Top LGBT, Progressive Bloggers “Blog Swarm” Over Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Some of the biggest names in the LGBT and progressive blog world participated Feb. 15 in a coordinated effort to encourage the Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay rights organization in the country and a frequent object of blogger scorn, to put its heft behind efforts to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
The “blog swarm” was coordinated by John Aravosis and Joe Subday of Americablog and include LGBT bloggers and activists Pam Spaulding (Pam’s House Blend), Michelangelo Signorile (Sirius OutQ & the Gist), Andy Towle (TowleRoad), Joe Jervis (Joe My God), Bil Browning (Bilerico) and Dan Savage (Slog). Also joining in are two big names in progressive blogging, Markos Moulitsas at DailyKos and Taylor Marsh at TaylorMarsh.com.
Aravosis told Mediaite that the idea for the “blog swarm” was hatched over the weekend in a conversation between Aravosis, Subday and Signorile where they were lamenting the “vacuum of leadership” and lack of momentum in Washington over the ban on gay and lesbian servicemembers. They decided to focus on HRC because they “are the only group in town that has the power to snap their fingers and get the White House’s attention. And they clearly haven’t snapped nearly enough.”
In their posts, the bloggers launch a direct attack on the White House over concerns that President Obama’s State of the Union pledge to eliminate the ban on gay servicemembers appears to be surrounded by chaos on Capitol Hill and the White House. “Unfortunately, too many D.C.-based progressive groups have not challenged the Obama administration’s failure to follow through on campaign promises,” the bloggers say today. “They’ve enabled the inaction in order to maintain access. But, we’ve started to reach a point where allies are publicly demanding action, or promises are never kept.”
Aravosis cut his activist teeth on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and has become a leading voice in using social media and the Internet for political action. His career has included StopDrLaura.com, the first-ever successful boycott of a TV show and the outing of John Gannon–a conservative activist with White House press credentials–who allegedly worked as a gay escort.
In an email, Aravosis told Mediaite that the idea of a coordinated blog effort came from a desire for “a positive result, our civil rights” but that it also required placing “a little negative pressure on both HRC and the White House.” While “blog swarms” often have a negative connotation, Aravosis said he thought the image was unfair but that he believed “successful advocacy involves a mixed bag of tactics, including carrots and sticks. The problem is that HRC has been using a lot of carrots and not enough sticks. We’re hoping our blog swarm helps to convince them to even things out a bit.”
While the LGBT community is among the most wired and has been on the forefront of using social media advocacy, Aravosis said it was important to include “honorary gays” Moulitsas and Marsh in this effort. He said many of the netroots object to the idea that only the “gay community” is concerned about LGBT civil rights and so “we wanted to involve them to recognize that this isn’t a “gay” battle. It’s something we all believe in, care about, and want.”
UPDATE: The Human Rights Campaign sent Mediaite a statement in response to the “blog swarm.” The statement is largely pro-forma and doesn’t specifically mention the coordinated effort. They do say, however, that they “have been lobbying the White House relentlessly and we’ve seen more movement in recent weeks than in the previous 16 years. Our nation’s top defense officials testified, before the Senate Armed Services Committee, that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell should be repealed. That did not happen in a vacuum. These events are just the start. There is a clear path to repeal, and that’s the one we’re on.”
A local HRC chapter in Orange County and Palm Springs responded more directly to the blog swarm.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
