Goodness & Courage

The Senate just voted 65-31 to repeal the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell ban on lesbians and gays serving openly in the military. I’m speechless. My face is wet with all the losses we’ve suffered. And I’m remembering those I know who sacrificed. In Silence. Whose families suffered. In Silence. Whose families struggled because they had none of the support other families receive from the military. Whose life partners walked in terror that they would be the last to know of the wounding or death of the person they loved most in the world.

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Why I'm so damn frightened of you

YOU - that's the "you" that's generally young, gay, trans, queer, lesbian, etc., and so certain you're right - YOU scare the living heck out of me. I'm not exactly certain what it is that is so frightening. I do have the distinct feeling, however, that you've just wrenched the steering wheel of the LGBT movement out of my age-spotted hands and that you're driving us queer folk off a political cliff.

Let me count my fears. (more at Bilerico)

Latest Column: What Gays Owe Black America

My new Political IQ column is out.

Political IQ: A new political landscape & a new gay agenda

My new Political IQ column is out.

This new political landscape also gives us greater freedom to act. When LGBT America faced the repressive Bush administration and a Congress dominated by social conservatives, we didn’t dare challenge politicians who might be our friends. The prospect of defeating even weak-kneed Democrats and facing never-ending government by the religious right meant we had to bide our time. But those days are over.

Some unsolicited advice for California's Equality Summit organizers

Reading about the internal struggle over organizing an Equality Summit in California is giving me flashbacks. Hold on a moment while I do some deep breathing. It's a tad like being slapped when you're not expecting it.

Before I stuck my journalist hat firmly back on my head, I worked in gay politics, serving on campaigns and helping to birth two LGBT rights organizations. That experience shook my faith in just about everything, but particularly in the idea that LGBT Americans could ever get along well enough to make political progress.

At first, I thought the infighting was because we were all volunteers. No one was getting paid, so we were a bit cranky, at least that was my theory. I next decided that perhaps the Religious Right was correct, and that we were all crazy, mean, nasty and just plain stupid.

But then I began to look at other groups. I peered closely at some of the dysfunctional non-gay organizations I had worked for. Filled with paid and highly trained professionals, they were in desperate need of group therapy. One of the biggest eye openers came when I hung around executives who gave me the inside scoop on their own decidedly mainstream and non-gay organizations. And to top it off, we all got to see the meltdown and very public infighting of John McCain's campaign last year, not to mention the sniping within the Hillary Clinton campaign.

And so, I am writing to provide some totally unsolicited advice on our current troubles.

First, a word to those of us watching from the outside: Giving feedback to the folks in the inner circle in California is good, but attacking their integrity and intelligence is a truly lousy idea. No one wants to lose. No one wants to hurt LGBT America. There are no evil doers here. There are, however, good ideas, bad ideas and disagreements over strategy and tactics.

For the folks currently tussling with each other over the Equality Summit: Take a deep breath. Take a walk in the woods or on the beach. Take two or three walks. Have a good scream or beat up an unsuspecting tree or pillow if you're really furious.

From a more practical point of view, consider bringing in an organization expert for advice and guidance, but most of all remember that what you're doing is inherently difficult. It's made nearly impossible by the fact that you're working with other human beings. (We are such an unruly and emotionally touchy species.) It's also made nearly impossible by the fact that we've been losing a lot lately. (See McCain campaign for reference.) A smooth and non-emotional effort is also complicated by the fact that you are literally fighting for the security of your children and your friends and neighbors. The issues are so emotional and so personal that screaming meltdowns are to be expected.

May you survive it all better than I did.

Obama built from the ground up - or - grassroots organizing works

As a follow-up to my last Political IQ column, it's worth noting that Barack Obama's smashingly successful campaign built from the ground up. Campaign Manager David Plouffe explains:

Our first priority was the ground operation because we thought that was essential to us winning. It's very much, I think, a unique approach. In a lot of campaigns, the media gets funded first, then if you have extra money that comes in, you bolster the field and things of that sort. And we kind of did it in reverse....

First of all, we knew that we had to get really good turnout, and that we thought a human being talking to a human being in a state is the most effective in communication. So we needed an organization that was able to facilitate that.

The gay rights movement is a bit like a presidential campaign, only more so. A successful presidential candidate only has to win in a few key states. In order for LGBT Americans to get equality we have to win in every state. We should all be studying Obama 101 right now.

The curse of the Human Rights Campaign

In my newest Political IQ column, I ponder the problems with the biggest gay rights organization in the nation, the Human Rights Campaign.

The organization is beginning to feel like a lead weight tied around our collective necks. If we're not careful, we may all be pulled under and drowned. Launched the year Ronald Reagan was elected president, HRC is a 20th-century organization foundering in a changed world. To switch metaphors, it's the lumbering campaign of John McCain (minus the reactionary politics) stumbling punch-drunk as it's pummeled by Barack Obama's nimble, grassroots organization.

Moving forward in a post-Prop 8 world

Longtime activist Torie Osborn has posted an indictment of the LGBT rights movement. Osborn writes:

Nobody has accepted responsibility for failure and stepped up to lead a coherent, community- wide discussion of where to from here. As a result there is too much finger pointing, and a startling loss of credibility for established LGBT organizations and leaders. Without a humble and truth-telling self-assessment, the energetic protest and proliferation of new young activists may well evaporate, or be too narrowly contained within one single – if exciting -- strand of the LGBT movement: web activism. Or, inaccurate analysis will become set in stone and lead toward division rather than powerful motion forward.

Agreed!

Let's also remember that no-one is a villain here. I'm pleased to see that Osborn, who has a great reputation, isn't suggesting tar and feathering LGBT leaders. Like her, I believe that we need honest discussion. Demonization of our leaders won't help. Driven by emotion, such attacks make it harder to understand what really happened, drive leaders from the movement and turn away emerging leaders who don't want to subject themselves to tongue lashings.

I doubt very much if the leaders of the No on Prop 8 campaign wanted to be defeated. They made mistakes. We all made mistakes, and there is much for all of us to learn.

The first step, as Osborn says, is admitting our goofs. Let the discussion begin!