As usual, this is a completely misleading report. In his deposition, Donald said that fundraising was an important part of his job. But for all the tens of thousands of dollars he was paid to do it, he could volunteer not a single contribution he remembered having secured. Not one in ten months on the payroll.

His attorney calls this performance "oustanding" and she is entitled to that opinion. I disagree.

Another part of his job was to be liaison to the LGBT community, including the LGBT caucus of the DNC. Asked six months into his employment for a list of those caucus members, he misspelled 5 of the 13 names, all of them accomplished LGBT leaders. One was an African-American State Representative from Missouri. He misspelled her name in five places.

No one is saying this makes Donald a bad person; but it's hard to see what is "outstanding" about this kind of work product.

A large part of Donald's job was to persuade LGBT donors and leaders that the DNC was worth supporting. Either he didn't beieve that himself, in which case I believe the DNC was entitled to look for someone to represent it who did; or he did believe it but was singularly unsuccessful in persuading donors and leaders — or even his own partner — of it.

We all wish Donald well. But this is a lawsuit without merit, that serves only to hurt the Democratic Party and the LGBT community.

The writer's strike is over. Your favorite TV drama's and soap-opera's are back - so get your fiction and fantasy there. Queerty serves the LGBT community by updating us on fashion, Project Runway, who's "out" in Hollywood, and the daily "soft porn" pics. Thus, making the Yandura-Hitchcock soap-opera an ideal fit and and a perfect place for these two drama queens to call home.

Where hard working LGBT Democrats do our work to promote the Democratic Agenda and elect a Democratic President - there are no vacancies!!

Andy,
Your DNC Chief of Staff, a pentacostal nut case pastor speaking in tongues, is very anti-gay and was appointed by Dean. Under these tense and negative circumstances at the DNC, how could anyone be laison to the LGBT community, let alone raise money from us queers. The divisive LGBT issue these days is Gay Marriage, and when you have a DNC Chief of Staff violently opposed, preaching hate in her church against LGBT's, what do you expect.

Donald's sprit was broken by the ineptness of Chairman Dean.

The DNC Chief of Staff's name is Pastor of the House of the Lord Church, Leah Daughtrey, homophobe bigot.
Dean's statement welcoming her.
"We are thrilled to have Leah Daughtry leading our 2008 Democratic Convention team,” said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "Her strong guidance, skilled leadership and counsel have been invaluable to me during my tenure as DNC Chair and to the Democratic Party as a whole. I am confident that Leah will play a key role in the success of this important event that will help us elect the next Democratic President of the United States.”

Isn't the first comment from the DNC Treasurer Andrew Tobias who spoke to the press immediately after Mr. Hitchcock was fired (with a different set of reasons and spin) and now has claimed during his deposition that he had no facts about Donald's firing which caused the entire defamation lawsuit?

So now we are supposed to believe the DNC Treasurer Andrew Tobias again with his new (pretty lame)reasons?

Fool us once……..

Time for the truth.

Charley, your comment is offensive and unhelpful. Leah has the support and affection of a great many LGBT leaders who know her (have you worked with her personally?) and will be a featured speaker at the National Black Justice Coaltion "Power of Us" conference in Baltimore next month. As you know, this is a prominent LGBT group. Click here for details: http://www.nbjcoalition.org/ne.....ional.html .

I FOUND THIS ON THE WEB FROM THE LAWYER FOR DONALD HITCHCOCK WHICH REBUTS THE DNC TREASURERS CLAIMS. I GUESS HE HAS MADE HIS FALSE CLAIMS ELSEWHERE. IT IS AN INTERESTING READ SINCE IT QUOTES DEPOSITIONS, MR. TOBIAS'S INCLUDED:

From: Lynne Bernabei, Esquire (Representing Mr. Donald Hitchcock in his discrimination, retaliation, defamation and conspiracy lawsuit)
Re: Tobias Letter
Date: February 13, 2008

We realize that the DNC and its representatives, including their National Treasurer Andy Tobias, are not used to being held accountable and that they want nothing more desperately than to change the subject about Mr. Hitchcock’s employment and termination while wasting resources to avoid facing the truth.

But, creating documents and excuses almost two years after Mr. Hitchcock’s discrimination, wrongful termination and defamation still does not change the fact that Mr. Hitchcock was a great employee for the DNC, and his direct supervisors never warned, reprimanded or gave a poor performance review to Mr. Hitchcock prior to Paul Yandura writing his letter and Mr. Hitchcock's firing shortly thereafter.

The reasons for Mr. Hitchcock’s firing seem to keep evolving and changing over time, and such inconsistencies and inaccuracies on behalf of the DNC and its agents will undoubtedly be addressed in court.

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT MR. HITCHCOCK’S EMPLOYMENT

FACT: Mr. Tobias stated under oath that he had no official role in the hiring, supervising or firing of Mr. Hitchcock. [Tobias Dep. (Feb. 5, 2008), pp. 79:3-22, 80:2-8; 165:11-15; 166:1-4, 167:7-9]. Mr. Hitchcock had two supervisors while he was employed at the DNC, and Mr. Tobias was neither of them.

FACT: Tom McMahon testified that he talked to Leah Daughtry before Mr. Hitchcock’s termination about how Mr. Yandura’s letter and the bad publicity caused by the letter demonstrated that Mr. Hitchcock was not doing outreach in the LGBT community. In his words, if Mr. Hitchcock could not convince his partner, Mr. Yandura, about all the good things the DNC was doing for the LGBT community, he was not doing his job right. [McMahon Dep. (Jan. 23, 2008), pp. 196-197, 199-200].

FACT: Ms. Daughtry testified that in her opinion Mr. Hitchcock was to blame for not getting the word out about all the good things the DNC was doing for the LGBT community, and that Mr. Yandura’s letter was evidence that Mr. Yandura was not informed about all the good work of the DNC. [Daughtry Deposition, pp. 299-306].

FACT: Mr. McMahon’s testimony and Ms. Daughtry’s testimony is consistent with Chris Owens’ (Mr. Hitchcock’s direct supervisor), who testified that Mr. McMahon wanted to terminate Mr. Hitchcock after a spate of bad publicity in the LGBT press, even though she argued against the termination. She could not testify about the time frame any better than stating that it was in April, after a “spate of bad publicity”. [Owens Dep. (Jan. 25, 2008), pp. 63-64, 136-138, 152].

FACT: Ms. Owens clearly acknowledged that much of the bad press Mr. McMahon was referencing was generated by DNC decisions that Mr. Hitchcock had no control over and/or were made prior to his hire. (Negative press referenced included abolishing LGBT political desks, resignation of LGBT Caucus Chair Jeff Soref, omission of LGBT community in DNC Annual Grassroots Report, and Delegate Selection Rules) [Owens Dep., pp. 63:8 – 65:4, 136:6, 152:1].

MR. TOBIAS CLAIMS THAT MR. HITCHCOCK WAS FIRED BECAUSE HE DID NOT FUNDRAISE

FACT: Mr. Tobias has not produced one email or document from the eleven-month period [Tobias Dep., pp. 171:15-22, 173:19-22, 175: 11-17] of which Mr. Hitchcock was employed that even hinted that he was displeased that Mr. Hitchcock was not fundraising. [Tobias Dep., pp 177:20-22 – 178:1-5].

FACT: Mr. Tobias stated in an anonymous statement to The Washington Blade that “Dean and other DNC officials decided several months before Yandura’s public criticism of the party that Hitchcock “was not the best fit” for his job”, (Washington Blade, May 3, 2006). However, Mr. Tobias testified in his deposition that he had no facts to support that statement, and that he could not remember speaking to anyone at the DNC who told him that. [Tobias Dep., pp. 280-281].

FACT: Mr. Tobias also stated under oath that Brian Bond has not raised any money for the DNC and does not fundraise, contradicting his often public statements that he does fundraising. [Tobias Dep., p. 75:15-17].

FACT: Mr. Tobias claimed that Mr. Bond’s job description was different from Mr. Hitchcock, but his statements conflict directly with sworn testimony from the DNC Chief of Staff and with Ms. Owens, Director of the American Majority Partnership who directly supervised both Mr. Hitchcock and Mr. Bond. Ms. Owens has stated unequivocally that they have identical job descriptions and responsibilities. [Owens Dep., p 41:3-7; Tobias Dep., pp 35: 19-22, 36:1-7].

FACT: Prior to Mr. Dean’s tenure there were two positions dedicated to the fundraising half of Mr. Hitchcock’s job and two positions dedicated to the political outreach half.

MR. TOBIAS CLAIMS THAT MR. HITCHCOCK MADE SPELLING ERRORS

FACT: All DNC employees and Mr. Tobias himself have testified that Mr. Tobias had no input with the termination of Mr. Hitchcock, [Tobias Dep., p. 276]. None has testified that alleged misspellings of Mr. Hitchcock had anything to do with his termination.

FACT: There is no evidence that the alleged document that Mr. Tobias referenced as having spelling errors was produced by Mr. Hitchcock, and not just forwarded from DNC files.

FACT: Mr. Tobias, a Harvard educated professional writer, journalist and author of at least 10 books, has dozens upon dozens of typos, misspellings and grammatical errors in his subpoenaed documents, as does Mr. Bond, Mr. Hitchcock’s replacement.

FACT: Mr. Bond, Director of the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council, has posted responses in his official DNC capacity (including his last three posts) on the influential eQualityGiving listserve that contained typos, misspellings and/or grammatical errors.

Andy,
From the archives of QUEERTY. 501 (c) 3's like the one you mentioned are trying to raise funds.
Obviously they don't mind being second class citizens and being used as whipping posts by Leah Daughtrey.
FROM QUEERTY
(headlines)
Leah Daughtry Defines Marriage As “One Man, One Woman”

The Democratic National Committee takes another hit today. The Washington Blade has obtained a copy of DNC Chief of Staff Leah Daughtry’s deposition in the ongoing discrimination discovery hearings.

When asked about whether she supports gay marriage, Daughtry replied that she does not. The Pentecostal minister turned politico goes on to explain that same-sex nuptials go against her personal beliefs: “I believe, as the church believes, that marriage is intended for one man and one woman.” Daughtry goes on to insist that she keeps her religious beliefs separate from her duties at the DNC: “People know that I am a reverend but it is completely separate from the work at the DNC.”

The Blade also points out that Daughtry objected to requisite gay delegates because we haven’t faced “historic discrimination at the voting booth”. Girl must not remember all those anti-gay marriage initiatives.

Meanwhile, our sources in DC tell us the DNC has asked the judge to seal all documents pertaining to the case. They plan to argue that all the attention has cost them financially. Yeah, the truth can do that sometimes…

The Blade will reportedly fight that request.

Update: DNC Spokesman Damien LaVera sent us this statement:

Once again, the plaintiffs are resorting to false and misleading statements as part of a campaign of dishonest smear tactics aimed at trying their case outside the courtroom. The truth is, the DNC has responded to the persistent leaking of materials that are not related to this case and aimed solely at damaging the reputation and privacy of individuals who are not party to the suit by asking the court to issue a limited protective preventing the public distribution of deposition and discovery materials. That is not a seal, and any suggestion otherwise is completely untrue and irresponsible.
And there you have it…

Charley, your comment is offensive and unhelpful. Leah has the support and affection of a great many LGBT leaders who know her

List them, please, Mr. Tobias — with a citation proving that they support her ("affection" is meaningless).

After getting SO many tall tales from the DNC (and you in particular) on the Democratic Party's word games on gay rights, you're going to have to prove what you say. Your effort to claim that Howard Dean "didn't know he was going to be on the 700 Club" when he launched homophobic rhetoric slamming marriage equality is a good example. You've got no credibility left.

It also would behoove you to abandon your pretentious affectation that the fortunes of the Democratic Party are identical to the fortunes of the LGBT community. While Democrats have sometimes done the right thing, a great deal of the worst federal law (such as DOMA and the anti-gay military ban) was facilitated and implemented by Democrat politicians, and Democrats were also prominent backers of much failed anti-gay legislation (including backers of the anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment).

On state levels, Democrats have also been instrumental in supporting anti-gay legislation. John Kerry was an outspoken supporter of anti-gay DOMA laws in Missouri and other jurisdictions, and his first press conference called after losing the election was in New Orleans to condemn his state party for supporting marriage equality.

Unsurprisingly, queer voters are focusing on the facts and your party's record, not what you say. So you're going to have to start talking facts — and validating those facts — rather than mouthing more partisan cliches.

When asked about whether she supports gay marriage, Daughtry replied that she does not.

But clearly you don't get it! Who cares about Daughtry's long history of strident opposition to marriage equality for gay and lesbian Americans?

Andrew Tobias has said she has the love and affection of lots of unnamed gay activists. That's really all that should matter.

Only homophobes criticize the Democratic Party, after all.

<>

Charley, Leah Daughtry had a similar role when Eric Stern was liaison to the LGBT community — and he did an outstanding. What's more, lots of money has been raised from the LGBT donors in the past three years — so yes, it can be done.

Leah was subpoenaed in connection with Donald’s lawsuit and asked under oath what she thought about gay marriage, so she told the truth. I think that’s quite different from preaching hate.

I wish that everyone at the DNC, and everyone in the country, favored marriage equality. I advocate it frequently on my website. I contribute to fight anti-marriage amendments. But we still have a way to go.

Brian — Here is an op-ed about Leah from a gay New Yorker the Washington Blade. It's long, so I'll just offer the URL, but I urge you to read it: http://snipurl.com/burgos .

Here is a post from Jeremy Bernard in Los Angeles:

<>

Please consider the possibility that the “facts” issued by Donald’s lawyer do not accurately state the case. (Her job is to advocate for her client, not report objectively.) And that much as we all like Donald, there may be nothing more nefarious here than that, unfortunately, it just didn’t work out.

[RE-POSTING - SOMETHING MUST HAVE CONFUSED THE HTML CODING. SORRY.]

Your DNC Chief of Staff, a pentacostal nut case pastor speaking in tongues, is very anti-gay and was appointed by Dean. Under these tense and negative circumstances at the DNC, how could anyone be laison to the LGBT community, let alone raise money from us queers. The divisive LGBT issue these days is Gay Marriage, and when you have a DNC Chief of Staff violently opposed, preaching hate in her church against LGBT’s, what do you expect.

Charley, Leah Daughtry had a similar role when Eric Stern was liaison to the LGBT community and he did a fine job. And lots of money has been raised from the LGBT donors in the past three years, so yes, it can be done.

Leah was subpoenaed in connection with Donald’s lawsuit and asked under oath what she thought about gay marriage, so she told the truth. I think that’s quite different from preaching hate. I wish that everyone at the DNC, and everyone in the country, favored marriage equality. I advocate it frequently on my website. I contribute to fight anti-marriage amendments. But we still have a way to go.

Here is an op-ed about Leah from a gay New Yorker the Washington Blade: http://snipurl.com/burgos .

Here is a post from a gay Man from Los Angeles, Jeremy Bernard:

“I have been a DNC member since 2001. The DNC written about in [a previous Blade article attacking Leah] is not the DNC I am a member of and, more importantly, the Leah Daughtry I know and all of us at the DNC have worked with is not the individual written about in this piece. I am not aware of the details regarding Donald Hitchock's lawsuit. But one cannot help but to see this as a vendetta or anger that has nothing to do with reality. . . . The allegations made against Leah are very serious and without merit. It is time to get focused and kick Republican butt.”

I’m not asking you to love Leah. But unless you know her personally, I ask you to consider the possibility she is a good person who – though in her private religious beliefs is not with us on marriage yet – has been generally supportive of our community.
In 2004 only 16 of the 56 states and territories had numerical goals for LGBT delegate inclusion — compared with 50 of the 56 so far in 2008. (And even the six without numerical goals must submit plans to include LGBT delegates and alternates.) We are well on our way to robust representation in Denver, very much with the backing of Leah Daughtry.
On Leah’s watch as Chief of Staff, the DNC’s newly hired Director of Compliance, Alan Reed, is openly gay. So, too, the Northeast Political Director, Art Decoursey; the Director of Party Affairs & Delegate Selection, Phil McNamara; the Deputy Finance Director, Julie Tagen; the Midwest Finance Director, Gautham Raghavan.
Our current LGBT liaison, Brian Bond, was executive director of the Victory Fund. Our Gay & Lesbian Leadership Council fundraising deputy, Tom Petrillo is gay. But in some ways the most important openly gay staffer – for us – may be the Training Director, Parag Mehta, because he gets to train hundreds of organizers.
Parag writes: “Three years ago, Governor Dean asked me to serve as the DNC’s National Training Director. I had my reservations about having to travel to all 50 states to train our Democratic activists, Party leaders and campaign staff. But what really threw me was when Governor Dean encouraged me to ‘come out’ in each training. Being openly gay is good and fine in some places, but I worried about the impact it might have in less progressive parts of the country. As usual, he was right. When I ‘out’ myself during my trainings (usually in a casual and humorous way) the reaction is palpable. The people I’m training are affected by the knowledge that LGBT Democrats are part and parcel of the 50 State Strategy. It’s critical for us to be visible at every level of our campaigns and our Party. As the Governor predicted, it is a small, but valuable effort to help broaden our Party and live our values.”
Four of the 28 members Governor Dean appointed to the 2008 Democratic Platform Committee, with much input from Leah Daughtry, are LGBT – 14%. Indeed, one of them is “T” for the first time in history.
The DNC’s National Lawyers Council has set up a working group to educate political and electoral staff at every level on the special concerns for Transgender voters.
Renee Richards, a Transgender pioneer, sat next to Governor Dean at last year’s main LGBT fundraiser.
One of the nine DNC officers is so openly gay he’s written two books about it. And the Chairman of the DNC, though straight, has made our equality one of his key priorities ever since he signed, and then went around his state helping the citizenry get comfortable with, the nation’s first civil unions law.
The DNC is building a 2008 PRIDE at the Polls program that will include unprecedented outreach by the DNC, State Parties, and National Stonewall Democrats to LGBT Americans.
I’m not suggesting in all this that we’ve reached the promise land; just that we’re making progress and that the DNC is very much an ally in our struggle.
There is so much anger in your post, Charley, and some of the others, I don’t expect you to see it my way – and I regret that. But please know that most of us at the DNC feel much as you do about equality and are doing our best to move the ball down the field.
Please consider the possibility that the “facts” issued by Donald’s lawyer do not accurately state the case. (Her job is to advocate for her client, not report objectively.) And that much as we all like Donald, there may be nothing more nefarious here than that, unfortunately, it just didn’t work out.

Andy
Thanks for the different perspective regarding Pastor Daughtrey.
I still don't get it. If she is such a friend of LGBT's, why would she stand in the way of our getting 1,049 Federal benefits that can only be achieved in this country through full marriage, as in one man and one woman. Is her theocratic teaching more important than the constitution, Equal Justice for All ? If it is, then she shouldn't be an officer to the Democratic Party. Democracy is not a Theocracy, based on an imaginary king, called "Jesus". Howard Dean should take into consideration separation of church and state when it hires staff. Our forefathers were against officials using religion to form policy, as they had seen the debacles throughout history in Europe. Although, she may want to keep her faith seperate from her position at the DNC, it just can't happen. Our belief or non belief make up who we are as people and is at the core of our decisions.

P.S. Pentacostal Pastor Daughtrey has no authenticity of character. Either she is a liar to her faith, or liar to the DNC when she says she can keep her faith seperate. Much like another Pentacostal, John Ashcroft who made the same statement.
Ashcroft did not disappoint. Almost immediately, he delighted Christian conservatives by gathering his subordinates together on federal property to participate in daily Pentecostal Christian prayer meetings.

Charley, you don't have to sell me on the benefits of marriage equality or those 1,138 rights and benefits. I'm with you. Also on church and state — I'm an atheist.

But unlike John Ashcroft, Leah worked her heart out to help elect John Kerry — who promised to work to get us those 1,138 rights and benefits.

(You and I know that this can't be done without true marriage equality; but at least getting folks to acknowledge we deserve all those rights is an important step along the way to success.)

And unlike John Ashcroft Leah has done no religious proselytizing at work . . . and has made sure we have LGBT folks well represented on staff and in the appointments to various committees like the Platform Committee.

She is dedicated to serving her Chairman, who in turn is dedicated to our equality.

So while it would be very nice to have everyone at the DNC at least privately in favor of marriage equality, I think — in our own selfish interest — we have to accept two things:

First, that it may not be good strategy for the DNC to come out for marriage equality. Even passionate marriage equality advocates like Paul Yandura agreed with that view when he and I discussed it before the 2006 elections. (Not sure of his view today.)

Second, I don't think it would be in our interest, if we want to win elections, to fire African American ministers who believe marriage is between a man and a woman.

I think you've seen how upset a community can be when one of their own is asked to resign from the DNC (even if that person, despite good intentions, was not effective at his job - see post #1 above).

In Leah's case, we'd be telling the African American community that, unless you believe in marriage equality, we don't want you. I think that would be deeply disrespectful of their religious freedom and, in any event, political suicide.

If we want to make progress, I think we have to keep making the case for fairness . . . but in a respectful way, and through the courts, not by villifying allies who share most of our goals but are not there yet on marriage.

Thanks for considering this point of view.

Andy,
I hear you. It will be up to individual LGBT initiatives, like not filing income taxes. You have your hands full, and it really is "not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country". I must protest Federal Tax Discrimination, even though I am critized by Queerty for trying to get out of paying taxes. I am willing to go to jail, although it is a misdemeanor, and my trial will take place in gay friendly San Diego… BTY my partner has mental problems because of this, but he is better today. The doctors put him on Haldol.

unless you know her personally, I ask you to consider the possibility that she is a good person who – though in her private religious beliefs is not with us on marriage yet – has been generally supportive of our community

Well golly gee, Mr. Tobias, that's exactly the same rhetoric that the Austin 12 used to describe George W. Bush back in the 2000 election!

But, if I recall correctly, back then you weren't willing to accept such drivel from the 'Pubbies. So why should we accept it from you and the Democratic Party this time around?

In Leah’s case, we’d be telling the African American community that, unless you believe in marriage equality, we don’t want you. I think that would be deeply disrespectful of their religious freedom

What a ridiculous double standard.

Would the DNC court people who advocate racial segregationism, and condemn their critics as "narrow-minded" and "disrespectful of their first amendment rights?" Of course not.

It's quite clear that the DNC is not willing to lead, in any way, on the issue of gay equality. It is willing to defame internal whistleblowers on the issues and send its representatives to patronize the LGBT community and explain to us that our civil rights are "offensive to African Americans" — a position that many black people also likely find offensive.

The reality is that the DNC is not willing to do anything to earn the votes of LGBT people, but demands them (and contributions) anyway. Until LGBT voters walk away from the Democrats, there will be no incentive for this arrogant and unaccountable clique to become accountable to the gay voting bloc it demands a monopoly over.