Sen. Hillary Clinton at HRC Board Meeting

You know, I am pretty tired of having to write about Barack Obama and whatever crapola he is claiming/twisting/changing today. I am sick of him and his duplicity. Not that I am surprised by it - not one iota. I am just sick of it. And I miss hearing Hillary Clinton. I miss her speeches, I miss her rallies, I miss her passion, I miss her personality. So, I thought I would pull up a great video of her speaking to the HRC board. So, if you have been missing her like I have, sit back and enjoy listening to her, and appreciating all that she has done (and would have done as president) for the LGBT community. As has often been noted, she has been a stalwart supporter of this community. And has long been a friend to the HRC.

If only HRC had been as good of a friend to Senator Clinton. On June 6, HRC endorsed BARACK OBAMA. Yes, they did. Why? Oh, their director, Joe Salmonese said it was because of his Civil Rights record (which is what, exactly?), his strong support of the LGBT community (which he has demonstrated HOW exactly?), and all of the other hooey people generally spew then. I terminated my membership to HRC. After over 20 years. For HRC to not endorse HRC after all of the accolades they have bestowed upon her, and after her COMMITMENT to our community is simply reprehensible. I have lost all respect for them (and frankly, I was never all that thrilled with Salmonese anyway, and even less so now).

So, Obama - oh, yes - what a great friend he is to the LGBT community - NOT! Let's just look at ONE of his closest friends and advisers. Yes, I am talking about James Meeks, IL state senator, and Baptist minister. Another organization to which my partner and I are long-term members is the Southern Poverty Law Center. In an article in Chicago Pride, it was reported:

A spring 2007 newsletter from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) named Meeks one of the "10 leading black religious voices in the anti-gay movement". The newsletter cites him as both "a key member of Chicago's ‘Gatekeepers' network, an interracial group of evangelical ministers who strive to erase the division between church and state" and "a stalwart anti-gay activist… [who]… has used his House of Hope mega-church to launch petition drives for the Illinois Family Institute (IFI), a major state-level ‘family values' pressure group that lauded him last year for leading African Americans in ‘clearly understanding the threat of gay marriage.'"

The SPLC newsletter also noted that, "Meeks and the IFI are partnered with Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council and the Alliance Defense Fund, major anti-gay organizations of the Christian Right. They also are tightly allied with Americans for Truth, an Illinois group that said in a press release last year that ‘fighting AIDS without talking against homosexuality is like fighting lung cancer without talking against smoking.'"

Oh, goody - a twofer! He hates gay people, AND he wants to eradicate the line between Church and State! That makes Obama's recent statements about expanding Faith Initiatives even more telling, doesn't it?? If one of his CLOSEST friends/advisers/mentors is actively working to eradicate that line, I think it highlights quite starkly the influence someone like Meeks has in his life. And did you CATCH the connection to James Dobson's outfit, "Focus on the Family?" Telling. Very, very telling.

But wait, there is more:

On a more personal level, Meeks has reportedly blamed "Hollywood Jews for bringing us Brokeback Mountain" and actively campaigned to defeat SB3186, an Illinois LGBT non-discrimination bill, while serving in the Illinois state legislature alongside Obama. According to a 2006 Chicago Sun Times article, his church sponsored a "Halloween fright night" which "consigned to the flames of hell two mincing young men wearing body glitter who were supposed to be homosexuals."

Oh, what a charmer! And then there is Donnie McClurkin and HIS rabid anti-gay activity...

So you can see why HRC would have endorsed Obama, right? Yeah, me neither.

And speaking of HRC, here is a little tidbit from its FORMER Director, Elizabeth Birch, whom I did like. This comes from a report on the LA Gay Pride Parade:

In an LGBT Obama outreach call Friday (which openly gay Deputy Campaign manager Steve Hildebrand said included 1,200 participants), former Human Rights Campaign executive director Elizabeth Birch talked movingly about her pain and disappointment - not just at Clinton's defeat and the complexities of having two role models for her two bi-racial children, but also from the perspective of the "scrappy 12 year old" she once was who dreamed of changing the world.

That resonated with a number of Hillary-supporting lesbians with whom I spoke later. "Was Elizabeth the only woman on the call?," they asked. "Where are the lesbians in Obama's campaign?"

This is more than just pained disappointment - it's a belief that Obama is keyed into the A-Gay white boys network that still tends to - perhaps unconsciously but from a sense of entitlement - dismiss women.

Huh - Obama is paying especial attention to the men but not the women?? It was mainly men on his GAY outreach call? Wow - who could have seen THAT coming? Oh, right - ALL of us.

Sigh.

So, take a listen to Hillary Rodham Clinton, the ORIGINAL HRC. Watch the person who SHOULD be president. Maybe there is still time. No, there IS still time. Forget the Ego-Sized Stadium for Obama - we CAN make a difference in Denver. We must make a difference in Denver.