Susan Ryan-Vollmar - who writes an excellent blog on gay and lesbian rights, among other topics - lists in Bay Windows the reasons Cheryl Jacques was doomed.
Was it the uninspired “George W. Bush: You’re Fired!” publicity campaign in the run up to the Nov. 2 election during which Bush was . . . hired? Was it the failure on the Human Rights Campaign’s part to endorse Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter for re-election even though Specter is one of the few Republicans in Washington willing to support gay issues? Was it Jacques’ remarks after the death of Ronald Reagan in which she praised Reagan for having helped derail the Briggs Initiative (a 1978 California proposal that would have banned gay men and lesbians from teaching), when he was governor of California - but made no mention whatsoever of Reagan’s failure to respond to the AIDS crisis throughout the 1980s when he was president? Was it when Margaret Cho was first invited and then - in embarrassing fashion - disinvited from headlining an HRC event during the Democratic National Convention?
Questions that answer themselves. Ryan-Vollmar’s larger point - that the appointment of Hillary Rosen and the current strategy of HRC are shortsighted - touches on the emphasis the organization is putting on poll-driven political calculation over a larger vision for lesbian and gay politics. Go read the full piece.
I suspect that this issue - like the fate of the NAACP - is hardly of importance only for those caring about the particular fate and form of identity politics, but parallels a larger process of retrenchment and redefinition across the left now.
UPDATE: The Globe has a piece suggesting that many think this was all about gay marriage.
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