Tea Party Patriots Declare From Podium: "We Will Not Be Silenced By Faggots"

The Tea Party rally I mentioned early this morning was a lot rowdier than even that story suggested. Visit Scott Wooledge's exhaustive report at Daily Kos for more. One charming highlight came when the speaker at the podium shouted, "We will not be silenced by FAGGOTS!" It also looks like there will be an investigation in the above Boston police officer.

The department was criticized after photographs circulated online that appear to depict a city officer with his right hand around the throat of a man at the protest. The man is wearing a bandanna that covers the lower part of his face. Both of his hands are at his own waist, holding a pink wig. Elaine Driscoll, a spokeswoman for the Boston Police Department, said that the photographs, which were posted to the picture-sharing website Flickr, appeared to be from the Common, when protesters rushed the stage at the Tea Party event, which had a permit. “The aggressive nature of these individuals required officers to call for numerous additional units to respond. The department supports the arrests made by the officers today,” Driscoll said in an e-mail. “As a matter of routine procedure following a day of aggressive protests, the department will review all of the activity that took place during the course of the day.”

BOSTON: Scott Lively Shouted Down

Join The Impact MA sends us a photo and a press release.

A crowd of approximately 75 tea party activists gathered round the bandstand on the Common to hear speakers representing groups like “Show ID to Vote,” “Newsbusters” and the Mass. Republican Assembly. From the outset about 20 protestors from Join the Impact MA stood along the edge of the surrounding sidewalk quietly holding signs condemning Scott Lively and Brian Camenker for their homophobic advocacy. Just before Lively’s and Camenker’s turns at the podium came, roughly 100 exuberant protestors from the Occupy movement charged onto the scene chanting loudly and waving signs. The din became an uproar as Lively took the microphone. In his speech, Lively blasted conservatives who would minimize the importance of social issues. Then he denounced LGBT rights activists as “fascists” who were intent on destroying civilization. Camenker met with similar pushback as he criticized the work of GLSEN for allegedly promoting homosexual recruitment of public school students—in reference to the group’s efforts to prevent anti-LGBT bullying. Lively and Camenker were loudly booed, and much of their speech-making was drowned out by Occupy chants and “mic check” counterpoint.

Friday: LGBT Activists To Protest Obama Speech In Boston

LGBT activists and allies plan to protest President Obama's appearance this Friday at a fundraiser in Boston. Via press release:

President Barack Obama will be visiting Boston on Friday, Oct. 23rd, for a high dollar fundraiser to be held at the Westin Copley Hotel. Outside the hotel, a protest will be held from 12:30pm - 2:30pm urging President Obama to follow through on his LGBT right's promises. The protest will focus upon two issues which President Obama has sole authority over, namely signing a stop-loss order to immediately halt the discharge of openly gay members of the military due to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

Further, advocates are demanding that President Obama stop working against the LGBT community and against his campaign promise to get rid of DOMA, the Defense Of Marriage Act, by defending the law in Court. Rather, they urge that President Obama direct his Department of Justice to stop defending this law in Court, of which there is no obligation to do so, and allow a Congressionally appointed lawyer to defend the law instead. "We'll be sending a strong message to President Obama that his self proclaimed title of "fierce advocate" for the LGBT community actually requires advocating on our issues. And our community will not let up until he finally follows through on his promises." said Paul Sousa, co-chair of Join The Impact MA.

The protest is being organized by Join The Impact MA. Here's the Facebook page.

2nd DNC Fundraiser Protest Planned

Join The Impact has announced that they will protest a DNC fundraiser scheduled for Boston on tomorrow. Another protest of the DNC fundraiser in DC is scheduled for Thursday. Via press release:

The Obama administration's decision to file a legal brief in support of the Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA), in which same-sex marriage was compared to incestuous and underage marriage, has prompted widespread outrage from the LGBT community. On June 23, the Boston LGBT community will protest a Vice President hosted DNC fundraiser at Fenway Park. Join The Impact MA and local activists plan to protest in front of the entrance from 4:30pm till 5pm to bring awareness to the lack of Congressional and Presidential action on LGBT rights and particularly to the egregious DOMA legal brief.

This protest follows on the heels of a much publicized boycott to another DNC fundraiser on June 25th in Washington, D.C. which is also expected to draw a protest the day of. The number of gay and allied donors who say they will skip the fundraiser is rising as the president remains silent about the brief that has troubled the LGBT community. These donors range from Marty Rouse, national field director of the Human Rights Campaign, philanthropist Bruce Bastian, and Vermont Senate Pro Tempore Peter Shumlin, who shepherded the first gay marriage bill through the Vermont Legislature who have all dropped out among others.

Information on joining the Boston protest can be found here.

President Obama: Don't Flip Flop On DOMA

Via press release:

The first ever federal lawsuit against Section 3 of DOMA ("Defense Of Marriage Act") was filed on March 3, 2009 by GLAD (Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders) on behalf of eight same-sex married couples and three surviving spouses from Massachusetts who have been denied federal legal protections available to spouses. They served the government with the lawsuit the week of April 27th and now the Department of Justice, under President Obama's authority, has until the week of June 22nd to respond.

President Obama now has a choice -- direct Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department to defend DOMA in court or keep his campaign promise by asking Holder not to defend this unconstitutional law.

A national grassroots effort has been released on May 18, 2009 known as the DOMA Flip Flop campaign. Endorsing organizations include Join The Impact , Change.org , Join The Impact MA , and the Cambridge Democratic City Comittee . Organizers are asking participants to print out a 'flip flop card' with the the statement, "President Obama, please don't flip flop on DOMA!" on it. Participants are asked to mail the 'flip flop card' to the White House from now until President Obama makes his decision on the DOMA lawsuit.

Join the DOMA Flip Flop Facebook group and visit DOMAFlipFlip.com.

Yesterday U.S. Rep. John Conyers said that he has the votes to push a DOMA repeal through the House Judiciary Committee, but that getting votes in the full House and Senate remains in question.

Equal Taxes, Equal Rights

Some of you weren't too fond of the LGBT movement attempting to co-opt the tea baggers' tax protests, but if you ARE interested, today the HRC, Join The Impact, and Marriage Equality USA are organizing at least 60 protests at U.S. Post Offices around the country to demand fair taxation for LGBT couples.

It doesn't matter how long a same-sex couple has been together, come Tax Day they are considered single by the federal government. As single people, they must pretend their finances and their futures are not intertwined and forgo access to the many economic safety nets their tax dollars help fund, such as Social Security survivor benefits, estate tax deferral when inheriting property, and the ability to file taxes jointly. Every year, LGBT people are forced to pay taxes on their partner's health care benefits as if it were additional income. Opposite sex couples are exempt from this unfair taxation. Even in Massachusetts and Connecticut, where same-sex marriages are recognized by the state, they are not recognized by the federal government, and all of the above injustices apply.

Go here to find the protest nearest you. NYC's protest will be at the James Farley Post Office at 421 Eight Avenue at 5PM. That building is Gotham's landmark post office next to Penn Station and home of the famous inscription: Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

Tea Parties Go Gay!

Those "revolutionary" tea parties planned around the nation for April 15th are no longer entirely owned by the wingnuts. Via press release from Join The Impact:

This tax day, the LGBT community is demanding equal rights for equal taxation. Massachusetts citizens will be gathering at the Long Wharf dock, near the site of the original Boston Tea Party, from 5:30pm to 7:00pm putting on a Boston Tea Party Re-enactment, rallying and passing out literature to protest the federal government's tax policy toward same-sex couples. The intent is to inform the public of the discrimination that same-sex couples continue to face.

Rallies are being planned at local post offices across the country and these events have been sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest LGBT rights organization in the United States, Join The Impact, Join The Impact MA, and Marriage Equality USA.

"Married same-sex couples are blatantly discriminated against under federal tax law, among other areas, and we're doing our part to shine a light on that injustice. A Boston Tea Party Re-enactment is a spirited way to do just that and it also adds some variety to your standard protest,” said Paul Sousa, co-chair of Join The Impact MA.

Visit the special page Join The Impact has set up for information about Boston's Tea Party and how to organize an event in your own neighborhood.

Call To Appoint Openly Gay William White As Secretary Of The Navy Grows Louder

Equal Rep, a grassroots group founded by Join The Impact co-founder Paul Sousa, is calling for support in their bid to get Barack Obama to nominate William White as the first openly gay Secretary of the Navy.

In a short amount of time, White has already earned some impressive endorsements. Retired general Hugh Shelton, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said White "would be phenomenal." He added that White's extensive background as a fund-raiser for veterans' and military causes would be helpful in the job. Congressman Jerrold Nadler said White is "very capable" on the basis of observing his work at the Intrepid, located on the Hudson River, which is in Nadler's district. Nadler added that White has been a friend of service members and their families through his work with the museum and philanthropic efforts, according to The Washington Times.

"With the whole Rick Warren fiasco ensuing and the fact that gay Americans were completely shut out of Obama's cabinet, this is the perfect opportunity for our President-elect to show gay Americans they have not been forgotten and he truly is committed to equal representation." said Paul Sousa, Equal Rep founder. "William White is not only the most qualified candidate, but appointing him would also send a strong message that change is coming and the antiquated, discriminatory policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will be repealed soon."

The vile Elaine Donnelly of the Center For Military Readiness allows that William White has done "admirable good work" in raising millions of dollars for the temporary housing and support of the families of injured soldiers. She also concedes that there is no law against civilian homosexuals working for the Pentagon and that White would not be the first Naval Secretary without prior military experience. But then she reverts to form and raises the straw man of predatory homos in the showers:

Civilian service secretaries do not have to live in the same conditions of what the law describes as “forced intimacy” offering little or no privacy. Congress should protect the interests of surface sailors, Navy SEALS, and submariners who do accept these living conditions, and not pass legislation that would make military life even more difficult. But instead of considering the harmful consequences of repealing the 1993 law, Mr. White’s perceived status as a “poster man” for the cause of gays in the military would distract attention from the serious consequences of repealing the 1993 law. Such an appointment would call into question the judgment of President Obama, the next Commander-in-Chief. Despite his personal views, President Obama should put the needs of the military above the demands of homosexualists who want to use government power to impose their agenda on military men and women.

Donnelly goes on to predict that White's appointment would not only hasten the end of DADT (hooray!) but that its repeal would "increase threefold" the number of sexual harassment incidents in the military. (Donnelly points to her ass as the source of that statistic.)

The Facebook action page for William White is here.

HomoQuotable - Peter Staley

"Momentum is a bitch. It’s probably the hardest thing to maintain in any activist movement. Join The Impact, the new web-based group that organized the remarkable nationwide anti-Prop 8 rallies on November 15th, is learning this hard truth pretty quickly. Their three actions since then – a postcard campaign, “Day Without A Gay”, and Saturday night’s nationwide “Light Up The Night” demos – failed to live up to this group’s early promise, or its justifiably glowing press coverage (see their New York Times profile).

"This is not meant to be a dig. I’m in love with this group’s energy, youthfulness, and commitment. I haven’t felt this inspired by gay activism since the days of ACT UP. But I’m also a big believer in learning as you go, and doing honest postmortems. Any movement that only pats itself on the back after each action it takes is doomed to failure. So at the risk of having my head bitten off, I’d like to humbly offer the following advice.

"Momentum matters. The best way to maintain it is to set and achieve attainable goals (or mini-victories that push the ball forward towards a larger victory). Thus far, Join The Impact only seems to be playing variations on a theme, attempting to recreate new versions of their clear victory on November 15th.

"As amazing as that day was, it should be kept in perspective. It was a highly emotional response to a singular event, the passing of Prop 8. As a community, we were stunned, hurt and angry. As with most emotional responses, they will tend to diminish as you get further and further away from the initial event. November 15th was a singular moment, and attempting to recreate it will be as futile as attempting to recreate the Stonewall Riots." - Peter Staley writing on Poz.com. Staley goes on to suggest that Join The Impact focus on states where marriage equality is attainable in the next four years: New York, New Jersey, and California.

Dan Savage agrees:

Not every idea is a good one. As personally upsetting as it can be to hear, "Um, no, we're not going to do that...", it sometimes needs to be said. By someone. It's a movement, after all, not the special Olympics. Sure, it would be nice if everyone got a medal, but boosting the self-esteem of all involved isn't the point. Or shouldn't be. Bad ideas—ideas that squander the energy the movement should be trying to harness—have to be shot down. By someone. And if there's no one involved at Join the Impact who can or will do it, then writers and bloggers are going to have to stop holding our fire. I'm throwing this out there now because I want to get Peter Staley's back.

Not So Silent Night

It looks like Saturday's Light Up The Night event was not quite the silent protest requested by the organizers at Join The Impact, at least in NYC. The clip below was sent to us by Richard Davis at NYC's LGBT Center.
Also check out Eric Leven's coverage of the protest in Miami and Rex Wockner's report from San Diego. Wockner says that things were "silent" in San Diego, which he rightly took issue with.

As this was a "silent vigil," there was no chanting -- and participants were told not to bring protest signs. That's all good and well as long as passersby have some inkling what you're silently doing. Unfortunately, that did not seem to be the case here. People kept asking. The pretend nuns in face paint likely added to the confusion.

Join The Impact has posted hundreds of photos and videos from around the country. Their next action will be a January 10th march on the nation's state capitals to demand a repeal of DOMA.

Saturday: Light Up The Night

Join The Impact sends a reminder about this Saturday's Light Up The Night rally in NYC which includes the corrected locations to the ones I posted earlier this week. Find the protest in your city via the links at bottom.

NYC MARCH FOR EQUAL RIGHTS AND GAY MARRIAGE

Saturday, December 20, 6 PM, 35th Street And Sixth Avenue

This Saturday, December 20, the LGBT community of New York will again take to the streets to demand equality in marriage and all civil rights. The march is part of "Light Up The Night," a nationwide protest organized by Join The Impact. JTI organized the previous national day of protest on November 15, which included a rally at New York City Hall attended by more than 5,000 people.

For "Light Up The Night," we will meet on Saturday at 6 PM, at the intersection of 35th Street and Sixth Avenue (the north side of Herald Square) for a candlelight march to Times Square. (Bring your own candles, flashlights, etc.) We will end the march at 7 PM with a rally at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street. Gay and lesbian couples will talk about their personal struggle for equality in the face of discriminatory marriage laws.

JTI is also holding a food drive to show that the LGBT community also gives back to society. On Saturday, December 20, from 10 AM to 4 PM, we will be collecting canned and dry food in front of the Whole Foods Store on the south side of Union Square, and in front of the Trader Joe's Store on 14th Street and Third Avenue. We will be donating the collection to the Sylvia Rivera Food Pantry, which serves the LGBT and HIV communities and all of New York.

Links:
Join The Impact Nationwide
Light Up The Night NYC
Facebook Group Page

Light Up The Night

The next Join The Impact demonstration takes place this Saturday, December 20th at "commercial centers" around the nation. In NYC, marriage equality advocates with gather at Columbus Circle and march to Times Square. Facebook link here. Find the location in your city here. From the site:

WHAT WILL WE BE DOING?

• Hosting peaceful candlelight vigils
  
• We will stay silent unless asked a question, we will not yell, instigate, or bear signs. Instead, we will let our shirts do the talking and our candles pay our respects. Bring candles (battery powered if you'll be huddling inside).
• Singing and/or silence encouraged...chanting is not....keep it peaceful and in the holiday spirit.

The Architect Of Stonewall 2.0

Veteran gay reporter Rex Wockner gives us a glimpse into Amy Balliett, whom he calls the "architect of Stonewall 2.0."

Yes, she practices what she preaches. JoinTheImpact co-founder and co-coordinator Amy Balliett, right, and wife Jessica Trejo were legally married in Los Angeles on Oct. 18 following their Aug. 9 wedding in Seattle. It took me a while to get the photos out of her. Keep your eye on Amy. In a matter of days, she came out of essentially nowhere to become one of the most successful gay activists in the nation, co-coordinating huge anti-Prop 8 demos Nov. 15 in some 300 cities in every U.S. state, simultaneously no less, at 10:30 a.m. California time.

Amy Balliett, a new gay superhero.

Tomorrow: Nationwide Prop 8 Protests

Go to Join The Impact for information about the protests near you. Protest times are staggered by time zone, making this the very first time in the history of our nation that LGBT people will be standing up for ourselves in every major city in every state at the SAME TIME.

Love Unites

Via Towleroad:

Shepard Fairey, the graphic designer and illustrator who created the iconic images for Obama's campaign, has turned his focus to the current fight for equality in the gay and lesbian community, designing a poster intended specifically for use at this weekend's rallies in California and elsewhere. The image is inspired by the art of a young man named Aaron Harvey. Thanks to the donations of two print sources, posters will be donated for the rally this Saturday at City Hall, which is part of the larger nationwide action called Join the Impact.