Peterson and Zack are back together in the Sunbury studio! After some reflections on their conference experiences, they delve into the antics of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and their “Summer Marriage Tour.” How do we respond to their self-victimizing tactics and what is the future of the marriage equality movement? Petersonalso shares his experience confronting a bride-to-be and her maid of honor that chose a gay club for their bachelorette outing. Join them as they rip apart the very fabric of traditional marriage.

Here’s some more information about what we talked about this week:

» Freedom To Marry

» NOM’s Self-victimizing fake news story.

» “The Solution to Gay Marriage” as seen in Indianpolis.

» Join Equality Pennsylvania and the LGBT Community Center for the Harrisburg response to NOM.

» Town Danceboutique in Washington, DC

I guess I have to write the same story twice today!

Another counseling student is challenging a university’s graduate counseling program, suggesting that her personal beliefs against homosexuality should be exempted despite contradicting the teachings of the program.

This time, it’s Jennifer Keeton at Augusta State University, and AFA and the ADF are not pleased!

“It’s in essence [telling her] ‘you do not have the correct beliefs, we are going to re-educate you into the correct beliefs,’” explains David French, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund. “And unless she completes this — quote — ‘remediation plan’ to their satisfaction, then she can be thrown out of [the school's counseling program].”

That’s exactly right.

This is religious privilege in its purest form, folks. The university teaches one idea. Keeton holds another. The two are in conflict. If Keeton wants the university degree, she has to learn why the university’s is right and hers is wrong. It just so happens that hers is religious, so suddenly she gets a free ride? No.

This OneNewsNow story is rife with spin. The program wanted Keeton to go to a pride parade and then reflect on what she saw. That’s a perfectly valid exercise, one—I might add—I did in my own counseling class! In order to be good practitioners, we folks in the social sciences have to reflect on our own perspectives in order to better appreciate and nurture the folks we work with. THAT’S HOW IT WORKS.

“Jennifer is not interested in being indoctrinated, she wants to be educated,” states the attorney. “She wants to learn about the counseling profession, she wants to be a good counselor — but being a good counselor does not require that one surrender their most fundamental religious beliefs.”

Well, let’s see… if she did not abandon her beliefs, she’d be a bad counselor. So, yeah, actually, it does.

She’s already been indoctrinated. Now she needs to be educated. There’s something seriously wrong with people who want to be taken seriously in the academy but don’t want to be exposed to new knowledge.

Given the precedent set by Julea Ward’s suit in Michigan, I doubt Keeton will get very far. Still, I’m sure the religious right will hem and haw about what a big deal this is, because they don’t care about the integrity of knowledge, intellect, or the academy.

One of these days, university folks are going to realize the importance of being proactive instead of just playing defense to all this stupid religious nonsense.

…

Oh, and by the way, if you want to “take action,” the AFA suggests you pray for Jennifer and the ADF staff, give a donation for her legal efforts, and email President Willian Bloodworth and the Georgia Board of Regents. I suggest you email the President yourself and encourage him not to submit to the foolishness of religious privilege.

Never underestimate the power of the blogosphere.

One of the greatest aspects of being at Netroots Nation was connecting with the bloggers that have been my role models. I could look at my RSS feeds and look around the room and see the writers who generate the content I look to everyday.

In the case of meeting Joe Jervis of Joe.My.God, there was an unexpected perk!

Joe posted about the fact that we were in the same hotel as the Chippendales show. It turns out the show’s publicist, Randy Slovacek, is a fan of Joe’s blog (how could you not be?) and invited him (and those of us lucky enough to be standing in earshot when he got the news) to come to the show.

Now, before I say anything else about the show, I’ll say this. Its primary audience is the ladies, and they eat it up! In fact, their drunken bachelorette/birthday antics are as much a part of the entertainment as the men themselves. But—and Randy was insistent about this point—the show is extremely welcoming of gay men. I can testify that this is the case.

Randy had our little #lgbtnn10 contingent set up towards the back, in what was apparently the Olivia Newton-John booth. We thought this was for the best, as we didn’t want to get in the way of the ladies in the audience having a good time. (This may have also been in the best interest of our physical safety.) I would encourage this tactic for other gay men who choose to attend, but trust me, you’ll still enjoy the show.

I laughed pretty much the whole time. My face hurt by the end. It was an incredibly entertaining evening.

Now, I don’t know what you all know about Chippendales. Maybe you think they’re just strippers. Maybe you think they’re just models. Your only frame of reference might be the classic Chris Farley SNL skit. That’s about all I knew going in (aside from what I’d seen plastered all over the hotel).

I knew nothing.

Yes, their bodies are amazing—almost unreal. But these men have talent! Bryan Chan, for example, does some excellent live singing and also emcees the show. Others join in with live guitar or rapping. (I have to say, I found the men even hotter when they exhibited their musical talent, but as a musician myself, I suppose I’m a bit biased in that regard.) Of course, the choreography defines the show, and these men can move. There were also two extra dancers (who I guess are not official Chippendales, persay) that added some extra impressive dance talent to the show.

There were skits. There was audience participation. There were special effects and set changes. It truly was a theatrical experience! Randy and I chatted afterward for a bit about the creative vision behind the show, and there really is a lot of thought put into it. You might have one scene that gets hot and heavy, the next might be of a classier variety, and the next more light with some audience participation. The ebb and flow keeps the show engaging and interesting, without ever skimping on the hottness.

I also sort of noticed that the show has a lot of similarities to drag. Obviously the appeal of Chippendales is slightly different than drag’s “intrigue of transvesticism” (as Tim Minchin calls it). But consider: they both have lip-syncing and choreography; they both depend on physical spectacle; and they both can be extremely cheesy (or campy, as in the case of drag). They’re sort of two ends of the same stick—men portraying the extremes of men and women. I don’t think this observation detracts from either kind of show, but is definitely interesting to consider. (I actually saw a great drag show later that night; if you’re ever in Vegas, go see the fabulous Shawn M at Free Zone. She does an amazing Sarah Palin and Madonna, and she’s a delight to chat with as well!)

One last thing I have to say about Chippendales is that the guys were actually quite nice. A few of them even came out and greeted us with handshakes and bro-hugs. Can you say you’ve been hugged by a Chippendale? I can.

Now, Randy informed us that the entire cast is currently straight. Word on the street is that this may not be the case, but I will not delve into Vegas gossip here at ZFb. Ultimately, I don’t think it matters. I find the strippers in gay bars to be way too sexual and “dirty” anyway. Contrastingly, the Chippendales men look great, they’re clearly having a good time, and it’s a classy and entertaining show for everybody.

I have to really thank Randy for inviting us to the show and treating us so well, including drinks and gift bags. It was quite a generous gesture, and I was under no obligation to praise the show as I have—the show earned it. If you go to Vegas, make sure you head over to the Rio and see the Chippendales. GAY MEN ARE WELCOME!!

I also want to thank Joe for writing an awesome blog and for being a great new friend. Our night at Chippendales will be a memory I won’t soon forget.

Michael Jones at Change.org tipped me off to this story about Australia’s new Prime Minister. She’s an atheist, but opposes same-sex marriage.

What up with that?

That I know of, there is not a single argument against marriage equality that isn’t founded upon religious bigotry.

Not one.

This is why I proudly identify as a gaytheist. The atheist community, in my opinion, is the most LGBT-friendly non-LGBT group of allies in our society. They often don’t get recognized as such, but that’s a problem with atheist visibility in general, a bridge I hope to better build.

So, what’s Jillard’s deal? If she’s really an atheist, she’s not a very good one.

The worst part? Journalists have let her get away with it:

“We believe the marriage act is appropriate in its current form, that is recognising that marriage is between a man and a woman, but we have as a government taken steps to equalise treatment for gay couples,” she said, according to the Herald.

“Asked if that was also her personal view, Ms Gillard said it was,” according to the Herald.

Let’s be perfectly clear: that is not an answer. It repeats the view, but it doesn’t answer the question of why. Would it kill a journalist on this planet to actually confront a politician on her vacuous talking points?

At any rate, Gillard is neither a good atheist nor a good LGBT ally. She calls herself an atheist, but still clings to religious privilege for cheap political points. She says she supports equal treatment for the LGBT community at the same time she’s adding her voice to anti-gay messaging. What does she gain? I don’t know. I’m not really an expert on Australian politics. But I definitely thinks it gives everyone a reason to be skeptical about any of her other political positions.

As radio host Derryn Hinch said, she’s a hypocrite, and as Mike added in his story, she’s a coward.

Might I add selfish and/or foolish to the list?

Someday it’ll cost political capital to not oppose marriage equality. Until then, we have to ask tougher questions of our politicians.

No, we’re not talking about a curriculum about how to be gay. Quite the opposite. We’re talking about a curriculum of hate.

I haven’t written about AFTAH much on this blog, because they are so ridiculously out there that I don’t think they need to be written about to be mocked. Americans for Truth about Homosexuality is a hate group intent on preserving only the most archaic standards of sexuality. Next month, they are offering an entire “academy” to young potential haters about just how to hate on teh gays. Kids as young as 14 are welcome.

Hemant Mehta has offered to cover the costs for any young folks who want to go (and of course report on it). AFTAH requires “references” to make sure attendees aren’t undercover progays, but I’m sure some infiltrators will manage to get in.

Last week, the “academy” unveiled it’s “curriculum,” and whooee! is it a good time. Let’s take a look at the courses propaganda-fests and the wise professors known bigots who will impart their knowledge about homosexuality. (Jeremy Hooper was remarking this weekend about how just the use of the word “homosexuals” can be a big red flag for a person’s perspective on LGBT issues—not that we’re at all surprised by these clowns.)

After an opening prayer, Peter LaBarbera kicks things off with “From gay pride to gay tyranny.” This will be about the way that, after our parades are over, we go strangle teabaggers with our rainbow flags and then fist their children.

“Professor” Rena Lindevaldsen (I use quotes because she “teaches” at the Liberty University School of Law) then moves things along with “History of modern ‘gay’ activism and the courts.” She’ll spend the first 55 minutes bemoaning the way “gay” no longer means “happy,” and the last five minutes sharing everything she knows about courts.

Matt Barber will chime in with “Masculine Christianity: a non-defensive approach to the Culture War over homosexuality.” Part of his talk will explain how the best way to overcome homosexuality is through knowledge of sports and car mechanics, and then he’ll explain how folks like him started the Culture War by attacking homosexuals at every opportunity.

You’ll only get a light lunch so that you have room to stomach “The ‘born gay’ hoax,” presented by Ryan Sorba of Young Conservatives of California. This presentation should be particularly revealing, as Sorba will be sharing never-before-seen schematics of the microchips inserted in the genitalia of all future-homosexuals.

Everybody’s favorite, Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute, is up next. In “Using reason and logic in answering pro-homosexuality arguments,” she will magically not once refer to reason nor logic. She will outline all of the pro-homosexual arguments, then shrug and say, “But they’re wrong.”

Just in case you thought this was a Christian-only situation, here comes Arthur Goldberg from JONAH (Jews Offering Healthy Alternatives to Homosexuality). If you aren’t familiar with JONAH, they discourage people from having gay sex by teaching them new exercise routines and diet restrictions. No, gay men are not allowed to have any fruit. His talk will be called, “Can gays change? Is gay parenting good for kids? Presenting the research on homosexuality.” Here’s a preview: “Yes, No, You don’t really need to read any of it.”

The day is far from over. Next, all of the presenters of the day will form a panel to discuss “Can the effort to ‘mainstream’ homosexuality in American culture be stopped?” While the panel answers questions, participants will be distributed proton packs and the sheet music to Auld Lang Syne for a future field trip to the subway system.

Grab a bite to eat for dinner then return Thursday night for a special presentation by Greg Quinlan of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX). In “An Ex-Gay Christian Discusses Love, Truth and Homosexuality,” Quinlan will describe how hated he was and how much he was lied to while he was homosexual. Now that he’s ex-still-gay, his life is completely delusional, but happy.

Day 2! Cliff Kincaid is ready to tell you about “The battle over blood: ‘gay’ health risks and public policy.” I’m not sure why he needs a whole hour to say, “Don’t let them even touch you; they all have AIDS,” but I’m sure he’ll find a way to repeat it in some interesting ways.

The “professor” is back! “The zero-sum game: homosexuality-based ‘rights’ vs. religious and First Amendment freedoms” is another brief lecture about how Christians are right and nothing else matters.

“Corrupting children, politicizing schools: the homosexual youth agenda“: More fisting.

“The gender confusion agenda: ‘transgender rights’”: “We don’t get it, so there’s nothing to get.”

Ugh, this is exhausting. Here are the rest of the lectures. You comment with your favorite ways to make fun of them:

“From abomination to ‘gay’: answering ‘queer theology’ — Old Testament”

“The legal strategy to stop homosexual ‘marriage’: triumphs and pitfalls”

“Returning the debate to behavior – getting off the ‘GLBT’ playing field”

“From destroying DOMA to homosexualizing the military: Obama’s radical homosexual/transsexual agenda for America”

“But Jesus never said anything about homosexuality’”: Answering ‘Queer Theology’ — New Testament”

“Destructive legacy: Alfred Kinsey and the (Homo)Sexual Revolution”

“The big, pink plan for a lavender culture”/”How to lobby effectively”

“Combating pro-homosexual media bias, confronting pro-gay ‘conservatives’” – I love that they give “conservatives” the mocking quotes!

“Agreeing with God: a truly biblical approach toward ‘out and proud’ homosexuality”

“Confronting the zeitgeist: new strategies to turn around younger Americans on ‘gay rights’”

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Bleed: stopping Obama’s campaign to homosexualize the U.S. military”

Have at them my readers! Mock away!

Greetings again from Vegas! It’s officially day 2 of Netroots Nation!!

If you haven’t been following my twitter, you should be. It’s the best way to track what’s been happening here at the conference. In this post, though, I want to talk about some ups and downs of the conference. I have a few more grumbles than you might expect, so stick with  me. Redeeming positives are further below.

I really think that, in general, Netroots Nation really needs to be better at modeling. There have been a number of things that have made this conference slightly frustrating in ways that I think could easily be improved.

For example, the wireless internet access has sucked. To use the internet in your hotel room is ridiculously expensive and the service is really not reliable at all. (It was quite arduous just getting this post up this morning.) The Netroots folks have set up a free wireless system in the convention area, but it has been rife with problems. It was down more often than not yesterday and even when it was up, it was not always consistent. There were a number of times I was sitting in a panel trying to follow my Tweetdeck and getting nothing while folks next to me had service.

This seems to me to be bad form. To many, the quality of the internet connection you have while in Las Vegas would be negligible, but we’re here at a conference about using the internet! If I were part of the conference planning group, my first priority in selecting a venue would be confirming that they have quality, reliable internet and don’t charge guests an arm and a leg for it. It’s hard to be a good Netroots activist without the Net!

Surprisingly, that hasn’t been the only technology fail. I’ve been in several panels already where the presenters were struggling with media in their presentations. In some cases it wasn’t their fault, but I still think the result was that it undermined their presentation. If you are here at Netroots to show your eagerness to interact with the blogosphere, you should at least be competent at using your own computer. I don’t mean to sound petty or whiny; I think there’s a credibility issue here. If your words are saying “I want to engage with people through technology” and your actions say “I don’t know how to engage with technology,” the presentation kind of feels disingenuous.

And, by far, my biggest complaint is the level of engagement. Most of the sessions throughout the day are “panels.” There are a few trainings and caucuses, but panels predominate. I went to four yesterday. The topics of those panels were great. I attended two that related to scientific literacy and education standards, one about marriage equality, and one about using social media. Sounds great, right? But the panels themselves betray the very values the Netroots presents for itself.

This thought occurred to me during the social media panel. The panelists were talking about the importance of reaching out to others in the blogosphere rather than expecting others to just come to us. As I tweeted from the panel: Treat online people like people and allies, not sheep. This expectation of community participation is at the core of Netroots activism; it keeps the playing field level by expecting everyone to participate actively.

The panels accomplish the opposite. They are groups of four or five who talk at us and then expect us to just ask them questions. It’s not really conversational, and it just seems to go against the very culture we seem to be trying to promote. Granted, I’m also biased as an educator and a performer; my top priority is always to keep people engaged and participating. The folks on these panels are brilliant and can speak eloquently to their issues, and there are certainly times when a panel format is ideal. I just think it’s odd that such a format is embraced as the primary format of engagement throughout the conference.

So, those are my primary complaints. They’re not really big ones, but they definitely give me a context for how to think about the rest of the conference and how to get the most out of it.

I have to say, Twitter is a pretty amazing tool for connecting with others. It can be annoying as hell when the hashtag search is full of retweets, but it does wonders for shared experiences. I’ve actually met a lot of people here at the conference through our exchange of tweets. I think it’s easy to think of Twitter as just a social tool, but it also is, itself, a great venue for delivering information. I won’t be blogging as much about the content of some of these workshops because Twitter is taking care of a lot of it. A number of people have actually come up to me and told me how much they appreciate my tweets, which makes me feel like it’s not all in vain!

It’s also been amazing to meet my readers. Honestly, before I got to this conference, I wasn’t sure many folks out there were really following this little ol’ blog, and it warms my heart to know you appreciate what I’m doing here. I hope I don’t sound as egotistical as that blowhard Ed Schultz (from MSNBC) who spoke last night. It’s just been an incredible confidence booster to feel like I’m not just wasting my time.

I’m certainly doing my best to sell myself here (though not in that way—I know this is Vegas, but seriously!). I continue to meet incredible people at every turn; there’s no doubt this weekend will have been a life-changing experience. I feel like a little kid at Disney World or something. I’m super excited to see others willing to promote my work! Pam Spaulding linked to my post from earlier this week; Joe Jervis has a picture of me on his site; and I even did a video interview with Minnesota-based The Uptake.

I really and truly feel like a part of this community, and I love it. I must continue to extend my thanks to all the amazing people who have made it possible for me to be here and who continue to be great mentors!! Exciting change can happen when we all work together toward our shared goals.

I have to get ready to get back into the fray! Go back to following my tweets for more updates throughout the day!

And in case you’re wondering, I played one dollar on a slot machine. I now have one less dollar. Cheers from Vegas!

Whoo! Netroots hasn’t even officially started yet but I’ve already had a great day with the LGBT Precon today. It was an odd sensation to be looking at the feeds I read every day and then look around and the bloggers whose sites I read daily were right there. For the whole morning, Pam Spaulding was sitting on my left (we were tweeting together if you were following the #lgbtnn10 tag), Mike Jones of change.org was on my right, and Joe Jervis and Jeremy Hooper (who took the pic below) were right behind me. And that’s just naming 4 of the 60ish folks who were there.

The focus of our day was really about bridging gaps in the movement. How can the organizations and the bloggers work together to move forward? Even though as citizen journalists we have an obligation to hold our leaders (both political and activist) accountable, we do ultimately have the same goals of seeing equality where it’s currently lacking. Everyone from HRC to GetEQUAL to Lambda Legal to GLAAD were on hand to talk about not just what they are doing, but how they can work with us to accentuate their efforts and spread their message.

I’ve been using the word “fledging” to describe my blog because in a lot of ways, I really don’t feel like I’m connected to things the way a lot of the folks I was around today are. It was really great to sit there and talk to orgs about how great it would be if they could send me the resources I need to do my best work here on the blog. The mere fact that I’m here at Netroots Nation speaks, I hope, to the idea that my blogging is worthwhile, but it’s incredibly validating to know that what I have here really can be a force for change.

As we discussed issues like immigration, marriage, employment nondiscrimination, and HIV/AIDS, it was inspiring that we didn’t just talk about how to use new media, we made commitments to using it together. We said, “This is a good idea, and we are going to work together to employ it.” It makes perfect sense for HRC and Pam Spaulding to cooperate on highlighting stories of people who have lost their jobs because they are gay. It makes perfect sense for Jeremy Hooper and I to work together on opposition research for anti-gay religious groups. It just takes us being in the room together and putting it out there and making the commitment. That’s the Netroots in action.

I must confess that my jetlag is catching up with me, and if I don’t nap now, I’ll have no evening of fun. I am in Vegas afterall. This is the first of many posts from Netroots Nation. If you are interested in what there is to learn here, please comment on the posts with your questions or shoot me emails!

Hey all, I won’t be blogging much until Netroots Nation next week, so here is a fun clip from The Little Mermaid, harkening back  to my post about Disney princesses:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8xCgC3w1zs

Missing your almost-daily does of ZackFord Blogs? Click here for a random post you might not have seen before!

Last night was the big Kathy Griffin My Life on the D-List episode where she embarrasses herself to national politicians on behalf of our movement and stages a big rally with HRC that accomplished nothing. (By the way, Dan Choi and James Pietrangelo’s charges were mysteriously dropped today. He informed the park police he’d seen them soon.)

While I’m glad to see open discussion about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell on TV, I was generally frustrated that Kathy Griffin would hail herself as some kind of hero that she is not. So, I decided to use the episode to raise a little awareness about the Human Rights Campaign. I’ve written against them quite a bit in the past (April, March, February, January, October) and am still in no way satisfied that they appropriately represent the LGBT community on our salient issues.

So, on the Human Rights Campaign Facebook Wall, HRC had posted a link to their Dear Senator robo-email form, encouraging those watching Kathy Griffin’s show to participate. In fairness, it was not an ask for money. But, the whole things was still a publicity stunt. So, I offered the following comment.

Zack Ford: Want to take action to help pointless publicity stunts that don’t really make a difference? HRC is the group to fund!

And hoo-wee was the discussion fun!

Thomas Vire: Hey Zach,sounds as though you’d rather help the tea party…Now there’s a pointless group of very angry people,they just don’t know who to be angry at… [13 Likes]

Doyle C. Durando: Great Attitude Zach!

Michael Voit: I agree with Zack on this one. Thanks for wasting my time.

Josh Ritchie: Want to talk pointless crap that only makes you look like an idiot? Zack is the person to talk to! [6 Likes]

Bret Valdez: ‎@Zack, Kathy Griffin is a huge ally for the gay community… shame you’re so negative towards our supporters… [2 Likes]

Erica Anderson: Bitter much, Zack? If anything you are thinking of PETA with their outrageous stunts they pull to try to get people to pay attention to them.

Ashleigh Bealko: Yes, no hate please…if u don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all- didn’t anyone ever teach u that? [2 Likes]

Social media is fun! Can there be a new form of Godwin’s Law for Tea Party comparisons? I can’t believe that was the first retort out of the gate.

Simply for challenging our largest LGBT organization to be accountable (as most of the Netroots do these days, it seems), I was attacked by their supporters. I was called a teabagger, which is bad enough, but my points were also referred to as “pointless crap,” and I was accused of being negative and hateful. I think one of the other commenters might have thought I was a Republican. Yeesh.

We have a big PR problem within our community if that’s how people react to fair internal critiques.

Of course, I wasn’t done.

Zack Ford: Wow, love all the respectful dialogue. If HRC claims to speak on behalf of all of us, it’d be great if they didn’t constantly cave on all our issues. Excuse me for wanting to hold them accountable. [3 Likes]

Not even close.

Sloan Danenhower: zack, i hear you. but at the same time politics is the art of the possible and if the HRC didn’t “cave” we wouldn’t have anything…

Mario Pinardi: Bitter & jaded solves nothing. Energy & passion solves the impossible. If you do not like HRC, at least, stand behind the cause of repealing DADT. Zero patience for bitter idiots. [4 Likes]

Zack Ford: Sloan, we don’t have anything anyway.

Chris Weisbecker: I don’t know. I do believe everyone is entitled to their opinion, that’s one of the things that makes this country so friggin awesome. But I also do feel that we are making a huge difference. If you are not happy with the organization, you can always just leave. Or even better yet, offer some constructive ways and solutions to make things better. [3 Likes]

Zack Ford: How about we stop pandering the President? How about they stop asking for money for campaigns that don’t actually apply pressure? How about we stop accepting compromises on our equality? Anyone want to tell me when the discharges stop?

Brian Rolon: If HRC is pointless, then remove them from your friends list and quit posting your own pointless comments. Get em Kathy!

Bret Valdez: Zack you sound so ignorant right now. I barely know anything about politics, but I’m not on a Facebook profile voicing my ill-advised opinions about them. and remember, opinions are like assholes; everyone’s got one.

Zack Ford: Bret, when do the discharges end?

I’m not going to lie; I do find this kind of fun. But I also think it’s important. There could have been a hundred comments of people just praising Kathy Griffin and HRC, but now there’s some real discussion going. People are calling me names and spelling my name wrong, but that’s ok. It’s just a poor response to the cognitive dissonance they’re experiencing.

Sarah Angela Evans: ‎@Zach Ford, WRONG.. you do have rights and you may not realize this because of your youth, but the rights you have NOW are because of the HRC and those of us who stood up and gained the rights we have now. We started the first Gay Activist Alliance at the University of Oklahoma, when it was unheard of to talk about being a “queer” but we fought and we won. I remember being called names, bashed and having fireworks hurled at us by those who hated us. And the police turned the other way. When the police did look our way, they were beating us up for being a queer… I see you graduated from IOWA.. be proud at least gays can marry in your State!!! I remember many friends who were discharged dishonorably after a career in the military simply on the word of someone saying they were a queer… and when the Army Internal Affairs would come to the gay bars off post and take names of those who were there so they could throw them out of the service… Zach, we have so much more than we did when I was your age… This is not an overnight win.. it takes time… hopefully in my lifetime, but definitely in yours… [3 Likes]

I didn’t want to respond to Sarah, directly, because that just didn’t seem like it would be productive to the thread. But, I will say here that the dishonorable discharges are no different today. I still can’t get married. I still can get fired. The police still unfairly target our community. I am quite proud of those who came before to help educate and change attitudes, but when it comes to the law, what’s different? As far as I can see, I don’t have any federal rights that she didn’t back at the University of Oklahoma. I hate to be a downer, but that’s why I’m angry. Important work was done, but we haven’t come that far, and HRC surely has done squat recently (except take our money, of course).

Zack Ford: It’d be great if we stopped apologizing for a President who takes our money and then doesn’t expend any capital on our issues. I appreciate the work that’s come before, but I think we need to hold HRC accountable for their promises and issues. [1 Like]

Brian Anderson: Thank you Zack.

Sabrina Codella Ricketts: I am gay, and I served for 8 years. I completed my contract, got out and married my highschool sweetheart. As much as I am disgusted with DADT, I’m not naive enough to think that things will change over a couple years. Never in our country’s history has change towards equality been swift. One of the first moves towards ending slavery happened in 1787. MLK was still marching for equality in the 1960s. Now gays aren’t fighting back from slavery but we are fighting back from being labeled as immoral and a disease on society. You can’t expect the impossible. Unfortunately it will be slow gains over time. Just keep fighting and grab onto and celebrate the gains. Direct your anger where it belongs. At the bigots, not the organizations trying to make things better.

Thank you for your service, Sabrina. Unfortunately, the organization taking our community’s money is responsible for our lack of progress. Did it ever occur to you that they’re not good at what they do? Or more importantly, they don’t accomplish the goals they’ve promised us?

Evance Cannon: HRC FAIL

Evance Cannon: The elegant activist is a total DOUCHENOZZLE!

Zack Ford: Gotta love the photo opportunity while real activists are taking real action… Ooh, and a text from Cher! That’s going to make a difference. We can do so much better than these stunts folks. Think twice about who you entrust to advocate on your behalf. [1 Like]

Mario Pinardi: As a gay man who is relatively dull, I choose to make bold choices in order to fight for equality. So, if you are a gay & a conservative & a hater, then you are the one who is damaging our cause, not vocal allies like Kathy. Again, zero tolerance for those who choose to diminish & hate inside their own GLBT community. You have a lot to learn about tolerance, inclusion, & equality. I say “Go Kathy” – make more bold choices for your “gays.”

Some of these comments make me wonder if we have a real insecurity problem in the community. I come from a biased place; I read about HRC’s inaction at least weekly on the blogosphere. But here are folks that think HRC’s the end-all-be-all and attack anyone who challenges their organization’s pristine reputation. Wake up, folks! It’s far from it.

The thing that frustrated me most was that at the end of the D-List episode, some text on the screen explained that the House of Representatives had voted on repeal or Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

No, they did not. They voted on some ambiguous compromise that two months after the completion of the survey that will take until December, a whole bunch of military leaders can decide if and how they want to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

Zack Ford: WHOA MISINFORMATION. THEY DID NOT VOTE ON REPEAL.

Zack Ford: When do the discharges end? No one knows.

Keith Valdez: I think Kathy did the right thing in not going to the white house with cho. How is handcuffing yourself to the white house fence going to help? [1 Like]

Zack Ford: Keith, like all civil disobedience, it puts the pressure and accountability on the those who enforce the law. It’s saying, “This discrimination is so hurting us we’re willing to break the law in front of your office. It’s YOUR fault, President Obama, that I’m in jail. I wouldn’t have to do this if you had fulfilled your promise to be a fierce advocate.” [1 Like]

Keith Valdez: Well not everyone is against Obama. Obama didn’t put him in jail, he handcuffed himself to the fence. That is a violation of the laws protecting the residence of our nations leader and therefore he put himself into jail. He could have made a bold statement any other way because if I remember correctly he wasn’t protesting the laws governing the protection of the white house. Kathy does not have to subscribe to his way of protesting and neither do the rest of us. That event was in the news for a few days then forgotten until now so he can thank her for giving him some publicity. It was presumptuous and not very thoughtful on his part to put her on the spot in that way.

Actually, I think the media completely ignored Kathy and Joe’s staged rally in favor of the real activism Dan and Jim were doing. There was nothing news-worthy about the rally except that it got trumped by what Dan and Jim did! Oh, and did you see they were still in the news today of their own accord? And their charges were dismissed, presumably because the Obama administration was embarrassed there would be a public airing of their failure to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell!

William Robert Hagen: ‎@Zack Ford, I agree 100%. Almost 1,000 LGBT soldiers have been booted under Obama. HRC does need to hold Obama accountable. Obama made those promises to us, we did not force him to make him those promises. Obama could stop enforcement through Executive Order right now and has not. If he would do that, I personally would shut-up, but until he does that he does not get my support and more importantly, my money.

Glen McWilliams: All the blind kudos just because it’s Kathy Griffin is a perfect example of why no one in office takes gay activism seriously.

Now, there might be some of you out there who think my little comments on HRC’s wall were petty and useless. You might feel that reading this post was a waste of your time. That’s fine. But let me ask you: what have you done to engage in critical dialogue lately?

If one person read my comments and thought twice about the efficacy of the Human Rights Campaign, then it was worth it. Every step forward helps.