Monday, December 23, 2013

Utah Legalizes Gay Marriage, Evan Wolfson Vacationing in Asia

Here's something you can take to the bank. Handsomely compensated Gay Inc executive directors let nothing stop their two week vacations over the December holiday season. They're like members of the U.S. Congress, what with their assistants and staffs to do the heavy-lifting at their organizations and getting out of town for rest-and-relaxation. Here are auto-replies I've received from a few directors in the past week:

Rea Carey of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:

I am out of the office for the holidays and will return to the office on Monday, January 6th. I wish you a wonderful end to 2013 and a Happy New Year!


Lorri Jean of the Los Angeles Lesbian and Gay Community Center:

I am out of the office for the holidays and have limited access to email. If you need immediate attention, please contact my assistant, Adriana Rosales, at 323-xxx-xxxx.

And the longest reply hails from Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry:

I'll be out of the office (and hemisphere) from Thursday, Dec. 19 - Jan. 5.  Internet permitting, I will check email, but expect to not have internet during some of the time, and will not be reachable at all by phone.  You may want to consider resending your email around Jan. 5.

In my absence, feel free to contact my assistant, April Domino or, if urgent, Freedom to Marry's national campaign director, Marc Solomon. And definitely please contact our development director, Juan Barajas, with questions about making a donation.

2013 was a momentous year for the freedom to marry, and we are already at work on our Roadmap to Victory plan to finish the job. Let's do it together!

Instead of making that donation to Freedom to Marry, consider buying flowers or wedding cake for some of the hundreds of gay and lesbian couples getting hitched in Mormon Country - the state of Utah. Not into the gay marriage fight and where to put your charity dollars? Give directly to homeless LGBT people on the streets or in the shelters, or queer friends struggling in these hard economic times.

Speaking of hell freezing over in Utah, my friend Chris Geidner posted this tweet that was news to me but not at all surprising:

This reminder needs to be made. The Marriage Equality Inc organizations were all opposed to the American Foundation for Equal Rights filing its legal challenge to Prop 8 in 2009, then tried to sign on to the historic case only to be told to take a hike by Chad Griffin.

When Evan returns from his vacation in Asia, I'm sure he'll have plenty to say about the Utah gay marriages and use the advances there to raise funds for his group. Some things never change.

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