 by Michael Jensen
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Your Monday Morning "Everything Bagel!"
It's no secret that most of us loathe Monday mornings as if it's a combination of a statistics final exam, visit to the proctologist and having Fred Phelps dropping by for biscuits and tea. But AfterElton.com is nothing but a full service bakery and we want to help you transition back into the work week as gently as possible. With that in mind, we know you're probably reading this at work, a latte, herbal tea, or shot of vodka at hand as you dread the week ahead. (Or perhaps I'm projecting!) The fact is, you're just not ready to get started yet. So to help you pass the time before you can face your insane boss/co-workers/customers, we've decided every Monday morning we're going to present you with an "Everything Bagel" roundup of news items, tidbits and pictures you might have missed over the weekend to help you forestall the inevitable! And if's it any consolation, our Monday mornings start Sunday afternoon!
Josh to self: Crap! I'm not wearing my Wolverine undies, am I?
Cameron to self: Must not look! Must not look! Well, maybe a peek... 
Submitted by on Mon, 2009-06-29 00:58. |
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News, Reviews & Commentary on Gay and Bisexual Men in Entertainment and the Media
The ratings were dismal
Just to put it in perpective, it got less than half of what Sarah Connor, a Sci Fi show on the same network, was getting when it got cancelled. That series is never going to see the light of day, on that network at least. Cmon Sy Fy, Im looking at you.
And that Spidey musical has craptastic written all over it.
Great new feature Michael
Great new feature Michael
Enjoyed the look back at the Advocate covers and the Frank Rich piece in the Times.
Really Nice Feature
I enjoyed this; nice way to forestall the day a bit! Thanks for this and all the wonderful content. I just found this site a couple months ago and it's quickly become one of my favorites.
-Lior
Virtuality
I know I may be in the minority here, but the bf and I tivo'd it, just in case we'd like it. We watched it yesterday, and found it quite enjoyable. Really nothing terribly new, aside from the gay couple, but it was enjoyable, and we wouldn't mind seeing more.
8)
*Edit* BTW- great new feature - it's nice to come into work and see this. Thanks!*
Democratic neglect
I'm happy to see that there are some articles out there highlighting the state of apathy the Democrats have towards gay rights. Hopefully we can get more of these out there in the coming months to continue to draw attention to the issue.
Nonetheless I am pissed at all the Uncle Tom's that went to the Dem fundraiser last week. Those per were doing, in essence, what we so often deride the Log Cabin Republicans for: kissing up to politicians that just intend to screw us over.
I have never believed that any political issue is settled on Election Day. That just decides who you will be dealing with on the issues. The sole power that any group of constituents has over politicians is the threat of lost votes and lost campaign contributions. If politicians decide that they can get both without having to do anything in return then they will indeed do nothing.
Isn't it telling that in a Congress with an overwhelming Democratic majority gay rights issues are being treated as very uncertain. Like they're not sure that they can get them through?
Isn't it even more telling that Obama avoids referencing specific bills that are currently stuck in committee, or that he also avoids making explicit demands for bills to be introduced, even as he does so for literally dozens of other issues?
Obviously a "hostile friendship" is necessary here. If we have to chip away at Obama's reformist mystique, or even make him look like a political coward, then we should do so. The same goes for the rest of the Democrats. Nancy Pelosi is not our friend and should not be treated as one.
Democratic Spineslessness is nothing new.
The Dems have acted for years as if its better to be spineless and lose core members to the Independent Left than it is to grow a backbone and risk "alienating the Middle". In the meantime, they've lost everyone's respect. Personally I thing the Middle would respect them more as well if they grew a backbone.
Another disgruntled ex-Democrat
It's the Blockbuster dilemma
SO much money is at stake that the lowest common denominator is sought out, but you tend to end up with a huge mess no one's quite happy with.
"I want Dr. King to know that I didn't come to Selma to make his job difficult. I really did come thinking I could make it easier. If the white people realize what the alternative is, perhaps they will be more willing to hear Dr. King."-Malcom X. Maybe we need a good cop/bad cop thing going.
Good Cop/Bad Cop
You're exactly right. There has to be one organisation that keeps open the bridges of communication between the political establishment and the LGBT community. But there also needs to be a more radical and scary organisation getting publically angry and taking direct action.
That way, the nicey-nicey gays can tell the administration that they'll have to start bringing in equality or they'll end up having to face the nasty-nasty gays.
To an extent, the bloggers seem to be lining themselves up as the nasty-nasty gays who are whipping up hoi polloi gays and lesbians to revolt against the establishment. And they're doing a good job, too. Even if the DNC says it managed to raise a million at its fundraiser (and I suspect that there might be some spin on that figure), just imagine how much it would have raised had there not been boycotts?
Of course, all that frustration and anger and desire for action at a grass roots level will need to be channeled and organised at some level, so as to ensure it doesn't just fizzle out in isolated frustration.
But the fact that people are actively angry and aren't afraid to show it in some form or another can only be a good thing. Simply being nice gets you nowhere politically.
We've got the "Good Cops"
D.C. insiders like HRC fill that role, if anything too well. They're so concerned about getting invitations to the right cocktail parties that they don't dare get too demanding with the administration. But they're great when it comes to canvasing for donations and such.
Our issue is the lack of a "Bad Cop". In Liberal circles it's considered bad form to spout the kind of angry speech that conservatives favor as a matter of course. But we're reaching the point where it is necessary.
Despite being in-power in a big way, the Democrats are still unresponsive to LGBT issues. If, with a massive Congressional majority and control of the White House they cannot pass laws in our favor then essentially they are saying that they never intend to do so!
Things were different when the GOP was in-power and the Dems could argue that they'd like to help but couldn't get anything through Congress, much less past Bush. So good cops like HRC accepted that and kept on pushing support for the Dems. But now the Dems are in control and they're still acting as if nothing has changed.
Hence the need for some pitbulls. We need to have a less friendly face. Other groups do. The Latinos were not subtle in expressing their demands (and note that I say "demands", not "requests") when Obama won. They made it very clear that failing to advance their interests would get costly for the Democrats. Thus Obama has been generous with the nominations.
We need a arm of our movement willing to take the hostile stance as well. Democrats in Congress that don't support us need to face the threat of having us campaign against them in 2010. An organized assault on Obama's policies is also not beyond the pale. Not everything he has done has been praiseworthy, but he has mostly been getting a free pass even though the Left is getting squeamish. But maybe someone needs to start taking a role in galvanizing the Left if Obama is leaning too far to the Right?
We need the Bad Cop.
My two cents
Since I don't know how long, I have always been a Democrat much to my father's chagrin. I remember standing up for Jesse Jackson and Walter Mondale in 7th Grade. I remember being Lloyd Bentsen at my high school's mock election and a poll worker for Dukakis. I even was a paid political consultant for about 4 years with exclusive work for the Democrats. Now I feel much of the party ignoring not only the issues related to my life - gay rights and marriage equality - at the national and state levels but also see myself as more of a economic Clintonian with a more federalist approach to government structure. I see the party and even gay rights groups being dominated by much more leftist influences with over-emphasis more on cultural diversity and dependence of federal spending as a solution; and frankly that ain't me.
We - the GLBT community - seem caught in our own reaction to discrimination which forces us to not think strategically in developing our own movement. But our personal opinions and goals in the boldest terms have long passed the GLBT insititutions that represent us as well as the elected leaders that tell us they support us. What I find is that those in the economic moderate conservative category are behind us yet we offend them by attacking the idea of religious faith and labeling all Republicans as enemies in our personal perspectives. We are still acting like the oddball cliche who most of the school avoids yet we return the discrimination that we criticize "the popular kids" for exerting. Like many liberals in the Democratic Party, we abandon the idea of a "covenant" of people to work together for the idea of "entitlement" without apparant explanation and a rude shove because we see all against us and no one for us.
This does not mean we should not aggressively fight for our rights and yell loudly when politicians on both sides either disagree and vote against us or not even address our issues. I am saying we must approach our argument from the idea that our issues are part of our historical covenant as people seeking freedom collectively and inalienably; not a "mine mine" elbow to the stomach in a Veruca Salt assault to claim the flag of "special". We must push forward on the idea that marriage equality, job discrimination protections, and protected class distinction under the law alone are beyond a social issue but an economic security necessity to allow ourselves and our families the opportunity to operate from the same level playing field other American families have played on since independence and other days of social correction.
In the end we must wise up and abandon the seemingly dead end leaders we see as supporting our cause only to be disappointed and be more open to leaders beyond our party walls who might not be the right party animal but be right on the issues.
The nature of American politics
A large part of the problem resides in the entirely artifical notion of politics being aligned along a "Left" and "Right" axis, and that the Democrats and Republicans represent those two paradigms.
There is no true "Left" of any significance in America anymore. The Left suffered massive damage from the excesses of the 60's and has never truly recovered. As civil rights became more mainstream, especially in urban areas, it ceased to be a Left-oriented issue and became more of a Centrist one.
The same might be said of gay rights today, as poll numbers show increasing support for gay rights especially in younger people, even ones who are not strictly aligned to the Left. Other common "Left" issues are either absent or not exclusive. Americans have such a deeply-conditioned dread of "socialism" after decades of the Cold War that the mere suggestion of anything that even smacks of socialist tendencies can provoke political uproar. Environmental issues are increasingly being taken up on by historically "Right" groups like younger Evangelical Christians. The same with poverty issues.
So why are gay issues such a hot potato?
The extreme Left in America is tiny. The extreme Right is larger, but still a minority. Hence both parties are chasing after the vast Center that makes up the majority of American voters. The Democrats have recently been claiming the advantage here, being more willing to reach out towards the Center-Right than the Republicans have been willing to reach even to the pure Center, much less the Center-Left.
Gay rights is still perceived, somewhat inaccurately, as a "Left" issue. This is fuelled by all the religious leaders (traditionally seen as "Right") opposed to it.
By avoiding taking any serious action on gay rights the Democrats are trying to deflect claims that they are a "Leftist" party. This is especially important to them with all the conservative allegations that Obama is a "socialist". We are seeing a massive Democratic outreach to the Center-Right. Obama is promoting "faith-based" initiatives even more extensively than Bush did. He made a very prominent statement having Rick Warren give an invocation at his Inauguration. He continues to reference God as frequently as possible.
In short, Obama is trying to squash any claims that he is on the "Left".
Having been out of power for some years, the Democrats have gotten out of practice in addressing LGBT issues. We supported them strongly when they were out of power and we worked hard to get them back in power. This was because the Republicans were so stridently anti-gay that they were willing to squash any pro-gay sentiment within their own part, let alone do anything positive for us in legislation.
But things like DADT and DOMA are as much legacies of Clinton as of the GOP. The Democrats owe us, at bare minimum, a repeal of these hateful laws if nothing else. We have made great progress in some states, and suffered horrific defeats in others. But at the federal level we are stymied by these bigoted laws.
Since the Democrats are used to having our votes and our dollars without having to deliver anything, they don't see why they need to deliver now. They forget that we are perfectly aware that this is not the same DC that existed when they were out of power. Having helped them regain their place we have expectations, and thus far they are consciously refusing to act on them because they feel that our support is a given, and thus they can focus more on winning the Center-Right and still keep us.
This is a notion we need to correct. They need to understand that we can, and will, work to see that they lose elections if they do not support us. Politics is all about the exchange of favors,but right now there is no exchange, it's all one-way. We feed them, they do not feed us.
The advantage we can use is that gay rights is no longer a "Left" issue. One doesn't need to be a hardcore liberal to support us. In the U.K. many members of the "Conservative" parliamentary benches are either pro-gay, or actually gay. Their party leader David Cameron voted in favor of civil partnerships!
What does that say, when a Center-Right political party leader in another country will vote in favor of something that supposed "Left" politicians in the U.S. are too scared to even talk about as anything other than a hypothetical (and distant) future notion?
We need to work harder to move this debate into the Center, where the Democrats will be forced to confront it whether they want to or not. Their unspoken excuse that it's too far "Left" for them to do anything about is more than a decade out of date.
If we need to humiliate them, make them look like bigots or liars and tear down Obama's shiny public image as a force of "change" then so be it. Costing them votes and donations is the only way to make anything happen. Polite lobbying such as favored by the HRC is gaining nothing but empty promises and requests for more handouts.
My concern
While I agree that doing anything to ensure our rights, including taking down Obama's image, would be justifiable, I worry that we are not capable of doing it. I really don't have a good idea of how much weight the GLBT community carries in the country right now since I assume that we GLBT poeple see a lot more of the discontent and inconsistency regarding these issues here than the average straight person. Most of my friends are straight, and while they are accpeting of me and supportive of my rights, I don't know that even they would not support Obama if his track record were exposed and made public (which it pretty much is already). Thus, I feel that this method at this time of pressuring Obama and Congress is probably not going to work, as it simply won't galvanize enough poeple outside of the GLBT community to be outraged, which (I assume) would need to happen in order for the Dems to really start doing something.
If I had to make some kind of suggestion, I would say that (for the reasons I said above) we should not focus so much on the sluggish Democratic administration we have now (which might not get us anywhere in 7 years--maybe those federal employees' tax breaks were "progress" enough to Obama). Instead, maybe we need to recruit more believers in our cause--poeple on both sides of the party lines, all religions, and the heteros. Then, instead of just us demanding our rights, there would be at least a few more voices in there as well, which I think would be just the motivation the Dems need. Of course, this is just an idea, and how we do it is beyond me--if Ellen Degeneres doesn't make poeple gay-friendly, I have about an iceberg's chance in hell :). And it would prolly not be feasible too quickly. So maybe it's a dumb idea :)
Public Relations Warfare
Thus do we need to take a page from the conservatives' playbook. They spent years using the media to launch highly successful attacks on the Democrats. The only reason it didn't help them in the last two elections is because they were the ones in power and it's rather harder to wage a PR war on your opponents when they're already the underdog. Rush Limbaugh was actually starting to fade after years under a Republican president and I personally think that nobody in America was happier than he was when Obama won the election. Instant return to relevance.
Of course, we have a more genuine activist motivation and the necessary media reach to exploit it.
Americans are massively under-educated on LGBT rights issues and this is our first big problem. Ironically, conservative media talks about gay rights (in a negative sense of course) a great deal more than the mainstream media does.
We, the gay community, often labor under the mistaken impression that straight America even knows about our problems! I have had to correct relatives who mistakenly think I can get legally married! One friend of mine who expressed concern to me about Hate Crimes laws as "policing thoughts" was unaware that his state already had a hate Crimes law, and that it was just that the law didn't cover sexual orientation. He was shocked when I told him that I could be charged with a Hate Crime for attacking him because he's a Mormon, but that he wouldn't be committing one if he attacked me for being gay!
So step one is raising public awareness, not least because it makes Democratic inaction look bad. There's already a bill in Congress for repealing DADT, but nobody ever talks about it, least of all Obama. Given that a solid majority of Americans think that DADT needs to go away, why isn't it being brought to their attention that Congress is sitting on the issue?
And no, the "they're busy" argument doesn't cut it. Countless bills, sometimes on very trivial things, still manage to flow through Congress even during these times. We need to raise awareness of that too.
As for deconstructing Obama, shouldn't be that hard. Fox News and the rest of the right-wing media is already going there. Why not join the fun? Since he's not very sensitive towards our feelings I can't imagine why we should be sensitive to his. Dismantling his public image, or at least the threat of doing so, is a powerful lever. And true liberal media personalities should by now be getting sick of this Center-Right triumvirate of Obama, Pelosi and Reid passing themselves off as progressives.
Ad nauseum
I like the new feature article
I must be insane b/c i check the website as often on the weekend as I do the weekday, even though I know new articles aren't made, so this Monday article would definitely take the edge off the constant dissapointment that is the lack of AE interaction over the weekend.
Kitty
interesting idea!
Lovely feature!
all i know....
all i know, from watching interview after interview, is that i feel, people aren't being blunt as they need to be about lgbt issues
"obama needs to get rid of dadt" is not enough for me. tell me WHY he needs to. "it ruins the teamwork" - bullshit. give me an example. on paper. tell me how being gay ruins the team. has it been proven? dont bring up sexual harrassment either, because, sexual harassment is not a sexuality issue, but an issue in general.
"obama supports equality" - no, he really does not. civil unions is NOT the same as gay marriage. don't try and spin that. i always hear that and it frusterates the hell out of me
I think the man is smart and all that stuff, but i think certain organizations and people just need to say the facts about the issues....not just one line statements.