six months on, tired of waiting through those unfulfilled promises

from THE ADVOCATE

June 26, 2009

DNC Fund-raiser Nets $1 Million
Click the byline to view more stories by this author.By Kerry Eleveld

Attendees of the 10th annual LGBT Leadership Council fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee Thursday in Washington were greeted by protesters carrying signs that read “Gay Uncle Toms” and “265 Discharged Since January 20, 2009.”

When Wisconsin reresentative Tammy Baldwin arrived, she chatted with the spirited flock of about 25 and then pivoted to enter the Mandarin Oriental Hotel as cries of “Don’t go in, Tammy!” and “Shame on you!” followed her.

“I think it’s so important that as gay and lesbian people who are denied equal rights, we do feel an impatience and a frustration, and it’s really important that that be expressed both outside and inside,” she said.

Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, was one of the detractors camped outside the event. “Tonight we’re here to send a strong message to the vice president and to the president that it’s time to end the silence on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’” he said. “His presidential leadership and commitment is needed up on the Hill.”

A long list of LGBT activists had also registered their discontent by simply declining to attend the dinner: activist David Mixner, former Clinton adviser Richard Socarides, millionaire Bruce Bastian, prominent Obama supporter Stampp Corbin, blogger Andy Towle, and the entire board of the Stonewall Democrats.

Despite the controversy, about 180 people showed up to hear Vice President Joe Biden speak for a price tag of $1,000 to $30,400 per plate. The event brought in nearly $1 million, up from about $750,000 last year, according to a Democratic Party source.

But the scene was not one of total discord between inside and outside. Some DNC staffers working the event were also wearing red, white, and blue “265” buttons as a reminder of the number of gay and lesbian service members who have been discharged from the military since President Barack Obama took office.

When Vice President Biden took the stage, he told the crowd that he had specifically asked to speak at the event and that his wife, Jill Biden, had also requested to address a Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network event earlier this month.

“I am not unaware of the controversies swirling around this dinner,” Joe Biden said, “swirling around the speed -- or lack thereof -- that we’re moving on issues that are of great importance to you and, quite frankly, to me and to the president and to millions of Americans.”

Biden thanked people in the room for their hard work and dedication during the election.

“More importantly , I want thank you for being a critical -- critical -- voice for keeping the nation focused on the unfinished business of true equality for all of our people; and I know and this administration knows that we have so much more to do,” he said. “I promise you, I promise you, with your help we’ll get there in this administration.”

Biden ticked off a list of priorities for the community, starting with receiving a standing ovation for saying with great gusto, “We will repeal the Defense of Marriage Act with your help!” He touched on “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the Domestic Partner Benefits and Obligations Act, employment nondiscrimination, the HIV travel ban, and hate crimes.

“It all is for one purpose and that is, securing equality and dignity -- equality and dignity -- for all Americans,” Biden declared.

But if the vice president gave a well-received and heartfelt speech, those who attended the dinner were less taken with the overtures made by the DNC chairman, Virginia governor Tim Kaine.

“He didn’t really seem to recognize what it meant for the people who were in that room to show up,” said LGBT activist Peter Rosenstein, calling his speech “disappointing.”

Rosenstein said he did speak individually with Kaine about making sure that Congress doesn’t interfere with the District of Columbia’s right to determine whether same-sex marriages would be legal and recognized in the city.

“He said he would work with us on that,” Rosenstein said. “But he didn’t run down the litany of issues that the vice president did during his speech -- it lacked a real commitment to showing what the DNC is going to do on our issues.”

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You've really got to see the posts by the readers of the Advocate. The ANGER and the outrage of the ordinary Jane and Joe homo outside the Beltway is INSPIRING!

see:
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid93604.asp#Receipt


You know, it has often been said that Obama is being extra cautious, based on what happened when Clinton tried to fulfill HIS promises to the LGBTQ community, in fulfilling his own promises for change and equal rights. But what nobody seems to realize is that Obama needs to be extra cautious WITH US.

We have already lived through one Presidential candidate who came into office WITH OUR MONEY AND VOTES and then dashed all hopes, threw us to the wolves, made things FAR worse than they were before, made a few token gay and lesbian appointments for people of money and privilege but did nothing toward assuring equal rights for LGBTQ Americans, and then, after screwing us for DECADES TO COME with the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, actually CAMPAIGNED FOR REELECTION on having signed it! The rights of LGBTQ Americans further deteriorated after Clinton left office.

WELL OBAMA OUGHT TO WATCH THE HELL OUT.

WITH HIS OWN JUSTICE DEPARTMENT'S DEFENSE OF DOMA, THE HONEYMOON -- and our wide-eyed approval of the man and assumption of integrity -- IS CLEARLY AND OFFICIALLY OVER. And if he doesn't watch himself, we are HEADED FOR DIVORCE COURT!

Didn't Jesus say, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."?

And didn't Pastor Martin Neimuller warn him and all of us, some 50 years ago,

"When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
Then they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
I did not protest;
I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out."

If we, the gays and lesbians and transgender and bisexuals are the first to slide off the Obama-superstar bandwagon, the rest of the country, and probably therefore ultimately the world, won't be far behind. (Honey everyone knows we always lead the way in fashion and trends!)


And for my own post...unfortunately, they only permit posts of 1000 characters so I had to edit a bit:

"I am utterly cheered by the tone of the overwhelming majority of posts on this topic!

THIS is the spirit of Stonewall -- a spirit NOT embodied by those who, utterly disgracefully, pay out $1000-$30000+ thousand dollars each for a dinner that, for all intents and purposes as pointed out here by others, seals OUR fates by assuring that the Democratic National Committee CONTINUES to fail to live up to promises on equal rights for LGBTQ Americans.

That kind of money also does a major disservice to our community in that it is used against us when people argue -- as heard on NPR just this week -- that we are a PRIVILEDGED class and do not NEED any MORE rights!

Well, in a way it’s true. The privileged class of LGBs really doesn’t need any more rights because wealth in this country -- can you say "Mary Cheney"? -- ALWAYS buys privilege.

To hell with DNC and to hell with Joe Biden and especially, to hell with Barack Obama who, it turns out for all his audacity, is after all an EMPTY HOPE."

Remember it was a bunch of tired angry drag queens who grabbed the cops' keys and took off the handcuffs and then took off their heels to finally hit back, and beat the shit out of a bunch of cops who had come to harrass them to make bail money for the City of New York, for the hundred and one-th time. It was NOT those homos and dykes who could afford TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS A PLATE to have DINNER with the GODDAMNED VICE PRESIDENT!