marry Day) where same sex couples apply for marriage licenses only to be turned down
  

• They were instumental in organizing a rally at the State Capitol where over 1,000 people rallied in support of marriage equality.
  

• They went on a marriage equality caravan to Redding demonstrating for marriage equality all along the way
  

• They went on a two week marriage equality caravan with 46 other gay rights activists across the country stopping a dozen times in small towns to have rallies and winding up in DC for one final big rally to tell the President not to write discrimination into the constitution.
  

• They started the local chapter of Equality California (EQCA)
  

• They requested and received resolutions declaring Yolo County Gay Pride Day from the State Assembly, Yolo County Board of Supervisors, Davis City Council, City of West Sacramento, Davis Joint Unified School District numerous times.
  

• They were featured in news articles in the United States and around the world including but not limited to England, Spain, Germany, China and Canada
  

• They were on the front page of the Davis Enterprise (numerous times), the San Jose Mercury News
  

• They were featured in the Sacramento Bee, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Washington Times, The Washington Post, the Reno Gazette-Journal, the Los Angeles Times, The Salt Lake City Tribune, etc.
  

• They were on the opening page of the web sites for CNN.com, MSNBC.com, Yahoo news, USA today.com, Chinadaily, Canada.com, ELPAIS.es/Internacional and many others
  

• They have been featured on Sacramento's ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX 40 TV several times
  

• They appeared in an article in the US News and World Report
  

• They appeared in numerous AP photos around the world
  

• They requested and received a resolution from the Davis City Council "Urging Defeat of the Proposed Federal Marriage Amendment"
  

• They requested and received a resolution from the Davis City Council "Urging Gov. Gray Davis and the California State Legislature to end discriminationagainst LGBT people by repealing discriminatory marriage laws in California
  

• They held a rally in E Street Plaza when Massachusetts offered marriage licenses to same sex couples
  

• They organized a contingent and marched in numerous picnic day parades announcing gay pride day
  

• They testified at numerous hearings at the California State Board of Equalization, Senate and Assembly on gay rights bills

Other Activities

• They usher at the Mondavi Center.
  

• They were board members of DCTV
  

• They work to present forums for all elections.
  

• Shelly volunteered at the Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence Center.
  

• Every week for two years they did clinic defense at a local gynecology office, protecting women who were coming for abortions.
  

• Both volunteer for Davis Community Meals. Shelly has served on the board, Ellen volunteers as a cook and has been doing that for 10 years.
  

• They are members of the Davis Food Co-op and they both help with the Davis Food Co-op annual Holiday Meal, with Ellen in charge of volunteers and Shelly in charge of fund-raising
  

• Work with the LGBTRC on campus
  

• They are regular participants at the Peace Vigil on the E Street Plaza
  

• Shelly served as a liason for the gay community and the Davis Police Dept.
  

• Shelly is at present one of the twelve members of the Citizen's Advisory Board working with the Davis Police Department

Awards

• The Spice Girls Award from The UCD Chancellor's Committee on LGBT Issues in 1998
  

• The Freedom From Want Award of The Four Freedoms Awards from the Sacramento Stonewall Democratic Club in 2004
  

• The Pink Badge of Courage Award from Code Pink, Davis in 2005
  

• Grand Marshals of the Sacramento Pride Parade in June, 2005
  

• Grand Marshals as part of Marriage Equality California in San Francisco Pride Parade in June, 2004
  

• Thong Hy Huynh Lifetime Achievement Award in June, 2006, awarded by the Davis City Council.

News

In June 27, 2006, Shelly, speaking as a former Chair of the Human Relations Commission, claimed at City Council that the Human Relations Commission has lost the respect that it once had in the city and that the present chair was ineffective and should step down for the good of the commission and the city¹. All former members of the HRC who came to speak that evening, with the exception of Norbie Kumagai and Shelly, spoke in support of the commission.

In September 2005, they were featured in a widely seen Associated Press photo after the State assembly passed the gay marriage bill.

Controversy

Shelly served on the Human Relations Commission, but resigned before the end of her term after a disagreement over the nomination of her wife, Ellen Pontac, for one of the Human Relations Commission's annual awards. Some commissioners felt that because Shelly was Chair at the time, it was inappropriate for
Ellen to be given the award. Some felt that, because of Shelly's personal relationship with Ellen, she should recuse herself from voting. Shelly felt that Ellen was deserving, regardless of commissioners concerns, cast the tie-breaking vote to give Ellen the award. After much discussion, Ellen removed her name from consideration and the award was given to another person, but the incident had a damaging effect on the commissioner's confidence in Shelly as Chair. A special meeting was scheduled by commission members to discuss the possibility of having Shelly step down. On the day of that scheduled meeting, Shelly resigned as chair and member of the Human Relations Commission citing an inability to work effectively in a "hostile environment" amid commissioners who disagreed with her. Many of the commissioners and City Council members felt she should stay on, but Shelly chose to move on.

After being nominated by community members for the Human Relations Commission's Humanitarian Award, the Civil Rights Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award for 5 years in a row and having those nominations ignored by the commission, the City Council stepped in and gave both Ellen and Shelly the Lifetime Achievement award in June 2006.

Comments:

Note: You must be logged in to add comments