State of the Union: Obama throws us a bone. Can we stop the groveling already?

Image via WikipediaApparently, I am one of the few gay bloggers that deliberately missed Obama's State of the Union speech last night. It was a tough choice, but I couldn't miss the WE premier of "Joan and Melissa: Joan knows best". It won't last, so I figured I'd have a look, while I had the chance.

The fact is, anyone who has been paying attention since the last SOTU (I hate pretentious anagrams) speech knows that the economy is having a hard time recovering, the troops are being pulled from Afghanistan in July and the president will be signing the repeal of DADT as soon as the certification process is done. None of this is news.

Yes, I missed the speech and opted instead to surf around this morning for highlights and I'm glad I did. Don't get me wrong, some people are inspired by the president's words and never miss a speech. All due respect to them, but I'm not so easily swayed by charismatic speechifyin'.

As everyone knows by now, the president is a talented orator and and knows how to rally his base and set a positive tone for the next year. By all accounts he was once again successful and gave a rousing speech that lasted for over an hour. Woo-freakin'-hoo!

What every queer blogger and his/her dog is all fired up about in the aftermath, is that the president threw us a bone last night by mentioning us at all. I think Pam Spaulding actually peed a little upon hearing the following words:

Tonight, let us speak with one voice in reaffirming that our nation is united in support of our troops and their families. Let us serve them as well as they have served us – by giving them the equipment they need; by providing them with the care and benefits they have earned; and by enlisting our veterans in the great task of building our own nation. Our troops come from every corner of this country – they are black, white, Latino, Asian and Native American. They are Christian and Hindu, Jewish and Muslim. And, yes, we know that some of them are gay.

Starting this year, no American will be forbidden from serving the country they love because of who they love. And with that change, I call on all of our college campuses to open their doors to our military recruiters and the ROTC. It is time to leave behind the divisive battles of the past. It is time to move forward as one nation.

Yep, the president called on colleges and universities to once again allow the ROTC and military recruiters back onto their campuses, now that they're not hatin' on the gays any more. It's now okay to talk about the gays as long as you include our military, because it makes you a patriotic American, not a bleeding heart, queer-lovin', pinko, commie liberal. 

Look, we were lucky to get what we got last year with the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, DADT repeal, hospital visitation rights and an assortment of other rule changes that help queer federal workers. Props to The Big O for getting that much done. We knew going into the last election cycle that a Republican takeover of the House would mean our momentum would come to a grinding halt and so it has.

But haven't we gotten past the point where we grovel at the feet of our leaders for even mentioning us? Is this what we have been reduced to once again? I am reminded of the 1960's when African American families would gather around the TV any time there was a black actor on screen. Yes, it was significant at the time, but we've all been able to build on those moments as a nation and move forward. How sad and pathetic that the LGBT blogosphere has dived head first into a cultural backslide.

Pam's House Blend featured this prognosticating headline yesterday, "President to say open military service to begin this year". He did in fact say just that. Wow! I wish I had her crystal ball.

Joe Jervis over at Joe.My.God takes it a step further with DADT Mention At SOTU and providing video proof. Way to earn those awards that you nominate yourself for every year, Joe.

David Badash at The New Civil Rights Movement picks apart the president's speech and highlights things Obama should have said, but didn't. Dare to dream, Dave.

Like all of the rest of the gay blogosphere, each of these sites also features videos of the Republican and Tea Party response to the speech, so they could point out that these folks disagree with the president (shocking!) and can show how smart they are by spotlighting every mistake made by the speakers.

To be honest, Congresswoman Michelle Bachman, who gave the Tea Bagger reaction, never once looked at the camera, instead preferring to look off to the right at a camera that wasn't on. She even mispronounce Iwo Jima as "Iwo Jamma" during a forced show of gratuitous patriotism. But seriously, folks. That is sooo high school.

To borrow from Bill Clinton, what the president said last night was, in essence, "It's the economy, stupid!" And he was saying it to everybody, including us.

The bottom line is that the president wanted to let us know that he was still thinking about us, that we should celebrate our victories and accept the fact that there won't be any forward motion for LGBT equality coming from the legislative and executive branches until/unless the Democrats retake control of the House and keep the senate in the next election cycle. We already knew this, but it was nice of him to say so.

Our focus for the next few years has to be on the court cases, like the ongoing Prop 8 challenge and the constitutional challenges to DOMA that we hope we'll win at the Supreme Court level. With any luck, Obama will be able to replace another conservative justice with a more liberal one before our cases get there. That would be something to really celebrate.

We have made some significant gains over the last few years, especially in the court of public opinion. It's time to move up to the next level. Can we stop phoning the neighbors, waking the kids and creating something out of nothing every time the president glances in our general direction? I realize that as bloggers we have space to fill every day and our readers look forward to our perspective on the important issues. But that doesn't mean we have to invent issues where they don't exist or make mountains out of mole hills.

Related articles

• The SOTU In Three Words (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com)
• Reader Reaction to the State of the Union (thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com)
• SOTU: Talking economic renewal (politico.com)
• Why I Hate the State of the Union Address (swampland.blogs.time.com)
• Obama Hails 'Don't Ask' Repeal, Asks Schools to Lift ROTC Bans (blogs.wsj.com)

Spaulding and LaVictoire Get It Wrong on McCain's DADT "Flip-Flop"

This is a story that was blown way out of proportion last night in the queer blogosphere, with bloggers like Pam Spaulding of Pam's House Blend proclaiming the Senator John McCain had "flip-flopped" in his opposition to the repeal of DADT. Lez Get Real's Bridgette LaVictoire titled her post on the story, "In Flip-Flop, John McCain Supports DADT Repeal"

Each of these two bloggers, whom I respect very much, got it totally wrong with this story. So what's all the flap about? Senator Scrotum Face appeared on Fox Business Report Thursday, where host Don Imus asked him about the repeal of DADT. His response was:

"I think I have to do everything I can to make sure that the impact on the morale, retention, recruitment and battle effectiveness of the military is minimized as much as possible. It is a law and I have to do whatever I can to help the men and women who are serving, particularly in combat, cope with this new situation. I will do everything I can to make it work."

Nowhere in this statement does it say, "I've changed my mind", "I was wrong" or "I support repeal of DADT." What it does say, to anyone who passed the Reading Comprehension part of their 4th Grade final exam, is that McCain still believes the new policy is harmful and that our troops need to be protected from the gay Bogey Men and Women who are out to rape them in the latrine.

Why is this such a big deal? Pam's House Blend and Lez Get Real each have tens of thousands of daily readers who rely on them to get their daily dose of LGBT news and information. Each of the sites now have a team of regular contributors made up of some of the top queer activists and journalists in the business. There is just no excuse to get something so simple so wrong. Yet last night these two tweeted and FaceBooked for hours their inaccurate calling out of McCain for something he didn't say and certainly didn't mean.

Why is this such a big deal to me? Because one of the things I've noticed about posting to social media sites is that people only read the headlines before they make up their minds about a story and post a comment about it. They don't bother to read the full story. That's the unfortunate state of affairs in blogging these days. If you're looking to boost your readership, your story title has to be catchy enough to grab the web surfer's attention, but compelling enough to get them to stop and click the link to read the full post.

However, if you are the one writing the story, you have to get past the 140 characters, do the research and go the extra mile to get it right, or you end up embarrassing yourself like Spaulding and LaVictoire have done.

Ladies, I admire and respect you both, but you were soooo wrong on this one. Shame on you.

Related articles

• In Flip-Flop, John McCain Supports DADT Repeal (lezgetreal.com)
• John McCain Willing To Back DADT Repeal Now That Everyone Showed Him He's a Giant Prick (queerty.com)

Top Queer Bloggers Jump on the Bandwagon Calling For Joe Solmonese's Resignation

Pam Spaulding, Andy Towle, Bil Browning (Bilerico Project), Joe Jervis

HRC president Joe Solmonese has taken a lot of criticism over the past two years for his grand pronouncements, empty promises, high-dollar fundraisers, expensive suits and lush lifestyle. Many of us in the queer blogosphere have been saying he should step down for a long time.

Now that we're hearing our window of opportunity slamming shut and have only one legislative victory (Hate Crimes) to show for our efforts, suddenly the interwebs are all abuzz with the headline, "Top LGBT Bloggers Call For Solmonese to Resign".

These top bloggers, Joe Jervis of Joe.My.God, Pam Spaulding of Pam's  House Blend, Andy Towle of Towleroad.com and Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic's Daily Dish column have each written posts calling for Solmonese to step down in light of his list of non-accomplishments. Solmonese has a knack for making big promises that he is in no position to keep.

He promised to pass ENDA. Fail!

He Promised to repeal DOMA. Fail!

He promised to end the taxation on employee benefits for domestic partners. Fail!

He also promised to repeal DADT, colossal fail!

Joe Solmonese

Now, let's face it, nobody could deliver on all those promises, especially someone who isn't even an elected official. But Joe S. is just arrogant enough to make them anyway and did so repeatedly early this year. But in the last couple of months as the other LGBT activist groups like GetEqual, Servicemembers United and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network have become more aggressive, Joe has been missing in action, allowing other HRC spokespeople to make public statements.

I was saddened to hear last month that my friend and contact at HRC, Terry McGuire, who helped Roanoke Equality on several projects over the last couple of years, is leaving HRC. Say what you want about Joe S., but Terry and field organizers like him, work their asses off in small cities and towns across the nation, knocking on doors, making introductions between local activists and their representatives, providing guidance on starting activist groups and explaining how things work in DC to those of us outside the Beltway.

These dedicated activists are the heart and soul of HRC and spend weeks at a time on the road, criss-crossing their districts, often alone. Terry covered the entire southern half of Virginia by himself and did one hell of a job. Terry didn't give a lot of details about why he was leaving, but in light of the lack of movement on LGBT issues, I can only guess that he must be feeling a great deal of frustration, not to mention exhaustion. I wish him the best of luck wherever he lands.


It is my fear that HRC will loose more hardworking, dedicated people, due to Joe Solmonese's incompetence. These  people do what they do because they have a passion for the cause. They ~ and we ~ deserve better than a preening, fashionista, fame-whore to be the public face of our fight.

So it is with all sincerity that I say "Welcome aboard!" to Pam, Joe, Andy and Andrew and all the rest the of A-List of the Gay List.

What took you so long?
 

Related articles

• TOP LGBT Bloggers Call for Resignation of Joe Solmonese (lezgetreal.com)
• The Internet Wants Joe Solmonese To Resign. Why Not Everybody At HRC? (queerty.com)
• Watch: HRC President Joe Solmonese Says 'Every Player' Involved in the 'DADT' Repeal Process Let the Community Down (towleroad.com)
• HRC Pleads With Obama Not To Make Joe Solmonese Look Like a Liar (queerty.com)

HRC's Joe Solmonese finally gets it "...our time is now"

With the entire city of Washington, DC consumed with passing and/or blocking health care reform for the past year it's become abundantly clear to many in the LGBT community that very few, if any, of the promises made to us by President Obama during his campaign were going to be kept.

We were fortunate last year to see the passage of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act.But when we pushed for Washington to move forward on repealing "The Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA) and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT), we were told by Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese and other dyed in the wool gay Democrats to slow down and be patient. The "slow and steady" crowd told the rest of us we were whining like spoiled brats demanding instant gratification and that we didn't understand the political process. Solmonese even told us to wait until after Obama's second term before we assess his record.

As Washington insiders, Joe and his crowd where awfully short-sighted not to see that the president was spending so much political capital on health care reform, that there would be precious little left to advance LGBT rights. They ignored the growing nationwide discontent with the Democrats, who squandered their super-majority over the last year and accomplished virtually nothing. They didn't seem to understand until this week that the mid-term elections would mean a reshuffling of the balance of power in DC. They didn't see the window of opportunity slamming shut... until now.

A couple of weeks ago I reported on the "blog swarm", a coalition of LGBT bloggers, including John Aravosis of AmericaBlog, Pam Spaudling of "Pam's House Blend", Bil Browning of The Bilerico Project, Joe Jervis of Joe.My.God, Andy Towle of TowleRoad on several others, that was formed in order to put pressure on the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) to use its influence in Washington to push the president and congress to move more quickly on repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" this year. As expected, HRC initially poo-pooed the gay net roots and again called for patience.

Pam Spaulding attended the HRC Carolinas Gala fundraiser in Raleigh, NC Saturday night. Guest speakers included Clay Aiken and Meredith Baxter, but the real show stopper turned out to be Joe Solmonese himself, who made some bold pronouncements that appear to signal a reversal in strategy for the nation's largest LGBT advocacy organization.

Pam reports that Solmonese made the following four promises to the crowd:

1. "We are going to eliminate the tax that you pay on domestic partner benefits. We're going to get rid of that this year at long last."

2. "We are going to extend domestic partnerships to federal employees."

3. "We are going to get people living with HIV/AIDS treatment much earlier if they are on public assistance."

4. "And finally, finally this year we are going to bring down the discriminatory policy known as 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'...once and for all."

Solmonese added, "I also get that there is a drumbeat coming from our community to put more pressure on, to make more demands of the President and members of Congress to get it done this year because who knows what's going to happen at the mid-term elections and frankly they are right and our time is now."

I'm not quite sure how Joe can make such grandiose promises, but it should be interesting to see how all of this plays out. The year-long Pentagon study on repeal of DADT hasn't even begun yet and there has been no timetable put forth for full repeal. Solmonese has a habit of making grand pronouncements only to reverse himself weeks later. I'm glad he's finally gotten on board, but I can't help but wonder for how long. 

The following video of Joe Solmonese's speech at the HRC Gala is courtesy of Pam's House Blend:

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• Pressure HRC: Demand leadership from Obama (bilerico.com)
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• It's time for a DADT Blog Swarm (crooksandliars.com)
• DADT Blog Swarm: Get HRC on Board (dailykos.com)
• Joe Solmonese Just Promised DADT Will Die This Year. That Was a Really Stupid Thing to Say (queerty.com)
• In high risk gamble, HRC promises DADT will be repealed this year, and disagrees with WH spokesman - says repeal must happen before Nov. elections (americablog.com)

LGBT Bloggers Receive Courage Award in NYC

In an award ceremony last night in New York, bloggers Pam Spaulding (Pam's House Blend), Bil Browning (The Bilerico Project), Joe Jervis (Joe.My.God) and Andy Towle (Towleroad) received the 2009 Courage Award from the NYC Anti-Violence Project for calling attention to anti-LGBT violence.

Congratulations to four of my favorite bloggers who inspire me daily. Their work has not only kept our community informed and motivated, but has caught the attention of the haters as well, who regularly monitor their posts.

Pictured from right to left, Pam Spaulding, Andy Towle, Bil Browning and Joe Jervis.

Joe.My.God posted a story on Monday about an incident involving a comment on his site that questioned whether the fight for LGBT Rights was on the verge of becoming violent. Joseph LaBarbera of the Liberty Counsel has filed a complaint with the FBI over the comment


Pam's House Blend has full coverage of last night's Courage Awards ceremony.