Human Rights Campaign got little love at its annual New York dinner this weekend.

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Joe Solmonese and Mary Breslauer must be seeing stars after yesterday's The Agenda! Broadway babe Idina Menzel, former Romanian ambassador and rabble-rouser Michael Guest and Daily Kos' Dana Houle all stopped by the radio show to give their well-regarded regards. Those bold-faced named are all linked to their respective audio clips. Let old Solly - not to be confused Andrew "Sully" Sullivan - lull you into a homo coma of cultural bliss.

Comedy Central aired part two of HRC honcho Joe Solmonese's sit down with tongue-in-cheek king Stephen Colbert. Watch as the boys talk about Congressional calluses, whether we gays can be blamed for Don't Ask, Don't Tell and when Colbert decided to be straight: late November of 1982. Why? He's lazy and being gay takes a lot of work.

And, of course, the comedian tries to lobby Solmonese to the straight side - they're soft, they smell good, they have vaginas. Unfortunately Somonese doesn't bite. Nor does he high-five.

"Fighting gay" lobbyist and HRC leader Joe Solmonese helped Stephen Colbert kick off his "Better Know A Lobbyist" series last night.

Watch as the boys talk about whether or not gays are human, why Joe ain't gay for Huckabee ("Because he isn't gay for us."), whether or not Solmonese's birthplace made him gay and how gay folk suck the pride from straightdom. Appletini!

Part two of the rousing interview airs tonight.

HRC's feeling charitable this Super Tuesday. We just received a very excited email from communications director Brad Luna explaining that the non-profit wants to provide you with free clips from The Agenda, their Joe Solmonese and Mary Breslauer hosted radio show. Gee, thanks! Click here to listen to Hillary lover Christine Quinn and Obama man Tobias Wolff plead their cases. Here's our girlfriend Kerry Eleveld and here the HRC crew write about said episode. Now, excuse us. We just came. (It's show's porny theme song - gets us every time!)

Human Rights Campaign's Joe Solmonese released a brief statement about John McCain's gay-baiting robo-call: "It’s ironic that Sen. John McCain is using the same tactics that George Bush used against him in 2000; surreptiously trying to exploit anti-gay prejudice for votes …So much for John McCain being above that.” Oh, snap!

The Associated Press pays some attention to gay voting woes today. Apparently it takes an entire report to show that most homos don't like the Republicans, while others find the Democrats to be pandering ninnies.

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It's like clockwork! The Concerned Women for America and their male leader, Matt Barber, took some time yesterday to blast gays for their role in the spread of a deadly new staph infection.

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Human Rights Campaign got dissed last weekend. President Joe Solmonese flew to San Francisco in an effort to make peace with angry trans advocates, who still feel jilted after the non-profit abandoned them during the ENDA debacle of 2007. While some people were receptive to Solmonese's offerings, police commission president Theresa Sparks wasn't buying it. In fact, the trans woman remains so disgusted with HRC, she returned her 2004 Equality Award.

The transgender president of the San Francisco Police Commission bluntly returned the Equality Award she received from the Human Rights Campaign during what was described as a tense meeting last weekend between members of the Bay Area trans community and HRC President Joe Solmonese.

"It no longer symbolized equality to me," [said] Commission President Theresa Sparks… "It's a matter of their integrity and not following through and my own integrity."

Sparks said that she could no longer stand to even look at the etched glass award when it was on her credenza.

Sparks called the Solmonese meeting "balanced," but hopes he got the message: "…We're not happy, we believe we've been betrayed and question whether to trust HRC going forward."

Election season kicks it into high gear tomorrow, when Iowans caucus for their presidential favorites. Hoping to spread the pro-trans word, activist Vanessa Edwards Foster penned an analysis of Hillary Clinton's queer policies.

Foster says that of all the candidates with whom she's spoken - Clinton, Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd - the former first lady appears to be the least "supportive".

Foster also wonders if Human Rights Campaign, which threw trans folk under the bus during the ENDA debacle, are already planning for a Clinton presidency…

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There are a mere four days left of 2007, a year that had as many highs as it did lows. Like so many of us, Human Rights Campaign has spent some time reflecting on the past 361 days. Here's a taste of Joe Solmonese's message:

..The year is coming to a close, and the traffic through the halls of Congress has slowed. Behind us is 2007, the year of hope, when our community’s voice was more powerful and more relevant than it had ever been.
…
By this time next year, we could be celebrating the election of a supportive president. We know that this is what it will take to translate promise to results, and we are committed to making it happen.

Hopefully HRC will be a little more effective - and consistent - than they were with this year's ENDA debacle.

Oregonian Republican Gordon Smith led a good gay fight on Capital Hill yesterday. The Senator and a host of other politicos, including Tammy Baldwin and Joe Lieberman, introduced a bill which will secure domestic partner benefits for federal employees.

Oregon U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith has unveiled a bill that would extend domestic partner benefits to federal employees.

Smith, in co-introducing the Domestic Partner Benefits and Obligations Act of 2007 with Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and 18 other co-sponsors, said the measure would help the federal government compete for higher-echelon workers.

"The federal government should be leading the way rather than following when it comes to providing benefits," said Smith, a Republican. "Rights and benefits must be afforded to all employees equally. This bill corrects the current inequity."

HRC's Joe Solmonese celebrated the news, of course: "[This bill] is not only a matter of equal pay for equal work, but also the best way to insure that the government has access to the top talent…"

Some New York nancies took time on November 20th to send HRC a special message: "Up yours". Gay City News' Andy Humm fills us in:

…A group of about 40 mostly veteran LGBT activists picketed a social gathering for members of the Human Rights Campaign at the Stonewall Bar on Christopher Street, scene of the 1969 [Stonewall Revolt]

Jon Winkleman, a gay activist and board member of the National Stonewall Democrats, organized the protest against what he termed HRC's "dishonesty and duplicity" in supporting the US House passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act covering sexual orientation but dumping gender identity and expression.

"HRC and its executive director Joe Solmonese repeatedly told the community they were fighting for an inclusive ENDA when they were secretly lobbying Congress to pass the more expedient lesbian-and-gay-only version." Winkleman said.

Winkleman and his pals went on to call for Solmonese's resignation. The odds of that happening are about as good as Solmonese muff diving (excluding Nancy Pelosi).

Joe Solmonese won't be shopping at Wal-Mart this season. He and his Human Rights Campaign gave the budget retail giant an abysmal rating on their corporate equality index:

[HRC] is giving Wal-Mart a red "do not buy" rating in its new consumer guide, bestowing a lump of coal on the retail giant just in time for the holiday shopping season.

Citing Wal-Mart's refusal to offer domestic partner benefits to its gay and lesbian workers, the HRC said Tuesday that the USA's biggest private employer has "more work to do in furthering equality." It advised gays and their supporters to shop elsewhere.

Wal-Mart rated a red 40 on a scale of 100, down from a yellow 65 in 2006. It was among 54 companies that scored 45 or lower in HRC's 2008 Corporate Equality index, which assigns ratings to 519 large companies. Also in the red: Toys R Us, RadioShack and AutoZone.

No, not AutoZone! Where are we going to get our lube jobs!?

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Joe Solmonese may be a bit bruised this morning after Michelangelo Signorile's verbal beating yesterday.

The homo-journo called on the HRC president to explain his organization's ENDA flip-flop, how he balances his lobbying with civil rights activism and why HRC will count defending trans rights against Congressional politicos. Listen to this Pam's House Blend provided audio. As Ms. Spaulding says, "Joe Solmonese definitely didn't sound like a happy camper."