This open letter makes a straightforward appeal to Representatives Barney Frank and Tammy Baldwin, asking them to desist from lending their imprimatur, as our nation's most prominent gay officials, to the upcoming DNC fundraiser, and to join us on the sidewalk in protest instead. Contact numbers for both Members of Congress are included and Kossaks are encouraged to pick up the phone in support of this effort to advance the civil equality of LBGT Americans.
I have not had a lot of time to write this, but wanted to get it out. If any of you have the email address of Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank, please provide it in the comments. They are hard to get if you are not constituents in their district. If we can fill the comment thread with respectful contributions from the rest of you, perhaps I can forward the entire posting to their offices. Better yet, write your own letter and encourage these leaders to leave behind the insider trading and to get in front on gay civil rights.
Dear Representatives Frank and Baldwin:
As a gay person, I have such pride in your accomplishments and your faithful commitment to the cause of LGBT civil rights. Your mere presence as openly gay members of Congress sends a powerful message to the country about the contribution that we can make to our community by serving as leaders for gay and straight alike. Imagine, then, the conflicted feelings that arise when I face the prospect of protesting YOUR action, and watching in disbelief as you cross the protest line to lend support and comfort to a DNC whose actions - both direct and indirect - are an obstacle on the path to full equality for gay Americans.
We who protest this event have simply taken President Obama's advice to heart. The same advice he gave us when he was still a long-shot candidate who inspired hope and fervent support among his supporters: BE THE CHANGE. Having worked so hard to elect a Democratic President and Congress, we cannot sit passively by and watch as gay civil rights are quietly nudged to the back of the room. Being engaged means holding our leaders accountable, no matter who they may be. In that spirit, we wish to send a clear message, not only to DNC fundraisers, but to everyone else watching, that gay Democrats will NOT be used as pawns in a larger political game. We are NOT satisfied with sweet words that are followed up by actions which undermine our struggle for fundamental civil rights.
We fight, because there is no acceptable compromise when the well being of our children and loved ones is at stake. We protest on behalf of our partners who can't get health insurance or the Social Security benefits to which they are entitled. We shout and insist that our children be afforded the full protection of family law that treats all parents the same whether they are gay or straight. While we wait (till 2015? 2016?), how many of our children will be denied the financial and social benefits of having married parents? How many valiant gay service people will lose their careers? How many of us will have to leave the country or face agonizing choices because we cannot sponsor our loved one as an immigrant? How many of our spouses will get sick because they don't have the benefits of spousal health coverage? How many of our elderly will suffer poverty because a beloved life-long spouse has not been able to bequeath them with the retirement benefits they deserve? Measured in these terms, the price of inaction is too high.
We are also fighting to save Democrats, and President Obama, from the trap of belittling the cause of gay civil rights and, in the process, making themselves trivial. By taking the cowardly route on DOMA, DADT, UFA, etc., Democratic leadership is diminished. A weak commitment to core progressive values will become a liability in the next election. Making matters worse, gay cynicism towards Democrats grows daily. How will this affect our prospects in 2012? By protesting this fundraiser, and sending a clear message, we are hoping to save Democratic leaders from the accusation that they are politicians like all others.
Please consider how powerful your presence would be with us on the sidewalk instead of lending your support to the DNC's soft bigotry at the upcoming fundraiser at the Mandarin Oriental. While the "in crowd" of gay donors rub shoulders with Democratic leaders, we will be joined in protest by discharged gay soldiers, who have given so much for their country, with so little in return for their service. Where do you really belong? Inside, celebrating a false sense of unity with a party of high-powered but deluded gay Democrats? Or outside, where you have always been, LEADING the struggle for gay civil rights?
We welcome you to our protest!! See you on the sidewalk in front of the Mandarin Oriental.
Sincerely,
Scott Graham
UPDATE - here are the correct contact details. Thanks to ben masel.
Tammy Baldwin for Congress
P.O. Box 696
Madison, WI 53701
608.663.6300 phone
608.256.2000 fax
campaign@tammybaldwin.com
Barney Frank for Congress Committee
P.O. BOX 260
Newtonville MA 02460
Telephone: (617) 965-0119
email: info@barneyfrank.net