Gay voters should blame themselves for Prop 8, not black Californians.
Smart LGBT leaders knew our campaign couldn’t make Prop 8 a “gay” issue.
Must we appear as churchgoers or nationalists to deserve our rights?
In part, Prop 8 failed because of inept LGBT leadership.
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By Allen Roskoff
Thursday, August 21, 2008
It is way past time that our community start holding accountable the U.S. Senators from New York: Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer. As New York State is on the verge of reaching marriage equality, it is a disgrace that both our U.S. senators still oppose our right to marry. While some people may like to bask in the sunlight of the razzle-dazzle Clinton and the powerful but boring Schumer, they do so at the expense of full recognition of our relationships.
Unless the senators change their positions and support marriage equality by Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, 2009, I am calling on the LGBT community, including all the political clubs in New York, to declare the senators unwelcome to our support. We need to call a citywide meeting of the community to combat their bigotry. The senators must be confronted wherever they speak, wherever we have access to them. No more will we provide them with complimentary tickets or free appearances at dinners and other events. If other politicians, LGBT or otherwise, hold fundraisers with the senators, they should expect our disrupting voices; if they endorse the senators, they should expect backlash. And certainly if the senators choose to march in our parades, they should expect a reception befitting a figure who does not support our rights.
Other establishment supporters must also be held accountable. Lobbyist Emily Giske, a member of the Democratic National Committee, continued to support Schumer even after he voted in favor of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, and she continues to support both senators while they oppose marriage equality. I call on Andrew Tobias, treasurer to the National Democratic Party, to tell the lawmakers that he and his partner Charles Nolan demand support for their rights or he will no longer give them his support in return. Tobias has served the party well, and the senators’ coming out for equal recognition of our relationships should be the minimum he should demand. Tobias asks the community to give, give, give money to the Democratic Party, and now it has to deliver some goods to us.
And I issue the same call to Jeff Soref, perhaps one of the most principled leaders in our community. Soref, former chair of the Democratic National Committee’s Gay and Lesbian Americans Caucus, and his partner Paul Lombardi deserve no less. (And let’s not forget that Soref left his DNC post because Howard Dean eliminated the group’s gay outreach desk.)
When this movement gets momentum, perhaps even longtime Bill and Hillary supporter and former New School dean Fred Hochberg will join. Soref was invited to sleep in the Lincoln bedroom in the White House during the end of the Clinton administration. When Soref was told that his partner was not welcome, he refused the offer. Hochberg, on the other hand, took his mother, Lillian Vernon, when he was told that his partner, Tom Healy, was not welcome. Fred, was this a nice way to treat Tom? I think not.
I THINK IT IS especially important that the out LGBT elected officials take a stand and demand that our U.S. senators support marriage equality. That includes state Sen. Tom Duane; Assemblymembers Daniel O’Donnell (yes Danny, Hillary hosted a fundraiser for you, but you and John deserve more), Matt Titone, Micah Kellner and Deborah Glick; and Councilmembers Rosie Mendez and Christine Quinn. Stand united and firm and hold the senators’ feet to the fire—that is why we elected you. If you can find time for all the press conferences blasting easy targets, we call upon all of you to attend one on Feb. 14 where you can take a stand and show that you don’t always do what is easy.
Greater Voices, a coalition of LGBT “progressive” organizations (progressive is a subjective term; I think the word is overused to describe people who are actually moderates), had long been seeking a meeting with Sen. Clinton to discuss some concerns with her positions. Full disclosure: I am a members of the group. When we finally had the opportunity to meet with her last year, we were tortured with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn singing Clinton’s praises for 18 minutes! Never once did Quinn mention, much less criticize, Clinton’s position on marriage. The prolonged introduction was orchestrated by Gary Parker, the chair of Greater Voices, with zero input from the committee.
So Clinton’s spin meisters successfully convinced reporters to say that Clinton has evolved. Clinton used to say that she is against same-sex marriage on moral, religious and traditional grounds. Now she has been told to say that she has evolved. And what is her position after this evolution? She is still against marriage equality!
Schumer said at a Greater Voices meeting that his gut tells him that marriage equality is wrong. He was politely received until I blasted him before the entire room. And at the end of the event Gary Parker and company posed for pictures with shameless Sen. Schumer.
Schumer and Clinton come to our community seeking our dollars, and they leave with suitcases full. This column will report all LGBT people who henceforth contribute their dollars or time to these senators—until the lawmakers endorse marriage equality.
Furthermore, why are lobbyists fronting for the senators? Almost all elected officials have prominent LGBT people on staff. The two senators instead rely on lobbyists who trade favors with the senators to meet the needs of their clients. One lobbyist tells me that whoring from the inside is one way to get things done. And my response is: What have you done for me lately? Both senators still oppose marriage equality. With two states already having legalized marriage and perhaps New York and New Jersey just around the corner, shouldn't this crap stop already?
The one true leader in our community who has stood up to both Clinton and Schumer on the issue of marriage equality is Alan Van Capelle, the executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda. Capelle is currently in my view the one real voice for the LGBT community in New York State. He is sincere, intelligent and committed to the issues. His partner Matt Morningside is also political and equally progressive.
The date is Feb. 14: if the senators still refuse to grant our relationships full legitimacy, then we must stop legitimizing them.
E-mail aroskoff@aol.com if you agree with this column and want to add your name to the growing list of people demanding that Schumer and Clinton come out for marriage equality—the best support quotes will appear in future columns. Allen Roskoff is a longtime gay rights activist and co-author and lobbyist for the nation’s first gay civil rights bill. He is now president of the citywide Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club.
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