Comments on: King and Spaulding dropping DOMA was due to Clement’s error, not gay bullies

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 15 May 2011 20:28:32 +0000

Ben in Atlanta,

“Acceptance doesn’t require approval. There are people in community that I don’t particularly like but they’re still in community.”

???

Did Jim state or imply that anyone is out of our community? Blind acceptance of ANY position–be it HRC’s, LCR’s, ActUp’s, etc.–does a service to no one.

Question authority! Especially those who claim to speak for the entire community. Especially those who spend most of their time in suits raising money to be able to throw more events to raise money wearing suits. :)

By: Hunter

Hunter — Sat, 14 May 2011 11:12:41 +0000

Interesting, the way this fell out — when the news that K&S was dropping the case first came out, I felt that HRC was grandstanding — it just didn’t seem reasonable that a firm of that stature was caving to pressure from an organization that many in the community see as a joke. (Although, of course, there’s no way to tell if K&S knows about that part of it — or cares.) It just seemed more reasonable that it was a combination of pressure from major clients and internal controversy.

I hadn’t considered that Clement was so arrogant that he’d bypass the firm’s established procedures.

Thanks for the report and analysis. That kind of commentary is one of the reasons BTB is one of my “go to” sources.

By: Diego

Diego — Sat, 14 May 2011 05:14:20 +0000

Thank you for this and many other well researched articles. What I like about this site is that it is a lot less reactionary than other LGBT news blogs. Bullhorn condemnation is fine, but let’s reserve that angry energy for those that rightly deserve it. In the meantime, I think its better to cautiously apply judgement until hard evidence is collected. Otherwise, its embarrassing and damaging whenever we get duped by a hoax or a misunderstood situation. (ie.Shirley Sherrod)

By: enough already

enough already — Fri, 13 May 2011 21:40:34 +0000

Ben in Atlanta,
I often, and heartily, disagree with Tim and Jim here.
My comments are subject to moderation more often than not, and there is great tension between my views on Christians (not positive) and this website’s.

So, when I now say you are totally going to miss out on some of the very best thought in gay activism, you need not assume I am knee-jerk defending anyone.

Because we gays and transgender are such a diverse group, it is not surprising that we also find different organizations and structures which best fit our demand for full human and civil rights.

The HRC is, for some gays and transgender a good fit. There are two groups of gays, however, for whom they aren’t such a great fit: Those of us in our fifties or older who remember ActUP! and the more in-your-face style which helped to stop the dying and the much younger generation of gays and transgender who simply don’t understand a “need” to let the Democratic party set our agenda, take our money, tell us what we are to be satisfied with and spend hundreds of millions of our dollars to achieve less than the (shudder) LCR did last year. A group, before you even begin to have the thought, which I consider only barely less disgusting than NOM. Which is among the filth of the earth.

Why don’t you explain your position? Truly, the ra-ra U.S.A. patriotism and Christian apologist tendencies here aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but these folks in a very real sense just gained our Ugandan brothers and sisters a reprieve. For that reason, alone, they are worth listening to.
And arguing with.

By: BobN

BobN — Fri, 13 May 2011 20:43:08 +0000

Clement knew exactly what he was doing and what the likely consequences would be.

I look forward to the slow dibble of disclosure about this episode as people refuse to be made to look like fools.

By: TN

TN — Fri, 13 May 2011 19:51:53 +0000

Please learn how to get to the point when writing a story. Sometimes people like to just scan things to see what’s going on. We don’t need a recap from beginning to end.

By: Ben in Atlanta

Ben in Atlanta — Fri, 13 May 2011 19:23:56 +0000

“If there are any of our readers who still contribute to HRC, this might be a good opportunity to look for another organization – one that has a better ear for political tone.”

Although it’s true that you can’t lose a friend you never made henceforth I will just skip stories with your name in the byline.

Acceptance doesn’t require approval. There are people in community that I don’t particularly like but they’re still in community.

By: Shannon Spencer Fox

Shannon Spencer Fox — Fri, 13 May 2011 18:47:04 +0000

Y’know, there’s a phrase I like to use at times like this that I really need to use more on my own personal bit of webspace… ‘OH ****, REALLY?!’ It’s perfect for situations like this where, despite the claims of a lot of people with some pretty visible axes to grind, the answer to the question is actually a lot more simple.

In this case, so the law-firm in question didn’t take some kind of side on the issue, and simply wasn’t consulted at all before one of their more higher-profile members gave a emphatic, ‘Harvey Birdman’-ese ‘I’ll take the case!’? OH **** REALLY?!

On a related subject, I did personally wonder about Clement’s ‘retiring’ to a smaller law-firm to continue the defense of DOMA… I wonder if that was more the polite, business-themed version of ‘We totally canned him’.