Earlier this week, Media Matters announced it was launching Equality Matters, a new communications war room for gay equality. Below is a roundup of news reports and reactions from the broader progressive and LGBT communities.
As gay people around the country reveled on Sunday in the historic Senate vote to repeal "don't ask, don't tell," a liberal media watchdog group said it planned to announce on Monday that it was setting up a “communications war room for gay equality” in an effort to win the movement's next and biggest battle: for a right to same-sex marriage.
The new group, Equality Matters, grew out of Media Matters, an organization backed by wealthy liberal donors -- including prominent gay philanthropists -- that has staked its claim in Washington punditry with aggressive attacks on Fox News and conservative commentators like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.
It will be run by Richard Socarides, a former domestic policy adviser to President Bill Clinton who has been deeply critical of President Obama's record on gay rights. A well-known gay journalist, Kerry Eleveld, the Washington correspondent for The Advocate, will leave that magazine in January to edit the new group's Web site, equalitymatters.org, which is to go online Monday morning.
Just days after Saturday's historic passage of a stand-alone Senate bill repealing “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” David Brock, founder and CEO of the liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America, has announced the launch of Equality Matters - a new media initiative that aims to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equality.
The initiative, which Brock describes in a press release as a “communications war room for gay equality,” comes as activists start to shift their focus to other issues in the fight for gay rights.
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“Most Americans believe that gays and lesbians are entitled to the same rights and responsibilities as their fellow citizens, including now over 50% who believe in marriage equality,” Socarides wrote in a Dec. 19 blog post. “Yet in Washington during these last two years, even with the historic passage of 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal, we were unable to fully transform favorable public opinion into the powerful and undeniable force for change that it should have been.”
So it is interesting to see this week that Media Matters for America, a well-funded and well-staffed liberal Washington media watchdog group that has spent more than half a decade tweaking members of the press and turning right-wing talk radio and television hosts into villians ad seriatim, has moved to create its first explicitly activist site on behalf of a specific cause.
Launched officially on Monday, Equality Matters is a Web site and enterprise within the larger organization dedicated to fighting homophobia in the press -- and also pressuring Congressional and policy leaders to support same-sex marriage.
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The timing of the announcement, just days after the historic repeal of the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” law barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the armed forces, could not have been more auspicious.
But the most interesting part of the move for students of the progressive movement in Washington is that it means that one of its most well-funded institutions is now on record as being an advocate for same-sex marriage and making that advocacy an explicit part of the overall progressive agenda -- something it has not always been.
Equality Matters will “try to be a rapid response war room that can push back against homophobic misrepresentation in the media and politics quickly,” Socarides said, “but also very much about keeping the pressure on members of Congress and policy makers to create change more rapidly.”
The liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America has announced that it will launch Equality Matters, a “communications war room for gay equality” to be run by Richard Socarides, to focus on what backers believe is the “movement's next and biggest battle,” marriage equality.
Media Matters announced the launch of Equality Matters on Sunday in the wake of the historic victory in the Senate, which voted to repeal the military's “don't ask, don't tell” policy.
According to The New York Times, Equality Matters will aim to retaliate quickly against homophobic media messages and keep the pressure on elected officials as the climate for gay rights progress is expected to worsen in 2011 with a Republican-led House and a decreased Democratic majority in the Senate.
The group will be led by Richard Socarides, a former LGBT adviser to President Bill Clinton. Kerry Eleveld, the Washington correspondent for The Advocate, will leave the magazine in January to edit the group's website, EqualityMatters.org. The site goes live Monday.
We have gone way too long without a coherent and immediate response to the often false and derogatory messages about the gay community, and what they call our agenda, from the likes of Fox news, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. This war room, which will be called Equality Matters, will be run by Richard Socarides. While he and I haven't always agreed 100 percent on how aggressive we should or shouldn't be toward President Obama, Richard has the knowledge, the smarts and the creativity to make this new group a success. We need everyone's shoulder to the wheel if we are to make progress in the next few years.
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I look forward to the work that Equality Matters will do and thank those like David Brock, founder and President of MMA, for the work they have done in moving this forward.
The New York Times reported in a Dec. 19 article that a new “war room for gay equality” call Equality Matters had been established by parent organization Media Matters. The new entity is dedicated to channeling the momentum toward GLBT equality that the repeal of DADT has lent to the cause toward winning full-fledged family parity for same-sex couples.
Richard Socarides will direct the new group, the article said. Socarides advised Bill Clinton on GLBT issues during Clinton's presidency. “Yesterday was a very important breakthrough, and President Obama's comments, especially following the vote, were very significant, where he for the first time connected race and gender to sexual orientation under the banner of civil rights,” Socarides told the media following the Senate vote on Dec. 18. “But we will celebrate this important victory for five minutes, and then we have to move on, because we are the last group of Americans who are discriminated against in federal law and there is a lot of work to do.”
Socarides, like many advocates for GLBT equality, has spoken harshly about the lack of progress Obama has made thus far on signature gay issues such as setting DADT aside, repealing the anti-gay federal law from 1996 known as the “Defense of Marriage” Act (DOMA), and putting federal protections for GLTB workers into place.
A new group called Equality Matters grew out of a group called Media Matters. Bill Clinton adviser Richard Socarides will head the group. Advocate writer Kerry Eleveld will edit the group's website.
The Times points out that marriage discrimination means discrimination in taxes, social security benefits and other programs run by the federal government even if a couple is legally married.
While many more rights flow from marriage equality, it is interesting that the group has chosen that as the next fight. “Don't ask, don't tell” was, in many ways, an employment non-discrimination issue. The next logical win would be again in the employment area. Most people understand that someone shouldn't be fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, even among people who base their marriage-equality views on religion.
The launch of Equality Matters today is an exciting addition to those willing to join the battle. One of Washington's most effective leaders, David Brock of Media Matters, announced today the launch of“Equality Matters”. Highlighting the announcement was the selection of its leadership in former Clinton advisor Richard Socarides and former "Advocate" journalist Kerry Eleveld. The selection of these two top notch community leaders have certainly guaranteed a significant launch for the new organization.
Socarides who has been extremely active in fighting for the repeal of DADT and Marriage Equality will serve as President of Equality Matters. Eleveld who is one of Washington's leading journalist will be editor of Equality Matters.org. You couldn't ask for a more experienced team of good folks.
National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association:
The inclusion of Eleveld and Socarides seems encouraging. Instead of shouting “bigot” and “hater” the loudest, they both have reputations for being reasoned thinkers and writers which will be necessary traits if EM hopes to have influence beyond the progressive chattering class.
There are a lot of players in the LGBT equality space and even in the media watchdog game. EM's blog and efforts will certainly be watched closely-and critically-to see what role they play in the conversation.
Equality Matters is the next phase of development and won't have that issue. With an established communications presence editorially headed up by a respected Beltway journalist (who has represented the community as part of the WH press corps), there is gravitas out of the gate. However, it will be interesting to see how this effort takes on issues as we move into a more politically defensive position with the changeover on the Hill.
Breaking, exciting news on the activism front via Sheryl Gay Stolberg at the New York Times. Media Matters is creating a new entity focusing on LGBT equality called Equality Matters. The really big news is that the organization will be run by our good friends, Richard Socarides and Kerry Eleveld.
Media Matters is launching a new division of its organization devoted to LGBT equality called 'Equality Matters' which will be run by former Clinton adviser Richard Socarides (pictured) and edited by Advocate reporter Kerry Eleveld, who is leaving that publication in January.
Luckily a new LGBT activist group is stepping up to fill the void in rabble-rousing activist land! Media Matters, the anti-Fox News watchdog, is launching something called Equality Matters that will serve as a “communications war room for gay equality.” Basically: A lot of links and video clips about the anti-gay spin machine and how to counter it. And who's running this thing? None other than Richard Socarides, the gay Clinton adviser who's been hunting for a way to get paid for all his punditry. The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld, meanwhile, is ditching the magazine to edit the website.
Communications for the LGBT movement for equality just got a bit more sophisticated. Immediately on the heels of the long and hard - and finally successful - slog to repeal the offensive Don't Ask, Don't Tell, two prominent political LGBTs - pundit Richard Socarides and reporter Kerry Eleveld - launched Equality Matters, a project of the invaluable Media Matters for America. The LGBT movement now has its own dedicated “communications war room” to combat all the right wing lies and propaganda expected to intensify as the Republican Party assumes control of the US House of Representative in January and tees up for the 2012 elections.