Activist Andy Thayer of Chicago's Gay Liberation Network is planning a picket of Saturday night's Human Rights Campaign dinner at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, at which President Obama is scheduled to give a keynote address.
Said Thayer in a press release: “The time for talking is over. This President
promised to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), he promised to
repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, he promised to pass the pro-LGBT
Employment Non-Discrimination Act and a whole host of other
things. Instead, he's delivered on nothing while embracing anti-gay
bigots Rick Warren and Donnie McClurkin. The last thing we need is
more flowery rhetoric in front of rich, self-effacing gays and lesbians
dressed up like penguins.”
Added Queer Liberaction co-founder Blake Wilkenson, whose group is co-sponsoring the picket: "The Obama administration has likened LGBT relationships to incest and
bestiality. He
cited his ‘Christian beliefs' for the reason why he now opposes equal
marriage rights for same-sex couples. He refuses issue a stop-loss
order to prevent purges of lesbian and gay soldiers. If we are going
to get real change out of this White House, we need to make demands of this President. As the great anti-slavery activist Frederick Douglass put it, ‘Power concedes nothing without a demand.'”
More at LGBT POV.
