Another Gay Pelosi Protest? 

@DanielS: Would you care to explain exactly WHEN the Democrats "freshly won a supermajority in Congress?" For a SUPERmajority, a party has to have 3/5 of each House of Congress. (And, THAT definition is the LESSER version of "supermajority.") In the House of Representatives, that means 261 and in the Senate, that means 60. The DEMOCRATS had 257 in the House (that's 4 short) and 57 in the Senate (that's 3 short); even factoring in the two Independents in the Senate who caucus with the Dems, the Dems are still short 1 of a supermajority. (Incidentally, the more stringent view of a supermajority is 2/3 which means 290 in the House and 67 in the Senate which leaves the Dems FAR short of that supermajority level.) The last time either party had a supermajority in either house was in 1994 (the Dems had 258 in the House, but only 57 in the Senate). The last time the Dems had a Senate supermajority was 1978 when they had 61 seats (and 292 in the House).

BREAKING NEWS ON CNN!! They just announce that the Islam may consider moving the Mosque in NY...IF THIS STUPID MORAN IN GAINESVILLE,FLORIDA does not burn any Koran/Qu'ran...ARE YOU F***ing kidding me?? I can't believe they are "caving in to this piece of s**t...MAYBE we should threaten to BURN AMERICAN FLAGS, BIBLES AND ANY OTHER RELIGIOUS WRITINGS if we don't get our rights. UNF***ingBELIEVABLE FUBAR. I wish I could capitalize my capital letters to show how loud I am yelling...in protest...

The problem is that there is no equivalent to the Tea Party on the Left. The Democrats have increasingly become a Center-Right party (despite all the claims that they're "socialists" by the Right-wing media). For a long time the prevailing attitude was that we must get Democrats into office at all costs, regardless of whether they're anti-gay, anti-abortion, whatever. Just so long as they're Democrats. Well, we've done that and look where it's gotten us. Even when the Democrats had their vaunted supermajority in Congress they didn't want to give us the time of day. Pelosi and Reid saw LGBT rights issues as low-priority to be dealt with years from now. Now they hope that fear of the GOP alone will keep us on-side. But why should we pay them to ignore us?

Did anyone pay attention in history class, film, okay gays think Sean Penn and James Franco? That's right folks. Milk was more than a film about a great gay. He made us unite! He made us come out and vote in droves! We weilded a power unlike anything that city had ever seen! We are strong and the DNC, Greens, Libs, Reps, etc. need our votes if they want to move forward. How about instead of lining their pockets in the mild hope of getting some scraps they don't MIND throwing our way, let's do this again. Unite, as a voice strengthened, refusing scorn, oppression, discrimination. Make them work for us or we'll start working for ourselves. You think we can't get it done? Cut them OFF! Propose our own candidates! Back those who support us regardless of their popularity. They will get the message. Every hypocrite that we take out of office, every projected vote cut in half, is a victory for LGBT people everywhere!

So this past Sunday Sept 5 my "legal" husband and I are enjoying a great day downtown when who should we see across the street but our Congressional Representative Loretta Sanchez and her two assitants trying to get signs in store front windows. Knowing that she sits on the Armed Services Committee we wanted to talk about DADT and other LGBT civil rights issues (that straights take for granted). We also wanted to ask why she did not attend this years "Lambda Legal" event as she has done in years past or why she or her office did not send someone to this years Orange County Pride (as the only Congressional Democrat in all of Orange County). We expressed our concerns about her disapperance from her LGBT constituents while aknowledging she is facing a tuff Republican challenger, but to openly ignore the LGBT community so as not to offend Republicans or anti-gay voters. F*ck That! Her parting words-"This conversation never took place". Message received LGBT= Political Pawns.

To AndrewW, if we are about to get clobbered in the mid-terms, and ENDA will not pass the current US Senate, then I would like to understand how you feel about staying as a second-class citizen not just for today but for the foreseeable future, because frankly, based on your post, it seems that you actually appear to be o.k. with being less than others. I have heard from those who say that LGBT people are the only minority that accept being second-class citizens. I will tell you, as a gay man, I do not. Really, those relationships that we have with politicians that you speak of is akin to the notion that we ask for power. But Martin Luther King Jr. once said that "power can never be given; it must be taken." If African-Americans were the ones being denied equality today, I would wager a thousand bucks that you would be seeing widespread civil disobedience *everywhere*, because that speaks volumes and demands respect. If we want to be be second class, we don't respect ourselves.

@AndrewW - The Democrats are NOT our friends! Want proof? Just look at your own argument that ENDA cannot get past the DEMOCRAT Senate! With the Democrats it is never "the right time" to push LGBT rights legislation. When they've freshly won a supermajority in Congress they won't do it. When they're coming up on mid-terms they won't do it. They're basically making it clear that it is THEM, not the GOP, that is standing in the way and blocking our rights!

More childish behavior. None of these self-serving publicity stunts change anything – they just make us look stupid. Pelosi hasn’t scheduled a vote on ENDA because it will not pass the current US Senate. All these silly protests do is jeopardize our relationships with politicians that already support us. We are about to get clobbered in the mid-terms and GetEQUAL is simply making that worse by pissing on our friends.

I suspect that a sufficient number of Democratic Congressfolk (including some strong Pelosi leadership allies) have begged her NOT to schedule a vote before the election, because they would be forced to vote AGAINST ENDA out of fear of losing re-election, especially if they have a strong Republican competitor or represent a swing district heavily influenced by the religious right. Also some major corporations just do not like the idea of yet another government regulation on the books and John Boehmer would readily jump on this issue to once again demonstrate how the Democrats are trying to hamstring American business and free enterprise. It's a shame our representatives have become so shallow and fearful.

I think that goes with out saying; how can we trust any politicians anymore?