Planet Out (http://www.planetout.com/news/article.html?2007/10/09/5)
Kerry Eleveld, The Advocate; photo by Joe Tresh, courtesy JoeTresh.com
"There are protesters outside this auditorium who feel great despair. There are people inside this auditorium who feel the same way. Let me just say I welcome their declarations..."
But as Solmonese addressed the sold-out crowd of more than 3,000, some of the very people he was speaking to turned their backs in defiance and perhaps even in disgust.
"I find it difficult to respect somebody who has promised something to me face-to-face and then seems to be backing away from that promise as fast as he can," said Meredith Bacon, a professor at the University of Nebraska and board member of the National Center for Transgender Equality.