GAY Inc.

By that I mean the HRC (Human Rights Campaign) they are the elitist “LGBT” organization who supposedly advocates on our behalf, but in reality only cares about the top 1% of the lesbian and gay community.

Over the weekend there were protest demonstrations against them around the country about how the HRC ignores LGBT people with AIDS. On the ACT UP Facebook page it has about Saturday’s protest of the HRC $475 gala,

On Sat Jan 31, join ACT UP to protest HRC (Human Rights Campaign) at their annual gala honoring Fortune 500 companies. While HRC dines with the 1%, a 35+ year HIV epidemic rages on in our LGBT community, still cutting many LGBT lives short.

Health officials warn about the recent sharp increase in HIV infections among young gay men and transgender women, especially among communities of color. We need our national LGBT orgs like HRC to shine a spotlight on HIV and AIDS until the epidemic is over for all populations, especially our most at-risk LGBT people.

The HRC has repeatedly shown no interest in advocating for minority causes and has only pursued the cream issue… marriage and only give token support to other main issues like trans rights.

In San Francisco the HRC called out the police, the blog “O-Blog-Dee-O-Blog-Da” reports that,

Though billed publicly as a peaceful protest, HRC had called for a police presence in advance of the protest. When activists arrived, there were already 4 SFPD officers standing  on the street.  Activists unfurled a gigantic rainbow flag and waved signs outside the store,  chanting “BAD BAD HRC,” while curious tourists and community members were offered snacks and an explanation as to why we were there.

The HRC has the “Corporate Equality Index (CEI)” which is a good idea… but. It is only as good as it is enforced which is not at all making it rather useless. I have heard from a number of trans people who work for companies that have a 100% CEI rating but are treated lousy by the company.

An example of this is Saks Fifth Avenue, they had a 90% rating and they fired a trans woman who transitioned while she worked for Saks and in a statement Saks said,

However, the retailer rejected that argument, saying that the claim should be tossed because an employee handbook is not a contract.

It seems like the only thing the HRC is interested in is courting corporate sponsors and large donors.