Tag Archives: HRC

Ford Statement Refutes AFA’s Claims

Yesterday the American Family Association issued a press release claiming that the Ford Motor Company had surrendered to their ongoing boycott and would cease marketing to gays and end charitable contributions to LGBT organizations. This morning I made a few phone calls, initially speaking to Suzanne Wait, head of Ford GLOBE, the company’s LGBT employee group. Wait declined to comment …

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Vanessa Williams At HRC Dinner

Vanessa Williams spoke eloquently at the HRC gala dinner here in NYC on Sunday. Like most, I tend to take a dim view of giving straight people awards for not hating us, but it is what it is. And I adore Vanessa Williams, who here gives an interesting chronology of her journey from beauty pageants to pop stardom. She also …

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Protests At HRC Fundraiser,
Gotham Pols Steer Clear

The Radical Homosexual Agenda protested outside last night’s Human Rights Campaign dinner at the midtown Hilton in Manhattan. From Paul Schindler at Gay City News: Faced with a boisterous picket line that drew a crowd of more than 50 and with the absence of every lesbian, gay, and bisexual elected official from New York City — and nearly every other …

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Solmonese On Colbert, Part 2

Not as laugh-out-loud funny as Part 1, but some cute bits.

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Equal Rights & Appletinis

HRC head Joe Solmonese appeared on The Colbert Report last night and played “straight” man to Steve Colbert’s usual convolutedly hilarious logic. Here’s Part 1 of Solmonese’s bit. Part 2 will air tonight.

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CWA Offers Poisoned Olive Branch

Via their spokeshater Matt Barber, the Concerned Women Of America wants to ally with gay rights groups to fight the spread of MRSA and call for the closure of all bathhouses and sex clubs. “We now have a wonderful opportunity for ideological opponents to come together for the common good. Steps must be taken to keep this MRSA outbreak, which …

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HomoQuotable – Joe Solmonese

“We’ve come to expect hysteria and gross distortions from an organization like this and normally their bigoted rants don’t even warrant a response. But the statement today about MRSA is beyond the pale. In typical fashion, they disregard the facts and instead chose to demagogue the issue in order to fear-monger. Serious medical issues deserve serious consideration, not wildly off-the-mark …

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HRC’s Best Places To Work

The Human Rights Campaign has released its Best Places To Work 2008 list. A total of 195 companies that achieve this honor will use the 2008 “Best Places to Work for GLBT Equality” seal to distinguish their company as a fair-minded employer. The seal is given to companies who score a perfect 100% on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate …

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Ryan White’s Mom Angry With Huckabee

The Human Rights Campaign is trying to engineer a meeting between Mike Huckabee and Jeanne White-Ginder, mother of Ryan White, the Indiana teenager whose battle with AIDS in the 80’s riveted the nation and made Ryan a darling of AIDS activists such as Elton John. White-Ginder says Huckabee’s recent comments about AIDS have infuriated her and that “We have to …

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HRC Plays Grinch To Wal-Mart

I can’t imagine that many of you were going to in the first place, but the HRC has issued an alert requesting that teh gays not patronize Wal-Mart this holiday season. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights group, is giving Wal-Mart (WMT) a red “do not buy” rating in its new consumer guide, bestowing a lump of …

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Today: 9th Annual Transgender
Day Of Remembrance

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder …

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Barney Frank: “You know what?
My Country Doesn’t Hate Me!”

HRC’s Back Story blog has the video of yesterday’s celebratory post-ENDA press conference. Choice quotes: Barney Frank: “Knowing the feeling of pride and support and vindication that many of us who are gay and lesbians feel, underlines the importance of our extending that to others who aren’t allowed to feel that today, and yet they are entitled to that same …

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Solmonese On Signorile

HRC head Joe Solomonese appeared on Michelangelo Signorile’s radio show yesterday to defend the Human Right Campaign’s decision to push for ENDA without transgender protections. It’s a tough interview. Listen below.

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ENDA+T Coalition Unravels

It was nice while it lasted. Led by the HRC, the coalition of progressive and labor organizations supporting a trans-inclusive ENDA has significantly unraveled. Joining the HRC in an open letter to Congress in support of a trans-less bill: the NAACP, the National Education Association, the National Employment Lawyers Association, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the Leadership Conference …

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Trans-less ENDA Bill To Move Forward

Despite a massive national outcry among gay activists and the work of an unprecedented coalition of progressive organizations, congressional leaders will move ahead with the version of ENDA that does not include transgender protections. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she has committed to presenting a second transgender-inclusive bill “the minute” enough votes have been secured to pass it. (In …

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Trans Board Member Resigns From HRC

Citing “betrayal, distrust, and anger”, Donna Rose, the only transgender member of HRC’s board of directors has resigned over internal dissent regarding ENDA. In a lengthy statement on her personal website, Rose asks for others to join her. Rose: “I call on other like-minded board members, steering committee leaders, donors, corporate sponsors, and volunteers to think long and hard about …

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HRC Signs “Stop ENDA” Letter

Via HRC Back Story comes word that HRC has signed the Leadership Conference On Civil Rights’ letter (PDF) calling for a trans-inclusive ENDA. HRC joins 16 progressive organizations including the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU. October 1, 2007 The Honorable George Miller,Chairman Committee on Education and LaborU.S. House of RepresentativesWashington, DC 20515 Dear Chairman …

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HRC Refuses To Sign Letter Demanding Trans-Inclusive ENDA

Reflecting the disunity I spoke of in the post below, 12 LGBT rights groups have signed onto a letter decrying the removal of transgenders from ENDA, including the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the National Center for Transgender Equality, the Empire State Pride Agenda, Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, P-FLAG, the National Stonewall Democrats, and …

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Senate Hate Crimes (Matthew Shepard Act) Vote Tomorrow

From yesterday’s HRC’s Backstory: This afternoon, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), one of the lead sponsors of the Senate hate crimes bill, took to the Senate floor to urge the Senate to pass the hate crimes bill (S. 1105) and for President Bush to sign the legislation into law. Earlier today, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) filed a cloture motion on the …

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Progressives Pile On Ahmadinejad

Gay rights groups were quick to condemn Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s claim that there are no homosexuals in Iran. HRC’s Joe Solmonese: “Today’s assertions by President Ahmadinejad that there are no homosexuals in Iran would be simply absurd were it not for the fact that international human rights watchers have long documented some of the most horrific acts of persecution …

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