activists attack

Dear HRC, Go Fuck Yourselves. Signed, Gay Veterans

What’s been playing out in private conversations for months is now definitely — and defiantly — going public. The feud between the Human Rights Campaign (America’s most ineffective lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender advocacy group) and Servicemembers United (the DADT repeal group founded by gay veterans, and which once got paid by HRC to head up DADT repeal tours) used to be kept under wraps by common courtesy, and the unwritten rule among LGBT activists that they appear to be unified to the public. Except that’s a fat phony lie: most advocacy groups, even those you’d throw under the Gay Inc. umbrella, are exhausted with HRC’s foibles. And after HRC spokesflack Fred Sainz (pictured, top) released a statement attacking Nicholson for his “unproductive behavior” in demanding Valerie Jarrett meet with gay troops before her HRC dinner speech, a merry band of gay veterans have released this doozy of a reply. It’s the ultimate of fuck yous.

To All Concerned:

On Saturday, October 9, the spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) launched a personal attack against Servicemembers United’s founder and Executive
Director, Alex Nicholson. The previous day, Nicholson, who is one of the nation’s leading “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) repeal advocates, had called out the White House for its lack of substantive action and support this year on DADT and called on Senior White House Advisor Valerie Jarrett to meet with DADT repeal advocates.

Instead of supporting the call for dialogue and greater White House accountability, the Human Rights Campaign’s official spokesperson made personal attacks and demanded
that our community heap gratitude and praise upon the White House for where we are today on DADT. This attack was unprofessional, immature, and unproductive itself, and
it was alienating and insulting to the entire LGBT military and veteran community.

Like Nicholson, and unlike HRC’s spokesperson or any of its leadership, each of us has served this nation in uniform and each of us has been directly impacted by DADT. We, as
27 of the nation’s most prominent DADT repeal activists of the past two decades have also worked to help make this discriminatory law a part of history. No matter the
disagreement on strategy, we will not tolerate an attack against one of our own. We are united as veterans to fight “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” with effectiveness, diligence, and
veracity. And we are determined to see legislative repeal this year, with or without HRC. Our brothers and sisters still serving in silence deserve nothing less.

Ahem: Signed,

Dan Choi
Westpoint Graduate, Discharged Under DADT
DADT Repeal Advocate

Jason Knight
Hebrew Linguist, Discharged Under DADT
DADT Repeal Advocate

Darren Manzella
US Army, Discharged Under DADT
DADT Repeal Advocate

Steve Lorandos
Petty Officer, 2nd Class – Submarines, US Navy
DADT Repeal Advocate

Brian Fricke
USMC, Discharged Under DADT
DADT Repeal Advocate

Brian Muller
Army Bomb Technician, Discharged Under DADT
DADT Repeal Advocate

Alastair Gamble
Arabic Linguist, Discharged Under DADT
DADT Repeal Advocate

Anthony Wilfert
Discharged Under DADT
DADT Repeal Advocate

Brett Edward Stout
USMC Russian Linguist, Veteran
DADT Repeal Advocate

Rob Smith
US Army Infantryman, Veteran
DADT Repeal Advocate

Keith Meinhold
Petty Officer, 1st Class – Aviation – US Navy
DADT Repeal Advocate

Justin Elzie
USMC Veteran, Discharged Under DADT
DADT Repeal Advocate

Ben Gomez
Petty Officer, 2nd Class – Legalman, US Navy
President, AVER, San Diego

Mara Stewart
Petty Officer, 1st Class – Linguist, US Navy
DADT Repeal Advocate

Julianne Sohn
USMC Comms.Officer, Discharged Under DADT
DADT Repeal Advocate

Julie Mendoza
US Air Force, Retired
DADT Repeal Advocate

Tanya Domi
US Army Veteran, Columbia Univ. Professor
DADT Repeal Advocate

Anu Baghwati
USMC Communications Officer, Veteran
Executive Director, SWAN

Jenn Hogg
Army National Guard, Veteran
DADT Repeal Advocate

Jarrod Chlapowski
US Army Korean Linguist, Veteran
Field Director, Servicemembers United

Larry Baxley
US Navy Intelligence Officer, Veteran
Former VA Veteran Field Organizer, HRC

Justin D. Ford
US Army Veteran, Straight DADT Repeal Ally
Former North FL Veteran Field Organizer, HRC

Walker Burttschell
USMC Veteran, Discharged Under DADT
Former South FL Veteran Field Organizer, HRC

Gabriel Knous
USMC Veteran
Former Orlando Veteran Field Organizer, HRC

Scott Spychala
USAF/ANG, Retired
Former IN Veteran Field Organizer, HRC

Pepe Johnson
US Army Field Artillery, Discharged Under DADT
Former WV Veteran Field Organizer, HRC

Rasool Mutawakkil, Jr.
US Army Veteran, Straight DADT Repeal Ally
Former Tampa Veteran Field Organizer, HRC

As we pointed out today, attacking Nicholson is part of HRC’s new strategy to distract everybody from its immobile Democratic friends and instead turn the attention not just to enemies who hold no public office (like NOM and the Mormon Church), but repeal advocates who are actually getting shit done. Nicholson, after all, is among the plaintiffs in the Log Cabin Republicans’ lawsuit that just had Don’t Ask Don’t Tell declared unconstitutional. The Human Rights Campaign could only hope, by tossing a penny into an abandoned swimming pool, to have such results.

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