Obama Invites Gay Rights Advocates to White House

[IndianaGreen]

The key sentence here is "The White House has not publicized the reception." GAWD-forbid we upset the homophobes by having a bunch of queers in the White House. If the man is ashamed to be seen with LGBTs in public, what does that tell you about the man?

June 22, 2009, 4:59 pm

Obama Invites Gay Rights Advocates to White House

By Sheryl Gay Stolberg

As advocates for gays and lesbians intensify their criticism of the White House, President Obama has invited some of their leaders to an East Room reception next Monday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, the 1969 Greenwich Village demonstrations that gave birth to the modern gay rights movement.

The White House has not publicized the reception, and officials did not respond to e-mail requests for comment. But gay leaders from here and around the country said they had received either telephone calls from the White House or written invitations to the event, and were told Mr. Obama is expected to speak.

Some said it would take more than a reception to change their view that Mr. Obama has not been aggressive enough in pursuing gay rights. As a candidate, Mr. Obama campaigned to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law barring gay marriage, and ‘’don’t ask don’t tell,’’ the military policy that bars gays and lesbians from serving openly. But advocates have accused him of dragging his feet.

“What’s going to change the way the community is feeling is seeing the introduction of a bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’’ said Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council, a Boston-based advocacy group, referring to two policies Mr. Obama pledged to overturn. She said gay rights advocates want to see “a president who is fulfilling the promises he made on the campaign trail.’’

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/obama-invites-gay-rights-advocates-to-white-house/?hp

[chill_wind]

1. "Whether Mr. Obama will address the complaints at Monday’s reception is unclear.

One person who received the invitation said the White House was billing the event as a celebration, akin to the festive affairs the administration holds on St. Patrick’s Day or Cinco de Mayo. Another said the invitation included an offer to bring a guest. “They want people to understand that their partners are welcome,’’ said this person, speaking anonymously because the White House has not announced the event."

[IndianaGreen]

3. White House: Please use the rear entrrance.

Patronizing to say the least.

[Robbien]

2. The only reason the WH is doing this is to woo back LGBTs donations

They plan on expressing pretty words and that's all. No action, no support, just pretty words.

Then they will of course expect LGBT's financial support to resume.

[IndianaGreen]

4. No money until they treat us as equals!

That means substantive action on DADT and DOMA repeal, as well as public endorsement of an all-inclusive ENDA, not the compromised crap we were given a year ago that threw the transgender under the bus.

[Robbien]

5. Obama is cherry picking the GLBT groups he is inviting to the WH

John over at Americablog says:

When the White House needs a token homosexual to give them political cover for stabbing gay Americans in the back, there's one name apparently at the top of their list. Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council.

Ms. Chrisler has confirmed to the New York Times that she is proudly going to the hastily arranged White House cocktail bash next week, organized after the community uproar over Obama's Justice Department comparing us to incest and pedophilia.

Ironically, and rather hypocritically,

But none of that got Chrisler and the Family Equality Council down. She showed up in the White House last Wednesday to sell our community out and give the president gay cover. And now Chrisler is doing it again.

I'm sure Chisler, as she sips her champagne and eats her fancy French hors d'oeuvres to commemorate the gays and lesbian who rioted for her civil rights 40 years ago, will do her best to hold the president's feet to the fire.

Please.

These people are pathetic. You should see her quotes in the article, how she wasn't satisfied by the "limited benefits" provided for in the memo the president signed last Wednesday. Yeah, real unsatisfied - that's why she stood over him clapping like a giddy schoolkid, providing him the political cover he needed at a time that our community needed her.

I seriously hope someone looks into who the donors are for this apologist organization. No gay person should ever give a dime to the Family Equality Council again. Ever. And the same goes for any other organization that dares to give this White House political cover when the president refuses to even apologize, to even distance himself from that hideous brief.

Note to the Family Equality Council: Last time I checked, shrimp and champagne were not on the gay agenda.

http://www.americablog.com/2009/06/jennifer-chrisler-and-family-equality.html


And Queerty is reporting

Are we missing something here? As the debate rages on as to whether to support, ignore, or boycott the Democratic National Committee's GLBT fundraiser in Washington on Thursday, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network says it plans to attend and give cash to the party. Two days later, SLDN will then lead a protest march "on the White House." Huh?

The SLDN — which represents folks like Dan Choi and, like Queerty, was one of the original critics of the White House while it stood still on Don't Ask Don't Tell, while other organizations defended the president — will send board member and gay Iraq war veteran Brian Fricke to the fundraiser. Fricke says that if Obama doesn't correct the Department of Justice's notoriously vile Defense of Marriage Act briefing, then "there is no case" to defend the president, he tells the Washington Blade.

But: "That being said," Fricke adds, "the DNC’s LGBT Leadership Council is an excellent platform for our community." Yes, he'll be there on June 25.

. . .

This isn't just an instance of mixed messaging to SLDN supporters, the theory goes; it also tells Democrats they can ignore gays but still collect our cash, with the only punishment being a little rally on the White House.

http://www.queerty.com/sldn-will-give-cash-to-dncs-fundraiser-2-days-later-it-will-protest-democrats-20090622/


With friends like these . . .