Students ask Wyoming school board to reconsider decision to ban anti-hate signs

A couple weeks ago, we did a post on the actions of a Wyoming school board to ban anti-hate signs because the anti-gay campaign had among its many sponsors a gay group:

In the state made infamous for the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard, school board members in one district have forced the removal of signs bearing an anti-hate message. The anti-hate campaign was led by the Anti-Defamation League with sponsorship from a variety of entities. The reason the signs had to be removed? One of sponsors is a gay organization. Not kidding.

A group of high school students went to the school board to ask them to reconsider the decision. But, that hasn't happened (yet.) This whole issue is disturbing. But, there is a silver lining. It's good to see that the next generation in Wyoming has a better sense of fairness and equality:

Abbie Gerringer, a senior at Wheatland High School, said there is a strong feeling of disagreement among the student body with the board's decision.

Sierra Locy, a sophomore at Wheatland High, called the board's decision hypocritical. Locy said the board made an entire group of young people at the school feel insecure.

Leslie Crossland, a graduate of Wheatland High and parent of a current student, said it is best for students to police themselves.

"They need to have the resources and the education to police themselves," she said. "They will learn so much better."

Bruce DeBoskey, regional director for ADL's mountain states region, said he wants to continue the "No Place for Hate" program at Wheatland schools.

"We really don't want this to be an open sore in this community," he said. "This is a good community."

It's probably a good community with some out-of-touch leaders, like so many places in America.

And, it sounds like the students are trying have Wyoming live up to its nickname as the "Equality State." Read the rest of this post...

Virginia governor strips LGBT workers of job protections

From a few days ago, but still important:

Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell has signed an executive order barring discrimination in the state workforce on grounds that include race, sex, religion and age, but not sexual orientation.

The order, which McDonnell (R) signed Feb. 5, cements federal law, which prohibits discrimination on those grounds.

It also follows McDonnell's long-standing position on the issue of legal protections based on sexual orientation. McDonnell had criticized his two Democratic predecessors for including language about it in their similar executive orders, arguing they overstepped their executive authority by extending protections to gay employees not envisioned by the General Assembly.

The DNC weighs in:

“It says a lot about the Republican party that they would anoint as their ‘rising star’ someone who in 2010 is actually stripping away from Americans legal protections against discrimination. Bob McDonnell is proving his critics right. He said he’d focus on creating jobs, not social issues. But, one of his first acts as Governor was to make it easier for a fellow citizen to be denied a job and he did so as an adherent to a right-wing ideology that allows for such discriminatory behavior. McDonnell’s decision is just plain wrong in any context, but especially so in this economic climate. And he should be ashamed,” said DNC National Press Secretary Hari Sevugan.

Thanks. Now repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell :-) Read the rest of this post...

A straight 23 year old soon-to-be member of the US military speaks out for gay rights

Wow. Simply wow. This was just posted as a comment to our blog. Read it. It's simply wow.

This is a great campaign you guys are running here. For what it's worth, here's the message I sent to HRC (I never get involved in these sorts of campaigns, but DADT really just pisses me off more than anything else.):

I am a 23 year old straight man. I have enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and this May I will begin my four years of active duty service. When I enlisted, I was extremely proud to stand at attention in front of a flag and a commissioned officer and swear an oath to defend the nation. But before I did that, I was forced to sign some paperwork saying essentially "We won't ask you if you're a homosexual, but if we find out that you are or if you engage in homosexual activity, we'll kick you out because that stuff is gross." It was one of the more disgusting, degrading, ignorant, backwards, and insulting statements I've ever had to sign my name to, and I'm not even gay!

Now I realize that I'm probably preaching to the choir on this issue, but you guys are supposed to be the biggest and most powerful groups supporting the rights of gays and lesbians, and it seems to me that you haven't done much to really try to change it. I know that Congress will have to pass DADT repeal since that has been codified into law, and I know that Congressional Democrats in both houses will not move on the issue unless they know that the president wants them to move aggressively. And I know that the president doesn't want to upset the Pentagon, which is admirable, but I also know that every single person in the Pentagon has "President of the United States - The Honorable Barack Obama" at the very tip-top of their chain of command. So it seems to me that President Obama is the most important in the entire nation when it comes to setting policy for the military, and that includes the repeal or continuation of DADT. And unless he receives pressure from advocacy groups, he ain't gonna stick his neck out for you guys.

As I said, I'm not gay. If my sexual orientation gets outed, I am in absolutely no danger of a discharge. I can continue to serve, whether or not everyone knows what gender gets my rocks off. I have that luxury. Gays and lesbians don't, and that is an embarrassment. There is a clear path to fixing that. We have the Commander in Chief we need. We have the Congress we need. We have the military leaders we need. We have the public opinion we need. The wind is at our backs, and the time is now. It is time for you to stand up and demand action from the president who owes his presidency to groups like yours. It's a singular moment where all the factors are aligned, and your leadership is acutely missed.

Read the rest of this post...

Andy Towle on HRC, DADT and the blog swarm

TowleRoad:

HRC insists (in a statement reacting to today's blog swarm) that there is "a clear path to repeal", however Pentagon sources recently told the AP that a repeal is "probably years away". Politico recently published an article quoting Rep. Anthony Weiner and Sen. Carl Levin which illustrates the confusion surrounding the timeline. Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi recently offered a parallel study/repeal track timeline, and a lack of one, respectively. Nobody's on the same page.

Said HRC's spokesman today: "There is a clear path to repeal, and that’s the one we’re on." Which is a pretty frightening statement when you consider all the reports that have been coming out of Congress.

Clearly the military is ready. Dick Cheney even thinks they are! The American people are ready too.

As noted in the earlier post about the blog swarm, there is a lack of leadership from the top. Our largest LGBT advocacy group is in Washington to demand it for us, and needs to stop making excuses for our self-described "fierce advocate" and demand that he be that.

Read the rest of this post...

Blockbuster article about Admiral Mullen today on DADT

Wow.

Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was nearing the end of a 25-minute question and answer session with troops serving here when he raised a topic of his own: "No one's asked me about 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,'" he said.

As it turned out, none of the two dozen or so men or women who met with Mullen at Marine House in the Jordanian capital Tuesday had any questions on the 17-year-old policy that bars gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military — or Mullen's public advocacy of its repeal.

At a Senate hearing earlier this month, Sen. John McCain R-Ariz., urged Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to "keep the impact it will have on our forces firmly in mind."

Yet those gathered at Marine House made it clear they've already accepted the idea of gays and lesbians serving among them.

After Tuesday's question-and-answer session, Mullen told McClatchy that although he's held three town hall sessions with troops since his testimony, not a single service member has asked him about the issue.

At Tuesday's session, which included not only Marines, but members of the Army and the Air Force, both male and female service members explained why they were nonplussed by the issue: They'd already served with gays and lesbians, they accepted that some kind of change was imminent, and, they said, the nation was too engulfed in two wars for a prolonged debate about it.

That there's been so little reaction raises questions about how much study the issue needs and whether the Pentagon study is meant to pacify its concerns — or Congress'.

“Sir, I would say that 70 years ago you can I couldn’t serve in the same Navy, the same Air Force, same Army because of the color of my skin and because of the social conditions of the day," Robinson told Mullen. "It took leadership, it took a lot of time to get people to change their views, and a lot of social change to make it possible for us today. It goes beyond scientific evidence. I think it’s purely a social issue.”

So it's now appearing we may not even need the study. Then why does the White House refuse to lead? Read the rest of this post...

Lots more blogs and bloggers, straight and gay, join the swarm against HRC and for DADT

There's a reason we love Digby:

If it seems counterintuitive that the HRC, of all organizations, has to be convinced to do such a thing, be sure to read the rest of John's post. He's right. If they lose momentum now, it could be lost for years.

I would guess that over in Afghanistan right now, there's not one soldier who gives a damn if his fellow on the battlefield is gay. Just get on with it. When even Dick Cheney signs on, there's no earthly reason to delay.

A really nice story from Michael Triplett at Mediaite about today's blog swarm.

Some of the biggest names in the LGBT and progressive blog world participated Feb. 15 in a coordinated effort to encourage the Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay rights organization in the country and a frequent object of blogger scorn, to put its heft behind efforts to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

The “blog swarm” was coordinated by John Aravosis and Joe Subday of Americablog and include LGBT bloggers and activists Pam Spaulding (Pam’s House Blend), Michelangelo Signorile (Sirius OutQ & the Gist), Andy Towle (TowleRoad), Joe Jervis (Joe My God), Bil Browning (Bilerico) and Dan Savage (Slog). Also joining in are two big names in progressive blogging, Markos Moulitsas at DailyKos and Taylor Marsh at TaylorMarsh.com.

Aravosis cut his activist teeth on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and has become a leading voice in using social media and the Internet for political action. His career has included StopDrLaura.com, the first-ever successful boycott of a TV show and the outing of Jeff Gannon–a conservative activist with White House press credentials–who allegedly worked as a gay escort.

In an email, Aravosis told Mediaite that the idea of a coordinated blog effort came from a desire for “a positive result, our civil rights” but that it also required placing “a little negative pressure on both HRC and the White House.” While “blog swarms” often have a negative connotation, Aravosis said he thought the image was unfair but that he believed “successful advocacy involves a mixed bag of tactics, including carrots and sticks. The problem is that HRC has been using a lot of carrots and not enough sticks. We’re hoping our blog swarm helps to convince them to even things out a bit.”

While the LGBT community is among the most wired and has been on the forefront of using social media advocacy, Aravosis said it was important to include “honorary gays” Moulitsas and Marsh in this effort. He said many of the netroots object to the idea that only the “gay community” is concerned about LGBT civil rights and so “we wanted to involve them to recognize that this isn’t a “gay” battle. It’s something we all believe in, care about, and want.”

A great post from Adam Bink at OpenLeft, detailing things he'd like to see:

Mobilization aimed at the White House. The night of the State of the Union speech, HRC launched its Voices of Honor campaign around grassroots mobilization, media events and legislative pressure. This is all important, but what remains to be seen is presidential leadership on the issue. John is dead-on here:

Unfortunately, we've reached a point with the Obama administration where allies have to publicly demand action, or promises are never kept. Just last week, the AFL-CIO was forced to send an action alert to its members, targeting the White House. If it's good enough for the unions, it's good enough for us.

Dan Savage goes wild:

Tell HRC that we expect the biggest gay rights group in the country to lobby and pressure the president, not make excuses for him. If the president was powerless to do anything about DADT—if he couldn't lead on the issue—HRC should've slammed him during the campaign for making promises to the gay community that he wouldn't be able to keep. They didn't because the president isn't powerless. He can put pressure on Congress, use the bully pulpit, and insist on a repeal of DADT this year—a repeal that is supported by wide majorities of the American people, liberal, independents, and conservatives.

The repeal of DADT is—if you'll excuse me—the low-hanging fruit of the Obama agenda, the one promise made by candidate Obama that President Obama should be able to deliver on. He won the White House after explicitly and repeatedly promising to end DADT, he has both houses of Congress, he has the support of the architect of DADT (Powell) and the Worst Person in the World (Cheney), and large majorities of the American people support the end of DADT.

If the president and the Democrats in Congress can't make this happen in this environment, with the support of Powell and Cheney (!) and a large majority of the American people, then the Democrats do not deserve the support, votes, or checks of gay people and our allies. And if HRC isn't willing to unambiguously and publicly pressure the White House to make this happen—Barack Obama is the president of the United States and the de-facto leader of the Democratic party—then HRC doesn't deserve our support or money either.

Once again tell HRC to publicly demand results—real leadership and the full repeal of DADT—from Barack Obama.

Back2Stonewall and David Dayen at FireDogLake graciously weighed in as well. Read the rest of this post...

The last time HRC promised us that DADT was on track...

May 7, 2009:

The White House, aware of the discontent, invited leaders of some prominent gay rights organizations to meet Monday with top officials, including Jim Messina, Mr. Obama’s deputy chief of staff, to plot legislative strategy on the hate crimes bill as well as “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Among those attending was Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, who said afterward that while the gay rights agenda might not be “unfolding exactly as we thought,” he was pleased.

“They have a vision,” Mr. Solmonese said. “They have a plan.”

We learned one month ago - more than eight months after HRC's president assured us that the White House had a plan on DADT - that in fact, the White House had no plan on DADT.

But this time, we should believe HRC when they tell us everying is going according to plan. Which plan would that be? The one HRC told us the administration had last May, but they really didn't, or the one HRC claims the administration has now, even though sources on the Hill say it's not true? Read the rest of this post...

HRC issues statement, still doesn't call on President to do anything, Hill still complaining that WH isn't leading

HRC has issued a statement in response to the blog swarm launched today by gay and straight progressive bloggers. Ben Smith got the statement:

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has to be repealed this year. That has been the Human Rights Campaign’s position from the start, and at this point there is no one in the White House who does not know it. We and the community to whom we are accountable agree: This is the year.

We firmly support including repeal in the annual Department of Defense Authorization bill, and have not only indicated as much, but continue to make that case, all while working to gain support for the Military Readiness Enhancement Act....

We have been lobbying the White House relentlessly, and we’ve seen more movement in recent weeks than in the previous 16 years. Our nation’s top defense officials testified, before the Senate Armed Services Committee, that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell should be repealed. That did not happen in a vacuum.

These events are just the start. There is a clear path to repeal, and that’s the one we’re on.

Clear path to repeal? Apparently Carl Levin, the chair of the defense authorization committee in the Senate, didn't get the memo.

House and Senate aides praised Obama, Mullen and Gates but say the administration’s point man in the Senate, Jim Messina, hasn’t followed up with a detailed plan for how to proceed, leading to some confusion.

“We need a clear path forward,” a senior House Democratic aide said.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, says he’s ready to move ahead but needs to hear from Gates about what the Pentagon thinks is the best way to go — a full repeal or less-far-reaching legislation imposing a moratorium on dismissing anyone accused of violating the policy.

Did you get that? The head of the committee that handles defense authorization says he can't move ahead until he hears from the Pentagon whether they want him to repeal this year or not. And who runs the Pentagon, the Commander in Chief, a man by the name of President Barack Obama. And Jim Messina is the number two guy on the White House staff, right behind Rahm - he's the White House Deputy Chief of Staff. According to Hill staff, Messina's dropped the ball as well. We can debate till we're blue in the face how much power the President does or doesn't have over DOD, but last time I checked, Jim Messina worked for Barack Obama.

What we are hearing from the administration is lots of talk about not doing anything this year on DADT. AP Is reporting that DOD officials are telling them DADT might not be fully repealed for years. And Eugene Robinson reported, the morning after the State of the Union, that someone in the White House told him DADT probably wouldn't be repealed this year - mind you, this was only 12 hours after the President suggested it would. This does not a clear message make.

So, with all due respect to HRC, their happy talk about how their super secret plan is working just brilliantly behind the scenes rings increasingly hollow. We need HRC to lead. We need them to demand that the President come out in favor of a full repeal this year. That the President include the full repeal in his DOD budget submission to congress in the next few months. And we need them to demand that the President lead the charge to get DADT repealed this year.

We'll know how connected and influential HRC is by whether DADT is repealed this year. And so far, it ain't looking great. Read the rest of this post...

HRC's voice mail is full

Michelangelo Signore at Sirius OutQ just IMd me to say that HRC's membership services voicemail box is now full. But actual HRC members are still being told to leave messages, and they're not happy. Mike has a 10-year HRC member on the phone right now, on his radio show. The member is retired and former military, and he says the recording he got, instead of a real person, was a slap in the face.

Join the swarm. Read the rest of this post...

HRC not answering phones?

Feedback from reader MikeintheTundra:

HRC is not answering their phones. I have been a contributing partner for at least six or seven years. I left a message for a human being to contact me. All I can say is if they don't return my call, my next message to them will be to ask them to stop the monthly withdraws from my bank account.

Read the rest of this post...

Some DADT satire from of our readers

From reader DCInsider:

HRC AND OBAMA AGREE: ONLY 25% MORE TO GO FOR REPEAL

(Washington – February 17, 2010) The Human Rights Campaign and the Obama Administration praised a recent poll showing that 75% of all Americans favor a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and would like to see gays and lesbians serve openly in our military forces.

“This poll proves that our work has had a positive affect, but isn’t finished,” said HRC Director Joe Solmonese. “We know we can convince the other 25% over the next several years,” he said. “We hope to work with the President and Congress on this. In fact, I intend to raise this with the President over cocktails,” Solmonese added.

The White House was equally committed to the goal. “The President is absolutely committed to lifting this ban,” said White House Press secretary Robert Gibbs. “As soon as we have consensus among the American people, and we are just 25% of the population away from that consensus, we will get that done.”

Gibbs refused to speculate whether that additional 25% who still oppose the ban could be expected to change their minds in Obama’s first term.

“I’ll check on that,” he said, before changing the subject to health care legislation.

Read the rest of this post...

The blogs are swarming

The blogs are swarming today.

McJoan over at Daily Kos:

It's time. It's time to this discriminatory, counterproductive, and damaging policy. Doing so isn't even controversial anymore particularly within the military. It's time. Call the HRC and ask them to get on board. Ask them to publicly demand that President Obama take the lead in getting DADT repealed this year.

HRC Front Desk: (202) 628-4160
TTY: (202) 216-1572
Toll-Free: (800) 777-4723

Towleroad:

Take Action on DADT - Join Our Blog Swarm: Call HRC Today

Towleroad joins today with a coalition of gay and straight bloggers in asking our readers to contact the Human Rights Campaign on behalf of the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

Taylor Marsh says do this for Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach:

Fehrenback represents to me all the other gay men and women who serve our country, including in support positions, all of whom deserve to walk proudly for who they are without being asked to hide in shame.

If a person can put their life on the line for our country, they deserve to serve openly.

Call, email and contact HRC today. Then tell two friends to do the same. Tweet this post, whatever you can to join in.

Do it for our military, who deserves to have the best of the best standing on the line for this country.

David Mixner:

DavidMixner.com is joining the 'blog swarm" today. We are urging our readers to contact the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and lobby them to press the President and Congress to pass repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" this year. Please, in a positive and friendly manner, ask HRC to take leadership in demanding action now, not next year, on this policy. From Towleroad.com here is the script and contact information for the call. Please call today and share with them your views!

Phil Reese at Bilerico:

Any effort to repeal it is about to get swept under the rug, unless HRC, our largest organization, steps up and demands the White House to take some leadership.

Unlike many of my fellow bloggers, I don't go after HRC very often. I'll be the first to say HRC has made some dumb-ass moves in the past, but I find it quite lazy to make them out to be monsters, the way most of the gay bloggosphere tends to do.

I have a confession to make. I'm a member of HRC. Not only am I a member, I sat on the Michigan Steering Committee for nearly five years. I was Membership and Community Events chair. I signed up thousands of new HRC members during my time. I still have a box of stickers in my closet. Oh, me and HRC are like *this.* Sometimes.

They've made some major mistakes that I wouldn't begin to defend them for. I would only say that all of our other big national organizations have got portions of our community's blood boiling at times. And guess what? I give money to them too.

Our federal fight is going to require that we have some visibility up on the Hill, and that we've established some credible national organizations with leaders who can maintain some sustained contact with our lawmakers to help move them on those issues we hold dear. Those are: comprehensive immigration reform that does not leave us out, LGBT-inclusive health care reform, gender identity and sexual orientation employment/housing/public accommodation non-discrimination protections, relationship recognition and partnership benefits and obligations, as well as immediately ending discrimination in the military. Folks, we can't do it without GLAAD, the Task Force and HRC, I don't care what your tinfoil hat tells you.

Then again, we may not be able to do it with them either. Not if our national organizations - particularly HRC - communicates with the White House in a whimper instead of a roar.

Straight lawmakers on the Hill see HRC as the mouthpiece of our movement, for better or for worse. If Bil Browning were to call up the White House and try to speak to the President, anyone who would be in a position to answer the phone would be asking "Who are you?" If HRC President Joe Solmonese calls up the White House, chances are there are plenty of people inside that will take his call. If Joe called up any Democratic lawmaker, nine times out of ten if he's not going to be able to get them to take the call a staffer will be relaying the message directly.

That's because HRC has clout; and that political capital is its massive membership base of progressive and moderate voters that the Democratic National Committee would absolutely love to get their hands on. HRC has a bad habit, however, of squirreling away that political capital for... well, we're not really sure yet. In January of 2009 we suddenly had total control in both houses, and a progressive Democratic executive branch with a Commander in Chief who had pledged to fight for our issues. What was HRC's reaction?

*crickets*

If our President does not take lead on repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" this year, he's going to leave behind a legacy of disappointment on LGBT rights. The only organization that can truly put the pressure on is HRC.

Why shouldn't HRC send a strongly worded blast to its members about contacting the White House about a full and immediate DADT repeal? Every other major progressive organization does it. Yet the largest LGBT organization rarely ever blasts Democratic leadership. Time to spend that capital.

What If, Just One Time, HRC Stood Up?
I wish Rep. Alan Grayson was in charge of communications over at HRC. There's a guy unafraid to spend his political capital. Call him what you want. Call him a fame-hound. He's not making many friends with his theatrics. What he is truly doing is standing up for what he believes in, and doing whatever he can - even risking his reelection - to try to get the job done while he has the office.

Could you imagine what HRC's statement to the President on White House DADT foot-dragging would be like if Grayson wrote it?

ZackFordBlogs.com:

I share John’s bitterness that HRC hasn’t really served our community well. I’ve chastised both the Human Rights Campaign and its President, Joe Solmonese, over the past six months, such as after the NEM and after the State of the Union. I’ve even gone so far as to discourage financial contributions. And honestly, I think we’ve all been too forgiving of HRC from when they abandoned the trans community over ENDA a few years back. So I’m right there with John that HRC needs to use this power and clout it’s developed.

But at the same time, I’m incredibly skeptical about humoring and legitimizing HRC. I think we are moving towards a point where “the movement” and HRC operate independently. The more money HRC accumulates and the less it delivers, the less it is actually working on our behalf. It becomes self-serving, and in a way that could really paralyze our progress. I feel like that’s what today’s blog swarm says: “We really don’t respect HRC, but damn it, we can’t do it without them.” I really don’t like thinking about the power HRC has over us or the way they’ve laid claim to presidential and congressional access for our issues.

Think about it: there is some incredible irony to the fact we need to organize a blog swarm to demand that the organization that claims to represent us and our struggle actually follow through on that commitment. HRC is defined by LGBT advocacy; it is its sole purpose. It’s hard enough holding our own representatives and president accountable, but we have to go out of our way to hold our own advocacy organization accountable? It’s incredibly frustrating.

For today, though, I’ll concede to my fellow bloggers that HRC is a necessary evil. They do seem to have the access and clout we need, so we should call upon them to follow through.

Read the rest of this post...

HRC deflects again - blames Congress, not President, for DADT quagmire

(UPDATE: The local affiliate now says that someone posted their own personal opinion on the local affiliate's Web site, but it doesn't necessarily reflect HRC's position. Uh okay. Not sure how personal opinions make their way on to HRC's local affiliate's Web site. So, what is HRC's position on this?)

It's exactly as we said, HRC seems genetically incapable of ever challenging President Obama on anything. They simply parrot the Obama line - the President is supposedly powerless, you know, to influence legislation - and think that what's best for Barack Obama is best for gay America. Well, sometimes it's not. Sometimes you actually have to challenge the President. Sometime you have to recognize that the President of the United States of America actually has some political capital at his disposal - especially on an issue involving the military when he's the commander in chief.

HRC today, via one of its local affiliates, responded to today's DADT blog swarm, launched by top blogs in the gay and non-gay blogosphere, by yet again defending the President and deflecting the blame to Congress for the inaction on 'Don't Ask Don't Tell.'

Was HRC in a coma last year? Did they not witness the melt down on health care reform that occurred because the White House refused to lead on a key campaign promise, but instead sat back and "waited for congress" to act?

Yes, by all means, do what HRC says and call Congress. Congress does need to pass the DADT repeal, and they do need to feel pressure. But I worked in the Senate, for five years, and I can tell you as a fact that Congress won't touch the repeal until the President tells them what he wants. This is what Joe Sudbay and I are being told when we call offices on Capitol Hill. No one knows what the President wants. Does he want DADT repealed this year, next year, during the next administration (if there is one)? No one knows, because the President likes to issue vague statements of support for repeal, then disappear into the background when people ask him "when?"

We've all learned all too well, and painfully, that when the President doesn't lead, Congress doesn't follow. HRC should stop treating Barack Obama as their boyfriend, and start treating him as a politician who isn't keeping his promises.

It's telling that we're asking you to contact HRC today to put pressure on the president, and the response we get from HRC is a refusal to put pressure on the president. It's, sadly, just as we predicted. (And note to HRC: It's not just LGBT bloggers, the straight bloggers are part of our swarm as well, including DailyKos and TaylorMarsh.com.)

OUR MESSAGE TO HRC IS SIMPLE:

Publicly demand that President Obama take the lead in getting DADT repealed this year.

1) That means the President needs to state publicly that he wants Congress to repeal DADT this year; and

2) The President needs to take the lead in working with Congress to make sure the repeal happens.

If you're a member or donor to HRC, tell them, and ask to speak to Members Services:

HRC Front Desk: (202) 628-4160
TTY: (202) 216-1572
Toll-Free: (800) 777-4723

HRC Web site comment page.
General membership email at hrc: membership@hrc.org Read the rest of this post...

Signorile on the HRC/DADT blog swarm: 'We must have a vote before the fall'

And, Mike Signorile will be talking about the HRC/DADT blog-swarm on his radio show this afternoon, too:

Back live today after the holiday break and today kicking off a campaign on the show, along with many LGBT bloggers and opinionmakers in a blog swarm, urging people to call the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay group, and tell the group to pressure President Obama on getting "don't ask, don't tell" repealed this year.

As you know, the president said in his state of the union that he'd "work to repeal" DADT "this year," and Defense Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen backed repeal but announced yet another study, which will take a year.

We do not have a year to wait and there is no need for another study. Democrats and supporters of repeal will lose seats this fall. We have momentum now, but it is being lost and there is no leadership on repealing the policy now. And if it is not repealed now it may be years away. There is no reason why, as Barney Frank as said, and as I and other opinion makers have stated, that we cannot have a vote now. The repeal can be pending the completion of the study. The repeal can be added as an amendment onto the Defense Authorization bill. It will be summer by the time that is voted on, and the study completion will then be just a few months away.

We must have a vote before the fall, but the Democratic-controlled Congress doesn't move on anything without leadership from the Democratic president. The White House has been vague, saying it is waiting until Congress passes a bill. That's unacceptable. We need leadership from the president.

Read the rest of this post...

Pam Spaulding on why we're 'blog-swarming' HRC over DADT today

Pam Spaulding weighs in, at length, over why we're swarming HRC today, asking them to tell the President to get DADT repealed in 2010. Pam's House Blend:

Don't Ask Don't Tell needs to be repealed in 2010

Since his inauguration, there has been a concerted White House effort to back-burner pressing Congress to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Actually, the President talked a great game about doing it in speeches, including the State of the Union, and at dinners to our community leaders, suggesting an urgency to allow gays and lesbians to no longer remain closeted and serve in the military. This was underscored by the fact that the ranks of qualified, experienced service members are being stretched thinner with each day due to our commitments at home and abroad.

The largest LBGT organization in the country, the Human Rights Campaign -- with nearly a million members, according to president and executive director Joe Solmonese -- is seen by the White House, Congress, and the mainstream media as the community's official representative inside the Beltway. HRC had the ear of the White House -- attending strategy meetings on LGBT policy, and appeared numerous times at public social and political events, such as the signing of the hate crimes bill.

While many in the LGBT community have criticized HRC on many occasions (including yours truly), the motivation, at least on my part, I cannot speak for others, is that its position and responsibility is so critical now that we have an administration that has made promises --and dodged action.

Tax-paying LGBTs have pulled out their wallets for the Human Rights Campaign for years, waiting for the day their investment would result in action once a gay-friendly administration and Congress were finally in place. Now is the time time to act. We need the full force of HRC flexing its political muscle to call for the President to publicly press for repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell.

If we have "White House officials" floating that it could take years before repeal, then we know there is not leadership going on at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But we do know that repeal of DADT could be included in the Defense Budget he sends to Congress soon if pressed to do so.

What can you do?

This is a call for you to tell HRC that it's time to use its role and reach in an assertive, public manner as other organizations -- such as the AFL-CIO -- have had to do to move its issues onto the priority list of this White House.

HRC Front Desk: (202) 628-4160
TTY: (202) 216-1572
Toll-Free: (800) 777-4723

HRC Web site comment page.
General membership email at HRC: membership@hrc.org

Blog about it, share this action item widely on Facebook or Twitter.

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The Advocate on today's Blog Swarm of HRC for DADT

John laid out the reasons for today's Blog Swarm aimed at HRC. It's already getting attention. The Advocate has a report:

A coalition of progressive bloggers launched a campaign Tuesday urging LGBT equality advocates to contact the Human Rights Campaign in order to pressure President Barack Obama to push for legislative repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in 2010.

“OUR MESSAGE TO HRC IS SIMPLE: Publicly demand that President Obama take the lead in getting DADT repealed this year,” read the post on AMERICAblog.

The bloggers are looking for the President to take a lead role in ensuring that Congress passes legislation to overturn the military’s gay ban this year and to publicly call on Congress to do so. To that end, they are mounting what they called a "blog swarm" to compel HRC to advocate more vocally for the President to take a stand.

Joining the call to action are: Pam Spaulding of Pam's House Blend, Michelangelo Signorile of Sirius OutQ & the Gist, Markos Moulitsas of DailyKos, Andy Towle of TowleRoad, Joe Jervis of Joe My God, Bil Browning of Bilerico, Taylor Marsh of TaylorMarsh.com, David Mixner of DavidMixner.com, and Dan Savage of Slog.

The post noted “an amazing few weeks of momentum” on ending the policy but added that momentum is “quickly slipping away.”

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Join our DADT blog swarm, call HRC today

AMERICAblog joins today with a coalition of gay and straight bloggers in asking our readers to contact the Human Rights Campaign on behalf of the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

OUR MESSAGE TO HRC IS SIMPLE:

Publicly demand that President Obama take the lead in getting DADT repealed this year.

1) That means the President needs to state publicly that he wants Congress to repeal DADT this year; and

2) The President needs to take the lead in working with Congress to make sure the repeal happens.

If you're a member or donor to HRC, tell them, and ask to speak to Members Services:

HRC Front Desk: (202) 628-4160
TTY: (202) 216-1572
Toll-Free: (800) 777-4723

HRC Web site comment page.
General membership email at hrc: membership@hrc.org

Some may say that there is little the President can do, or that this is up to Congress now. That is simply untrue. The President can send a powerful signal that he wants the repeal done this year. He can include the repeal of DADT in the Defense Budget he sends to Congress in the next few months. If the President is serious about keeping his promises to our community, now is his chance to prove it.

BLOG SWARM SPONSORS

Today's blog swarm is sponsored by the following bloggers and sites, all of which will also be writing about this issue today, and urging their readers to contact HRC:

Joe Sudbay and John Aravosis, AMERICAblog
Pam Spaulding, Pam's House Blend
Michelangelo Signorile, Sirius OutQ & the Gist
Markos Moulitsas, DailyKos
Andy Towle, TowleRoad
Joe Jervis, Joe My God
Bil Browning & Phil Reese, Bilerico
Taylor Marsh, TaylorMarsh.com
David Mixner, DavidMixner.com
Dan Savage, Slog

MOMENTUM HAS TURNED TO CONFUSION

HRC may argue that it's already told the President it would like to see DADT repealed this year. Well, that's not enough. And here's why.

We've had an amazing few weeks of momentum on DADT repeal following the mention of DADT in the State of the Union, the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing during which both the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs both stated their support for repeal, and the unexpected support we've received from former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Colin Powell and former Defense Secretary and Vice President Dick Cheney.

But that momentum is quickly slipping away. After talking to people around Washington over the past two weeks, Joe and I have found a vacuum of leadership that is leading to confusion. The Hill has no idea if the President does or doesn't want them to move ahead with repeal this year. The House has already said that it's waiting for the Senate to do something. The Senate is in turmoil after the Democrats lost a single seat in January. And the DADT proposals being discussed in the Senate are focused on every possible approach except full repeal this year.

As we painfully learned last year during health care reform, nothing happens in Congress unless the President leads. And when the President doesn't lead, disaster is guaranteed.

Whatever HRC has been telling the White House about DADT, it clearly isn't working. In spite of the President's positive comments during the State of the Union, no one knows where President Obama stands on repealing "Don't Ask Don't Tell" this year. All the while, unnamed administration officials are telling the media that it could be years before repeal finally happens. The White House clearly didn't get HRC's message, and as a result, we are losing this historic momentum.

WHY HRC?

Why are we focusing on HRC? Because HRC is our community's largest, best-funded gay rights organization in Washington, and they carry the most sway with the White House. In fact, HRC often boasts about their close working relationship with the White House. HRC's President, Joe Solmonese, is so close to the White House that he gave the President political cover during the uproar over the administration's brief in support of DOMA. It's time HRC, and our entire community, got something in return for everything we have done for this President, this Congress, and the entire Democratic party.

Unfortunately, we've reached a point with the Obama administration where allies have to publicly demand action, or promises are never kept. Just last week, the AFL-CIO was forced to send an action alert to its members, targeting the White House. If it's good enough for the unions, it's good enough for us.

We truly believe that if HRC were to openly call on the White House to get DADT repealed this year, it would happen. Mostly because Democrats are rightly worried about the gay vote (and the support of our straight allies) months before a critical congressional election.

IF NOT THIS YEAR, WHEN?

It's been a long first year of the Obama presidency. While our community made some gains in the past 13 months, there has been no progress whatsoever on the President's top three commitments to the LGBT community: to repeal DADT and DOMA; and to pass ENDA. In fact, we've seen backward movement, as the President has continued to defend DADT and DOMA in the courts - even though he didn't have to -going so far as to invoke incest and pedophilia. What's more, we've been told to expect no progress on DOMA until the second term of the Obama presidency, if there is one, and if we still control the Congress. And ENDA, which we had been assured would pass last year, is now nowhere to be found. If DADT is not repealed this year, it's not clear if any of the President's top three promises to our community will be kept before he faces what might be a difficult reelection.

Why not just pass the repeal next year? Because Democrats are already having enough problems passing legislation, next year we're expected to have even fewer Democrats in the House and Senate, and there's talk in town as to whether the Democrats will even control the congress after the elections this fall. We saw the damage that was caused by the loss of one single Senate seat in Massachusetts. Democrats panicked. They talked about the need to move to the middle, be more bipartisan, give more to the Republicans, and at all costs avoid all those "controversial" issues - all of that is code for distancing themselves from you and me. If DADT isn't repealed this year, it may not be repealed for years to come. And that will mean none of the President's top promises will be kept to our community.

PLEASE CONTACT HRC TODAY

Please contact HRC today, and urge them to publicly demand that the President take the lead in getting DADT repealed this year.

We are at a unique moment in history. Pro-gay Democrats control the White House and the Congress. Momentum is building for the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. And the polls show that the American people, even Republicans, are on our side. We can win this battle. But only if our leaders choose to lead. Gay Americans helped elect this President and this Congress with our votes, our money and our time. And gay Americans have funded HRC for years, in exchange for a promise of results once the Democrats finally came to power.

You've done your job. Now it's time for the President, Congress and HRC to do theirs.

HRC Front Desk: (202) 628-4160
TTY: (202) 216-1572
Toll-Free: (800) 777-4723

HRC Web site comment page.
General membership email at hrc: membership@hrc.org Read the rest of this post...