Petrelis Files

HRC's Daughter Chelsea to Close HRC's Vegas Confab in February

(Courtesy photo.)

Make no mistake and bear these truths in mind for the next couple of years. The Human Rights Campaign is completely in Hillary Rodham Clinton's pocket and every decision the group makes is with this calculation: how will we our work assist her in winning the White House in 2016. Oh, and Hillary is running to be president.

In February, HRC will hold a conference titled "Time to Thrive" with a focus on the mental health needs of LGBT young persons from Feb. 14 through 16 and the closing plenary speaker is Chelsea Clinton. 

Sure, she's an ally of the gay community but so is Meghan McCain and well, she's a Republican and her mother is not Hillary so it would be an extraordinary development if HRC were to put aside it's status as the LGBT wing of the Democratic National Committee and focus on gay youth issues without a partisan prism.

Chelsea's appearance at this conference will surely attract mainstream and gay media and blogger attention, with much speculation on her mother's campaign for the Oval Office. After looking at the list of other bold-face names of staunch Democratic Party supporters, I can't help but think of this conference as an attempt to rally the gay youth troops for the 2016 presidential election. 

Speaking of 2016, did you know that Nevada's tentative date for its nonbinding Democratic caucuses is on January 16 that year, making it an early and very important state on the road to the White House? How convenient the "Time to Thrive" event is happening there next month, perhaps as a test run of marshaling forces early in the year in case HRC, the candidate, has an Democratic opponent or two to face in Nevada two years hence.

HRC president Chad Griffin's career and life are intertwined with Bill and Hillary Clinton's in a few ways, starting with the fact that he was born in Hope, Arkansas, volunteered for his presidential campaign and worked in the Clinton administration when he was nineteen. It will be a cold day in hell if he and his organization don't back Clinton for president whens she officially tosses her hat into the ring.

This photo was taken at an Elton John AIDS Foundation event on July 23, 2012, in Washington, DC, by Michael Kovac of Getty Images. Clinton flanked by Chad on the right and his life-mate Jerome Fallon on the left.