Protest HRC July 26

[QueerToday]

On July 26 at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco, there will be a party and protest in front of the HRC Gala.

HRC has a long record of endorsing war-mongers and republicans like Joe Lieberman, weak and shameful support of transgender, genderqueer/gender variant communities, and focusing their attention and money on the needs and desires of the most well-off members of the LGBT community.

As queer activists it is our responsibility to let the donors to HRC know just what they are giving to. They are contributing to an organization that endorses pro-life, and anti-war candidates. And an organization that does not fully support the trans community.

There are thousands of good hearted contributors to HRC who simply need to be made aware.

Join us on July 26, to demonstrate in front of the Westin St. Francis, San Francisco.

[Vicki Wagner]

Joe Lieberman is not a Republican, he is an Independent Democrat. I, myself am an Independent. How can one say that they wholeheartedly agree with one party or another on every single issue? I think that's a stretch. HRC has done a lot for the gay community and usually make good decisions.
Vicki Wagner

[QueerToday]

What about the Trans community? It is my understanding Lieberman may be kicked out of the Democratic party all together this fall when he speaks at the Republican National Convention on behalf of John McCain. HRC may do a lot of good things, but they organize from the top down not the grassroots up. They have consistantly made decisions that have sold out our community, and put the desirees of the most fortunate ahead of the needs of the most oppressed. If you ever go to an HRC dinner, as I have through free tickets once, you'll see it's mostly rich white men who work for the same oil and pharmaceutical companies that donate to HRC, those same nasty companies that continue to take advantage of us by unethically raising the costs of AIDS drugs, destroying our environment, and keeping the Republican machine in power.
There are hundreds of organizations who have signed the United ENDA document in disagreement with HRC's tactics including PFLAG, NGLTF, and others. Here in SF there are many local politicians who refuse to attend the dinner,including the Harvey Milk Democratic club. The more research I do, the more appalling things I find that HRC has done as an organization. I hope you'll take a look at some of the many blogs and websites that have documented this. This isn't about agreeing with one party or another, in fact I am most often very far to the left of the democrats/republicans/capitalists, this is about our community and how we organize and how we want it represented.