This is just a glimpse into what happens if you do not agree with 100% of what Mr. Wilkinson does: Found at: http://lgbtliberaction.blogspot.com/ Thanks Blake, who wrote this: “The Elephant in the Room” , copied below in its entirity. Rest assured, Wright and just about anyone else in the Dallas LGBT community is mentioned somewhere on any of many blogs that have been written…either by name or implication. I haven’t even read all of them yet.

As truly a new voice in the choir, I believe actually more so than yourself- since you have made assertions over and over that you have been an activist for many years, and cited in Chicago and elsewhere to that end – please keep in mind we are all out for the same goal. You are not going to bully me into making me agree with your approach if I do not agree with the principles of it nor the approach.

Stay tuned for the list of “no ones” who saw the Dallas Join The Impact Rally on November 15th. It might need another page of its own.
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viernes 21 de noviembre de 2008
The Elephant in the Room

It should come as no surprise to anyone that while Etta Zamboni and I were both lead organizers for the November 15 demonstration against Prop 8 she was put on a pedestal and applauded by many in the community. I on the other hand I was sidelined and shut up. It’s amazing what happens when you are a new voice in the choir.

Zamboni’s assimilationist, apologetic and poorly thought through politics mirror those of the people that have put her on a platform. Unlike last week’s Voice article, which can be found here, The Edge ran an article this week which does a much better job in hearing from both sides and exploring the issues in greater depth. You can find the Edge article here.

Let’s take a moment to review a few of Zamboni’s better remarks. She states that “protest directed at any religious organization is not going to be beneficial” but fails to explain why. She continues to say that “their participation has already been brought out publicly”. Is she suggesting that it has already been done thus there is no need to call them out again?

In fact LGBT groups that did not take a “let’s be friends with our oppressors” stance were the ones that got Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s rights to the airwaves taken away in Canada and had her radio show dropped from dozens of radio stations in the US for propagating hate speech against LGBT people. This was done by confronting the issue and publicly labeling her as a hate monger which caused her popularity to dive.

Zamboni says that “we are trying to win [the public] over…and going out in front of a Mormon Church serves no benefit”. She is correct that we are trying to win over the public. One side of the coin is getting our message out there that our love is just as valid as straight love and it deserves all the rights that go along with it. I believe Zamboni would agree with this but she is ignoring the other side of the coin. And that is that while we positively assert our right to equal rights we must be prepared to defend and stand up for ourselves when we come under attack. If organizations like the Mormon Church got behind rolling back civil rights of African Americans could you imagine the NAACP staying silent on the issue and not confronting those actively implicated in beating back their rights?

Both sides of the coin are necessary. Disgracefully, our “leaders” are more afraid of stepping on toes, even if they are the toes of homophobic religious extremists.

Lastly, Zamboni suggests that standing up to an organization that stripped us of our rights is only going to “further divide us as a country”. From a psychological point of view I can understand that everyone has a need to be accepted by the larger society, but rights have never been won by holding hands with those that are making sure you are second class.

The politics that Zamboni has been propped up to support during the past week have come in and out of fashion in the LGBT movement. It’s no surprise that progress falls on the heels of independent unapologetic activism. On the other hand its no surprise that after 15 or so years of Ms Zamboni’s politics we now have 30 states with constitutional amendments, others with bans on gay adoption, no federal protections, DOMA, etc… Constitutional amendments have passed in each and every state where they have been put to ballot.

Let’s not ignore the elephant in the room any longer.
Publicado por lgbtliberaction en 15:17 0 comentarios

To the rest, grow up.

Now can we talk about Milk?

Which he did and everybody knows it.

Wright you should take a Xanax and chill a while because you are acting like a bitter queen right now. And there’s nothing worse than a bitter queen!

The above remark is a prime example of the difficult attitude which John Wright possesses.

He is not aware that one catches more flies with honey than with vinegar. He has not yet learned that lesson.

I would explain to John that many LGBT people remain closeted for a variety of reasons. I do, because I will loose my job if I reveal that I am gay. That is why I choose the online name X. John Wright is too isolated in his elite, online, LGBT ‘media’ world to understand the plight of those who live and work in the real world.

Every time that I have met or dealt with John Wright, it has been an unpleasant experience. He is passive aggressive with anger management issues. And I do not care for him. He knows little about Dallas, and the fact that he has never heard of Peaches and Herb makes me greatly question his credentials even more.

A word of advice for John Wright. It is better to remain silent and have every one think that you are a fool, than to open you mouth and confirm that you are.

And Jack, I had never heard of Peaches and Herb before, but according to Wikipedia, “Herb has remained a constant in ‘Peaches & Herb’ since its creation in 1967, while five different women have filled the role of Peaches.’” Who the fuck knew?

John Wright only knows how to bicker like a queen, he possess no known diplomatic skills. He is immature and has a chip on his shoulder. And, he is a pain to deal with. I found that out during the primaries.

Let’s figure out a time that you can phone the radio show on Saturday or Sunday between 1pm and 3pm so we can chat about it on the air.

We could probably fit it in prior the the Peaches and Herb interview and we could lead in with
Shake Your Groove Thang.

i would think we would be on the same side of this issue but it seems we are not. if you will remember this whole thread started when you took it upon yourself to characterize someone as abrasive. i merely stated that it seemed like you had an axe to grind and then you decided to call me out for it. that’s fine, i thought a dialog is what was supposed to go on here. if you feel that calling attention to your article was an attack then perhaps you would be more comfortable writing for your neighborhood association’s newsletter. you don’t see robert wilonsky go running home crying to mama everytime i disagree with him.

i will second what kyle said in the post above that “i hope your words do not scare other members of the community away from getting involved”. your entry characterizing blake as some sort of loose cannon almost caused me to reconsider my involvement on saturday but then i thought i’d check it out for myself and not trust one man’s opinion. i’m glad i chose to go because blake seems to have a good head on his shoulders and sincerely cares about our rights and our community.

this whole issue could have died down earlier than this john but you had to be a snarky in your post about the other protest today. you seem to believe that people defending the character of someone that you personally maligned in a story is backing up what you had to say in the first place. i have to call bs on this one.

and as for your comment of what is “just plain stupid”, let’s try this on for size…you seem to be addressing me personally in that comment yet i am not one of the organizers of this event. i didn’t send you a press release because i wasn’t involved in the planning of the event. i wouldn’t know the first thing about organizing an event like this. what i do know is your tone in today’s post was rude and i’m going to continue to call you out on this kind of behavior. ball’s in your court john.