Instant Replay

Remember that nice cocktail party to observe Stonewall -- right after the nasty DoJ brief supporting DOMA? Well, it seems that the president thinks it's time to throw another bone to the gay community, and will speak at the Human Rights Campaign's annual dinner, the night before the National Equality March. It will be interesting to hear what he has to say to justify his backpedaling on the promises he made to the gay community during the campaign.

And do I have to point out that this is another "inside the Beltway" event -- another nice, clubby gathering of people who have no clue as to what real life is like. Pam Spaulding calls them the "A-list gays" and I think she's absolutely right -- these people are the Establishment, which has proven that it no longer has much, if any, relevance to the gay community at large. And of course, some people are offended by that:

What I am referring to here is the class and access distinction between most of the LGBT community (who cannot afford the $250 and up ticket price to see the President or pay thousands to captain a table at other events). The divide is very real and troubling on several levels. These are often a sea of gay white well-to-do men with a sprinkling of lesbians, plus media and anyone lucky enough to scrape money together or are sponsored by their organizations to attend. It doesn't mean attendees are just schmoozing or have no sense of activism, it just means there's an inconvenient truth no one likes to talk about and that makes it uncomfortable when it is raised.

These events are simply out of reach of the vast majority of average LGBTs. It's the truth. That's why I also said it's too bad the President won't be at the march; that was an opportunity to balance the scales and it's clear it won't happen for a host of reasons.

The reason "A-gays" pushes buttons is the obvious class issue. And we can't continue to sweep that factor under the rug because it affects all of us -- the Obama admin thinks that appearing at an HRC dinner is talking to the LGBT community at large (which is also what HRC wants him to think, of course, why wouldn't the org?) -- and it's what causes the internal strife between the grassroots and the Beltway orgs all the time. Owning up to what's going on is what's at the root of "A-Gays" when I use it.

Remember, HRC and the other national groups are the ones who had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the marriage fight, lost on Prop 8, which should have been a no-brainer, and haven't managed to do squat on DOMA, ENDA, and DADT in years. But they do have some nice parties.

John Aravosis is also among those who are saying "Show me" and has a pretty impressive list of those who have also expressed their doubt.

The days of Obama riding by on his oratorical skills are long since past. Yes, I'm sure he'll give a great speech. And yes, I'm sure the very-safe cocktail and weenie crowd will go ga-ga over the president, as they did in June when he bought them off with a few drinks at the White House, but gave them nothing substantive in return. But Obama needs to be careful. The "safe" gays no longer control the community as they once did. Obama is going to need to announce something big at the speech, or he's going to get some very bad press following it. As will HRC for inviting him, I suspect.

From Andy Towle:

I certainly hope Obama has some big news or additional plans for the following day because choosing the black tie dinner over the grassroots march certainly won't get him much respect unless he does.

Yes, but you see, the administration knows the A-list. They don't know the grubby marchers who will be there on Sunday.

Towle also quotes Richard Socarides:

Eleven months after his election, he has failed to deliver on any of his commitments to gay Americans, but even worse has been his refusal to engage around these issues. What he needs to do now is engage and deliver. Spend some of his political capital on ending the gay military ban, a hugely symbolic issue. And with no intellectually sound arguments left against it, come out squarely for gay marriage equality.

Andrew Sullivan approaches Hunteresque realms of bluntness:

If Obama wants to support gay equality, he knows what to do. If Pelosi and Reid want to support gay equality, they know what to do. If HRC believes in gay equality, they also know what to do.

So spare us the schmoozing and the sweet-talking and do it. Until then, Mr president, why don't you have a nice steaming cup of shut-the-fuck-up?

Read Sullivan's post -- it's short and deadly.

One of Sullivan's readers has what I think are some astute observations on HRC and the culture of Washington itself:

HRC is useless because there is nothing good that can be achieved at the federal level and they and the Democrats know it. You can be as repulsed as you want by them but it won't change the facts. At the federal level the right wing culture warriors own the issue just like they own gun rights. The Democrats won't do anything because they have been trained to passivity by the high voltage shock they get when they go there.

The only way through that fence is to ignore the Democrats and the culture warriors patrolling the perimeter and get out of Washington all together.

I hate to have to keep harping on this, but HRC, GLAAD, and their ilk simply don't connect with the vast majority of gays any more -- if they ever did. (I see the same sort of thinking in Equality Illinois -- the tendency to play the odds and wait until things are more favorable. I think it's no mistake that ACT-UP was the most effective gay organization of the 1980s, and perhaps ever.) These are the people who keep counseling "wait" on marriage suits, who didn't want Boies and Olson to file their suit (and then wanted in on the action once it finally sank in that there was a chance), who want to wait until 2012 to repeal Prop 8. These are the people who hired "poitical consultants" and held focus groups in California and never connected with anyone real. Spaulding refers to the "A-list gays" as a class thing, but I think it's much more a functional dissociation: HRC and the A-list gays as a whole are part of the establishment culture (as, to a large extent, is Sullivan) and they have no connection to the rest of the country.

Fine -- Obama's going to speak to HRC, ignore the March, and HRC will issue another press release which will sit in my in-box unread because I already know what it's going to say.

I'm not the least bit impressed.