DNC telling donors to expect protesters at gay fundraiser

Of course what the DNC isn't yet telling their donors is to expect protesters at all the upcoming DNC fundraisers, straight and gay, from now into the future. It's only a matter of time until someone organizes ongoing protests at every DNC event. Maybe we can even get the unions to join us - imagine a Democrat crossing a union picket line. Wouldn't that be a Polaroid moment.

The DNC is now telling its donors to expect protesters next week at the posh $1,000 a head gay fundraiser this coming Thursday at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Washington, DC. And, oddly, the DNC is trying to spin the protests as something fun that the donors can join in on.

Good luck with that.

Rather than lie to their own donors and con them into coming to a fundraiser, thinking that the protesters are going to be rooting for the donors because "we're all on the same side." The DNC should be telling their gay donors the truth: If you attend this fundraiser, you will be photographed and caught on video by the Washington Blade, and then outed to the entire community, nationwide, as a scab on YouTube, on blogs, and in the media. If you attend this DNC fundraiser, prepare to be excoriated in every gay bar, restaurant, resort and living room you ever visit in the future. Because if you go to this fundraiser you are a traitor to your community. You are no better than the people who compared our relationships to incest and pedophilia, and then didn't even have the backbone to apologize.

(I'm told that Alexander Robinson of the National Black Justice Coalition has also pulled out of the fundraiser, but we haven't been able to get confirmation.)

Here's the latest list of gay A-listers who the DNC were using to sell the fundraiser - those with lines through their names have pulled out, the rest have not:

If you can't make the date, take a rain check and help anyway? SUZE ORMAN just signed on that way. ELIZABETH BIRCH signed on that way. Lots of others.

If you CAN make the date, you'll be joining the Vice President of the United States . . .

. . . along with Virginia Governor / DNC Chair Tim Kaine . . . immediate past DNC Chair Howard Dean . . . Chairman Barney Frank . . . Representatives Tammy Baldwin and Jared Polis . . . Vermont Senate President Pete Shumlin . . . District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty . . . David Mixner . . . Richard Socarides . . . The Task Force's Rea Carey . . . HRC's Marty Rouse . . . ESPA's Alan Van Capelle . . . GLAD's Mary Bonauto . . . NBJC's Alexander Robinson . . . GMHC's Marjorie Hill . . . The Victory Fund's Chuck Wolfe . . . Towle Road's Andy Towle . . . Iraq Marine vet Brian Fricke (whom you may have seen on 60 Minutes) . . . Billy Bean . . . Joan Garry . . . Keith Boykin . . . Ray Buckley . . . Brian Johnson . . . Corey Johnson . . . Dixon Osburn . . . Paul Smith . . . Bruce Bastian . . . Mitchell Gold . . . Krystal Ball . . . and so many others, like YOU, who have been pushing the ball down the field for so long. (Well, Krystal is fairly new to this, but what a kick to have a pro-marriage CPA triathlete young mom running to unseat a conservative Republican in Virginia.)

If you pony up $1,000 or more for the people who stabbed us in the back last week and compared us to incest and pedophilia, for the people who continue to discharge gay service members even though they can immediately issue a stop-loss order putting the discharges on hold, then you are an apologist.

Trust me, you really don't want to come outside and "join" in the protests. I don't think the dry cleaner can get shame off of a tuxedo.

Here's the latest email from openly gay DNC Treasurer Andy Tobias. I sincerely hope that Jared Polis and Kirsten Gillibrand are not in fact doing even MORE gay fundraiser for the DNC right after the president - right in the middle of the president - knifing us in the back (Jared has refused, along with Tammy and Barney, to stop hosting next Thursday's fundraiser):

From: "Andrew Tobias" atobias@aol.com
To: "'Andrew Tobias'" atobias@aol.com
Cc: "'Tom Petrillo'" PetrilloT@dnc.org
Subject: quick one - for New Yorkers
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2009

Ah, the opportunities:

TOMORROW:
Meet our great Jared Polis tomorrow from 7pm to 9pm, along with his Congressional baseball buddy from NY s 25th district, Congressman Dan Maffei. Hope to see you there (150 Central Park South #2104). Click here to contribute ($250 / $100 young professional) and RSVP to andrew@polisforcongress.com.

THURSDAY:
Whether you come with a sign . . . (STOP FIRING ARAB TRANSLATORS!) (CIVIL MARRIAGE = CIVIL RIGHT!) (EQUALITY NOW!) . . . or come to help fund the tools we need to help move the President s agenda, which includes +our+ agenda . . . board the Acela and come to dinner with the Vice President of the United States. Click here. (Or here if you can t come but want to chip in.) Or how s THIS for a strategy? Contribute -- but stand outside with a sign! We ll keep a plate warm for you and buy you a drink afterward, when the cameras are gone. We are, after all, all on the same team.

NEXT SATURDAY:
A +very+ small lunch in the Pines with New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Email me.

SATURDAY, JULY 11:
WATER VOLLEYBALL WITH THE CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE, Barney Frank. Click here. (You can just watch and drink if you don t want to play.)

Enjoy the summer -- and enjoy the progress. We re winning.

Andy

Yeah, enjoy the summer.