It becomes increasingly hard to imagine that John Aravosis is even operating on a good-faith basis when he writes posts like this one, ruthlessly attacking Jennifer Chrisler and the Family Equality Council.
Imagine what a weak-kneed nothing Chrisler must be when you read this:
When the White House needs a token homosexual to give them political cover for stabbing gay Americans in the back, there’s one name apparently at the top of their list. Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council.
Ms. Chrisler has confirmed to the New York Times that she is proudly going to the hastily arranged White House cocktail bash next week, organized after the community uproar over Obama’s Justice Department comparing us to incest and pedophilia.
Contrary to AmericaBlogReality, however, here’s what she actually is quoted as saying in the NYT article John references:
“What’s going to change the way the community is feeling is seeing the introduction of a bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’’ said Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council, a Boston-based advocacy group, referring to two policies Mr. Obama pledged to overturn. She said gay rights advocates want to see “a president who is fulfilling the promises he made on the campaign trail.’’
. . . .
Ms. Chrisler, who was in the Oval Office for the signing of the memorandum, said she was not satisfied by what she called the ‘’limited benefits’’ Mr. Obama offered. She said she hoped Monday’s reception would be “an opportunity for us as a community to highlight again to this president and this administration that real lives are impacted by his decisions.’’
John then goes on to spend several paragraphs attacking Chrisler that end with him asserting: “No gay person should ever give a dime to the Family Equality Council again. Ever.”
I just don’t understand what good-faith explanation gets John from one place to the other.
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Chris Geidner is the award-winning senior political editor at D.C.'s Metro Weekly and has written for The Atlantic Online, The American Prospect, Advocate.com, Salon and other publications, as well as at his blog, Law Dork. In 2011, he received the Excellence in News Writing Award from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his coverage of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal. Prior to moving to D.C. in 2009, he served as an attorney on the senior staff at the Ohio Attorney General's Office and had earlier worked for a leading Columbus law firm. An extended biography can be found
I feel like John is trying out for a role of Days of our Lives…so dramatic
I meant “on”
stay on him, chris. the guy has gone off the rails.
Count me as a fan of John…While I may not agree with the “tone” he sometimes takes there is no doubt he is a fierce advocate for our community. The local government I work for in Georgia (Athens) provides better domestic partner benefits than those contained in the Presidents Memorandum. The bottom line is I’m sick of our so called leaders being cheap dates-Nobody should have to lobby for the passage of ENDA or the repeal of DADT (the polls are clearly in our favor). The problem for me is this Whitehouse is tone-deaf to our concerns/doesn’t care about our civil rights and the only way to counter that is to withhold money and to hold our own leadership accountable when they provide cover when none has been earned or deserved!
“Nobody should have to lobby for the passage of ENDA or the repeal of DADT (the polls are clearly in our favor). The problem for me is this Whitehouse is tone-deaf to our concerns/doesn’t care about our civil rights and the only way to counter that is to withhold money and to hold our own leadership accountable when they provide cover when none has been earned or deserved!”
If no one should have to lobby for the passage of ENDA or repeal of DADT because the policies are so democratically popular, what the hell are you upset with the White House about? If there’s no need for the lobbying, why should the WH be lobbying? This makes no logical sense.
And the problem with Aravosis is not just his tone; it’s that he trades on his position in order to mislead people. He’s spread the false claim that the DOJ brief compares SSM to incest and pedophilia far and wide, and successfully made a fool of Rep. Frank, who made the mistake of thinking he could rely on Aravosis’s analysis, then had to eat his words after reading the brief for himself. Do you think anyone in Frank’s office will ever consider Aravosis a reliable source again, after he’s had this egg on his face?
The Admin needs to be held accountable for their campaign promises and for the major screw ups of the past several weeks.
Over the top rhetoric is not accountability-making, though it may generate page-views. I think that for those who are in the bracked who can attend overpriced cocktail parties, by all means, go and do exactly what Chrisler says.
And then do more. But bitching about her org and saying don’t contribute ever…why is Aravosis falling into the attack your allies trap???
I am still witholding my 2009 HRC renewal. I’ve been pretty unsatisfied with their work the past 18 months, but since Smelt Solomonese seems to have woken up. Plus I think there are other LGBT rights groups that are more relevant ant less bloated.
But I don’t think publicly misconstruing the work of a rights group and then advocating de-funding them is a good way to move forward in this work.
Umm….actually I think the votes are there for ENDA and DAD. What is lacking is LEADERSHIP from the President and the Speaker…they don’t want the publicity associated with embracing the gays because it will hinder their ability to maneuver on legislation they favor more. What I’m saying is 1) I’ll send the DNC and HRC more money when my communities concerns get the same amount of attention as picking the fucking dog 2) I’m sick of the wink nudge character of HRC’s and the President’s advocacy. It’s time to say it loud and say it proud!
Tommy, were you also a fan of Aravosis when he attempted to throw the trans community under the bus during the ENDA fight? When he rewrote glbt history by stating that transpeople insinuated themselves into the GLBT movement?
yeah he’s a “fierce” advocate and he has a big readership. He’s also a self-aggrandizing jerk operating under the illusion that he speaks for the entire community. And that’s true no matter how woefully misguided the WH is on GLBT issues.
Thanks, Law Dork, for keeping on Aravosis. I’ve long refused to visit his blog because of his virulent anti-trans postings during the ENDA battle, which despite trying to throw us gender-nonconforming brethren under the bus, actually did not to pass the legislation. Aravosis wants desperately to be an insider, and since the DNC won’t kow tow to him, he’s going to be in a snit.
Tommy,
If Obama is afraid of publicity that associates him with gay people, and only mentions gay people in a wink-nudge fashion, why on earth did he issue a proclamation for LGBT Pride Month?
I agree. I stopped reading Americablog during this period. His hatred of the trans inclusion was so repulsive. It was so gay-male centric, with almost a willful ignorance of what the trans community had done for the movement since Stonewall. I will never see him as a voice for the movement.
Second this. Aravosis is virulently transphobic — see his Salon article from 2007 on ENDA if you need to be convinced.
As far as Aravosis saying nobody should give money to Family Equality Council? Well, Aravosis already specifically tells his readers GIVE YOUR MONEY TO ME. He is blatantly trying to profit off of the controversies he stirs up.