let me pose this question.

if the HRC was a successful lobby organization, wouldn't we be further along in equal rights for all gay people?

the progress has been stagnant for several years.

pissy cocktail parties and awards shows are not activisim.

what have they done for us lately?

jack jett

The position that Crain advocates is precisely the one the landed the Republican's into office with control of both houses of Congress. Voting for GOP candidates that grudgingly support gay rights issues doesn't help gay rights. We've been there, done that. Why? A GOP majority prevented the minority from exercising any of its rights including the near abolition of the Fillerbuster. Also, those GOP representatives and senators rubber stamped the appointment of ultra-conservative judges. Finally, the gay-right leaning members of the GOP never seem to confront their own. They just sit in the back whispering furtive support for equal rights for gays and lesbians. Can is simply wrong and so are you.

Jack,

The real question in my mind is what have YOU done for gay rights lately?

If you have been paying any attention at all to the news, or have gone to the HRC website you will see that the progress has not been 'stagnant for several years'. Quit bitching, start doing, my friend.

-Steve

I agree with Jack, having not renewed my HRC membership in 2005 for those reasons he mentions.

As a regular reader of Chris' blog he has proven time and again to be a Log Cabin type, more concerned with marriage and immigration issues. He is also highly intelligent but angry and in a hurry.

But as he once replied to me on his blog that since I did not agree with him that marriage was the bedrock of society (a position he refused to justify) I did not have a place in the conversation on gay marriage. As someone who was forced to emigrate to Brazil because American immigration law would not let his boyfriend into the country, I question whether Chris retains his place in the conversation on the American Gay Rights movement.

steve
i can answer your questions
my hubby and i give $ to moveon.org, the democratic party, the trevor project and more. i write and confront
gay hating right wingers via blog and in my home state bible belt) every day of the week. i write articles about the hypocrisy of right wing evangelicals. i make a point through my writing to keep people from forgettng those that have gone before us and do what i can to keep hiv in the forefront. i have been an activist since my days with
act up and queer nation.

in addition, i don't have a problem calling people in power on their shit. i don't think they are above the frey.

people should not give to the hrc just because they can throw an amazing dinner party and get maya angelou to be a guest speaker. they should give to a organization that gets things done. (see larry kramer) that can let us know what they have done. (see mike jones) to assure us that your not just making money to provide more pissy dinner parties.. (see lane hudson)

bitching is doing something. questioning the press releases of hrc and others is doing something.
i do all this, and i sir, am at the fucking bottom of the gay food chain. just because the hrc or some other glbt group puts out a press release doesn't mean that every glbt community member must agree with it.

they are not the voice of the gay community i know and live with.

but thank you steve for reminding me that i even need to do more.

peace,

jack jett

HRC sucks. Crain's been beating that dead horse for years. They're both has beens. curse on both their houses. time to moveon.

Jack,

I spent over 12 years in New York City and I would have agreed with you out there that HRC isn't doing enough in that community. In fact, when I lived in the village, I had no idea who HRC was...

However, love brought me to my husband's hometown of Las Vegas Nevada early this summer. And to say that I felt out of place in a state where homophobia is all but law, is an understatement. Personally, I found HRC to be a godsend to me as it was (and I think still is) the only national gay organization in this community. There was no other organization doing what HRC was doing in this community. There was no gay community before the HRC arrived, in fact. And now, the Las Vegas HRC chapter is the fastest growing in the nation and we are building a support network and finding our voice. All this from nothing almost a year and a half ago.

Personally, I think creating a gay community where there previously was none is quite the achievement. And, I do resent paying the non tax deductable donation to federal club. However, I do it gladly knowing that the Las Vegas gay community owes a huge debt of gratitude to the HRC.

HRC to me is about building foundations where there previously were none. And now that we have a foundation to our gay community out here, we can find strength in numbers, and provide comfort to each other in the struggle for equality.

Clearly, this type of support is not needed in the more 'established gay communities' like NYC and SF. And, it is easy to see how folks can misunderstand the HRC from the outside.

Clearly the HRC, like any non-profit supporting the gay community, is not exempt from critisism and critique. However, in my humble opinion, HRC does not deserve the downright mean spirited, uninformed, destructive rantings of cynical members of the larger gay community.

-Steve

steve,

i am confused. are you saying that there was not a gay community in las vegas until the human rights campaign came there?
jack

Jack,

So to split hairs and argue semantics for a second: Yes, I would say there was no 'gay community in Las Vegas' before HRC arrvied. But, before the quills are unleashed, let me expand on my definition of community:

In my mind, simply having a bar to go out to, and having several friends go to the same bar does not make a community. That, to me, is more of a group of friends socializing - having a good time. Im not passing judgement... in fact, my 20's were spent doing just that same thing in NYC.

To me, a community is a group that comes together to better the world around them and make life a bit more doable by working as a team to achieve goals. HRC has given Gay Las Vegas a voice - on a national scale mind you - that previously did not exist. HRC has given us a center from which to work, and a touchstone to gain our footing.

All in all, I'm just saying that respect is due the HRC. Say what you will about misguided this or that, they are not perfect, no non-profit is... But they have catalyzed a community out here, and for that I'm quite thankful.

-Steve

Jeez, can you just stop bitching about HRC? The organization does amazing work in a clearly difficult situation. Everyone wishes that we were further along in our fight for equality. We would be worse off if not for HRC.

Chris Crain can think of nothing better to do than trash groups that are actually advocating for LGBT equality while he sits on his ass in front of a keyboard.

The work that HRC did in the last election cycle helped Democrats regain control of the House and Senate. That means we don't have to worry about the Federal Marriage Amendment and that we have reasonable chances of getting non-discrimination and hate crimes legislation passed. In addition, HRC's work in state legislative races in places like New Hampshire is setting the stage for advances in those states and increases LGBT visibility in key primary states for the 2008 presidential elections.

The staff at HRC is smart, committed and hardworking. Sometimes they make mistakes, as we all do, but their intentions are good. How many of us can say that we spend our days advocating for equal rights for LGBT people?

I'm sorry, what "amazing" work has the HRC done lately? Given a fucking "Visibilty" award to a D-minus-list reality "star" and his ex-boy-bander bf? Dispatched hapless college students in HRC tshirts to stop me on the street and ask me "if I have a few minutes for gay rights?"

As for as I'm concerned, HRC has launched the most successful bumper sticker campaign in history. Other than those little blue squares with the yellow bars, HRC ain't done shit.

Time for some real leadership and action out of that organization. Otherwise, it'll just continue to be the steering committee for cocktail parties and banquets for aging rich queens.

I don't know much about HRC to comment, but I did enjoy the video montage they put together for the National Day of coming out. It was powerful, with all the celebs talking in it, and it was a mini hit on youtube.

Other than that, I wanted to say jack e jett I didn't know much about you from your show on TV. But after reading a lot of your comments, and the articles you wrote I think you're an inspiration. Keep speaking up!! because you make a lot of sense.

da

your words really mean a lot to me. they are very kind.

i have always been fine with being on the bottom of the
gay semi celeb food chain. i am not the greatest wordsmith and tend to rant and rave. however, after working for years with several hiv groups and seeing money being wasted, i think that even those of us in the trenches should make some noise when we think we are being taken for a ride.

i was thrilled to find out that the ngltf was to honor
mike jones. what he did was far braver than lance bass coming out.

these groups must be held accountable as with any other fund raising organiztion.

thanks again for the kind words.

jack jett

You're welcome jack e jett.

And I hope you'll consider a show about serious queer politics sometimes. I'd definitively tune in to hear you dissect the GLAAD Awards and other HRC's shortfalls.

HRC is a money suck that shamelessly vacuums up as much corporate money as it can. Most activists know that lobbying is dead. The courts are where the real action is and where we make real progress. Legal organizations like Lambda Legal, GLAD, NCLR, and the ACLU get more accomplished in a year than does HRC in a decade (though HRC will take credit for it all). Give your money to organizations that need it. HRC has plenty.