Gay, Inc.’s 1% had it coming. Disgruntled activists marched down Castro Street and right into the HRC store to express their frustration with the non-profit gay organization. Their main demand was a refocusing of HRC’s priorities to include addressing homelessness among LGBT youth and people with AIDS, high unemployment rates for transgender folk, and lack of decent healthcare and affordable housing for elderly queers.
This is not the first time the activists in the Castro have shown their contempt for the HRC. The organization was highly criticized around this time last year for doing their own occupying of Harvey Milk’s old camera shop to sell overpriced mugs with equal signs. Even the usually cool-tempered Dustin Lance Black called them out for that.
bagooka
Interesting video.
Mark
Good, because if there is any enemy of gay rights, it’s the HRC. Even if you disagree with the HRC and its tactics, surely there are better people and groups to target. The more divided the LGBT community is, the longer it will take to accomplish anything.
jeff4justice
Why only focus on homeless LGBTI youth? I get that young people are more vulnerable but there is no reason to limit the scope of age in who we help as LGBTI people.
Also, I once looked at a job with a major LGBT center as a security guard. $10 per hour in a major city while the Executive Director makes a 6 figure salary?
6 figure salaries appear to be counter-productive to expediently attaining equality and bettering things for LGBTI people.
The mega LGBT groups ignore my hometown near Sacramento. Sacramento’s LGBT community even ignores my community. We’re tired of waiting for DC, SF and Sacramento to make things better for us so we’re doing it ourselves.
If you also live in a small town, rural, suburb area without LGBT centers and groups anywhere in the US please contact me and let’s collaborate how we can make things better both socially and politically for LGBTI people in these ignored areas.
jeff4justice
The good news is however if you have sex without condoms and sell it, make a sugar daddy web site, or promote shallowness on one of the few LGBT shows on TV you too can become the 1%.
JAW
How many of the people protesting have EVER donated to HRC??
perhaps 1%
I am sick of groups of radical queers telling groups like HRC to spend more of the HRC’s money on the radical queers that do not even support them
It is time that all of you radical queers get off your ass and raise money for the causes that you think are important.
CBRad
The guy in the cap chewing gum is a doofus.
WillBFair
I bless these queers. And I pray that the massive hrc cash would be used for homeless lgbt youth, caring for hiv people, and a serious pr campaign showing gay heros: Lincoln, Solon, Turing, and Von Steuben.
But again. Gay leadership is about feathering their own nests. And the queer mainstream is too into looks and bodies to notice brains or character. You have the leadership you deserve.
WillBFair
I’m sorry. Speaking to the dingbat public is a waste of time.
Jerry Pritikin
This group leader showed error in judgement for occupying Harvey Milk’s old camera shop location at 575 Castro St. They would of been on target to occupy in front of the real estate companies, especially Paul Langley & co. who has had a history or raising rents both for store fronts and residential property for over 30 years. Why Langley? He increased the rent of Harvey’s store by a Thousand bucks, forcing Harvey to move from this landmark location in January of 1978 to Market near Castro. However, it was years later, that the Langley company increased the rent of the famous Elephant Walk Restaurant at 18th & Castro fro $6,000. to $12,000 a month,forcing them out of business! Then Langley had the chutzpah to rename it Harvey’s, after the same Harvey Milk he forced out of 575 Castro Streetlocation.
Many evictions and raised rents were by gay owned and managed real estate companies in the Castro, and later the Mission district. It would of made more sense to point out those responsible forchanging the complexion of the Castro from quaint original shops to franchise companies and a high priced neighborhood.
Andy
Just because an organization identifies itself as “pro gay” doesn’t mean it actually does anything substantial for gays. When such an organization becomes monolithic, it may actaully eclipse more effective groups, ultimately reversing or slowing the speed at which needed change happens. This is the situation I perceive to be happening with the HRC. I think the issue at hand is whether or not there are other groups out there that could be doing a better job. There is no doubt that the HRC sucks up the lion’s share of gay rights funding from well intentioned queers with money, funnels it into god-only-knows what and then takes credit for every minor advance that may have happened on its own. Before we go tearing it down, we should have an idea of what we’d like to see replace it.
Shannon1981
We shouldn’t be showing division to the world. Why not occupy the Catholic Church instead? I am no friend of some of the HRC’s tactics, but they are hardly who we should be targeting.
David K
I’m sure that the people getting paid to fold shirts at the HRC store have a lot of pull in the organization.
Pete n SFO
@CBRad: I used this idiot’s name in another post on T-road & it was removed. lol
So, how do you get to be a pain in the ass always in the gay media, on local TV, & very much a known personality in the city (or at least the gay-ghetto)… but having your name attached to your face in yet another useless protest on-line, somehow crosses a line?
He’s douchebag; a pied piper of idiots. All that motivation. All that misplaced activity.
Spike
Funny that the occupiers believe that they have the right/influence to tell HRC where they should be focusing their efforts. These liberal occupiers, gay included, have been revealed to be no less crazy then the conservative crazy grandma and grandpas that were all about the the Tea Party. Every time I see a rainbow flag in the midst of yet another pointless occupy activity I cringe.
Mitch
@Spike: Well, I hope you’ve also been cringing every time you saw an “equality” symbold plastered on a visa card or the back of a volkswagon.