Queerty Posts Misleading Story on Gay Marriage Leadership Summit

Just ran across this article on Queerty.com: After everyone got done waving their posters and taking turns at the podium in Fresno, Calif., on Saturday, on Sunday "about 250 gay and civil rights advocates met in Fresno to brainstorm and plan their strategy to repeal the same sex marriage ban." Did you know about this? Probably not, because you weren't invited to this planning exercise. See, while you were busy recycling your "No On Prop 8" posterboard the day after the press-friendly Fresno event, leaders of Gay Inc. were figuring out how to claim your rights in the next battle for equality. Only problem? They tried this closed-door approach before, and it didn't work. A couple problems here - first, the meeting was open to anyone who wanted to attend.  We should know - we were there - and so were a number of folks who didn't even RSVP - they were let in without a fuss.  In fact, of the 250 attendees, probably 20 could be said to be "leaders" of glbt organizations. Other attendees included (just from our own informal survey) a lesbian cop from LA, a 20 year old straight ally from Davis, Oakland's first lesbian city council member, and a gay couple from Sacramento. The article also sites "Activist and bullshit caller Michael Petrelis": Peterlis now sees a reported 250 gay leaders gather in Fresno … and there's no press allowed, and a clipboard at the door. First off, as we mentioned before, even folks who were not on the "clipboard" were welcomed in to participate.  And most of the meeting was open to, and attended by, the press, with the exception of about an hour at the end devoted to strategy discussions. The artcile goes on to say: But organizers like the Courage Campaign's Rick Jacobs (pictured, right) and Cleve Jones (left) don't see it that way. Or at least not entirely. That's why the met behind closed doors in Fresno to plan a march on Washington on October 11, which is National Coming Out Day and will be nine years since the last GLBT march on the capital. Again, get your facts straight - the March on Washington was barely mentioned in the meeting, and only in the context of where to best use our limited resources - in DC or on Prop 8.  Rick Jacobs and Cleve Jones played, at best, a very small role in the gathering. It's a bit disturbing to see someone who wasn't at the Leadership Summit, and who could have attended if they had been paying more attention, trashing something they know next to nothing about. A number of folks have tried to set the story straight in comments to the story: "YES! And as someone who was there at the Leadership Summit, let me tell you that the media were allowed to cover most of the summit (what wasn't open were segments covering sensitive info that we don't want the H8ers to have!!). Oh yes, and registration was OPEN to just about everyone in the community! All one had to do was either respond to the RSVP or ask the Meet in the Middle organizers for an e-vite if one didn't already receive one. Come on, Queerty. Your last story on MitM was great. Why do you want to f*ck it up by posting misleading rumors?" and... "it's really simple to be invited to these and all meetings that have been going on since 11/4 - get involved. Show up and sign up to more than the occasional visibility rally. I'm not leadership for any of these groups and I knew about the Sunday meeting. Why? Because I'm on every single listserv I could find in order to stay on top of and be "active" in what is going on. It takes individual effort to be involved. They don't come knocking on your door while your drinking your brew, watching TV and ask you to come out and play. If you weren't "invited" it's because you are not really involved with any one of the grassroots groups that have been trying to cover your back. Sad to say but many of my straight friends are Way more involved in this fight than my gay friends. Quit whining and take action." The moral of the story (and this came up in the meeting too) - we need to stop fighting among ourselves and turn a united front to face our opponents.  And this inaccurate, biased reporting doesn't help. --Scott