Queer Group to Protest HRC Gala Honoring Goldman Sachs

Attendees to Saturday's Human Rights Campaign dinner in New York will have to cross protesters angry at the organization's support of investment bank Goldman Sachs.

Members of Queer Caucus, an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street, will air their disapproval in front of the Waldorf Astoria, site of the HRC fundraiser. The group is condemning the equality group for honoring Goldman Sachs, which QE says helped spur the global financial meltdown.

"The Queer Caucus condemns HRC's decision to honor Goldman Sachs in a time of financial collapse caused by their unethical business practices and greed, and deplores the use of our cause and suffering for corporate public relations," the group wrote in a statement. "HRC honoring Goldman Sachs at this time reveals all one needs to know about the corporate LGBT lobby, and its disconnect from the 99% and the LGBT people it purports to represent."

The caucus wants the HRC to pledge that they will work toward full LGBT equality by 2014, the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. They are also asking for the HRC to demonstrate more internal transparency and work more with grassroots organizations like theirs, and less with corporate entities.

In December, Occupy protesters marched to the HRC store in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood. The group voiced complaints that the HRC's concerns center around wealthy one-percenters, while ignoring the plights of minority, transgender, and blue-collar people.

"We are fortunate to live in a democracy that encourages many diverse points of view," Fred Sainz, HRC's vice president of communication and marketing, tells The Advocate. "The irony is that our programs serve the 99% of the population this group says it represents."