Who's been naughty and who's been nice?

The holidays may be over, but Bay Windows couldn't let 2008 go by without making our own list of people who have been naughty or nice over the past year. We gave kudos to some of the biggest newsmakers of the year in our other year-end features (see "Four who did great in '08," and "The year in queer"), but there are eight other people and groups who deserve praise for their work in 2008. Conversely, we would be remiss if we didn't pass out a few lumps of coal to those who let us down over the past year.

Nice

Patrick Guerriero: The Boston-based executive director of the Gill Action Fund took on a job that few people would have wanted, stepping in as campaign director of the floundering No on Prop 8 campaign in California with weeks to go until Election Day. When he took charge the campaign was down in the polls, and they were trailing Prop 8 proponents in fundraising by $10 million. Under Guerriero's leadership the campaign ramped up its fundraising, bringing in more than $20 million in a matter of weeks, and it worked to fight back against the Yes on 8 campaign's claims that marriage equality would harm children. Prop 8 passed by a narrow margin, but Guerriero deserves praise for stepping up to the plate to try to salvage a bungled campaign.

Jane Doe, Inc. and National Organization for Women, Massachusetts chapter: In the run-up to the March hearing on the transgender rights bill, House Bill 1722, the fear-mongers at Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) told lawmakers that the bill would give men the right to throw on dresses and wigs and terrorize women in the ladies' room. Jane Doe Inc., the state coalition against sexual assault and domestic violence, and Mass. NOW, responded with their own letter to lawmakers, explaining that the bill would do no such thing. They also addressed the bill's intent to address violence against transwomen by adding gender identity to the state's hate crime laws. Both organizations have unimpeachable credibility on issues of violence against women, and they sent a powerful message by refuting MFI's ridiculous claims.

Martha Coakley: The state's attorney general also gets kudos for her work to pass the trans rights bill. In 2006 Coakley told Bay Windows that she supported the provision of the bill adding gender identity to hate crimes, but she did not endorse adding that same language to the non-discrimination protections; she believed trans people were protected under existing non-discrimination law. Advocates changed her mind by the time of the March hearing. Coakley wrote a letter to the Judiciary Committee announcing her full support for the bill. As the state's top law enforcement official her endorsement was welcome ammunition for bill proponents.

Pro-equality majorities on the Conn. and Cali Supreme Courts: In the wake of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's marriage ruling no other court seemed ready to follow in their footsteps; high courts in Washington and New York ruled against same-sex marriage, and the New Jersey court ruled that civil unions were sufficient. In 2008 majorities on the Supreme Courts of California and Connecticut boldly followed the lead of Massachusetts and ruled in favor of marriage for same-sex couples. Sadly California voters overturned their state's ruling by passing Proposition 8, but the majorities on both courts showed incredible courage in standing up for full equality for same-sex couples.

Keith Olbermann: Memo to California's marriage equality activists: If you ever have to run another statewide ballot campaign and you're struggling for a message, you might want to hire this guy. The week after the passage of Prop 8 the MSNBC host delivered a commentary on his show that in six minutes delivered a more persuasive and heartfelt defense of the right of same-sex couples to marry than the entire No on 8 campaign. Olbermann conceded at the start of the commentary that he had few connections to gay and lesbian people, but that made his impassioned argument all the more impressive.

Jon Stewart: The Daily Show host also deserves praise for delivering one of the most persuasive public defenses of marriage equality in 2008. When former Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee came on his show in December Stewart debated him on the issue of same-sex marriage. Stewart went toe to toe with a man many consider to be one of the most eloquent speakers on the religious right, and he wiped the floor with him. Any advocates planning to appear as a talking head on Fox News should study the clip of Stewart's Huckabee interview closely.

Ellen Degeneres: Most LGBT celebs were missing in action during the No on Prop 8 campaign, but not America's lesbian sweetheart. Degeneres spent $100,000 to air her own ad urging voters to oppose Prop 8, and she talked up her opposition to the measure on her talk show. Degeneres and Portia de Rossi also became the face of marriage equality in California when People magazine featured their wedding as a cover story. More than a decade after coming out on her sitcom Degeneres is still breaking down barriers to equality.

Naughty

Michael Olivio of MassResistance: There's naughty, and then there's downright dirty. According to the Eagle Tribune MassResistance head hater Brian Camenker sent Olivio up to Andover Oct. 21 to snap photos of Andover High School to use for one of his upcoming blog posts (the Massachusetts Commission on GLBT Youth held a meeting there the day before). Olivio somehow got confused and went to Andover's West Middle School instead, where he started taking photos of kids as they were leaving school for the day. When police - called to the scene by the understandably creeped-out parents -- questioned Olivio he bolted from the scene and, according to the Tribune, "ran through yards on Shawsheen Road and nearby side streets, shedding clothing as he ran." Thanks for keeping us safe from the pervs, MassResistance!

State Reps. Angelo Puppolo, Joseph Driscoll and Joseph Wagner: Last year these three state reps bravely voted against a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. That makes their vote on the 1913 law, which banned out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying in Massachusetts, so disappointing. When lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in July to repeal the 1913 law these three lawmakers switched sides and voted to keep the reprehensible law. These guys should know better.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: The so-called Governator looked more like a girlie man during the Prop 8 fight. While he nominally opposed Prop 8, he was largely missing in action during the campaign. Only after the measure passed did Schwarzenegger take to the airwaves, going on CNN to describe how disappointed he was that Prop 8 passed. File under: too little, too late.

Lorri Jean and Geoff Kors: California LGBT activists were in the fight of their lives in the run-up to Election Day, but astoundingly two of the leaders of the No on Prop 8 campaign - Lorri Jean of the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center and Geoff Kors of Equality California - decided that the summer before the election was the perfect time to take a vacation. The Advocate reported that Kors left for two-and-a-half weeks in July, while Jean took an entire month off to go to Alaska. When the magazine questioned her about her time off Jean replied sarcastically, "I'm flattered to think I was that indispensable." Don't flatter yourself.

Richard Raddon: When LGBT people found out that Raddon, director of the Los Angeles Film Festival and the Independent Spirit Awards, had donated $1500 to the Yes on Prop 8 campaign there were many calls for his head. Raddon, who is a Mormon, resigned his post but issued a statement saying, "As many know, I consider myself a devout and faithful Mormon. I prefer to keep the details around my contribution through my church a private matter." Gay Dreamgirls director Bill Condon also publicly lamented that Raddon had lost his job "because of privately held religious beliefs." Newsflash, guys: funding a public campaign to strip LGBT people of their rights is not a private expression of faith.

Sally Kern: The Oklahoma state representative gave a speech to a local Republican organization early in 2008 in which she claimed that homosexuality was a greater threat to the United States than terrorism and warned that "the homosexual agenda is just destroying this nation." After the Gay and Lesbian Victory Program posted a recording of her remarks on Youtube she declined to apologize for her homophobic comments. Gee, Sally, four years after legalizing same-sex marriage Massachusetts is still standing. Want to come and visit? On second thought, please don't.

George W. Bush: With one month to go before the end of his term it seems like he decided to twist the knife one more time. On Dec. 18 the Bush administration released a new "right of conscience" rule that allows medical providers to refuse to take part in providing services they find morally objectionable. That means that doctors would be free to deny artificial insemination and other reproductive services to lesbian couples on religious grounds. Just when you thought Bush couldn't sink any lower, he manages to surprise you.

Barack Obama: The president-elect's actions over the last few months have left LGBT folks feeling a little less hopeful. First Obama sat on the sidelines during the Prop 8 campaign, and when he was asked about his stance on marriage he parroted the religious right mantra that he supported marriage as "one man and one woman." Obama's comments provided fodder for the Yes on 8 campaign, which used them in its ads to suggest falsely that Obama supported Prop 8. And who did Obama invite to give the invocation at his upcoming inauguration? Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren, a prominent Prop 8 backer who compared same-sex marriage to incest, pedophilia and polygamy in a recent interview. Here's hoping you give us more reasons to hope in '09.