The National Stonewall Democrats aren't alone in defending the DNC against The Washington Blade's "race riot" emails. The International Federation of Black Prides released a statement last Friday defending Howard Dean, Leah Daughtry and the Democratic National Committee's gay policies. Read what they wrote, after the jump.

Over the past few weeks there has been a number of articles in the Washington Blade detailing alleged anti-gay prejudice within the Democratic National Committee (DNC)particularly since Governor Howard Dean became the Chairman. While I cannot speak to the internal issues of the DNC, I can certainly speak of my interaction with DNC staff from my perspective as the President/CEO of the International Federation of Black Prides, Inc (IFBP) which is one of the few Black LGBT organizations in the United States.

The IFBP has had considerable interaction with DNC staffers Leah Daughtry, Brian Bond, Maya Goines, Josh McConaha, Tom Petrillo and Gov. Howard. Dean. Leah Daughtry has been a very strong supporter of inclusion of the Black LGBT community in the work of the DNC. Ms. Daughtry 's faith and expression of such has in no way restricted her from working with the Black LGBT community in her capacity at the DNC.

Gov. Dean spoke eloquently about inclusion of the Black LGBT community in both the Democratic Party and the political process at the 2006 Baltimore Black Pride opening reception making him the first Chair of the DNC to do so. In fact, Gov. Dean personally told me recently that he wanted to continue to bridge building between LGBT communities of color and DNC including another appearance at a Black Pride event this year!

The commitment of the DNC has been less to do about partisan politics and more about its commitment to ensure that the LGBT people of color voices are included, heard and acted on in the general political process. This past Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend the DNC, National Stonewall Democrats and Log Cabin Republicans together participated in a panel discussion offering candid information and advise about political process to 24 Black Pride City organizers.

The IFBP have nothing but praise for the assistance that the DNC has rendered to us as we work to educate the 300,000 attendees of Black Prides on issues that are important to us as Black and LGBT people. In short, we have found the DNC willing to work with the us as the IFBP continues to work to get Black LGBT people all over this nation to become invested in the political process.

In somewhat-related news, Chief of Staff Daughtry penned a Washington Post piece this weekend celebrating the Democratic party's commitment to their pious peers. Ch-ch-check it out!