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PETER ROSENSTEIN
Friday, July 11, 2008
AFTER
DECADES
OF
often
effective
work
on
behalf
of
D.C.’s
gay
residents,
the
city’s
gay
political
organizations
are
losing
their
clout.
A
prime
example
of
this
is
the
Gay
&
Lesbian
Activists
Alliance’s
recent
statement
on
legalizing
prostitution
and
its
members’
decision
to
put
the
issue
on
their
candidate
questionnaire.
We
see
again
why
their
questionnaire
has
become
an
outmoded
part
of
their
work
and
why
the
gay
and
lesbian
community
no
longer
takes
their
ratings
into
consideration
when
they
vote.
I
don’t
actually
question
their
position
on
prostitution.
More
than
30
years
ago
I
proposed
that
New
York
City
legalize
prostitution,
tax
it
and
turn
the
World
Trade
Center
into
a
red-light
district.
I
had
just
come
home
from
Europe
and
had
been
to
Amsterdam
and
Hamburg
and
thought
that
their
views
on
this
issue
were
much
more
enlightened
than
ours.
What
I
question
is
GLAA
trying
to
make
candidates
take
a
position
on
it
this
year
and
get
rated
on
their
responses
when
the
spokespeople
for
GLAA
themselves
say
it
is
not
going
to
happen
anytime
soon
and
Congress
(in
control
of
either
party)
would
prevent
it
from
becoming
law
anyway.
I
don’t
understand
why
GLAA
members
can’t
just
be
content
to
do
what
they
are
really
good
at
—
analyzing
legislation
and
helping
develop
and
move
legislation
through
Council.
GLAA
is
a
small
organization
and
doesn’t
speak
for
the
entire
GLBT
community.
But
that
small
group
of
individuals
has
a
history
of
being
smart
and
willing
to
help
D.C.
Council
make
sound
judgments
when
it
comes
to
policy.
GAY
RESIDENTS
OF
D.C.
have
come
a
long
way
since
the
founding
of
GLAA
and,
for
that
matter,
since
the
heyday
of
the
Gertrude
Stein
Democratic
Club
back
in
1978
when
its
members
were
given
credit
for
the
election
of
Marion
Barry.
In
1978
that
was
something
to
be
proud
of
as
Barry
was
pro-gay
and
hadn’t
yet
succumbed
to
his
various
demons.
Today
the
Gertrude
Stein
Democratic
Club
is
a
ghost
of
its
former
self.
It
often
endorses
candidates
that
go
on
to
lose
major
elections
with
the
majority
of
the
GLBT
community
supporting
its
opponents.
It
regularly
has
fewer
than
30
people
attend
its
meetings
and
even
at
endorsement
meetings
the
club
has
a
hard
time
getting
100
people
there.
In
many
ways
its
members
have
become
a
rubber
stamp
for
incumbents
and
the
club
membership
rolls
end
up
being
stocked
only
prior
to
endorsement
days
and
often
with
as
many
straight
members
as
gay
members.
Its
leaders
even
allow
members
from
Virginia
and
Maryland
to
participate
in
D.C.
endorsement
votes.
At
the
recent
Pride
parade,
the
Stein
Club
couldn’t
get
enough
people
to
march
as
a
club
contingent
as
the
few
active
members,
including
the
officers,
had
made
commitments
to
walk
with
other
groups.
Compare
this
to
San
Francisco
where
the
Toklas
club
hosts
a
must-attend
breakfast
attracting
every
politician
before
its
Pride
parade.
THE
REASON
FOR
these
groups
losing
their
power
to
influence
voters
may
be
their
past
success.
In
the
early
1970s
and
’80s
the
GLBT
community
didn’t
have
the
clout
it
has
today.
Stein
and
GLAA
were
the
voice
of
the
GLBT
community
when
the
majority
of
the
community
was
either
closeted
or
silent.
But
that
has
changed.
The
GLBT
community
is
not
monolithic
and
it
is
no
longer
silent.
We
have
many
voices
and
all
demand
to
be
heard.
We
have
advisers
in
every
political
camp
at
the
highest
levels
and
we
have
two
openly
gay
D.C.
Council
members.
So
when
a
group
like
GLAA
takes
a
stand
on
an
issue
that
is
not
solely
the
province
of
the
GLBT
community,
like
prostitution,
that
is
fine.
They
have
every
right
to
do
so.
But
to
make
it
a
part
of
their
rating
system
as
if
the
GLBT
community
has
a
monolithic
view
of
the
issue
or
even
should,
makes
no
sense.
This
is
an
issue
that
should
be
debated
in
a
public
forum.
But
it
is
not
the
role
of
GLAA
to
rate
candidates
on
positions
that
have
had
no
public
debate
and
are
purely
determined
by
the
three
or
four
people
who
make
up
the
GLAA
questionnaire.
I
am
waiting
for
a
candidate,
someone
like
Kwame
Brown,
who
is
basically
assured
re-election,
to
take
GLAA
to
task
and
refuse
to
send
in
his
or
her
questionnaire.
Instead,
he
could
make
his
case
for
re-election
directly
to
the
GLBT
community
in
a
Blade
column
without
worrying
about
GLAA’s
questionnaire.
Our
organizations
can
and
should
be
relevant
again
but
they
must
act
rationally
to
engender
community
support.
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