Petrelis Files

GLAAD's Soiree at Brooks Brothers;
No Community Town Halls

The extreme lack of democratic engagement on the part of Gay Inc continues, at a time when one increasingly irrelevant org has plenty of staffers, board members and resources to put on useless award shows and other galas, and now, a reception at a fancy clothing shop.

While the leader of the free world, Barack Obama, held another forum in a regular series of town halls last week in which audience members questioned him directly on gay issues, and our Secretary of State conducted her latest Q&A session with reporters and civic leaders in Kosovo, and a gay matter was raised, I must again wonder why so few gay voices demand that our professional advocacy orgs follow the examples set by Obama and Hillary Clinton.

If those two American leaders can put on regular town halls, HRC and GLAAD and NGLTF and Equality California and GETEQUAL and every other Gay Inc org should be able to do the same, pronto.

This news nugget about how GLAAD is able to arrange a shopping and cocktail event in San Francisco, is just more elitism. The nugget comes via the SF Bay Times and its writer Dennis McMillian. Lemme state that I basically like the paper, its publisher Kim Corsaro, and Dennis, and really look forward to whatever Ann Rostow has to say in her columns, but the story with the nugget is just a barely recycled press release from GLAAD. That is terribly disappointing and Bay Times and Dennis would be serve the community if they didn't server as stenographers for GLAAD or any other Gay Inc entity.

From the Bay Times:

GLAAD held a cocktail party in Brooks Brothers clothiers on Sept. 29 with Juan Barajas, senior director of San Francisco, giving the latest information on the Alliance’s progress. Brooks Brothers’ manager, George Longoria, made the evening possible, with any purchase giving 10% to GLAAD.