"HRC is almost worthless and has been since the day it was born. I totally agree with Andrew that it is a cash cow milking gullible gay men and women and providing scant evidence that it is money well-spent. Every once in a while they manage a minor victory in Washington but hardly one to merit their existence. I say this sadly. I’ll tell you one thing: that they are able to corral so much money every year is scary. It’s scary that so many of us believe they are doing good stuff. What are they seeing that I can’t see? We are in worse shape in Washington than we have ever ever ever ever ever been. Washington is HRC’s turf. I shudder," – Larry Kramer, to Rex Wockner.
Larry has an op-ed in the LA Times today as well. I think his description of straight hatred for gays is far too excessive. I’m increasingly impressed by how many straight people – and straight men – are now sticking up for us. But I profoundly agree with his analysis of how gay people enable straight prejudice. Too many of us have internalized the sense that we are not worth every bit as much as straight people. The fundamental reason why we do not have our equality is not straight hate. It is gay self-hate. The minute all gay Americans believe they deserve marriage equality, believe they should be treated exactly the same as their heterosexual peers, gay equality will come. My deepest issue with HRC is not their lack of transparency, their lack of accountability and their miserable record. It’s their cravenness, their supine deference to politicians, their inability to see that compromise based on strong convictions is not the same as enabling politicians to find ways to duck or avoid the manifest justice of our cause.
Larry has always deep down believed that gay people are as good as straight people. So many gay people still don’t. That’s the problem. To take one simple example: the chairman of the Joint Chiefs says publicly that some soldiers under his command are immoral just because they are gay. Why is he not fired immediately? Why are we not demanding that any new money for this war be linked to liberating gay soldiers from the obloquy they have to serve under? How callously must we be treated before we declare we have simply had enough?
(Illustration courtesy of Bay Windows, which has done a great job covering HRC’s lack of transparency.)
The Dish 