DNC Treasurer blames Aravosis for gay community anger at DNC/Obama

11/6/2009 10:22am by 534

DNC Treasurer Andy Tobias joined in the comments section last night of John’s latest post about the DNC’s, and White House’s, growing gay problem. And he wasn’t very happy.

The post is about a leaked email from Tobias to DNC funders, in which Tobias admits that the DNC intentionally included Mainers in a mass email blitz to help NJ Governor Jon Corzine’s re-election, rather than asking Mainers to help defeat ballot measure 1 which successfully repealed marriage equality for gay couples in that state. Previously, DNC officials had claimed that the emails were sent to Mainers as a “glitch.”

The DNC’s Tobias, a series of 11 comments spanning into the early hours of the morning, blames John for the increasingly strained relationship between the gay community and the Democratic party:

As these comments show, you are being quite effective in turning people against support of the Democrats. That, by definition, helps the Republicans.

That’s priceless.

So, John is to blame for the Obama administration’s infamous DOMA brief last June comparing same-sex relationships to incest and pedophilia. Right. I remember how hard John worked on that brief. Oh, right, it wasn’t John who wrote that brief. Obama’s Department of Justice did, and Obama’s press secretary said the President stands behind it.

And I suppose it’s John’s fault that President-elect Obama invited famed homophobe Rick Warren, who was an outspoken supporter of Prop 8, to give the invocation at the inauguration. And, John also invited homophobe Donnie McClurkin, who calls himself an “ex-gay” (i.e., he’s been “cured” of his homosexuality), to campaign for Obama. And, don’t forget how John was responsible for removing the gay rights promises from the White House web site, which then substituted the “repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to “changing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in a sensible manner.”

It was also John’s fault that Senator Durbin said this week that the Senate may not take up the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” next year, even though our community has been repeatedly told that early next year DADT will be repealed, as the president promised. And, I’m pretty sure it was John who told the White House not to mention Maine and Washington in Obama’s speech to HRC a few weeks ago, even though activists begged the White House to help. And, John told the DNC not to help in Maine and Washington State (which had a domestic partners measure on the ballot). And John probably wrote the OFA email to Maine telling people to vote, but not how to vote on major gay rights and labor issues. Then, he came up with the bright idea of asking Mainers to call New Jersey, and ignore their own state, despite the importance of the marriage equality referendum in Maine.

I believe John also wrote the talking points for all the generals who have gone on the Sunday talk shows to subtly suggest they are not planning to lift a finger to get DADT repealed. That would, of course, include the time that John forced the Army Secretary to suggest that segregating gay soldiers, separate but equal style, might be an acceptable alternative to fully repealing DADT.

Tobias is the top-ranking gay official at the DNC and his comments really gave us some insight into the way that organization thinks. He blamed Aravosis for turning people against the DNC. Apparently, in the world of Andy Tobias and the DNC, John’s gay civil rights advocacy is helping the Republicans. All we’re asking is for Obama to keep his promises to the LGBT community. All we’ve done here at AMERICAblog is report whether or not those promises have been kept. All of you can — and do — draw your own conclusions as to who is to blame for the bad blood between the Democratic party and the gay community. The White House and the DNC think that we’re the problem for wanting our rights and wanting Obama to simply keep his promises.

So, I guess John was also helping the Republicans when:

- Back in the 90s, he helped sailor Timothy McVeigh (that’s his real name) take on the Navy after AOL outed him;

- He launched Matthew Shepard Online Resources a decade ago — it would now be called a blog — and helped explode the Matthew Shepard story worldwide;

- He launched StopDrLaura.com and, along with activists around the country (and in Canada), got Dr. Laura kicked off the air;

- He took on Mary Cheney with his DearMary.com Web site, and only a few months later the Cheneys were suddenly opposed to the Federal Marriage Amendment.

- He took on Microsoft in spring of 2005 and Ford Motor Company in December of 2005 over their anti-gay positions, and won;

And that’s just a sample.

There’s a reason that John has been named in the past as one of the 50 most powerful gays and lesbians in America, and it’s not because he “helps” Republicans. It’s because he has a long record of successfully helping gay people fight for their civil rights. Even when it makes Democrats uncomfortable.

It’s outrageous for the DNC to attack someone with John’s record on gay civil rights, when their record has been abominable. (And for the record, John has never been sued for being anti-gay — the DNC can’t claim the same.) If the DNC is worried about anyone “helping the Republicans,” they need only look in a mirror. No one has done more to push the LGBT community away from the Democratic party than the Democratic party itself.

The DNC and the White House see the gay community as an ATM. Well, the GayTM just ran dry.

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On October 27, 2010, Joe was one of five bloggers who interviewed President Obama. Joe is a DC-based political consultant with over twenty-five years of experience at both the state and federal level. Joe has managed political operations and legislative efforts for both candidates and issues-based organizations. For seven years, he was the Director of State Legislation at Handgun Control, Inc. He served as that organization's first Political Director during the 2000 cycle. Joe is a graduate of the University of Maine School of Law. In addition, he has a Masters in Public Administration from Lehigh University and received his B.A. from the University of New Hampshire. Joe also has a fun dog, Petey, a worthy successor to Boomer, who got Joe through eight years of Bush and Cheney. Joe likes to think he is a world class athlete having finished the 2005 Chicago Marathon in the time of 4:10. He has completed six other marathons as well -- and is still determined to break the four hour mark.

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