Cut Off the Money Flow

It boggles the mind that any self-respecting LGBT person would give money to the Democrats at this point, with Obama's DOMA brief and Harry Reid's announcing that there's no movement on repealing"Don't Ask, Don't Tell." That's why I'm glad to see, as Americablog reports, that DNC fundraiser planned for later is month is falling apart. Way to go Andy Towle and David Mixner. We need to just cut them off completely. No money, period.

Joe Solmonese Interview: Discusses Obama, Responds to Critics

Joe Solmonese, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, came on the show yesterday, joining me in the studio. I was glad he came to speak to listeners across the country who want to hear from the people who are actually meeting with White House officials and Democratic leaders in Congress on LGBT issues.

I've posted audio of the interview below, but for background, if you don't listen to my show, you should know that I have been complaining on the show that HRC has seemingly gone underground and has rebuffed interview requests since shortly after Joe Solmonese went into a meeting with the White House weeks ago (after the first complaints of Obama's lagging on gay issues arose) and came out saying to the NY Times that he was "pleased" and that the White House had a "plan."

Many people saw a pattern, a la the Clinton era, in which gay leaders apologize for an administration's inaction in order to protect their access, and then avoid questioning from the LGBT press. I was not the only one who couldn't get the usually responsive HRC to get Joe for an interview. Other gay journalists I'd spoken with lamented to me that they too were being told that Solmonese was "busy" with a tight schedule. Again, I talked about it on the show (sometimes to the chagrin of some HRC staffers), even joking that Dick Cheney has now come out of his bunker and Joe Solmonese has gone in it.

Then, all of sudden, we get a call from HRC yesterday, and they want to have Joe Solmonese come on, literally within a few hours.

What changed? A few things, perhaps. First, I'm not sure that it was a coincidence that the Jason Bellini piece was posted on the Daily Beast on the same day. Bellini reports that HRC has lobbied members of Congress not to move on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and to focus on hate crimes legislation first, following on HRC's incrementalist approach. HRC adamantly denies Bellini's report, which had no named sources, calling it an "outright lie." It's possible HRC wanted to get out front on this and give interviews immediately.

While Bellini had unnamed sources, I, however, have a named source saying exactly what Bellini reports, someone I interviewed several weeks ago on the show: Aaron Belkin of the Palm Center, the research institute that focuses on the military and sexuality, located at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Belkin writes often for The Huffington Post and interacts with members of Congress. (I have included a few-minute clip from that interview here as well). I didn't see or know about the Bellini piece when I interviewed Joe (it either had just posted or wasn't up yet), but I did ask him about what Belkin claimed. Belkin was relatively certain in what he told me:

AB: "...Our major national gay rights organizations -- it would be one thing to say nothing, but there is pro-active lobbying on the hill for Congress not to consider [the "don't ask, don't tell"] issue. And so the community has been appalling on this issue.

MS: Have you seen any response from any of those groups, and I guess we're talking about the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, other Washington groups?

AB:...We've heard from so many offices that not only are they not doing anything but they're pro-actively lobbying against consideration of the issue. I feel very confident in saying that.

NGLTF doesn't lobby on the hill, so the reference was clearly about HRC. Joe Solmonese denied this claim when I quoted it, though for accuracy's sake I should state that I asked him specifically about lobbying the White House on the issue and not Congress.

The other things that have changed which perhaps have made HRC, rightly, realize they need to communicate with the LGBT public about their interactions with the White House revolve around the rapidly shifting political and cultural terrain, in the country but also among LGBT activists in recent weeks. Prominent activists Cleve Jones and David Mixner, joined by many others, have called for a march on Washington. Another group of activists met in Dallas and came up with the Dallas Principles, which challenge HRC's approach. And a group based in Hollywood has formed specifically to back Ted Olson's and David's Boies' challenge to Prop 8 in federal court -- a legal challenge that many gay groups, including HRC, oppose, fearing that is too risky and could result in a setback decision. The director Rob Reiner, Academy Award-winning "Milk" screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and Chad Griffin, a former Clinton administration staffer (who also is an executive producer of the film "Outrage") are among those on the board of the group, The American Foundation for Civil Rights. It's safe to say that a group like this, especially, is somewhat of a threat to HRC because it has access to money and big names.

With all of this going on, and with the criticisms of Obama on the gay blogs and in the media, surely HRC doesn't want to seem completely irrelevant and perhaps is concerned the train is leaving the station, as one blogger said to me. It's interesting that Joe mentions the Dallas Principles and the Ted Olson federal legal challenge without my asking him about them. (It was in the context of a question I asked about something else people are talking about: pushing an omnibus gay civil rights bill that includes everything rather than the incrementalist approach HRC has embraced and which many people feel is outdated.)


This is the Solmonese interview:





And this is a clip of the Aaron Belkin interview which I referred to in the interview with Solmonese; we were discussing the study the Palm Center released which showed that Obama could stop the discharges of gay and lesbian soldiers with an executive order, even with the "don't ask, don't tell" policy still in place. The pertinent statements come at about the 2:10 mark.




UPDATE: Senator Schumer's office has put out a statement refuting the Daily Beast story: "Sen. Schumer has never said the White House didn't consider the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' a priority, and he never said the Human Rights Campaign struck some quote-unquote deal on this issue. Any rumors to the contrary are flat-out wrong." Jason Bellini had tried to get a response from Schumer's office when he produced his piece, but they offered no comment at the time.

Hell Has Frozen Over

It’s true! Ted Olson, George W. Bush’s former solicitor general and the man who successfully argued before the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore in 2000, ushering in the most destructive presidency in history now supports marriage equality for gays and lesbians, taking a marriage case to federal court. The idea that I'm in bed with this loathsome character has me wanting to take lots of baths. And gay activists are quick to point out that a federal case now, in this conservative judicial climate, could result in a ruling that is a setback. Still, barring a conspiracy theory in which Olson is actually trying to thwart us on behalf of conservatives, you have to see this as another example of how far things have come and how we are winning big time. And if a Bush ideologue is now on board, what does that say about how far behind a certain Democratic president -- and constitutional attorney himself -- is. How pathetic does this make Obama look?

Obama's Pathetic Stance

Kerry Eleyveld's piece on Advocate.com is along the lines of what I've been saying on the show, particularly today. They're out of touch, still thinking in campaign mode on the gay issue and just don't get it. There was Obama in Turkey, boldly saying he comes from an Islamic background, and even using his own middle name "Hussein." It was ballsy for someone who was demonized by the right as a "muslim terrorrist," but he is now appearing comfortable showing his origins, backgrounds and beliefs. And yet, on marriage equality -- which he claimed to have supported, don't forget, in a questionnaire in the 90s that surfaced weeks ago -- he doesn't seem to be able or want to simply drop the caution and embrace the future. That's pretty disappointing and a bit pathetic.

Obama Invites Fundies into White House

Pam Spaulding's got the story on how Obama has invited antigay groups into the White House, including Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America. Pam notes:

Well, folks -- the gloves are off. Right Wing Watch reports that Joshua DuBois, head of the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, will welcome representatives from the Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America, two organizations being monitored by the Southern Poverty Law Center for their anti-gay, womb-controlling activities, into the Obama White House to discuss policy.

Always Good for a Laugh

Alan Keyes is a kook, but I think he says openly what a lot on the right are churning about. And he's always good for some hilarious wingnuttery. Here he tells us that the "alleged" president of the U.S. is secretly a communist murderer who is destroying America and must be stopped.

NY Post Cartoon Compares Obama to Shot Chimp

Cartoonist Sean Delonas, who has a long history of offensive and homophobic cartoons in the The New York Post, created this racist cartoon, published in the post today, taking off on the Connecticut chimpanzee that was shot by police when it turned on its owner's friend. We'll get into it on the show today. The AP notes:

The cartoon in Wednesday's Post by Sean Delonas shows two police officers standing over the body of a bullet-riddled chimp. One of the officers says the other, "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."

Civil rights activist Al Sharpton called the cartoon "troubling at best given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys."

Today's Show: Lincoln, Obama and Gay Equality

At 3:30 ET: We'll be looking back, like many, on Abraham Lincoln's life on the anniversary of his 200th Birthday. What we'll be talking about, however -- what you're not seeing in most of the media -- is his intimate life, the evidence that he was loved men, why it's important and how that would have affected his thinking on equality.

I'll be replaying some clips from my interview with historian Jean Baker, who wrote the introduction to the late C.A. Tripp's The Intimate Life of Abraham Lincoln. We'll also go through some of the points in Evan Wolfson's terrific essay on Huffington Post, which brings Obama into this: What Would Lincoln Do?

At 4:30 ET. Kellog dumped Michael Phelps after the bong photos circulated. Now Kellog seems a bit jarred by the energy of a boycott, let by groups like the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana, or Norml. I'll speak with executive director Allan St. Pierre.

Today's Show: Obama and "State Secrets"

At 3:30 ET. The Obama administration's decision to use the Bush administrations "state secrets" privilege to cover up cases of rendition and torture rightly outraged many who believed Barack Obama when he promised a break from such policies on the campaign trail. On Monday the Justice Department stunned even the judges on the court when the administration's attorney stated that its position is "exactly" the same as its predecessor in asking that a case brought by five individuals who allege they were kidnapped in an rendition and then tortured be dismissed because it would divulge state secrets. The suit was brought against Boeing Corp., which allegedly transported the men. I'll speak with Ben Wizner of the ACLU, who represented the five individuals before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel.

At 4:30 ET: We've talked a lot about Nadya Suleman, the woman who gave birth to octuplets and has now been giving some jaw-dropping interviews that all into question her emotional and psychological stability. (And you can go and check out her website now.) Dr. Diane Sanford, President of the Women's Healthcare Partnership, who mentally evaluates women for doctors before a determination on fertility procedures is made, will join me to talk about the woman who has come to be called OctoMom.

Learning Lessons

I thought President Obama did a pretty good job last night of laying out the stimulus plan and taking on the Republicans for their obstruction, getting back some traction in this debate. He explained complex ideas in simple terms, ridiculed the critics' attacks and laid the responsibility with Republicans if this doesn't pass, warning of "catastrophe."

It's what he should have been doing all along, but better late than never. He also talked about lessons learned, realizing he perhaps should have started with no tax cuts, knowing what they'd do in the end. Let's hope he takes that lesson to heart. These people don't want "reaching out" and bipartisanship, and we certainly shouldn't be compromising if they aren't going to budge.

Overall, I liked Obama's first press conference in terms of the difference in style from George W. Bush -- he actually knows what he's talking about -- and the way he is very deliberate and thoughtful in his answers. He came off confident, knowledgeable and at ease. He should be doing this a lot more, and I think he will. He covered a range of issues beyond the stimulus and we'll go through it on the show.

"Exactly" the Same Position

Not good. The Obama administration cites the "state secrets" privilege in calling for a rendition case to be thrown out:

Justice Department attorney, Douglas Letter, told the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that the Obama administration was taking "exactly" the same position as the previous White House in calling for dismissal of a lawsuit by five terrorism suspects snatched by U.S. agents in foreign countries and delivered to secret detention sites in other countries.

Glenn Greenwald has a lot more on Obama's 180 degree reversal.

Obama Expands "Faith-Based" Programs

President Obama has expanded the faith-based office Bush made into the evangelical wing of the White House, even though he criticized Bush's programs while on the campaign trail. He says it's going to be more fair and not discriminatory, and there is an openly gay person on the 25 member panel. But that is all window dressing: This program, which allowed people to discriminate against LGBT people based on their religious beliefs, should have been abolished. By keeping it in place -- and expanding it -- he allows the next president to even further blur the separation between church and state even if he doesn't:

The decision angered Democrats and civil libertarians who thought Obama had agreed with their view that Bush's 2002 executive order went too far.

"Based on what he said, we thought the issue had been resolved," said U.S. Rep. Robert C. Scott (D-Va.).

"You'll have to ask them why they think it's all right to discriminate," Scott said. He added that administration officials are "either offended by the idea of discrimination or they're not."

But Thursday's announcement surprised and pleased some religious leaders, particularly religious conservatives, who had a strong ally in Bush and had been pressing the new Democratic president to revoke his earlier promise.

Melissa Etheridge on Activism, Celebrity and Rick Warren

Below is audio of the full Melissa Etheridge interview from the show today.

Regarding the "reaching out" and the ongoing dialogue that both Melissa Etheridge and Rick Warren (and his defenders) have talked about, she told me that she and Warren "email," though he has "been sick," so they haven't been able to get together. But, she says, she plans to visit his church, and that she hopes he will will visit her home.

We talked about the role of gay celebrities as well as of gay activists and the dilemmas that arise. We also talked about Warren's beliefs, most of which it doesn't seem she had known in full. Still, she discussed the "experience" of meeting with him as something powerful and important. She describes their having been booked for the same event (where she had to deal with him) as the "universe handed me something." Below are a some highlights, but I suggest, for context, you listen to the entire interview and give Melissa Etheridge a fair shake. Let me know your thoughts.

Signorile: I want to come back to what [Rick Warren] believes, and what his beliefs were and what he’s about, in a few minutes, but just staying on this idea of you taking that position and then it being so public, you[once] used this term, that you felt Bill Clinton threw us "under the bus."

Melissa Etheridge: Yes.

MS: A lot of activists, when you came out and assumed this role, because you are such a powerful figure just by virtue of who you are, they felt undermined from their message, and felt you threw them under the bus...I don’t know how we deal with this issue of, you know, we want public figures to speak out and be public, and of course when we don’t agree with them we don’t like that. So, I’m by no means saying I’m absolute [on this]...But what do you say to those who say you undermined them and threw them under the bus?

ME: I am sorry if they felt like in any way I undermined them. I truly believe everyone has their perspective and position on this. I’m glad for the activists who say this is not right to include someone who has spoke very poorly about a community that got this man elected...I also know I had this experience that I had to speak about...I think the best thing I can do for the gay community is speak my truth and say this is what happened to me.

MS: It sounds like you really didn’t get a lot of information about this...and find out what his views really were...Did you connect with the Human Rights Campaign [a group with which she has worked] and other gay groups before making your decision?

ME: No, I looked it up on the Internet. I tried to find what people were saying. I watched the beliefnet article, where he was asked about, “So gay marriage, is that like pedophilia and incest and stuff?" And I got to ask him, “So what’s that all about?” And he gave me his response. Now, again, I’m just going to take him on what he says --

MS: But can we take people on what they say when they’re working against us? Shouldn't we go by what their record is? We have seen that this man has empowered the very forces in Africa that have allowed people to become infected with HIV. He pushed abstinence-only programs, he helped to demonize gay people. There are gay people locked up in jail …because of Rick Warren...So shouldn't we go by his record?...

ME: ...Yes, absolutely we should. We should hold people accountable. Now, does that mean they are exiled from what we are trying to accomplish here, which is a united America? Or do we say, we see you now? You can’t be part of this party and hide that. I really want people to know that I’m not defending him.

MS: I think people know that, and you talked about reaching out, but I guess their feeling is, You reach out when people come halfway or three quarters of the way..The way he’s worked against gay people, would we reach out to someone who has racist views? I think Barack Obama would say, No, they’re not welcome.

ME: Right. Okay, you know, again, it’s such a fine line. And I, in my path and where I’m at, believe that we accomplish more by being present, by being out and open and saying you can no longer do this and we are all in this together. You got up and gave the invocation in front of two million people who wanted change and you are now held responsible. I think change happens when you include, not when you exclude...

MS: What do you feel Rick Warren has done though to change? You say we shouldn't’ exclude but he has excluded people...Have you spoken to him since then? Do you have an ongoing dialogue?

ME: We email. He’s actually been very sick, which says a lot to me,(laughs) because I look at heath in a lot of different ways. And he has emailed me. He emailed me a letter he wrote to his gay friends...He has asked me to his church, I have asked him to my home...

Listen to the full interview below.

A New America

Congratulations to us all. The nightmare of eight years is over, thankfully. Lots to talk about on the show on this historic today, checking in with people in Washington who were at the inauguration, including Congressman Barney Frank and others attending many of the festivities. We'll be taking your calls, hearing from people across the country and want to know what you're thinking and feeling about the moment and about the future. Does it feel different already? What was it like to see Rick Warren giving the invocation? Did it mar the whole event, or could nothing do that? And how about Cheney being wheeled in and out? Call in today and share your thoughts.

Listen to The Michelangelo Signorile Show weekdays live from 2-6 pm ET on Sirius Satellite Radio’ s OutQ, Channel 109. Not a subscriber? Not a problem! Listen online any time with a free three-day pass.

Inauguration Day Coverage

Took off today, MLK Day, from the show and from the blog, gearing up for tomorrow's big day. We're back on the show tomorrow with all the coverage of the historic inauguration of Barack Obama. I'll be interviewing lots of people attending the ceremonies on the mall and throughout Washington, including Congressman Barney Frank, and we'll be taking your calls all through the show. So let me know what you're thinking.

He Was For Gay Marriage Before He Was Against It

The Windy City Times unearthed a candidate survey that Barack Obama took in 1996 in which he stated, unequivocally, that he supported same-sex marriage and would fight against any laws to prohibit it:

Obama’s answer to the 1996 Outlines question was very clear: “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.” There was no use of “civil unions,” no compromise whatsoever

.

It will be very interesting to see how he explains this in light of his position now that he just cannot, for religious reasons, support marriage equality.

On Today's Show

At 3:30 ET: David Hill became the second man fired by a Tennessee hotel this week, simply because he is gay, underscoring the reason why we need the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act passed. We'll speak with him.

At 4:30 ET: Barack Obama has often referred to Abraham Lincoln as a president he models himself on, and certainly the media has made many references to Lincoln (the whole Team of Rivals bit) and Obama. Obama and his family went to the Lincoln Memorial the other night to pay homage, and there will be a concert there as part of the inaugural festivities at which Bishop Gene Robinson, the openly gay bishop will give the invocation. Much of the inaugural, we're told, will harken back to Lincoln.

But there is an aspect of Lincoln -- and the memorial -- that has not been focused on, and yet, in the wake of the Rick Warren controversy it's certainly relevant. Tomorrow we'll get to the memorial, but today we'll rebroadcast my interview with historian Jean Baker, who wrote the introduction the the book by the late Kinsey researcher, The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln, the controversial book that focused on Lincoln's sexuality and his apparent love of men.

Also: What intriguing thing did Max Blumenthal say on the show last week about CNN's Roland Martin, and what is Martin's response? You'll hear it all today on the show.

More From Bishop Robinson

Bishop Gene Robinson says that the Obama transition team was talking to him prior to the Warren controversy about being involved in the inaugural ceremonies,but that they clear were trying to make amends by choosing him for this Lincoln Memorial concert event. Bishop Robinson is a good friend of the show; we've him had on the show several times, from way back when he was under attack just prior to being made a bishop, and I will try to have him back on inauguration day or shortly thereafter.

The event will air on HBO for free to those with cable, and Bishop Robinson says he will not give a Christian prayer, which I think is very thoughtful and respectful of him, and in fact would be "horrified" at the thought of pushing his faith on others:

Bishop Robinson said he had been reading inaugural prayers through history and was “horrified” at how “specifically and aggressively Christian they were.”

“I am very clear,” he said, “that this will not be a Christian prayer, and I won’t be quoting Scripture or anything like that. The texts that I hold as sacred are not sacred texts for all Americans, and I want all people to feel that this is their prayer.”

Bishop Robinson said he might address the prayer to “the God of our many understandings,” language that he said he learned from the 12-step program he attended for his alcohol addiction.

Bishop Robinson said that his partner of more than 20 years, Mark Andrew, would accept the Obama team’s invitation to join him in attending several inaugural events. The two had a civil union ceremony last summer in a New Hampshire church.

Closing Gitmo

Obama will issue executive order next week to close Guantanamo. This a great start on his first day in office. It will take a up to year, however, to relocate the inhabitant detainees.

Bishop Gene Robinson to Open Lincoln Memorial Event

The Human Rights Campaign is reporting that the openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson will give the invocation at the Lincoln Memorial inaugural concert, clearly a response by the Obama team to the uproar over Rick Warren. From the HRC release:

WASHINGTON – The Right Rev. V. Gene Robinson, bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church in the diocese of New Hampshire has accepted an invitation from President-elect Barack Obama’s inaugural committee to deliver the invocation at a concert held at the Lincoln Memorial. The concert, which will be held on Sunday, January 18th, is the first inaugural event the president-elect will attend. Bishop Robinson, the first openly gay priest to be ordained bishop by a major Christian denomination, is a member of the Human Rights Campaign Religion Council.

“Bishop Robinson models what prayer should be—spiritual reflection put into action for justice,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “It is encouraging that the president-elect has chosen this spiritual hero for all Americans to lead the nation in prayer at the Lincoln Memorial inaugural concert.”

UPDATE: Politico quotes a source saying this was not a "direct response" and that Robinson was "in the plans" already. I don't really believe that, or at least what is trying to be implied. Robinson spoke out about Warren, and no one said at that time he was on the schedule. My hunch: I'm sure he'd spoken with them, but it wasn't until the Warren brouhaha that they solidified, quickly, what we would do.