Withers: Outing is a gimmick best left in the last century
Blogger Mike Rogers has gone nuclear against Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk. The politician earned Rogers’ ire because of his pro DADT vote last week—only five House Republicans voted for repeal.
“In an effort to move the base in the Illinois Senate race , Kirk decided to tack right and that means throwing the gays (like him) under the bus.”
Rogers talks about anonymous sources who insist Kirk is gay (2 of them allege they had sex with the guy). The blogger recounts his own Kirk past (no sex involved). The two met at a 2004 Washington, DC party, and the Republican outed himself in a casual conversation. Kirk apparently was into the male friend who brought Rogers to the soiree. Between 2001 and last year, the Republican was married to Kimberly Vertolli.
Rogers airs all of this because he thinks Kirk’s DADT vote stinks with hypocrisy. Fair point, but the reporter never explains why supporting DADT is problematic. He kicks open Kirk’s alleged glass closet because of pique over a vote. When the Republican was OK on gay issues, at least according to the Human Rights Campaign, there was no need to share any of this. In the world according to Rogers, vote right and you can stay on the closet. Cross him and your laundry will be made public.
I’m in the minority about this, but outing is an ineffective political strategy. It gins up our moral outrage, but where are the tangible political gains? Are we closer to the repeal of DADT? Marriage rights? An ENDA vote?
Outside of seeing someone squirm under the media glare, the freedom movement, such as it is, is not advanced by sifting through supposed closed door habits.
Ruby-Sachs: Is Laura Bush giving us too little too late?
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Laura Bush is touring with her new memoir. Inside are all sorts of Bushy juicy tidbits, but the interviews about the book have recently focused on her admission that she believes gay committed couples deserve the same legal rights as everyone. It’s incredible really, that the first lady from an administration famous for pushing for a Consitutional amendment banning gay marriage would come out for gay marriage.
Or maybe it isn’t.
We have seen a numbers of conservative politicians have come to Jesus moments after they are out of power. Colin Powell supported the repeal of DADT after his administration fell. John McCain’s wife came out for gay rights after the election run was over. And now Laura Bush decides that it is safe to admit that she disagreed with her husband when he used his Presidency to attempt to combat the gay rights movement.
The first question is, what does this do for them? The answer, they get the benefit of a progressive label, even if their position isn’t particularly radical, because of their previous conservativism. The alienation they might experience amongst the more conservative base doesn’t matter because they are risking nothing. Basically, they get all the credit with none of the risk.
The second question is, what does this do for them? Joe Solomnese from the Human Rights Campaign thinks it indicates a shift in the hearts and minds of Americans. I think fighting for hearts and minds, while important and valuable, has very little real value. What if we had waited for the hearts and minds of the racist Southern governors during the civil rights movement? We would never have made the strides in equality that we take for granted today. The same is true for gay rights. We don’t need Laura Bush’s heart and mind, we needed her to stand up when her voice had some power.
It’s not that Laura Bush should not vocalize her support for equality. She should. But we should hold off congratulating her for seeing the light. The gay community can turn around and say, “good thing you have your head on straight, wish you had a backbone to go with that quick analytical ability you are so keen to show off.”
It’s just not sufficient to believe in equality. You have to do something about it too.
*Credit for all the good ideas in here goes to Jane Saks – who is among the breathing!
[1] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/blog-laura-bush-top.jpg
Gay activists applaud Kagan – tepidly
Gay legal activists are applauding President Obama’s second nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court [1]: Solicitor General Elena Kagan. But it could hardly be described as a standing ovation.
Former Clinton White House aide Richard Socarides called Kagan a “brilliant, pragmatic progressive interested in listening to all sides and building coalitions.”
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Executive Director Kevin Cathcart called Kagan “a strong position” in opposing the military’s ban on gays but noted that Obama administration has also “taken legal positions on ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and the so-called ‘Defense of Marriage Act’ with which we strongly disagree.”
Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese applauded her selection as fulfilling Obama’s promise to promote “diversity” on the court.
If confirmed, Kagan would become only the fourth woman ever named to the court –out of 104 justices in the history of the court.
Kagan is of particular interest to the LGBT community. While serving as dean of Harvard Law School, she took sides with gays against military recruiters because the military would not abide by the school’s non-discrimination policy. That policy prohibited recruiters who discriminated based on sexual orientation.
Kagan clerked for one of the Supreme Court’s staunchest liberals, Thurgood Marshall, and was a research assistant for one of the greatest legal defenders of gay civil rights, Laurence Tribe.
Single and 50, she was also the subject of a CBS News website blog report last month which claimed that, if named to the court, Kagan would be the “first openly gay justice.” But Kagan has not publicly identified with any sexual orientation, and the White House moved quickly to say the report was “inaccurate.”
The president announced his selection at a 10 o’clock press conference this morning.
Socarides called Kagan “one of the smartest people I know” and “someone the country will come to like and respect.”
“Her thinking is well within the mainstream,” said Socarides, and “very much in keeping with Obama’s overall philosophy…. Pretty much a home-run appointment.”
Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights called Kagan “well-qualified” and said members of his organization “strongly support increasing the number of women on the court.”
Lambda’s Cathcart said he did not expect Kagan “to answer questions about how she would rule on specific issues such as these that will come before her.” But he said Lambda does “expect that she will respond to questions about her judicial philosophy and her understanding of core constitutional principals of equal protection and privacy that are so crucial to the civil rights of people who face discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and/or HIV status.”
Long-time gay legal activist Paula Ettelbrick, an adjunct professor of law at New York University Law School, said Kagan’s nomination is “most historic” and that “it moves women’s representation on the Court to a more meaningful plurality.”
Mainstream news organizations immediately set about assessing her odds for confirmation. MSNBC speculates both conservatives and liberals could criticize her. Commentator-reporter Chuck Todd said conservatives would fault Kagan over her opposition to military recruiters at Harvard. He said liberals could fault her for defending some policies put in place by the administration of President George W. Bush.
In introducing Kagan to the press conference Monday morning, Obama praised Kagan for having sought conservative views to balance liberal views at Harvard. During her confirmation process for Solicitor General last year, the Senate Judiciary Committee received letters in support of Kagan from such well-known conservatives as former Solicitor Generals Charles Fried and Kenneth Starr, and such well-known liberals as Eleanor D. Acheson.
Her confirmation as Solicitor General was opposed, as expected, by some ultra-conservative groups, including Concerned Women for America, who faulted her for opposing military recruiters, as well as Focus on Family and more than a dozen other groups who said she could not be counted on to defend “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”
Kagan, an attorney, has never served as a judge but is widely respected as a legal scholar.
NCLR’s Minter said, “Because she has not served previously as a judge, it will be important to hear more about her judicial philosophy and whether she has a strong commitment to enforcing constitutionally protected rights and liberties. “
Given that she filled out the Senate Judiciary Committee’s lengthy questionnaire just last year, the vetting of her by various senators should go fairly rapidly.
In response to questions from the Judiciary Committee last year, Kagan said she views as “unjust the exclusion of individuals from basic economic, civic, and political opportunities of our society on the basis of race, nationality, sex, religion, and sexual orientation.” But she also said she was “fully convinced” she could defend U.S. laws even when they do not reflect her personal views, including the federal law which penalizes universities which ban military recruiters.
Kagan’s questionnaire also indicated that she delivered a welcoming address to introduce panel members at a Harvard University Gay and Lesbian Alumni event in September 2008. And in April 2006, she moderated a panel of the LAMBDA Student Organization concerning the “Relationship between Law Schools and the Military.” Such participation is fairly typical of law school deans and her list includes an even greater number of appearances before groups promoting civil rights for black law students.
Senators Orrin Hatch and Jon Kyl, two Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee who voted for Kagan as Solicitor General, issued statements
Monday morning saying their vote is not guaranteed for the Supreme Court appointment.
If confirmed, Kagan will become the third woman on the U.S. Supreme Court today and the second unmarried justice. Justice Sonia Sotomayor,
Obama’s first nominee to the Supreme Court, was married briefly but divorced in 1983.
A press release from HRC applauded Kagan’s “commitment to fairness and equality.”
“Specifically, we applaud Elena Kagan’s vocal opposition to the Solomon Amendment and the discriminatory ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law.
HRC said it would continue examining Kagan’s record on issues that affect the LGBT community.
Kagan’s nomination is being made to fill the seat of retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, who announced his retirement last month.
The composition of the Supreme Court is increasing critical to the LGBT civil rights movement. Three important cases seeking equality in marriage rights are winding their ways to the high court and it seems nearly inevitable that the high court will choose to weigh in on at least one, if not all three. The court will also hear a case this fall that will determine whether a virulently anti-gay protest group has a First Amendment right to stage their demonstrations in ways that disrupt private funeral services.
While many nominees introduce close members of their family at the press conference, Kagan noted that her parents had already passed away and said she was “thankful for my brothers and other family and friends” for being there with her.
© 2010 Keen News Service
[1] http://www.365gay.com/news/ap-source-elena-kagan-picked-for-supreme-court/
Ruby-Sachs: Barbara Boxer the wrong Senator to protest
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Yesterday, Obama was heckled at a California fundraiser for Senator Barbara Boxer. Boxer has been holding fundraisers across the country in order to gear up for a heated and difficult race in the upcoming election. If Sarah Palin were in charge of this blog, there’d be a big sign with Senator Boxer’s face in the crosshairs – the conservatives are gunning for her this time around.
The thing is, as much as we dislike Obama and his wishy washy approach to gay rights advocacy, we love Senator Boxer. Boxer has, when it comes to gay rights, been a staunch supporter of equality. She received a 100% rating from the Human Rights Campaign, spoke out about gay rights and actually is one of the few politicians to support gay marriage. She is a liberal activist politician in a landscape of conservative values and inaction on both sides of the aisle. She is exactly the kind of candidate we, as a community, should support.
Instead, we decided that a fundraiser where Obama (read not much of an advocate for gay rights) was doing his best to support Boxer was a perfect opportunity to highlight the President’s inaction of LGBT issues. This when Boxer is praying patrons open their cheque books and cough up a bit more money for her campaign. It doesn’t mean that the hecklers weren’t right in their criticism, Obama is hugely problematic when it comes to equality advocacy, but they needed to choose a different time to engage in that discussion.
The night is over and we can hope that Boxer got some of the funds she needs out of the event. Still, I hope that the people from Get Equal choose a more opportune moment to engage in protest. In the mean time, if they are serious about equality perhaps they should spend time raising a few dollars for Senator Boxer and her progressive agenda.
[1] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/blog-boxer-top.jpg
HRC finds 2009 a banner year in LGBT legislation
Despite some disappointments last year, 2009 racked up more legislative gains across the nation in the gay rights arena than 2007 and 2008 combined, the Human Rights Campaign reported Tuesday.
HRC’s report “Equality from State to State in 2009” also looks ahead to this year. For 2010, marriage equality and recognition …
HRC names Best places for LGBT’s to work
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation today released its annual list of “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality” on Monday.
This year 305 companies were awarded this distinction for their employment policies and practices that include LGBT workers and their families. They include big names like Levi Strauss, Hyatt Hotels, Google, …
New York gov extends protections to transgender New Yorkers
From HRC:
(Albany, NY) New York Governor David A. Paterson issued an executive order extending anti-discrimination policies to gender identity for state employees Wednesday.
“Governor Paterson has taken significant action to advance equality for all New York state employees,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “The ability to provide for our …
Federal LGBT employment benefits bill moves out of committee
From HRC:
(Washington) The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, today praised the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for marking up S. 1102, the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act (DPBO). Held by Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT), the 8-1 …
House committee to hold vote on ENDA
From HRC:
The Human Rights Campaign can now confirm the House Education and Labor Committee will vote on Wednesday, November 18, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. on legislation to end the widespread practice of employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The vote was noticed moments ago.
The Employment Non-Discrimination …
HRC statement on Mormon church and gay rights
From HRC:
Today the LDS church announced its support for an inclusive anti-discrimination law in Salt Lake City.
STATEMENT FROM HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN RELIGION AND FAITH PROGRAM DIRECTOR HARRY KNOX:
“This has happened in the LDS Church because people are telling their clergy leaders they believe the church should be about lifting people …
