In a column published on Huffington Post Friday, activist-writer Michelangelo Signorile has sharply critiqued the Human Rights Campaign‘s endorsement of GOP Senator Mark Kirk:
The simple truth is that in 2016 in Illinois we don’t need Mark Kirk — he needs us. Kirk is in a deep blue state and he absolutely must support full LGBT equality in order to win. His coming out for the Equality Act is not brave; it’s about his own survival. And the first vote he’ll take upon winning back his seat will be a cowardly one to make the antigay McConnell (with an HRC score of 0) the Senate Majority Leader again.
There’s no question that the Democrats’ path to taking back the Senate very much includes defeating Kirk, who is in the bluest state among those where GOP senators are embattled. So HRC’s action does raise questions about how committed the group really is to seeing the Democrats take back the Senate, and if it perhaps has conflicting interests. Daily Kos’s David Nir surmised that HRC’s Kirk endorsement is all about keeping “donations flowing from corporations and wealthy gay Republicans,” and he may be on to something.
If HRC is not answerable to LGBT people, however — and its president, Chad Griffin, rarely even gives interviews to LGBT media, while speaking often in the larger media — exactly to whom and what is it answerable, and what are its true priorities? One thing is clear: HRC doesn’t speak for the LGBT community, and the sooner that politicians and those in the media grasp that, the smarter they will be.”
You can read the entire piece here.
dean089
HRC has long demonstrated that they are totally out of touch with the average gay person. Affluent white gays are OK, but the rest of us — working class, rural, people of color, etc. — either don’t exist or, allegedly, there aren’t enough of us to worry about. Let them support the GOP. They’ve never gotten a dime from me and that isn’t going to change any time soon.
twospirit
Guess I’ll be taking my support elsewhere…no more supporting the HRC if this is what’s going on…
Also couldn’t understand why they chose to support Hillary over Bernie to begin with, with Bernie’s much longer history of support to the LGBT community; now I know money talks with the HRC more than I cared to believe…
Dave in Northridge
Signorile is right. Look at the gains we’ve made, and you’ll see that NONE of them – yes, including the right to marry – affects all gay people. It’s entirely possible that litigation on some of the “religious freedom” bills will get sexual orientation and gender identity added to the Civil Rights litany, but that will be something the Supreme Court does. We need a Democratic Senate, well, for a better country for all of us to live in. HRC isn’t getting a dime – or even a penny – from me either.
1EqualityUSA
Mark Kirk was against Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Get rid of any Republican, no matter how they speak of supporting us, as their pick for Supreme Court will be a step backwards for our hard-won rights.
James
HRC is a corrupt organization who could care less about gay rights. HRC serves only to pay the gay or straight boring bureaucrats who have taken it over and turned it into a cash cow for themselves only. Try bringing this republican candidate up to them, as I have, and see how quickly you are shown the door or how quickly they hang up the telephone. Try bringing anything up to them excluding giving them money and see how quickly you are thrown out.
Chris
Queerty’s snippet leaves out the most important part. His opponent is a ex-military, decorated, woman of color who lost her legs in action and a representative who scores 100% on all the gay surveys your could possibly want. By whatever standard you want, this guy’s the weakest link. I am baffled that ANY gay organization would support him.
Xzamilio
@Chris: Log. Cabin. Republicans. The fact they exist is why I am not surprised by ANYTHING anymore.
DCguy
Why would this surprise anybody? HRC attacked activists who were pushing for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and DOMA. Remeber? HRC spent more time attacking Get Equal and Dan Choi than they did attacking bigots or pushing for LGBT rights.
HRC kept saying that nobody could push for anything else until they got ENDA passed. Yet coincidentally they haven’t gotten ENDA passed after 15 years and hundreds of millions in donations from LGBTS. Even though END was LESS opposed than the repeal if DADT and DOMA.
So why would a group that makes its money fighting for LGBT equality attack people trying to push for that, AND why would they drag their feet on a reletively easy bill? It’s almost as if their jobs depended on NOT getting LGBT rights legalized.
Oh wait, that’s right, their jobs DO depend on not getting LGBTS full equality. If that happens the reason for their existence dissappears.
HRC supports themselves and their salaries, nothing else.
Kangol
Mark Kirk also was outed by a fellow Republican before his election, and yet has never come out.
He gets a lower rating than the most conservative US Senate Democrat, which is saying something.
He’s got to go. Democrat Tammy Duckworth would be 100 times better, and she’s a decorated veteran. There are only benefits to electing her in November!
martinbakman
Gotta laugh, HRC taking credit for marriage equality. What are they really good for other than collecting big paychecks?
GC1985
HRC… should stop nagging me for my financial support. They get enough from corporations.
I’ll endorse… whatever democrat runs against him.
If you vote for ANY republican you are voting for the whole package of bigotry. There is no such thing as an accepting republican because they are part of a political party that DOES NOT accept you. Don’t fool yourselves into thinking this dude or Trump is somehow “better”.
Oh and I wouldn’t support this guy not because of his stance on marriage, but simply because of his political affiliation and what his party stands for on a myriad of issues.
@DCguy: Bingo. I almost want the money I did donate back. I only donated to them for six months, until I read more into them.
They don’t deserve a single penny.
Not only do they have tremendous overhead costs (bureaucratic heavy), they simply can’t take credit for anything. And not only that this endorsement is unforgivable.
I know the democrats have a huge chance at recapturing the Senate as it isn’t just this guy who is vulnerable, but 5 or 6 other republicans. The approval ratings of these “do nothings” is in the toilet. Their constituents are angry (also explains why Hillary has such major leads over Trump and Cruz).
GC1985
@Kangol: You another republican that needs to come out? Good old Lindsey Graham! I can’t stand any of them. The republican led Congress has done nothing to help this country and has been nothing but obstructionists. Not just the House, but also the Senate.
Time for some severe punishments. I’ll endorse whoever is running against any of these republicans. Period. Their time trying to sabotage a Democrat White House is over. When the Democrats retain the White House in November, they will pursue a specific agenda in helping this nation. The obstructionism must end.
GC1985
@GC1985: *CORRECTION: Yet another republican that needs to come out?
seaguy
What a stupid endorsement by the HRC. We need a Democratic majority in the senate again so that things can get done like replacing Scalia this year. Endorsing Kirk no matter how friendly a Republican he is simply does not help us achieve the end goal and thus is shortsighted and stupid!
joebatch
I had suspected for a while that the HRC was not interested or cared about the full spectrum of gay,lesbians or transgendered people but were mch more interested in the well being of it’s 1% membership. After reading the article and comments here I now know that my radar was right. It seems that they are not that much different from the log cabin repug’s. The HRC is a lot like AARP in that they are not interested or invested in the seniors who are not upper income but he ones who can afford to travel,shop and dine out at the drop of a hat with out concern to cost (except for getting freebies). Thanks for the info and they have lost my interest in them from now on.
1EqualityUSA
Chad Griffin said that this Senator was instrumental in getting 8 other Rebiblicans to sign on a bill for equality. OK, but not this election cycle, when we have so much riding on it. Three justices will likely be replaced. We need the majority. This Senator is one of the more vulnerable seat going up. Damn it.
Stached1
The HRC has been a cash cow and completely useless for decades when it comes to helping Lesbian, bisexual, and gay men get rights. But they’ll gladly take your cash and some fools actually throw away their money to them.
Tracy Pope
After the numerous occasions HRC had the opportunity to help move Equality forward but for whatever reasons did not (the official excuses for their decisions rang hollow) I’ve come to the conclusion they need to be critiqued – regularly and often. I stopped donating to them several years ago because too many times they seem more intent on keeping their jobs than the work at hand.
DCguy
Ask yourselves this. Over the last 2 decades, what could the 50 million per year HRC budget have been better spent on?.
They haven’t gotten anything done, they spent most of their time telling LGBTS to sit down and shut up, AND the one thing they HAVE tried to push they failed at. They still think being LGBT is something to be embarrassed about.
The money would have been better spent electing local LGBT friendly politicians or even hiring a REAL lobbying firm to actually get ENDA through.
GC1985
@DCguy: I think even Lambda Legal has done far more than they have (they focus heavily on legal issues and cases). HRC is a joke. They have a 50 million a year budget? I wonder how much of that goes into overhead costs. Maybe they should try to focus on community issues… Like LGBT homelessness. I guess I am dreaming… They are the organization of the backstabbing gay white republican who has money and doesn’t care if someone is living on the streets.
hoosier1969
Last year at Chicago Pride, Kirk received polite applause. That is what he deserved, for yes, helping swing a few votes. Meanwhile the crowd went wild for his opponent Tammy Duckworth. She had my vote during the primary a few weeks ago. She will have my vote in November. And HRC will never receive another cent from me!
Maleko
@Tracy Pope: Barney Frank has work equality passed in the House, but HRC didn’t think it included everyone they wanted included so they sunk the bill. That sunk them with me and everyone I can talk to about the politics about their actions. I don’t see them moving G&L rights forward in Congress leaving me wondering how it is that they continue to exist. They do not perform and create positive results for the LGBT community, so just what do they do? I find the G&L Law group (Lambda Legal) vastly more effective. They have real power in the courts and they typically get results.
JayHobeSound
Kirk is an ass clown. He recently said re: Tammy Duckworth: While in a senior exec job at the Veterans Admin, she “didn’t stand up enough for veterans.”
She lost both legs and part of one arm flying Huey helos in the Iraq war, but she gets around well on blade-runner type prosthetics.
http://www.tammyduckworth.com