11/18/2008
Echo Grows: Gay Orgs Must Adjust to New Realities of Activism, or Die
Voices are ringing out from all areas (liberal and conservative, some more critically than others) in the wake of the grassroots-organized protests around the nation, that national gay organizations, which have been the well-funded standard bearers for the gay movement for decades, must adjust to the new activism we've seen these past few weeks.
The New York Times posted a piece about the birth of web-based activism last week.
The new activism, dubbed Stonewall 2.0 by Rex Wockner and referenced as a kind of Stonewall by "Join the Impact" organizer Amy Balliett, has taken hold in a viral way, just as blogging took hold of established media and shook it to its roots. Voices are ringing out that the national gay organizations must, as Truth Wins Out's Wayne Besen notes, "adjust to this new reality" or "wither and die."
Or perhaps, as we witnessed last weekend, they already have in many ways.
"If there's an overriding theme to Taking on the System, my latest book, it's that we no longer have to sit around and wait for the gatekeepers to tell us what to do. We can engage in the world around us at our own discretion, focusing on the things we want to focus on, and no one can keep us out. The era of the gatekeeper is over (or at least dying), since their permission is no longer necessary. A subtext of that overriding theme is that we are bypassing the gatekeepers precisely because they've done such a poor job of providing people what they want. In TOS, I use examples from the music industry, among others, to illustrate that point. When the gatekeepers provide a shitty product, people will organize to bypass those gatekeepers and end up doing a better job of it. Technology and shifts in culture are empowering people to do the jobs that the gatekeepers once kept for themselves, and are doing a better job of it."
"You will notice that the website of the biggest gay rights group in the country has one single mention - it's a blog about a celebrity, of course - of the massive protests that occurred for marriage equality across the country yesterday. (A letter from Joe Solmonese tells us to be nice.) You will also notice that a handful of young non-professionals were able to organize in a few days what HRC has been incapable of doing in Hrcdog months or years. You will know from brutal experience that in the two decades of serious struggle for marriage equality, the Human Rights Campaign has been mostly absent, and when present, often passive or reactive. Here's a simple statistic that might help shake us out of complacency: HRC claims to have spent $3.4 million on No On 8. The Mormon church was able to spend over $20 million, by appealing to its members. Why are non-gay Mormons more capable of organizing and fund-raising on a gay rights measure than the biggest national gay rights group?...It's time gay people realized that this group is often part of the problem, and rarely part of the solution. It needs to be swept clean of its deadwood, overhauled, or if it persists in its ways, defunded. When we are in a civil rights movement and the biggest organization is essentially a passive observer and excuse-maker, it's time to demand better.
"Was it really just six days ago that I wrote here: 'Maybe Stonewall was Activism 1.0, ACT UP was Activism 2.0, the failed corporate activism of HRC and No On Prop 8 was Activism 3.0, and now we are witnessing Activism 4.0 being born.'?...The organization No On 8 failed us. Before the TV ad war started, we were up 14-17 points in the polls. Then No On 8 spent some $37 million of your money to spam the California airwaves with really lousy ads, while the other side spent a similar amount to spam the California airwaves with ads that were, whatever else they may have been, effective. While the bad TV ads were not the only component of our loss (last-minute preaching from the pulpits was a factor), had our ads been good ads, we would have held onto our lead. And producing those mindnumbingly expensive ads (which I and many others publicly criticized as they were airing) was one piece of the war that No On 8 had 100% control over. Although the HRC-like Equality California group is not solely to blame, it's likely fair to say EQCA was the biggest component of the No On 8 coalition, along with such entities as the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, the San Diego Gay and Lesbian Center and others."
"There has been a paradigm shift in the movement following marriage defeats in California, Florida and Arizona. ... The leaders of what is being billed as Stonewall 2.0 are not coming from large, established organizations. ... That this huge outpouring of organic outrage is not being channeled through official organizational channels has enormous implications. ... We are not the same movement we were prior to Nov. 4. ... Organizations that do not adjust to this new reality will wither and die. ... Anti-gay forces unleashed a ferocious storm with powerful winds of change that will only end with the sound of wedding bells."
"Underestimating their opponent's resources, an LGBT community lulled into complacency by an inaccurate Field Poll, a 'pathetic' Web site that at times was not fully functioning, an under-funded initial media buy, and a campaign lacking statewide cohesion are just some of the reasons for Proposition 8's passage, a senior official with the No on 8 campaign told Sacramento LGBT Democrats Monday, November 10."
Posted 8:08 AM EST by Andy Towle in Activism, Gay Rights, News | Permalink
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Andrew Sullivan...oh yeah he has credibility on this issue because....he was spending all his energies pre Nov 4th INSISTING that Sarah Palin did not give birth to Trig and he was going to prove it.
WEEKS he spent on that story.
Why did he not do more for Prop 8?
Yeah I have a problem with Andrew Sullivan cause he likes to make PRONOUNCEMENTS.
AIDS IS OVER!
GAY PRIDE IS OVER!
HRC DROWNS KITTENS!
Now I think we can have a discussion over effectiveness of leadership at our national org....including NGLTF who still has nothing on their website about either the rallies or anything--but they give great circuit parties. And you know those are 2 of the 3 events they have listed on their site.
But who am I to argue cause I pay my 300 for my ny HRC dinner and I could easily have paid $175 for my Pines Party ticket on Fire Island Pines and hang out with Sully on the dancefloor. But HEY I'm not calling for them to shut their doors.
Posted by: MCnNYC | Nov 18, 2008 5:26:04 PM
I'm always amazed by the folks who bitch about HRC and don't seem to have bothered to really understand the work they do. As someone who knows what they do pretty in depth (as an involved member), I know the vast majority of folks there are working their asses off to advance GLBT equality. It's not a perfect organization - but nothing that size ever is. But they are effective (just got pension benefits available for GLBT couples) far more than most people realize.
Further, HRC has been at the forefront of fighting the Republican party's multiple anti-gay measures in Congress and setting the stage for accomplishments now that we have good Democratic majorities in the House and Senate and a Democratic president. The fact there isn't a constitutional amendment on gay marriage is in no small part due to HRC's efforts.
Influence doesn't happen overnight, and it doesn't happen easily. But, like it or not, HRC has influence and is in a position to finally get things done. How about everyone quit bitching and let them finally have an opportunity and see how they do - if things are status quo in a couple of years, then I think it's fair to bitch. Until then, I just hear a lot of whiners and folks who make a living by attacking those at the top (yes, that means you, Andrew Sullivan).
Posted by: john | Nov 18, 2008 5:44:51 PM
Oh, and one more thing. It takes a lot more than showing up one day or over a few days at rally to really make change happen. As much as I want to believe our community is energized, I hope the same folks who are so pumped up to make change now will be there when they are called on to do something that isn't as easy as showing up someplace. That's the tough, long-term, grind of work that HRC and its members do and have been doing for years. It would be nice if some of the complainers appreciated that.
Posted by: John | Nov 18, 2008 5:47:26 PM
Here's a great qoute from ANDREW SULLIVAN
the hero and vanquisher of HRC HUZAH!
"Both supporters and opponents have asked for a judicial ruling on whether the initiative can stand. My own view is that it should stand, and the court should decline to reverse it. We lost. They won in a fair fight. No whining."
OK guys how many thought it was a "FAIR FIGHT" and Andrew...your children in the blogasphere are concerned..."NO WHINING?"
Posted by: MCnNYC | Nov 18, 2008 6:27:15 PM
sorry I really should give credit to Sully words above...
it's from TODAY
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/11/prop-8-and-cali.html
NOW can we burn him at the stake?
Posted by: MCnNYC | Nov 18, 2008 6:29:36 PM
Groups like HRC need to act up and yes, get angry and fight for our rights, or move out of the way. For years the gay community has not been involve, leaving it to Organization to do it for them. But, as we see, the only thing they do, is tell us to act nice. Like every civil rights movement it is not organizations that are going to get us our rights it is us, on the streets, demanding our Equality none stop. NO MORE MR. NICE GAY
Posted by: amaurys | Nov 18, 2008 6:41:09 PM
thats right AMAURYS...don't act nice...DID YOU EVEN READ THE FRIGGIN LETTER or you don;t even know what the hell you are talking about..
I think it is can be constructive to hold people and org accountable. We may have some interesting ideas and if you think that HRC NGLTF LAMBDA hell even the Log Cabin pugs are not happy about what happened last week at the rallies last week ...you are just ignorant.
You really think that HRC or any of the lettered org are monoliths?
They really are the sum of their supporters.
And they all want to get to that "Promised Land" as much as you do.
But you just want to destroy...well there is plenty of room to build Sullivan, Rex and you too Andy Towle...so what are you going to do with that hammer in your hand now..,.
Seriously Andy...look at the title of your post....
Gay Orgs MUST adjust....or DIE?
Really?
DIE?
lot of HATE in that threat.
So who are our enemies?
Posted by: MCnNYC | Nov 18, 2008 11:38:26 PM
I'm so sick of this. I'm 62, been able to see through the HRC gimme-gimme MO from way back when, at least since they endorsed Damato because they wanted to show they would -- and we should -- work with GOP cutthroats who threw gays some crumbs!
So now young people with their cell phones are organizing a grassroots movement! Hah!
They want to call in "gay for a day" to show their co-workers that they pull their own weight.
Gays, queers, young and old, and their allies and families and friends need better leadership, period. And from the looks of things, the second-guessing and generational divide and enemy games continue -- and all inside the tribe. I'll be waiting for something real to happen, but I doubt it will in my lifetime. Hell, there'll probably still be an NAACP after I'm gone, and they've been moribund for longer than the HRC has been taking gay money and producing dinners and not much else. And why should we march to demand marriage when we haven't even been able to protect gay people in every workplace in the nation?
Posted by: OldInNYC | Nov 19, 2008 5:31:01 AM
It's very telling that no one from the HRC is responding to these posts on blogs and websites. Maybe we (blog readers) are just too insignificant. Can they really be that out of touch with how information is spread and how protests (both online and in the street) are organized?
Concerning Andrew Sullivan - you need to read his entire post and not just the few sentences that were quoted here in the comments by MCNNYC. As far as "spending all his energies pre Nov 4th" on Palin/Trig - that's an overstatement. Sullivan was pushing for all the candidates to release their medical records.
Posted by: Marocko | Nov 19, 2008 9:34:25 AM
I hope threads like this will help catalyze some substantive changes in the strategies, infrastructure and mindset of the LGBT movement.
For one thing, we simply can't keep relying on 501(c)(3)'s to lead this movement. Our national infrastructure is dominated by 501(c)(3)'s, entities that, of necessity, tend to focus on sustaining themselves and staying on track with strategic plans related to narrowly defined missions. They do not often possess the capacity to be nimble political actors or to respond energetically to emerging events, such as Proposition 8, or the great groundswell of grassroots energy in the Join the Impact protests. If we were to believe the organizations that ran the No on 8 campaign, the campaign was a sophisticated effort that failed only because of Californians weren't ready to vote down Prop 8. If only it were that simple.
What's needed now, I think, is a clearly-articulated national strategy that includes short and long term goals on the legislative and grassroots levels. We can't keep bouncing from initiative to initiative in a reactive posture. That's precisely what we have been doing for years: playing defense and doing a poor job of it, frankly.
If it turns out that trying to defeat marriage amendments on state ballots IS the most strategic thing for us to do, we need to ensure that state-based these campaigns are national from the start. The Yes on 8 campaign recognized that Prop 8 had national implications from the get-go and that's part of why they won.
We also need to be fusing the best practices of new media strategy with old school community organizing. It's precisely this kind of hybridized approach that's required to win campaigns these days. The Obama campaign offers an excellent case study for the LGBT movement to draw upon.
I have a piece up on The Democratic Strategist that analyzes the field strategies used by the No on 8 campaign and that proposes a framework for moving forward (http://www.thedemocraticstrategist.org/strategist/2008/11/why_we_lost_in_california_an_a.php).
Posted by: Jasmine | Nov 19, 2008 2:31:43 PM
Marocko I did read his weak words...did you read the whole letter of Joe Solomense that Sullivan describes as "playing nice?"
gee you think NGLTF is responding?
OR GLAAD?
Hell they didn't mention these rallies before OR after...the event.
and please it was over Palin Trig that he had to deal with TIME Howie Kurtz et al...he could give two craps about anyone else's medical records he was CERTAIN that Sarah Palin did not deliver Trig.
That was going to be his breakthrough story.
Posted by: MCnNYC | Nov 19, 2008 3:04:23 PM
I agree with those of you who think our community needs to have a conversation with itself before moving forward to understand our complex needs/concerns/priorities. We have numerous communities within our community and our movement has failed to capture this dynamic. I want this to be an inclusive movement yet grounded in realistic goals and priorities
I also agree that our movement has been too reactionary. We should be framing the issues and channeling the dialogue. I think we have to simultaneously attack the issues on a national level, state level, and local/community level. Most of all, I think we need to find ways that everyday, average LGBT people (like me!) can remain involved post-Prop 8 and connect with their inner activist. Personally, I have been asking myself, what would it take for ME to continue giving my time/energy/thought in this movement? And I have been trying to find ways to contribute.
I encourage you all to read the following piece by Jasmine, a thoughtful critique about the No On Prop 8 campaign and what we can learn from the Prop battle moving forward since there will surely be more:
http://www.thedemocraticstrategist.org/strategist/2008/11/why_we_lost_in_california_an_a.php
Posted by: Adrienne | Nov 19, 2008 3:46:08 PM
Zdraste! Vot takoi vot u vas horoshiy sait. Spasibki.
Posted by: ChabrellIgaN | Apr 2, 2009 7:20:29 AM