In her report on the New York "pro-marriage" rally, Mormon blogger (and Digital Network Army director) Angela Rockwood (aka Beetle Blogger) suggests that if you are a New Yorker, you'll want to know about these sites:
New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms
New Yorkers Family Research Foundation
For once, I agree with Angela: If you're a New Yorker, please take her advice and check out both sites.
I did. Here's what I found:
Shared contact info (NYCF's details on the left, NYFRF's details on the right):
 |  |
Not only did both organizations opt to locate in Spencerport, NY, they also somehow wound up sharing the same fax machine?
Moving on to WHOIS details:
 |  |
Whereas Spencerport, NY is apparently doing some great deals on cheap PO boxes and shared fax lines ... Provo, Utah's bluehost.com must be offering the best deals in the country when it comes to wingnut web hosting.
What does it all mean? I'd suggest it means, that behind the scenes, it's the same ten (generously-funded) people coordinating (online) opposition to marriage equality.
Notice the same lame DNA logo at both the New Yorkers Family Research Foundation and the New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms websites?
Notes from a previous campaign (courtesy WikiLeaks):
STP. Not an exclusively Mormon problem. We're all suffering on account of the Same Ten (Misguided) People.
If you've got a sec, please drop a comment over at Angela's place.
For the second time this year, Washington's Governor Chris Gregoire has had the honor of advancing civil rights with her mighty pen. Governor Gregoire has been a steadfast ally. Here is what she said when the House passed SB 5688, the Domestic Partnership Expansion Bill of 2009:"I want to thank the legislators who worked tirelessly to get this bill passed in the House. This legislation will expand basic benefits, provide better financial security and ensure equal treatment for domestic partners living in Washington state. Our state is one that thrives on diversity. We have to respect and protect all families that make up our communities."
Thank you Governor Gregoire, Equal Rights Washington and 92 fair-minded representatives and senators (out of 146) for making this happen! Over 5,300 domestic partnerships had been filed since July, 2007.
cash cow fools errand of a ReferenDUMB, the law will remain in limbo until they fail to return enough valid signatures by the deadline of July 25th.
And speaking of cash cow, although Gary and Larry have finally announced the new PAC they've set up to up to receive funds dedicated to Referendum 71, Gary the ole pickpocket is STILL encouraging people to give to his personal PAC in his blog posts about Ref. 71. Tsk tsk, Gary. Your actions might lead some to think you're not on the up and up. Oh, and I checked the Public Disclosure Commission's website today. Your PAC balance is at $95.51, the last contribution reported was $20 back on January 29th. Either you're failing to report monthly as you're supposed to, or everyone sees through your schtick and refuses to throw their pearls before swine. Which is it, Gary?
One final thing. This is what happens when you put someone like Larry Stickney in charge of, well, anything:
The Protect Marriage Washington online donor system will be functional very soon. Those who would like to donate directly to the Referendum 71 signature gathering campaign are encouraged to do so by mailing a check
So let me get this straight. The system set up to officially receive funds to fight this terrible scourge isn't ready yet? It's not like they haven't been planning for this moment for months. Larry Stickney: FAILURE. Maybe Larry has been too preoccupied with a bigger cash cow to "protect marriage". He's John Koster's campaign manager (yes, the very guy Larry boasts helping lose on his resume!). Larry has already been paid $16,326.38 this year in salary and consulting fees from Koster's campaign. Follow the money to where Larry's heart and attentions really are?
Well, that's what happens when you hand the reigns to a guy who touts campaign FAILURES on his resume. Is it any wonder that "key" member of the Crumbling Coalition of Fanatical Fringe, Cindy Honcoop of the WA Eagle Forum, chose at this pivotal moment to go on vacation?
# Leaving Memphis via Jim Neely's Interstate Barbecue for one last Memphis rib fest. Going thru stacks of napkins! about 20 hours ago from web
# On Beale Steet in Memphis tonite at BB Kings enjoying blues and barbecue. Ya gotta love Memphis in May! 9:49 PM May 16th from web
# Totally in vacation mode now. At the airport ready to board. 7:15 AM May 15th from web
So stay tuned folks, and drop a few bucks in ERW's tip jar. Gary's referenDUMB may be shoddily run and ill-advised given recent polling results in both Washington and the nation, but it can't be ignored. It takes resources to ensure failure of even a referenDUMB.
It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of our friend, colleague, and hero, Rodger McFarlane. A pioneer and legend in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights and HIV/AIDS movements, Rodger took his own life in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico last Friday. In a letter found with his remains, Rodger explained that he was unwilling to allow compounding heart and back problems to become even worse and result in total debilitation. We know that Rodger was in a great deal of pain. Already disabled in his own mind, he could no longer work out or do all the outdoor activities he so loved. He was also now faced with the realization that he could literally not travel, making employment increasingly difficult. As his friends and family, we thought it was important that we communicate to the world that it has lost an amazingly wonderful individual who contributed so mightily to our humanity.More below the fold.
Rodger approached every aspect of his life with boundless passion and vigor. While many people go their entire lives wanting to be good at just one thing, Rodger excelled at virtually everything he did. Brilliant activist and strategist, decorated veteran, accomplished athlete, best-selling author, and humanitarian are just a few of the accolades that could be used to describe our friend. To know Rodger was to love an irreverent, wise-cracking Southerner who hardly completed a sentence that didn't include some kind of four-letter expletive. He fought the right fight every day, was intolerant of silence, and organized whole communities of people to advocate for justice. These were traits that endeared him to us and are traits that make his legacy incredibly rich and powerful.GLAAD's Neil Giuliano:The power of Rodger's many personal and professional accomplishments cannot be denied. He was on the forefront of responding to the AIDS epidemic that ravaged our country - and specifically the gay community - in the 1980's. Before HIV even had a name, in 1981, Rodger set up the very first hotline anywhere; he just set it up on his own phone. That was the Rodger we knew. A born strategist and leader, Rodger took three organizations in their infancy and grew each into a powerhouse in its own way, empowered to tackle this national tragedy.
One of the original volunteers and the first paid executive director of Gay Men's Health Crisis, the nation's first and largest provider of AIDS client services and public education programs, Rodger increased the organization's fundraising from a few thousand dollars to the $25 million agency it is today. Uoday. Until his death, he was the president emeritus of Bailey House, the nation's first and largest provider of supportive housing for homeless people with HIV.
From 1989 to 1994, he was executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA), merging two small industry-based fundraising groups into one of America's most successful and influential AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. During his tenure at BC/EFA, annual revenue increased from less than $1 million to more than $5 million, while also leveraging an additional $40 million annually through strategic alliances with other funders and corporate partnerships. Rodger was also a founding member of ACT UP - NY, the now legendary protest group responsible for sweeping changes to public policy as well as drug treatment and delivery processes.
Most recently, Rodger served as the executive director of the Gill Foundation, one of the nation's largest funders of programs advocating for LGBT equality. He transformed the Foundation by sharpening its strategic purpose. He focused its philanthropy in the states, aligned its investment with political imperatives and forged relationships with straight allies that helped to further both the LGBT movement as well as the greater progressive movement. Rodger was instrumental in the creation of the Gill Foundation's sister organization, Gill Action. The brilliance of Rodger's vision is being seen today as important protections for LGBT people become a reality in more and more states.
No one will ever doubt that our friend Rodger lived a rich and complete life. A proud U.S. Navy veteran, Rodger was a licensed nuclear engineer who conducted strategic missions in the North Atlantic and far Arctic regions aboard a fast attack submarine. A gifted athlete, he was a veteran of seven over-ice expeditions to the North Pole. He also competed internationally for many years as an elite tri-athlete, and in 1998 and 2002, competed in the Eco-Challenges in Morocco and Fiji, where he captained an all-gay female-majority team.
In spite of the fact that Rodger never completed college, he was an accomplished and best-selling author and the producer of works for the stage. Rodger was the co-author of several books, including The Complete Bedside Companion: No Nonsense Advice on Caring for the Seriously Ill (Simon & Schuster, 1998), and most recently, Larry Kramer's The Tragedy of Today's Gays (Penguin, 2005). In 1993, he co-produced the Pulitzer Prize-nominated production of Larry Kramer's The Destiny of Me, the sequel to The Normal Heart.
Rodger had a reputation as a hard-ass. That reputation didn't do him justice. Many of us will remember Rodger as a caregiver, a man who nursed countless friends and family members battling cancer and AIDS. He was the most compassionate and giving of friends, especially to those in physical or emotional distress.
His many achievements were recognized throughout his life. Most recently, he had received the Patient Advocacy Award from the American Psychiatric Association. Other honors included the New York City Distinguished Service Award, the Presidential Voluntary Action Award, the Eleanor Roosevelt Award, and the Emery Award from the Hetrick Martin Institute, as well as Tony and Drama Desk honors.
How do you sum up someone's life in just a few words? It's impossible and you can't. To commemorate Rodger's life, his friends will organize celebrations of his, the details of which are still in the planning stages. If Rodger was anything, he was a character through and through; there are, quite literally, thousands of "Rodger stories." That's part of what made him such a special person. During our celebrations, we'll share some of these stories and reflect on the many legacies left by our friend for life, Rodger McFarlane.
Information on donations in memorial will also be forthcoming.
"Rodger dedicated his life to being a visible and vocal advoal advocate for social justice. His work propelled our movement toward full equality in tremendous ways, his compassion and unique humor will be missed and never matched. Personally, as a friend, I will remain ever thankful for Rodger's support and guidance in helping me advance GLAAD's mission and strengthening our voice."Cathy and Leah McElrath Renna, Managing Partners of Renna Communications:
Rodger McFarlane was a pioneer in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community whose activism both saved lives and helped make all of ours lives better. When we founded Renna Communications, Rodger was supportive and generous, and he provided us with the kind of inimitable inspiration and advice only he could give. He was no doubt the community spokesperson mostly likely to be "bleeped," but his voice is one that leaves a tremendous legacy to respect and cherish. Our hearts and thoughts go out to Rodger's friends and family. Rest in peace, Rodger, you leave the world a better place.
Subscribe to Reader feed
Subscribe to daily Email
No comments:
Post a Comment