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Fred Karger: Quixotic Hero, Game Changer or Both? Wednesday, 07/07/10
Bilerico Project

Even if Karger is completely serious about the White House -- and he seems to be -- Karger's still an openly gay man. Even though 50% of Americans claim they would vote for a gay candidate, he doesn't stand much of a chance when pitted against heavy weights like Sarah Palin or Mike Huckabee. And Karger knows it will be a rough road.

"When I started, I gave myself a 25% chance," he admitted. "I want to be top 8; that my battle right now. I'm a realist, but I want to be in the debates, and I will be. I promise you, I will be in some of the debates."

Karger hasn't yet announced a campaign, no, but he's certainly talking like a candidate. And acting like one, too.

Testing the ground and laying the pipe for a possible campaign, Karger has already held town halls in Iowa and New Hampshire, homes of the first presidential caucus and primary, respectively. The crowd has been decidedly mixed: gay, straight, Republican and Democrat have been mingling freely. And Karger's travels are more than just meet and greets: the potential candidate has spoken to leaders from across the political spectrum. Democrats and Independents have been the most warm, Karger confesses. His Republican peers, meanwhile, have been a little more reticent.

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Prop 8 Fighters Olson and Boies Make the 2010 TIME 100 List Tuesday, 05/04/10
Bilerico Project

The 2010 TIME 100 just posted their annual TIME 100 list of "people who most affect our world" and included in the "Thinkers" category is the federal Prop 8 trial odd couple of Ted Olson and David Boies (pictured here in a photo by Diana Walker).

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Maine: An easy way to double your money Tuesday, 09/08/09
Bilerico Project

For the next 48 hours, a generous Projector has made an offer to the Bilerico community that can't be ignored! Our reader will match up to $1000 total raised on Bilerico if at least 12 people donate in the next 48 hours.

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Will the Repeal Prop 8 Campaign Look Like No on 8 After All? Tuesday, 08/11/09
Bilerico Project

Hildebrand was both inspirational and offered what he described as "tough love." Noting upfront that he is "an outsider" from South Dakota, not California, he said his 22 years of experience is largely with federal candidates. And he, like Jacobs, stressed the importance of winning the ballot initiative fight in Maine. (Jacobs called for an "October vacation in Maine" - though it is unclear if that is in addition to or instead of the Oct. 11 March on Washington.)

Hildebrand noted that "California is a tough state" and stressed that "if you walk into 2010 half-cocked, you will lose." From his outside perspective, he said, "you have to go in with guns blazing, showing great confidence.....I think you've got to go [in 2010] but go with great confidence or don't go."

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Steve Hildebrand's Mission to Sell 2010 Tuesday, 08/11/09
Bilerico Project

I don't think the campaign should ever shy away from the fact that we're asking voters in this state to allow two men to get married, two women to get married or whatever combination thereof. I can't sit here and suggest what should be in television ads and what shouldn't be. But I would be disturbed, I guess, if the campaign shied away from the fact that this is about same sex marriage.

My point in describing it as civil marriage rights is trying to define it as a right that we're seeking from our government, not from anybody's church. So naturally when you talk about marriage in general, whether it's straight marriage or same sex marriage, there're visions in people's heads about ceremonies in churches or synagogues. And if that's going to be the image that's going to be in a majority of voter's heads as they go to the ballot box - I don't think we can win.

But if there's a distinction that specifically says this is about a marriage certificate from the government and that no one church will be forced to do anything they don't want to do regarding marrying people - then I think it's very winnable. So I'm not suggesting you shy away from same sex marriage or gay marriage as a definition, but I do think it's important that voters understand what the community is asking for - which is a civil marriage that is provided by our government.

This should be a government saying to its people we recognize all humans as equals and therefore will allow marriage rights to all people.

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The Unnoticed Power Player at the Repeal Prop 8 Leadership Summit Thursday, 07/30/09
Bilerico Project

It goes without saying that marriage equality is the life force of the LGBT movement today. We clearly have two different tracks going on in our community. We have the track that's typically guided by the professionals that looks at the polling data and sees 2012 or 2014 as far better opportunities for us. And then we also have this grassroots groundswell, which is angry and emotional that wants us to go as soon as possible meaning 2010.

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Repeal Prop 8 Leadership Summit: The Expert Point of View Thursday, 07/30/09
Bilerico Project

The real problem, from my perspective, is that right now - and for the past seven months - the acrimony among institutional leaders and grassroots activists is only deepening. It's as if all the 8hate has been turned inward - we are the enemy, anyone who is not immediately, completely, absolutely with us now and forever more.

The rivers could part and a charismatic general who meets everyone's leadership criteria could emerge carrying unlimited funds and access to the latest technology and voter data bases - and still we'd fight and hurl nasty invective at our LGBT enemy in public - and do it with a self-satisfied sneer.

I was disappointed that no one during the entire seven hours talked about how the issue of marriage is "different" from any other social issue - different enough to enable a constitutional scholar such as Barack Obama to deny his previous belief in full equality and now embrace separate-but-equal civil unions because "God is in the mix." But one principle that both sides called for and all the consultants cited as necessary to win - was unity.

It seems to me that the first step to winning back marriage equality is finding a mediator who can help this community find common ground and learn to keep our eye on the prize so we can move forward together. There are now so many LGBT folk who want to be leaders - let this be their first real test of leadership: find a way to bring us together.

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What Really Happened at the Repeal Prop 8 Leadership Summit Wednesday, 07/29/09
Bilerico Project

A blog for the San Francisco Chronicle came out fairly quickly after Saturday's statewide LGBT "Leadership Summit" in San Bernardino, California with the results of a non-binding straw poll about when the LGBT community wants to return to the ballot to repeal Prop 8: "93 people voted to go in 2010, 49 in 2012 and 20 undecided."

I was there. The count's accurate but it's far from the whole story.

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Cleve Jones Responds: 10 Reasons Why a March Isn't a Bad Idea Tuesday, 06/16/09
Bilerico Project

On June 8, 2009, Bil Browning of Bilerico Project attacked the planned march on Washington scheduled for October 11 in a post entitled: "10 reasons why a march on Washington is a bad idea." Bil, and other critics of the march are wrong on all ten counts and here's why.

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Andrea Shorter on her new EQCA marriage job Tuesday, 03/10/09
Bilerico Project

Marc Solomon - the highly regarded executive director of MassEquality - will be EQCA's new "marriage director."

EQCA also hired Andrea Shorter, who recently lead the post-Prop 8 Equality Summit. Shorter is co-founder and director of And Marriage For All, a public-education campaign that engages communities of color in dialogue about the freedom to marry for same-sex couples, and the co-founder and chair of the Bayard Rustin LGBT Coalition, the largest African-American LGBT political organization in the Bay Area.

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Prop 8: Our Children's Perspective Monday, 02/23/09
Bilerico Project

If you're like me, you've read an awful lot about Prop 8. While you still want to spread the word to those who need education about it, you're probably getting a bit tired yourself of reading yet another article pro or con.

Read this one, though. It's by Amanda Young of Verde, a magazine produced by and for students at Palo Alto High School, and features the perspectives of several teen children of lesbian and gay parents.

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Join the Impact? What impact? Tuesday, 02/17/09
Bilerico Project

These days, Join the Impact's website is little more than a collection of ads for online gay dating services and links to dancing penguins.

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Justin Cole: The future of LGBT organizing Tuesday, 02/17/09
Bilerico Project

For all of the complaining I've done about LGBT state and national organizations who don't understand how to work with new media, Justin lays it on the table swiftly and succinctly. It's a whole new world out there in LGBT activism. Those groups will either have to a) catch up quickly to continue being viable or b) fold.

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Hundreds Rally in Detroit for National Day of Protest Saturday, 11/15/08
Bilerico Project

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