A Phyrric victory
2007-11-08 01:10 -
First off, before I start getting bitter: thank you to Rep. Tammy Baldwin, for your efforts to salvage the mess of the non-inclusive ENDA. Thank you to Rep. Jerrold Nadler for standing by the LGBT community and making a principled stand against the bill.
Congressional leaders, especially Rep. Barney Frank, and the Human Rights Campaign have failed the entire LGBT community in the passage of H.R. 3685. I will not be celebrating tonight; instead, I am deeply saddened. I have not yet had a chance to read the debate in the Congressional Record, but I’ll be doing that tomorrow first thing.
Failing to even allow the Baldwin amendment to come to a vote for fear of having the vote held against oneself in a future election is pure and simple cowardice. Our Representatives should grow a pair and show some real Courage. I’m very tempted to read President John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage again to reassure myself that at one point in the past, we had real leaders who stood on principle, rather than sacrificing the moral high ground to “save” their own necks. And it’s not even clear that voting for a trans bill is political suicide at all.
Passage of an incomplete bill that falls far short of providing real protections for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people in the United States is far more harmful than helpful. The bill has sent a mixed message – that it’s okay to discriminate against people for their gender identity or expression. I do not want half a loaf.
H.R. 3685 only helps people that are able to ‘pass’ for straight in terms of their gender conformity. It does not protect those of us who work for small companies. It does not protect trans individuals.
Joe Solomonese is a hypocrite, a liar, and a manipulative bastard. By promising one thing to the LGBT community and delivering something very different, he has shown that he, and by proxy, the entire HRC, cannot be trusted. If you have a few minutes, I urge you to listen to his attempts to weasel his way out of being caught in a blatant lie regarding HRC’s commitment to trans inclusiveness.
I am certainly joining with many others in the LGBT community in calling for a boycott of the HRC. Do not give the HRC any donations, unsubscribe from their mailing lists, and refuse to volunteer for them. It is clear that they are not a human rights organization at all, but merely a petty advocacy group for the very narrow group of straight-passing gay men rather than the entire LGBT spectrum.
I would say more, but others in the community can probably say it better than I can. Pam’s House Blend and Donna Rose are speculating on where we go from here. I frankly don’t want to think about this now given how disgusted I am with the political system.
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