What the hell is going on with the DNC and gays?

This stinks.

Democratic Party Chair Howard Dean on May 2 fired the party's gay outreach advisor Donald Hitchcock less than a week after Hitchcock's domestic partner, Paul Yandura, a longtime party activist, accused Dean of failing to take stronger action to defend gays.

And, you know, if this had been a one-off, I might be willing to listen to the paltry excuses being offered, but it isn’t. It’s just another thread in the long rope being used to muzzle the LGBT community by the DNC.

In early February, The Washington Blade reported that last August, in a largely unnoticed move, Dean had abolished the DNC’s lesbian and gay constituent outreach desk, leading to gay Democratic Party activist and fundraiser, and former chair of the DNC’s Gay & Lesbian Americans Caucus, Jeff Soref’s resignation as chair of the DNC’s gay caucus. Even more curious was Dean’s decision to fold the gay constituent outreach desk into the larger umbrella program known as the American Majority Partnership, which seeks to address concerns of all minority constituencies. The LGBT fundraising office, the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Council, however, remained. So once again, it appeared to be an issue of the Dems’ willingness to offer a fair return on reliable financial contributions

Pam:

If you had any illusions that the 2006 iteration of the Democratic party isn't ready to throw gays under the bus (but take homo cash), here's convincing evidence to chew on.

Keith Boykin:

I'm not surprised that the Democrats want to keep raising money from gays but don't want to do outreach with that community. It's almost like the old pattern in which Democrats would ignore black folk until the last few weeks of a campaign when they needed us to turn out and vote.

Spot-on—and both of them echoed concerns that were being raised throughout the LGBT community and among their supporters.

In response, Dean wrote a Letter to the Editor of The Washington Blade, asserting that the DNC’s commitment to LGBT constituents was not being undermined.

The DNC’s "political desk" system has been replaced with a new and improved organizational structure and culture devoted to recognizing and promoting the rich diversity of the Democratic Party, and protecting and advancing equal rights for the communities we represent, including our friends and family in the LGBT community.

Harrumph.

Dean then met with gay activists on February 13. According to DNC spokesperson Damien LaVera, it was a previously scheduled event, but Mike Rogers disputed that claim and commented, “When Ethan Geto calls a meeting with gays over party stupidity and to defend Howard Dean, you can be sure the message has gotten through… He is called in for the big stuff.”

At that point, Eric Stern, the Executive Director of the Stonewall Democrats, wrote an op-ed calling for the DNC to “immediately appoint a senior LGBT political staff person as part of its American Majority Partnership to implement electoral strategy and advise the Chair of the DNC.”

So then, on February 16, the DNC issued a press release reasserting the Democratic Party’s commitment to the LGBT community.

The Democratic Party has never been more committed to protecting equal rights for the LGBT community. We are standing strong with the community, fighting the Republican Party's repugnant efforts to exploit the politics of fear and division and scapegoat LGBT families for electoral gain. I am proud to lead a Party that will never resort to such shameful tactics. As long as I am chairman, this Party will always help provide the LGBT community every opportunity to live the American Dream.

More harrumph.

Then, on February 24, The Washington Blade reported that the LGBT community was only further incensed by the release of the DNC’s “Annual Report to the Grassroots,” which failed to mention gays and the Democratic Party’s gay outreach efforts entirely. “Activists pointed to a similar grassroots report issued a year earlier by Dean’s predecessor, Terry McAuliffe, which gave a detailed account of the party’s gay outreach program.” LaVera dismissed concerns by categorizing the report as a “brief, preliminary account of Dean’s plan to rebuild the party by strengthening its field operation in all 50 states.”

Excuses, excuses. Nothing but excuses for why things that appear to be indicative of marginalizing the LGBT community from the Democratic Party. And now this latest debacle—about which John Aravosis, who gets the hat tip (care of Angelos), says, “Can you say Valerie Plame?” Good point. I’d like to believe that this is just a matter of someone who got fired for legitimate reasons, but the actions of the DNC over the course of the last year are simply not conducive to subscribing to such a notion. Dean needs to get his shit together. Yeah, I know he was the first governor to champion and secure civil unions in his state, but now he needs to show some commitment to the LGBT community on a national level, because this bullshit is getting tired.

And aside from the more important issue of the ethical failing of abandoning an important civil rights issue, I’m not too pleased with the politics of it, either. Any progressive interested in seeing the GOP get roundly trounced during the next election cycle surely prefers to have an active and dedicated LGBT base to help out—not one that’s rightfully so pissed off that they tell the Dems to go fuck themselves.