This is the original version of my most recent HuffPost posting and the actual message I intended to convey.
The schadenfreude surrounding Scott Brown’s Massachusetts Senate win is the final confirmation of the current LGBT leadership’s betrayal of 50 years of progressive politics. It began within minutes of Coakley’s concession speech: A volley of “I told you sos” by her haughty Carolina highness, Pam Spaulding. Mock-shock and caustic concern from the dirt-dishers over at Queerty. Dispassionate dispatches from those “just-the-facters” Towleroad, Joe.My.God and the AMERICAblog. And finally — a muddled, misanthropic, self-serving and — obvi! — Obama-bashing brief from that grand wizard of the GayKKers David Mixner.
That Brown won should have come of little surprise to these LGBT “leaders” or their devoted fan base. After all, Spaulding, Queerty, Mixner and Co. practically cheer-led the former Cosmo-hunk to this critical triumph. Having officially turned on their president, these netrooters have conceded the greater good for their own shortsighted image-inflating. Well aware of the monumental consequences of a Republican win, Gay-stream media nevertheless continued their Dem-dissing and Obama-bashing with little concern for its election-day implications.
Now those implications are quickly becoming clear: Health care is at risk following the loss of the Democratic Senate majority. Additional Democratic senate seats are vulnerable to attack by an emboldened Republican party. Progressive White House initiatives may now be scaled back as Obama is forced to downsize his populist platforms. And — most crucially — the very LGBT issues these leaders triumph have never been more threatened by political rollbacks and the potential for voter-led regressive propositions. Our very economic, civil and physical liberties are imperiled — and all Spaulding can dish up is an “I told you so”. All Mixner can muster is yet another MLK-mooching missive on HuffPost.
Shame!
The real “I told you so” actually began back in November, when John Corzine lost the New Jersey governorship to that right-winger known as Chris Christie. Corzine’s defeat ended New Jersey’s quest for same-sex marriage — all but guaranteed by the ex-governor and a supportive legislature before the election. Corzine knew this, Christie knew this and so did the Gays. Yet rather than rallying behind Corzine, the Gay-stream endlessly bashed his greatest supporter — Pres. Obama, who made numerous Jersey visits stumping for the ex-Goldman Sachser.
Two months later, a near repeat: Critical election, crucial causes — but LGBT cynicism instead of support at the appointed hour. Arabs may be fond of saying “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” but the Gay voices must clearly believe that “the friend of my enemy is my enemy”.
The sobering truth is that the real enemies of LGBT Americans is actually their useless leadership — if they may be called that. Their uselessness is as vast as it is dangerous: Devoid of any real and realistic political platform. Corrupted by an unfortunate (and unprecedented) conflation of technology and ideology. Desperate in their embrace of short-term allies with little concern for long-term benefit (Cindy McCain, Ted Olsen — come on!). Unrepentantly racist and race-bating on the White side; complicit, silent and homo Tom-like on the Black. Steeped in anger whilst mired by impotence. And shamelessly borrowing from earlier civil rights movements with zero respect or understanding of what they were truly about.
In fact, it’s time to stop with the niceties and simply tell it like it is: Enough with the Loving v. Virginia references and its “Blacks got their rights too” reductivism. End the Mixner-styled “Gay Apartheid” hysterics and endless take-downs of the Black church. It’s boring, it’s tired, it’s obnoxious and it’s offensive.
Most crucially, same-sex marriage advocates must finally understand they cannot equate their struggle with the African-American battle for Civil Rights or South African movement to end Apartheid. Not because Marriage Equality is not a noble goal, but because they are simply not the same thing.
And — yes, I’ll dare say it — because they simply have not earned it!
A century passed between the end of slavery and the Civil Rights Movement’s first major successes. The anti-Apartheid movement took at least half that time. I only hope Gay folks won’t have to wait so long.
Along with all that bigotry, the greatest offense of the past Gay 12 months has not been the sheer self-induced defeat. Rather, it’s been the complete and total intolerance for any sort of critical or original thinking by Gay leaders. Coming from a tradition of Wilde and Stein, Baldwin, Bowles, Kramer and Foucault, this is a truly 21st century state of affairs. Gays and Lesbians have an honorable history of liberation literature and intellect which seems, sadly, to have died during the AIDS years. Today, Gay media — both big and small — have become a marriage-focused monolith for whom nuance and subtlety are simply nonexistent.
It’s an “us-or-them” mentality leaving little room for the actual complexities of real LGBT life — which is often messy, scary and especially for young people and urbanites very, very lonely. Marriage is a goal — and a beautiful one. But I can’t help but think that for many homo-singletons, a simple Gay second-date — and not Gay-marriage — is a far more immediate concern.
Just ask them.
As the White House and Pres. Obama enter this much-needed period of introspection, it’s time the Gay-stream did so as well. Although the Prop. 8 trial trudges on in California, the harsh reality is that the marriage equality movement is slowly dying in the rest of the nation. Along the way, its mean-spirited mantras are beginning to wreck potentially irreparable damage on America’s Left leaving the nation — OUR NATION! — truly vulnerable to Right Wing take-over.
The bitterness and vitriol filling LGBT attacks on the Dems must come to an end, replaced by a respectful and actionable solutions-based agenda. Most crucially, major LGBT institutions must learn from their previous mistakes and work to rectify them, rather than settling for sloppy repeats. Case in point: The glaring omission of a single Black Gay leader on the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) advisory board. Yes, Julian Bond is the head of the NAACP and it’s lovely to see him there. But considering California is the state where the whole “Blacks vs. Gays” debate had its sorry start, the inclusion of a Gay-Black voice would have gone far towards much-needed reconciliation.
Also needed: A drop of critical thinking from folks like Spaulding — who blindly pimped the AFER line-up without once critiquing the exclusion of minority Gay voices like her own!
I’ve long since given up expecting intelligent critiques from white-hooded White guys like Mixner and the Queerty boys, but what’s your excuse Pam?
I am American, mixed-race, Jewish and Gay. I am, you could say, an ultimate minority. Because of this I do not take my liberties for granted — and I will fight relentlessly against anyone who imperils them. This includes reckless LGBT leaders concerned more for their own bloated public images than the greater public good. Leaders like Mixner and AMERICAblog who would seem to truly want this White House to fail — yet fail themselves to offer any sort of realistic back-up plan. Or even explain why.
Nonetheless, I believe equally as strongly in the rights of all citizens and I, like my LGBT brethren, expect those rights to be honored at the highest levels of government. LGBT Americans are certainly fighting a battle for civil liberties and I stand ready to form that first phalanx. With the future of our nation now literally at stake, however, it’s high time our LGBT leaders began showing this monumental campaign the intelligence and gravitas it deserves.
Your writings are so often very troublesome. Very angry. Very closed-minded.
But most of all, they appear to be the ramblings of an uneducated crazy man who is angry at the world that he does not fit into it. Demeaning others is not an educated way to make a point. Deal with some of your anger, then try writing again.
Try drinking a tall glass of sunshine one morning.
We’ll ALL be better off of you do.
I am angry — angry at folks who seem so desperate to destroy our country and the complicit silence that surrounds them.
I’m not sure I agree with you in the “haven’t earned marriage equality” yet part, but otherwise I commend you for these words.
In Europe parts of the gay community are firmly in bed with the right; it’s been obvious to me that there is a strong pull in that direction in our own community; stopped perhaps only by the fundamentalist religious nature of our domestic right is so unforgiving of us.
I think especially key in your argument is that it’s a question of leadership. All these bloggers who are so busy denouncing Obama for shortcomings both real and imagined are leading the community down an incredibly self-destructive path. It started with the bizarre and unrequited love affair of gay men for Ms. Clinton, and under the continued stewardship of the likes of Mixner and Jones it’s become a sort of self-mocking parody.
I’m gonna link to your article on my blog.
peace
thanks!
The day Pam Spaulding was upgraded to the A-list was the day she lost her credibility.
I came to read your post in its entirety, because it had been referenced in another piece. However, I could not bring myself to read the entire thing, so dripping with venom as it was.
that’s too bad
though you clearly found yourself able to comment on a
posting you did not finish
Thank you TransRacial for joining the rest of us who are in the “minority” of LGBT bloggers, “real” LGBT journalists and LGBT website hosts who are not afraid to call out the likes of the above (although I personally don’t have a problem with David Mixner) because the “collective we” don’t fall in line like good little LGBTs and follow the march of “their” drum.
The truth when called out hurts like a rattlesnake bite, so venom, yes, when the ones who are called out for being the self-promoting demigods who are more interested in flaunting their silly, of no value web awards and constantly using their own “venom” in postings than reasonable analysis and commentary.
The ones who aren’t for the most part “real” journalists but the so-called “citizen journalists”, and those who are actual writers really should give Rupert Murdoch a phone call for a job for “fair and balanced” views on those against the LGBT community.
As I wrote in a commentary, outside of the LGBT community, the above named don’t reach “Middle America” where allies could be made.
When you only sing to the choir, and like-minded at that, it becomes the same old, same old chorus.
It seems like you’re trying to start a flame war with Pam Spaulding for your own traffic.
She’s a much more insightful writer than you are, though, so I’m not sure it’s such a good idea for you–and certainly something she should ignore.
she may ignore all she wants
there’s no war with spaulding
i’m just airing my views
i wish her only the best
By the way. My traffic is really so low it’s beyond spaulding’s help
I have to give it up to you, Mr. Kaufman, you said what I’ve been thinking for a while now. It seems that too many LGBT bloggers are focusing that “one tree” and can’t even see the forest. It’s almost like Langston Hughes and the work on a dream deferred since those types have allowed their influence and “power” go str8 to their head. You also forgot another off the list including Rod 2.0 on your list since Rod McCollum is black gay male blogger who follows the same path as Spaulding, Towerload, Queerty, & Co. They are all irksome to me these days because logic, practicality, and rationale has gone out the window in favor for short-sighted criticism and irrational, emotion-based commentary.
thanks
rod is on my radar
thanks for your support
the haters are outnumbering the supporters
but the supporters are, well, oh-so much more eloquent
Maybe you will post this, David, maybe you want, though I do hope that you do take into consideration that I haven’t totally dissed your essay here.
1) The scapegoating of gay bloggers for Scott Brown’s loss in Massachusetts (and there have been gay commenters on the gay blogs that have done that, also) is mean-spirited, vile, and doesn’t match up with the election returns. Nor does it match up with what seems to be actually pretty normal electoral behavior for a special election, particularly as the midterms are approaching.
2) In fact, Rod McCollum held off for a very long time in criticizing the Adminstration, as did many of his commenters (of which I am a pretty regular one). The measure in that case was when the commenters at the majority white blogs and at Rod’s starting saying the exact same things (albeit in a different style).
Kayman, that was a very, very unfair shot at Rod and you know it. When has Rod ever criticized the President in a way depicting was “irrational, emotion-based commentary.
So, are we all supposed to be mindless sheeple and go along with everything that Obama and the Adminstration says and does and not voice any dissent? Is any who voices any dissent whatsoever of the direction President Obama policies seem to be going a “Homo-Tom” or a racist?
You don’t like publishing dissent, huh, David…
Several simple points and I’m out.
1) David, you know that I didn’t totally dis your piece.
2) The scapegoating of the gays over the Massachusetts Senate loss was mean, vile-spirited, and plain wrong.
3) Kayman, you KNOW that was a very, very unfair shot at Rod McCollum, who’s criticism of the President has never been irrational or emotion filled.
4) david, is anyone who dissents whatsoever from the direction that the President seems to be taken, BY DEFINITION, a “Homo-Tom” or a racist.
I’m trying to unclench my fist and have a conversation, David. Please do the same…
my bad about the 15th post…I’m an impatient sort.
That was wrong, my apologies.
One more disagreement with a constructive suggestion and then I’ll leave you alone, David…
I think that you’re incorrectly identifying these bloggers as “LGBT leadership”.
I thought that LGBT “leadership” consisted of the alphabet soup organizations like HRC, NGLTF, GLAAD, and whatnot. Throw the “A-gays” (like Tony Kushner) in that mix. And those organization have been receiving a lot of criticism from the blogs too (yes, in spite of the fact that some of those bloggers are A-Gays themselves).
There IS division in the community with the alpha soup gays (our organizations) and what I would (for lack of a better word) call the grassroots gays.
Now if this criticism of Obama and the Democrats is coming from orgs like HRC, NGLTF, MassEquality (who did a lot of work with Coakley) then I’m mistaken (and I worked with enough HRC and NGLTF workers in Maine for the No On 1 campaign to know that there is a difference).
But since I doubt that I’m mistaken…
Can you get the word out to some of the brigades where you also posted this article that there is a division there, that there are a group of gays that are very supportive of Obama (I know some of them, of all races) and a group of gays (along with other progressives) that are more critical.
Of course, you might also point out that similar divisions also took place during the civil rights movement (and it wasn’t simply about King/MX).
I’ve seen more mindless attacks on Rod 2.0 @ people with differing opinions than anything else. It shows to me something isn’t with the majority then the “mob mentality” always takes focus.
@kayman
But isn’t that true with anything as far as the “mob mentality” is concerned? I can’t tell you the number of times white gays have backed me into a corner, thinking I MUST be defending Obama because I’m black or black gays and straights that think that I MUST defend Obama 100% because I’m black.
Personally, I am not a fan of “the mob mentality” at all.
I agree that they “gay leadership” is the issue. That’s why I’m glad that the grassroots have stepped up in California to create their own organization for repealing Prop 8. You guys should check out their website. http://www.restoreequality2010.com I wish more people would ban together across the country and show the “power gays” that every day people have a voice too, and they know how to get it done!