Stories begat other stories, or at least they do for me; this two-part conversation came from a comment that was made after I posted a story suggesting that voting matters this time, especially if you don't want environmental disasters like the recent Hungarian "toxic lake" that burst from its containment and polluted the Danube River happening in your neighborhood.
Long story short, we are going to be moving on to ask what, for some, is a more fundamental question: if you're an LBGT voter, and the Democratic Party hasn't, to put it charitably, "been all they could be" when it comes to issues like repealing "don't ask, don't tell" or the Federal Defense of Marriage Act...what should you do?
Now normally I would be the one trying to develop an answer to the question, but instead, we're going to be posing the question to a group of experts, and we'll be letting them give the answers.
And just because you, The Valued Reader, deserve the extra effort, for Part Two we've trying to get you a "Special Bonus Expert" to add some input to the conversation: a Democratic Member of Congress who represents a large LBGT community.
It wasn't but a couple of days ago that we had a conversation about The Fear and the emails that are used to spread it, and I figured with that out of the way we had dealt with the topic, and that we'd move on to new things.
Well, we would be moving on, Gentle Reader, if it wasn't for the fact that an email came in today that was so ugly, so disturbing, and so indicative of what we are about to see as the battle over the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) begins to heat up (ENDA being possibly the next "big contentious thing" that this Administration hopes to accomplish), that I had to interrupt my story schedule to bring it to your attention.
I went to the HRC protest event in San Francisco last night. I will say that I was pretty anti-HRC before it was cool. I mentioned in my last post that they don't represent a good value proposition in attaining full equality. There are other more efficient and effective groups. But, the failure of HRC to support an inclusive version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) was the breaking point for many others. And by failing one part of the LGBT community, they fail the entire community.
The event itself outside the hotel went quite well. The keynote speaker, LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, canceled this week as he didn't want to cross a picket line. The protest was covered by the local media and made a few stories outside of the Bay area.
In the comments of the previous thread, janinsfran noted that there was a bit of controversy inside of the dinner. I'll see if I can find any information on that.
We have a number of tough fights this year, marriage not being the least of them. However, we can't drop some issues because there are others on the front burner. You can give to the Equality for All campaign (No on 8) here, and find out more about the United ENDA campaign here. We can walk AND chew gum!
(Just about an hour... - promoted by Brian Leubitz)
I'm not a huge fan of the Human Rights Campaign. I think they soak up a percentage of gay rights dollars that is far larger than their utility. And they endorse Republicans who happen to vote with us on a few issues, but that vote for virulently anti-gay leadership in the House and Senate. (I'm looking at you Mary Bono Mack.)
But what has many LGBT activists mad at HRC these days is their support for a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that does not include protection for transgendered individuals. This is unfortunate. We have learned from state laws that it isn't simply a matter of a few more years to get that protection added in a different piece of legislation. Gender queers deserve the same protection as gay, lesbian and bisexuals, and it will be a long, long time coming if we don't pass it at one time. I understand that not everybody feels that we need to stand together (like HRC chief Joe Solmnese), but it is through our unity that we can achieve our goals. HRC fails to recognize this, and chooses to leave the gender queer behind.
If, like me, you find this troubling, you should boycott the HRC Gala in San Francisco this Saturday. But don't worry, you can still have a great time. Pride at Work and some other great groups are organizing a "Left Out of HRC" Party in Union Square across the street from the St. Francis where the HRC gala will be held.
Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for President has little to say about the rights of the LGBT community or its issues on his campaign website at JohnMcCain.com.
Under the link "Human Dignity & the Sancitity of Life," McCain lists (1) Overturning Roe V. Wade, (2) Promoting Adoption, (3) Protecting Marriage, (4) Addressing the Moral Concerns of Advanced Technology, (5) Protecting Children from Online Predators, and (6) the Greatest Concern is to Serve the Cause of Human Dignity. As you might guess from the above headings, McCain and his campaign is pandering to the so-called Religious Right community.
(XPosted 1/30/2008 10:10 AM PST on MyDesert.com as BluePalmSpringsBoyz)
The media has reported that former-Sen. John Edwards plans to withdraw as a Democratic candidate for the nomination for President. It is a sad day as for many supporters, Edwards epitomized someone who early in the process opposed the disastrous policies of the so-called Pres. George Bush in Iraq and Iran, who was overwhelmingly supportive of LGBT issues, who spoke on behalf of the poor and working people of this country, and who set a mature tone for the Democratic campaign in general.
A few stories of interest that I wanted to pass along:
Chris Lehane and the Fair Election Reform Group are calling for an investigation into the funding of the Dirty Tricks Initiative. Lehane and others allege possible violations of federal election law.
The Humane Society is gathering signatures for an initiative to regulate factory farming practices. "The Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act provides basic protections requiring that animals be able to turn around and extend their limbs. It will prevent the use of inhumane factory farming practices such as keeping animals confined in small crates or cages—specifically, veal crates for calves, battery cages for egg-laying hens, and gestation crates for breeding pigs."
State Treasurer Bill Lockyer has some ideas for balancing the budget. According to Bill, they are just ideas and he doesn't necessarily endorse them. Good thing, too, because one of his "ideas" is totally cutting off the UC system from state money. Brilliant idea, there. You know what else we could do? Charge the kiddos for public school, that would free up billions!
LA might need to pass a replacement phone utility tax if the current law is struck down in court.Villaraigosa is trying to get the measure declared an "emergency" to allow passage with a simpple majority.
LGBT organizations across the country are decrying Speaker Pelosi's decision to exclude the transgendered from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. I've heard that the Speaker, and her staff, have been getting in earful here in the district as well. Almost all organizations are standing together saying that they will not leave part of the community behind, except, that is, the Human Rights Campaign. I guess they need some achievements to justify that building they own by Capitol Hill. Too bad any passage of ENDA without the entire community would be a complete sell-out of those who they were supposed to represent.
