Human Rights Campaign honcho Joe Solmonese does not buy John McCain's bullshit interview with the Washington Blade:

…John McCain’s answers to those well written questions do nothing but insult the intelligence of the LGBT community. Senator McCain’s double speak fools no one. At the end of the day, his policies haven’t changed at all.

It’s interesting that John McCain thinks that being civil is going to win us over, but it doesn’t make up for the fact that he is against every single policy that would protect and promote equality for the LGBT community.

It’s 2008, ‘some of my best friends are gay’ doesn’t work anymore. Sorry, we’ve already had one ‘compassionate conservative’ in the White House for eight years, we aren’t interested in another.”

Well, maybe some of those masochist queens are, but you know…

Joe Solmonese made a big stink about the Log Cabin Republicans this morning when he blasted the gay group's support for Republican presidential hopeful John McCain. Recent reports, however, claim that Joe and his Human Rights Campaign are much closer to the McCain-backing Cabinites than they let on.

A website called Boycott HRC last week reported that a "reliable source" told them HRC had donated $10,000 to the LCR, while giving none to the National Stonewall Democrats.

TransAdvocate, meanwhile, published an email purportedly sent from NSD co-chair Steve Driscoll to executive director Jon Hoadley, among others. In this email, Driscoll derides HRC for their "high-handedness" at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and gripes that the organization had been stonewalling discussions on a possible 2008 collaboration.

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The Republicans are totally dominating the news cycle this week. Not only is everyone all over Sarah Palin and the party's national convention, but the gays simply can't stop talking about the Log Cabin Republicans' endorsement of presidential hopeful John McCain.

We were mad, of course, and then Chris Crain piped up, and now Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese has come out swinging:

John McCain claims to be a maverick who breaks with his party, but on matters of LGBT equality, he's shown that he's anything but. He actively campaigned for a constitutional amendment that would have banned marriage and domestic partnerships for same-sex couples in his home state of Arizona.
…
Sarah Palin has also supported bans on marriage and even domestic partner benefits in Alaska. The Republican Party, McCain and Palin's party, has declared in its platform that they want to pass the federal marriage amendment.

Their party's platform also calls gay and lesbian Americans unfit for military service, supports policies that would allow faith-based organizations to deny us jobs and services using federal dollars, and attacks judges who acknowledge our equality under the law. The Human Rights Campaign endorses mavericks on both sides of the aisle- neither John McCain nor Sarah Palin is among them.

On another note, if Solmonese and Log Cabin leader Patrick Sammon were to get into a fight, who would win?

Barack Obama’s gay push continues.

In addition to releasing a gay pride message yesterday, the Senator’s campaign last night organized an impromptu conference call for about 1200 Democratic supporters. While ostensibly meant to inform the Democratic candidate’s constituents, the call served another, far more important purpose: rallying Senator Hillary Clinton’s supporters.

In fact, the former contender’s name arose within seconds of the call’s commencement, when Obama's deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand began, “It is a very important time for our country, our party, for Senator Obama and Senator Clinton.”

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Journalist Sara Whitman lays the smack down this morning. Whitman's absolutely beside herself over gay leaders like Joe Solmonese, Matt Foreman and even Melissa Etheridge's respective silences on 15-year Lawrence King's murder:

Who represents the LGBT community on a national and international stage?

Is there anyone?
…
Who was at Lawrence King’s funeral? Where were our leaders?

In this star struck culture, the way to draw attention to an issue is to put a recognizable face out front to draw the press out. Where were Joe Solmonese of HRC, Matt Foreman of NGLTF, Kevin Cathcart of Lambda, Kate Kendall of NCLR, Neil Giuliano of GLAAD? Ellen DeGeneres did her part, but what about the newly out Cheyenne Jackson? Cynthia Nixon? Melissa Etheridge? Where’s the song from Elton John? It takes leadership to bring make the kind of public statement that surrounded the Jena 6.

But we don’t have that.

That's kind of real - except for the Elton John request. That's just ridiculous.

The time is upon us once again for the second time: Out magazine's annual Power Issue. While we didn't make the cut of the 50 most powerful homos, funny lesbian Ellen DeGeneres did - and, in fact, takes the cake, beating out the likes of Joe Solmonese, editor Adam Moss and fallen queen of the lesbians, Rosie O'Donnell.

Also in this issue, Michael Musto offers a follow-up to last year's The Glass Closet, which called out people like Jodie Foster and Anderson Cooper for not coming out. This year's essay, Shattered Glass, examines the parameters of coming out. Sure, Jodie Foster intimated at her lesbianic ways, but does it matter if she's not willing to talk to the fag rags.

It's the eternal question: If a gay comes out, but doesn't follow up, does anything change?

With ENDA's Senatorial revival, Human Rights Campaigns' Joe Solmonese again finds himself on the firing line. Solmonese got ripped apart last year after his organization abandoned the fight for trans inclusion in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. HRC had previously pledged not to support a non-inclusive ENDA, but went back on that deal, thus sparking an ugly civil war between activists hellbent on keeping a united front and those who felt it best to take baby steps: gays first, then trans folk.

Well, that debate rages on and this year Solmonese knows not to make promises he can't keep. Nor does he want people to think HRC's omnipotent, telling Ohio's Gay People's Chronicle that much of ENDA's future depends largely on our elected officials, including the president. Solmonese also insists that he and his HRC homies want nothing less than a fully inclusive ENDA, but maintain that incrementalism is the best way to go:

We have always been committed to the transgender-inclusive ENDA. The differences are in how best to get there.

One of the ways to unify the community is around working on going forward. There were transgender people walking the halls of Congress with us two weeks ago.

What will unite [the community] most is the success of doing the work to move Congress.

Yes, but will this year play out on HRC's conciliatory terms or those of the stridently trans-inclusion United ENDA opposition? We all know the answer to that one.

Human Rights Campaign offers itself some hopeful congratulations in this new video, "2008: A Year To Win."

While certainly the group has done necessary work, even the George Michael scored montage doesn't convince us that they'll make good on all their promises. But maybe we're just cynical. Or maybe we're still traumatized by ENDA.

Did someone forget to take their disco nap? Neil Patrick Harris didn't look very pleased during the photo call for HRC's Ally Awards last night.

Meanwhile, George Takei's sudden case of permasmile left guests wondering about his acting future, to which Takei replied, "I guess I'll just have to be type cast: gay!"

Project Runway winner Christian Siriano seemed the gayest to be there. Speaking of smile happy PR alums, why did WireImage credit designer Nick Verreos as an "actor". Even more importantly: what would Shakespeare say about reality shows?

HRC also wrangled wild woman Judith Light for last night's Ally Awards. The Ugly Betty actress seemed randy as ever and got rather cozy with Point Foundation's Jorge Valencia. Hot new couple alert? Speaking of hot couple - check out Ricki Lake's diamond earrings. We're not crying, baby!

Old friend and Ally honoree Anne Hathaway loomed large over HRC honcho, Joe Solmonese, who later gave Miss California Raquel Beezley a bit of a squeeze at the actual ceremony. Do we smell another political sex scandal?

The always handsome John Amaechi also joined the fun and Thea Gill flaunted her seamless skin. And, of course, it wouldn't be a gay event until Wilson Cruz starts the so-called party. Thus it was done…

See the pictures - in that order - after the jump…

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