Tim Gill, the software billionaire and philanthropist, is no stranger to political maneuvering. Thanks to some key campaign donation in local and regional campaigns, The Gill Foundation the Gill Action Fund has helped push anti-gay lawmakers out of office. Or, at least, place gay friendly lawmakers in office. But his new project — a $100,000 fund aimed at killing the re-election campaign of New York State Sen. Hiram Monserrate, a convicted lady-abusing crimiinal and ardent anti-gay legislator — isn’t just ballsy, it’s a model for what the nation’s self-professed largest LGBT organization should be doing.
Having been expelled by the NY Senate for being a skeezeball, Monserrate is running in a special re-election to reclaim his seat. And Gill isn’t having it. With his moneyed and powerful friends, Gill formed the political action committee called Fight Back New York, and Monserrate is just the first target. (Step 1: Mailing fliers to voters in his district.)
And from there, expect things to snowball.
Think about how impressive this is: Independent gay activists — who, let’s be clear, have the financial means — unhappy with politicians whom vote against their civil rights and endorse discrimination will specifically target these officials in hopes they never see another day in office. Might the Human Rights Campaign, which tells us it’s fighting for our rights at the federal level, take a hint?
How about we take this to the next level?
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With an annual budget in the tens of millions, HRC has the power to go after senators and congressional representatives with a fair warning: voting against equality, or inaction, will make you eligible for a seven-figure campaign to unseat you from office. They need only make an example out of a few lawmakers — politically entrenched veteran lawmakers are the best choices — before others realize HRC (and its donors) is not fucking around, and hey, lip service just isn’t good enough anymore.
But that would require HRC, or other Gay Inc. institutions, to detach their hands from the smalls of Democratic politicians’ backs. It would require a complete revolution in the way HRC attempts to change history and secure a more progressive future. It might just require a complete regime change at the top of HRC.
And in return, you’d have a well-funded national gay rights organization that actually did something substantial.
How novel.
Lady Ga-Gasp
Apples and oranges. One org is run by one guy with a lot of money who can pretty much do as he pleases. HRC is a national conglomeration of members with diverse views and it naturally leans toward a more ginger approach. Just because a small number of very vocal activists in a small number of places harsh on HRC (and don’t get me wrong, they deserve much of the criticism) doesn’t mean that things have to be done the way those activists would prefer. Lots of room under the rainbow, and not all pots of gold are created equally.
Sam
@Lady Ga-Gasp: “small number of very vocal activists in a small number of places harsh on HRC”
Everyone I’ve ever known who is actually DOING anything to advance gay rights (and not just showing up at fabulous parties) hates HRC. They have a well deserved reputation for doing nothing, waiting for local activists to do the heavy lifting and win, then sending out a press release, implying that HRC deserves credit. Yes, if you include all the uninformed geighs out there, there are more LGBTs who like HRC than hate them. But anyone active and educated on the issues knows what a waste of money they are. And the problem with your “lots of room under the rainbow” approach is that HRC takes tens of millions of gay dollars and does… nothing. If HRC ceased to exist, suddenly there would be a lot more dollars available for geigh orgs that actually get results.
As for Tim Gill: The man is brilliant. You’re right, no publicly supported organization could operate the way his foundation does, but there could be a lot more rich gays throwing their money behind these kinds of efforts.
Josh AZ
HRC and Joe Solmonese are way too submissive to do anything aggressive. Tim Gill and others know HRC is going out of business soon. But, I think most of us know that.
terrwill
How do we nominate Tim Gill for Gay sainthood???? I have been asking for years for someone with the means to finally call out these subhuman scumbags who can do nothing positive for their constituants but yet spew vile anti Gay bile from their foul mouths. I would like to see more actions against these scumbags. Hire a PI and rattle the shit out of their closets to make the skeletons all fall out in a huge pile. Then very publicly parade said skeletons out for the media for their family, friends and constituants to see. After a few of these actions you would see the vile bile being spewed towards us simmer down quite a bit…………….
Cam
HRC would NEVER do anything that could upset ANY politicians. They are of the old submissive school, that says “If you are invited to mingle with important people, or if you can get important people to notice you then YOU are important.” They would MUCH rather assure that they can tout the fact that their leader met with a few Senators, and that they got Martina Navritolova to show up to an event, then actually push for real change. Why did we not only NOT hear from HRC when the White House pushed Rep Alcey Hastings to quash his bill for gay rights last year, but we had HRC coming out to tell us that we needed to wait 8 years before we had the right to complain about anything. I mean come on…they only backed off of that when the community went nuts.
Brian NYC
WHO is the alternative? Dump this guy, but who are we supporting to take his seat? Don’t rely on HRC’s silly scoring, the Democrats have to be with for or against us. That’s a yes or no proposition. Scoring 54 doesn’t mean anything – “gay-friendly” is bogus.
Brian En Guarde
HRC loves the fiction of “working with.” Jan Brady calls up democrats, and they have spacey conversations about “positions” and what bills they support. But there is no leverage exerted, or any political power generated for the gay movement. HRC sucks power out of the movement by standing in the shoes of people who know how to generate political power. Then Jan goes home, feeds her cat, tweaks her resume, and looks in the mirror, “Your good enough! Smart enough! And people like you!”
CHIP1218
The Democrat who is running to replace Monserrate is a current Democratic State Assemblyman who has voted FOR marriage equality. If Monserrate actually gets reelected, this will be the equivalent of Scott Brown in NYS. This would make those on the fence believe that they CAN’T vote for Marriage Equality in the near future (2011 after all, they all have elections in November, so there won’t be a revisiting of Marriage Equality in the NYS Senate until at least 2011…)
Sam
@Brian NYC: If you’re talking about Senator Monserrate, his opponent is Assemblyman Jose Peralta, who has a 100% pro-equality voting record on LGBT issues in the Assembly, including voting for the same-sex marriage bill. He’s also been endorsed by the Empire State Pride Agenda:
http://www.prideagenda.org/tabid/304/default.aspx?c=405
Josh AZ
Is Tim Gill really going to try to “take credit” when the face slasher that was thrown out of office is NOT re-elected? I mean, really? This guy doesn’t have a chance.
How about picking some difficult ones Tim? This one is just too easy.
Brian NYC
HRC has $50 million a year, and nothing to show for it.
lj
Ruben Diaz is next.
lj
Yes i said it. Ruben Diaz is a hateful bible thumping quack who would do well to take a look in the mirror at the color of his skin before he joins the bandwagon of bigotry against other minorities. He will leave our secular govenrment now that he has chosen his stance.
Mike
Tim Gill is awesome. How many really wealth gay people are out there who donate either small amounts or nothing at all? Gill has really stepped up and made a difference.
@Tony AZ: He is starting with Monseratte b/c out of the group of senators who betrayed us, he is the first one up for election. If you would bother to read the background on the group or visit their website at http://fightbackpac.com/, you would see that they are strategically going after other senators as well. Although they don’t list them, it is almost certain that Addabo and Krueger will be next.
Cam
No. 9 · Josh AZ said..
Is Tim Gill really going to try to “take credit” when the face slasher that was thrown out of office is NOT re-elected? I mean, really? This guy doesn’t have a chance.
How about picking some difficult ones Tim? This one is just too easy.
__________________________
wow, you’re really going to come in here and attack a guy for trying to fund an effort to unseat an anti-gay politcian? Well just so you know, his fund has been sending out funds to support pro-gay politicians, mostly on the local levels throughout the nation for several years now.
tazz602
How do we build a NEW HRC around Tim Gill?? What would it take for him to take up that ball and run with it??
Brian NYC
@Cam: He doesn’t need to waste any money on this particular case. Monserrate has NO chance. This IS just Gill-grandstanding.
Sam
@Josh AZ: Yeah, why not try to be more than just another ignorant Queerty commenter. This ain’t Tim Gill’s first time at the Rodeo, and he’s taken down much bigger fish already, like Marilyn Musgrave, lead sponsor of the Federal Marriage Amendment.
Cam
No. 17 · Brian NYC said….
@Cam: He doesn’t need to waste any money on this particular case. Monserrate has NO chance. This IS just Gill-grandstanding.
_________________________
That is what the people thought about Obama, I would much rather have the anti-gay folks think “Shit, look at what happened to that guy, he did something anti-gay and millions of dollars flooded into his opponent.” Don’t forget that OTHER homophobes are watching this election.
Brian NYC
@Cam: Yeah, then fund the opponent. Anger-based advertisements from the LGBT Community are not helpful. They’re just baiting the other side. Gill’s money would be better spent on assisting a potential winner. The “Monster” doesn’t have a chance and everyone knows that.
Cam
No. 20 · Brian NYC
@Cam: Yeah, then fund the opponent. Anger-based advertisements from the LGBT Community are not helpful. They’re just baiting the other side. Gill’s money would be better spent on assisting a potential winner. The “Monster” doesn’t have a chance and everyone knows that.
____________________
You’re acting like it’s an either/or situation. The Gill fund supports many gay and gay friendly candidates nationwide from what I’ve read. I don’t see any problem with scaring the anti-gay politicians by letting them know that money will be poured in to defeat them if they take us on.
Brian NYC
@Cam: Because it just fires up the opposition. If we have someone to support, do it. But, slapping the “Monster” can only HELP him.
Cam
No. 22 · Brian NYC
@Cam: Because it just fires up the opposition. If we have someone to support, do it. But, slapping the “Monster” can only HELP him.
_____________________
Possibly, or it shows them that they can say whatever they want with no consequences. The gay community in NY, already targeted a few of the state senators that voted against marriage and some have said they aren’t running for reelection. The same thing happened in MA. We can agree to dissagree, I think that a HUGE problem the White House and the Dems have been having is that they are so terrified of upsetting anybody that they won’t move on anything. I think this is similar. Nobody is saying that we should be sending out fliers saying “This guy is an asshole” but there is nothing wrong with sending out fliers ont he guy saying “He misused govt. funds, he bankrupted his district etc…” Just the fact that being harshly anti-gay gets him a well funded opposition campaign like that can be a deterent in my opinion.
Brian NYC
@Cam: Cool. I would just note that before this Campaign he had no chance of winning. We’ll have to see what happens.
killerwhalesKILL!!!
Its funny cause I hear and understand the complaints against HRC here all the time yet when I watch TV and mainstream media, HRC is covered and given such a credibility. They’re like the only go to for the gay answer by the media, which is unfortunate. Also that coverage always includes mucho celebrity treatment, which is distasteful, disingenuous, and so fucking beside the piont.
Cam
No. 25 · killerwhalesKILL!!! said…
Its funny cause I hear and understand the complaints against HRC here all the time yet when I watch TV and mainstream media, HRC is covered and given such a credibility. They’re like the only go to for the gay answer by the media, which is unfortunate. Also that coverage always includes mucho celebrity treatment, which is distasteful, disingenuous, and so fucking beside the piont.
________________
It’s sort of like how the media will focus on one or two black people, Hispanic people, Asian people etc… and anytime there is ANYTHING related to race they will bring out the same exact person as if they spoke for the entire community. While HRC has not done much to further our rights, what they have done is convinced the media and straight people who want to help gays tha they are the spokespeople for the community.
Steve
@Brian NYC asked: “WHO is the alternative? Dump this guy, but who are we supporting to take his seat?”
Assemblyman Jose Peralta (D-Jackson Heights), has the endorsement of the Democratic Party and numerous politicians and community leaders, including Danny Dromm.
Brian NYC
@Steve: Thanks. I’m donating to him. I think the angry-ads are stupid and only make us look bad/desperate.
Lukas P.
If Tim Gill’s strategy were just a one-hit punch, we could say it’s only a symbolic gesture, maybe. But as part of a targeted campaign nationwide, it’s a departure from HRC’s “let’s play nice” methodology, which IMO is ineffective, outdated and a waste of money. HRC and its Gay Inc. brethren don’t have *any* politicians running scared. There’s been precious little accountability demanded for: the gays write the checks, the HRC sends out press releases, and the politicians do whatever they want with no consequences. No one has to lose sleep over losing votes or contributions.
Tim Gill at least has a plan, a track record, and the human/financial resources behind him to hold the politicos’ feet to the fire. He’s focused on results, not sweet talk and galas.
A now confused John from England(used to be just John but there are other John's)
@Brian NYC:
He has no chance of winning? Really? With the Hispanic community in his pocket? Despite the fact that he slashed a womans face AGES ago, he was still there and had support?
Why or why are you assuming everyone on this earth thinks and acts like you?
How much more evidence do you need to see?
Brian NYC
@A now confused John from England(used to be just John but there are other John’s): Confused John. I said it was better to support the challenger, than to grandstand by attacking the Monster. Let him destroy himself.
Most people in NY don’t think he has a chance. Thanks for telling us what people in England think, Tim.
A now confused John from England(used to be just John but there are other John's)
@Brian NYC:
Yeah because NY is at the end of the world and we in the UK have no dealings with people in the US. Come to think of it, I don’t think we have any Brits working in NY do we? Gawker head honcho…Tina Brown..Anna Wintour…etc etc..
Oh and practically so many of my friends…relatives and actually my sister who lived there for 8 years after grad school…
Uhuh.
End of the world stuff.
Please, the way you guys dealt with Scott Brown made it all the way to even the most Brit Liberal political site-though again we don’t behave like you and have sooo many US posters-so you don’t think the fact that the most liberal and Brit friendly city in the US voted against gay marriage being a big deal with us Liberals in the UK?
Keep deluding yourself. I guess globalisation sucks huh?
Brian NYC
@A now confused John from England(used to be just John but there are other John’s):
Based on your comment, I am convinced it is easier to get drugs in England, than here in NYC. Good for you, John.
DEREK WASHINGTON
@DUMBASSINENGLAND: Oh Bother.