Does the Human Rights Campaign even know what’s going on in Congress in the effort to pass ENDA? Prolific gay journalist Rex Wockner says no, although the HRC denies his allegations.
A high-placed, longtime source alleged that the House “committee staff aren’t talking to HRC at all and HRC is in the dark about what’s going on.”
When the House Committee on Education and Labor announced that it was delaying hearings covering the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, many feared the worst, and accused the HRC of selling out the community again to soothe the electoral jitters of Democratic congressmembers. If Wockner’s allegation is true – and there’s room for doubt here, since he didn’t get confirmation or denial from House members – then this paints a disturbing picture of the the self-anointed “voice of the LGBT commnity” as unable to question and influence a legislative strategy that puts a vote on this controversial bill much closer to the 2010 midterm elections than some members of congress would like (Earlier this year, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) told the Washington Blade that federal domestic partner benefits would take precedence over ENDA in this session of congress). Usually, we lambaste the HRC for having the spine of a nematode when Dems refuse to support potentially controversial LGBT legislation, but maybe the HRC is not so much a lapdog (or lap-worm?) for Democratic politicians as it is a mosquito — irritating but ignorable?
Elsewhere…
D.C. – The Washington, D.C. City Council may be the first legislative body in the nation’s capitol to stand up to the Catholic Church. Councilmembers passed a contentious same-gender marriage provision into law yesterday that included a provision requiring any organization doing business with the city to grant domestic partner benefits to employees in same-gender marriages. Archbishop Thomas Wurel had threatened to pull out of a number of contracts with the city, where taxpayer dollars pay groups like Catholic Charities to run homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and other sources of succor for the poor, if the Church wasn’t given an exemption to the provision on the grounds of religious belief, as has been common in many other states with same-gender marriage or civil unions. The City Council almost unanimously called their bluff and stood on principle, but the National Organization for Marriage wants a referendum, saying the people of D.C. have a “god-given right” to vote on the issue. (the Los Angeles Times, Towleroad)
New York – As of this writing, the New York State Senate is slated to vote today on a same-gender marriage bill passed by the State Assembly (their House of Representatives) last night, however the vote has not taken place yet. Signs are mixed, however, on whether or not the bill would go through, as the Democrats don’t have enough party votes to pass the measure without some Republican support. (New York Times)
New Jersey – Leading Democrats continue to press for a vote on same-gender marriage, but it looks like a sinking ship. (Philly.com, The Advocate)
Georgia – Georgia has its first out, black lesbian state assembly member. Simone Bell will be representing the Atlanta area, where mayoral candidates are looking to the LGBT vote (~13% of the city) to break what would otherwise be a deadlock as the candidates split the vote, black/white, along racial lines. (Project Q Atlanta)
California – Vallejo, CA is in an uproar after the mayor denounced homosexuality as a “sin.” (Towleroad)
Teh Internets – The crazies at the Family Research Council are telling supporters to donate money, because President Obama is planning on “imposing homosexuality.” On who? Are Barney Frank and Obama planning a mass-(gay) wedding, where he and Barney Frank will force the nation into same-gender marriages? (ThinkProgress)