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10/11/2009

And by 'glamdalism,' they mean 'obnoxious, childish, reprehensible act of uncivil disobedience'

by Jeremy Hooper

The Phelps family was in town. Randall Terry was too. The so-called "truth truck" was also making its way around the District. And there were a couple of other megaphone-carrying anti-gays of indeterminate affiliation.

So with all that animosity, it may not surprise you to hear that the Human Rights Campaign building suffered a bit of vandalism on the same night as the group's National Dinner. What might surprise you is who is responsible for the damage:

Communique from the Forgotton:

Human Rights Campaign HQ Glamdalized By Queers Against Assimilation

HRC headquarters was rocked by an act of glamdalism last night by a crew of radical queer and allied folks armed with pink and black paint and glitter grenades. Beside the front entrance and the inscribed mission statement now reads a tag,
Quit leaving queers behind.
The HRC is not a democratic or inclusive institution, especially for the people who they claim to represent. Just like society today, the HRC is run by a few wealthy elites who are in bed with corporate sponsors who proliferate militarism, heteronormativity, and capitalist exploitation. The sweatshops (Nike), war crimes (Lockheed Martin), assaults on working class people (Bank of America, Deloitte, Chase Bank, Citi Group, Wachovia Bank) and patriarchy (American Apparel) caused by their sponsors is a hypocrisy for an organization with
human rights in their name.

The queer liberation movement has been misrepresented and co-opted by the HRC.
*KEEP READING: HRC Building Vandalized [Lez Get Real]

Ya know, people often say that when it comes to HRC and gay rights, resistance is futile. But with forms of resistance as futile and, frankly, f***ed up as this, we'll gladly side with Team Ivory Tower.

**UPDATE: Video of the vandalism, via RyanReporting:

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Your thoughts

The biggest enemy to progressive causes, in many cases, is the marginalized (feigned or actual) factions within the movement itself. There are LGBTs who belong to ethnic minorities who claim (perhaps correctly) that the broader movement for equality is somewhat racially stigmatizing. And, they further claim that until that racial stigmatization is eliminated, that there will never be any real, or substantial gains on the equality front.

My take on it is that each of these separate factions within the LGBT community may have a real and even tangible beef with the broader community. But, if we can't come together and fight, side by side, on those fronts where we all have common interests, then we might as well all go home. The religious groups who vehemently oppose us, manage to put aside all of their own personal inter-faction disagreements, and agree simply to join together (en masse as one hatemongering blob) for the furtherance of their wicked plot.

Until we learn to build coalitions amongst ourselves, or at least stop attacking each other, until then, we are our own worst enemies.

Posted by: Dick Mills | Oct 11, 2009 10:18:40 PM

If this event in any way gets that corrupt, lazy bastard Joe Solmonese to get off his buttplug and start working for my rights, it'll have been worth it. That said, vandalism is wrong, yada yada.

Posted by: DumpJoe | Oct 12, 2009 5:50:08 PM

You seem like the kind of person who stood on the sidelines at Stonewall and wagged your finger when the rest of us were fighting back.

Posted by: Bash Back! | Oct 13, 2009 12:47:03 AM

And you, Bash Back, sound like someone who makes flawed and offensive historical comparisons, comparing cops who unfairly raided an establishment with a mainstream gay rights group who simply doesn't act in accordance with your wishes. The unfair bombardment here lies with those who define an abject act of vandalism as justified (or 'glandalism' -- gag me).

By the way: I was invited inside the HRC dinner Saturday night, but decided that the better use of my time was to film the protests outside and engage many of the anti-gay protesters, before heading across town to a spirited fundraiser for the Maine campaign (to which I lent my name and cash). So don't tell me who or what I am, my friend.

Posted by: G-A-Y | Oct 13, 2009 7:19:26 AM

i can tell ya this much, if you were invited then you got some moneys. that's who ya are. moreover your first comment effectively tells people to put away their own issues and focus on ones you think should be focused on. so you're kind of an arrogant prick. that's who you are. basically you are the hrc, so we aren't friends.

Posted by: frank nowarcyck | Oct 13, 2009 3:06:08 PM

Fair enough, Frank. We're not friends.

Posted by: G-A-Y | Oct 13, 2009 3:15:21 PM

I disagree with Queers Against Assimilation's tactics, but their criticisms of the HRC are 100% fair and accurate. I really think there was some other way they could have brought their legitimate concerns to the attention of the queer community as a whole.

Posted by: libhomo | Oct 14, 2009 8:32:08 PM

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