Jerame Davis, executive director of National Stonewall Democrats, posted on Facebook he saw a person he knew to be a HRC staffer hounding a person demanding that their transgender flag be taken down.
“I was there. I saw this happen,” Davis wrote on Wednesday on facebook. “It was only the HRC reps asking for the trans flag to be moved. If they’d only asked once, I’d have given them a pass, but they continued to harass this person over a flag.”
HRC maintains they did no such thing and offer no apology posting this statement on Q Notes
" “It was agreed that featuring American flags at our program was the best way to illustrate this unifying issue which is why when managing the area behind the podium, several people were asked to move who were carrying organizational banners, pride flags or any other flag that was not an American flag,” the statement read. “Several people refused and they were allowed to stay. The coalition welcomed the variety of signs and flags that were throughout the plaza that demonstrated the wonderful diversity of our community.”
HRC added, “It is a not true to suggest that any person or organization was told their flag was less important than another — this did not occur and no HRC staff member would ever tolerate such behavior. To be clear, it is the position of the Human Rights Campaign that marriage is an issue that affects everyone in the LGBT community.”
Thursday Davis posted on Facebook "HRC is mishandling this situation. While not directly, they are essentially calling me and John M. Becker liars when we were actually direct witnesses to all of this occurring, unlike the folks putting out the statement."
"No other flags were asked to be removed from the shot. There were pride flags, American flags, and marriage equality flags all on display. I had a flag of my own. And at one point, organizers directed a person with a pride flag to block someone who was hijacking the media with pictures of dead young gays who were victims of discrimination."
"It disappoints me greatly that HRC has chosen the circle-the-wagons-and-deny tactic once again when there were multiple witnesses to what happened. Shameful."
John M. Becker confirmed he also say HRC bully the person waving the trans flag:
"Thursday.Jerame and I attended the rally together and as he pointed out earlier today, both of us saw this happen. I cannot verify the word-for-word accuracy of the quote in this blog post as I was just out of earshot in that loud and exciting envir...onment, but regardless of whether the words spoken were as blunt as the writer alleges or couched in nicer-sounding language, the sentiment and intent were unmistakable. This greatly dismayed me and others nearby, and we affirmed the flag holder and encouraged him to stand his ground. I'm so glad he did."
"I'm sure the staffer was acting out of a misplaced sense of caution in that excruciatingly high-pressure environment -- and I'm equally sure it was not HRC's intent to exclude or deeply offend, but regardless of the circumstances, people *felt* excluded and *were* deeply offended. HRC really should apologize for this regrettable incident before it casts any larger a shadow on an otherwise beautiful event."
The United For Marriage Coalition the organizer of the rally was quick to acknowledge wrong doing had been committed and offered an apology for the events March 27th in this statement found on Bilerico Project"
"Since the conclusion of the rallies on Wednesday, the coalition has learned about the mistreatment of a few individuals who were attending and speaking at the rallies. In one case, a queer undocumented activist was asked to edit his speech to hide part of who he is. In another case, several activists were asked to lower the trans* pride flag in order to keep out of the scope of TV cameras.
We apologize for having caused harm to the individuals involved. Apologies are being made individually and collectively and we are working to make direct amends.
The trans flag waver that HRC bullied has since come forward after this article was published to explain exactly what happened that day.
HRC Bullies Arredondo, a Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project (QUIP) spokes person,
Arredondo, a gay undocumented queer was selected to speak on the group’s behalf. He said that prior to getting on stage, someone from the Human Rights Campaign revised his speech.
“I was told not to share the reality of what it means to be an undocuqueer immigrant in this country,” he says in the video.
Imelda Plascencia, another QUIP member, also appears in the YouTube video. She says the experiences that LGBT people who are undocumented “are not acknowledged but rather continue to be pushed into the closet and excluded from dominant narrative.”
“It is not enough for LGBT communities to say that they are in solidarity with our struggle,” Plascencia says in the video. “Solidarity is love reflected through actions and support.”
Alma Leyva, also a QUIP member, concludes the video asking the Human Rights Campaign to apologize for revising Arredondo’s speech.
It's crucial that our queer trans dreamer community does not allow ourselves to be assimilated, bullied, coerced or threatened by HRC. Our movement is not defined or owned by rich white gay men. I cut my teeth protesting HRC in the South West, failed bargaining with Joe Solmonese personally one morning, and was rewarded with a half dozen horse mounted police and a dozen other cops at his bequest hounding us step for step at the Houston Gala protest.Fuck HRC. Like a former leader of a major LGBT advocacy group told me once "Fuck them. They'll tell you one thing while screwing you over. Don't tell me you're my friend while you're steady fucking me over."
It was an amazing rally. The first video is artistic and draws our emotions so quickly I wanted to share.
The CSPAN video is three hours long. There are so many amazing speakers it's well worth the time.
