ACT On Principles

Activist, Author, and Civil Rights leader David Mixner has a few words for President Obama and his invited guests in his article entitled The President and the LGBT Community.

Freedom is absolute; there is no such thing as partial freedom. We are involved in daily struggle for full equality and freedom. The President must be judged on not incremental steps but on concrete actions that clearly show he is on the right side of history in this battle. Overall, the President doesn’t seem to ‘get it.’ His failure to lead on so many fronts illustrates that he still believes we are a constituency group to be placated or just another long list of issues that is in front of him. There is no indication that he is yet willing to show the courage of a President Kennedy or President Johnson and take major, decisive and historic action. In actuality we have mostly seen timid and tepid responses to the major issues and at times downright hostility.

The record of this President and this Congress on DOMA, DADT and ENDA is dismal. The DADT ‘compromise’ promises us nothing but a promise that maybe it will be dealt with next year. There is no ’stop-loss’ order, no mandate, no timeline and no criteria for implementation of the repeal. And even this compromise has yet to pass the United States Senate. We still don’t know if we are included in the immigration legislation to allow our partners to stay in America. The LGBT community’s issues were stripped from the healthcare legislation. While I appreciate the Attorney General’s lovely Gay Pride speech, the record of opposing us every step of the way in the courts with inflamed language is appalling. Their failure to side with us in the courts on Proposition 8 is unforgivable. The failure to speak out in opposing the initiative in Maine was a cowardly political decision.

Read the full article here.

Since 1969, the LGBT community has been a political force to be reckoned with.  We have numbers, money, and the organizations to move our politicians to support LGBT equality and oppose anti-LGBT legislation.  Unfortunately, we often find ourselves, as the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell vote proved, in a place of compromise for the greater good, and our organizations and leadership have often step down from holding our elected officials accountable.  History shows that we will again be asked to remain quiet  as we face the upcoming 2010 mid-term elections for the opportunity to retain control of the House and Senate.  I ask that we do not.

Rule One (Democratic Treasurer rule):

• Old Rule:  It is more important to win a Democratic House and Senate Majority than lose that majority or potential majority fighting for LGBT equality.  And both are mutually exclusive of one another.  This rule can also apply to the Presidential race.

• New Rule:  It is AS important to fight for LGBT equality, as winning or keeping  a House and Senate Democratic Majority.  And neither are mutually exclusive.  This rule also applies to the Presidential Race.

Rule Two:

• Old Rule: Money and support will be given by the LGBT community to Democratic candidates, in turn for the expectation that they will be supportive of LGBT issues.
• New Rule:  Money and support will “earned” by Democratic candidates who demonstrate CONTINUED SUPPORT of LGBT issues.

Rule Three:

• Old Rule: LGBT donors will give to Democratic candidates and Committees first (DNC, DSCC, DCCC) and expect leadership on LGBT equality later.
• New Rule:  LGBT donors will FIRST expect Democratic candidates and Committees (DNC, DSCC, DCCC) SUPPORT for equality, and will DONATE LATER.

Rule Four (Harold Ford Rule):

• Old Rule:  African American and/or Southern Democrats get a pass on advocating for LGBT equality.

• New Rule: African American and Southern Democrats are expected to be MORE VOCAL for LGBT equality as those communities are disproportionately impacted by homophobia and inequity.

Rule Five (Joe Lieberman Rule):

• Old Rule:  It is ok and understandable if a Democrat refers to his or her culture, religion, or upbringing as reasons not support full LGBT equality.

• New Rule:  It is offensive no longer acceptable if candidates embrace bigotry of their culture, religion and/or upbringing as reasons not to support full LGBT equality.

Rule Six:

• Old Rule: If LGBT community supports Democratic candidates and the candidate is successful in their race, the LGBT community can then ask the newly or re-elected Democrats to support equality.  If key votes or legislation are not delivered, the candidate should continue to receive the same support during re-election.

• New rule: If LGBT community supports Democratic candidates and the candidate is successful in their race, the LGBT community will demand the newly or re-elected Democrats to support LGBT equality.  If key votes or legislation are not delivered, the candidate WILL NOT and SHOULD NOT receive similar support during re-election.

Here is a great interview with Act On Principles Champion Paul Yandura on the Sirius/XM OutQ Signorile  show.  He gives his inside view of LGBT politics in Washington, DC.

Washington Blade’s Editor Kevin Naff has a very interesting perspective on the LGBT’s community’s take on the lack of action from an Obama White House.  A chant from GetEqual’s  May 2nd protest rings true.  ”We will remember, in November.”

If my e-mail inbox is any indication, LGBT Americans have finally arrived at the breaking point, outraged at the endless broken promises and delayed advances. Treating our full equality as an expendable bargaining chip is no longer acceptable. When will the Democrats stop running from their own shadow, ever fearful of what Fox News or Sarah Palin or the Tea Baggers might say about them? Fox News can’t attract two million viewers on a good night. We’re a nation of more than 300 million people, the vast majority of whom oppose “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” including many prominent Republicans. Supporting repeal of this odious law that compromises our national security and wastes billions of taxpayer dollars will not cost any Democrat his or her seat.

LGBT lobbyists, activists and everyday supporters of equality must now redouble their efforts. Call your members of Congress and the White House demanding an end to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” this year. If Obama is unwilling to include repeal in his Defense authorization bill, then Congress must press forward and vote now, before the Republicans have a chance to win back the House in November.

The Human Rights Campaign, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, and all other LGBT groups that are engaged in lobbying the administration and the Hill must make it clear that failure to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” this year will amount to a betrayal of the LGBT community and that there will be consequences. As Sunday’s White House protesters chanted, we must “remember in November.”

You can read Kevin Naff’s entire piece here.

Lt. Dan Choi speaks about the Truth and Consequences of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy, Jr. Forum on 29 April 2010.  It’s an amazing video where Lt. Choi discusses GetEqual and Civil Disobedience in Part 4 and Part 5.  Insightful questions and answers come at Part 6 and Part 7.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Part Seven

I was able to ask a question at the Michelangelo Signorile Sirius/XM Thursday, April 22th, A Path Forward: An LGBT Leadership Town Hall .  You can click on the link to hear the entire interesting panel.

As you know one of the key tools that the Act On Principles website provides is Public Whip Counts for multiple pieces of LGBT legislation in the House and the Senate including the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the Repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” , the Repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, the Uniting American Families Act, and many others.  No other national organization provides such a service, and we would hope that they soon are inspired to begin to do so.

Here is the essence of my question:

In regards to principles and transparency, why aren’t the national organizations sharing information on where current LGBT legislation stands earlier, rather than later.   Why aren’t we learning about the key DADT Senators, earlier?  Will the national organizations endorse the idea of public whip count on LGBT legislation”

[Additional Note:  I am remised that I forgot to thank Aubrey Sarvis, Executive Director for the Service Members Legal Defense Network (SLDN) for already endorsing our House and Senate Public Whip Counts on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.   I went up and thanked him personally after the panel and he said, “We will be doing more work together.”  I look forward to that.]

Joe Solmonese claims that “they couldn’t be more transparent” and that their “Congressional Scorecard”   is essentially the same thing as the Act On Principles “Public Whip Counts” .    He later went on to state, “I don’t think that there is a lack of transparency of what the work needs to get done,” as they often meet in coalition with other groups.

Sorry Joe.  Wrong. Nice try.  A Congressional Scorecard of past votes and co-sponsorships is not the same thing, as a Public Whip Count of current legislation.  And here is why:

Lesson One: Congresses change with elections. The 111^th Congress has changed since the 110^th Congress.  In particular, Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) one of your targets for DADT repeal isn’t even on your “most helpful” scorecard, as he wasn’t elected.  Neither is Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) one of your target votes for ENDA, as she wasn’t elected and is not on your scorecard.

Lesson Two: New pieces of legislation are introduced regularly. HRC’s Scorecard includes issues of HIV/AIDS funding, co-sponsorship of issues such as Hate Crimes, and ENDA, issues included in the 110th Congress.  Not a always an exact indicator of where a member stands on many newer issues such as the Domestic Benefits and Obligations Act (DPBO), the Uniting Americans Families Act (UAFA),  and the repeal of DOMA (these items weren’t introduced until this congress).

Lesson Three: The Grassroots need names of who to target their efforts towards.  Generic blasts of “Call your Member of Congress” are failing to motivate the grassroots and HRC’s website and email blasts refuse to name names. The reluctance of Joe during the town hall to even mention the six target Senators indicates that there is a larger problem with HRC.  If you visit HRC’s special website for DADT Repeal it is almost impossible to find the six Senators that need to be pushed.  Joe could only name five during the town hall.

• Senator Jim Webb (D-VA)
• Senator Bill Nelson (D-NE)
• Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV)
• Senator Evan Bye (D-IN)
• Scott Brown (R-MA)

Lesson Four: More information early, is better than little information late in the game.  The last few votes are crucial to push the legislation through, and time of of the essence.  These are the votes that the grassroots need the most information on, and sooner, rather than later.   The five Senators above should have been directly been discussed in the email boxes and the blog postings as of last year, not in the final moments as we head into the President’s Defense Authorization Budget.

As the title of the town hall suggests, we were looking for “A Path Forward”.    Act on Principles, Service Members Legal Defense Network, and  Out4Immigration with many other newer organizations have lead the way.   Now is the time for the largest LGBT organizations such HRC , The Task Force, Immigration Equality, and the  National Center for Transgender Equality to endorse a more open and transparent path.

From Mississippi Dignity Caravan:

“Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood.” ~Coretta Scott King

- Rally at Mississippi’s Capitol – 8AM
- Caravan to Fulton leaves Capitol – 10AM
- Rally in Fulton – 3PM
More details to come… Save the date and spread the word.

In light of Mississippi’s recent negative headlines regarding homophobia, discrimination and the planned presence of Westboro “Baptist Church”, we need to take a stand and declare that Mississippians and Americans do not support hate and discrimination… Not in our schools, not in our workplaces, and not in our legislation. This is an issue of human dignity!

The plan…

We are organizing a meet-up and rally on the steps of Mississippi’s capitol to declare that these recent actions against Constance McMillen, Juin Baiz, and Ceara Sturgis (and the message being sent by the Westboro Baptist Church) are not Mississippi’s ideals; Mississippi MUST lead the way in making schools, workplaces, and families safe places and secure for all. The action on the capitol steps will be a call to action… The message: bullying, hate and discrimination will no longer be tolerated in Mississippi. It is NOT Mississippi!

The rally will then caravan to Fulton, Mississippi to hold a vigil/peaceful rally… One that contrasts the hateful message of Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church. Our peaceful presence and message of love will starkly contrast the hateful message. Our hopes? To begin a deeper dialog in Mississippi and the US about the discrimination, bullying and homophobia that occurs in schools, workplaces, pulpits, and our places of government.

The line must be drawn in the mud of Mississippi…

Everyone is invited to the rallies under the condition that we RESPECT the people of Fulton. It may be a challenge and we may be angry with their actions against Constance and Juin, but these rallies are NOT attacks against them; they are to contrast and overshadow the hateful message that the Westboro “Baptist Church” hopes to make heard in Mississippi.

- We will be setting up contacts throughout the state and country.
- We will be establishing meet-up points and contacts throughout the state/US.
- We will be establishing carpools for those unable to drive within Mississippi.

Visit the Mississippi Dignity Caravan Facebook Site here.

At yesterday’s Sirius/XM’s Michelangelo Signorile’s Leadership TownHall.

http://advocate.com/Video/?pl=1280528&pro=1280517

David Mixner shares his feelings and keen insight on his blog DavidMixner.com regarding all of the recent LGBT developments in public and social policy impacting LGBT equality.  His views of Obama’s recent announcement on hospital visitation went from celebration to questions regarding future progress.

Then there are the victories. Recently President Obama announced an order to make it illegal to deny a LGBT partner/spouse access to their loved ones in hospitals. Any of us who remember the AIDS epidemic has no problem recalling the horror stories of long time lovers being locked out of hospital rooms. Even recently we have had cases of partners being separated in their dying moments. My first reaction was a huge grin and a victory cheer. At long last the process to end this atrocity is coming to an end. Of course it has to still wind its way through the Federal bureaucracy and could take months.

To be honest though, there is a side of me that is livid. Perhaps I have been at this too long. What the fuck took so long? Just the thought that someone has to give me permission to be at the bedside of my dying partner is outrageous. This one should have been a no-brainer. Are we really supposed to jump up and down that almost three decades since the beginning of the AIDS/HIV epidemic we are allowed to be in the room? I am sorry I just can’t. All it does is remind me how far we have to still go. When issues like this one are supposed to be major victories, how long will it take us to get to the big issues like ENDA, DOMA, DADT, Immigration Reform,etc?

It’s worth a read.  You can read the full posting here.

As an LGBT community we were so hopeful in the Obama Administration.  We were going to get ENDA passed, DADT repealed, and even our relationships recognized with the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).    Many in our community were part of the Obama Transition team, and many met to provide resources, advice, and support to the new Administration.

Now we are seeing our legislative priorities (in no particular order) including ENDA, DADT repeal, Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), and DOMA repeal slip beyond the midterms as the Obama Administration, including its Department of Justice, and its Office of Personnel Management ducks its head in the sand avoiding the leadership on LGBT civil rights promised to us during the 2008 election.  I’m not one to take names, but we have Greg Varnum, Executive Director of the National Youth Advocacy Coalition to thank for providing the list of names that participated in a meeting in December of 2008.  Looks like many were in attendance in person or by phone.

The LGBT Leaders Meeting with Obama/Biden Transition Team

December 15, 2008

Last Wednesday national leaders from the LGBTQ community were invited to a group meeting with representatives from the Obama/Biden Transition Team. The historic meeting was an opportunity for LGBTQ leaders to share our thoughts and to continue a dialogue which began during the campaign and I hope continues throughout the Obama/Biden Administration.

A number of things about the meeting left me feeling very optimistic about the developing relationship between Obama’s Administration and the LGBTQ community. For starters, The Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute’s excellent leadership on the Presidential Appointments Project has resulted in a collaborative effort our community can certainly be proud of. The transition team cited it as a model for how constituency groups should approach the appointments process. Kudos to Chuck Wolfe and Mark Perriello for their vision and leadership on this project.

Leaders such as Rea Carey from The Task Force, and Joe Solmonese from the Human Rights Campaign, spoke about some of our top concerns. Chuck Wolfe from The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, shared his comments on our community’s expectations during the remainder of the transition process. Ben DeGuzman of the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA), Mara Keisling of the National Center for Transgender Equality, Leonard Hirsch of the Federal GLOBE and I all spoke to the intersections of our community over many other constituency groups and the need to address the many constituencies within the LGBTQ community. Rebecca Haag from the AIDS Action Council and H. Alexander Robinson from the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) brought up a number of important points about the AIDS epidemic which continues to plague our community. Others spoke very eloquently about many vital issues.

Several organizations had already prepared a large binder of policy recommendations on LGBT issues. NYAC, who participated in the project, will be certain to share that document as soon as the electronic version is finalized. In addition, there was discussion on workplace discrimination, government funding of LGBT friendly services, homelessness, at-risk youth, community based service providers, racial equality and other important topics. NYAC and other organizations also submitted papers for the transition team to review. Click here to check out NYAC’s submission.

I was also impressed at how informed and engaged the transition team’s representative were on our community’s issues. The level of leadership present and attention to the conversation was impressive. The agenda set out by the Obama/Biden Administration on LGBTQ issues shows strong leadership and insight into issues important to many in the LGBTQ community. The LGBT representatives on the transition team are vibrant and empowered, including the very astute Transition Team LGBT Liaison, Parag Mehta. I understand the Liaison position will continue after the transition concludes – I hope this proves to be true.

The last thing I wanted to comment on was this administration’s commitment to transparency. They have already taken it further than I anticipated. The entire meeting was video recorded and all of the documents collected will be scanned and made available online. For example, here is the entry for NYAC’s paper. This link allows you to what we submitted and provide comments on it. This level of online access to governance is unprecedented. I think it is an important indication of things to come. No doubt our community will need to strategically think about how to utilize these new online tools. It appears that Schoolhouse Rock may need to update their video on how a bill becomes a law. The current version is missing e-advocacy, wikis and online commentary periods.

I encourage you to engage the administration with their new online communication tools at Change.gov. I especially want to encourage you to keep an eye on what’s being submitted to the administration and take your seat at the table. No doubt NYAC and our community will have a disagreement with Obama and his team on some issue at some point. However, it appears that things are off to a good start.

For those of you that are interested, here is the participant list for this meeting, as kindly provided by Parag Mehta, Obama/Biden Transition Team LGBT Liaison.

Leaders Joining in Person

in alphabetical order

1. U.S. Representative Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin)

2. Elizabeth Birch, Former President of the Human Rights Campaign

3. Jeremy Bishop, AFL-CIO Pride at Work

4. Brian Bond, Former National Constituency Director at Obama for America

5. Mark Bromley, Council for Global Equality

6. Rea Carey, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF)

7. Mandy Carter, Co-Chair of Obama PRIDE

8. Kevin Cathcart, Lambda Legal

9. Jamie Citron, Former Deputy LGBT Vote Director at Obama for America

10. Ben DeGuzman, National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA)

11. U.S. Representative Barney Frank (Massachusetts)

12. Joan Garry, Co-Chair of Obama for America LGBT National Finance Council

13. Rebecca Haag, AIDS Action Council

14. Leonard Hirsch, Federal GLOBE

15. Jon Hoadley, National Stonewall Democrats (NSD)

16. Jody Huckaby, Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)

17. Mara Keisling, National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE)

18. Justin Nelson, National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce

19. Dave Noble, Former LGBT Vote Director at Obama for America

20. Matt Nosanchuk, Convener of the LGBT Policy Committee, Obama for America

21. Mark Perriello, Presidential Appointments Project (coalition of 12 national LGBT groups)

22. U.S. Representative-Elect Jared Polis (Colorado)

23. H. Alexander Robinson, National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC)

24. Aubrey Sarvis, Service Members Legal Defense Network (SLDN)

25. Joe Solmonese, Human Rights Campaign (HRC)

26. Campbell Spencer, Co-Chair of Obama PRIDE

27. Winnie Stachelberg, Senior Vice President a the Center for American Progress

28. Greg Varnum, National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC)

29. Chuck Wolfe, Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute

Leaders Joining By Phone

in alphabetical order

1. Marsha Botzer, Co-Chair of Obama PRIDE

2. Dr. Eliza Byard, Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)

3. Jorge Cestou, Unid@s

4. Jennifer Chrisler, Family Equality Council

5. Matt Coles, ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and AIDS Project

6. Earl Fowlkes, International Federation of Black Prides (IFBP)

7. Rebecca Fox, National Coalition for LGBT Health

8. Jesse Garcia, Co-Chair of Obama PRIDE

9. Kate Kendell, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)

10. Carolyn Laub, Gay-Straight Alliance Network (GSAN)

11. Rick Stafford, Chair of the DNC Gay and Lesbian Caucus

12. Eric Stern, Co-Chair of Obama PRIDE

13. Lee Swislow, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD)

14. Andy Tobias, Treasurer of the DNC

15. Evan Wolfson, Freedom to Marry

Presidential Transition Team

in speaking order

1. Fred Hochberg, Agency Review Team Lead

2. Mike Strautmanis, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison

3. Dana Singiser, Director of Public Liaison

4. John Podesta, Co-Chair

5. Parag Mehta, Public Liaison

6. Jim Messina, Director of Personnel

7. Elaine Kaplan, Agency Review Team Lead

8. Heather Higginbottom

9. Melody Barnes, Co-Director of Agency Review

10. Roberta Achtenberg, Agency Review Team Lead

also attending from the PTT

11. Tom Perez, Agency Review Team Lead

12. Brad Kiley, Director of Operations

13. John Michael Gonzales, Congressional Affairs

14. Chris Chan, Volunteer

15. Pepin Tuma, Volunteer

16. Alex Wagner, Volunteer

Additional Guests

1. Rufus Gifford

2. Jeremy Bernard

3. Karine Jean Pierre

What went wrong my friends, what went wrong?