White House Conference Call with DNC LGBT Caucus a Bomb

Unite the Fight earlier reported that top White House officials had scheduled a phone call Monday with the DNC LGBT caucus and top LGBT organizations.

America Blog was able to talk with a source that was on the conference call. Their thoughts on it - "What a waste of time. They took 3 questions, two of which were uncritical."

Just three questions. Only one critical. Gee, thanks for the call.

But this could also be a reflection of the DNC LGBT caucus members. Did they not have the balls to push the administration on the recent controversies? Do they care? And if you're wondering who the members are, well I am, too. I can't seem to find the membership list anywhere. (Being sarcastic here)

Another report to America Blog stated that a caucus member asked, "What are we going to do about the blogs?"

What blogs? Oh, the many many blogs that have reflected the anger of the LGBT population against the DOJ's brief defending DOMA, Obama's refusal to use a stop-loss order to temporarily cease the discharges of LGBT servicemembers under DADT that run about two a day, the little to no pressure on Congress to pass ENDA, and the Administration's lack of movement on their rapidly shrinking LGBT rights agenda?

You mean, those blogs!

Yeah, they cause a lot of problems. Did you know they encourage community protests at DNC fundraisers where said LGBT caucus donors hobnob with the Washington elite, where they don't question whether or not the gAyTM should stop dispensing cash, and forget to ask the politicians about those pesky little Democratic campaign promises? The ones that suddenly seem impossible to fulfill once office terms begin.

Y'know, the blogs and community members that ask DNC LGBT caucus members to do their jobs instead of getting tipsy on cocktail drinks (which I'll choose to believe is the source of their lack of judgment when in the presence of those who will sell them out at the drop of a hat.)?

Yeah, so annoying, those blogs. Don't you just hate it when they give out protest information like this?

Washington DC DNC LGBT Fundraiser Protest
Boston DNC Protest

Or when they ask the community members to perform easy to do actions that make big statements, like faxing this form to the DNC?

Yeah, what ARE we going to do about those blogs?

UPDATE: Obama, the DOJ, the DNC and the LGBT - A Major Cluster F***

UPDATE 3: The White House confirms that there will in fact be a "reception" Monday to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Stonewall.

Shin Inouye, a White House spokesman, to the New York Times, “Next Monday’s event is a chance for the White House to recognize the accomplishments of LGBT Americans. Invited guests include families, volunteers and activists, and community leaders. This event was long planned as a way to applaud these individuals during Pride month.”

Nice, it's appreciated, been done before (by Clinton, whose administration saw DOMA and DADT pass), now where's the action? And why is this event unannounced?

UPDATE 2: The SLDN has issued a statement that they will be outside the Washington DC LGBT DNC fundraiser, joining the protests and boycotting the event.

"SLDN will be outside boycotting the Democratic National Committee (DNC) LGBT event in Washington this Thursday. SLDN will be calling upon the President to end his silence on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." We will be wearing and handing out buttons with the number 265, representing the number of service members who will have been discharged this week since President Obama was sworn in."

Read the rest.

UPDATE: A contributor at Pam's House Blend has come up with this great form that you can fax to the DNC instead of your donation.
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A lot has happened over this weekend - the news waits for no one.

The Plumline reports that the Obama Administration is going to have a major but private meeting next week with some of the larger gay organizations to smooth over tensions in the wake of the controversy over the administration’s defense in court of the Defense of Marriage Act."

Both GLAD and Lambda Legal have federal cases in the works that challenge DOMA in one way or another, and when they reached out to the opposition in the Department of Justice to talk about the cases in order to prepare, they got the terse response, "Our position hasn't changed."
More...
"It remains to be seen, however, whether the meeting will achieve in a long term sense what gay rights lawyers told me they were and are looking for — an ongoing, less-confrontational interaction with the administration in the context of specific cases. It’s also an open question whether the meeting will resolve broader tensions in what has been an unexpectedly rocky relationship," Plumline reports.

They do have some smoothing over to do. Well, a lot actually.

White House staff member, Lisa Brown, the White House staff secretary, said about the DOMA brief at a forum, "There’s no question–personal statement–that there were some cites in there that should not—that should not have been in there...They were trying to...essentially eliminate arguments that the Bush Administration had made."

“Nobody thinks it’s fast enough right now, but I know the President cares about this," she added. "It’s going in the right direction, if not quickly enough.”



The smoothing over continues. Joe Subday reports that today, two top White House officials, Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina and Political Director Patrick Gaspard, will be holding a conference call with the LGBT DNC caucus, that will include "updates" on the Administration's LGBT agenda.

"Updates." You mean, actual actions?

"This does go to show -- and I've heard it from many people on other issues -- if you want the attention of the Obama White House, you have to play hard ball," Joe reports. "For the LGBT community, among other things, that means shutting down the Gay ATM."

That Gay ATM is running out of easy access cash. This Thursday's LGBT DNC fundraiser in Washington DC is losing even more attendees. On Top Magazine quoted Jason Bartlett, the National Black Justice Coalition's deputy director, as saying, "I don't know of any board members that are intending on going."

But on top of facing a dwindling attendee list, the DNC is going to have to deal with protests outside their events. The planned protest for Thursday's Washingotn DC fundraiser has caught the organizers' attention, who made light of it in an email to attendees, saying, "Contribute -- but stand outside with a sign! We ll keep a plate warm for you and buy you a drink afterward, when the cameras are gone. We are, after all, all on the same team."

But DC's fundraiser isn't the only one facing protests. Boston's DNC fundraiser is facing its own protest, organized by Join the Impact. Their Facebook Event page says, "...we've gotten more in the past 6 days for the LGBT community than we have in the past 6 months...Putting on this protest will be emblematic of a larger issue at hand for the Obama administration and the Dems. No longer is the protest singled out just in Washington, DC, but now they're spreading."

So how does the Administration plan further smoothing over? By throwing a party for the gays at the end of the month. Y'know, since we're known for our fondness of fetes and the White House for photo-ops. Again, I try not to be too cynical, but after what I've witnessed from Obama since he's taken office, it's hard not to be. So I have to agree with America Blog when they write:

It's clear that the purpose [of the party] is two-fold. First, the White House is trying, again, to surround the president with A-list gays in order to show how "gay friendly" he is - he's even willing to give a speech in a room full of them for a full 8 minutes! And second, the White House hopes that a little champagne and fancy food will convince the A-listers to throw the rest of you overboard. Because, after all, what's two gay service members discharged a day and an ongoing effort to legally label you as akin to pedophila and incest, when there's champagne to be served.

I think it's fair to say that, unless the White House shows significant action on Don't Ask Don't Tell and DOMA by the time of this party, any representative of a gay organization attending this event is going to met with a swift community-wide boycott of their organization.

And why do I agree? Because it's nothing new. That's how, after all the atrocities from the Clinton Administration, that we didn't bail on the Democrats - they bought us with champagne and fancy parties.

Michelangelo Signorile puts it simply enough: "What we need now is real action. Not these crumbs, whether it be the census inclusion or some benefits for federal employees. We need something big, and until then, the DNC fundraisers should continue to be threatened, and nobody among the gay leadership should be partying with this president."

But here's a bright spot. We've seen our issues rebuffed too many times at the White House's press briefings from Press Secretary Gibbs. Friday, the tone was quite different.



As stated, the Obama Administration only responds to hardball actions. We found out what we knew already to be true confirmed - Democrats use us for our money. So our hardball response - close our wallets. Keep them shut until we see some real action. In the meantime, check out these protests if you want to show solidarity.

Washington DC DNC LGBT Fundraiser Protest
Boston DNC Protest

Reports Claim Lies Used to Gather Signatures for Maine's Anti-Marriage Equality Initiative

The Sun Journal reports that signature gatherers for an initiative to overthrow Maine's marriage equality law are lying to voters to get their John Hancocks on their petition forms.

One voter told the Journal that when a signature gatherer approached him, she had two petitions - one to support marriage equality, one to overthrow it. The voter asked her why she would have one to support a law that already exists, but when she didn't respond, he looked at the form and realized it was the exact same one as the petition against it.

"It's a buyer beware situation for the voter; they really need to be sure of what they are signing," said Julie Flynn, deputy secretary of state. "But people can say what they want, it's a First Amendment issue. We don't have anything in law that allows us to monitor or enforce signature gatherers."

Both sides of the issue agree it's a First Amendment right to say whatever you want to get people to sign, even if it is lying. So voters need to be more aware.

But the Catholic Church claims it frowns upon such practices. Telling the Sun Journal that they don't condone lying, Marc Mutty, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland and chairman of the StandForMarriageMaine political action committee backing the repeal effort, said, "We've been very clear, certainly with our volunteers, and the paid people as well, they are not to use any kind of tactics that would divert from the truth about what you are collecting signatures for."

However, I'm not surprised they're resorting to such tactics. Having already lost in the state's legislature, a method in which marriage equality opponents used to say was the route to take to determine the fate of same-sex marriage (until they lost), they're desperate now to take the issue to a voter referendum. Why? Because marriage equality has never won a referendum.

This also reeks of the same smell Prop 8 in California secreted. Why? Because the same people who were behind Prop 8 are the ones pulling the strings to take away the rights of LGBT to marry in Maine.

To get involved locally, go to Maine Freedom to Marry Coalition and EqualityMaine.

San Francisco Voices Support for Federal Case Against Prop 8

The city of San Francisco has joined the chorus of voices supporting the overturn of Proposition 8 in the courts by backing the federal case against the initiative being argued by Ted Olson and David Boies. Attorney General Jerry Brown and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has already stated support for the case.

Thursday night, City Attorney Dennis Herrera's office filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in U.S. District Court arguing that Proposition 8 was motivated by hatred of gays and lesbians and violates their constitutional right to be free of discrimination.

Despite the fact that the Yes on 8 campaign claimed Prop 8 was to protect traditional marriage and children, the city attorney said, "excluding same-sex couples from marriage does nothing to advance those goals . . . (it's) real aim (was) harming gays and lesbians and expressing moral disapproval of them."

“San Francisco is presently compelled by Proposition 8 to violate the federal constitutional rights of gay and lesbian citizens,” City Attorney Dennis Herrera and Chief Deputy Therese Stewart state in their 49-page amicus brief. “[Proposition 8] offends the federal Equal Protection Clause even applying the most deferential test.”

Herrera and Stewart spearheaded the successful litigation that led to the California Supreme Court recognizing marriage as a fundamental right guaranteed to all Californians under the state constitution. Those rights were later stripped by Proposition 8, which amended the state constitution.

“City Attorney Herrera and Chief Deputy Stewart have not only been inspiring leaders of this fight, they are also two of the foremost legal authorities in this arena,” American Foundation for Equal Rights Board President Chad Griffin said, the organization responsible for the federal case against Prop 8. “Their support bolsters our work to overturn Proposition 8 and guarantee that every American is treated equally under the law.”

The city supported its argument by citing the Supreme Court's 1996 ruling that struck down Colorado's ban on state and local gay-rights measures and said a law motivated by hostility toward gays and lesbians is unconstitutional.

Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, told the San Francisco gate that his organization may be making an official statement of support soon, too.

The federal suit is "going forward, and we certainly want it to succeed," Minter said.

"One of the Best Marriage Equality Debates" Between Two Pennsylvania Senators

Pennsylvania State Sen. Daylin Leach recently introduced a marriage equality bill that is countered by Sen. John Eichelberger and his bill to ban same-sex marriage in the Keystone State.

This week, they debated the bill on WHYY in Philadelphia and the result is being called "One of the Best Marriage Equality Debates You'll Ever Listen To."

Sen. Leach addressed all the ol' homophobic standby arguments that the right wing has used for years against LGBT, especially those surrounding marriage equality. Even better, Sen. Eichelberger exposed how truly a hateful homophobe that he is.

You can listen to the whole debate on WHYY.org.

Here's a bit of the transcripts thanks to Towleroad:

LEACH: How would he [Eichelberger] want to encourage stability in gay couples?

EICHELBERGER: I wouldn’t. I mean they can practice whatever sexual activity they like to practice, but there’s no reason to give them special consideration. We don’t give them special consideration in Pennsylvania for any reason. Why in the world would we allow them to marry?

LEACH: How would you encourage gay couples to be able to provide for their families?

EICHELBERGER: Well, I wouldn't.

LEACH: What would you expect of them?

EICHELBERGER: There is no reason to encourage that type of behavior in Pennsylvania...That comes back to the definition of family and that’s where we differ. We can call all kinds of things families. I mean, we can say a 3 party marriage is a family, or 7 or 8 people or marrying younger and younger children these days .

HOST: Are you saying that by their very nature homosexual relationships are dysfunctional?

EICHELBERGER: [Pause] Um. I guess I would say that. I would say that.

LEACH: Should our only policy towards [same-sex] couples be one of punishment, to somehow prove that they’ve done something wrong? Eichelberger: They’re not being punished. We’re allowing them to exist, and do what every American can do. We’re just not rewarding them with any special designation.

Eichelberger was asked about the children that were currently being raised in same-sex homes in Pennsylvania and what could be done to protect them. His answer: "Nothing."

Wow. Just wow. I can't fit the whole transcript on here, but Sen. Eichelberger is unreal. If you need fresh motivation to keep up the fight for equal rights, just listen to this guy.

ACTION: Keystone Progress has a petition demanding that Sen. Eichelberger apologize online.

New York Governor Calls for Senate Special Session; Marriage Equality Bill's Fate Unknown

Today is supposed to be the last day of the New York Senate's session, but due to the power struggle that's consumed them for the last few weeks, they haven't been able to get anything done.

Gov. David Paterson has had enough and has called for an emergency senate session for tomorrow, and everyday after that if necessary, so they can get off their asses and actually get stuff done. 41 bills have yet to be voted on.

But will this include a vote on the governor's marriage equality legislation? There are no guarantees. The NY Times reports that the governor has gone back and forth on the issue.

Gov. David A. Paterson said in an interview Sunday night that he would make sure that the State Senate votes on same sex-marriage legislation before it breaks for the summer, hours after he and his administration had refused to commit to forcing a vote on the issue.

The development came as the governor announced plans to call the Senate to a special session on Tuesday, after trying unsuccessfully for two weeks to broker a compromise in a leadership battle that has deadlocked the chamber. But Mr. Paterson dismayed gay rights groups in his comments at a news conference early Sunday afternoon, when he said same-sex marriage would not be on the special session’s agenda.

“It has always been my intention to see same-sex marriage come to the floor,” he said, adding, “I don’t want there to be any confusion.”

So put simply, if a special session is called, the marriage equality bill will not be included since it's not considered an "emergency." Yet somehow, the governor wants to get it to the floor for a voted.

Given that the Senate keeps rejected the governor's attempts to broker a solution to the power-locked summit, his pleas may be falling on deaf ears. But then again, the senators may have to kiss their holidays good-bye if they don't figure this out soon, so who knows.

ACTION: The HRC isn't taking any chances. They have set up phone banks for volunteers to call the senators as well as passing out senate contact information for constituents to call and demand action on the marriage equality.

Check out all the information for volunteering and senate information here at HRC.

Sen. Chris Todd Announces He Now Supports Marriage Equality

Pam's House Blend reports that Sen. Chris Dodd has switched positions on marriage equality and now supports it. Dodd, who voted for DOMA, has also sent an op-ed written for the The Meriden Record-Journal explaining his evolution on the matter.

His official statement, posted on his site, reads:

Public officials aren’t supposed to change their minds. But I firmly believe that it’s important to keep learning. Last week, while I was in Connecticut meeting with members of the gay and lesbian community from across the state, I had the opportunity to tell them what I’ve learned about marriage, and about equality.

While I’ve long been for extending every benefit of marriage to same-sex couples, I have in the past drawn a distinction between a marriage-like status (“civil unions”) and full marriage rights.

The reason was simple: I was raised to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. And as many other Americans have realized as they’ve struggled to reconcile the principle of fairness with the lessons they learned early in life, that’s not an easy thing to overcome.

But the fact that I was raised a certain way just isn’t a good enough reason to stand in the way of fairness anymore.
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I believe that, when my daughters grow up, barriers to marriage equality for same-sex couples will seem as archaic, and as unfair, as the laws we once had against inter-racial marriage.

And I want them to know that, even if he was a little late, their dad came down on the right side of history.

You can read the full statement on Sen. Dodd's site.

Here's Dodd's earlier statements during the 2007 primaries stating that he supports only civil unions.




ACTION: Contact Sen. Dodd and thank him for being brave enough to switch positions and support marriage equality!

U.S. Senator Chris Dodd
448 Russell Building | Washington D.C., 20510
Tel: (202) 224-2823 | Fax: (202) 224-1083
Email form.