Could the DNC boycott be working already?

John Aravosis of Americablog, one of the leaders of the LGBT boycott of the DNC, reports that the tactic might just be working.

One day after the boycott began, Barney Frank, one of the few openly gay members of Congress, said that the Don't Ask/Don't Tell will likely be taken up by Congress this spring.  This is the clearest indication yet that the anti-gay policy may be repealed during Obama's first term.  Previous signals from the White House and Congress were vague at best.  Frank, a liberal known for his ability to effectively manipulate the rough and tumble politics of Washington, most likely made his suggestion with consent of the DNC leadership.


It's a good start.  But if DNC members think a quick announcement -- not by the administration but by a member of Congress -- will mend fences, they're in for a surprise.  And two things about this new information make John Aravosis hesitant: (1) the use of the word likely...still not a definitive statement and (2) the fact that a senior member of the administration did not make the announcement.


Parsing words?  Maybe.  But every word is parsed in Washington.  Words like "likely" are important, as are the titles of those who make the announcements.  And let's not forget that we're unlikely to see any profiles in courage in Congress during an election year.

Donations and the DNC

Well, I just emailed the Democratic National Committee asking them to indefinitely take me off the donation list.  We were dedicated givers.  Once, twice, sometimes even three times a year.  But now I just can't.  I understand change is slow.  I know the political obstacles.  I'm not a pie-in-the-sky idealist who expected great change immediately.  But what I didn't expect was that the DNC would be downright obstructionist when it came to LGBT issues.  How else can you characterize recruiting Mainers to work phone banks for the Governor of New Jersey -- volunteers that could have been used to defeat the marriage referendum?

Instead, I intend to give to those candidates who are leaders, not followers or obstructionists in equality.  First on my list is Deval Patrick. Without his leadership, same sex marriage would have been put to a vote in Massachusetts.  Period.  No question.  He put his office on the line in convincing  reps and senators in the Massachusetts State House that civil rights should not be put to a vote.  He's in trouble in Massachusetts, not because of his marriage stance, but because of the dire economic situation.  It's not the time to bail out on him.  He led when we needed him.

Marriage Update:  The Washington, DC City Council will most likely vote on a marriage bill within the next few weeks.  All signs point towards its passage, with one possible obstacle: the US Congress.  By law, the US Congress can require its own vote for DC legislation.  It rarely happens, but this might just be too good an opportunity for some grandstanding and showmanship among same-sex marriage opponents.  Stay tuned.

Family Feud

There's a feud brewing among some gay leaders and it's becoming public.  I'm sure this has been simmering for some time, but the referendum in Maine seems to have been the breaking point.  John Aravosis, a blogger who was named one of the "Top 50 Most Influential LGBT People in the United States," publicized the story last week that an arm of the Democratic National Committee emailed Maine voters to help in to the reelection of New Jersey Governor John Corzine.  Absent from the email was any mention of the gay marriage referendum.  This infuriated some gay leaders, including Aravosis.  He then claimed that the DNC had lied when it called the email a mistake, claiming that internal emails in the DNC proved otherwise.


Enter Andrew Tobias, an important gay leader in his own right, author of one of the most important books in the modern gay literary canon, The Best Little Boy in the World.  Tobias, a financial wizard, is treasurer of the DNC.  Aravosis points to Tobias for allowing the email to be sent; Tobias blames Aravosis for leading a gay revolt against the DNC.   While both have expressed their disappointment that the Obama administration remained quiet on the Maine ballot question, Tobias is much more willing to work with the administration for change.  Aravosis and others have had it: Rick Warren, Don't Ask Don't Tell, the Justice Department's brief that reads like a position paper from Mike Mike Huckabee, and now this.  Gay writer Dan Savage appeared on Keith Oberman's show to say that "President Obama is a fierce advocate of gay rights the same way I'm a ladies' man.  He isn't and I'm not." (Obama had defended his choice of Rick Warren by saying that he has always been a "fierce advocate" of LGBT rights.)


So insiders vs. outsiders are fighting who share the same goal.  Is this really anything new in any struggle?  The fact is, we need them both.  We need the insiders to help us keep the faith and not give up; we need the leaders outside of government to scream like crazy and call the President on his lack of action. We need the insiders who have the ear of the administration  and know-how to work the system; we need the outsiders to tell them the system doesn't work.  We need the insiders to remind us that things would be quite different under a John McCain administration; we need the outsiders to say that a "fierce advocate" would not remain silent when our civil rights are put to a vote.

We need them both.  And I thank them both.