by: 
AFY_Will
AFY_WillWednesday, February 17, 2010 at 11:24:00 AM EST
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The Human Rights Campaign is the largest and supposedly most powerful LGBT organization in the U.S. Shouldn't HRC be leading the fight to actually repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" - instead of trying to protect President Obama from grassroots pressure?
This weeks, leading progressive blogs and LGBT bloggers joined forces to "blogswarm" HRC and hold the organization accountable through grassroots pressure from across the country.
And we need to your help:
But why target HRC? HRC boasts about it's political muscle in Washington, DC, and its leaders constantly talk about how important it is for them to maintain a tight relationship with the White House. Well it's time to call in those chips. The moment for DADT repeal has arrived - and we expect HRC to fight with everything they've got.OUR MESSAGE TO HRC IS SIMPLE:
Publicly demand that President Obama take the lead in getting DADT repealed this year.
1) That means the President needs to state publicly that he wants Congress to repeal DADT this year; and
2) The President needs to take the lead in working with Congress to make sure the repeal happens.
Also, if you're a member or donor to HRC, tell them, and ask to speak to Members Services.
HRC Front Desk: (202) 628-4160
TTY: (202) 216-1572
Toll-Free: (800) 777-4723
HRC Web site comment page.
General membership email at hrc: membership@hrc.org
Via AmericaBlog
For the first time in 16 years, momentum is actually on the side of repealling "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Navy Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Join Chiefs, movingly called for repeal of DADT in his recent testimony to Congress. General Colin Powell - the original architect of DADT itselt - has publicly stated his support for repeal. Heck, even Dick Cheney (really?!) has voiced his support. More importantly, 75% of Americans support ending this hateful, dangerous, and costly policy of discrimination.
But White House spokespeople have said they want to "leave the details" of DADT repeal up to Congress - but that has left Congressional leaders without a clear plan and (even worse) publicly doubting President Obama's political willpower to see DADT repeal through to the end. And Defense Department officials have said they still don't expect the repeal to take place "for years."
The only one's who seem to think things are just fine? HRC. Just yesterday, they released another statement deflecting criticism away from President Obama and parroting White House talking points that it's really just up to Congress to act. Accordind to HRC, "there is a clear path to repeal."
Too bad HRC is the only one in Washinton who knows about it. If they really do have some sort of secret plan to successfully repeal DADT, maybe its time for HRC to fill in the rest of us. That way we can spend our time actually repealing the law itself, rather than having to hold LGBT organizations and President Obama to their own priorities.
And, on the off-chance that the Defense Department, Congress, the White House and LGBT activists across the country aren't all wrong about the confusion and potentially-defastating lack of coordination moving forward, maybe it's time for HRC to do it's job - and to use all the tools at its disposal to ensure that President Obama does his job too.
President Obama campaigned on the full repeal of "Dont Ask, Don't Tell" - and he reiterated this promise in his first State of the Union address. HRC boasts about its close working relationship with the Obama Administration and it's power as the lead organization representing millions of LGBT Americans.
If HRC has such a close relationship with the White House, this is exactly the time for them to ramp up public pressure on President Obama.
I'll give Dan Savage the last word on this one, since he already articulated what so many of us have been feeling these last few months:
Go ahead. Give HRC a call. It's time for them to lead.Tell HRC that we expect the biggest gay rights group in the country to lobby and pressure the president, not make excuses for him. If the president was powerless to do anything about DADT—if he couldn't lead on the issue—HRC should've slammed him during the campaign for making promises to the gay community that he wouldn't be able to keep. They didn't because the president isn't powerless. He can put pressure on Congress, use the bully pulpit, and insist on a repeal of DADT this year—a repeal that is supported by wide majorities of the American people, liberal, independents, and conservatives.
...
If the president and the Democrats in Congress can't make this happen in this environment, with the support of Powell and Cheney (!) and a large majority of the American people, then the Democrats do not deserve the support, votes, or checks of gay people and our allies. And if HRC isn't willing to unambiguously and publicly pressure the White House to make this happen—Barack Obama is the president of the United States and the de-facto leader of the Democratic party—then HRC doesn't deserve our support or money either.
Once again tell HRC to publicly demand results—real leadership and the full repeal of DADT—from Barack Obama.
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