A post over at Daily Kos on the potental impassability of the DADT repeal and the consequences of such.

These activists share not a common organizer, but rather a common complaint: "Our needs are not being addressed. We are tired of being marginalized and ignored. It is not OK to toss us out of the coalitionas was done in the healthcare reform legislation and may well still happen on comprehensive immigration reform. We matter. Our contributions to the coalition are worth fighting for."

This really isn't a threat. It's just an insider's observation. There will be trouble. The gay community has done its work, by making our case to the American people. The poll numbers didn't move themselves, we've made it politically viable for Democrats to vote in our interests. It's time to do it. The solution to avoid all this angst and in-fighting, seems remarkably easy: Pass ENDA, repeal DADT. The valve will release. The storm will turn 180 degrees back out to sea.

The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld has a piece up on the non-impact of the White House LGBT liaison, Brian Bond.

The problem for Obama is ? no one knows Brian Bond, except Beltway insiders and selected A-gay ?leaders? with whom he apparently holds private meetings to presumably discuss the LGBT ?agenda.? It is impossible to know what is being discussed because the A-gays do not report back to the community either.

That very disconnect is an ongoing source of frustration for those of us who are very much not on the A-list. 

Failure to repeal DADT (or pass ENDA) is a sad reflection that the A-list is not the same as A-game. 

 

A glimpse around the blogosphere ...

Pam's House Blend has a great liveblog with Joe Sestak and Lt. Dan Choi.  Here's her report on the election results.

Change.org on what the Sestak victory means for LGBT equal rights.

From The Huffington Post ....

I suggest that a similar disgust is stewing in the guts of gays watching straight Democrats - who give love when they want votes and money - fidget and squirm out of their promises. They may not even know they're being homophobic - much as Specter was infused with sexism. But the result is the same: LGBTs are humiliated and abandoned for straight political expediency. There are some notable exceptions, of course - Rep. Patrick Murphy and Sen. Carl Levin on repealing DADT, are extraordinary examples.

But in 2010, the silence and backtracking of cowardly Democrats is just as painful and nauseating to LGBTs as the prosecution of Anita Hill by Arlen Specter in 1991. That may seem over the top to some - but that's the reaction bred by festering rage. And it may take a long time for revenge, as it did with Specter - or it may just take until November.

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Don't get fired -- get fired up! Join Pride at Work in a national day of action, Tuesday May 18th. If you've ever made a phone call, written a letter or attended a lobby day in support of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), if you have ever stood up for fair treatment for all workers, LGBT workers need you to make one more phone call today.

Please urge your representatives: "Pass ENDA now."

In a majority of states, workers can be legally fired simply because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. Employment discrimination for any reason is wrong, and it's that simple.

Please call your Representative by dialing the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and asking to be connected to their office. When you reach the office or their voice mail:

* Tell them you support inclusive ENDA, HR 3017;
* Urge them to pass it now, without amendments; and
* Ask your member of Congress to call their leadership to bring ENDA up for a vote.

Solidarity,

Peggy Shorey, Executive Director

From the Tribune Review's coverage of a Democratic challenge to Congresswoman Dahlkemper who has been in office for less than one term.  I shake me head to think that people actually believe this hate and fear based rhetoric.

Marin cited three stances that would be important to him if elected:

? Denouncing the "homosexual agenda" -- his belief is gay couples adopting children would be "legalized molestation."

? Saving seniors from "execution" -- he believes the elderly are victims of a government program that sends seniors who experience memory loss to hospice care.

? Increasing government spending in the district to stimulate the economy.

Legalized molestation is so incredibly offensive that I'm sputtering. How can someone be serious about this stuff?  How can you claim to be focused on jobs when you actually believe there is a homosexual agenda, much less one that involes hurting children?  It is sickening and disgusting.

Congresswoman Dahlkemper is uncommitted on the inclusive ENDA legislation. How are we as a community doing to persuade her that people don't believe this rhetoric unless they are simply filled with ignorance and hate? 

I can't even muster up the outrage.  He's a small-minded bigot that reminds us why we need to keep pushing our party to the left, to the left, to the left.  Sigh.

 

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Here's the finalized Steel City Stonewall 2010 Primary endorsement slate.

Here's the finalized Gertrude Stein Political Club of Pittsburgh slate.

Here's the Democracy for Pittsburgh slate.

Here's the slate from the Pennsylvania NOW PAC.

 

 

Just got word that Dyke March permit is in Eli's hands so we are all set.  Here's the route:

 

The speaker will be Miranda Vey of the Pittsburgh Dykes on Bikes. She's an articulate, insightful woman with a wonderful ability to inspire.  I think it will be a great event. 

Here's hoping the police show up as promised.

Lots of LGBTQ love from the City Paper.

I know the man called Potter loves a letter to the editor and he has one today from Steel City Stonewall President, Dana Elmendorf.  She believes the paper unfairly described Onorato's LGBTQ support.  Potter disagrees. Go read for yourself.

Speaking of Bloomfield, the City Paper provided coverage of a LGBTQ rally against gay bashing. They have an excellent quote on the realities many queer people face from one of our favorite dykes, Eli Kuti.

Some people just don't blend in or can't blend in," says Eli Kuti, organizer of the city's Dyke March. "You should be able to walk down the street and feel safe."

But some don't, she says, in part because they feel they can't turn to police for incidents of anti-LGBT or domestic violence because "they aren't taken seriously." Those concerns lead to victims not filing police reports, she says.

Kuti acknowledges "many cops don't have prejudices and just don't know what to do."

But still, the victim's fear of reporting crimes, she observes, sometimes outweighs the risk of it happening to someone else. 

I hope someone moves us from talking about talking with the police to making it happen.  People don't want there to be gay bashing.  Most cops agree.  It shouldn't be 2010 and we are still looking for a mechanism to make these conversations happen. 

Somewhere in between the anger and the power, there lies the ability to generate change.

It is going to take one hell of a leader.

sdf

On that critical Pennsylvania issue ... immigration reform.

State Reps. Daryl Metcalfe and Harry Readshaw think Pennsylvania should follow Arizona's lead and "protect its borders and citizens" by giving local and state police more power to arrest, detain and eventually deport foreigners who have entered the state illegally and don't have proper registration papers.

This is the link to the local version of the League of Women Voters voting guide.  http://palwv.org/voting/vg.pdf

This can be a very useful tool in the upcoming Primary Election on Tuesday, May 18, 2010. 

Check out this poll from the Philly Gay News

 

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