Larry Kramer: What I Think of HRC & Prop 8
Just when I thought my pal Larry was being a little too quiet, maybe even mellow, for the times we are witnessing, I received this reply from him, in response to my recent post on the Human Rights Campaign's upcoming SF event at our local Bloomingdales:
Michael writes: "What exactly would be lost in our struggle for equal treatment and a bit of respect from voters, if this worthless-for-decades Democratic Party front group were to close up shop?"
i have been saying things like this and writing things like this, about HRC, (then HRCF) since the beginning of hiv in 1981 when i discovered-- really fast! -- how useless they were in our fights against this plague.
who gives a flying fuck what this still useless organization says at its hastily summoned emergency meetings, all camouflage to make the world think they are doing something.
THEY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DO ANYTHING.
it is just a big bunch of stupid people running a big machine that sucks money from uneducated naive donors and then throws it away. every time i see the letters HRC i want to puke. they could be so wonderful and they are such a waste.
god help the gay population because HRC won't. if they disappeared tomorrow we would be better off. we might even have won against proposition 8.
larry kramer
Hey Larry, nice to see you've not lost your way of tossing much-needed piss and vinegar at those who need a good splashing with such liquids.
[Photo credit: Rex Wockner.]
3 comments:
Thanks for the great post.
After reading this I sent an email to my partner and our two closest friends. We definitely need a change in direction to move the ball forward. What say ye?!
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Larry Kramer gets it right!
http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com/2008/11/larry-kramer-what-i-think-of-hrc-prop-8.html
My thinking after looking at how prop 8 was waged is that we would have been better off WITHOUT the HRC and corporate gays running the campaign. Imagine seeing actual GAY PEOPLE in the tv commercials talking about their lives and why prop8 mattered to them. Image the impact of hearing from a 50 year couple on tuesday, a 40 year couple on wednesday, a 25 year couple on Thursday and a young 5 year couple on Friday would have done to set the tone of the campaign. The voting populace need to look us in the eye and hear our stories of commitment, love and why civil marriage matters. Feature a different couple every day for *60* days leading up to the vote (I volunteer my husband and me!). Air the commercials on the same channels at the same time of day and then post them on Youtube for good measure. It would become the *can't miss cultural event of the year*.
Instead we got a coporate-tized "do the right thing because discrimination is sometimes bad and we're asking you really, really politely" campaign that the Mormons would have paid us to wage. CA residents need to see real GAY PEOPLE and THEIR CHILDREN to create impact and hear why DPs are junk in comparison to the legal rights and responsibilities provided by civil marraige.
Out, proud and in your face in a respectfull sorta way is our new mantra!!
HRC DID NOT RUN the No on 8 campaign.
But it did give the coalition who did, $3.4 million. The locals in CA ran it as they saw fit and they blew it.
Better we be upset with IRS who allows the churches to tell their flocks to vote 'yes on 8' in an attempt to change a state's constitution. That violates the law.
OMG! I bet that the really smart people who posted their comments here have volunteered a total of maybe 5hrs. The same for the person who wrote the article.
NO ON 8 was run by Equality for All. And yes, HRC was part of the campaign insofar as they donated a shit ton of money and lots of staff. They were not involved in making the TV ads. Of course that is left to companies that specialize in TV ads. (Oh, hang on, someone who doesn't know what the hell they're talking about can't know that). The question whether the ads were good is a different one.
Calling Equality California an HRC affiliated is quite intriguing, since they are completely independent organizations. Yes, they may work in coalition at times, but affiliated??? They have two different boards, different structure, different everything. Blaming HRC for the NO ON 8 campaign can only be the result of ignorance or misinformation. Even though I do not agree with the EQCA bashing that's been going on, I'd rather understand criticism of EQCA than of HRC when it comes to this. It'd be really great if the community members above were to refrain from voicing their opinions until properly informed and involved to understand the complexity of the movement.
The only thing that was fucked up by HRC was ENDA a couple of years ago, since that version of the bill ignored the transgender community.
Here is what you all need to do: Get up, volunteer and help the movement. NO, a f*ing yard sign or attending a march does NOT count as helping. Your voice in this fight comes from what you do in this fight.
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