Parents across the country are looking to national, state, and district leaders to support our nation’s students, help them recover from the pandemic, and provide them the academic and mental health supports they need.
Instead, leaders in Florida are prioritizing hateful bills that hurt some of the students most in need.
The Department of Education has made clear that all schools receiving federal funding must follow federal civil rights law, including Title IX’s protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
We stand with our LGBTQ+ students in Florida and across the country, and urge Florida leaders to make sure all their students are protected and supported.
Thank you to the Secretary of Education for stepping into his major mess. The saddest part is that while Florida is to blame and Disney despite all its “we’re allies” bullshit said nothing when the time came. But also our LGBT organizations are also to blame. Where were they? Nowhere.
The Human Rights Campaign is too busy fighting a lawsuit from its former President Alphonso David, GLAAD did not say one word about Disney purposely staying out of the debate, and the Task Force. Well. They haven’t had a real task in over 20 years. Not one of these LGBT “watchdogs” have said a word. It really makes you wonder how much money Disney donates to them.
We should be upset. We should be pissed. We should take to the streets but all but a few of our older LGBT activists are gone and the new generation doesn’t understand that “memes” and “dance protests” aren’t going to cut it. We are under attack. The “Don’t Say Gay” law harkens back to Anita Bryant and her “Save the Children Campaign. We have literally lost 40 years of advancement over a few weeks. In part if the fact that nobody wants to piss Disney off.
Heed my warning and make no mistake about it that we as LGBT Americans are in danger and will be until we have full federal equality. Case in point: Just hours after Florida passed its ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, Tennessee House Republicans advanced legislation banning public schools from using textbooks or materials that “promote, normalize, support or address LGBT issues or lifestyles .”
Will you join me in this fight?We can only save ourselves.
The former president of the Human Rights Campaign, Alphonso David t, sued the organization in federal court on Thursday, alleging that he was underpaid and then terminated “because he is Black” instead of the reason given which for helping former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo respond to allegations of sexual misconduct.
David was named nearly a dozen times in the damning report by New York Attorney General Letitia James, suggesting David assisted in efforts by Cuomo’s staff to discredit a woman alleging sexual misconduct in Cuomo’s office
In his lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of New York, David contends that he was fired “because he is Black” and that the group “maintained discriminatory employment practices. “while discussing his contract renewal, HRC board members “acknowledged” and claims that he was paid less than his white predecessor “because of his race.” While it is true David’s salary was lower than his predecessor (Chad Griffin $570,446.00 2019 – David $517,269.00 in 2020 but his amount of “other compensation” is higher.And yes. The bloated over-paid salary is over a HALF A MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR!)
Although David insists no wrongdoing, investigation findings indicate after his his former tenure as counselor to Cuomo was over, that he kept the personnel file for an employee within the office accusing the governor of sexual misconduct, then assisted in efforts to leak that file to the media in an attempt to discredit her. It’s also reported that David allegedly said he would help find individuals to sign their names to a draft op-ed that sought to discredit the survivor.
1892 – American Feminist writer and illustrator Djuna Barnes is born. Her writings are believed to be the first English language poems with lesbian content.
Barnes played an important part in the development of 20th century English language modernist writing and was one of the key figures in 1920s and 30s bohemian Paris after filling a similar role in the Greenwich Village of the teens. Her novel “Nightwood” became a cult work of modern fiction, helped by an introduction by T. S. Eliot. It stands out today for its portrayal of lesbian themes and its distinctive writing style. Since Barnes’s death, interest in her work has grown and many of her books are back in print.
1959 – Birth date of Scott Thompson, openly gay actor 1967.
Thompson is best known for the character he created of Charles Budderick “Buddy” Cole an effeminate, scandalous, gay socialite, made famous on The Kids in the Hall, a popular Canadian sketch comedy series and troupe of the same name. The character also had a recurring role in The Colbert Report .
1959 – The US Supreme Court issued its ruling in Loving v. Virginia. The case was brought by an interracial couple who challenged the constitutionality of laws banning interracial marriage. The court ruled in favor of the couple, and ruled marriage to be a civil right.
1970 – Neva Joy Heckman and Judith Ann Belew attempted to become legally married. The ceremony was held at Metropolitan Community Church in Los Angeles and performed by Rev Troy Perry, the founder of the denomination. Under California law, a couple who has lived together at least two years can be legally joined without a license by having a church ceremony and being issued a church certificate.
1975 – The Austin Lesbian Organization was given airtime on the Texas public interest interview program “For Your Information.”
1981 – A Provincial Court judge in Toronto found two employees guilty and three owners not guilty of keeping a common bawdyhouse. Charges related to the Barracks steambath, raided by police December 9, 1978.
1983 – “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker made its appearance on the New York Times bestseller list.
1989 – A rally was held outside the state house in Boston to demand approval of a gay rights bill. 300 people attended.
1995 – The Employment Non-Discrimination Act was re-introduced in Congress. Transgender individuals were purposely excluded from the official bill presented to Congress because it was thought to be too risky in getting the bill to pass. Congressman Barney Frank and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) were behind the exclusion as they saw this reframing as a way to make the bill more marketable. However, 350 national queer organizations opposed the exclusion of gender identity from the bill in an act of solidarity with trans communities. To this day HRC is resented by many for this cowardly act and helped create a rift between the Trans and LGB community that still has not been repaired to this day.
1997 – San Francisco Human Rights Commissioners voted five-to-one to retain laws regulating sex clubs and bathouses, including the banning of private rooms. Because we all know a banning a private room stops AIDS not education and condoms.
1997 – A New York appeals court revoked all legal rights as a parent from a lesbian who had been granted limited visitation with a child born to her ex-lover.
2002 – Philip Walsted, 24, was beaten with a baseball bat and robbed on a downtown Tucson street.
Walsted was walking home on June 12, 2002, when he was attacked and beaten with a baseball bat by 22-year-old David Higdon in the course of a robbery. Walsted was struck in the head with the bat up to 20 times, and received more than 50 wounds as a result of the attack. He died later that day at University Medical Center.
David A. Higdo, an avowed neo-Nazi was sentenced to life without parole
2003 – Philadelphia’s Boy Scout council, which defied the national BSA organization in May 2003 by promising not to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, ousted a Scout, Gregory Lattera, 18, for publicly announcing he is gay. The same council, the nation’s third largest, voted May 28 to add sexual orientation to its nondiscrimination policy.
2006 – Australia’s Attorney General, Phillip Ruddock, overturned a same-sex marriage law in the Australian Capital Territory.
2011 – On this date, Episcopal clergy in the diocese of San Joaquin, California, officially recognized gay and lesbian partnerships as “sacred unions.”
Last night Saturday Night Live, in a cold opening that took aim at the Democratic presidential contenders who appeared at this week’s CNN LGBT Town Hall.
The skit featured a number of cameos from stars: Woody Harrelson (as Joe Biden), Lin-Manuel Miranda (as Julian Castro) and “Pose” star Billy Porter to the stage to serve as MC.
On this day in 1996, then President Bill Clinton announced his signing of the Defense of Marriage Act, which outlawed federal recognition of same-sex marriage, and which allowed the Federal Government to ignore the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S Constitution and refuse to recognized valid marriages from other states. Clinton said that he signed DOMA to head off a federal constitutional amendment, but LGBT advocates and many in the political pundits agree that the act was less than a defense against a federal constitutional amendment and more a defense of his 1996 re-election campaign. Those suspicions were confirmed when the Clinton released a campaign ad in 15 Christian radio stations in conservative states boasting that he had signed the Defense of Marriage Act.After being found out and because of the response to loud protests from LGBT advocates, the Clinton campaign pulled that ad two days later.
“On Defense of Marriage [Act], I think what my husband believed — and there was certainly evidence to support it — is that there was enough political momentum to amend the Constitution of the United States of America, and that there had to be some way to stop that. And there wasn’t any rational argument — because I was in on some of those discussions, on both ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and on DOMA, where both the president, his advisers and occasionally I would — you know, chime in and talk about, ‘You can’t be serious. You can’t be serious.’ But they were. And so, in a lot of ways, DOMA was a line that was drawn that was to prevent going further. It was a defensive action.”
A review of congressional record and news coverage from 1996 found little public evidence that Democratic lawmakers decided to vote for DOMA because of a threat of a constitutional amendment.
Elizabeth Birch, former head of the Human Rights Campaign who fought against DOMA, said the actual threat of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage came after President George W. Bush took office and vowed to reserve marriage for heterosexual unions. There was not, at the time, a kind of concentrated threat of a constitutional amendment. That came four years later.”
Birch and many others have always said that President Clinton’s support for DOMA was a defensive move in that he wanted to “take it out of play for the 1996 election”
In fact Bill Clinton campaigned using DOMA as a re-election tool and ran a controversial radio ad that touted his signing of the Defense of Marriage Act which aired on Christian radio stations in several states
Fast forward to present day.
“President Clinton has evolved on this issue just like every American has evolved,” said Human Rights Campaign, President Chad Griffin.
Which bears the comment that if he was really against it at the time why would he have to “evolve”.
Today, Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez announced the appointment of Joe Solmonese to be Chief Executive Officer of the 2020 Democratic National Convention Committee. Solmonese just recently served as the Transition Chair of Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), and previously served as the President of the Human Rights Campaign and the Chief Executive Officer of Emily’s List.
“Joe Solmonese will be an asset in leading our convention team. He brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to this role and will be instrumental in ensuring we have a successful event,” said Perez. “We chose Milwaukee because the city embodies who we are as a party, and under Joe’s leadership, I’m confident those values will be at the forefront as we celebrate our nominee and prepare for the general election. I am thrilled to have him as a part of the team and look forward to a unifying convention that will put our nominee in the best possible position for victory in November 2020.”
“The opportunity to lead the 2020 convention is a tremendous honor and I’m prepared to hit the ground running,” said Solmonese. “There is no better time than now to be a Democrat and next summer we will showcase the ideals and diversity that make our party, the city of Milwaukee, and our nominee special to the American people.”
Joe Solmon-sleaze as we used to call him ran the Human Rights Campaign from 2005 – 2012.
The Human Rights Campaign, that gala throwing, money sucking LGBT “advocacy” group that has done jack-shit over the past few year to advance the civil rights of LGBT people. Today launched ‘The Real Mike Pence’, a multi-pronged campaign exposing the vice president’s anti-LGBT history and views that we all are already aware of to prove they are actually doing something and still relevant so they can beg for more money.
The “campaign” highlights Pemce’s support of “gay conversion therapy” (We all know that already); his pursuit of a ‘religious freedom’ license to discriminate against LGBT people (We all know that already); and his attempts to block hate crime legislation and funding for HIV and AIDS prevention. (And yes. We all know that already.)
Said HRC President Chad Griffin: “Mike Pence has made a career out of attacking the rights and equal dignity of LGBT people, women and other marginalized communities. Now as vice president, he poses one of the greatest threats to equality in the history of our movement.”
In reality there are many who think that the grossly overpaid Griffin ($450.000.,00 a year + benefits) and the HRC which has won not attempted to or won any real battle for the pursuit of LGBT civil rights in over the past decade is also one of the greatest threats to equality in the history of our movement because the do nothing while making believe that they do.
Watch their video. Because this is how they justify the millions of dollars of your donation money a year while doing nothing of any worth to the LGBT movement.
Please consider donating to Lambda Legal or grassroots LGBT organizations. The ones who do the REAL work of fighting for our rights.
President Donald Trump may be on a 17-day vacation but his White House has been scrambling to hand him a “win” by the time he returns. Trump’s tweets last week announcing a ban on transgender individuals serving openly in the U.S. military was turned into a “guidance” policy for implementation that passed muster with the White House Counsel’s office Friday night.
Approved by Trump, the new policy is expected to be now delivered into the hands of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who has been quiet on the issue with approximately 15,000 trans service members under his command. After his review, Mattis is expected to order a deliberate implementation by the Pentagon, which could take a period of time.
Though the policy—called “A Guidance Policy for Open Transgender Service Phase Out”—has not yet been made public, sources familiar with the planning said it would encourage early retirement, usher out any enlisted personnel after their contract is up, and would fire trans officers up for promotion. Basically, said a source, “the administration wants to get rid of transgender service members as fast as they can.”
No one yet knows what will happen to the service members currently fighting in combat. The new policy does allow trans service members to continue serving but apparently does not offer any protection from harassment or other efforts to get them to quit. – via the Washington Blade
Lambda Legal intends to file a lawsuit against the trans-military ban.
So far other than a press release the Human Rights Campaign has done nothing except sent out junk mail solicitations for donations and applications for the HRC credit card .
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) campaign has refuse to stand behind and support African-American workers in Mississippi trying to organize at a Nissan plant.
Seventeen members of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights were asked to sign on to a letter to Nissan North America citing the National Labor Relations Board’s finding that Nissan has “threatened its employees with termination because of their union activities”
Only the Human Rights Campaign and the National Urban League declined to sign on to the letter that was signed by the NAACP, the National Organization for Women, Unidos USA, the National Council of Churches, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice, among others.
Randi Weingarten, the out lesbian leader of the American Federation of Teachers, said, “It’s deeply disappointing that HRC would not stand for the workers’ rights and affirm that human rights and civil rights are synonymous with workers’ rights, particularly at a time when there is an assault on those we represent. We need to stand to together on behalf of all of us. Unions like my own and so many other labor unions have been soldiers in the fights for LGBTQ priorities for decades. And when it comes to LGBTQ issues, we don’t shy away from championing them regardless of what other feathers it might ruffle. I weighed in strongly with Mary Beth Maxwell of HRC [who served in the Obama administration as the principal deputy assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Labor]… who refused to acknowledge the seriousness of this situation.”
Jerame Davis, of Pride at Work at the AFL-CIO, said, “We’ve been documenting HRC’s less than friendly labor policies for a while. HRC gets most of their money from corporations, and they don’t want to bite the hand that feeds them. This wasn’t a big ask. This was almost pro forma — to voluntarily recognize the union after a vote and not to fight it.”
Davis emphasized, “You can still be fired in 28 states for being LGBT. Union-busting is an LGBT issues because the union contract [with a clause banning anti-LGBTQ discrimination] is the only thing that can protect LGBT workers” in many places.
Well its that time of year again and the Human Rights Campaign has released their yearly 990’s and once again Chad Hunter (Rosa Parks) Griffin the man who tried to steal the credit for same-sex marriage obsene salary has been bumped up once again and now stands at $438.000 dollars a year.
Breakdown (Minus weekends and 10 paid holidays a year)
$1745.00 a day.
$218.00 an hour
$3.63 a minute
While the LGBT community has homeless kids sleeping in the streets, members of the community unable to afford food or the basic necessities, and gay men who cannot afford their AIDS medication Griffin’s salary is not only obscene but a slap in the face to all of us.
Read and get disgusted at HRC’s entire new IRS 990 filing here.
Many thanks to longtime LGBT activist Micheal Petrelis .
