Feinstein "wins" the Pink Brick award

The LGBT community is in a dither over the Pink Brick award being awarded to Senator Dianne Feinstein this week by the SF Pride Committee. As the name might indicate, the Pink Brick is not a coveted award. The LGBT Pride Committee has a vote every year on who has done the most damage to the LGBT movement and awards the winner with the Pink Brick. Prior winners include Laura Schlessinger and George Bush.

While all agree that she is not an enemy to the LGBT movement and has been supportive on some issues, Joey Cain, President of the LGBT Pride Committee, explained that her comments right after the Presidential election about same sex marriage infuriated many in the LGBT community. She essentially blamed the re-election of George Bush on same sex marriage and said, progress on the gay marriage front "has been too much, too fast, too soon."

These comments are consistent with prior statements and actions she has made over the years. Recently, she has refused to support legislation that would protect immigrant same sex couples. The Permanent Partners Immigration Act introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) would protected couples from separation. Estimates are that 10,000 couples would benefit.

In the past, she vetoed the first domestic partners legislation which was introduced by Harry Britt in the 80s. In an AP story that is running across the country today, an advocate explains:

Geoffrey Kors, executive director of Equality California, California's largest gay rights lobbying group, agreed that while there were probably public figures more deserving of a Pink Brick than Feinstein, her nomination and selection did not come out of nowhere. Rather, Feinstein always has had a lukewarm and occasionally rocky relationship with her gay and lesbian constituents, Kors said.
"She has a mixed reputation," he said. "She has generally supported basic nondiscrimination laws, but she vetoed the San Francisco domestic partner legislation at the request of the archbishop. ... I think people are frustrated by her lack of movement over the last decade on these issues, for never making them a part of her agenda."

Furthermore, the irony is not lost on me that is the Pride Committee that is giving her this award. When Feinstein was Mayor in the 1980s, she refused to attend the Pride Parade that the committee organizes. Two decades later, she still refuses to ride in the parade.

It would be unfair to ignore that she has vigorously opposed the Federal Marriage Amendment, advocated strongly for James Hormel, the first gay ambassador, and did her best to deal with the AIDS crisis in San Francisco while Reagan intentionally turned his back on the issue.

Nonetheless, the community did feel betrayed. While some are arguing that the web site vote does not reflect the feelings in the community, at every LGBT event I went to after the election, people expressed their anger with her. The LGBT papers were on fire.

I think Joey Cain’s comments were the most productive. He suggested that Senator Feinstein take this opportunity to dialogue with the community. Maybe they should invite her again to come to the Pride Parade. Other SF politicians, straight and gay, do more than come. They usually jockey for good positioning in the Parade. It is time for her to come and be with us on this important day.