Why now? Because you get tired of talking. [Over the past two years] I've done 50 live interviews, a hundred other interviews, how much more talk am I expected to produce? When I heard Kathy Griffin was going to be a spokeswoman for Don't Ask, Don't Tell, I wondered about that. I have great respect for her as an advocate. But if [the Human Rights Campaign] thinks that having a rally at Freedom Plaza with a comedienne is the right approach, I have to wonder. Don't Ask, Don't Tell is not a joking matter to me. To be at Freedom Plaza and not at the White House or Congress? Who are they trying to influence? I felt like they were just trying to speak to themselves. If that's the best the lobbying groups and HRC can do, then I don't know how these powerful groups are supposed to represent our community. Kathy Griffin and [HRC president] Jay Solmonese said they would march with me to the White House but didn’t. I feel so betrayed by them.
We all know the political reality now. The only way for the repeal to go through is for the president to take leadership and put it in the Defense Authorization Bill. There's a sunset on this, and it's happening quickly. Obama told us at the HRC dinner last year, you need to put pressure on me. I was there at that dinner, in uniform. So this is my mission; the president said to pressure him and I heard that as a warning order.
Now there is this to put any doubts I had about the direction of our movement into perspective. Pam nails it for the rest of us:
I really don't know how to react to this. To me it's a sign of what "activism" has come down to in the land of TEH GAY. Isn't it an interesting juxtaposition to see that HRC's Joe Solmonese has made Washington Life Magazine's 2010 Fashion Awards ("We salute 35 men and women who bring that je ne sais quoi to the ballrooms and boardrooms of Washington").
Well, plenty of us here in flyover country have very little je ne sais quoi about fashion and more working to do as much activism on a shoestring and the kindness of those who support the work on the Blend through PayPal or ads. Taking a look in my closet, I don't see a label of note on my togs, I gather many of you don't either. The closest I get to haute couture as an advocacy journalist/commentator is watching Project Runway in my jammies. I can clean up nicely for a gala, but honest to god, I have better use for my disposable income. Guess HRC must write off Joe's togs; who knows.Read the rest at Pam's House Blend.
I'm no fashionista; the only designer labels I have are Levi Strauss and Jockey.
I don't know about the rest of you, but HRC is off my list for future donations.
More later.
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Would like to note that Joe Solemese made Washington Life's list of most powerful people in Washington in 2009. Read here: http://www.washingtonlife.com/2009/05/01/the-power-100/8/ It's unfortunate that blogs only pick up on the Fashion awards and spin it to fit some kind of point that Joe isn't doing his job. He is one of the most influential figures in the LGBT movement. And yes, he has good fashion sense. President Barack Obama was on the Fashion list too. A good suit doesn't mean you're not doing your job.
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