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| Vice President Joe Biden is the featured speaker at Thursday’s DNC fundraiser, which several gay invitees are boycotting. (Photo by Orlin Wagner/AP) | |
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By CHRIS JOHNSON, Washington Blade
Jun 23 2009, 4:21 PM |
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Tension continued to build over an upcoming LGBT fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee with several gay invitees planning to boycott the event and others planning to attend to voice their frustrations to party leaders.
The latest invitee to withdraw Tuesday from the event was Chuck Wolfe, president of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. An informed source confirmed that Wolfe would not attend.
The event, scheduled for Thursday, is sponsored by the DNC's LGBT Leadership Council and set to take place at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in D.C. The featured speaker is Vice President Joe Biden. Other scheduled speakers include DNC Chair and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine as well as gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.).
Several gay invitees to the event pledged to boycott the fundraiser because of what they say is a lack of action from President Obama and Congress on LGBT issues.
Many have also expressed frustration over the extent to which the U.S. Justice Department defended the Defense of Marriage Act earlier this month in a motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit against the law.
But Joan Garry, a former executive director of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said she's planning to attend to "carry a message directly to the senior DNC leadership" and say that "the controversy is about more than a group of people withdrawing from a fundraiser and it's about more than impatience."
"I fear that the language of the DOJ brief is causing a crisis of confidence, and I believe the administration needs to address those words head on because words really do matter," she said.
Garry was a co-chair for Obama's LGBT finance committee during the 2008 campaign.
When asked to comment on the decisions of others not to attend the event, Garry replied, "the important piece of the puzzle is to be engaged in whatever way makes the most sense for you."
DNC treasurer Andy Tobias, who is gay, confirmed Tuesday that the fundraiser would take place as scheduled. He predicted speakers at the event would address concerns and demonstrate the Democratic Party's commitment to LGBT issues.
"I don't know exactly what they're going to say, but my hope is that most people are going to leave feeling reaffirmed that the administration is really a wonderful ally," he said.
Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said in a Monday statement that his organization plans to protest outside the event to urge Obama to take action on repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
"We will be wearing and handing out buttons with the number 265, representing the number of service members who will have been discharged … since President Obama was sworn in," he said.
But while SLDN will be protesting outside, two of the organization's board members plan on attending the fundraiser, Sarvis said.
Brian Fricke, a gay Iraq war veteran and SLDN board member, told the Blade last week he plans to attend the fundraiser even though he was disappointed by the Justice Department brief.
Sarvis said SLDN won't "dictate how members of our board or our Military Advisory Council make their political views known."
"I also understand they will be making their own spirited and creative statements once inside the room," he said.
National Stonewall Democrats also is declining to encourage its members to attend the event.
The Politico broke news on Stonewall's decision not to help out with Thursday's event by publishing an e-mail exchange between Stonewall's board of directors and Tom Petrillo, who heads LGBT fundraising for the DNC.
In addition to decrying the language used in Justice Department brief, Stonewall's board of directors expressed frustration that the DNC provided no financial support for Stonewall's annual Capitol Champions fundraiser last month, even though DNC sponsored the event in the past.
Stonewall also decried that the DNC provided no materials or support for producing materials for Pride activities across the country, noting that in previous years, the DNC provided such materials.
"[W]e are incredibly disappointed that the DNC has made a decision to withhold any financial support to National Stonewall Democrats this year but is in turn asking us to help raise money for the DNC in a difficult financial environment," the board wrote.
Petrillo responded that he had a recent conversation with Kyle Bailey, Stonewall's director of chapter and national development, and said the DNC would be able to sponsor a project with Stonewall later this year.
Jon Hoadley, executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats, confirmed that the e-mail exchange published by Politico was accurate and Stonewall is not encouraging its members to attend the event.
He said a lack of action from the administration and the Justice Department brief prompted his organization to make the decision.
"I know that there a lot of big issues happening, but our issues are big, too," he said.
Hoadley said since the publication of e-mails, Stonewall has had meetings with DNC officials on LGBT issues, which he said were a "positive sign."
"We are eager to work on projects that support LGBT equality and projects that move the Democratic Party to supporting full equality for LGBT people," he said.
Hoadley was slated Monday to travel to Kalamazoo, Mich., to help local officials pass a non-discrimination ordinance. Hoadley said he remained executive director of Stonewall and that his new assignment was "completely unrelated" to the DNC fundraiser flap.
Among those planning to attend was Peter Rosenstein, a gay Democratic activist in D.C. He said he's not on the special list of invitees and is attending as "a regular, Democratic voter."
Rosenstein said he's coming to the event to speak with Democratic leaders on LGBT issues, but added that he respects the decision of others to boycott.
"My concern is that if we tell the Democrats that we are not going to speak to them and just boycott what they're doing, who are we helping?" he said. "I think we have to speak to the Democrats face-to-face and say how frustrated we are, how upset we are with what's going on and demand that they do something."
Rosenstein said it would be "even worse" to "walk away from the 2010 elections and determine that we're going to let a bunch of conservative Republicans win again."
Another guest planning to attend is Claire Lucas, a lesbian Democratic activist. She's not on the list of special invitees.
She said she "was very disturbed" by the language in the Justice Department brief, but still planned to attend the fundraiser "to continue the dialogue our community is having with our elected officials and DNC staff" on LGBT issues such as same-sex marriage and an Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
Lucas also said she planned to attend "to show support for the good acts" that Obama has accomplished in office. She counted among his accomplishments a statement in support of full repeal of DOMA, his order extending benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees and his support for the U.N. declaration decriminalizing homosexuality.
"This is only the beginning of our achieving equality — we know it and the administration knows it," she said. "We should continue to push for equality — President Obama even asked that we hold him to his
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