SOUNDBITES — “There will be a day when people will wonder how our rights were even an issue. What was the big deal? This state of inequality cannot be our children or grandchildren’s inheritance. That means stepping up and answering the call that this moment in history offers. We have an opportunity to lead. It’s up to us to define what must happen next, what will happen next. If we do not step up with an expansive view of what it means to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, if we don’t explain that being LGB or T is simply being human, we will be making a mistake. Whose calling is that if not ours? An agenda? Yes, I have an agenda.” —NGLTF chief Rea Carey, during her keynote speech at the group’s Creating Change conference (via)
rea carey
“It’s up to us to define what must happen next, what will happen next. Whose calling is that if not ours? An agenda? Yes, I have an agenda”
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Brian NJ
Finally, a gay rights leader with a pair; being tough and getting respect. Maybe they can counter some of the damage done by the HRC by setting the bar so low for the Obama Administration.
Mark
NGLTF does have an agenda: raise money. They don’t have a strategy.
At the Creating Change Conference the NGLTF didn’t offer any new ideas or plans to obtain full equality. This $4 million event was the same as previous years – “keep fighting” and “send us money.” Nothing has changed.
Rea Carey ignored an audience question about “how” and “when” we could win our equality. It’s clear she didn’t know.
Brian NYC
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is a very poorly rated charity. They spend a lot on fundraising and salaries. CharityNavigator.com only gives them 2 stars.
While HRC is ineffective, NGLTF isn’t to be trusted with donations.
Mark
We ALL need to send 100 emails a day to politicians. If 5 million of us do that it would be 180 billion emails a year.
I’m not sure if that’s enough emails to get our equality, but I am asking NGLTF and HRC.
If we need to send 1 trillion emails we better get busy. But, I’m glad we have figured out how to win. Now, tell everyone. 100 emails a day and our equality is on it’s way. It’s simple. Get busy.
Qjersey
the NGLTF is inept. We never hear from them all year until the Creating Change conference is about to happen.
I attended once. Nothing more than a big useless pep rally. I thought I was gonna puke with all the strict adherence to PC wonkiness…nothing like watching LGBT people scream at speakers for using the “wrong” terms (don’t you dare say handicapped or disabled…the term is ‘differently abled’). I’m liberal by nature, but I can’t stomach these folks.
TanyaM
No offense, but NGLTF is the weakest, most ineffectual LGBT rights organization we have. It does nothing. It just puts on an annual conference, Creating Change. It claims to lobby Congress (no – HRC does that expertly), claims to push public opinion (no – GLAAD does that), claims to do grassroots work (a bit, yes, but not more effectively than state-based organizations), and claims to get involved in legal work (uh no, that’s Lambda’s and NCLR’s work). It is, by all signs, a pointless organization with no purpose.
Brian NYC
@TanyaM: NGLTF wastes $20 million a year. They are as bad as HRC.