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Gays to Petition Michelle Obama, Pelosi for Marriage Equality;
Demand: Repeal DOMA Now!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 20, 2009
80-Year-Old Lesbian Edie Winsdor Outside
of SF Volunteerism Forum Has Message
for Michelle Obama and Nancy Pelosi:
'We Demand Marriage Equality Now.'
SAN FRANCISCO -- Members of the San Francisco and nationwide LGBT American community will hold a press conference on Monday outside a volunteerism conference, to demand marriage equality in California and across America.
The group's message will be targeting First Lady Michelle Obama and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who will both deliver addresses at the convention. President Obama came under fire last week by the LGBT community for defending the DOJ's decision to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act. House Speaker Pelosi has also failed to put her full authority behind the issue of marriage equality.
WHAT: Press Conference for Marriage Equality
WHO: LGBT American Leaders, locally and nationally and 80-year-old lesbian activist Edie Windsor.
WHEN: Monday, June 22
TIME: 12 Noon
WHERE: Moscone Center West
ADDRESS: 747 Howard Street, at Fourth
At this marriage equality press conference, Edie Winsdor of New York City, an 80-year-old lesbian activist, will plead with Obama and Pelosi to support marriage equality. Windsor will release the text of a law repealing the Defense of Marriage Act that she would like Rep. Pelosi to immediately introduce in the House.
For Winsdor, the push for marriage equality has come too late; her partner of 44 years, Thea Spyer, died earlier this year before the two could be legally married in their home state of New York. However, they were wed in Canada. Winsdor is in San Francisco to promote a new documentary, "Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement," about her relationship with Spyer, playing at the Frameline Festival. Click here for more info on the screenings.
Like many LGBT citizens fed up with federal non-delivery of equality legislation and movement forward, Winsdor is angry with the politics as usual approach in Washington toward our issues.
"From President Obama, to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, down to the leaders at the Democratic National Committee, promises made to LGBT people have been broken. We demand, as equal Americans, that we receive equal rights. There must be change now," said Windsor.
She added, "I find it unconscionable that the only thing standing between me and full rights is a bunch of scared Democratic politicians. Your cowardice kept my 44-year relationship from receiving the full rights and respect that it deserved. It is too late for my beloved late lover Thea and me. But I will not allow another year to go by until this community has full rights and that includes marriage equality all over America. It is time for Rep.Pelosi to introduce legislation overturning DOMA."
Edie Winsdor asks that all people who support marriage equality attend the news conference dressed in rainbow clothing and accessories, and to bring picket signs.
Link to trailer for "Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL83Yl4-9Vc
Contacts:
Brendan Fay
(917) 402-3134
Brendan@stpatsforall.com
Michael Petrelis
(415) 621-6267
MPetrelis@aol.com
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_wusc4ZC4DPc/SjqX9TJ97...
NO GAY RIGHTS, NO GAY $$
Tweet, protesters, tweet!!
Having met Andy Tobias, and knowing him to be an extremely nice, honorable guy, it saddens me to see the straits he now finds himself in. However, he is entrenched in the DNC, and if he wants us to raise money for the cause, he needs to give us a good reason. Right now, there is none.
The only tool we have to effect change within the Obama administration is our money. When Obama allows his DOJ to put out a brief that completely dehumanizes our plight, and then refuses to even denounce the language used, he forces the issue.
I still believe that dissing gays was a calculated strategy by Rahm to make the president look centrist. Pandering to the GOP and the blue dogs hasn't helped Obama much to this point at all, has it?
This is 2009, not 1969, or even 1993. The United States is way behind our allies on most social issues, including glbt civil rights. We are not the leaders. This is not a great social experiment. It works everywhere else.
We cannot be cowed into silence, as if making progress on issues like lifting DADT were somehow akin to the parting of the sea. This should not be that big of a deal, with our plurality, and with a proven global model to point to.
Obama has surrounded himself with people who value political calculation over courageousness. He is now paying the price for it.
I think to get access, we do need to be careful about being too shrill and backing Obama into a corner. I like the idea of expressing our displeasure civilly, cutting off our financial assistance to the Dems, and having a meaningful march on Washington on October 11th.
We do not need to go to over-the-top in our rhetoric, because we have to play some politics, after all. This doesn't mean we can't be angry as Hell. And we should express that. But the strongest message we can send is to do exactly what we are doing...sending the message that means no advancement of glbt issues = no gay dollars.
That is something that will resonate.
We've just got to be very effective at sending the message to him that continuing to play this love/hate tactic with our community is going to be far too expensive to his brand.
Look at it this way: in so doing we are conducting something of a family intervention with our President. Face up to your own deep personal emotional problems with gay folks and get it treated, so you can move on to living a happier and more productive life.
When all is really said and done the problem and the solution (right now) really is with Obama.
It's not a bridge, it's a one-way street, money flows in, and nothing flows out.
All they have to do is open it up to two-way traffic, starting with DADT stop-loss, then move on to defeating DOMA.
While we have every reason to complain loudly "what have you done for me lately" and I damned sure am, let us not forget that, with all its faults, it is the Democratic Party that has been the vehicle for the vast majority of progress we have made.
There are vicious, hateful, totally greed and fear driven manipulative scoundrels running the Republican Party and that is a long time from being over.
Our problem is not really with Democrats, it is with the Republican Lite dysfunction that stared with Bill Clinton and is continuing with another giant ego named Obama and his ilk who lack courage, character and principle.
They almost don't have the right to call themselves Democrats and we have to expose them to their proper shame.
The practical reality is we are a two party system, so our mission has to be to clean up the Democratic Party by using the most effective tough love we can invent.
If any cultural niche is creative enough to do it, it ought to be us!
I have no desire to align myself with GOP lite.
As the McClatchey piece on this blog shows, that is exactly how Obama is governing.
That is the most snide, cynical thing I've ever seen, like "come along for a fun night protesting us, then pop inside for a Betrayal (2 parts vodka, one part lame last-minute attempt to save your own ass, a dash of presidential lies, serve over icey glare of angry protesters fighting for your civil rights).
What - is this some kind of game to him? is this entertaining for him? Condescending, to say the least.
Does
Not
Care
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO2hn16bi9I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiNL_IH9dxA
About hating ourselves:Only put a gay stereotype in its place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deVYIzYkO6I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkTnUxLjO2E
He was instrumental in making sure blacks wouldn't be lulled into complacency. The gay movement doesn't only need an MLK, it also needs a Malcolm X.
Paging actup?
I don't have full rights as a citizen of the United States and you refer to John's efforts to do something about that as "bitching." John has actually a made a difference with his work here. If you have done things to help the girls in Tehran, thanks. To attack someone for trying to change something they can because it is not your top priority is not the behavior of a healthy person.
I changed from Dem to Independent party registration in Dec 08 when Mr. Obama would not change the homophobic "minister" at his inaugural. I knew what was coming next, and indeed have been in mourning since the handwriting has finally been put on the wall in front of us all.
Since last week, whenever a dem letter comes to my email, I have been opting out of receiving. So far, only one, from John Kerry, has asked why. I told him in plain language why...
Since last week, I have decided that we are somehow being used. I don't quite get it, but I know this to be true. Our only recourse at this time is to give the dems NOTHING until we have full equality.
I just wonder what their real agenda is. How inhumane of them to continue this game...playing with our very lives...but any gays who continue to go along with it are complicit.
Pelosi = crickets . . . . .
Reid = we don't have any plans to push DADT or DOMA through Congress.
Obama = I'm a fierce advocate for gays and lesbians but don't pay any attention to that little DOJ guy behind the curtain fighting against you and comparing you to incest or pedophilia. I wanna help you but my hands are tied.
I guess his mouth wasn't tied when he let them insult us in that brief with his blessings. Worse, he is too proud to apologize for the language or the aggressiveness of the brief. So ... he actually must believe it or he would apologize for it. Which is it Barry? You are for us achieving our rights or you are totally against us ever getting our rights. Read your own words and see what you think. You should be called President Janus for being so two-faced on everything.
This administration….from President Obama to Congress, have been a great frustration to LGBT Americans in spite of the good things accomplished. Of course(!) they are far better than George Bush or McCain/Pallin. That’s why so many gave and worked so hard….for a FAR better future. We have been promised that they understand the need for full and equal rights…that they ‘get it’. I don’t need to go into all the gory details of why the disappointed feelings.
Frankly, I don’t blame it all on them. I think our advocacy groups have missed the mark on some very important messaging. I’m not saying the messaging they’ve used is bad….but it has not gotten us to where we should be. It’s 90%.
We must:
1. Draw the connection of the root cause of the discrimination against the LGBT community – it is religion based bigotry. When Obama and Biden talk about marriage between a man and a woman, the roots of those beliefs are in their religious teachings and that is what they are espousing….religion based bigotry.
2. Educate about the traumatic harm that is caused to over 1 million LGBT teens TODAY….right this moment. I realize many of you might not like to talk about the painful memories of your past. While putting CRISIS together I came to learn how I had to pry it out of some of our best known leaders. But NOW is the time to make certain this administration and congress know the pain and suffering that exists…and even suicides that occur because LGBT people are marginalized in this great country of ours. If I read one more post, one more open letter, hear one more speech that leaves these kids out, my hair will catch on fire. STOP FORGETTING ABOUT THEM!
3. Make it known that in America today, the bigotry against us is unacceptable. Witness Rick Warren at the inauguration. And part of the fault lies within our own groups. They are afraid to stand up and call bigotry for what it is.
I will be attending the June 26th dinner. I’ll be polite and listen as always…..but my real purpose is to talk to the elected officials about the harm caused to the hundreds of thousands of innocent young kids who are going through what I went through. I will tell them my story. And I will give them a copy of CRISIS. That will be my dinner conversation because I know from first hand experience it transforms people. Will you join me?
I will be in the lobby prior to the dinner an hour early. I’ll have plenty of copies of CRISIS. I’d like to give you one to carry around at the dinner to start a conversation with the various elected officials we have put our trust in. And to give to Vice President Biden when you meet him. Maybe if 30 people give him a copy, he’ll get the message that another important and not yet visible enough face of LGBT civil rights is our traumatized kids who cannot speak for themselves. Will you do that?
And will you tell your story? Break down your own walls….be vulnerable for a few minutes. When I really dig with most people and ask them why they do the advocacy work they do, inevitably it is because they don’t want more kids to go through what they did. Let’s say it now.
Can you imagine if we turned this dinner into a time for the political leaders to learn about who we were? Not who we have become today…..strong, successful, etc….but rather who we want to protect and change this country so never again will a kid have to live in a crisis because they are struggling with their sexual orientation or identity.
So yes I will go. And I will speak my truth and not be concerned about future access.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell Gold
http://www.centerchurchmeriden.org
revjjo at mac dot com
What have Obama / Biden actually done for us that's so much better than what McCain / Palin wouldn't have done? Seems to me McCain / Palin DOJ would have defended DOMA in just about the same way. Have I missed something?
Christ.
Oh. i'm so very disappointed and chagrined that we have been compared analogously to the perpetrators of child predation, could you possibly consider NOT using those particular terms? We find it distressing, and look, you've made Lance cry! *Wrings hands*
Seriously.
It's past disappointment. It's into full blown fury and revulsion. Grow a pair or don't speak for anybody but yourself.
This dripping doily act makes me want to puke.
what i have never found
what i don't know what i want
but it must be around
i been upset
since the day before last
but that day was so long
i done forgot when it passed
yes almost forgot
what i have not found
but i know it must be
somewhere around...
langston hughes
The only way gays have ever made any progress was by fighting back, hard. Stonewall forty years ago. The Dan White riots in SF thirty years ago. GMHC's pressure on the mayor and NYTimes in New York twenty-five years ago. ACT UP. Sorry, can't name one thing the "Hiding-in-the-closet Business Associations of America" or Log Cabin Republicans have ever TRIED to achieve in terms of gaining gay rights much less anything they succeeded with.
Here in Wisconsin back in the early 80s, it was a political campaign organized by gay men and women that actually worked the refs and the pols, relentlessly, and the courage of outspoken leaders like Archbishop Rembert Weakland, that moved our first-in-the-nation gay rights bill through the state legislature to Republican Governor Dreyfuss' desk for signature. Overreacting is the only time anyone notices we're reacting at all.
You want hide out and be invisible for the rest of your scared little life, you go ahead. And when the rights you failed to fight for are delivered to you thanks to the rest of us who've been "overreacting" and fighting back hard our whole lives, you go right ahead and enjoy them. But know this: it'll be no thanks to you or your criticism of gay activists with the guts to call bigotry and bigotry's accomplices the traitors that they are.
Tell us what "possible" way you've got in mind, why it'll work, and show us how hard you're willing to fight for it. We'll help. Until then, are you willing to help us?
Calling people traitors because they are involved in elected politics and want to raise some money so we can have more Democrats in office (thus improving our chances of eventually repealing DOMA) is overreacting. Aravosis's claim that DOJ didn't have to defend DOMA seems to be inaccurate. Calling Obama a bigot for deprioritizing gay rights is overreacting.
I certainly take issue with the language of the brief. It said a lot of moronic, sometimes bigoted things. But I also take issue with Aravosis's claim that cousin marriage and the marriage of a sixteen-year-old count as incest and child rape. It's possible to be critical, but not hysterical, and that's what I'd like to see.
The people at the fundraiser are making one reasonable tactical decision, which is to enhance the presence and visibility of queers in the Democratic party. I'm all for protesting. Honest. As long as the protests are reminders that we still have a long way to go, rather than attempts to play good gay/bad gay.
There are also plenty of tactics other than running around screaming about betrayal and how evil and bigoted people are and what jerks Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank and Jared Polis are: town hall meetings, civil disobedience, lobbying, letter-writing, marches, rallies, courthouse demonstrations, coming out day, in-person visits to legislators' offices, phone calls, running for office. All of those things change the political incentives, which is the way we can actually change what Obama does. Like I said, he's a politician.
I don't think the measure of courage and commitment is whether you like Aravosis's ultra-hyperbolic, dishonest rhetoric; I think it's action, and action that works. And I haven't seen Aravosis suggest one action other than bailing on the fundraiser, which most of his readers can't do. Instead, he's just called a bunch of people traitors. Awfully easy to do that on the internet.
Which brings me to my final point: I'm pretty astonished that you would call me - someone you don't know at all - a closeted Log Cabin Republican. In reality, I'm an out queer woman who finds the Democratic party quite a bit too conservative for her tastes, and you could have learned that by looking at my blog. I've been a queer rights activist since I was 13. If Dan Savage's proposed civil disobedience thing gets off the ground, my partner and I plan to fly to DC to get arrested at the White House gates. I'm one of us, dude. And I still think Aravosis is overreacting.
Wow John...............
What about the LGBT appointee's serving in the OBAMA Administration?
So WHAT were these appointees hired to do?
Decorate?
or handle issues with our community?
I can't believe how much of a slap in the face to our justifiable outrage this email is. Andrew should be ashamed of himself from trying to spin civil rights. Wow.
-- Scott M
Go home.
You can consider me purged (I'm changing launch pages), which means you can comment away to my back. I'm going to go do some housecleaning and weed the veggies, literally, though you might consider it figuratively when you take a break from eating your own.
The right wing kooks certainly don't need actual agent provocateurs with the amazing help you're providing in purging your base.
I have experienced cannibalism within the glbt political community, which is why I never pursued that venue full time.
This, however, does not fit that metric. I think it is a bit unfair to assume you know everyone's motivations, but that is your call.
Personally, I do feel your reaction is a bit out of kilter, but again, good luck to you in fighting whatever issues you deem to be important.
FYI:
Just below the thread comment box you will see "Sort by" and from that dropdown menu you can determine how you wish comments to be displayed for you.
Some choose Newest first, some Oldest.
Having the gov't associate me with incest and pedophilia or having my email address published....
Let me think...
Which is worse?
But saying you no longer support and respect John for posting is a bit harsh. Just my opinion.
Oy.Vey.
Enjoy our foot shoved up your traitorous @sses, more like.
I like the idea above . . .Barney Frank and a dunk tank.
I don't want ANYONE to die....
except maybe dick cheney
http://mickeymusing.vox.com/library/post/milita...
I can't see how anyone in the gay community or those who support civil rights in general can fundraise in support of the DNC right now. Those of you who are able to rise above the great offenses recently done are better people than I am, for sure.
When one can lose everything when a long-term partner dies (as happened to a good friend of mine) it can make you feel like you are being treated less than human.
Until you know what it is like to be denied civil rights, even when you pay as much into the system as those that do receive 1st-class status, it changes things.
You see, to us, it is our lives...not just "doma this, gay that, blah, blah."
In short, your post was revolting. We have nothing in common.
Please, by all means, get lost.
Cool.
And don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.
Take a look that the current front page. See anything besides "doma this, gay that?"
since 2003 eh?
So the 24/7 of Jeff Gannon Gukert in 2005 was ok?
( It's easy to spot a liar on here)
So it's ok for us gays to be compared to incest and pedophilia?
So does that mean you agree with the DOJ brief?
I'm sure if the DOJ called your mother or father those names you wouldn't be upset?
Keep up the awesome job you're doing and don't listen to those who say we need to shut up. We've been quiet for far too long already and this genie is not going back into the bottle. The only way we will get action is to protest loudly with our voices, blogs, money and anything else we can think of. I'm keeping note of who is attending because they will not be receiving any donations from me in the future. I try to give as much as I can to help our cause but I refuse to give to anyone who isn't going to use it to further our cause. The more I think about it the more I think some of these gay organizations really don't want us to get rights because they would then be out of a job. It's become a career for some instead of what it should be--a fight for equality and for us to be treated like everyone else and not as second class citizens.
Attendance at this fund raiser -- especially in light of this latest DNC email further emphasizing the disdain for the respect & dignity of our community ("your notions of marriage equality is like incest & hillbillies' underage child-wife, but we love ya' anyway"), proves how invested these players are with their true boss.
The mocking tone of the latest DNC invite is PERFECTLY in keeping with the smugness of the Obama brand. It infects every single one of them, except perhaps Biden and they're sure working on him.
She can stand up to Merril Lynch (remember she SUED them while she was their employee) but can't stand up to the Obama/Biden/Holden clique.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?...
However, if those companies advertised on right-wing blogs, and not here, you would have more of a case.
Some advertisers do not want to be involved with political blogs whatsoever, for obvious reasons. That brings me to wonder what drove them here in the first place. They did not know that the site featured opinion?
I think it would be far more valuable to target the advertisers on right-wing blogs and boycott them. Those advertisers specifically fund anti-gay hate speech.
I have decided to go as previously committed because I believe it will be an opportunity for many of us to communicate our disappointment. More importantly, it will give me and hopefully others a time to communicate some new messages that might resonate more effectively.
This administration….from President Obama to Congress, have been a great frustration to LGBT Americans in spite of the good things accomplished. Of course(!) they are far better than George Bush or McCain/Pallin. That’s why so many gave and worked so hard….for a FAR better future. We have been promised that they understand the need for full and equal rights…that they ‘get it’. I don’t need to go into all the gory details of why the disappointed feelings.
Frankly, I don’t blame it all on them. I think our advocacy groups have missed the mark on some very important messaging. I’m not saying the messaging they’ve used is bad….but it has not gotten us to where we should be. It’s 90%.
We must:
1. Draw the connection of the root cause of the discrimination against the LGBT community – it is religion based bigotry. When Obama and Biden talk about marriage between a man and a woman, the roots of those beliefs are in their religious teachings and that is what they are espousing….religion based bigotry.
2. Educate about the traumatic harm that is caused to over 1 million LGBT teens TODAY….right this moment. I realize many of you might not like to talk about the painful memories of your past. While putting CRISIS together I came to learn how I had to pry it out of some of our best known leaders. But NOW is the time to make certain this administration and congress know the pain and suffering that exists…and even suicides that occur because LGBT people are marginalized in this great country of ours. If I read one more post, one more open letter, hear one more speech that leaves these kids out, my hair will catch on fire. STOP FORGETTING ABOUT THEM!
3. Make it known that in America today, the bigotry against us is unacceptable. Witness Rick Warren at the inauguration. And part of the fault lies within our own groups. They are afraid to stand up and call bigotry for what it is.
I will be attending the June 26th dinner. I’ll be polite and listen as always…..but my real purpose is to talk to the elected officials...especially the VP who I've always heard is a decent guy... about the harm caused to the hundreds of thousands of innocent young kids who are going through what I went through. I will tell them my story. And I will give them a copy of CRISIS. That will be my dinner conversation because I know from first hand experience it transforms people.
I will be in the lobby prior to the dinner an hour early. I’ll have plenty of copies of CRISIS. I’d like to give one to those attending to carry around at the dinner to start a conversation with the various elected officials we have put our trust in. And to give to Vice President Biden. Maybe if 30 people give him a copy, he’ll get the message that another important and not yet visible enough face of LGBT civil rights is our traumatized kids who cannot speak for themselves.
When I really dig with most people and ask them why they do the advocacy work they do, inevitably it is because they don’t want more kids to go through what they did. It's time to make these people aware of what is going on because I really don't believe they know.
Can you imagine if we turned this dinner into a time for the political leaders to learn about who we were? Not who we have become today…..strong, successful, etc….but rather who we want to protect and change this country so never again will a kid have to live in a crisis because they are struggling with their sexual orientation or identity.
So yes I will go. And I will speak my truth and not be concerned about future access.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell Gold
I'd wager that the average person watching TV coverage of the event, or reading seeing a picture in the paper of those in attendance, will think assume that GLBT attendees are happy with the administration and that Obama and company are doing things that make the LGBT community happy.
Whatever the intentions of any attendee - whatever his/her plan to use the event to bring attention to the injustices of DADT, DOMA, immigration laws, civil marriage laws, etc. - we cannot overlook the fact that most in this country (sadly) will likely see a those-gays-love-Obama photo-op. We can no longer afford to be so naive.
We need all attendees to pull out because this is a highly visible event that many will be paying attention to. We need a unified voice shouting loud that we are no longer willing to wait for "the right time" for members of the GLBT community to be accorded the same rights and protections as their straight counterparts.
I'd posit that by pulling out of the event, each and every person invited will achieve far more than they will by showing up and expressing dissatisfaction.
I also think we may be forgetting how horrible the last 8 years were. So while the Dems in control are falling way short of my expectations, there is no question in my mind they are more educatable.
Since i'm not seeing any of your names, i'm not able to know who I do or do not know. So i don't really know what you stand for, what messaging you believe will work and what real accomplishments you've had in doing any of this. What would be your strategy to get legislators to take REAL actions on our behalf?
Believe me, i'm pissed off as can be. i love the boycott idea of the dinner for the many that will do it. i love the idea that there will be less people there to vie for the VP's time nad i might get a genuine chance to educate him about who we are in a different way than he ever has been. I'm comfortable speaking like many others are not.
So i would only ask for a little respect for putting my money where my heart is and confidence that i'm not a complete cabbage head vs. absolutism of your beliefs.
But until you put some muscle behind the good words you say, they will NOT really listen to you, except with token or foot-dragging gestures. The GLBT community has spent plenty of time talking and telling our stories. Now is not that time. Now is a time to show that muscle.
And as we're learning the last couple of weeks, money is muscle to these supposed "allies." And it's working: note the meetings the Obama administration is suddenly rushing to set up with GLBT groups.
If you want to protect GLBT kids, don't just stand there saying "please, please, help these kids." That's noble, but those kids are still likely to be left in unnecessarily bad situations due to lack of rights and protection for secure and stable relationships, unless you, instead, say "Please help these kids, NOW not later, or there will be CONSEQUENCES." And mean it.
If you want to capture their attention (both kids and politicians), you instead say "listen, here's a few things you're going to talk about with me and then a few things you're going to start doing. Once you do, THEN it's allowance time. But not 'til then."
Trust me, though, if you're making an impassioned speech about GLBT rights while simultaneously handing these people a check, most are gonna be thinking "Money! Money! Money! oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I want to go on a trip! I want an ice cream cone!..." etc., etc. and everything you're saying, as admirable as it is, is a dull, "blah, blah, blah" drone in their background.
For almost the past year I have seen the impact educating people about the difficulties LGBT youth face. It's one of the strongest tools in our arsenal. If our advocacy groups and all on this list would pay attention to it and make it one of THE important faces of our movement, i do believe we would be further ahead.
Obama is scared silly of the anti LGBT black church and evangelicals. The question is which is he more scared of, losing our money or losing their support?
Without going into my personal giving in detail, just do know i am giving far less than i have in the past to the DNC....and they know it.
Mitchell
If your answer is no, then I completely support you trying to reach out personally and talking to them face-to-face. But if your answer is yes, even after you've seen the talk isn't working, why would you continue to support then try to bargain with them?
I guess my main question is, what makes you think just you talking to them face to face is going to change anything? Do you really believe that because they spoke to Mitchell Gold personally they're going to change course? What makes you think they aren't going to feed you the same BS in person that they've been feeding us through fourth and fifth level employees?
What I believe the bottom line is, you going to talk personally with Vice President Biden and others isn't going to make nearly the statement as you talking to them all with the lack of your presence and pocketbook.
Sometimes, the withdrawal of support is much more effective than the depositing.
First, what can be accomplished by a boycott. It's never been done so we just don't know.
Second, what can be accomplished to change the messaging to what i'm suggesting (all the points in my note). It's never been done so we just don't know.
So i am fully supportive of those that are boycotting. And williing to go and do what i think is right.
What does concern me is the way some on this list have to have it their way or no way. Reminds me of the fundamentalists where i live in NC. I must say, it doesn't sound so good.
Mitchell
And I would not just recommend witholding finances to the Dems.
I think there are too many glbt organizations that have gotten ineffective and lazy.
Personally, I found Mr. Solmonese's backpedalling on Obama to be more than a little offensive.
We need accountability for those that want our money.
And you should realize Mitchell that this extraordinary reaction follows extraordinary circumstances...prop 8...the feeling we now had an ally in Washington.
What you see now is collective rage bubbling over. We have been more than patient on our issues for way too long.
Where did that get us?
The DNC, and politics in general, is a business. We know boycotts affect business. This particular boycott will be especially effective because, in political terms, we're the second largest 'patrons' of the DNC's fundraising business.
As to your second point, while we don't know what will succeed in making full equality a reality, we do know what hasn't - being friendly and discussing how important our issues are while forking over a check.
People have already done what you say you're going to do, hell, millions of LGBT americans did that during the elections simply by volunteering, fundraising, and voting for these people. They still turned their backs on us.
So while I agree we aren't sure exactly what the extent this boycott will have on this administration, we ARE sure of what polite discourse while padding their wallets has.
And that's nothing.
Ps I agree about some of the rhetoric being used, but you have to remember we just got betrayed by the one administration - after all these years - that we thought had our best interest in mind. People are pissed so yeah while we should all calm down a bit, I think you can cut the community some slack.
i really disagree what i'm saying has been done. Frankly, that's one of the problems....i don't think you read what messaging i think will work carefully. if you can tell me where it's been used that would be great.
PS: i'm not sure boycotts have worked so well for the AFA.
Point is, talking while giving money hasn't worked. We've done it already. You going to do it for the umpteenth time isn't going to change anything. But you withholding your support and name, definitely will.
That's what we know for sure.
I am asking you not to blame the victims here.
We have an opportunity to talk to the DNC in the language they understand, money. Your unwillingness to understand this is subject to serious doubt about your intentions. You want to help the LGBT community? Pull out of this event. Or, as you have already read, the gay community will pull our money out of you. Now does that get your attention?
Thank you for your reasoned response. I agree with the other posters, however, that your financial support should completely discontinue...that's the only way they're going to pay attention.
And you can know my name...I am the Rev. James J. Olson
http://www.centerchurchmeriden.org
revjjo at mac dot com
For what it's worth, I absolutely agree with you on the calculation they are making. That said, it's the coalition they cobbled together. Sooner or later they had to know that there would be a breaking point. Many here including myself could have lived with them dealing with other priorities and avoiding the rupture in the coalition for a while longer. Is that leadership? No, it's pragmatism.
They chose this fight with their brief.
When a Democratic DOJ uses incest and child rape to give context to gay relationships in a legal brief, there's no going back. He's told us that his party is not our party anymore.
So now Mr. Obama is going to have to lead. He's going to have convince the haters in his own party that people can believe what they want but the government has to treat everyone equally.
The only way to make a politician notice is to hit him where it hurts, his wallet. Your words, no matter how impassioned, will fall on deaf ears, but they'll happily cash your check.
You just gave a very valid reason for your own attendance and I give you credit for having the guts to come on this forum and state yourself.
I was a glbt activist through much of the 90s and the first part of this decade. I got extremely disillusioned with the glbt establishment, that seemed more concerned about access and cocktail parties than actually accomplishing anything, and transformed my political activism to a more generic defense and advocacy of progressive issues.
While I still do that, using a different internet presence, I decided to revive my glbt activism because the glbt leadership is relatively impotent. We need to raise our own voices for ourselves. People in leadership positions get too comfortable in the spotlight and often forget why they were put in their positions in the first place.
If you seriously feel you are doing the right thing by attending and doing what you proposed, godspeed.
However, I would send another message with my presence. Tell them you will be witholding future financial support until you actually see progress being made on glbt issues. I am talking about significant progress, not just window dressing.
The only thing that will shake up the Dems is stopping the gravy train. Maybe then they will listen.
I think what I find most maddening is the fact that Obama and the Dems are still behaving like acting on glbt issues is a big social experiment.
What they do not realize is that it is 2009 and America is one of the last Western nations to get it right on glbt issues. But then, we are dead last on health care issues as well.
My stategy to get legislators to take REAL action?
1. Have the President institute a liason from the White House to the LGBTQ community and Congress.
2. Delegate to the liason the reponsibilty of developing a plan and timetable for the institution of the changes the President PROMISED. Publish the timetable.
3. Make sure that the liason has the resources he (or she or questioning or transitioning) needs to get the job done--this requires the committment of the President.
4. Follow up and hold the liason, and untimately the legislators, accountable.
I can't believe this sounds strange to someone who runs a business.
I don't expect Obama to be able to do everything himself. This hasn't occurred because he isn't pressing it to occur. HE sets the legislative agenda.
I understand your reasoning behind attending the fundraiser. Please don't give them one cent more than the cost of admission.
don't worry....i'm giving far less than in prior years and it's been noted.
I doubt your honesty. Your $500,000 hasn't done jack for gay teens, except to make them available to you as hustlers and pornography (a big business that continues without impediment thanks to you). Time for you to grow up and be honest with yourself, Mitchell.
I truly believe this will only be true if WE pressure them to be better. So far, they have been better by, well lets' see, about 1/2% maybe. Big Deal!!
Mitchell, if you do go (and I still wish you would not). Please do not be all polite and mushy and yes sir. Instead, be polite but firm and make them call YOU sir and insure they know that Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams will not be supporting any Democrat for any office unless they are the few who actually are tyring to right the wrong of institutionalized discrimination and oppression.
BOYCOTT would be better though!!
Fucking Traitor!
I know the movement can eat its own (as a co-founder of a few Gay Socialist groups in the 1970s I saw it first hand) but I still think not attending sends a stronger message of dismay. Donate the money to NGLTF on behalf of the DNC.
They feel that if they get all the "A-gays", we on the outside will have no voice. You have to be our voice and our shield from this injustice. Leaders don't choose themselves so I know this is a lofty endeavor but it's what has to be done.
You can bring them the same message through various different sources, starting with pulling out from this crumb-throwing celebration and protesting outside, with the rest of us.
Are you familiar with the term "hubris"?
< /satire >
OK -- Andy, sweetheart -- this isn't making it any better. You've already shot yourself in the foot -- several times. Don't reload.
He's mocking the anger on the DOMA brief. He's saying he thinks it's funny. He needs a full boycott to snap him back to reality. No GayTM.
You both should be ashamed of yourselves for being Obama's willing executioners. Words can't express my disgust and contempt for pieces of shits like you for selling out your own community for money, property and prestige. We're watching your every move and when the show's over, the lights are out and Obama's left the White House you'll still be wearing that Scarlett letter of being a sell-out to your community while we're fighting for your civil rights as well. Shame on you!
Yours truly,
-Nakhone Keodara
Editor-in-Chief
www.SoCalVoice.net
I know not showing up, and saying why, is important; but it would really piss me off if its just this wink wink thing where the DNC still gets the cash.
He is such a hypocrite that he advocates that others adopt blatant, hideous falsehood (carry a sign, contribute anyway, we'll keep a plate warm for you.)
Andy Tobias, the Worst Little Gay in the World, should be unable to leave the house without being spit on by gay people.
As anyone who has been in therapy knows you can use the world's suffering as a way to belittle/not deal with your own petty problems. They may seem petty, but they are your issues to deal with, and the pain they cause is real.
So why cant we bitch about this and about Iran, about this and about the watered-down economic bill?
Listen to Bill Maher's rant last night -we really need an un-equivocating third, PROGRESSIVE PARTY!
Re Bob..equality is never unimportant..I don't know. I have been arguing for days on boards like KOS. I think people see this as someone how all about wedding cakes, and catering or something instead of 1000s of rights and real life inequality and impacted lives. I am tired of convincing people. Be with us on equal rights or not. I don't care. I am going to protest and fight and be as annoying as hell until it happens
If your wife were sick and you could not give her the health care benefits you received, how would you feel?
If you were dying and realized that your wife would not be provided for after you passed on, how would you feel?
How would you feel if your wife's parents, after she died, cut you off from your joint possessions because they never really liked you that much?
Would you bitch?
Because of anti-gay hate speech, gay people (and lesbians and the transgendered) get bashed all the time. Sometimes they get brutally murdered.
If one of them was a family member...a friend...an acquaintance...would you bitch?
The internet is a big place...find a place that has Iranian coverage 24/7. It's easy to find.
One more thing.
Stop your bitching.
And include why you're not contributing anymore.
Politely, of course.
He's in la-la land.
Then I read Mr. Gold's astonishing post below, and Tobias' email suddenly seemed vastly more rational.
Shit, I don't even know what to say about that kind of accomplishment. Kudos?
I'm sorry you don't find my thoughts rational.
Of course you're free to advance your personal agenda, sell a billion of your books, and hold whatever opinion you like.
Just don't pretend this is "our" agenda.
That said, is hardly rational to suppose that your undermining the boycott with your participation is some demonstration of your support of the boycott.
It's a lot like claiming you crossed a picket line to demonstrate your support of the striking worker's goals.
Does. Not. Compute.