Petrelis Files

Staffers Resign From IGLHRC Over Iran? Ettelbrick Funds Democratic Party

If you've been following the months-long controversy in the gay political movement since Iran hanged two gay teenagers, you may have noticed that the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, which should be at the forefront of leading opposition to the executions and Iran's abuses of gays, has been conspicuously missing.

IGLHRC's executive director, Paula Ettelbrick, has devoted all of her energy on Iran questioning why activists such as myself have been organizing street actions and blogging about the abuses or she has ranted about her hatred of President Bush and his foreign policies, instead of harnessing the interest and attention of gays and others concerned about the killings.

I have no issue with Ettelbrick bashing Bush and his war on Iraq and saber-rattling against Iran as I'm no fan of the president either, but at the same time she has not lifted a finger to lobby the State Department to use its powers to monitor the situation in Iran because she's too busy lecturing the community on foreign matters.

As someone who has put pressure on the State Department, with no illusions that it would speak out against the public hangings and other violations of gay human rights in Iran, I felt it crucial to at least attempt to use the department on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Iran.

Would have been great if Ettelbrick and her group either joined in this effort of mine, or any of the others of dozens of petitions, campaigns and open letters about Iranian gays, but it seems as though intellectual masturbation takes precedence over actually helping gays around the globe for her and IGHLRC.

It may interest you to know that Ettelbrick, in her capacity as executive director, according to Federal Election Commission records, in September 2004 donated $250 to the Democratic National Committee.

This contribution of hers sheds some light on her personal political beliefs, which clearly are partisan and she's more than entitled to those Democratic Party convictions, but it comes at a heavy price for gays and lesbians abroad and the work IGLHRC is supposed to be doing on their behalf.

I bring this up because I received the following message from justice_for_iran_now_2005@hotmail.com , that wasn't signed, so I can't vouch for the veracity of the claims, but, if true and the resignations are reality, then I ask the former IGLHRC staffers to speak up about why they left. On the other hand, if this message is bogus, the question still remains why Ettelbrick and her group have not joined the _international_ movement marching for justice on behalf of Iran's gay community?

Here's the message:

"Almost half the staff of I.G.L.H.R.C. has just resigned to protest this kind
of leadership that Paula Ettelbrick provides. You should ask them what is
going on there! I hope that everyone will rise up to demand that this
organization stand up for justice. It is time that such so-called human
rights "activists" stopped explaining their inaction. And began pushing for
an end to religious rule and killings and torture of gays in Iran."

The bottom line on Ettelbrick: Democratic Party politics come first; mobilizing for queers, second.