Petrelis Files

Media Transparency at Prop 8 Summit?

Since the November election, I've been in touch with Patrick Range McDonald, a gay reporter with the LA Weekly, regarding a subject of mutual concern: Transparency and the No on Prop 8 leaders. More like lack of transparency. We both were very frustrated with the dark, clandestine operations of the No campaign, particularly the Executive Committee that made most of the important decisions during the race.

Unable to locate the names of the committee members, I joked with Patrick that it was easier to locate the names of everyone on the Chinese politburo than a full list of the No committee. Click here to read the politburo's membership roster. Go here to see that the comparable EQCA info is not public.

After complaining that the names of the EQCA committee organizing the January 24 summit in Los Angeles weren't publicly available, showing few if any lessons learned by the EQCA folks, Patrick shared his thoughts with me:

Anne Marks from EQCA got back to me earlier today and said the media would be allowed to go to the "summit" on Jan. 24 in LA, but only for the first part. The "strategy" part of the summit would be closed to the media. I wrote back saying I didn't think that was acceptable.

Yeah, the lack of transparency by the A-gay crowd is startling, especially when you consider they're spending other people's money and their fighting battles that involve the lives of millions of gays and lesbians ... and for generations to come.

The lack of transparency has also gotten us into the trouble we're in right now--no one could critique what "No on 8" leaders were doing because no one knew what they're doing. I think before anyone contributes any more money to non-profits like Equality California, he or she should demand complete transparency, which would also foster more activism within the gay community. I mean, why would anyone want to get involved in the gay rights movement if he doesn't know what's really happening?

Right now, by not providing specifics and by keeping things secret and people in the dark, gay leaders look as if they're only interested in maintaining control and power and nothing else.

The summit is clearly not getting off on the right transparent footing it should be fully embracing. That is, if EQCA and the A-gays had truly learned some hard lessons about the grievous backroom dealing and mistakes they made leading to the passage of Prop 8.

But it's surely not too late at all for EQCA to make public the names of the summit's organizing committee, share the minutes and agendas of their conference calls, explain why the people on the committee were chosen to make decisions, and fully commit to unfettered access for reporters and bloggers to all parts of the summit next month.

Hey EQCA leaders - Let the sunshine in!