Activist David Mixner Responds to Obama's Appearance at HRC Dinner

With the momentum building for this weekend's National Equality March (NEM), it's important to remember that the march was brainchild of activist/author/political strategist, David Mixner. Mixner was an adviser to Bill Clinton during his first presidential campaign and at the White House. Mixner resigned in protest over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) and "The Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA).

As I reported back in May, Mixner called on the LGBT community to march on Washington in response to the California Supreme Court's decision to uphold Prop 8 and the Obama Justice Department's insulting DOMA brief, filed by the administration in a legal challenge to DOMA. The brief compared gays and lesbians to rapists and pedophiles. From there, activist Cleve Jones picked up the ball and ran with it. The March take place this Sunday

Last night, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) announced that President Obama would be giving the key note speech at its annual awards dinner, giving the impression, some say, that the event was the kickoff to the march. HRC, which at first opposed the march, got on board the NEM train only after dozens of prominent civil rights organizations gave their endorsements. HRC has no role in the planning of the march.

In an interview with The Advocate, David Mixner responded to the Obama announcement and talked about what we can expect from the president's speech. “I am most eager to hear what he has to say. If it's a lot of, ‘I'm with you guys, I love you guys, and you won't be disappointed,’ I think that message is going to be devastating.”

Mixner wrote last night on his blog, "Live From Hell's Kitchen" that the president must address the anti-gay marriage ballot initiative in Maine.

"We must hear concrete action from the president beyond that he might sign hate crimes legislation shortly or even before the dinner. It is inconceivable to me that the hosts would allow him to attend the dinner without a solid commitment that he will oppose the hate filled initiative in Maine. That would be unacceptable. How exciting would it be at the HRC National Dinner to have the president in a timely and unequivocal way put the power of the Presidency behind our the historic and epic struggle in Maine?"