Musto on gay GOP self-loathing

Michael Musto:

Just when you assumed gay self-loathing had been deposited in the dead-chicken bins, along comes a new wave of self-flagellation aimed to throw us under the hate truck. At a time when gays have made significant progress and other people are fully available to do all the hating, some gays crazily want to join in!

I'm talking about the wave of gay Republicans who grovel before the enemy, making lavish excuses for politically repellent candidates—you know, the Romney/Ryan ticket—who would gladly turn us into a subordinate class without any semblance of full equality. There's no one more self-loathing than the oxymoronic "grubs" (gay Repubs) who rally to the defense of power-crazed bigots, spinning them as champions of decency and fairness who happen to be grossly misunderstood. No, wait, that's nothing new. For 30 years, there have been Log Cabin Republicans, though they at least try to work within the system to change the party's attitudes and have managed some good deeds here and there. But the pip-squeaks over at the more conservative group GOProud—who spun off from the Log Cabins—have only been organized since 2009, so their pigheaded attempts to sell us down the river still have a rank newness.

This is the organization that decided Paul Ryan was "a bold and inspired pick," a guy who can lead us back on "the road to fiscal solvency." (Oh, good! He can get us out of the mess set up by the last Republican administration.) They also cite his vote in favor of ENDA five years ago (though right before that, he'd joined a movement to kill it), as well as a couple of other gestures, completely leaving out his votes against hate crime protection and same-sex adoption and in favor of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and Defense of Marriage. This intently selective representation of someone who could shatter lives is like a paint-by-numbers portrait that leaves out the swastika. "Paul Ryan opposes discrimination against gay Americans," lied GOProud, shamelessly. And James Holmes is a patron of the arts!

Read the rest of this post...

AP profiles new HRC head Chad Griffin

It's nice to like (dare I say, be proud of) our leaders again. Read the rest of this post...

Meghan McCain slams GOProud

Granted, GOProud is the Ann Coulter of gay groups - trying to stay relevant through outrage. But they are getting press, so it's important to expose what they really are. From Mike Signorile:

"I am a Log Cabin Republican member,” she said. “As far as I’m concerned, GOProud is a rogue group that has publicly said very nasty things about me, very nasty things. And they're the type of gay Republicans that I think exacerbate the stereotype. Ann Coulter is who they had speak at one of their conventions and was touted as some kind of icon, a woman who uses gay slurs on televsion. In gay Republican circles, GOProud are not respected. They do not like me and I do not like them."

Read the rest of this post...

GLAAD is back and kicking ass

Karen Ocamb on GLAAD's new executive director Herndon Graddick.

Graddick noted how important it is to tell LGBT stories. “Because of the media, because of Hollywood, because of the people in this room, because of the difference all of you make,” he said, “we’re changing America, bit by bit, story by story. And because kids can see Glee and Modern Family and hundreds of frankly positive stories on the news, they’re not like me. They know there’s another alternative. And for once in America, there’s optimism. I’ve been doing this job for two years at GLAAD, and what I feel for the first time—really, for the first time in my life—is wind at our back. The tide is changing. America is sick and tired of gay people being treated like a punching bag, and so are we.

“And so the new GLAAD is going on the offensive—not just sitting back and waiting for somebody to say something negative about us, but really fighting back, because we’ve got America on our side,” he said. “People know that it’s not OK to fire somebody for being gay or transgender. Hard-working people should have the opportunity to support themselves. And before the laws can be changed—because, frankly, in the majority of states it’s OK to put on the dismissal paper that ‘He’s gay. We’re getting rid of him.’ And that’s completely legal. Most people don’t know that. Our campaign about Ellen [DeGeneres as JC Penney spokesperson] was supporting Ellen, but it was also pointing out to the rest of America that our laws are antiquated and they’re out of step with how people feel about America.”

Under Graddick’s leadership, it appears that the ‘new’ GLAAD is back to its original watchdog mission of taking names, kicking ass and reclaiming family values for LGBT people.

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New era dawns at HRC

Chris Johnson of the Blade looks at Chad Griffin's incoming tenure as the president of HRC.

The challenge for Chad is that organizations don't always like upstarts, i.e., people who try to tell them to do things differently than they've always done.  There's a reason large organizations are usually not as nimble and edgy, as I said in the article, as smaller organizations and individuals - they're built to be carefully-considered slow-moving juggernauts, what with the never-ending concerns about what the various donors and board members think.

And while slow and careful can be thoughtful, in politics it also can mean missed opportunity and appeasement.   The thing is, as much as I've criticized HRC, and other progressive groups in town, I'm at the age where I'm just not sure they can be any better than they are.  Large non-profits are built for inaction.  And it can be difficult for someone new to come in and try to steer the ship in a new direction.  I hope it's not impossible.  Keep an eye on Chad, and hope. Read the rest of this post...

I like what I'm hearing from GLAAD's new leader

From GLAAD's new president, Herndon Graddick:

Later, during his remarks to the crowd of more than 1,200 at the Westin Bonaventure hotel, Graddick said he had never met another gay person until he was 19 and that it wasn't until leaving Alabama for California that he learned that 'everything I had been taught was essentially bullshit.'

'I got pissed,' he said. 'Kids across the country are making themselves miserable and frankly, leading themselves to the brink of suicide because of the bullshit they learned from a bigoted society. And it's the role of GLAAD to fix that.'

'The new GLAAD is going on the offensive and not just sitting back and waiting for somebody to say something negative about us but really fighting back,' he added. 'I'm grateful to have this opportunity and this job because I think, for once, we can really change the way that LGBT people live their lives across the country. ... We're making a difference.'

He's also not afraid to let his language get a little salty.

When introducing Jennifer Tyrell, the Ohio woman ousted as den leader of her son's scout troop because she is a lesbian, Haddick said the situation is 'complete bulshit and it's time we call them on it.'

'You know what? It's 2012. We're sick of this shit and GLAAD is going to do something about it.'

It's been a longtime since we're heard the leader of a mainstream gay group talk like an activist, and it's about time. As a lot of us learned years ago, being an activist and being politically savvy - and effective - are not mutually exclusive, at least not necessarily.  GLAAD, and our other nation groups, have always had the ability to blend political savvy with good street fighting instincts, but they rarely have.  Perhaps now they will. Read the rest of this post...

GLAAD gets new ED, it's like our own Arab Spring

I've met with Herndon a few times, and I like him.  Just think, two lead gay rights groups with new EDs we actually like. It's like our own Arab Spring.  From GLAAD:

The National Board of Directors of GLAAD, the nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy and anti-defamation organization, today elected the organization’s new president Herndon Graddick, following a nationwide search.

For more information visit http://glaad.org/meetherndon

Sheri Fults, National Co-Chair of the Board of Directors, said in a statement: “Herndon Graddick is already a well-respected leader within the LGBT movement, and we believe will be a visionary and strategic leader for GLAAD’s culture-changing work.”

Search Committee Co-Chair, David Hedley, commented, on behalf of GLAAD’s National Board of Directors: “We want to first thank the volunteer Search Committee for their selfless service, and all the prospective presidential candidates for their interest and the investment each made in considering being of service to GLAAD.” Executive Search Recruiter Scott Miller volunteered his firm’s services pro bono to GLAAD to facilitate the search process.

“Right now GLAAD and our partners in the LGBT movement are making a significant difference at a time when a difference needs to be made,” said Herndon Graddick. “I look forward to working with our dedicated staff to create a culture where there is a welcoming and respected space for LGBT Americans. GLAAD’s work with the media to inspire Americans to speak out against anti-LGBT actions and support equality is needed today more than ever.”

Herndon Graddick is the current Vice President of Programs and Communications at GLAAD, a position he assumed in 2010. In his role, Graddick has lead GLAAD's media initiatives and oversees the organization's National & Local News; Entertainment; People of Color; Religion, Faith & Values; Advertising; and Spanish-Language Media programs. Under his leadership, GLAAD has engaged in numerous highly visible and impactful campaigns including ‘Stand Up For Ellen,’ which prompted the group One Million Moms – a project of the American Family Association – to end their call for J.C. Penney to fire Ellen DeGeneres as its new spokesperson because she is gay. Graddick also oversaw GLAAD’s work on the Commentator Accountability Project – an initiative launched in March to highlight the extreme rhetoric of anti-LGBT activists who currently appear in national news outlets. He is leading efforts with the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) on the “I AM: Trans People Speak” video series as well as with film director Brett Ratner to develop a series of videos with GLAAD featuring high-profile celebrities and public figures speaking out for LGBT equality. Graddick has also put resources behind GLAAD’s work to share stories of LGBT people of color and allies with African American media, sports media, and Spanish-language news outlets, among others.

Prior to his work at GLAAD, Graddick served as the Executive Producer of the Global Observatory, a media and communications effort which aimed to bring public awareness to the climate change crisis. He also served as Supervising Producer at E! Networks and the day-of-air news division director at CURRENT TV, the youth-oriented news and entertainment network created by former Vice President Al Gore. As a producer at CNN, Graddick also contributed to the creation of daily primetime programming such as "Paula Zahn Now," "Anderson Cooper 360," and "Live from the Headlines."

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HRC names Chad Griffin as new President

A somewhat surprising choice. Chad Griffin, President of the Board of the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), the organization behind the Prop 8 lawsuit, isn't from the inside-the-beltway gay groupthink crowd.

NOTE FROM JOHN: I never expected to say this about the next HRC President, but I'm thrilled that it's Chad. In addition to Chad's record at AFER, Joe and I got to spend some time with him last year and he's quite impressive.  He's smart as hell, excellent on camera (how many national leaders do we have that are?), has a serious grasp on politics (something HRC, and we, need), and being young(ish) he's hopefully more open to working with the gay Netroots than his predecessor.  I'm really quite surprised that they picked Chad, and that Chad picked HRC.

I suspect we'll hear some concerns about Chad not being a very "diverse" candidate. And while in some quarters of the community it's become a cliché to hate on gay white males, it is a valid goal to seek diversity among our leaders (I for one think it would have been interesting, and politically useful, had HRC picked someone who's black).  The question remains: Is Chad the best choice for the job of the candidates available?  And it's hard not to respond with a hearty "hell yeah."

A gay political friend, who is no friend of HRC, put it best in an email to me: "I think I might start to care about HRC again."

Andrew Harmon has the scoop:

Chad Griffin, the Los Angeles-based political consultant whose central role in the Proposition 8 lawsuit turned him into a national LGBT rights figure, has been named president of the Human Rights Campaign.

A major fundraiser for the Obama campaign who began his career in the early days of the Clinton White House, Griffin will replace current president Joe Solmonese at the helm of the $40 million organization on June 11, HRC announced Friday following a board of directors vote. Solmonese, who joined HRC as president in 2005 and said in August that he would leave after his contract expires at the end of this month, will continue in his role until June. Solmonese was named a national co-chair for the Obama campaign last month.

In its pick of Griffin as president, HRC has chosen someone who was shaped from an early age by Washington political culture yet who is not defined by it, having spent the vast majority of his career outside the Beltway. Griffin, 38, is a fervent supporter of President Obama with personal ties to White House officials, but has pushed the bipartisan case for marriage equality, notably hiring former George W. Bush solicitor general Theodore Olson to co-lead the Prop. 8 suit and aligning with conservatives including gay former Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman, who has raised money for the legal effort. Griffin has been openly critical of the president’s evolving position on marriage equality, calling Obama’s indicated support for state’s rights on deciding who can marry “a step backwards.” And, central to the job, Griffin has a proven ability to be a formidable fundraiser.

Read the rest of this post...

HRC head Solmonese to join Obama campaign. Hmm...

A number of us had predicted this for a while.

While there is no inherent problem in taking a job with the Obama campaign - after all, who else is he going to support - there is an appearance of a conflict of interest when advocates have been complaining, for years, that the Human Rights Campaign seemed overly interested in currying favor with the Obama administration, not to achieve further gay rights advances, but rather to get some kind of mutually beneficial quid pro quo benefitting HRC at the expense of the gay community.

And now we see the head of HRC getting what appears to be payback.

It looks like what we chastise - excoriate and jail, actually - members of Congress for, when they appear to cast votes based on their next job instead of their current constituency.

I wasn't an "HRC hater" before the last couple of years, and I still don't hate them.  I do think the organization has lost its way, as lots of big non-profits do, under the pressure of a board and funders that prefer mediocrity and milquetoast to true advocacy (full-throated activism isn't terribly helpful at securing the "right" party invites).

Did HRC under Solmonese try to curry favor with the White House so that the President would speak at their dinners (i.e., help them fundraise) and, ultimately, offer Solmonese a cushy job in the campaign, and then the administration?  Well, it's certainly a concern a number of us have expressed publicly before, and now it seems to be playing out just as we feared.

Whether it's appearance or reality, this does not look good for HRC, or any of us.

PS A friend writes that this may be an honorary appointment rather than an actual "job."  I'm not sure that that's not a nuance without a difference.  It still appears to be a quid pro quo.  Bestowing status in exchange for past favors. Read the rest of this post...

Taibbi takes on HRC over Goldman honors

I'd already written about the fact that HRC is honoring Goldman Sachs at its New York dinner. I noted that while I do think it's significant for a big company like Goldman to publicly endorse equality, I also think the timing of the embrace is perhaps not the best.

Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone weighs in, and makes some valid points about coalition politics.  He also noted something else rather interesting:

Maybe I'm misreading something, but if I'm going to let Lloyd Blankfein run around town dressed in my own personal cloak of liberal do-gooderism, I want him paying top dollar for the privilege. So how is Goldman only listed as a Bronze Partner in the HRC list of corporate partners, when companies like American Airlines and Citi are Platinum Partners? Hell, HRC should've come away from this transaction owning all of Greece's debt and that entire Maiden Lane bond portfolio Goldman just bought from the Fed. Sigh... on the other hand, no one ever accused Lloyd of being a bad negotiator.

Read the rest of this post...

Occupy Wall Street to protest HRC

I get the desire to light a fire under HRC. And it does seem odd timing of HRC to honor Goldman Sachs now. Though I could do without the newest alphabet soup "Queer/LGBTIQA2Z." (Pretty soon the gay community is going to be everything but gay.)

OWS' main gripe with HRC seems to be:

"After 60 years of struggle, there is still not a single federal non-discrimination law protecting LGBT Americans from discrimination. More incredibly, HRC, the corporate entity that controls our strategy, is not even seeking equal protection for our community."

It's not entirely clear what that second sentence means (it's hard to seek anything legislative at the federal level with a GOP House - having said that, there still is a lot that could be done PR-wise for a lot of federal legislation like DOMA and ENDA).

I would say, more generally, that I'm not entirely sure what HRC's current goals are, besides helping the President get re-elected. Are they working on all the state marriage and DOMA battles coming up this year? Are they pushing for the President to come out for marriage equality, and/or issue an executive order on ENDA and federal contractors, before the election? It's anyone's guess. HRC, like far too many groups, needs to do a better telegraphing exactly what it is they do and are doing. Also, more generally, I've found that it never hurts for a national organization to have its own "moon misson," as it were - meaning, a grand lofty legislative (or otherwise) goal that might take a few years to achieve. What is HRC's? (And saying their goal is "full equality" isn't enough - I mean, literally, what is the next big thing on their agenda, to get ENDA passed in 2013, or what?)

QUEER OWS TO PROTEST HRC NYC GALA

QUEER OCCUPIERS DENOUNCE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FOR HONORING GOLDMAN SACHS & FAILING TO DEMAND FULL FEDERAL EQUALITY

New York, NY, February 1, 2012 - Queer/LGBTIQA2Z Occupy Wall Street, a caucus of the NYC based Occupy Wall Street movement, announced today that it will protest a Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Gala honoring Goldman Sachs on Saturday February 4, 2012 at the Waldorf Astoria.

In contrast to the $650 a plate Gala, the Queer/LGBTIQA2Z Caucus will host a “Guerrilla Potluck” on the sidewalk outside of the prestigious hotel at 50th Street & Park Avenue from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The Queer Caucus: 1. Condemns HRC for honoring Goldman Sachs, 2. Calls upon HRC to adopt a strategy of Full Equality by 2014, and 3. Demands that HRC create a transparent process that includes the grassroots.

1. The Queer Caucus condemns HRC’s decision to honor Goldman Sachs in a time of financial collapse caused by their unethical business practices and greed, and deplores the use of our cause and suffering for corporate public relations. HRC honoring Goldman Sachs at this time reveals all one needs to know about the corporate LGBT lobby, and its disconnect from the 99% and the LGBT people it purports to represent.

2. The Queer Caucus calls upon HRC to embrace the grassroots demand for Full Federal Equality by 2014 – the 50th Anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

After 60 years of struggle, there is still not a single federal non-discrimination law protecting LGBT Americans from discrimination. More incredibly, HRC, the corporate entity that controls our strategy, is not even seeking equal protection for our community.

To address this, the Queer Caucus calls on HRC to take The Pledge for Full LGBT Equality to seek and secure full non-discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identify for all people.

The right to be protected from discrimination secures a core liberty interest. And it is the duty of government to protect LGBT Americans from the harm caused by discrimination as a matter of public welfare, law and conscience, as it has for decades for all other oppressed groups.

As HRC restrains the demand for equality, discrimination takes its insidious toll on LGBT Americans who suffer vast psychological harm rejected by their families and society, driven to suicide at 5 times the heterosexual norm by tormenting, minority stress afflictions, and lost hope.

A whopping 40% of homeless youth identity as LGBT, 66% of Transgender people have been fired or not hired for a job, 60% of our youth are taunted and feel unsafe at school, and LGBT people are 6x more likely to have multiple mental stress disorders due to societal discrimination.

“Homo/transphobia in America is a public health and economic emergency for our community” said Michael Tikile, an occupier and Duke University graduate. “We are not safe in school, work or housing. How are we supposed to live, pursue happiness or achieve economic equality?”

3. The Queer Caucus also demand that HRC open the process with transparency and grassroots inclusion.

Currently, HRC operates under a closed, hierarchical system, controlled by a financial elite, insulated from grassroots input. Likewise, in Congress, Democrat House members Barney Frank, Jared Polis and Tammy Baldwin, keep the grassroots out of the conversation, protecting the DNC strategy from movement agitation and impact.

With this structure in place, queer occupiers know that only a handful of privileged voices are setting the national queer agenda and strategy, defining what “LGBT equality” means and who our friends are.

For example, HRC's key sponsors includes a long list of big businesses that contributed to recent economic and environmental distress, including Citi Bank, Bank of America, Chevron, BP, Shell, Morgan Stanley, MetLife, Deloitte, Lexus, Prudential, and Ernst & Young.

“With all of these companies, you’d expect the power to be on our side! But instead, our community is simply a tool and pawn in the political system” said Tanya Walker, an original occupier and tireless transgender activist.

Simply put, the Queer Caucus demands equal non-discrimination protections under the 1964 Civil Rights Act because equality is the only true antidote to LGBT abuse - like it has proven to be for race, sex, national origin, religion, age and disability – long protected from discrimination by law.

“Equality and non-discrimination are universal values that define basic human dignity” said Todd (Tif) Fernandez, a human rights lawyer and grassroots activist. “It is our civic duty as Americans to protect and respect the LGBT community immediately.”

Please Take the Pledge for Full LGBT Equality (by 2014) (http://bit.ly/the2014pledge).

Join the Guerrilla Potluck (http://on.fb.me/GuerrillaPotluck). Bring flashlights.

Join Queer/LGBTIQA2Z OWS Caucus organizing, Sundays at 1pm, 60 Wall Street or on FB http://on.fb.me/QueerOWS.

####

About the Queer/LGBTIQA2Z Caucus of Occupy Wall Street
QOWS began meeting as a group in Zuccotti Park in mid-October 2011. The group strives for economic, political, and social equality for LGBTQ people both locally and nationwide.

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HRC

Former head of NGLTF, Matt Foreman, writes at Bilerico about how to make HRC a better partner in the larger LGBT movement.

I think Matt has a point.  But.  First the point.  Matt summarizes at the end, and I think its a good summary:

The impact of the movement divide between HRC and others goes far beyond time wasted on organizational piques. Resources are squandered in overlapping and sometimes conflicting lobbying and educational campaigns. Over the years, this has contributed to an array of missed opportunities - including early passage of hate crimes legislation, ENDA falling off the table (again), and the lack of LGBT people appointed to cabinet-level posts. No matter whose version of the facts you believe, it's clear that the lack of an agreed-to strategy nearly killed the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" multiple times. The fact that HRC and the rest of the movement put forward two separate agendas for federal agency policy reform to the Obama administration in early 2008 is one of the reasons why this work got off to such a painfully slow start.

As the members of the HRC board weighs the next steps for the organization they lead, let's imagine an alternative to the recent state of affairs...

Imagine if HRC's political donations were actually in sync with those of Gill Action's Political OutGiving program and the Victory Fund's work to elect LGBT people to office.
* Imagine if organizations with deep understanding of specific issues - the needs of gay families, bullying or anti-LGBT violence, work in communities of color or faith, marriage equality, etc. - could partner with, rather than compete with or work around HRC on their specific priorities.
* Imagine if the grassroots, grasstops and financial clout of the LGBT community was brought to bear in a focused way on our top priorities.
* Imagine if HRC partnered with Equality Federation organizations and local groups to build their collective power, lists, fundraising bases and expertise.
* Imagine if information and leverage points were shared honestly so that our community could start playing legislators and policymakers the way they play us now.

All of that is good.  Now the "but."  It's not like NGLTF, what once was considered our second largest group, has been a paragon of virtue these past few years.  First off, are they even around any more?  No one I know has a clue what NGLTF does other than throw an annual conference.  So while I agree that HRC has some serious issues to face, I'm not entirely sure the answer comes from working more closely with, for example, NGLTF.

And don't forget that NGLTF, and all the other groups that don't like HRC, share the blame for ENDA not going anywhere under Obama.  NGLTF and a coalition of "300 organizations" chose to take the lead on ENDA back in 2007.  They said they'd do the lobbying, they said we had the votes.  It's been four years.  We still don't have the votes, and NGLTF and its "300 organization" coalition is nowhere to be found.  So while I agree, heartily, that HRC is a problem in need of a solution, they are not the only organizational problem we face as a community.

I don't want this to detract from Matt's message about where HRC goes from here, when current president Joe Solmonese leaves.  But one thing I don't want to see is HRC go from bad to irrelevant.  While "bad" has been a serious thorn in our side, "irrelevant" hasn't gotten us very far either. Read the rest of this post...

Pam’s House Blend Exclusive: Solmonese is leaving HRC

While most North Carolinians were bracing for Irene and most gay journalists were at a conference in Philadelphia, Pam Spaulding was breaking some big LGBT news. We got an exclusive last night from Pam about the future of HRC.:

Yes, it's the end of an era. The Blend has learned, from a trusted source in a position to know the details, that Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization in the country, will announce his departure next Tuesday. Solmonese will reportedly step down from the organization in December of this year.

His departure also signals, according to our source, the beginning of a larger staff shake-up in the HRC. The Blend can also report that a replacement executive director has been identified -- it will be someone who is not currently on the HRC's staff, but is currently a paid consultant that has worked with the civil rights group for some time.

Pam has a series of questions for HRC, as it enters this next phase. Be very interesting to see how the organization's board proceeds.

Metro Weekly's Chris Geidner, following up on Pam's report, was told that there is not a new Executive Director, but the consultant who will play a role is Cathy Woolard. The HRC board will proceed with a search.



Read the rest of this post...

Larry Kramer on HRC’s fierce advocacy

Larry Kramer - author, playwright, public health advocate and LGBT activist - dropped by the blog last night to watch the video of HRC's Fred Sainz and me on MSNBC's Hardball.  Larry was less than pleased with HRC's performance (they defended Obama and suggested that it's okay if people don't think we deserve to be equal).  Here's what Larry wrote in response:

this hrc asshole makes me vomit. he is a disgrace to our people.. the whole hrc makes me vomit. they are a disgrace to our people. and what about Junior Reagan, speaking up at last. who'd a thunk it!

larry kramer

Larry was contacted directly to confirm that he did in fact write the comment, and he confirmed it:

yes, larry kramer wrote it. and means it. and doesnt mind for it to be flung far and wide, just as far and wide as hrc flings their shit!

He also added that I looked "spiffy."

Here's the video again:

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Why is everyone forgetting NGLTF's role in GLAAD-gate?

1. GLAAD writes to FCC over Net Neutrality on January 4, 2010, notes how important the Internet is to gay advocacy. (It's the second letter via the link.)

2. NGLTF writes to FCC over Net Neutrality on January 5, 2010, notes how important the Internet is to gay advocacy.

3. NGLTF "corrects" previous Net Neutrality letter to FCC on January 14, 2010.

4. GLAAD "corrects" previous Net Neutrality letter to FCC on January 15, 2010.

That's not a coincidence. Read the rest of this post...

Six GLAAD Board Members resign in wake of ATT scandal

The fallout continues:

Six board members of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation have resigned amid the fallout over the organization's letter in support of AT&T’s proposed bid for wireless rival T-Mobile, a person familiar with the matter told POLITICO.

Some board members were said to have resigned because of concerns that GLAAD failed to adhere to its conflict of interest standards and to protest GLAAD's failure to protect its president, Jarrett Barrios, who submitted his letter of resignation to the group Saturday amid a growing backlash in the gay blogosphere over the group's AT&T stance.

Barrios had signed the letter GLAAD sent to the FCC in support of the wireless mega-deal.

GLAAD board member Gary Bitner confirmed in an email to POLITICO on Tuesday that he had resigned. Five other board members — including Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers — also have submitted their resignations, according to the POLITICO source who is familiar with the matter.

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Mediaite: How the gay Netroots took down the head of GLAAD

Mediaite:

The significant role the LGBT media played in Barrios’ downfall is reflected in the Politico story analyzing Barrios’ resignation, where technology reporter Jennifer Martinez prominently quotes Aravosis, Signorile, and Bilerico’s Bil Browning. This was a story largely driven by LGBT bloggers and online media, as well as Signorile (who works online and at Sirius/XM). The story had a crowd-sourcing feel to it, with many journalists and activists pouring over letters to the FCC, GLAAD and AT&T financial records, and other data in order to determine what happened between AT&T and GLAAD.

In the end, the attention from inside and outside the LGBT media became too much and Barrios resigned despite signals 24 hours earlier that he wasn’t going to.

I'd argue that the Netroots, gay and straight, had already proven themselves a long time ago. This is just the latest evidence. Though, bringing down the head of a national organization is no small task. A lot of us helped, with Bilerico's Bil Browning and Adam Polaski at the top of the list - but I'd give the lion's share of the credit to Mike Signorile who sunk his teeth into this story and just wouldn't let go until all of us understood how important it was really was. Read the rest of this post...

Jarrett Barrios has resigned as President of GLAAD

Mike Signorile got confirmation:

Jarrett Barrios, the president of GLAAD, has just sent the board of GLAAD his resignation letter. A statement will be going out from GLAAD tonight, but GLAAD confirmed i an email that Barrios did resign. This comes following the report earlier today from Ben Smith at Politico, that the executive committee of the board had voted to remove Barrios.

Read the rest of this post...

Executive committee of GLAAD’s board votes for ED Barrios to step down, Barrios says no

Getting very interesting. Read the rest of this post...

NAACP, NEA also sent letters on behalf of AT&T merge, just like GLAAD - suggests a pattern

This is bad news for GLAAD. It suggests that AT&T may have bought influence with these organizations via its donations. This would confirm, if true, the worst fears of the critics - that one of our top groups was bought off by a private company. Coming on the heels of GLAAD President Jarret Barrios' admission that his previous letter to the FCC, was not a fake - he'd previously claimed it was - this now establishes a pattern of behavior within GLAAD with regards to AT&T, as well as a pattern of behavior by AT&T with the liberal organizations to which it donates.

Let's examine this further.

January 2010, GLAAD President Jarret Barrios writes the FCC, asking them to remove from their Web site a letter that GLAAD sent to the FCC about Net Neutrality.  GLAAD says they don't know where that letter came from, it's not theirs:

"The signature is not in my hand.  I have never seen this letter and it is not my signature."

Then yesterday we heard a second version from GLAAD's president:

Barrios: Well over a year ago. It was like January of 2010. And it, it sort of supported the telecom industry's position on Net neutrality, which was not GLAAD's position. And, in fact, GLAAD, at the time and still, doesn't endorse bills and doesn't endorse regulatory actions. So, it would have been impossible for us to do that. After an investigation, we determined that it was an administrative error, internally at GLAAD, and I'll own that, and we withdrew the letter. At the time we withdrew the letter, we didn't know that, so I was -- you can imagine reading a letter in a public submission with your name on it that you had never seen -- and it wasn't your signature -- after we did an internal investigation, we realized it was an internal error, an administrative error.

FOF: So somebody just, like, managed to, hack -- get access to your letterhead, or what happened?

Barrios: No, no, no, it was an administrative issue and it was, you know, a personnel issue that was managed and, obviously, it was a personnel issue, so I dealt with it.

A personnel issue that was managed? That sounds like some staffer screwed up, and was punished for it. That's not what we're hearing today.

Today, after several days of silence on this issue, GLAAD admits that they know the letter, they wrote it - on behalf of AT&T.

The letter's origins lay with AT&T; the telecom giant sent Barrios suggested wording for another letter to the FCC. Barrios' special assistant used the language verbatim to create the letter, signed his name to it, and sent it in.

Barrios recounts that he was at an airport when his assistant called him to go through some items on his agenda. In a hurry to board his plane, when she told him that "they" wanted him to send in the letter to the FCC, Barrios assumed he needed to resend his first letter again. He authorized her to send the letter without any oversight.

Now we're told that Barrios simply misunderstood what the letter was. Why didn't he say that yesterday? Yesterday he was saying that it was an "administrative" error and the employee had been dealt with. That's not the same thing as saying, "I didn't realize what the letter was, it was a simply screw up."

All around, this is very bad.  Especially considering AT&T had betrayed our community (and showed little remorse) only one week before GLAAD sent the latest later.

As an aside, I'll bet AT&T thought they could get away with helping Tennessee repeal our civil rights, while not lifting a finger to help us stop it.  AT&T was wrong.  It's payback time. Read the rest of this post...