Feb 01, 2008   | COMMENTS     

I HAVE UNTIL this point remained for the most part publicly silent in the Democratic National Committee/Donald Hitchcock lawsuit “he said, they said, he did, they did.” A silence I held out of respect for my personal friendship with the plaintiff but also believing that both sides should have their day in court. 

But I break that silence because I believe the Blade, with the sad assistance of the plaintiff, in its latest salvo (“DNC lawsuit reveals black vs. gay rivalry, Jan. 25), combined with their unfair portrayal of Democratic activist Clare Lucas, have again unfairly reached too far in trying to infer that purported actions or words by a DNC top official and another black party leader were done to “stir anti-gay prejudice” or create a “black versus gay rivalry.”

The article in the Blade was outrageous and unfair. It took a small dab of a long discussion about a delegate selection rule change and tried to paint a picture. It took an outsider’s view regarding DNC efforts related to events in an Alabama state legislative race of an openly lesbian Democrat, and again tried to paint that exchange as the total picture. The total picture of both events would clearly show a completely different hue. I say this as an intimate participant of both events as chair of the DNC’s LGBT Caucus, a leading proponent of the rule change and friend of Patricia Todd.

AT THE CONCLUSION of any event that has controversy or disagreement, I look at the results of the product, see who constructively helped deliver those results, and whether they were positive or negative. In the two cases highlighted, the Blade irresponsibly published an article that did not truly reflect the entire actions of Leah Daughtry, Donna Brazile or the DNC senior staff. 

All were instrumental in delivering a positive outcome. As to the rule change, without Daughtry’s or Brazile’s and another leading black DNC member’s support and efforts, a positive LGBT change would not have been accomplished. 

Without the behind-the-scenes calls and public statements, led by Daughtry and her DNC staff in conjunction with Victory Fund, HRC, Stonewall, supporting fairness to Patricia Todd and seeing that the voters’ choice in the Alabama race be respected, a different outcome might have happened. Don’t believe me? Ask Todd, who was one of four recently at-large Platform Committee appointments to the 2008 convention assembled under the direction of Daughtry.

It would have been more responsible for the Blade to have explored more completely the entire record and actions of the DNC as it relates to the GLBT community during Daughtry’s seven-year tenure. I submit that the Blade would have found:

• A chief of staff who hired a significant number of LGBT persons who hold key positions with the DNC staff — director of training, director of party affairs and delegate selection, second in command of the finance division, one of four regional political directors to name a few. These individuals, along with Gay & Lesbian Leadership Council Director Brian Bond, form a nucleus to a DNC working group that advises Daughtry and Howard Dean, DNC chair, on gay issues.
•  A chief of staff who initiated a policy that covered employees’ domestic partners to the organization’s insurance benefits.
• A chief of staff who lent her muscle to make sure the compromise delegate selection rule change would ensure the greater inclusion the gay Democratic community desired.
•  A chief of staff who at every turn provided financial, institutional and personal support to the national gay Democrat organization, Stonewall Democrats.
• A chief of staff who directed the DNC Lawyer Council to assist in verifying signatures to the Illinois anti-gay constitutional ballot proposition, thereby helping thwart this anti-discriminatory proposal from seeing the light of day.
• A chief of staff in her role as the DNC’s 2008 Denver convention CEO, who hired key senior gay convention staff and established an early outreach and working relationship with potential gay vendors, Colorado LGBT Democrats and the DNC’s LGBT Caucus.
• A chief of staff who has worked hard with the faith community in building a bridge of understanding on gay issues.

All this paints a really different picture of the DNC and Daughtry’s leadership. So shame on you, Washington Blade, for letting an interested party’s one-sided “leaked” documents strategy influence what should have been balanced and fair reporting.