Pam Spaulding's Blog, page 24

Confirmation: other LGBT groups involved in AT&T anti-Net Neutrality scandal

As I reported earlier this morning - as Jarrett Barrios's resignation from GLAAD swirled in the headlines, the larger unexplored question is how many other organizations in the LGBT community were equally culpable in sending out a variant of the anti-Net Neutrality letter crafted by AT&T. Just a cursory search on the FCC web site turned up letters from Equality California and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

I just received this email with a statement from Rea Carey of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force related to its letter to the FCC re: Net Neutrality and AT&T:

Statement from Rea Carey, Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:

"The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force submitted a letter to the Federal Communications Commission on Jan. 5, 2010, about rules and regulations regarding net neutrality. The letter was a response to a request by AT&T. However, we quickly realized that we had not gone through an appropriate internal process on such policy matters and that the Jan. 5 letter did not accurately reflect our views and was a mistake. As a result, on Jan. 14, the Task Force submitted an additional letter to the FCC clarifying the organization's position on net neutrality. Both letters are attached.

"The Task Force has established a clearer internal review process that applies to any request for sign-on or policy endorsement from any group, organization or corporate partner. We have not issued any additional letters on net neutrality. Additionally the Task Force has declined requests from our corporate partner AT&T for further action regarding this issue and declined requests to write a letter regarding the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile."

You can read the first letter and the retraction. Karen Ocamb asked about the situation at Equality California:

AT&T is also the biggest sponsor of Equality California. However, in a phone interview Monday morning, June 20, EQCA Interim Executive Director Jim Carroll told me that EQCA has "no position" on the merger of AT&T and did not send any letter supporting that merger. However, former executive director Geoff Kors, who is currently in Italy, did send a letter to the FCC "reflecting Equality California's support for an open and accessible internet and asked the FCC to reach out to the LGBT community."

As far as the current situation at GLAAD goes, this was the statement provided by board co-chair Roxanne Jones to Metro Weekly:

"The GLAAD Board received Jarrett's resignation letter, and we discussed this, along with many other topics, on our call last night, so we expect at our board of directors meeting - we have another one set for Wednesday - to reach a conclusion on all of the issues at hand," Jones said. "And at the time, Jarrett will begin to help us transition, manage the transition that we have, and bring on his successor.

"So, that's exactly where we are right now."

You see, the long view is that our organizations have been sloppy, and acting on behalf of the community while hopping in bed with corporations with money to burn that will have a negative impact on the community. This is a terrible development that needs sunlight on it - are boards doing their duty?

Also see:

* The twists and turns in the story of GLAAD's executive director's resignation

* GLAAD/AT&T Fallout Continues as New Groups Admit Involvement

Michigan: appeals court says gay panic is not self defense

The fact that this common sense argument has taken this long to be recognized is scary, but at least the court in Michigan got it right.

A Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that a man who attacked another man for unwanted sexual advances was rightly denied the use of "gay panic" as a defense strategy.

In the case People of the State of Michigan v. Dale Edward Cutler out of Montcalm County, Cutler and his victim, Ryan Young, told quite different stories of the incident that left Young badly beaten and missing teeth.

This case arises from the beating of Ryan Young. In the early morning hours of June 11, 2009, Young was celebrating his birthday with friends at a local bar. Defendant was also at the bar. Young did not know defendant, but defendant joined Young and his friends at their table and defendant and Young talked and became acquainted. At about 3:30 a.m., Young and defendant were dropped off at Young's apartment. Young testified that he went into his bedroom to change and asked defendant: "did you want to do anything or did you just want to go to bed," to which defendant responded: "yeah, I'm going to do something you fucking faggot." Young testified that defendant choked him "so bad" that he "could not get away from him" and Young thought he was going to die because defendant "wouldn't get off me and just stop punching me." Young believed that he was fighting for his life. Young remembered defendant cutting off his oxygen until he passed out and that, when he came to, defendant was "just still bashing my face in" until he went unconscious again. Young believed defendant hit him "a good 30 times." According to Young, he never tried to touch defendant and neither of them ever fell asleep-except when Young went unconscious from the assault. Young testified that there was no discussion about flipping the television on or anything and that he believed this was because defendant had the assault already planned.

The twists and turns in the story of GLAAD's executive director's resignation

UPDATE: I wanted to throw something out there -- we have been focusing on GLAAD's unseemly involvement with AT&T/T-Mobile and its appeals on Net Neutrality. GLAAD cannot be the only LGBT organization that has "taken the bait," as it were. Reporters with time to do this should do a cursory search on the FCC web site for other LGBT orgs or the name of the executive directors to see if they filed any variant of the AT&T letters as well. This scandal may go a lot deeper than GLAAD.

UPDATE 2: Look at this - letters on the FCC web site from Equality California and NGLTF.

On Twitter today:

RT @MSignorile: GLAAD Prez J Barrios quits after call by 3 top LGBT bloggers - @MSignorile @Pam_Spaulding & @MichaelRogersDC OutQ News 8aET

I'm sure you all have heard the news that Jarrett Barrios, the executive director of GLAAD, has resigned. I actually haven't written about this drama outside of a mailing list; mostly because it was unfolding while I was quite under the weather.

The short version is that this is a terrible hot mess that is institutionally damaging to GLAAD. As it was first reported by The Politico:

POLITICO's Eliza Krigman reported recently that GLAAD was among a number of progressive groups with no obvious institutional interest in telecom issues who received money from AT&T and subsequently issued public statements supporting AT&T's merger with T-Mobile. Another letter was sent from GLAAD to the FCC opposing possible net neutrality rules. GLAAD later rescinded the letter, claiming it was sent in error. The issue had created an uproar in the gay blogosphere.

A source familiar with the board's deliberations told POLITICO that the executive committee voted in favor of removing president Jarrett Barrios, who refused to resign. Barrios may now take the issue to the full board of directors.

...Barrios' first letter to the FCC was dated Jan 4, 2010; a second, dated Jan. 15, claimed the earlier letter was a mistake. He later tried to blame the whole imbroglio on his secretary. But the backtracking only appeared to alienate him further from a membership and board already in turmoil over the letter. Nor did it help that other organizations, including another advocacy organization, the NAACP, endorsed the merger.

Barrios' position was further undermined when a former board member, Laurie Perper, appeared on Michelangelo Signorile's Sirius radio show to say that GLAAD had become so badly tarnished by such moves that the best thing was for the group to cease operations all together.

While I was at Netroots Nation, we learned that in fact, Barrios decided to resign.  But if you haven't caught up with the issues involved, here is the expanded Cliff Notes edition, courtesy of Sirius XM OutQ News.

The president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Jarrett Barrios, resigned over the weekend. His departure comes as three of the most-prominent blogger-activists in the LGBT community were set to call on Barrios to step down, claiming that the gay media watchdog under his leadership has done the bidding of a corporate sponsor at the expense of the gay community.

Last week, Mike Rogers of the website PageOneQ, and Pam Spaulding, the proprietor of PamsHouseBlend.com, joined OutQ's Michelangelo Signorile in calling on GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios to step down. [See Rogers's and Spaulding's statements below.]

The three activists argued that GLAAD's decision to sign on to a letter supporting A-T-and-T's proposed merger with T-Mobile; and revelations about a letter to the FCC backing A-T-and-T's position against "net neutrality" in internet access-a letter that was subsequently withdrawn-depicted an organization that was, in Rogers's words, "rudderless." Barrios had admitted only to making a "mistake" by not personally reviewing the net neutrality letter before it was sent. But his resignation was confirmed Saturday evening by GLAAD spokesman Rich Ferraro, following reports by Politico's Ben Smith that GLAAD's executive committee had voted to remove him-and Barrios had initially resisted.

The bloggers' criticism wasn't limited to Barrios. Rogers and Signorile also expressed concern about the role of GLAAD board member Troup Coronado. Until recently, Coronado was a lobbyist for A-T-and-T. GLAAD has so far deflected questions about Coronado's involvement in the A-T-and-T merger and net neutrality letters, saying only that the language for both was provided by A-T-and-T. But in a statement on an activists' forum, Rogers says Coronado is to blame for the "fiasco" at GLAAD, and all three activists are still calling on Coronado to quit the GLAAD board.

Here is what I said a few days ago and it pained me to say it, given the hard working people doing the work related to GLAAD's mission, and have been caught up in such an institutional dilemma. But it fits a sad pattern:

As a movement, there is nothing more important than personal and professional integrity, particularly in leadership. I've blogged many times about institutional rot, where an organization reaches a stage where management goes astray from its mission and focuses on self-preservation. It's not inevitable, but the propensity for this sort of disastrous thinking increases exponentially when an organization is tempted to take a dark path.

This is one of those times. To reiterate what others have said, this isn't about the foot soldiers committed to supporting the original mission of GLAAD, this is about key figures losing their way. You cannot have leadership throwing the organization overboard with a taint of this scale. That this scandal has crossed over to FDL and the larger progressive community cannot be ignored. Many thanks to Mike Signorile for his persistence and the work over at Bilerico.

It is indeed a sad day since I know Jarrett has paid his dues in the movement, but he and Coronado (and perhaps more) need to tender their resignations.

Mike Rogers also has a statement up on the OutQ News blog. And then today, Mike Signorile reported on this development - Is Jarrett Barrios Trying to Get the GLAAD Board to Save Him?

I will have some additional information to add to this post later today, but I did want to get the story out there to catch people up on this flap.

Additional Background:

* GLAAD's Head Ousted by Board. (Edge)

* GLAAD President Admits Allegation on FCC Letter True. (The Gist):

After having his staffers call around and savage the reputation of GLAAD former board co-chair Laurie Perper, GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios has now admitted that one of the most serious allegations she told me on the show earlier in the week is true. Barrios would not come on my show to respond to the allegations, and instead had his staff trying to cover them up or change the subject and vilify and attack the messenger.

Barrios now admits that the letter to the FCC opposing net neutrality on behalf of GLAAD was sent by his office and he did approve it. He is blaming his administrative assistant for sending the trojan horse letter -- a form letter which GLAAD sponsor AT & T sent to GLAAD for the group to sign onto, a letter that opposes net neutrality even though the wording is very vague and to those outside the industry it might seem like it is pro-neutrality when it is not. But Barrios admits that he did sign off on it, even though, he claims, he didn't really know what it was nor did he read it.

* GLAAD Board Member Troup Coronado, AT&T Executive, Broke Rules at BellSouth Too (Firedoglake)

* GLAAD's Troup Coronado Helped Put Bush Judges On the Bench. (Firedoglake)

Westboro Baptist Church wimps out in Seattle

Fred Phelps's Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) totally wimped out on the big picket they had planned during today's Seattle Pride Picnic.  WBC are the "God Hates Fags" people.  This is what they said on their picket schedule:

2nd Annual Pride Picnic in Seattle, WA ...WBC will picket the filthy fags and their enablers, not the least of which is their sponsors, Amazon, Microsoft, YMCA, FUZE, and Seattle Gay News.  No doubt you have all heard that God Hates Fags and Fag Enablers, and both are worthy of death (hell).

That message didn't sit well with Ben Crowther (below, in red shirt), a local activist who organized a counter protest via Facebook, saying "Girl, please.  I'm just totally not feeling them being there, ya know?  This is Seattle, and we just don't stand for hatred or stupid signs here. I mean really, have you seen their color coordination? ...Let's give them a warm and gay Seattle welcome!"



And a warm Seattle welcome it was awaiting the WBC.  The diverse group of locals ranged from Atheists to Christians, Frumps to Fabulous, PFLAG moms to Rat City Rollergirls.  The crowd of 150 could barely squeeze onto three of the four corners of the intersection.  But squeeze they did, politely keeping the fourth corner free for the WBC picketers who would never come.  I guess the WBC folks just can't face love, warmth and smiles.

Though the WBC wimped out on the Pride Picnic today, their empty promise to picket wasn't wasted.  WBC's picket schedule has been used in past as a fundraising tool by local LGBTQ organizations.  Today's picket was no exception, with Queer Youth Space and Equal Rights Washington making lemonade out of lemons.

Even though WBC members managed to show up for their early morning pickets of Mars Hill Church and Christian Faith Center, several of them seemed to only be going through the motions.  Most notable was Fred Phelps's granddaughter Jael Phelps who rarely lifted her eyes from her phone or her feet from their roots in the sidewalk, leading me to wonder whether God Hates WBC Picket Slackers.  Photos of slacker Jael, plus more Seattle fabulousness and some closing words from two loving Christians, below the fold.
WBC Picket Slacker, Jael Phelps

Seattle Fabulousness

I met these two young Sammamish women at the first WBC picket of the day, located outside Mars Hill Church in Federal Way.  They planned to counter-protest all four of WBC's Seattle-area pickets today.  I asked them what motivated their decision to do so, and found their answer to be a perfect antidote to WBC's brand of hate:

We are Christians and we thought this is so bad telling people that God doesn't love them when He tells us in 1 John 4:8 that God is love, and whoever does not love is without God.  So unless you are truly loving people, you can't be a Christian.  And that's what we're all about, is love.

We're not against the [WBC] protesters themselves.  We're just here in support of what we believe to be true.  We know God loves them just as much as he loves us and loves everyone else.

Leaving...on a jet plane: my Netroots photo album

Updated since the last time I posted it here....

I'm at the airport in Minneapolis now; we all had a great -- and productive -- time while at Netroots Nation (and for me, at RightOnline as well, though that was surreal). I've been in MN since Tuesday, so it will be good to get home and back to family. I was at least disciplined enough to go to bed early each night here so I didn't fry my health to pieces; travel is the hardest part for me and I wanted to enjoy as much of the conference as possible, and that meant no late night parties (and there were a lot of them). I'm sure many of my colleagues are bleary-eyed today, lol.

On a side note, thank you all for the kind congrats re: the move of the Blend to Firedoglake.  Those more than outweighed the handful of virtual drop kicks from readers unhappy with FDL's politics, Jane herself or just plain gripes/moans about moderation, baristas, etc.

PHB will remain under my sole editorial control, meaning FDL positions and those of baristas on PHB may or may not alays agree - that's the whole point of having separate channels on a megablog like FDL, no? Moderation policies here will be the same after migration (for better or worse, depending on your POV).

So we'll gain readers and lose some readers, but I doubt my decision would have made anyone 100% happy. I've long given up trying to please readers on all fronts; that's enough to put you in the grave, and fate's already accelerated that process for me. There are plenty of blogs to hang out at that may suit your needs or politics, that's the beauty of the interwebs.

Peace out. I'll be home (and back to the real world where bills have to be paid) soon enough.

Netroots videos: The Plan to Advance Marriage Equality; Joe on the catwalk

One of the panels that I served on at Netroots Nation 2011 was "The Plan to Advance Marriage Equality, Inside and Outside of the 112th Congress," moderated by my good friend Joe Sudbay, deputy editor of AMERICAblog.com and AMERICAblog Gay:

This panel will gather experts from the various fronts of the marriage equality struggle--the courts, Congress, state campaigns and online media--to answer the question: how do we work together to advance marriage equality in a challenging political environment? Too often activists, lawmakers and litigators work independently and don't communicate effectively with each other. Congressman Jerry Nadler, author of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), will join other leaders in the fight for marriage equality to build awareness and solidify alliances and strategies for moving forward.

The event was the idea of one of the strongest advocates on the Hill Congressman Jerry Nadler (D-NY8) and his selection of panelists represented a nice variety of points of view and experiences to discuss - Rick Jacobs of the Courage Campaign and co-founder of Brave New Films and Camilla Taylor, the Marriage Project Director of Lambda Legal. IMany people came up to me after the panel to say it was one of the most informative and enlightening sessions they attended. Thank the Congressman for that and Joe for great moderation; there was a lot of great Q&A, so take a look:

Watch live streaming video from fstv1 at livestream.com

Also see at AMERICAblogGay: NYT on Obama's evolving, and devolving, views on gay marriage - includes yet another excuse for past position in support of marriage equality

Now just to show you that it's not all about networking and panels at NN, check out the catwalk skilz of Joe Sudbay, who was one of the runway models the night before for the Made in America Fashion Show, sponsored by the Alliance for American Manufacturing.

Igor Volsky of Think Progress LGBT and I did a bit of coaching prior to the big show; Joe wanted to avoid a Zoolander moment.

Saturday Comic On Trans Community Interaction

When a trans person (or group of trans people) doesn't like something else another trans person (or another group of trans people) does or says...

NY Senator Ball asks Twiterverse how he should vote on marriage equality

Friday evening, New York Republican state Senator Greg Ball, who tweets as @ball4ny, asked the Twitterverse how he should vote on the NY marriage equality bill:

Opening up the discussion! So, if you were me, how would you vote on gay marriage? Yes or No?

So far, the response is an overwhelming: YES!

Let Sen. Ball know what you think by replying to his tweet.

Michelle Tannen: In support of trans rights: Society is ready. It's time for the laws to catch up.

Despite overwhelming public support, the Massachusetts Legislature has yet to pass the Transgender Equal Rights bill.  Action is needed.  It's well past time.

The following is a guest post by a member of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition.  It was first published in Bay Windows.

By Michelle Tannen

My name is Michelle Tannen, and I'd like to share a bit of my story to reinforce why it's so important for us to get the Transgender Equal Rights legislation passed now to guarantee us our basic civil rights.

I am a transwoman from central Massachusetts, working in a key strategic position for a high tech company. I actually can't get too specific, because I'm not out yet except to a few select people.

I may be taking a slight risk by increasing my visibility as a community activist, but I feel I need to do it. As a community, we are so much less visible than our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. I know that we are out there, but where is everybody? I can look back at the stages in my personal development as a woman in society to see where everybody is.

So many transgender people are still very deep in the closet, fearful of violence and humiliation if they dare to attempt to even step foot outdoors in their chosen gender.

A few of the braver of these brothers and sisters have taken the first steps out to meet with one of the many social and support groups we are so fortunate to have here in Massachusetts. These groups play a vital role in our community, helping transpeople take those very difficult first steps into the world and providing the sense of belonging to a community that is so severely lacking when living in the closet. I will say, though, that I've been increasingly saddened over the years to see that attending transgender-specific social gatherings is as far as most of us get. We go to the one or two places where we know we are safe, where individuals and businesses openly welcome us.

While I loved the support I received from these groups, I ultimately realized that I needed to start to develop a life as a woman that resembled the life I've led for all of these years as a man.

I have been extremely fortunate as I've taken steps to lead an increasing percentage of my life as a woman. I believe that my good fortune is simply a reflection of where most of our society is today, and that it's time for our laws to catch up.
I've been embraced by multiple wonderful communities. I have a close knit group of girlfriends who have otherwise had little to no exposure to anybody in the LGBT community. After several months of getting to know these women, I sat down a few of them to explain that I wasn't born a woman, and that in fact, I wasn't even living my life full time as a woman. Their reaction was something like "Yeah, we sort of figured you weren't born a woman, but didn't care. We think you are super nice, lots of fun to be around, and we love you." These women have welcomed me into their lives, introducing me to more of their friends and families. Almost all of these experiences have been fantastic, with just one woman on the fringe of the group who clearly didn't like me because I'm transgender. She told lies about me to try to put a wedge between my friends and I, but they could see that her motive was prejudicial and unjustified. These women are mainstream society. They are the typical 20-, 30- and 40-somethings in towns across the Commonwealth. Society is ready. It's time for the laws to catch up.

I've been building a successful side career as a jazz musician. The community of musicians and fans has embraced me with open arms, with my birth gender never even registering as a topic of discussion. The other female musicians have been particularly welcoming, inviting me to play with one all-woman band and to audition for another. These musicians and fans are also mainstream society. They come from all over the Commonwealth, representing all racial and socioeconomic levels, with just the love of jazz pulling us together. Society is ready. It's time for the laws to catch up.

If things are going so well, and society is so ready, why is that we even need specific laws to protect our civil rights?

I have been very fortunate, and I am grateful for that. But I don't know what the future holds. I'm not out to my employer yet, and while I'm hopeful that a coming out would go smoothly, I have no guarantees. As a musician, I'm constantly working with different people -- being brought into different groups, playing at different venues. I approach each new band and venue with the thought in the back of my head -- what if this is the one, the time when I run into the minority of society who continue to discriminate based on gender identity and gender expression? Without laws guaranteeing my right to employment without discrimination, I take a risk with every new gig that I'll be turned away at the door.

I had a very real, very recent, reminder of why this legislation is so important. Early one evening a few weeks ago, I was walking through Boston Commons to return to my car after a meeting. I was engrossed in multitasking -- texting my friend while walking. I heard a woman shouting, and when I glanced up I realized she was addressing me. As I continued to walk to my car, I hear "Yeah, I'm talking to you, IT. Yeah, TRANS-FORMER."

Yes, society is ready, but no, not everybody has let go of their prejudices and hate. Maybe this was just one rude woman on the street. But what if this woman is the owner of a club where I'm scheduled to play my next gig? What if she works in the office next to a friend of mine who is transitioning on the job? What if she is a tenant in the apartment above me, telling my landlord that he needs to kick out the "IT" living below her?

We need the Transgender Equal Rights legislation passed, and we need it passed now. We shouldn't have to live in fear that the hateful minority can continue to hold the power to legally ruin our lives through discrimination. It is time for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to catch up with the 15 other states (plus Washington, DC) and more than 130 cities and counties nationwide in providing transgender Americans with the same civil rights as all other American citizens.

I think about how many of us are still hiding, completely invisible to society. When I met with my state representative a few years ago, I was told directly that as far as she was concerned, I was the only transgender person in her district. She had heard from several opponents of the legislation, but just one supporter.

The solution to this problem is obvious. Every one of us who thinks this legislation is important needs to speak up now. Transgender people and allies alike. I know our numbers are there. As we marched through the streets of Boston a few weeks ago, many of the hundreds of thousands of spectators along the Pride parade route chanted with us for immediate passage of Transgender Equal Rights legislation. I hope you will join me on Thursday, June 23 at 1 p.m. for the Transgender Equal Rights Lobby Day at the Massachusetts State House at the Grand Staircase.

If you cannot, please take five minutes right now to call or write your state legislators. It couldn't be easier:

Enter your address to find the name and contact information for your legislator here: www.malegislature.gov

You can find simple phone scripts and letter templates on the website for the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition: www.masstpc.org.

The support is there. Society is there. It's time for our laws to catch up.

Michelle Tannen is a member of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition.

NY Republican State Senator Roy McDonald changes vote - and drop-kicks the bigots

I saw this news on CNN this morning and it warmed my heart to hear Sen. Roy McDonald (R-Saratoga) not just change his vote to support marriage equality, but to stick it to the homophobes' constant calls for him to vote no.

"You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn't black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing," McDonald, 64, told reporters.

"You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, f--- it, I don't care what you think. I'm trying to do the right thing.

"I'm tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I'm trying to do the right thing, and that's where I'm going with this."

Meanwhile, part of the pedophile protecting criminal syndicate, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, let out this belch of of hot, homophobic air:

DOLAN: This is just perilous, Fred, we feel, to have the state tamper in one of the sacred and established and constituent definitions in the human project, namely the definition of marriage. We just feel it would be detrimental for the common good. We've got to admit we come at this from the posture of religious belief, of biblical morality and we find it unjust and immoral from those grounds. But this goes a little bit beyond this. This is a very violation of what we consider natural law that's embedded in every man and woman and we're really worried as Americans that it's going to be detrimental to the common good. [...]

Even if there are so-called carve outs for religious freedom we still worry about the detrimental effect upon society, upon culture, and certainly upon our individual churches....And we worry, what the government gives, the government can take away so you may have very benevolent people now who say in no way are we going to force any religion to do something against their constituents and their beliefs and we will see that there are carve outs, but what about a term or two down the line, where you have someone who says, oh by the way, we're going to take that carve out away from you.