In one of those “what does he really mean” moments, Joe Solmonese sent out an HRC e-blast to supporters that suggests he's willing to cut the President slack until he leaves office in 2017, after an assumed second term in office.
The missive could also be interpreted as cheerleading the passage of hate crimes as sufficient progress to celebrate for now. If this the message that is being telegraphed as the party line, it proves the org is definitely not in touch with the grassroots discussion out there about what the President needs to say tomorrow night.
Hate crimes is an accomplishment, but what would affect LGBT citizens most profoundly is if the President would state imminent movement on ENDA, or even DADT repeal. That's real progress. Surely he can say something about the battle going on in Maine to reverse marriage equality. None of this mentioned in this e-blast. And cutting slack until 2017, if that's indeed the message, means yet again, that those who have the luxury to wait (they have non-discrimination measures where they live and work), don't understand the day-to-day peril working LGBTs live under in terms the vulnerability of being fired or losing the chance for employment because of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
That said, don't go by me; you parse this document and see if there's some other way to interpret this missive, passed along by Americablog.
—–Original Message—–
From: Joe Solmonese, Human Rights Campaign President <
hrc@hrc.org>
Sent: Fri, Oct 9, 2009 5:00 pm
Subject: HRC Weekly Update from Joe Solmonese
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Dear xxxxx,
Sometimes life moves so quickly that you can forget how much is changing around you. But this weekend we will have a powerful reminder: President Obama's appearance at HRC's national dinner. His joining us that night says that although last year, we were outsiders to our own government, this year, we are a part of its vision.
It shouldn't be difficult to see why the president of the United States speaking to the nation's largest LGBT rights group is a good development for LGBT people. But at this point in time, it is hard for many among us to see. The substance of the feeling is this: he promised us the world, and we gave everything we had to elect him. But what has he done?
I've written that we have actually covered a good deal of ground so far. But I'm not going to trot out those advances right now because I have something more relevant to say: It's not January 19, 2017.
That matters for two reasons: first, the accomplishments that we've seen thus far are not the Obama Administration's record. They are the Administration's record so far. If you ask “is that all” my question to you is “is that all you think we're going to push for?” It isn't.
More importantly: today, and for the next seven years and three months, Barack Obama is the most powerful person in the world, with the largest bully pulpit, and the most power to effect change. To do the work, we hav e to work with our supporters in Congress and with the Administration. Whatever you think of the Administration's first nine months, you don't pass laws by sitting out. You pass laws by sitting at the table.
And you don't get to the table at the expense of your principles. You don't get the President's ear at the expense of your expectations. In June I wrote a letter to President Obama describing HRC's disagreement with his decision to defend DOMA in federal court, and with the offensive and inaccurate arguments the government put forth. It's hard to read such a letter—a public one—from an ally.
But when the President signed a memorandum providing family protections and an inclusive non-discrimination policy for federal employees—policies for which HRC and our sister organizations had advocated—I was proud to be present. Our disagreement about DOMA did not require me to ignore a step forward for transgender federal workers and for same-sex partners. In turn, the President invited me because he recognized HRC's accomplishments in promoting those fair policies, and because he would not exclude a civil rights advocate for speaking up about our community's rights.
Those protections were a good first step. Passing the hate crimes law is a monumental one. I continue to believe that with this president, we will do much more. As we prepare to dedicate HRC's Edward Kennedy award, I know that this president shares his mentor's commitment to promoting justice for LGBT people.
I predict great things coming out of our work with this President, but that does not mean that I am satisfied today. Our community cannot be satisfied so long as DOMA is on the books and an inclusive ENDA is not. This is something we share with all those who advocate for civil rights. No civil rights advocate can be satisfied as long as there are children who eat their only meals in their failing schools each day. No civil rights advocate should be satisfied until all of us have health care and no one has to declare bankruptcy because of a hospital bill. We are not satisfied until this country keeps its promise to everyone.
Advocates for health care, education, LGBT rights and other civil rights issues are getting used to this new landscape, where passing our legislation is possible, but still hard. We've learned that end of life counseling can be twisted into “death panels” and hate crimes into “pedophile protection.” We've come to understand that we didn't win it all in November but that we can win now.
I am sure of this: on January 19, 2017, I will look back on the President's address to my community as an affirmation of his pledge to be our ally. I will remember it a
s the day when we all stood together and committed to finish what Senator Kennedy called our unfinished business. And I am sure of this: on January 19, 2017, I will also look back on many other victories that President Barack Obama made possible.
Sincerely,
Joe Solmonese
President, Human Rights CampaignPS: C-Span will cover President Obama's address live. Tune in on Saturday night at 7:55 p.m.And if you are travelling to DC to participate in the National Equality March, click here for details about the resources HRC will be providing, including the tools you need to become a citizen lobbyist, advocating for all of the rights that you came to march for.
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More below the fold, including a snippet of The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld column, “View from the Hill,” about the dinner.
From View from the Hill, more evidence that the rah-rah at the dinner will focus on hate crimes passage:
When I asked [Useless Press Secretary] Gibbs if the president would highlight anything beyond the recently nominated openly gay ambassador and the nearly sealed hate-crimes legislation, Gibbs said he didn’t want to “zoom past” the hate-crimes achievement.
“Hate-crimes protections are long overdue, in the president's opinion,” Gibbs said. “He believes that their passage represents an important step, and looks forward to, when that legislation gets to his desk, signing it and making that the law of the land. I think that's certainly part of what he'll discuss on Saturday night.”
Based on that response, I think it’s safe to say that hate crimes will clearly be a major emphasis of the speech.
…Setting out a path to overturning the gay ban [DADT] on Saturday would certainly be noteworthy, but earlier this week, Gibbs’s reaction to questioning about a Senate sponsor for repeal or a timeline led me to believe that it hadn’t been a hot topic of conversation recently at the White House.
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Clinton told us the same thing.Are we going to let them do the wait and we will take care of it theme again?
We need to insist on now. They will just lead us along till 2017 and then become embroiled in some issue that will preempt our rights. We know how they do it will they be allowed to pull it off again?
Joe says wait, Barney says wait, and the President will speak at HRCLast eve, at a gathering of Lesbian women, I opined that the President speaking at HRC was to re-enforce their claim to speak for us after the damage to their credibility when the LGBT community by and large revolted against HRC leadership coincident with the crumb from the table that was the President’s “Rental Truck Equality Memorandum” granting the partners of relocated federal employees re-imbursement for a U-Haul.
I, sadly, was not paranoid.
Joe tells us to shut up, the Predsident gets to play the game of having adoring LGBT’s supporting him…
….and we get…?
I am not going to wait until 2017to be considered an equal citizen, and to see universal equality finally granted in America as it was first promised in the 18th century.
Do you think, for a minute, that the RW would sit and wait on these issues?Sure, abortion will never be outlawed, and there are some radicals on their side who think it will, at some point.
But seriously, how long did it take Dick Cheney to summon his top-secret energy commission meetings?
Hank Paulson typed up a 3-page note in how long, 10 minutes?
Terry Schiavo languished for years until Bill Frist and the President decided to cut short a vacation weekend and race back to session to pass legislation based on ONE PERSON.
And we’re told to wait another 40 years?
f that. We need to be in the streets. See you Sunday!
What I see.I see someone saying “just wait — he’ll be there a while and He’ll get around to us, but not until we’ve fixed this health care thing”.
I see DADT missing and DOMA in place — an utter and absolute disconnect with the priorities of the people he speaks for — and probably a good step since they still avoid the issue of removing the section removal of transfolks.
(For the record, I am all for ending DADT, but I will actively oppose it if it is placed or moved forward without extending the same thing for transfolk, who’ve had to deal with it for longer and have a pretty crappy social reminder in reruns endlessly).
I don’t see someone saying wait until 2017, I see someone saying “keep him there, keep sending your dollars, keep doing it “our way” and we will get it.”
I’m not big on marches, or protests, or demnstrations. I am big on en masse convergence on DC, and literally swarming the offices (and restrooms) of capitol hill for an extended period of time.
I’m big on letters and phone calls — and if that means you call your senator who opposes you 10 times in a week, as I have been doing with mine, then you do that.
I do like this massive march — a lot of people all there getting press is a good thing. I do agree that it should have been done while people were in session, and it should have been joined with every last one of those people filing past every single office in Congress and the State Department and the White House.
Today I heard someone say that they would have preferred to see that money for the plane trips and hotel rooms and all the rest to go towards the fights in a couple of states the Blenders are following closely.
I think they should go towards local stuff, as well, myself, for local fires are harder for our enemies to fight than a national one or a few scattered one’s at at time.
They are a vast machine, our opponents, and slow to turn, and not as effective against multiple attacks from multiple directions.
And so when we do have national movements, it should be truly national, and constant — not merely during the “lobby days” but all the time, so that those poor congress critters get no rest at home or away.
And what I parse here is the opposite of all of that. What I parse here is “trust me”. Coming from a man who stood before a crowd of people and lied his as off, knowingly, with all sorts of things in place already to make it seem reasonable after the fact.
And this is the SOB that “has the president’s ear” on behalf of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans folks.
Well, Schmoe, not only do I not trust you, I don’t believe you.
And cannot see how anyone else can, either.
This kind of thinking is one reason I’ll be protesting.There are several of us who will be protesting outside the HRC fundraising dinner. Please come and join us. The facebook page describing what’s going on is at http://www.facebook.com/home.p…
How anyone supports HRC is beyond me.ESPECIALLY after their traitorous behavior in 2007. Solmonese cares more about hobnobbing with the powerful than he does in actually advocating for EVERYONE’S rights. That is the whole of HRC. Sit around and pat themselves on the back while we languish in inequality. This reeks of “you’ll get your rights AFTER the revolution.”
I will not sit down.
I will not shut up.
I will not support HRC.
actually I came to a nasty conclusion a long time ago…HRC only exists to espouse GLBT rights legislation. If all 8 items listed by Obama were granted then HRC no longer has a mission or a reason to exist or to more importantly, collect donations and hold fundraisers.
How much money does HRC generate? How much do the senior officers get paid? When was the last time anyone checked thier books?
So, it comes as no suprise to me that HRC actually seems to be dragging out, speaking against, acting against the best interests of the GLBT community.
The longer the conflict exists, the more money they generate. With the conflict resolved, they cease to generate money and no longer exist.
So, they drag their feet and say “maybe 2017…”
HRC does not speak for me or represent my point of view.Just because a group of people call themselves a “gay rights” organization doesn’t make it so. I give my donations to Lambda Legal and other organizations that actually do something about human rights.
The message is clear. And so is my response.Jillian at Sadly, No! made an excellent point in December around the time of the announcement of Rick Warren; here is a relevant excerpt of The Exegesis of the Unfunny, or “Letter From a Birmingham Gay Bar”:
I yield the rest of my time and depart the floor with a message to Joe Solmonese:
Home Run The only problem if we look back at history, the money would continue to flow after all laws for equality are passed. HRC has failed the LGBT community. HRC still stands as the Major LGBT organization because the religious right has defined them as the Major LGBT organization. I think those who donate to the HRC are those who feel they need to donate on the LGBT community’s behalf and don’t know any better. Those of us who are truly engaged in the fight for our rights know better than to donate to the HRC.
Add in the fact that congress critters also allow HRC to be top dog.
I hope Cleve Jones will be successful and finally provide better fighting source than the HRC and only then will HRC begin to truly fight for our rights.
Same shit, different dayFor many years, the HRC has been telling us to sit tight, keep our traps shut and send them money. And that is ALL they have been doing.
Obama should stay out of Question 1.Maine is not California. The demographics are different. If Obama weighs in on Question 1, at best they’ll ignore him, at worst they’ll get irritated that he got involved with a state issue.
This is not to say that they’re like conservative teabaggers that are all about state rights. It’s just that Mainers tend to have a finer understanding and appreciation of separation of powers.
I’ve heard people wonder why Question 1 isn’t getting national attention. This may be by design. Maybe No on 1 hasn’t asked for national attention because they don’t want it.
As for Joe Solmonese, he is probably as bad at poker as he is at politics. Bringing up 2017 is a stupid move because it looks like we already plan to support him in 2012. However likely that might be, you don’t just give that away. It’s entirely possible that Republicans will get more moderate by 2012. The whole reason why we’ve had such slow progress is we pretty much guarantee support for Democrats when that should be a chip we negotiate with to get them to get stuff done.
Other Civil Rights Groups Still ExistI don’t mean to burst your bubble, because I think it’s possible that the HRC also believes it won’t have a job to do once we have all our rights written in legislation. So it’s on that belief that they move so slowly.
But that’s a belief, not a reality. It is naive to think that once we are equal in theory under the law that we will actually BE equal. No, we will still need LGBT rights groups to make sure that the laws we pass are actually active and enforced. And we will have to protect them from being weakened by legislation the anti-gay folks will surely try to pass. We will have issues that we need funding for, like LGBT youth homelessness and HIV prevention.
There are a number of advocacy groups and lobby groups for women and people of color. They are still needed because civil rights are always under attack and need to be defended. Look at reproductive rights for example.
So perhaps instead of threatening that they’ll all be out of a job once we have legislation passed, we should remind them that there will still be a role for them after all the legislation we want passed.
GrrrlRomeoExcellent point concerning 2012- we aren’t sheep.
Your earlier point about HRC being a lobby organization that has a self-interest in not putting itself out of a job is very plausible.
I also note Joe’s emphasis on “sitting at the table” to get things done in Washington. Using Thanksgiving dinner as a metaphor, there’s a difference between sitting at the table and sitting at the kid’s table. I am not convinced that HRC is sitting at the adult’s table.
I won’t give money to Lambda Legal either.I’ve talked to the Chicago litigators and have been told they have no intention of doing ANY work in Indiana. They have no plans to challenge the DOMA on a federal OR state level anywhere. They have no intentions to challenge equal recognition of married couples who live in a state that doesn’t now have equal marriage.
They say that it takes time and they want to make sure that they will win any litigation they pursue. They are not giving those of us who are married any guidance on how to demand,document and demand equality in our states. They sent me to the HRC website for information!
There is notwhere for those of us who want to fight for equality to go once Lambda Legal and HRC tell us that we have to wait and THEY will decide who’s rights to fight for with OUR donations.
No more voluteering to set up fundraisers for me. No more donations for any of the “leadership” of the Gay community. I phone banked for Maine equality. I sent money to California. I’ve donated time and money ad nauseum over the years and put my body on the line more than once. I’m done. I’ll save my money and energy to fight here in my town, my county and my state.
I know I’ve called for Joe Solmonese’s resignation previously……in relationship to his speech at the 2007 Southern Comfort Conference (SCC). The HRC’s backing of a non-inclusive ENDA just a few months later was in direct confict with what what he said at SCC. Mr. Somonese has zero credibility with most of the trans community — the HRC horse-traded with trans civil rights in a very duplicitous way to my trans subcommunity.
Now, add this “January 19, 2017″ standpoint for LGBT civil rights…I’m sorry, adding this extended timetable of incrementalism regarding LGBT civil rights — well, I still believe Joe Solmonese needs to go, as well as others in the HRC’s entrenched leadership.
So, let me be clear — I do think the HRC does some good and important work for my trans subcommunity of the broad LGBT community, but I still at this point I don’t want the HRC to speak for my trans peers or me. And, Joe Solmonese in particular is the wrong voice to speak for trans people — specifically due to his lying to the the trans community at the 2007 SCC. Adding a ridiculously extended incrementalism posture on LGBT civil rights to that — well, I still strongly believe Joe and some others at the top of the HRC has just gotta go.
hey JoeYoure sure 2017 is ok with you? Why not make it 2070 while youre at it? None of us REALLY need our Federal Rights or anything. In fact to make things easier for you I wont even think of demanding any work done on the UAFA bill. No no, my partner and I and our sweet dog wont trouble you any longer. We’ll just move if we can and if not we’ll just break up and be separated. But thats fine because all we have to do is wait until 2017 right? I do need a question answered since I’m not an HRC employee(I’m just a silly dolt needing Fed Rights remember), but what happens if for example the House and the Senate go wildly GOP in the coming years? Will that mean we’ll have to wait past 2017? I’m just asking so I can make plans until then. Hope you can clear that up for me asap!
I’ve been done with Joe for a while but this ’2017′ insanity is the nail in the coffin of my support for the HRC!
And while were at it shouldnt the HRC be protested?
Even if you want to credit HRC’s argument (and I don’t, not for a minute)it assumes that everything in DC will be just exactly as it is now, all the way to 2017. And that’s preposterous. More and more political analysts are arguing that the GOP has a good chance of taking back the House next year. That would, obviously, kill any possibility of pro-LGBT getting passed. Add to that the prospect–again, being floated by a lot of commentators–that Obama will have a lot of trouble winning a second term, and you have a perfect argument for pressuring Obama and his party to act NOW.
Is HRC telling people to sit hands folded for Obama re: progress until 2017?I thnk Joe needs a new position. He is obviously not effective in the one he has, and he makes too much money for his lack of advocacy for GLBT rights.
I can;t choose between Joe & Obama for the “fiercest advocate” for gay rights award.They both are doing sucha bang up job!!/snark
I agree we should have his scalp…… if for nothing more than this memo alone. Shocking.
But going after Solomonese would serve a perfect purpose. He is the poster child for those gays who enable this administation to do nothing on gay issues and then smooth things over with sweet talk and promises.
Getting his scalp would send a clear message to our leaders, to HRC, to the President, and to the country that Joe’s way of doing politics is not acceptable anymore.
It’s clear. It’s focused. It packs a powerful message.
JOE’S GOTTA GO!!!
Pam, Joe Solmonese posted a reactionto the criticism from LGBT bloggers: http://www.hrcbackstory.org/20…
incrementalism and assimilationismhttp://www.dyssonance.com/?p=838
Another vitriolic “We Hate Joe S., Barney F. and lying Obama” thread?The simple truth remains. Enough people think each of them is doing enough right, even if none are serving our interests perfectly.
well, some folks like being lied toAnd others of us find that lies being told to us to keep us thinking they are “doing enough right” are evidence they aren’t doing enough right.
GOOD CALLI think all hes saying is its the mans first term, history and the rest of us should judge his presidency when it is in fact history. I’m glad to see one of “our” leaders
Solomonesebacking off the pressure a little. Obama has more on his plate than any one of us will probably ever know, we cant even imagine it, let alone try to resolve that great weight of history with the elegant, erudite, fortitude of our current Commander in Chief. And with a smile.Part of the rabid intensity of all movements right now, whether left or right or black or white or atheist or non-atheist, is due to the society we live in, where everything is instant. Guess what twitters, civil rights take centuries. Centuries.
Imagine the 95 year old african american woman, who can describe Obama’s presidency as only a “Miracle” even though it took the better part of a century. She heard tales of grandfather in shackles, when white children were tuck in, listening to fairy tales and watched her great granddaughter vote historically in her first election. This woman has seen the movement. Has been the struggle. This beautiful wise woman, sage and lined with years. She has seen leaders rise and fall, she has been abused and through it all her head remains, elegant and high.
What must it sound like to her when (and pardon me) “the gays” clamor and gossip and fuss and march and yell, demanding totalitarian militarily-enforced equality RIGHT FUCKING NOW OR ELSE! ? R U Kidding me? Maybe I could really ‘get on the bus’ if I had to drink out of a “Fagots only” drinking fountain, but lets try to keep it in perspective you guys.
We are EVERYWHERE. On TV On Screen On Line On top On Bottom, you name it. We have GOT TO BE PATIENT. And we have to take in to consideration the demands we make, the time and place in history that we make them, and ultimately, understand the true capacity for power and change that our president has to work with.
Obama is a glorious icon of our great democratic tipping point to be sure, but lets examine his duties, his ‘powers’, and how “Change” is really brought about historically.
In terms of leadership and society, three things move people toward change, through history, and into a hopefully brighter future.
Firstly, the inherent ‘shiftiness’ of generational rollover – we learn more about ourselves and others, and the world we live in, with each and every lifetime lived. History in the vault, every generation comes upon new truths and fictions, and makes a deposit to the greater “lifebank” of human history and indeed humanity in general. But revealing our human characters life cyle by lifecycle is only the first part of the process, certainly we know more and more each day, let alone every 35 years or so, but what to do with that information? We apply it to our lives, and through teaching, the lives of our children – the next wave. How do we apply it? Through action. If we learn, for example, that the UV Rays are stronger than previously imagined or that the risk for melanoma is higher, we buy stronger sunscreen, or stay out of the sun. When this generation sees a young gay couple on the street or on TV, in love smiling laughing hugging kissing, they know at least that it exists, hopefully they see that it is just a love expressed, and then, like choosing the spf 50 or not, they take action. By action, here I mean classic dramatic action, a choice, a decision. They may say “Its not for me.” They may say “gay people just love each other, no big deal.” They may say “look at those fucking faggots.” But at least they’re looking now.
And so we are now at the very beginning of true visibility
historicallyand with visibility we find reproach. We, although our histories have been ignored for millennia, are truly at the starting line of this “struggle’ of ours – stonewall was this afternoon, historically speaking. So here we are at the beginning, and the future is so bright as to almost blind us, a near unbearable weight of HOPE bursting in our heavy hearts. It is the hardest now because we see our brothers and sisters in arms for the first time, marching, dancing, singin’ songs and carryin’ signs (mostly say hooray for our side) – and we collectively implore, “How could it be, that we ARE ALL HERE, LIVING AND LOVING BEFORE YOU, and STILL there’s that one kid who’s gotta’ say ‘look at those fucking faggots!’?” Because for OUR CAUSE, this upcoming generation is the first to rightly judge us, having known us exponentially more than their parents our my parents ever did. But there are some, whose influences in life have been, angry or sad or fearful of the radical paradigm shift of sexual, racial, and spiritual identities that have been for the first time given a breath and voice and wide affirmation outside the cloying rot of shame that is the closet. There are those unwilling to see these radical things as good, be it men loving men, a black man in the white house, or robot vacuum cleaners, and these people, existing at the end of the last generation, which sort of coasted except for 9/11, were the first to see us for who we really are. Their parents, my parents, certainly our grandparents came from a time when “our people” did not even exist! The next generations teachers, their elders, come from the generation of our nonexistence and they are bound to react with cruelty at times and teach it to their progeny. The Kid Calling you Faggot probably has parents that call people faggot, but, no offense, they and countless other parents like them will all be dead soon anyway, and then its up to their kid to make his own decision, to teach hate to his own offspring or not, to explore the richness of our story through further visibility, or simply “grow up”. And while the influence of parents from a different time and scriptures from a completely different time, we may see a number of todays children grow up and still hate, and still “look at those fagots…”, but for every one of this next generation that goes to that hateful place, there are two or three, who have seen us for ourselves because of our new exposure, and will grow up and teach their own children acceptance and liberty. Rest assured the teenagers of today will rule this world tomorrow, and the weight of our struggle rests on their shoulders as well – their response to our visibility in this era will be what ushers in the climate of our future, our children’s future, and their own.But the natural shift of a a society growing up which occurs generationally, is only the first step in historical change, in terms of equal and civil rights, the hope is that, upon consideration of our visibility, we will be judged as human, and equal, and, ultimately, that the good justice of our redemption shall be made manifest by legislature which protects us from the bigoted themes of the past and which states in no uncertain terms that we have a right to pursue happiness, to love without fear of brutality. But before we get to Law Making, we need to gauge the sentiment of the land. How many priests and parents and grandparents are still alive out there who would sooner spit on us than look at us? How many of their children, their congregation, have they poisoned beyond repair? We must remember that the laws that ‘favor’ us affect all of us, some people in ways that we don’t understand because the law does not even concern their lives,because they react with spite and murder to what we see as basic liberty. But “those people” are HERE LIVING THEIR LIVES TOO, and when we legislate,” those people” are affected. We are now at a place at once volatile and humming with potential, but it is a transitory period. We know that we have what it takes to finaly get our due, but we face echoes of the past as children holler their parents hateful words, and while we can do a lot for ourselves, it is in these upheavals that we need an ally in power in our corner. And good lord almighty do we have one now. Believe it.
This is where our leaders enter the stage (stage left thank god) of historical change. Because at ground level we can only do so much, and with vastly powerful forces which are still lingering even as the generation of my grand parents dies away, the President and his lawmakers are the ones to whom we must plead our case, and rightly we do, but Presidents themselves must judge our generation too. Presidents (or monarchs or prime ministers) have two things available, the last two aspects of historical change. Namely a voice of leadership, and the powers to change law or policy. An effective leader is one who knows when to use either or both, and to what extent.
Obama must use his voice now. And he does. He knows everything I just said. He gets where we are, and not just as america but as a living culture connected to those that came before and those that will rightly flow from our chidren’s fertile future. He knows that as long as their still are the hateful vicious, name calling,ignorant bigots, out there, we are not ready to sign anything into LAW. Because while these laws do not affect the bigoted in a sense that they are directed specifically at gays and lesbians and transgenders, but huge change AS A LAW, as opposed to lets say, an eloquent phrase defining powerfully a bold inclusive idea, does indeed affect these people. It angers them. It makes them scared for the world they’ve known and it makes them want to hurt us more. Obama must use his voice of leadership, now, and we will see about laws, remember, this is just the beginning, the very start of it all, we probably wont live in a whole country, or, “United States”, where our rights are unquestionably protected for a long time. You and I wont see it. Our children will not. Their children may be the closest to it and so forth. But we want it NOW NOW NOW don’t we? We want our “venti-no-fat-triple-skim-equality” mobile-uploaded to our facebookstatus to Twit about it. We want decades of changes available for download on Itunes. And we seem to think that ALL OF THIS CAN BE RESOLVED BY ONE MAN IN EIGHT YEARS??????. I know it still hurts, even more now that we can see each other hurting too, I know that Obama looks a lot like God comparatively, but he has got to take this slowly, open our visibility further, if he puts laws into affect now, he could easily lose his next four years, he MUST do what he has been doing, letting our cause become a part of national conversation in a different way, without ballyhoo or rallying war cries, with simple inclusion in the language of equality. He knows how to do this. He knows the generational tide upturned a radical new dimension of peoples lives by letting us out of the closet and onto the world stage. He knows, that as President, In terms of leadership, society and real historical change their are two things left to do: Either use his legislative power to encode as binding truths the essences of these new facts of life that have been revealed, risking swift retribution from the farthest right, and the loss of the next election, OR he can gradually include us in the national conversation and DIRECT that conversation towards changing peoples minds, and seeing us as equal, knowing that what the gay and lesbian movement needs the most right now Right NOW RIGHT NOW!! Is not to be able to get married tomorrow legally, but TO HAVE A DEMOCRAT IN OFFICE FOR AT LEAST THE SIXTEEN YEARS FOLLOWING OBAMA’S PRESIDENCY. PERIOD. If he were to begin legislating wildly on our behalf, enacting sweeping change tomorrow the way we all demand to have it, not only would we see a marked increase in bias crimes and bashings at the level of towns schools and neighborhoods, but the MOVEMENT its self would be threatened by the chance that too much too fast would throw a reactionary doomsday psycho like Bush back in the white house. We are part of a bigger longer deeper story, whose end we will not see, we must set aside the impatience, the clamor for immediate legislative legitimacy, and let this great leader lead.
it’s time for Joe to goseriously, how long has he been there? exactly what has HRC accomplished during that time? NOTHING. ZILCH. ZIPPO.
Joe, it’s time for you to go!!