As the time nears for the official A-gays at the White House event, here are some perspectives out there today. Read, digest and comment; I share my thoughts at the end -- plus a couple of questions. First, let's look at the framing from the White House itself, from Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement Brian Bond.
The incoming president of GLAAD (and fellow Dallas Principles author), Jarrett Barrios, wrote an op-ed in the WaPo about why he's going to be there. Read a snippet below the fold.As a gay kid growing up in rural Missouri - I never thought I would end up helping to organize an LGBT Pride event in the White House. Then again, I never thought I would ever realize my dream to work in the White House. But thanks to the historic election of Barack Obama, today I am honored to be working here.
To me, today's event is more than just a reception honoring LGBT Pride month. It is an opportunity for the Administration to provide the world with a snap shot of the real heroes across the country that do the day-to-day work fighting for equality. People like State Representative Patricia Todd in Alabama to Sheriff Lupe Valdez in Dallas, and may other local LGBT elected officials that will be here today. And it's people - ordinary families - that by simply living their lives openly are changing hearts and minds. It is also an opportunity to welcome the people upon whom shoulders we stand, people like Frank Kameny, as well as Phil Wilson, Bishop Robinson and Ambassador Hormel, who I know personally, and those who stood up to bigotry at Stonewall. I really wish people like Bayard Rustin could be standing here with us today. He would be up for the fight ahead of us and proud of the place we now stand.
People may not know this, but there hasn't been a significant event since the President took office that hasn't included the LGBT community -- discussions ssions on the economy and the recovery, or health care -- but this event is special to me and to many of the people that haven't been here for many years.
We have a lot of work ahead of us. We will work together to pass Hate Crimes and ENDA and to end DADT and DOMA, but today is an opportunity to celebrate who we are and affirm who we are as Americans. But the truth is that in this White House we do this every day. With over 60 out appointees working in this Administration already, we are free to be ourselves. But not everyone is in this country is able to do the same, and we are here to help change that.
I am here because I know the President and this Administration believe that too and are committed to fighting for equality - yes it will take time, and yes we should be pushing and yes you should too. We are all in this together and I am equally proud of both my President and my community.
I will take a little time out today to celebrate the diversity and depth of our community with my President. And we will get back to work. Everyone in this building is very clear -- from the President on down -- are committed to equality. So for a young, ok for a now aging and balding gay guy from rural Missouri, this is my way to celebrate Pride month and our community's importance in the American fabric.
Also weighing in is philanthropist and Faith In America Founder Mitchell Gold is one of the LGBT invitees to today's White House event commemorating Stonewall (and he also attended the LGBT DNC fundraiser, which he wrote about on the Blend). The home furnishings entrepreneur released a statement on the meeting today (via email).The Stonewall Riots of 1969 -- when patrons at a New York city gay bar fought back against police brutality and harassment and set in motion a wave of activism -- have been commemorated in various ways. There have been protests, rallies, academic lectures and parties. Today is the first time Stonewall will be remembered in the tony quarters of the White House.
I have to admit I was ambivalent when I received the invitation, with its fancy curlicue script (truly, just like my sister's wedding announcement) and a return address that read simply "The White House." The problem is that I haven't been as excited as I'd like to be about President Obama. I'd been excited by Candidate Obama. His campaign invited people like me and my husband Doug -- gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans -- into his aspirational vision of America the Possible. But, as President Obama, he has presided over an administration that has stumbled -- sometimes symbolically, sometimes substantially -- in its commitment to include us on the agenda.
Indeed, some gay community members advocated boycotting the White House's Stonewall event. "Co-optation by Cocktails," read one blog post. "Traitors," blathered another. While my heart wasn't filled with such animus, just disappointment, I could understand their anger.
When I told my 17-year-old son Javier about the reception, he could sense that I was torn. From across the dinner table, he looked straight at me: "Papi, you need to go to the White House, and you need to take me. It's the President." Not persuaded by that one, kid. "It's the President, and he needs to see our family, too. To remind him that we're counting on him."
What's true for President Obama is also true for those Americans who still struggle with stereotypes and misperceptions about gay and transgender people. We know that interpersonal connections -- getting to know gay people, their lives, their struggles and concerns -- are one of the most important ways for everyday Americans to understand that we are in every family, in every workplace, on every street. And that we'rat we're counting on them to value our contributions, too, and to support our equal treatment.
***"What this event really boils down to is the President saying to America that he honors gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. This is incredibly historic and represents a dramatic shift in policy from the last administration. Can anyone imagine President Bush inviting a couple of hundred gay Americans to the White House to commemorate anything gay? No!!! In fact, the Bush administration will go down in history as running an ongoing campaign to marginalize and dehumanize LGBT people in America and abroad."
Gold continued "I am thankful for the opportunity to attend the meeting and praise President Obama for holding the event which I believe sends an important signal to all Americans. "There has been much progress in achieving various increments of equality during these previous 40 years," Gold said. "However, now is the time for President Obama to take an unequivocal stand against religion-based bigotry and prejudice and the immense harm it brings to bear on gay and lesbian youth. The struggle for full equality has been confined to only incremental advances because anti-gay religious factions have used religion-based bigotry to fortify the wall of discrimination."
But he said such religion-based bigotry has a much more insidious consequence for the lives of gay youth.
"The fact is that late tonight after our reception with President Obama a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender teen is alone and isolated thinking about why their parent, their classmates, their pastor or elected officials view them as morally inferior, undeserving and unworthy. No one disputes that religion-based bigotry and prejudice is the No. 1 reason this social climate of rejection and condemnation has been allowed to flourish.
"But the American people are awakening to the fact that history has judged all the past examples of such religion-based bigotry toward minorities - African-Americans, women, interracial couples and people of different faiths - as wrong and morally unjust.
"This shift represents the single most important social change for the lives of gay Americans. I hope President Obama will seize the opportunity that this moment in history has brought him and that he will use his position to help us educate Americans about the incredible damage religion-based bigotry brings to bear on innocent, young lives for the sole reason that they were created with same sex attraction."
Questions:
1) Exactly what kind of lobbying and productive conversations will take place? Realistically, will any of the attendees really have the time on the reception line to engage with the President on a meaningful level to convey any discontent with policy issues or actions? As I've said before, these folks can and should meet with the President, but don't attempt to sell the idea that this social event is akin to sitting down at a conference table to hammer out policy differences. No one out in here in the real world will buy that; many will accept that visibility matters. But that raises another question...
2) Will we see a full guest list to get an idea of who the White House considers leaders of the community&lunity? It will tell us a lot about who and what kind of LGBT orgs are players to this administration, and who isn't. What kind of diversity will be represented -- race, class, region -- will there be noted transgender representation?
I've been told by an insider that one category will be notably missing -- new media activists weren't on the invite list, which would not be surprising on one level since the netroots have, in general, been tepid or outright critical of the admin, but that would also mean the operating strategy is contrary to the President's own position that dissent is welcome and encouraged. The Obama admin, full of new media devotees who ran his campaign by connecting with the grassroots and netroots knows that all too well, but they changed the channel once in office. It's great to raise cash and generate votes using the netroots, but online advocates are nothing but a PIA when it comes to governing (do you hear the voice of Rahm?). And a good number of online activists have no interest in sucking up for a job or contract work either in the White House or one of the LGBT orgs inside the Beltway, so that allows for more freedom to dissent -- that of course, lowers any chance of invites. But that's the breaks.
My own theory about this it's less about dissent than a reluctance to officially acknowledge the netroots in any way (positive or negative). Doing so means the White House has yet another sub-constituency to deal with -- one not easily controlled -- that bypasses LGBT orgs that are supposed to serve as the conduit to and voice of the community. And it makes sense to some degree in the short run, but it's like a Band-Aid on a spewing jugular since the world of advocacy and communications is rapidly changing -- and decentralizing.
You'll notice that in the blow up over the fundraiser (and there will be more to come about that quickly reported $1 million take), the online criticism was not addressed by contacting the online activists, but by contacting and working with the offline orgs. That strategy is largely ineffective, of course -- as if a gay org can shut down public criticism by a citizen journalist -- but it makes it looks like, as far as the MSM goes, that they are doing something without having to address the actual origin of the criticism.
It's nothing conspiratorial, mind you, just practical short-term thinking in order to get and through a news cycle, that doesn't draw the MSM's attention to netroots dissent (or affirmation, for that matter). The LGBT orgs are also in a pickle of trying to figure out what to do about citizen journalism -- working with, co-opting, minimizing impact of, etc. It depends on the day, the topic, the blog(s) in question and the damage control needed. That's just the brave new world of communications and activism that we are in. No one has a handbook, no one can say they are experts in the field. Eventually the old school patient will expire.
This is from CBS 11 News, via Raw Story:Police say seven people were arrested for public intoxication and at least a dozen more were restrained. The incident was captured on camera and posted on local blogs. The scene was topic of conversation at Sunday's Million Gay March in Dallas, and the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas Dallas released a statement following its Sunday morning worship services.Related:
"After more than a generation of progress, this action shows that there is still much work to be done to ensure that all Americans enjoy 'equal protection under the law.' It is tragic that lesbian and gay taxpayers are still abused by the very people who are paid by our taxes."
..."I've worked in gay bars in four different counties in Texas, I've never seen anything this aggressive," club bouncer Justin McCarty said.
Fort Worth police arrested seven people for reported public intoxication, and for reportedly inappropriately groping an officer. It's an allegation witness Chuck Potter disputes.
"I can guarantee there wasn't a man in this bar that would've touched one of those officers, knowing they were arresting people."
* Stonewall commemoration at Fort Worth, TX gay club turns into police raid
Tony Perkins and his homo-haters at the Family Research Council are so incensed that former president of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, Kevin Jennings, has been appointed to serve as head of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools at the Dept. of Education, that the org has launched a website, www.stopjennings.org to:[E]ducate the American people about how Jennings' dangerous views make him unfit to protect our nation's schoolchildren. "Kevin Jennings' record shows he has neither the temperament nor the ethical standards needed for public service," said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. "His history demonstrates disregard for our obligations to safeguard the health and well being of the student population. He is unfit for the post to which he's been assigned, and Secretary Duncan should withdraw his appointment at once."In FRC's talking point document, it cites the usual homostraw man nonsense:
Jennings and the organization he founded have been the leaders in promoting a pro-homosexual agenda in America's schools, beginning in kindergarten. His positions are extreme and narrow-minded, his rhetoric harsh and hate-filled, and his qualifications and ethical standards questionable at best. For all these reasons, Family Research Council has called upon Education Secretary Arne Duncan to withdraw Jennings' appointment. Here are some key reasons why we believe Kevin Jennings is unfit for public service.It goes on and on in that vein. And below the fold, the ad FRC plans to run.1) Jennings' and GLSEN's concept of "safe schools" means special protections for privileged groups<oups (especially homosexuals), rather than safety for all.
Undoubtedly the key reason why Jennings was appointed was because of GLSEN's long-standing commitment to what they call "safe schools." GLSEN has published "Model State Anti-Bullying & Anti-Harrasment [sic] Legislation." However, it protects against "harassment" only on the basis of "distinguishing characteristics" such as "race, color, national origin, sex, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, [and] religion." It does not even include the category which GLSEN itself has identified as the most common grounds for harassment: "the way they look or their body size." Why not define "harassment" and "bullying" on the basis of the nature of the actual conduct, rather than the characteristics of the victim?
Now I'd think that the right wing would have bigger fish to fry these days, but apparently this is the big stink -- the co-opting of children by the Homosexual Agenda. Perhaps they should be reminded by all the data that shows the conservative-imposed abstinence-only education on America's children failed to take hold, with the ignorance resulting in exponential increases in STDs and pregnancy, so they should have nothing to fear that suddenly it will be 24/7 queer conversion in the schools.
Stonewall Anniversary Poem
by Governor Barbara Roberts
From Stonewall to Salem, Across this whole nation We've marched and we've lobbied, Forty years in duration. For fairness, equality For dignity and rights For safety, and partners To turn on the lights. To come out of the darkness, Emerge from the closet, To rise above hatred And the bigots who cause it. The path has been long With hurdles and roadblocks But the future looks bright With adoptions and wedlocks. So on this eve of Stonewall We celebrate gains We stand shoulder to shoulder For the work that remains. We thank all who have given, Taken risks, led the way Lesbian, Trans, Bi, Straight and Gay. So - lift up your glasses And your hearts - one and all As we toast our martyrs and heroes And the brave souls of Stonewall.
ENDA is being introduced tomorrow in the house! Our next step is to call Rep. Walden and ask him to be a cosponsor of ENDA. Below is a script to use. It is essential that we flood his lines to let him know how many of his constituents support ENDA! Once you've called, let me know what the staffer said and then ask all of your friends and fknow how many of his constituents support ENDA! Once you've called, let me know what the staffer said and then ask all of your friends and family in the district to call as well!
Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and have them connect you to your Representative (based on your zip code). Tell them:
"I am a constituent and I would like you to please tell Representative _______ that I would like him/her to become a cosponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. ENDA would ban discrimination against all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the workplace. Can you tell me whether or not Representative _______ has cosponsored the bill?"
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