HRC on Prop 8:
Solmonese = Idiot, Birch Kisses Rosie's Butt
Solmonese = Idiot, Birch Kisses Rosie's Butt
I needed a few laughs this morning, so I hopped on over to the Democratic Party's gay wing, alias the Human Rights Campaign, to see what the top idiot, Joe Solmonese, had to say about the Prop 8 loss. In an op-ed piece Solmonese lays out what we should do:
But even before we do the hard work of deconstructing this campaign and readying for the future, it’s clear to me that our continuing mandate is to show our neighbors who we are ...
Everything we’ve learned points to one simple fact: people who know us are more likely to support our equality.
In recent years, I’ve been delivering this positive message: tell your story. Share who you are. And in fact, as our families become more familiar, support for us increases ...
Wherever you are, tell a neighbor what the California Supreme Court so wisely affirmed: that you are equal, you are human, and that being denied equality harms you materially.
Now, after the election, the great and powerful wizard of HRC-land is giving advice that should have been promoted and heeded _before_ voters cast their ballots. And for this sagacity, Solmonese earns a quarter of million bucks. I gotta laugh at his idiocy, otherwise I'd cry nonstop.
To paraphrase Solmonese, wherever you are, tell yourself and a neighbor you won't tolerate any additional closeted campaigns against gay-related propositions or lousy gay leadership with more commitment to the Democrats than gay liberation.
For more laughs, check out this butt-kissing letter former HRC leader Elizabeth Birch posted to GoodAsYou.org earlier this week, in response to growing criticism from average gays about superstar Rosie O'Donnell's lack of support for defeating Prop 8. Birch has her tongue so far up attention-starved Rosie's butt she can lick her teeth.
Displaying a strong case of Cleopatra's Syndrome, Birch exhibits remarkable denialism about her ex-boss when she claims Rosie "hates drawing attention to herself."
Frankly, we have more to fear from friends such as Birch and Solmonese than from the Mormon church.
Here is the full text of Birch's letter, emphases mine:
Dear All,
I worked for Rosie O'Donnell for a period of time and want to encourage everyone to back off. No one is going to be able to determine why Rosie makes the decisions that she makes when she makes them. It is deeply personal process for her and often makes sense to no one but her.
But I think it is so important to give credit where it is due. Rosie has never been a gay person who primarily focuses on gay issues. Of course, she wants justice for LGBT people. But her daily heart is with kids in need. And frankly her contribution to helping kids who need help has been profound. Rosie founded The For All Kids Foundation when she was not wealthy and pumped about $60M into that foundation. She has helped build dozens of day care centers in low income areas all over the United States. That is the mission of the For All Kids Foundation. It is a public charity with a board and that is what it does. In addition, Rosie lead the charge in the post Katrina period not by words, or celebrity visits ---- but by dedicating $3,000,000 to respond to custom needs in the shelters in the early aftermath of that disaster. She bought washers, dryers and portable showers and endless amounts of clothes for the shelters. She made sure that kids were given light and life by providing some distractions in the form of Kids Days. She financed completely the first ever Children's Plaza and Family Center (a first for FEMA to allow) --- and this huge, colorful village has provided early head start, head start, day care, after school programs, job training, counseling and every possible social service at the largest trailer site. It also features computer labs and gathering space, and space for dances, movies, parties and events. In addition, Rosie has been the source of resources for almost every holiday for that trailer park since Katrina. It also features three elaborate playgrounds (all age appropriate) and a "spray ground" build for those hot Baton Rouge days. Most of the materials can be dismantled and repurposed for local facilities. The site was built in record time for something of its size. Rosie's name does not appear in the name of colorful village.
She hates drawing attention to herself --- she feels good works should be done quietly and let the magic kick in.
She also founded Rosie's Broadway Kids, a program to teach strength, leadership, life skills to low income kids in Manhattan through the guise of musical theater. School in the lower income areas in NYC get the program in school starting in grade five. Those who show leadership potential and a keen interest are invited back for an after school program and then a summer institute. Rosie is completing a building in NYC dedicated to this program which features two studios, a music studio and solo rooms, in addition to a study cafe and many other components. The building was an extremely difficult undertaking because she rehabilitated a building in the Broadway District.
Also while on the View she spoke seamlessly about her family life and I don't think we have ever seen anything quite like it on mainstream television.
Rosie has probably given away more money for her age than any celebrity I can name. And, she started this process early into her TV career when success was not necessarily assured.
Prop 8 is extremely important. It is one major milestone on a long road that many of us have been trudging for 40 years. It is one more extremely important battle. What will convince California swing voters is the voices and passion of their neighbors, not the voices of celebrities. I did not know Rosie when she went to California with Kelly. But I might have humbly suggested they skip SF City Hall. It is the everyday gay couple in Fresno,Modesta, Eureka and Santa Cruz that are going to carry the day.
I suggest we appreciate Rosie for the monumental investment she has made in truly giving poor kids and their families support and a little dignity, including in California. Having a prominent gay person do that is a powerful message. It is a message that Rosie does not allow out much, but it is powerful. I also respectfully suggest that we should all drop this and get back out in the streets for Obama and Prop 8 where we belong.
Elizabeth Birch
Washington DC
Obviously, our "gay leadership" needs to take responsibility for the failure of the No on 8 campaign. The proof is in the pudding; we LOST. And while we can blame the Mormon Church, the Catholic Church, and Evangelicals, and stupid/gullible citizens easily swayed by them, we also need to have our Gay leaders take responsibility for a campaign that failed. Until they can bravely assess and evaluate "what went wrong", they will be vulnerable and doomed to repeat the same mistakes in the future. They can't be defensive; they have to take responsibility for their failures and deliberately change course, so that next time, we will NOT fail. Covering Rosie's ass, making excuses, and being defensive does NOTHING to help our campaign. And we need to hold our Gay leaders accountable for not just "trying", but for being "effective". In the end, that's all that matters. If we pay them a lot of money and they still fail, FIRE THEM! That's the job -- be effective -- or lose the job. That's American business!
ReplyDeleteLet me help you evaluate "what went wrong."
ReplyDeleteThe voters of CA rejected gay marriage by 62%.
Our courts foisted it on us by a 4-3 margin, ignoring our deliberate, well thought out, and considered votes.
Immediately going for all the gusto, we saw gay marriage being pushed in the public schools, through textbooks, teachable moments, and such things as trips to lesbian teacher's weddings for kindergartners.
We heard in the news from other states about Catholic charities having to stop adoption services due to being unwilling to place kids with gay families, wedding photographers sued (and losing) for being unwilling to photograph gay weddings, and churches getting hassled for not loaning out their sanctuaries for gay weddings.
Then, Jerry Brown goofed around with the constitutional amendment we managed to get on the ballot, deliberately confusing the issue.
Then, we voted again.
We'd appreciate our vote being respected this time. When the courts forced gay marriage upon us, we didn't go marching in the streets.
What hasn't been explained to me is how gays are being "discriminated" against. They have the same rights and restrictions under the law as straights - I'm straight and I can't marry a man, either, so.... what am I missing? The law is the law and in this case it applies to all citizens equally. Funny how that works.
ReplyDeleteI support your efforts, but - as has been noted - they voted, and you lost.
ReplyDeleteHow you go about trying to achieve something matters for many, just as much as the actual issue itself. This is because those methods are either in question themselves or affect other causes. Quite a few people who really don't care either way voted against you simply because the court end-runs pissed them off.
You and the evangelicals/fundamentalists both have the same problem - you need to spend more time simply being a positive example, rather than trying to piss off the other side.
Start with what Marie said. Add in the repeatedly reported acts of hate and vandalism associated with the No on 8 campaign (hint - start with the two incidents in San Jose).
ReplyDeleteNow, here's something else to ask yourself. If the LGBT community wants everyone else's support for their (implicit) right, is the LGBT community willing to stand up and fight for everyone else's _ex_plicit rights? Fighting such 1st and 2nd amendment foolishness as the "fairness" doctrine, and gun control initiatives? I use those as examples, btw, because they probably stick in your craw as much as gay marriage does in, say, the Catholic church's - who y'all want to force to accept your marriage right.
It becomes something of a question of equity. Is the LGBT community willing to support the civil rights of others, even if they find them distasteful (and note, we're talking constitutionally-delineated civil rights here)? Because if you, collectively, aren't, then asking the exact same thing for an implied right...well, it makes those of us in the middle kinda wonder why we're supporting you, if you won't support us, y'know?
Gays don't get it. The people have voted and marriage is for a man and a woman. What the gays need to do is stop hating everyone who doesn't agree with them. Get over it.
ReplyDeleteTo Maria and her anonymous friends; If you examine history, most of the progressive moves forward have been the result of Court rulings which expanded on precedent interpretations of the Constitution. If we had waited for a vote on say, integrating the schools we'd probably still have segregation by law in some parts of the country. All the State Supreme Court said was that the law restricting marriage to heterosexual couples damages homosexuals who also want to marry the partner of their choice and was unfair under the state constitution. That resulted in thousands of people who were previously denied marriage rights availing themselves of those rights.
ReplyDeleteIt also resulted in a focused effort by you folks to strip those pople of those rights as quickly as you could. With the aid of millions of dollars and an ad campaign which relied on lies, distortions, and half-truths, you managed to convince California voters to strip their neighbors of their full human rights. Had you actually told the truth about same-sex marriage, you would have lost.
But the bottom line is this: You have every right to believe what you believe. And you have every right to teach your children what you believe to be right and wrong. What you do not have the right to do is to force your own moral code on me, anymore than I have the right to force you to engage in homosexual activity.
If you really object to same-sex marriage, then don't marry a member of the same sex. Easy.
What you folks really want is the right to not be offended by anyone different, to have a government and a society which constantly reinforces your own ideas regarding morality and God to the exclusion of all others, and to send a message to people like me that at the very least, we are not as important, or as deserving as you are, hence, we should never expect to enjoy the same rights and freedoms that you do. And because you know these are not American goals, you use yours and others' children as smoke screens because you know that when it comes to threats real or otherwise against their children, every parent (including gay parents, whose marriages you may have now crippled legally) will shoot first and ask questions later.
What you have done has succeeded, for a few months or maybe even a few years, but we all know that same-sex marriage is inevitable as humanity evolves. So, continue to dump your millions and all your time into this effort for as long as you like, I'm happy to see you waste your money and energy.
Peter McQuaid