Harold Ford Jr. and Revenge of the Queers

Here’s an article on our beloved former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. in The Advocate, on how HRJ screwed the LGBT people of TN in 2004 and 2006.
The Persistence of Gay Memory
The gay community will not forget how the former supporter of gay rights turned into the bible-quoting anti-gay marriage candidate for U.S. Senate in 2006 and crossed party lines to vote for the Federal Marriage Amendment after telling us he did not support adding discrimination against gays and lesbians into the U.S. Constitution. We know he threw us under the bus to appeal to the anti-gay bigots of Tennessee just for his own political gain. But we won’t forget, and neither will the LGBT people in New York!

It’s great that HFJ has had a “change of heart” on gay marriage now that he is running for Senate in New York (not TN), but what we really want to know and need him to account for, is why he changed his position on the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004 and made that vote, and his opposition to equal rights for gays and lesbians, a central issue in his campaign for U.S. Senate in 2006. That is the issue, not his conversion to support marriage equality now.

And I guess I owe HFJ some thanks for showing me that the Democratic Party really does not stand for much. It's all about winning elections. Democratic Party activists kept telling me that HFJ had to run an anti-gay conservative campaign to win in Tennessee! Never mind principles like equality, social justice, winning is all that matters. Nearly every major Democratic politician in Tennessee supported HFJ as he toured the state with his anti-gay marriage tent revival. It made me sick.

That's when I left the Democratic Party for good! Oh, I ran as a write-in candidate against HFJ in 2004 and 2006, just to give some folks a chance to register their vote against the bigotry of HRJ and the Tennessee Democratic Party.

Here's a trip down memory lane:

Memphis Flyer Article in 2006: Left of Left--Protest Candidate Jim Maynard Offers Alternative to Harold Ford Jr.

Irregular Times Interview: Jim Maynard for Congress

Jim Maynard for Congress
(I think you can still buy T-Shirts!)

STOP HAROLD FORD JR

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The Power: Stop Harold Ford Jr. Protest

UPDATE:

Harold Ford Walks into Lions Den

Ford Catches Flak at NY LGBT Community Center

Harold Ford Jr. Faces Brutal Crowd at NYC Gay Community Center