I'm not LCR's biggest fan, but they made massive improvements under Patrick Guerriero these past years (check their record -- they aren't the ass kissers they used to be). I don't know enough about Patrick Sammon to have any opinion about him, but since he worked closely with Guerriero, I assume he is closer philosophically to Guerriero than his predecessor. As for Joe Solmonese's comment, I would hope for nothing less. HRC, The Task Force (NGLTF), GLAAD, GLSEN, etc. communicate with each other frequently (the Religious Right completely coordinates their different groups' messages, shouldn't we?) . The only way we're going to win our fight for equality is to build coalitions within our community and beyond. Infighting and working against our allies helps no one.

can someone tell me exactly what these fuckers do?

seriously. just list a couple of things that they accomplished last year.....and fundraising does not cout.

jack jett

Jack -

In this past election HRC was ranked as one of the top 5 successful Advocacy PACs in the country to have endorsed candidates who won Federal office.

Of course, critics could effectively argue that HRC would have been ranked at the bottom of that list, if it hadn't been for the brave and smart political efforts of the one staffer they chose to fire because of his use of HRC equipment (paid for by our contributions to the organization) for non-HRC political activity. I'm talking about Lane Hudson, the HRC staff member who made public the Mark Foley sexually explicit email to Congressional Pages, which brought down the anti gay Republican Majority control of Congress.

Great Job HRC!

HRC was also important in backing the revision of the Pension reform earlier this year. Same Sex partners can now be recognized in under pensions and 401(k) programs.

They were incredibly important, as was Victory Fund in developing strong GLBT supportive candidates this past election cycle.

They don't do much besides trying to make it seem like gay folks are just like everyone (you know except the guys suck dick, and the women lick, well you know). Other than that, we are exactly like everyone else. As a recent article so eloquently put it- the problem that society has with us is the 'gay' part. I am actually despite what I am saying here not that out there politically, but I do got to question tactics that requires us to seem like everyone else in order to gain their approval. You are also right to point out that queer people of color without money need not apply. They are also all about the national when we need something like a 50 state strategy for gay political issues.

They don't do much besides trying to make it seem like gay folks are just like everyone (you know except the guys suck dick, and the women lick, well you know). Other than that, we are exactly like everyone else. As a recent article so eloquently put it- the problem that society has with us is the 'gay' part. I am actually despite what I am saying here not that out there politically, but I do got to question tactics that requires us to seem like everyone else in order to gain their approval. You are also right to point out that queer people of color without money need not apply. They are also all about the national when we need something like a 50 state strategy for gay political issues.

They don't do much besides trying to make it seem like gay folks are just like everyone (you know except the guys suck dick, and the women lick, well you know). Other than that, we are exactly like everyone else. As a recent article so eloquently put it- the problem that society has with us is the 'gay' part. I am actually despite what I am saying here not that out there politically, but I do got to question tactics that requires us to seem like everyone else in order to gain their approval. You are also right to point out that queer people of color without money need not apply. They are also all about the national when we need something like a 50 state strategy for gay political issues.

I used to think the same thing about the HRC until I saw Joe speak about a month ago. He had all sorts of stories and other tidbits, but I'm going to be concise and give myself 5 mins to write this.

As you know, for the last bunch of years the people in control of making the laws and running things in this country have been very anti-gay. They won the elections by being anti-gay. Therefore the HRC, and basically all gay-rights groups, had very little ability to make positive steps for us. So they went about helping to gain equality for LGBTetc's in other ways.

Th first way was they went to the heads of the 500 biggest companies in this country and got a lot of them to put in their contracts that they will not fire someone for being gay. In 17 states (my number might be off but it's close) it is *legal* to fire someone for being gay. The Reps were in charge of congress and controlled the governorships, so they couldn't get the laws fixed, so instead they got the companies to do it. Now, for example, the gay cashier working for Wal*Mart in Tennessee will not be forced to stay closetted because of fear of being fired. (Joe's example).

Then there's the domino effect of all this. Joe used to work for a phone company in Pennsylvania. He talked about going to give a talk there and have a straight guy come say hi. "Believe me, I'm straight.. yes, usually only the gays go to your talks.." but the company had recently added a clause to their employment contract saying they don't fire LGBTs. The woman who sat next to him for 6 years told him shortly after that she was a lesbian, and put a picture of her partner and kid up on her desk. For him, lesbians had been this abstract concept, now there was a face to it, one that had been kind to him for years and who he was friends (in that office-friends way) with. This bit is one more step in educating America and changing hearts and minds, and it was possible because the HRC went to the CEO of the company and convinced him to protect its gay workers.

Joe mentioned a speech he'd given somewhere where a tranny asked what the HRC was doing for him/her. "What are your biggest concerns?" The first two were being fired from his/her job and being attacked. Since Congress won't do it, the HRC has worked to get states to add sexual orientation to the hate-crimes laws.

Now, with the Dems in charge of Congress, we should expect the HRC, along with other gay rights groups, to be able influence the debate more. I'm confident that they can now make it just as illegal to fire someone over sexual orientation as over race or age or anything else, and they'll work to add us to the hate-crimes laws as well.

Not as glamorous as marriage, but these things do count. Even moreso, as a young guy working in NYC who never even thinks about and the idea of being fired for being gay (if anything, being gay in NYC helps you get jobs....), I had not even considered this as still a problem, and I'm glad the HRC is doing what it does.

Hope I didn't ramble too much..... - Jeff

Why is there a picture of Greg Brady on this post?