Tuesday, June 30, 2009

GLIFAA dissed by the White House?

I am beginning to wonder what is up. No representative from GLIFAA was invited to the White House signing of the memorandum on June 17. Perhaps an oversight. Media coverage neglected to mention GLIFAA, despite the fact that only two federal agencies were specifically mentioned in the memorandum, the State Department and the Department of Justice. And GLIFAA has been working with the State Department since BEFORE day one. We worked with the previous administration. We worked with the transition team. And we have worked with this administration. It was GLIFAA that prepared the papers, still available at whitehouse.gov, outlining which benefits the Secretary could extend to same-sex partners with just the stroke of her pen, and which required congressional action. She took each of our recommendations.

So fine, we weren't invited to the small gathering for the signing. But now this: Gay leaders invited to the White House to meet the President. Not to diminish the role played by FedGLOBE, but the much more of the credit for the benefits extended belongs to GLIFAA. But while the same members of the FedGLOBE were invited to both White House events, GLIFAA was again left off the list.

I'd like to believe that these events were a bone tossed to those who got less than we did, but I am not sure I do.

Gay Pride at the White House

President Obama hosted hundreds of gay rights leaders and activists at the White House earlier today, marking the 40th anniversary of the birth of the modern gay rights movement.

As The Post's Michael D. Shear reports, Obama "became the first Oval Office occupant to officially celebrate gay pride in the White House even as the gay community remains bitterly divided about the pace of Obama's efforts to turn words into action for their agenda.

"In recognizing the march of progress since the protests outside New York's Stonewall Inn 40 years ago, Obama achieved a milestone for many gay and lesbian Americans who mark the day as the beginning of their modern rights movement.

"But the excitement among the several hundred guests invited by the first couple to the East Wing Monday was tempered by frustration among many who believe that the president has moved too slowly to make good on his campaign promises."

Below find a list of the federal government and political officials and other prominent activists invited to attend the meeting, as provided in a White House pool report:

John Berry, Director of Office of Personnel Management

Fred Hochberg, Chair, Export-Import Bank

John Easton, Director, Institute of Education Sciences at the Department of Education

Christine Quinn, Speaker of the New York City Council

Judith Appelbaum, Department of Justice

Vic Basile, Office of Personnel Management

Jeremy Bernard, National Endowement for the Humanities

Raymond Buckley, DNC Vice-Chair

Jamie Citron, Department of Health and Human Services

Cheryl Cook, Department of Agriculture

Steven Elmendorf, Democratic Party consultant, Washington, D.C.

Eric Fanning, Department of Justice

Hon. Michael Guest, Former Ambassador

Gavin Hilgemeier, Federal GLOBE

Leonard Hirsch, Federal GLOBE

Lorilyn Holmes, Federal GLOBE

Hon. James Hormel, the first openly gay U.S. ambassador

Kevin Jennings, Department of Education

Jennifer Jones, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Frank Kameny, Washington, DC

Elaine Kaplan, Office of Personnel Management

Thomas Lopach, Export-Import Bank

Mary Beth Maxwell, Department of Labor

Kevin Naff, Washington Blade

David Noble, NASA

Gautam Raghavan, Department of Defense

Steven Ralls, Washington, D.C.

Ellen Ratner, Washington, D.C.

Bishop Gene Robinson, Diocese of New Hampshire

Hilary Rosen, Washington, D.C.

Judy Shepard, Matthew Shepard Foundation

Rick Stafford, DNC LGBT Caucus Chair

Andrew Tobias, DNC Treasurer

Alex Wagner, Department of Defense

Tobias Wolff, Philadelphia, Pa.

No comments: