The headline is a bit misleading, but the Post-Gazette's Mackenzie Carpenter has a good piece on recent legal action involving anonymous comments. I thought it worth examining.
We are a tiny blip in the Burghosphere. Not much commenting, but most of it is anonymous. Our comment feature can be tricky to use so I suspect it is most often just easier than intentional. I monitor and remove comments that cross the lines of libel (I believe), but it is important that you realize there is no real anonymity in the blogosphere.
Under a 1996 telecommunications law, Web service providers do have protection from comments made by third-party posters, but some courts will require them to divulge those posters' identities if a strong enough case for defamation can be made by the plaintiff.
Bloggers have been dropping like flies in Pittsburgh, most citing the consumption of time as too much a burden. Part of that time is monitoring the comments.
I've been "fortunate" that the person most often defamed in the comments PghLesbian.com has been me. ;-) A few folks are the subject of criticism that I'm sure they don't appreciate, but my personal belief is that it is no worse than the gossip which pervades most social gatherings. Criticism is not defamation.
I've had to take some folks to task for their overzealous, out of line comments, but I've only had one incident when someone made me personally start to feel uncomfortable with their shall we say "intensity" on a topic. That was resolved with a few email messages.
Of course, if you're a blogger or message board operator or host of a site that permits comments and contributions, there are a lot of things that you can do to minimize the risk that any of this will rise up to bite you. You can try to enforce a "no anonymous commenting" policy, which is highly imperfect but which sends a message to most people that certain standards of civility apply. You can permit anonymity but screen comments for bad behavior, either before they are posted or after they are posted, or both. (As I noted above, this brings certain risks in terms of liability, but it may also decrease the likelihood that a dispute will come up, or that a dispute will escalate.) You can ensure that your own contributions set a tone that doesn't cross the line in the first place, so that you don't invite tit-for-tat responses. You can do these things in a variety of combinations.
I've tried requiring people to register, but that is cumbersome with my software. I also feel that one goal of this blog is to allow folks who are not out an opportunity to be part of the dialogue. Anonymity is sort of an inherent part of the gay experience, especially in Pittsburgh. Of course, you can register using a fake handle so that's always an option.
The "setting a tone" perspective is interesting. I've found it intriguing that gay institutions tend to draw the sharpest criticism and the most passionate defenders. I've also found that people in real life generally assume I "hate" or "don't get along" with the persons connected with those institutions. I usually respond in jest that we are "frenemies" (cue reference to Gossip Girls or 90210). People tend to equate blogger scrutiny with personal feelings and that's not true. But that gets us back to the gossip piece.
I was contacted by a board member with the Steel City Stonewall Democrats regarding an earlier post in which I criticized Dan Onorato for failing to answer the SCSD question on domestic partner benefits. SCSD acknowledged that they made an error uploading the file and sent me evidence that in the original question, Onorato responded as follows:
5. Do you support domestic partner benefits for government and governmental agency
The Steel City website has been down over the past week so this was a strange technological fluke, albeit an incredibly ironic twist that this one particular word was deleted. I'd go so far as to say prophetic but I do believe that it was an honest mistake. As I know the link was circulating before I put up my previous post, I do hope the organization makes an effort to clarify the mistake at least with the three campaigns most affected.
Dan Onorato did answer the question on domestic partner benefits and answered the survey completely.
Still, "yes" seems a bit inadequate. How can he just sidestep the fact that he doesn't actually offer domestic partner benefits to his own government employees? Did he hope no one would notice? At least, he didn't write "it is complicated."
At this point, he's screwed from a political perspective because he can't offer them at this late date and look sincere. He could, however, offer them at this late date and do the right thing regardless of how it looks politically. That option is always on the table. Leadership. Conviction. Equality.
Do you support domestic partner benefits for government and governmental agency employees?
Answer
Yes, I support full domestic partner benefits for government and governmental agency employees. Montgomery County has had domestic partner benefits since 2001, and as governor I will push for Pennsylvania to provide them.
That's an interesting last point Joe makes. In May 2009, I wrote about Pennsylvania extending domestic partner benefits to Commonwealth employees. In other worlds, they are available. However, I've been told by union organizers that not all state unions have opted to access this benefit so clearly this is work to be done by Rendell and the next Governor to ensure same sex families have access to benefits - especially health insurance.
Not only does Joe have a record of the benefits being available in his County (before he came to office even), but he's offered them to his campaign staff, too. He's also making a very strong statement of commitment to "push" for benefits, not giving us a one word answer.
I know that I've been hitting this issue hard for weeks now, but here is an opportunity to simply compare the candidates words ... and actions.
I regret being the bearer of inaccurate information. I can say I acted in good faith and did look up the revised information as soon as I had access to my computer. While the organization is apologizing to the campaigns, I apologize to my readers for misleading you.
Pennsylvania has been part of history this week with a groundswell of action to successfully squelch the Marriage Protection Amendment (plus, our own Pgh Blog for Equality). Yeah, us!
Today, eyes turned first to the Internet, then DC, then more to DC and now as I type ... across the nation.
The day started with another blogswarm, this one dedicated to urging movement on the ENDA. The goal was to generate pressure on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to make things happen. Dozens of bloggers posted and the phone calls overwhelmed the phone system. From Bilerico:
Reports from Pelosi's office indicate that hundreds of calls were received before the phone lines shut down. While the intent of the blogswarm was to indicate support for moving ENDA, rather than shutting down the phone lines, the obvious point is that there is a great deal of support among the LGBTQ community and its allies for moving ENDA. Let no one say that we do not lobby hard.
Then things get interesting.
Lt. Dan Choi and other members of GetEqual, a new direct action LGBTQ group chained themselves to the White House gate to demand action on repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
Choi was speaking at the HRC rally at Freedom Plaza when he asked the group's executive director, Joe Solmonese, if he would march to the White House. Both Choi and Pietrangelo were discharged from the military under DADT. Choi is the founder of Knights Out, a West Point alumni organization supporting LGBT soldiers.
"You've been told that the White House has a plan," Choi told rally protesters. "But we learned this week that the president is still not fully committed. ... Following this rally, I will be leading [the protest] to the White House to say 'enough talk.' ... I am still standing, I am still fighting, I am still speaking out, and I am still gay."
Lt. Choi and two others were arrested and are still being detailed as I type this.
There's more.
Unrelated to the blogswarm, online activists of the organization GetEqual, a new direct action organization dedicated to LGBTQ equality, conducted coordinated nonviolent sit-ins at Speaker Pelosi's DC and SF offices.
Reports from Twitter indicate that 5 persons have been arrested from this action.
For the latest updates, follow @GetEqual on Twitter.
Still, there's more.
Activisits in San Francisco organized coordinated protest sit-ins in Pelosi's district offices. There are rumbling of nationwide late night gathering to protest the detainment of the protestors.
LGBT leaders are discussing the ramification of direct action versus advocacy led by the mainstream organizations. That discussion is important, but Pittsburgh and statewide advocates can learn some lessons from the powerful image of Lt. Choi chaining himself to the White House gates. We have relinquished a lot of power to behind the scenes political donors and there is absolutely no infrastructure to support direct action tactics. The self-appointed advocates are not talking with the activists from the Dyke March and Bash Back. To be fair, that's a two way lack of communication.
Let's hope the conversation continues and trickles down into viable coordinated action on a local level. This may be wishful thinking on my part.
Bilerico has asked bloggers to "swarm" around ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. House Speaker Pelosi is holding up this legislation which would provide employment protections based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.
Why We Need To Demand ENDA Now
We know that Speaker Pelosi is sympathetic to our cause. Clearly, she needs encouragement, because she won't commit to giving the signal to move forward. Meanwhile, LGBT Americans continue to suffer discrimination and harassment with no recourse. Why should we accept mere lip service?
President Obama famously said that "Power concedes nothing without a fight."
The tide in the LGBT community is moving toward standing up against Democrats who are tepid on our issues and show no willingness to demonstrate leadership to protect minorities which is a hallmark of the Democratic party. Right? Hence my ongoing frustration with Chief Executive Dan Onorato, but let's not go there. As Dr. Jillian Weiss, the leader on ENDA, has remarked "If the base stays home in November, Speaker Pelosi will be out of job." We are a force to reckoned with and to accomplish that we need you to take action on ENDA with as much enthuasiam as you showed on the Marriage Amendment this week.
Won't it be nice to be pushing FOR rights instead of AGAINST losing them?
It is legal for you to be fired if you are gay unless you live in a municipality that protects you. It took until 2009 for Allegheny County to make that move. If you work in Cranberry, you are screwed. People across this nation lack this basic protection that should be a national standard. How many of you have to "be discrete" at work about your partner? It is exhausting and it erodes your ability to form natural bonds with your team if you have to censor yourself all the time. It is also demoralizing that people can be fired for the perception that they are gay.
I once had a coworker get away with bashing me for being gay. She complained about my "bringing that" into the workplace when I made an innocent comment referencing my partner. I was pooh-poohed by management which I have never forgotten. A few years later, a senior manager sent around an email with a vulgar, demeaning reference to lesbians. I filed a complaint and was not pooh-poohed, but I know damn well that filing complaints impacts your employment in subtle ways. I was fortunate enough to have the Ciy's non-discrimination ordinance to back up my complaint. My job was not in jeopardy, but my ability to move up was probably dampened. Standing up to discrimination at work is very difficult and draining.
We need our leaders to champion safe workplaces for LGBTQ persons. Enough with the capitulation and the hesitancy. This is about doing what's right for people who are suffering at the hands of bigots.
Please call Speaker Nancy Pelosi at 202-225-4965. Ask that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, HR 3017, move to a vote.
Please be polite, but firm.
After you call, please tell us how the call went by clicking here. If you get a busy signal or hang up, let us know that too.
If you want more information on Speaker Pelosi's position on ENDA as stated by her office, you can find it here
Let's work together to let Speaker Pelosi know that we want action now!
At the end of the day, we will post a round-up of how the day went. Stay tuned.
The candidates questionnaires are up at the Liberty City Democratic Club site. I like how they handle this - all of the candidates in each race are listed so you can see clearly which candidates took the time to respond and which did not.
Now granted they misspelled his name, but how can Arlen Specter ignore the gay democratic club in SE Pennsylvania? How can Anthony Williams ignore them when he is gunning for some of Hoeffel's supporters? How can all three Lt. Governor candidates ignore them?
Now I've attached the three gubernatorial questionnaires to this post so they are preserved for posterity. Something odd I noticed --- the Wagner campaign submitted the Steel City aka Pittsburgh questionnaire to the Liberty City aka Philadelphia group. They aren't the same.
I strongly urge you to either visit the site or download the attached .pdf files and review the candidate information. The Philadelphia specific information may give you some insight into how the candidates may govern on a statewide level.
I think if you review the significant LGBT indicators you'll agree with me that Joe Hoeffel is clearly the strongest leader and the only progressive candidate. Jack Wagner has a decent track record -- he has introduced legislation and voted on LGBT issues. His anti-choice stance makes him the second best candidate. Onorato, well just read for yourselves. He can safely be in third place with no LGBT voting record and waffling on the choice issue.
There's a clear choice for the LGBT community and you can see that from the candidate's own words as well as their track records.
Hey, always nice to be promoted by other blogs. The Pennsylvania Progressive published a guest post about a Pgh queer perspective on Onorato. Check it out. You probably won't be surprised :-)
A marriage amendment has sprung up again in Pennsylvania. Its any easy way to pander to the right-wing conservatives who seem to populate this state. As has been practiced throughout history, fear is always a great way for a politician to get points with the constituents. I have been reading a great book about the rise of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, two politicians who figured out how to use fear, and it's twin sister, ignorance, to win elections.
And here we go again, because it's not like we don't have real pressing issues in Pennsylvania that affect married heterosexual couples such as health insurance, poverty, hunger, crime--the list goes on. Discrimination against lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender people is one of the last battles to be won in civil rights. It's still around because it wins elections and builds political careers -- see Metcalfe, Daryl --on the basis that if the LGBT community is permitted to marry it will destroy the fabric of the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
This is repeated along with the obligatory biblical references without any evidence that any LGBT person's relationship and marriage has destroyed anyone's heterosexual marriage. In fact, every marriage that has been destroyed--particularly those of said right-wing fear mongering politicians has been done in by infidelity via a heterosexual partner such as a soulmate in Argentina or the sterotypical hooker.
Other people have blogged eloquently today about our relationships and our families and that's important. But we in the LGBT community have to take a page from other civil rights movements and become politically involved even if it's no more than taking five minutes to vote. I have heard a lot of people in our community tell me that they are not political but, unfortunatley, that's just not an option. The politicans out there don't want to focus on the real, hard issues pressing this state. They want to focus on YOU and keep us from enjoying the same rights and benefits of society that they enjoy. So take some time and tell them we are human beings as worthy of rights as they (and their mistresses are).
I don't think there's much I can add on the "Marriage Protection" amendment that I haven't covered in the past 4+ years. You have the contact information. We need you to call today. Today is the day.
Sunday, I woke up at 7:30 AM, let out the dogs, put on the coffee and grabbed the newspaper. We got ready for our day in our very mundane ways ... showers, searches for matching socks, feedings of various pets, etc. We had breakfast.
We went to the grocery store. Nothing says weekend chore like Giant Eagle on a Sunday afternoon. We fuss over how to load the groceries and who gets to push the cart. We haggle over items that aren't on the list. We have a check-out routine and determine whose turn it is to get the fuelperks. We lug the groceries to the car and drive home.
Unload. I put things away while she clears space in the fridge. One of us runs the disposal while the other takes the trash outside. Someone tosses in a load of laundry. Litter boxes get scooped. Laundry is changed. The dog bedding is examined for contraband cat toys.
Dinner is started. We chat back and forth. The Siamese cat changes hands repeatedly to prevent disaster. More laundry. Final round of trash to the curb. Dinner. Dishes. More animal feedings.
Oh, we folded towels, too. And we read the newspaper and watched 60 Minutes.
Why can't we just have our domestic little life and not be demonized and dehumanized by the Pennsylvania Constitution? Is that really so much to ask?
I wonder how many fuelperks it would take to earn civil rights?
Candidates for the 2010 Primary are invited to address our membership at the following meetings:
Thursday March 18th - US Congress, State Representatives
Monday March 22nd - Governor, Lt. Governor, State Senate, US Senate
Contact Matthew Woodcock, Chair of the Endorsement Committee here regarding attendance.
Meetings will be held at the William Way Community Center, 1315 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Social Hour begins 6:00 pm, Meeting begins promptly at 6:30.
Candidate questionnaires for the statewide races will be on the Liberty City website so you'll be able to compare with the Steel-City Questionnaires prior to the local endorsement should you wish.
Reminder to log in tomorrow to see what the blogosphere has to say about the PA "Marriage Amendment." I do not know how many blogs are participating, but I hope we can count on your support. Please consider updating your Facebook status or Twitter status and it would be great if you change your Facebook and/or Twitter profile pic to use our image on Monday.
Need some motivation? Darryl Metcalfe is running for Lt. Governor.
