Boycott of HRC event grows
NEWS
Published 06/19/2008
by Matthew S. Bajko
http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=3095 (http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=3095)
Calls to boycott this year's Human Rights Campaign gala dinner in San Francisco are growing louder as the national group's July 26 fundraiser grows nearer. The Washington, D.C.-based LGBT lobbyist organization upset many in the Bay Area's LGBT community last year when it backed passage of a federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act stripped of gender identity protections.
The decision has led to protests and no-shows by local elected officials at HRC dinners across the country since last fall. Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese further flamed the controversy this spring when he told transgender leaders in Atlanta that he had misspoke last year when saying HRC would only support a trans-inclusive ENDA.
I recently attended a meeting full of some local leaders of the "LGBT community". I put that in quotes because they were all white gay males. I got to hear about HRC for quite some time and did my best to scowl at them when it was brought up. near the end of the meeting they asked me what they could to reach out to more T individuals. I told them a good start was to stop talking about HRC since they like to throw us under the bus every chance that they get.
Went to another meeting. Starting conversation? Upcoming HRC dinner and fund raiser.