Under formal attack from a loose-knit group of bloggers for being an Obama administration mouthpiece and Democratic lapdog, one of the Human Rights Campaign’s field chiefs today responded to cries that it do something substantial. By telling them to screw off.
HRC’s Orange County/Long Beach/Palm Springs governors board member Eric Kenney responded on the chapter’s blog (in a “this is not an official HRC statement” manner) in part: “While I disagree with this specific approach, calling your member of Congress and Senators would be a better use of your time. However, if you are partcipating [sic] in this today, please read this entire blog entry first, and also please be respectful of the person answering the phones. The person answering the calls is most likely either an unpaid intern or an entry-level staffer. They do not work for the legislative team, the field team, or the exectutive [sic] team (Joe’s office). … We don’t get our direction from DC; we set goals each year in our own communities and those are fed up through our national leadership team to the national organization. We are a grassroots organization at our core. If you don’t like how HRC runs things, then I empower you to locate your local Steering Committee and get involved. Volunteer your time, step up, show some leadership, and make your voice heard to the people who do the work. The real power of HRC is us. Without us willing to do the work, HRC does not exist.”
It’s unclear whether the organization’s chieftains like Joe Solmonese (pictured) will issue a formal response, but if Kenney is setting the tone, the HRC rebuttal goes like this: Stop calling us. Call your legislators.
Which is what they’ve always encouraged. Well, after they collected your donation.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
UPDATE: And now, a message from HRC toppers, which in October was willing to wait until 2017 to grade the White House’s LGBT equality record:
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has to be repealed this year. That has been the Human Rights Campaign’s position from the start, and at this point there is no one in the White House who does not know it. We and the community to whom we are accountable agree: This is the year.
We firmly support including repeal in the annual Department of Defense Authorization bill, and have not only indicated as much, but continue to make that case, all while working to gain support for the Military Readiness Enhancement Act….
We have been lobbying the White House relentlessly, and we’ve seen more movement in recent weeks than in the previous 16 years. Our nation’s top defense officials testified, before the Senate Armed Services Committee, that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell should be repealed. That did not happen in a vacuum.
These events are just the start. There is a clear path to repeal, and that’s the one we’re on.
(photo via)
Qjersey
That attitude is exactly why the HRC is failing.
Yanz (Sacramento, CA)
Screw HRC. After years of being a monthly donor, I decided I didn’t any of my money spent of Solomonese’s photo-ops, etc.
AndrewW
Perhaps this will be the defining moment that we finally learn that HRC is not effective and that they are no longer necessary. We can only “hope.”
Jon
Who would be the good version of HRC then?
Brian NJ
Letting the administration off the hook is gross negligence, and is actually hurting us. It’s clear that they do not view us as their constituents, and they do not want our opinions on what to do. They have to do much much better, or really should disband.
andy_d
@Jon: For those who do not remember or were not around when it was, there was an organization called Gay Activist Alliance. They were very up front and very outspoken for their day. I should know, I was a member (at 16!). This is the group responsible for a number of ZAPS – not unlike what ACT UP would do in relation to HIV/AIDS.
Since those opposed to our rights and equality are screaming about “activism” regarding the steps we have made after all these years, we should start acting like the activists we once were.
It was a true grass roots organization with actions being taken at the local level.
AndrewW
@Jon: Us. We could use the $50 million to do a lot more good than they do.
Michael
HRC is just too happy to sit at the back of the bus.
Gridlock
Step ‘n Fetchit owned house faggots, that’s all HRC is. Brought in to dine on caviar and champagne, hobnobbing with their oppressors while screeching at the rest out in the fields to shut up and get back to work.
My loathing for them knows no bounds.
Sam
“Without us willing to do the work, HRC does not exist.”
Oh, if ONLY that were true!
Daniel
I like Act On Principles because they reveal how much support exists in Congress for different pieces of equality legislation.
http://www.actonprinciples.org
Brian NJ
They think they are a grassroots organization? What part of the “grassroots” wants them to put no pressure on the Administration and to become the gay public relations firm for the Democratic Party? They must be talking about the grass on the White House lawn.
Fitz
HRC has become our own Iago.
Brian NYC
F A I L
benlayvey
But I just placed the HRC Equality sticker they sent me on my Lexus! I hope gays don’t vandalize it when they see it! Rob 2.0 had a posted a link denouncing HRC on his blog but I thought he was being counterproductive.
Lisa
@Jon: Empowering Spirits Foundation is who I now support
Mark Dallas
Dear HRC: No more $ It’s over.
MikeUT
Shall the gay community raise a small army and bring it into Washington D.C. to dethrone Joe?
Steve
HRC has been spending millions every month for “access” to lawmakers who have absolutely NO intention of ever voting for anything that might actually help gay people.
That has not been effective. After 40 years, we have nothing to show for it. An occasional promise, promptly broken. A “hate crimes” section in one unrelated bill, with a clear statement that it shall not be enforced. Nothing of any substance. Forty years of budget, for no results at all.
Instead, spend the money organizing grass-root campaigns.
Send ten million emails, each week. In each email, give the name and contact information of the recipients Rep and Senators, and ask the recipient to make a call, and write a letter.
Put advertising in gay-targeted media, with the same messages. And provide posters to gay-targeted businesses, to put up in their media lobby.
Provide fliers/handouts to gay-friendly churches, with the same messages. The churches can’t spend money to print them, but they can allow a volunteer to give them out in the lobby.
Send letters to pastors of other churches. Explain the real harm of homophobic bigotry. Send volunteers to visit those pastors — preferably as couples.
Grass-roots organizing is cheap and effective. If you want to change a Senators vote, ten “access” buys won’t do it. But, ten thousand of phone calls a week for a year, will.