Our latest for EBONY: "The True Legacy of Ed Koch." Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch died on Friday and will be buried today. Despite a healthy dose of revisionism and hagiograhy by the media, Koch's true legacy should never be forgotten.
In the two days since his death, a significant amount of kilobytes, ink and virtual chatter has been devoted to Koch’s legacy. The combative former three-term mayor has been generally credited with reversing the city’s “fiscal and infrastructure challenges” that dominated the 1970s. The former congressman served three terms until David Dinkins defeated him in the 1989 Democratic primary and became the city's first—and so far, only—Black mayor.
But by the 1980s, Koch left a disturbing legacy on two key issues that have defined America: Race relations and HIV/AIDS.
"Ed Koch did a lot for the city. But his terms as mayor were marred by racial discord," C. Virginia Fields told EBONY.com. Fields is president of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, formerly serving on the New York City Council and as Manhattan Borough President. "It started with the closure of Harlem’s Sydenham Hospital in 1980."
Longtime readers of Rod 2.0 may remember the outrageous story of Robert Traynnham from 2005. Traynham, who is Black, was serving as Communications Director for one of the leading anti-gay voices in Washington: Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Rick Santorum. Traynham and was outed as gay man by Mike Rogers.
When pressed on whether he supported the Senator's stands on lesbian and gay issues, Mr. Traynham abruptly ended the phone call by saying "Senator Santorum is a family man. I have been with Senator Santorum for eight years and I am very proud to be with him."
Santorum later issued a statement supporting his gay staffer, claiming that he "treats people equally, with dignity and respect."
Traynham is still defending his former boss. The Black gay Republican communications strategist—who has also worked at the National Republican Senatorial Committee—appeared on Hardball to explain Santorum's extreme positions. Santorum has campaigned on seeking to reinstate "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and invalidating same-sex marriages.
Traynham says he "doesn't know" Santorum's position on DADT but "fundamentally doesn't agree" with his position on marriage. Traynham adds that he has "never ever" heard his former boss utter a gay slur. "Rick's not extreme," said Traynham.
Keep telling yourself that, hon. Watch the video AFTER THE JUMP ...
Ed Schultz and The Ed Show took on the relentless homophobia of GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann. The show also profiled husband Dr. Marcus Bachmann, the Christian counselor recently profiled in the Washington Post—who believes there is a “homosexual agenda" and has referred to gays as "barbarians."
"He has received hundreds of thousands of public funding from Medicare," said Raw Story's Mike Rogers, the investigative reporter known for outing closeted anti-gay politicians such as Ken Mehlman and Larry Craig. "Right there you have a disconnect, because his [wife] doesn't believe in [Medicare]. Yet he is accepting all this money to perform ex-gay therapy which is dangerous."
Rogers has a few questions about Dr. Bachmann's closet, too ...
Rogers, Schultz and Daily Beast writer Michelle Goldberg discuss the Bachmanns' homophobia, the Republican Party's anti-gay agenda and recent GOP strides on LGBT rights. Watch AFTER THE JUMP ...
Building on the success of the path to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal, finding more effective strategies to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and including transgender individuals in ENDA and immigration reform were among the strategies discussed at the 2011 Netroots Nation Strategy Session.
The LGBT caucus and strategy session had over 80 attendees, says Mike Rogers, the director of the Netroots Nation LGBT Netroots Connect program. Rogers has brought more than 50 attendees to Netroots Nation 2011 as part of a LGBT pre-conference and scholarship program.
Dr. Jillian T. Weiss facilitated the 90-minute conference. Weiss is a professor of law at Ramapo College of New Jersey, and a management consultant on transgender diversity. Weiss is also well known across the LGBT movement and virtual community as a contributor at Bilerico.com and for her work pushing ENDA.
The goal of the strategy session was to "capitalize upon what worked and didn't work" in pushing for DADT and DOMA repeal, as well as "synthesizing momentum" around the introduction of ENDA and the United American Families Act, said Dr. Weiss.
The session was divided into two groups: Those who worked with policy and on the "inside" track and those who worked in media, blogging and the "outside" track. Chief among the frustrations: Finding an "optimum" narrative to win passage of ENDA.
"I can say what worked best on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'," said Freedom to Marry's New Media Director Michael Crawford, who co-facilitated one of the breakout sessions. "That was the personal narrative. I can say how we will win marriage, state by state, or a court strategy or even a DOMA repeal in Congress." But the movement "has yet to develop" a winning "narrative" on ENDA.
"And that's a shame because ENDA would effect 150 million people," added Weiss.
It's also important to keep ensure that our "media representatives are diverse" when buillding a narrative, added Pam's House Blend Editor Pam Spaulding.
Another chief concern: Transgender inclusion. "We obviously didn't have that in DADT because it was an 'LGB' issue but some of the organizations" were fearful around using trans case studies and spokespersons to push for ENDA, said Jos Truitt, the transgender activist and blogger at Feministing. Truitt and others said the need for trans inclusion was more imperative around ENDA, the United American Families Act and immigration reform.
Some images from the LGBT Strategy Session are HERE:
Live tweets from the morning session of the LGBT Netroots Connect Pre-Conference. The Twitter hashtag is #NN11LGBT. The conference is facilitated by Freedom to Marry's Michael Crawford (above), Get Equal's Heather Cronk and Q Center's Barbara McCullough-Jones and Michael Rogers.
Several segments on last night's The Ed Show were devoted to the "sexting" scandal around New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner. Mike Rogers, the über-blogger and investigative reporter known for outing closeted anti-gay politicians such as Ken Mehlman and Larry Craig, offered some context.
"The Republicans are great about making it about people when it's about principle. And they have no principles. You just heard RNC Chairman Reince Priebius say, 'We don't want to revisit that,' of course you don't, because it will show exactly how hypocritical you are. Anthony Weiner hasn't done anything illegal, like paying prostitutes. David Vitter has. That's why they deflect."
Rogers' work is the focus of Kirby Dick's documentary Outrage, which is a must-see if you already haven't. Watch the clip AFTER THE JUMP ..
Several segments on last night's The Ed Show featuring Cenk Uygur were devoted to former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, whose coming out story was scheduled to run today. Mehlman's story was leaked by Mike Rogers, the über-blogger known for outing closeted anti-gay politicians such as Mehlman and Larry Craig.
Rogers pans Mehlman's faux apology for managing the most anti-gay American presidential campaign in history. "Mehlman has no desire to apologize," Rogers said. "He has no regrets he said. So we need to hold him more accountable because right now it's just a washing of his record."
The interview was scheduled to run Friday but appeared tonight after being leaked by Mike Rogers, the über-blogger known for outing closeted anti-gay politicians such as Larry Craig. Rogers was featured in Kirby Dick's documentary Outrage, which recently aired on HBO.
"It's taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life.
Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me,
over the past few months, I've told my family, friends, former
colleagues, and current colleagues, and they've been wonderful and
supportive. The process has been something that's made me a happier and
better person. It's something I wish I had done years ago."
Mehlman claims that he "tried" to prevent Bush and political strategist Karl Rove from demonizing gay rights:
"Privately, in off-the-record conversations with this reporter over the
years, Mehlman voiced support for civil unions and told of how, in
private discussion with senior Republican officials, he beat back
efforts to attack same-sex marriage. He insisted, too, that President
Bush "was no homophobe." He often wondered why gay voters never formed
common cause with Republican opponents of Islamic jihad, which he called
"the greatest anti-gay force in the world right now."
Mehlman also says he was "aware" that Rove worked with state GOP operatives to ensure anti-gay initiatives would appear on the ballots in 2004, when he was Bush-Cheney
campaign manager ... and in
2006 when he served as the Republican National Chair.
Mike Rogers confronted Mehlman on video in 2006 about the "many confusing answers" about his sexuality. Rogers responded to today's coming out admission by Mehlman—who recently bought a $4 million loft in New York City's Chelsea gayborhood—by awarding him a "Roy Cohn Award" for "managing the most anti-gay presidential campaigns in history." Said Rogers: "Ken
Mehlman is horridly homophobic and no matter how orchestrated his
coming out is, our community should hold him accountable for his past."
Small "riot" erupts at Taste of Chicago as restless crowd awaits Trey Songz. " Five people waiting in line for the concert were treated for
heat-related illnesses and multiple ambulances [were] dispatched. As the jammed throng grew increasingly agitated before a line of mounted
police, one Chicago policeman muttered, 'There’s a
riot going on.'"
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and fiancée refuse to wed in NYC and will marry in Connecticut to
"protest New York’s failure to legalize gay marriage."
The source and two former employees of Bauer served on his staff between 2004 and 2007. They reported to me that on a total of three occasions Bauer spent hours alone with men in hotel rooms. Each of them explained that the visits were with younger men who were not on the staff of the Lt. Governor nor had any official reason to be with him. The two men each confirmed that they had not known each other and each described similar circumstances under which these interactions occurred. One of them confirmed that he was told by the Lt. Governor's visitor he had a sexual encounter with Bauer.
Bauer's outing leaves the South Carolina Republican Party with a vexing moral imperative. Bauer called for the resignation of the disgraced, anti-gay and serial philandering Gov. Mark Sanford—who flew down to Argentina for a tryst with his girlfriend.
Mike Rogers boasts a 100% track record in outing closeted anti-gay politicians. Rogers outed Sen. Larry Craig almost one year before his well-publicized arrest in the Minneapolis Airport men's room.
