What kind of leadership do we need?

WHAT?

"The fact is that we actually do not know what Obama's personal views are on marriage equality for same-sex couples."

The fact is that we actually DO know what Obama's personal views are on marriage equality for same-sex couples. His "Christian Beliefs" which are thoroughly opportunistic to begin with, mean nothing at all. He has written us off as unimportant -- save come election time. That's when he comes a "fierce advocate" FOR OUR MONEY!!!!!

After he's acquired it we can go take a flaying fuck as far as he cares. Cause he knows we'll grovel and apologize for him.  

---

by: David Ehrenstein @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 11:15:24 AM CDT

Civil disobedience al la ACT UP

is what is needed.  Obama and the Democrats are not going to do anything for us unless we demand it.  

And speaking of Democrats, where are their friendly voices now that we need them?  So do we want to place our trust in their hands?  I sure as hell don't.  

The usual DC crowd can continue their cocktail-party efforts to get 'change that we can believe in' but it is really up to us.  

On my blog, I suggest that we need a media blitz to get popular support for our rights and to diminish the voices of hate.  

We need it all, NOW.

http://www.notonenickel.blogsp...

---

by: Gary SF @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 11:26:10 AM CDT

I agree

I've advocated before for a "Reign of Annoyance," a continuous and unpredicable series of protests that would occur and then melt away before the police could tag us...

I tell you Chica that no greater abomination exists than women denying their spirit of sisterhood and instead becoming the oppressor. -Rebeca, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

---

by: MauraHennessey @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 12:44:05 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

"I've advocated before for a "Reign of Annoyance,"

Are you organizing one in your state?

---

by: Jake Gellar-Goad @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 13:30:09 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Yes, in fact, I am

difficult to get people to go for it though when HRC and so many others are against any kinds of protests

I tell you Chica that no greater abomination exists than women denying their spirit of sisterhood and instead becoming the oppressor. -Rebeca, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

---

by: MauraHennessey @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 14:44:08 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

YES!

I don't know what the most media-worthy actions might be, I keep on thinking about holding marriage ceremonies outside of schools, but I think that's just my cussedness, not actually a good idea.

I'd enjoy participating in the right action.

---

by: Joe Decker @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 12:47:55 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Action suggestions

I think mass-requests of marriage licenses on pre-arranged dates might work, as well as healthy young people going to military recruitment stations*, filling out most of the paperwork, and then casually saying something about how:

"My girlfriend - fiancee, actually, we're getting married in Iowa next summer - was saying how her uncle Bob..."
(substitute "boyfriend" if you're a guy)

and then wait for the recruiter's response.

Additionally, some people could ask the recruiter, when they're talking about psychological conditions, "Well, I'm not sure if you'd call it a psychological condition or not, but I think I'm going to change genders after my term of service is up.  I mean, I know that a change in my hormones could affect my readiness for active duty - they say it's like going through puberty again - but I really want to serve my country now and so I've decided the new body can wait four years.  Does the VA offer counseling for gender reassignment?"  (Britain and Canada have transgender troops.  It can be done.)

*I'll wait for the JAG recruiter to come to my law school.  Even if DADT were repealed I don't think I could get into the military any other way.

Marriage equality.  Now with 50% more cake.

equalitycake.blogspot.com

---

by: Maureen @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 17:55:44 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Both are good ideas

I have helped with both kinds of protests locally. The main organizers made sure that things stayed positive in both cases, keeping the focus on policies we took umbrage at.  We brought candy to the clerks on the 14 Feb. marriage protest, for example, and helped a mother coming to the armed forces recruiting center we were blockading find a phone and call inside to inquire about the health and safety of her active-duty son. Both actions got on the news and elicited a generally favorable response.

---

by: pgraydon @ Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 07:37:33 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

How do we make that media blitz happen?

n/t

---

by: Jake Gellar-Goad @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 13:30:58 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

How about

a massive flooding by all blogs/ readers to the White House of emails, sent on the same day?

Perhaps the same day as Jones' march- October 11?

Although, frankly I think that's too far in the future- July 4th works for me...

Click HERE and sign up: Campaign For Military Partners

Click here for DADT photobook

---

by: Louise @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 14:13:29 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I think July 4 is nice & symbollic

and all that, but we'd be drowned out by all the independence day stories... the tax day stuff the lgbt community was kind of the same way, it was symbolic, but lost behind the general tax day stories & the teabaggers.  I like your first suggestion about doing it on Oct 11.

I think tacking it on to the March is something everyone could do IN ADDITION to either going to Washington or acting local.  Making the March one piece of a nationwide puzzle of events & local lobbying & actions & e-mail/blog/online campaigns seems like the most constructive way I've seen dealing with the realities of 1) there will be a march, 2) we need something more than a march.

---

by: Jake Gellar-Goad @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 14:55:15 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Tying the two efforts together

would allow for a much larger impact, especially if the blogosphere were to promote the idea...

But THAT sort of stuff is way "beyond my pay scale"! ;)

Click HERE and sign up: Campaign For Military Partners

Click here for DADT photobook

---

by: Louise @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 17:09:19 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Stonewall anniversary? Obama's birthday? 1 yr after marriage in CA?

June 16th - one year after marriage equality (for some of us) began (for a while) in California.  
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/...

Stonewall anniversary

Obama's birthday

??

---

by: chiefscribe @ Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 11:49:53 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Start with calling HRC

As of a few years ago, they averaged $30 million in the bank.

That would buy A LOT of MSM full page ads and TV commercials.

---

by: Michael Bedwell @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 15:03:37 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Gay Stockholm Syndrome

ANY gay [or BT] person left on this planet still looking, still hoping, for something, anything to justify the homophobic defenses this week of BOTH DADT and DOMA in the name of our Lord Barack Christ is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome; named after employees of a bank, kidnapped by robbers in 1973, became emotionally attached to them over six days of captivitiy and even defended them to the police after their rescue.

I've agreed with Gary even BEFORE our Black Friday:

embarrassment of, putting pressure on the administration and Congress by MSM advertising and civil disobedience are the ONLY two things that might work.

ANYONE who believes that it was Martin Luther King, Jr.'s immortal eloquence that led to the destruction of Jim Crow laws is, at best, ignorant. Rosa Park's descendents would STILL be riding in the back of the bus, if not standing, had she not disobeyed the law, triggering the long-considered boycott, and forcing Montgomery's bigots to surrender because of the disruption to the economic and social status quo. They didn't change hearts and minds, they destroyed "business as usual."

Anyone who thinks that "reasoning" with Obama, appealing to his heart, his better angels, will work too soon forgot the chain of events in McClurkingate and his transparent plan to exploit homophobia to attract votes away from the then significant lead of Sen. Clinton among black voters in South Carolina.

They have forgotten that a coalition of gay groups of ALL colors literally BEGGED him personally in a teleconference not to align himself with the man who had previously declared that "gays are trying to kill America's children," whom black lesbian Rev. Irene Monroe called the "poster boy for African-American 'ex-gay' ministries."

They said, please, please, Sir, if you can't cancel him at least add a black gay minister to the program to witness that gays are good and come in all colors, and gave him a list of names.

The result for those who quickly developed Obama Alzheimer's? Pharoah's heart was hardened, and the show went on albeit with an addition to the program: no one from the list the gays on their knees had given Obama but Rev. Andy Sidden, a WHITE gay minister which made the evening, in Monroe's words, reinforce "two myths many black evangelicals hold: homosexuals are white and homosexuality is an abomination."

But within two weeks, 99% of those that had been outraged by McClurkingate, were again singing Bless Obama's Holy Name.

Still, I was stunned after the Bishop Robinson/Lincoln Memorial Inaugural Concert/HBO broadcast debacle that no one besides me seemed to recognize that it was a rerun of Rev. Sidden's experience. He'd been rolled out on stage in South Carolina to give his invocation when the hall was still half empty and the crowd noise so loud virtually no one heard him, and was never seen on that stage again.

I don't CARE if Obama secretly loves us and feels our pain. We don't need love in that context, we need laws to bring us out of the bondage of homo/trans hatred. I am SICKENED less by what HE's done than by our own people so eager to believe and preach the "he had to burn the village to save it" rationalization.

This morning we awoke with our hopes of serious progress for LGBT rights judicially or legislatively in still smoldering ruins.

And we know who lit the match.

---

by: Michael Bedwell @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 13:43:46 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

SING OUT LOUISE!

Unfortunately few are listening. They're hypnotized by the Bright Shiny Black POTUS Object.  

---

by: David Ehrenstein @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 13:49:23 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

"the professional advocacy gays"

Lobby efforts are a small part of their budget these days.  It's obvious by the LGBT meltdown at the White House - They are not doing their job that many think they were doing. No Obama elected official today refers to LGBT "Civil Rights" seperating us with other terms to describe our rights.   Even Sec. of State Clinton uses the term referring to our rights as the broad "Human Rights". HRC branded us with "Human Rights" rather than "Civil Rights".  Like the LGBT Community is a third world country fighting AIDS.

Same-Sex Marriage is good for the economy.

---

by: CharlesMerrill @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 11:30:53 AM CDT

Edit last sentence

to read "Like the LGBT Community is a third world country not citizens of the USA.  We should continue to fight AIDS in our community".

Same-Sex Marriage is good for the economy.

---

by: CharlesMerrill @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 11:37:21 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

important point

The "civil rights" term is central. Though the LGBT rights movement is not identical to other groups striving for equality, the root of much of the effort -- and the central point in the legal pleadings -- always boils down to equal protection under the law. We are citizens, and this applies as it applied to other parts of the US population.

---

by: coram nobis @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 20:30:25 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

We need to be our own leaders

Of course.

We need to be our own advocates in whichever way we can.

Why are we relying on Obama and (to some extent) the professional gays to do it.

Maybe with yesterday's brief the professional gays will begin to take the oppositional stance (at least in public) that the should have been doing all along instead of being caught up in themselves, by and large.

---

by: kevinchi @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 11:38:31 AM CDT

In what way are you being your own leader?

And in what way would you suggest be their own leaders?

---

by: Jake Gellar-Goad @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 13:32:12 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

OK

1) I talk to my family about GLBT issues. That is a big and painful step for me.

2) I donate time and money to a local group; including demonstrations.

3) I also have to include some of the comments on this blog. Actually, advocacy through writing is probably what I would be best at. But I don't have all the know how to set up my own, I could really use help in that area.

I would suggest do what you do best in support of equality for gay people. For example, I am a much better writer than speaker.

I really DO dislike it when people make disparaging comments about leaving comments on a blog; it is a way of communicating and getting out information.  

---

by: kevinchi @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 14:23:43 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Amen!

And it's always the ones who are simply using that attack [THEMSELVES ON A BLOG]...or the "but what have YOU ever done for gay rights" as if one has to EARN the right to speak.... because they disagree with you. No one every flames someone they AGREE with that way.

The hypocrisy of it is just another measure of how far down Obamania has pulled us.

At least fascists like George Wallace and Jesse Helms didn't play games with their poison. They said, "call me a bigot if you want."  The Obama Blog Gestapo are both messed in the head AND dishonest.

---

by: Michael Bedwell @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 14:59:33 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I hope my comment didn't come across as

"but what have YOU ever done for gay rights"

I was just fishing for ideas on how to get people more engaged.  When I saw the "We need to be our own leaders" I just wanted to flesh that idea out more b/c it sounded like a good one.

---

by: Jake Gellar-Goad @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 15:13:20 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Didn't mean you...

Kev and I post, in addition to this one, post on some other blogs where I've frequently been the subject of that hypocritical attack.

I guess I should look more on the bright side, such attacks, along with personal demonization at lengths that boggle the imagination, as backhanded indicators of having scored.

---

by: Michael Bedwell @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 15:23:58 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I like this sentiment from

Ms Renna's commentary...it sets the tone for the surprise and complacency that has followed the election of our "fierce advocate" Prez (not).  

Well, I am over the cool. The cool and the relief of not being under constant attack bought my complacency for only so long. Now, I am ready and waiting for actual leadership on the civil rights of LGBT Americans.

I never expected much from Big O.  I didn't vote for him, voted Green Party, but still....the trespasses of his actions and non-actions have added up.  
Myself, I will continue to support LGBT legal organizations with my money (vs. legislative advocacy ie EQCA local, HRC national) and actively work for repeal of Prop 8 in 2010.

---

by: Karen in Kalifornia @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 12:01:42 PM CDT

fume

This has made me so frigging angry all that keeps coming to mind is the old Brian Kinney canard, "There's only 2 kinds of straight people: the ones who hate you to your face and the ones who hate you behind your back." Not helpful, I know, but it ain't like this doesn't keep happening!

---

by: sentstuff05 @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 12:33:00 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

they know better than that

* will the progressive movement keep its rolling-over-the-gays bus in overdrive in overdrive, continuing to defend the brief, saying the administration "had to do it" or "Obama couldn't have known about the contents of the brief"?

Fair question. A DOJ filing in a case is like any other, in that the attorneys filing it are representing their client, in this case, the Obama administration. Obama as a law professor obviously knows it.

Even if the lawyers are completely going rogue, even if one of the 3 lawyers who filed for DOJ is a Mormon holdover from Bush (h/t Sullivan), it's still Obama's brief. And, judging by the hard line DOJ is taking on the wartime cases, it's no mistake. And nothing for "progressives" to make excuses for.

---

by: coram nobis @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 12:38:45 PM CDT

The case was assigned to him

The people above him had to know what he would do with it, and a political issue this sensitive does not get handed to an underling without instrauctions and review.

Chancellor von Bulow tried to use the 'underlings did it' defence over the "Daily Telegraph Interview" scandal aound 1905; didn't work then and it won't work now

Professor Dale Carpenter's apologia for this being a simple legal submission required by the need to uphold law is even weaker, this went beyond a motion to dismiss, this comprehensive collection of Santorumisms contains bad law, bad precedent, and simple garbage in its' arguments.

I would have had the head of any counselor that I ever supervised for submitting anything like this motion to me.

I tell you Chica that no greater abomination exists than women denying their spirit of sisterhood and instead becoming the oppressor. -Rebeca, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

---

by: MauraHennessey @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 12:50:38 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

True in my case

In the U.S. Tax Court in Washington D.C.  The case will be decided "en banc" by the entire Tax Court, an unusual development which shows its significance. 19 judges appointed by past and present Presidents will decide this case, or how to move forward on the DOMA issue.  It doesn't make headlines because non-profit and in the box bloggers want to avoid IRS tax issues, but it may be significant.  Stay tuned.  A decison may be made in a few months regarding whether Federal tax benefits will be allowed to married same-sex couples in 6 states.  If not, I am here ready to serve Club Fed time for tax protest.

Same-Sex Marriage is good for the economy.

---

by: CharlesMerrill @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 19:49:31 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

fingers crossed for you, Charles

It's surprising how your case is flying pretty much under the radar. I doubt we'll see Robert Gibbs commenting about it.

---

by: Pam Spaulding @ Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 04:42:21 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Thanks Pam

Some of the U.S. Tax Court judges were appointed by Bush, former tax lawyers.  Some appointed by Clinton.  Like Wall Street, most are tax professionals focused on bottom line numbers boosting revenue.  Unlike the Federal Courts, they were not appointed because of their fundamental religious views regarding marriage or "bless the fetus" issues.

Same-Sex Marriage is good for the economy.

---

by: CharlesMerrill @ Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 09:38:47 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

To me the the admin's take on the DOJ brief is

emblematic of their refusal to stand and fight for anything truly progressive and just. They have taken Clinton triangulation to new heights.

To Obama and Co everything has to be "balanced". Even issues of equality. Anything to do with our issues has to be balanced out with  a phobe viewpoint or an addition to an advisory board.

To them homophobia is an acceptable viewpoint. We don't rise to the level worthy of respect.

SO OVER OBAMA AND HIS NO CHANGE FOR US

---

by: DilworthDem @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 12:43:53 PM CDT

It is the President's perception of homophobia as an acceptable prejudice

that leads to this sort of thing.

He considers both side's views valid.


I tell you Chica that no greater abomination exists than women denying their spirit of sisterhood and instead becoming the oppressor. -Rebeca, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

---

by: MauraHennessey @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 12:52:15 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Ouch.

Good assessment, however.

---

by: Karen in Kalifornia @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 12:54:03 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Just as a law professor would do, actually

But this is not the Harvard Law Review nor is this a law practice. People's lives and relationships are involved.

---

by: kevinchi @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 13:01:29 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

No, Law Professors do not

There are rights issues and constitutional issues that have inherentely "wrong" sides, Kevin. There are sides that simply cannot be supported. There things that we must not do, must not support.

This brief/motion not only touched upon many of those things, it waded waist deep into the mire of unacceptlable prejudice and uaforgivable denial of human rights.

The president has homophobes in the cabinet, would he have included a talented segregationalist?

I tell you Chica that no greater abomination exists than women denying their spirit of sisterhood and instead becoming the oppressor. -Rebeca, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

---

by: MauraHennessey @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 14:50:42 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

No, I get your point

And Obama, obviously, has not taken a clear moral position on the matter.

I think what I meant to say is that there are just some issues that you simply cannot use the dialectic method with in the public sphere because there is no basis for dialogue or a reconciliation of views.

Sure you can do it a law school class Obama is not teaching law school anymore.

And besides, I know that Obama did not learn this from reverend Wright's church. It cannot be defended, you are right about that.

---

by: kevinchi @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 15:15:05 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

SADLY....

Sadly, the great Lawrence Tribe is also trying to turn Obama's legal sow's ear into a silk purse in an online Advocate interview.

But that has far less to do with the farthest, desperate reaches for rationality than the fact that he was Obama's Constitutional law professor at Harvard, appeared in TV ads for him in the primaries, and clearly loves O dearly.

Three facts interviewer Kerry Eleveld conveniently leaves out. Just like she left out the fact that Obama lied to her about the role he played [NONE] in passing Illinois' LGBT rights bill in their October 2007 interview.

To both I say ____________

---

by: Michael Bedwell @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 15:46:53 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

But to be fair to Tribe

Tribe isn't the first (or the second) person that I've heard say that the Smelt case was a poor case.

What's strong about the Massachusetts case is that these are concrete situations of people who are legally married under the laws of states like Massachusetts or Vermont, and who are being discriminated against by the federal government with respect to federal benefits simply because they are same-sex couples. There's no other difference between them and other couples in that state, and the court could agree with that without accepting any of the broader theories advanced in the [Smelt] lawsuit in the central district of California, which is basically a bet-the-farm lawsuit that almost dares a conservative Supreme Court to slap it down.

---

by: kevinchi @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 16:50:51 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I say irrelevant....

See new thread with comments from Lambda Legal about the CHOICES they had.

Tribe is making excuses. It's waaaay behind the letter of the law and submerged in the muck of the vile spirit of O Inc.'s defense.

Points for loyalty to his protege. Derision for his moral equivocation.

Fuck him  ... and not in the good way.

---

by: Michael Bedwell @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 17:37:45 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

No, Tribe is NOT

the first that I've heard make that argument about the Smelt case in particular. He's not even the second person that I've heard make it.

In the Massachusetts cases, for example, there were a couple of examples of the plantiff actually having received whatever benefit was requested (I think one of those cases was Gerry Studds' spouse) only later to be denied others. The paper trails are scrupulous to a fault, I'd go find the GLAD brief online but...I'm too lazy.

In fact, it was reading the GLAD brief that got me really angry earlier in the week. Then to have that going on the the back of my head until I sat down and read that brief last night was a bit much.

---

by: kevinchi @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 18:15:11 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I don't get your point...

Sorry Kev, I respect you highly, but no matter who brought up such distractions first, or second, or third, or how MANY do, Tribe's cherry picking of issues to defend his surrogate son is transparent, just as when he agreed after the LOGO forum to go out and ludicrously and disingenuously shill to the press about Hillary's supposed "symbolic insult" to gays over DOMA...when all the time HE KNEW her FUNCTIONAL position ["states rights"] was no worse than Obama's. Then, and here, he's displaying the kind of half-truth chicanery that makes lawyers among the most hated of professions.

As referenced before, Jon Davidson, Legal Director at Lambda Legal, looked at ALL the "cheeries."

"Whether or not the administration felt a need to defend, there are many ways one can defend. The administration could have rested on the first two arguments raised in their papers (jurisdiction and standing) that these plaintiffs were not entitled to sue without arguing at this point that DOMA is constitutional. Doing that would not have waived those arguments. What they need to be asked is why they gratuitously went out of their way to make the outrageous arguments they UNNECESSARILY included such as that DOMA DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE based on sexual orientation or that the right at issue is not marriage but an unestablished right to "same-sex marriage" or that DOMA is somehow justified in order to protect taxpayers who don't want their tax dollars used to support lesbian and gay couples (while it's apparently fine to make lesbians and gay men pay the same taxes but be denied the benefits provided heterosexual couples). Their public statements about the filing try to sidestep these points. THEY ABSOLUTELY KNEW THEY DID NOT need to make these additional arguments, especially at this time and consciously decided to do so. I am seething mad."

---

by: Michael Bedwell @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 19:16:52 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

As I stated, Tribe

was not even my first source as far as the poor basis of the Smelt case. And I am not defending the bigoted defense of the Justice Department and their Mormon lawyer. I am very angry about that. We agree on that.

As far as Tribe's role vis-a-vis Hillary v. Obama I have no opinion on that at this very late date. Obama is the President, period.

So I suppose that the 2 other lawyers that agreed that the Smelt case was a bad case are covering for Obama too, right? Including one who said that the DOJ's argument was way over the line.

---

by: kevinchi @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 19:40:35 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

The issue isn't

The issue isn't whether it was a bad case or a good case...that's a distraction from three facts

1. the majority of the Court as it's presently constituted is likely to rule not on ANY merit of ANY case but their homophobia...

2. again, his IGNORING the DOJ's OVERKILL and NEW nonsense screams to me that his purpose was far more about softening the criticism of his Boy Wonder that an objective legal analysis [and, again, Elevald's enabling that is insufferable...has she never heard of "full disclosure"?

Yes, who won the nomination is beside the point. I was NOT playing that game nor never have despite the accusations of certain O-psychos to the contray. But refusing to consider connections between things that happened before and what's happened more recently is not in our best interest. The tactic itself was the point NOT whom it was directed at.

McClurkin
Warren

Tribe's cherry picking facts to make O look good in the primaries.
Tribe's cherry picking facts now to make O look good.

---

by: Michael Bedwell @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 22:51:21 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Uh, don't get me started on McClurkin, Michael

Plus, I'm seeing a different and far more insidious aspect of this "covering" for the President from African American communities.  

---

by: kevinchi @ Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 09:13:13 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Civil Culture War

I think, and rightly so, that the FEDS and Obama are terrified of how the violent-crazy-loon religious reich will respond once we are deemed worthy of Equal Protection in America.

They are afriad that those "scarce resources" (our tax dollars) may have to be used to protect Queers from the christian terrorists.   I guess it doesn't make sense to protect those already established as legally-inferior.


Decades MORE of Psychological Abuse? - OR - Stonewall.  Nationwide.  NOW!

---

by: John Bisceglia @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 13:03:52 PM CDT

That's easy, Tax the Haters.

  Why should the Cristian Terrorists get tax breaks?  That is nothing more than saying our Federal Government SUPPORTS Domestic Terrorism.  Taxing the Cristian Terrorist to protect innocent people from their terrorist acts.

 That would take guts that none of our politicians have.  

 But it is the truth. OUR GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS DOMESTIC TERRORISM They have the murderous record in the last two weeks, and people do feel terrorized.

If I make sense? it was quite by accident.

---

by: HappyCat @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 16:14:43 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Example of progressives throwing us under the bus...

This DailyKos diary has been on the recommended list since yesterday. It is really infuriating.

Now, this much better front page post represents the "official position" and Markos has been great lately but it is an insult to the LGBT community that the other diary has stayed on the recommended list for so long.

---

by: claudew @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 13:13:53 PM CDT

Yeah I read that diary

and recced a few comments but...I know how my temper is.

---

by: kevinchi @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 13:30:45 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

example of another lame excuse

... in that diary, and yes, it is infuriating in its obtuse nature, that Obama is simply following the rule of law. If Barack Obama was consistent about upholding Federal law, the "take care" clause and that, then Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, John Yoo and a passel of other neocons would be in Federal court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. And the more extreme anti-abortion and "militia" figures would be undergoing Patriot Act investigations, under the domestic-terrorism provisions of the Act. And every defense contractor in the Iraq War would be feeling heat from the DoD contract-enforcement agencies.

And if Obama didn't like the law, he can have his majorities in Congress change it. Elections do have consequences -- or at least they ought to.

---

by: coram nobis @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 13:31:39 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Letting Leaders Lead

I often hear people ask where our Martin Luther King is or our modern Harvey Milk. But when someone tries to step up, we just tear them down.

I was at the Meet in the Middle 4 Equality rally in Fresno. I was just amazed at how inspiring Cleve Jones and Dustin Lance Black were. I was there at most of the events depicted in Milk and I certainly have had both agreements and disagreements with Cleve in the past but he has come a long way. He is providing a vision and a strategy for the future. The march is just the start. He is saying, enough with this state by state approach, where even where we win, it can all be taken away at the next election. After New York and New Jersey, how many states are left where we have a realistic shot at winning marriage equality? Very few.

It's time to focus on Congress to win complete legal equality, not just marriage equality. He is proposing organizing by Congressional District to win over or replace Congresspersons and Senators until we have a majority in Congress for full equality.

I've been dismayed to see all the energy being spent against the MOW. I'm hoping that the Joe.My.God interview represents a turning point and now with the anger at Obama more people are going to get behind it.

I'm also not happy with Prez Hilton's attempt to bring down Dustin with explicit pictures of unsafe sex from 3 years ago. Of course, Dustin should have known better (both to do it and to let it be filmed) but he's young and we've all made mistakes.

I've always believed in lead, follow or get out of the way. Cleve and Dustin are trying to provide leadership. I'm willing to follow. If you're not, then please provide some leadership yourself (there's plenty of room for other good ideas) or get out of the way.

If you don't agree with the march, don't go but the personal attacks (like the "vanity project" comment on another thread) have got to stop. Cleve has dedicated his life to the LGBT movement. Much of the freedom that we take for granted now would not exist where it not for the work that he and many others did. A little more r-e-s-p-e-c-t is called for.

---

by: claudew @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 14:19:10 PM CDT

Ok, but

what about those gay people in a recessed economy who might want to go to Washington and participate but can't afford to?

There are gay people who really can't afford this at this time. What do you think gay people should be doing if they have to stay away for financial reasons?

---

by: kevinchi @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 14:27:00 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

No brainer...

What's the problem? They can stay home and demonstrate locally. I'm sure you already thought about that...

Who is the "we" you always mention in your posts?  The use of a royal "we" throws me off.  Please spell out your affiliation if it is more than that.  Thanks.

---

by: Karen in Kalifornia @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 14:32:03 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Pardon, but that's YOUR problem

"throws [you] off"???? Who died and made you The English Teacher?

Anyone using "we" that is speaking for a group is automatically going to identify that group. Wny would they not?

If there's no such identification, it's obvious that they are using the collective "we" which is still perfectly acceptable to anyone with any education.

Enough with the goddamn "dumbing down" in our society.

---

by: Michael Bedwell @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 14:50:50 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I thought I edited the "we" out of my

previous post.

When I use "we" 99 times out of 100 I mean the "gay community." I never really noticed that I used it all the time and I know that it's dangerous to do so. I do have to be more mindful of that, seriously.

Actually, I can afford to go, I have family that lives there and a supportive boss who's a bit of a "community organizer" himself that would probably insist on it.

My thoughts are more along the line of what types of local actions/demonstrations will those in the gay community do?  

---

by: kevinchi @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 14:57:05 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Thanks to both Michael and kevin for the clarifications.

---

by: Karen in Kalifornia @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 15:05:44 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Make You Some Popcorn

and root from your computer - like me! LOL  I'm not going either.

And even if I could, I still probably wouldn't.  Obama would step out and say "Go away!  And don't forget to vote for me in 2012!" - to which 95% of the crowd will happily reply "OK!!!!".

Sorry, can't get enthusiastic when the self-appointed gays who calls the shots for the rest of us are dangerously passive - like the kid who ducks and covers when getting his ass whooped.  If they can't debate Maggie Gallagher and keep that swine under control (her yelling over them), then pretty much all hope is lost! LOL

Everyone keep spinning your wheels in the mud and handing Solmonese your money.

---

by: bluegrassfool @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 14:41:47 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

A few suggestons

I can't afford $700 either. But it doesn't have to cost that much. We could have partially subsidized car pools, buses and trains. The bus from SF to Meet in the Middle 4 Equality from SF to Fresno only cost $10.

Residents in DC could be encouraged to put people up in their homes who can't afford a hotel room (or can't find any more room). You could even have camp outs in public parks. That's how we did it in the 60s and 70s during the anti-war movement. The LGBT movement has become way too middle class. My first anti-war march was in 1971, at the age of 15. I hitchhiked from NY to DC. While there, I attended the protest at the American Psychiatric Association.

We could also set up satellite marches in other cities with live JumboTron feeds from Washington.  

---

by: claudew @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 14:51:19 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

See, this also needs to be organized

I love the idea of carpools.

Now I don't know about the campouts. For 1) DC can be chilly in October and 2) would that be permitted by the Park Service there (it used to be legal to sleep on the lakefront beaches in Chicago, for example. That's no longer the case.)?

---

by: kevinchi @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 15:00:41 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Of course it is not legal!

We just did it with the expectation that we might be arrested. That was then; this is now.

---

by: Pollyanna @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 15:04:47 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Civil disobedience, you suggest?

I'm down with that!

---

by: kevinchi @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 15:17:08 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Waste of time UNLESS

Marches NOT BIG ENOUGH to shut down traffic for several blocks for several hours ARE A WASTE OF TIME. In DC or Bumfuck, Idaho. An INSULTING waste of time because naivete as become a part of the problem not the solution.

And that would be true EVEN IF that were NOT a three-day federal holiday weekend when CONGRESS WILL BE GONE, THE PRESIDENT LIKELY TO BE GONE, AND THE MAJORITY OF DECISION MAKERS AT THE PENTAGON.

Cleve has referenced "civil disobedience" but the overriding verbiage is march, march, march. And the Mall has become a cliche, nothing more than a GIANT black hole that sucks all the "mass" power out of any group.

JUMBOTRON FEEDS to and from DC. I know you mean well, but, sir/madam, televising more preaching to the choir WILL CHANGE NOTHING! We don NOT need to see each other, we need the government to see US! And you need something much more JUMBO than a screen to get more than a five second mention on the screens THAT DO MATTER: the TV screens of Mr. & Mrs. America.

If that's ALL you're going to do you don't need to spend a dime, don't need to car pool, don't need to even leave your house.

You can hold your circle jerk in your own living room.

---

by: Michael Bedwell @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 15:17:06 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Perez

Ugh!  Doesn't Perez Hilton have anything better to do with his time?

If anything, the online gay community needs to bring his candyass down.  That D-list celeb wannabe has already caused enough trouble this year.

---

by: bluegrassfool @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 14:30:45 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I'd like to bring down all of the "A-Gays"

of the sort seen in the film "Milk," these accomodationist, elitist, mattachinistic conserva-queers currying favours from the hands of the oppressor whose jack-boot is firmly affixed to our collective throats....and alas and alack, and to the probable horror of the shade of Harney Milk, they are our leaders now...

I tell you Chica that no greater abomination exists than women denying their spirit of sisterhood and instead becoming the oppressor. -Rebeca, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

---

by: MauraHennessey @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 15:02:51 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

typo

Harney Milk, obviously--jet lag plays havoc with my typing as does outrage

I tell you Chica that no greater abomination exists than women denying their spirit of sisterhood and instead becoming the oppressor. -Rebeca, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

---

by: MauraHennessey @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 15:03:35 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

darn

Harvey---I need sleep

I tell you Chica that no greater abomination exists than women denying their spirit of sisterhood and instead becoming the oppressor. -Rebeca, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

---

by: MauraHennessey @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 15:06:30 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

The March should be One Piece of the Puzzle

I think deciding between March or no March isn't the only options.

Just like with the prop 8 protests, having an event in DC could be just one amongst many nationwide events.  Those who can afford to go can go.  Those who can't, or whose skills lend them towards more effective use locally could act locally with protests, events, a lobbying day, or what have you.

And we could all easily, in addition to whatever other steps we took, tack on phone call, e-mail, and online posting campaigns for equality.

Why not just do an all of the above approach.  Let the March highlight Obama (perhaps the only gov official around at the time) as needing to keep his promises, while the other events work towards whatever struggles for equality they can be best utilized for.  We can all do what we do best, but do it at the same time in a concentrated effort.

I think an inclusive approach will be the most constructive.

---

by: Jake Gellar-Goad @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 15:06:42 PM CDT

OK, let me add this

Can we remember that while the MOW is taking place, that DC also has a big African American community and, even, a big (and distinct) African American gay community.

Fair or not, the perception by some is that the "gay community" is a bunch of well-to-do spoiled white gays. Of course, I know that not to be the case but...it is what it is.

Especially considering the racial tensions that rose up with Obama's election and Prop 8, a March on Washington offers an invaluable opportunity for out reach to the African American community that actually resides there.

I'm not suggesting doing anything big or fabulous or anything like that but just...remember that.

---

by: kevinchi @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 15:39:19 PM CDT

Obama issued a

proclamation for Gay Pride Month. That was our "change". Can't you feel it? SNORT  

---

by: DilworthDem @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 15:43:24 PM CDT

Yeah, it made the knife in the back

 much easier to take, but it is still a knife wound that I will remember in 2012.

If I make sense? it was quite by accident.

---

by: HappyCat @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 16:26:38 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

small change you can believe in

Whoops. Sorry, obvious line. We have a President who will issue a Gay Pride proclamation once a year, and we're supposed to feel grateful.

---

by: coram nobis @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 20:34:15 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I noticed ACT UP was mentioned above

When I thought of what kind of leadership was needed Larry Kramer was one name that came to mind. Larry knew how to shake up things inside and outside the LGBT community. Shaking up is what I feel needs to happen, and focusing on one thing which we agree, there will be NO BUSINESS as usual until the goal is met. I disagree with a March on Washington, which I think would be a shoddily executed small demonstration, and costs participates way too much to attend.
Whether it's inclusive ENDA, ending DADT, or overcoming DOMA, we need to decide which we want MOST, any of the three are worthy goal, but are big enough we need everyone to do the lifting. There are younger diverse voices we need to provide them leadership roles, so this doesn't leave communities feeling disrespected or ignored, and we need young leaders, because it's their time, and it'll be their world they develop and design. we also need to retire disappointing old leaders, so no one mistakenly listens to them anymore, maybe even end old organizations which no longer represent us...yeah HRC, I'm talking about you.

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 16:51:29 PM CDT

Of the three goals, I believe inclusive ENDA needs to be first

It should have happened decades ago Nationally, like it did in many progressive states. That touches every life in OUR Community, and is the basic minimum to build our other Rights of military service and marriage upon. Once we can't be discriminated against, by forcing us from our homes and jobs we are financially much stronger.

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 22:58:14 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

1) DOMA 2) DADT 3) ENDA

Not a rational choice, but after this abominable hate-mongering motion that contributes to a dangerous atmosphere where not just denying basic rights but also physically attacking LGBTs becomes more likely, (RIP Officer Stephen Johns and Dr. George Tiller) ...

I think DOMA needs to topple first as part of the administration's repudiation of Friday's DOJ motion.  Here's what I wrote the President:  "The only thing that can salvage this is if you 1) retract this motion, 2) publicly repudiate its contents, 3) accept the resignation of its author, and 4) have a new motion written that eviscerates all the fallacious, unconstitutional reasoning in DOMA and calls for it to be rescinded by Congress or invalidated by the Courts.  Anything less is unacceptable; this is the only way to heal the incredible damage that has been done, and it must be done quickly."  I gather from bloggers with legal backgrounds that #4 can't happen as it contradicts the legal process.  But WTF, you never get what you want unless you at least ask for it.  Set the bar high.

Next, DADT.  We cannot afford to lose any more highly skilled service people whose talents we desperately need to help maintain our national security.

Then ENDA.

But no doubt cooler heads can make a more reasoned recommendation.

Listen to your fairy Godmother, my dear: you will go to the ball.

---

by: 555catnap @ Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 01:06:43 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

We need multiple leaders using complimentary and yet different approaches

Trying to lead the GLBT community is like herding cats.

Even Harvey Milk experienced this. You'd think a magazine like The Advocate would have supported him in his bid to become the first out of the closet elected official, and instead they attacked him, undermined his candidacy, and even after he was elected, they worked against everything he tried to accomplish.

It seems that no matter who a person is, if they try to lead this community, someone, somewhere, will have a problem with that. Sometimes it's arrogance (How DARE you speak for me. NOBODY can speak for ME. I am above all of you.), sometimes it's because everyone is ultimately flawed, and if you look for warts, you'll find them on everyone, so insisting on a perfect leader is like waiting for the perfect boyfriend. Sometimes its factional- I know ALOT of gay guys that don,t like lesbians, bisexuals or transpeople, and then again, I know alot of Lesbians, Bis and trans that hate gay guys, too. Sometimes the factions are between the marriage minded and those happier at circuit parties, or between the small town conservatives and the big city liberals. There's a gay preacher that often speaks at rallies here in New Orleans-great guy, perfect speaking voice, and really cute- and although I'm not a christian or even believe in God, I like the guy. Other, harder core atheists can't stand him because he wears a collar.

I'm not sure why these differences matter so much to us, why the leather daddies are so quick to distance themselves from femme gay guys, or why the bears hate the twinks so much. It is what it is, though, and whyever we do this, it means we will never have a national-level spokesperson, no matter how charismatic or courageous. So, the only reasonable solution is to have as many leaders as we have groups, each working independently, which is what we have now. If we could take that, and make an especially strong effort not to character assassinate each other or undermine or insult each other's work, it could still work out. It'll be the most unusual liberation movement the US has ever seen, but hey, what's so bad about being unusual, as long as it works.


My dad was a steelworker
My mom was a kitchen girl
and that's why
I'm a socialist.
-from an old song I used to hum to myself

---

by: DaveB @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 17:01:19 PM CDT

a true "queer" movement

I've never understood the cries for a single "national" voice not do I think that it's practical for the gay and lesbian community. Different communities have different priorities for different reasons. Much better to understand and accept those differences

---

by: kevinchi @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 17:15:07 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Okay, but can we please stop hating on each other?

I understand that we're not all going to be one big happy family under one leader.  But that's not an excuse to claw at one another.

Rule No. 1: Do not talk smack about your fellow queers.  Remember, first they came for the drag queens...

Rule No. 2: If your fellow queers seem too SCARY, contact them privately about toning it down for times when we all get together - for a civil rights march in October it is perhaps more appropriate for the leathermen to wear T-shirts with their leather vests and pants than to go without.  But if some guys with bare chests show up anyway and the "mainstream media" asks you about them, just smile and say that there's a lot of difference of opinion regarding style within the community.  "The same as pretty much anywhere, like the debate about whether leggings can substitute for pants.  But I think Tim Gunn's at the New York rally; one of your affiliates could probably talk with him there."

Rule No. 3: We do not have to like each other in order to work together effectively.

Marriage equality.  Now with 50% more cake.

equalitycake.blogspot.com

---

by: Maureen @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 17:35:23 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

rule 2

Convincing leathermen to wear jeans or leather pants, not chaps and others to tone down explicitly sexual thongs or threadbare shorts fitting too tight and too short...is resonable. The wearing of shirts at outdoor event isn't going to happen, it is perfectly legal for men to be shirtless, and for many of us, is visually a summer treat.

Getting too prudish and proper smacks of the old Mattachine Society, forcing lesbians to wear dresses and men in suits and ties. THAT will never happen again...and shouldn't. WE AREN'T copies of heterosexuals, and I'll be damned if I'd force anyone celebrating OUR PRIDE to do it as something other than what they are.

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 17:55:47 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

reasonable...typo

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 17:56:22 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Agreed

Well, the way I look at it, we all need each other, even if we can't stand each other.

No matter how SA/SA you are, the fact is, your straight friends will only go so far for you. Kucinish hasn't introduced any pro-GLBT legislation since he lost the primary. Obama's pro-DOMA & DADT now. DailyKos and 538 are full of people who say we're asking for too much, that we should just shut the fuck up and be happy Palin didn't win. Even Bill Maher, who was all over Californians for passing Prop 8, no longer talks about us except to mention in an offhand way that we're not an important issue to him anymore. Good luck getting any mention at all in the mainstream punitocracy, except for Racel Maddow and Keith Olbermann. Stephanie Miller will damn you with faint praise, Gwen Ifill and Bill Moyers never mention us at all. It seems like we don't even exist to the people that anyone pays any real attention to on Capitol Hill. They forgot we even exist. Pelosi, Reid, Feingold, Kucinich, Waxman, Merkley, begich, the Udalls-where are those tireless defenders of civil liberties when we actually need them, anyway? Heads in the sand, all around. They've got time to save the polar bear, but you? Forget it.

So buck up. Even if those shirtless men embarass you, or those thongs really make you wish you were somewhere else, the fact is, we need ALL the GLBTs, because there is nobody else on this earth that will fight for us in substance. That means we need the conservative button down types, the topless diesel dykes on bikes, the drag queens, the bethonged twinkies, the bears in their assless chaps, and everybody in between, every one of you. Like the lady said, if someone asks you what you think about so and so, just smile and say, "ain't diversity grand?"

AFTER we get equal rights, we can go back to hating on one another, but for now, swallow the urge to tell so-and-so off. There just isn't any time for that shit for now. There will be plenty of time after. For now, pretend its a family reunion, smile, and have an extra helping of pumpkin pie.

My dad was a steelworker
My mom was a kitchen girl
and that's why
I'm a socialist.
-from an old song I used to hum to myself

---

by: DaveB @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 18:57:29 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Bill Maher is no fierce friend

He called Dan Savage a fudgepacker to his face immediately after prop 8 was upheld.

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 22:35:04 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

There are no fierce friends... there never were, really

It all goes back to one basic principle, the only people who will be loyal to the GLBT cause is GLBT people. We simply cannot rely upon or expect heterosexual politicians to understand our issues or see them as important.

Whatever donation money you were going to send to the DNCC, the DCC or the DSCC, or to any Democratic or Republican candidate, send to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. It is only through electing GLBT politicians that we will ever get real representation in government.

Kucinich? Hasn't done shit for us since he lost the primary. Obama? Pro-DOMA and DADT. Clinton? She's got no time to even talk about us anymore. And as for the HRC's endorsement list from the 2008 election? Not one of those people, not a single one, has even lifted a finger to support the GLBT community since getting elected. Not Begich, not Udall, not Merkely, not Shaheen.... they took our money all right. Seems like they forgot about it as soon as the checks cleared the bank.

We simply must vote for GLBT people. That is the key here. First and foremost, we need gay Senators. Right now, we have three GLBT people in Congress and None, zip, sero, nada in the Senate. Too many good bills pass the House only to die in the Senate. Do you want your rights to be one of those?

Obama and the Dems can make it on their own power without our help. The man has a 70% approval rating, and that's WITH a recession, two unpopular wars and Joe Biden. He can survive without us, and he does not need us, which is why he has jettisonned us.

We need to take care of our own now.

My dad was a steelworker
My mom was a kitchen girl
and that's why
I'm a socialist.
-from an old song I used to hum to myself

---

by: DaveB @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 23:35:52 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I don't agree that there are no fierce friends

You state that heterosexual politicians cannot be relied upon.

I agree. But IMO, that is because they are POLITICIANS. The first concern of the vast majority of politicians is to get elected.   They aren't really "friends" to anyone, but themselves.

---

by: rfloh @ Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 01:51:29 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Those queers hurting the LGBT community

I reserve the right to call out as enemies...(ie Ken Mehlman, David Dreier, Karl Rove, Matt Drudge) they are our KAPOs.

Making nice only go so far.

Usually in the same breath the folks complaining about Pride about leather folks, rag on drag queens, and we need their courage and their humor, (we have since Stonewall, along with street dykes.) I'd like to see them recognised as our indigenous art form, no less than jazz or rock and roll.

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 22:43:06 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Rule 2

Agreed.  I'll amend it to "ask your fellow marchers - in a civil rights march, not a Pride celebration - if they can wear pants or shorts instead of thongs and female marchers to wear tops IN PRIVATE.  People can wear whatever the hell they want at Pride parades, and again, WE DO NOT TALK SMACK ABOUT FELLOW QUEERS.  Criticism stays in the family."

Marriage equality.  Now with 50% more cake.

equalitycake.blogspot.com

---

by: Maureen @ Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 00:31:32 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Rule No. 4

Be cautious about making sweeping statements that all straight politicians will eventually betray the LGBT community.

Consider that there may be some straight politicians (perhaps without national stature whom we may not know about), who would never toss us aside.  Particularly those politicians who have LGBT family members and who have worked through their homo/trans phobia.  

Consider that het allies not  in politics may have a tough time separating themselves from the category of "het politicians," and may get worn down by repeated attacks from a people they support and love.  Although most allies have learned to tolerate bursts of rage from the queer community including occasional knee-jerk anti-Straight speech, let's try not to push away and alienate our friends.

Listen to your fairy Godmother, my dear: you will go to the ball.

---

by: 555catnap @ Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 01:40:37 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

rule 5

The world belongs to those who show up.
Whether it's registering to vote and going to vote EVERY election, donating seed money to new politicians, becoming delegates, showing up at rallies.

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 02:12:40 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I recall the pre AIDS community with many more factions

Gays and lesbians didn't interact, bisexuals were a myth, and transgender people had kind of a love hate relationship towards gay men. racial divides were seen more often and inter racial dating brought out foul derogatory racist slang which was tollerated by many, even thought comical.I can't speak to how lesbians were toward transexuals, since gay men were told in no uncertain terms to stay out of womyn's spaces.
Then AIDS began killing hundreds of people in every city, then thousands. That's when I saw lesbians reach out to help gay men, and old garbage just got put aside. Just as Nationally the tragic attack on 9/11 put aside all our differences, for about three days when abortionists and queers got blamed by sh*thead Pat Robinson. But there still was a coming together in the midst of huge devastation. Matthew Shepard united gays and straights briefly.
Maybe our leaders don't appear until we need them, or circumstances forces someone to lead. Following also needs to be respected, few have the skills to become great leaders, and so the rest of us support them in lesser roles.

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 01:53:12 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Great coverage in Der Spiegel

This story has become an international story:

http://www.spiegel.de/internat...

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

---

by: Lev Raphael @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 21:52:26 PM CDT

A march will make us feel good

but no one in Congress or in the Admin will give a damn. And that's the truth. I am thinking we need to focus stateside and as we add more victories large and small a stronger wave will be created to take to DC with something to show for it.  

---

by: DilworthDem @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 22:48:45 PM CDT

Another model for a leader could be Troy Perry, founder of MCC

Begining with twelve friends he created one of the first open and affirming churches, now an international phenomena.
The MCC church was a driving force early in the AIDS crisis, when none of the other AIDS organizations had been created.

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

---

by: peteyPornpig @ Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 02:19:16 AM CDT

Where are the reactions from the Equality Caucus?

Has anyone in the Equality Caucus released a statement? If they have, post the link. Here is the list:

List of Caucus Members in the 111th Congress
http://lgbt.tammybaldwin.house...

The caucus currently has 79 members:

Co-Chairs

Tammy Baldwin (D-WI02)
Jared Polis (D-CO)
Barney Frank (D-MA)

Vice Chairs

Rob Andrews (D-NJ)
Xavier Becerra (D-CA)
Lois Capps (D-CA)
Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
Joseph Crowley (D-NY)
Diana DeGette (D-CO)
Keith Ellison (D-MN)
Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ)
Mike Honda (D-CA)
Barbara Lee (D-CA)

Caucus Members

Neil Abercrombie (D-HI)
Shelley Berkley (D-NV)
Howard Berman (D-CA)
Tim Bishop (D-NY)
Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
Robert Brady (D-PA)
Michael Capuano (D-MA)
André Carson (D-IN)
Kathy Castor (D-FL)
Susan Davis (D-CA)
Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
Bill Delahunt (D-MA)
Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
Eliot Engel (D-NY)
Anna Eshoo (D-CA)
Bob Filner (D-CA)
Charles Gonzalez (D-TX)
Luis Gutierrez (D-IL)
Phil Hare (D-IL)
Jane Harman (D-CA)
Alcee Hastings (D-FL)
Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
Rush Holt (D-NJ)
Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
Steve Israel (D-NY)
Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)
Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)
Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)
Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH)
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
John Lewis (D-GA)
Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
Nita Lowey (D-NY)
Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
James McGovern (D-MA)
Jerry Nadler (D-NY)
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)
Linda Sánchez (D-CA)
Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
Henry Waxman (D-CA)
Anthony Weiner (D-NY)
Peter Welch (D-VT)
Doris Matsui (D-CA)
Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
Jim McDermott (D-WA)
James Moran (D-VA)
Patrick Murphy (D-PA)
Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
Bill Pascrell (D-NJ)
Chellie Pingree (D-ME)
Mike Quigley (D-IL)
Steven Rothman (D-NJ)
José Serrano (D-NY)
Joe Sestak (D-PA)
Brad Sherman (D-CA)
Jackie Speier (D-CA)
Pete Stark (D-CA)
Betty Sutton (D-OH)
Ellen Tauscher (D-CA)
Edolphus Towns (D-NY)
Niki Tsongas (D-MA)
Nydia Velázquez (D-NY)
Robert Wexler (D-FL)
Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
David Wu (D-OR)

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by: Pam Spaulding @ Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 04:52:08 AM CDT

The Stonewall Democrats?

Don't forget them!

http://www.stonewalldemocrats....

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by: kevinchi @ Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 09:22:40 AM CDT

[ Parent ]