Brock Announces Launch of Equality Matters in support of gay equality
| Article Index |
|---|
| Brock Announces Launch of Equality Matters in support of gay equality |
| Equality Matters Statements |
| Background |
| All Pages |
Page 1 of 3
Media Matters for America founder and CEO David Brock today announced the launch of Equality Matters, a new media and communications initiative in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equality. Joining Equality Matters as president is Richard Socarides. A leading gay rights advocate for over two decades, Socarides previously served as White House special assistant and principal adviser to President Bill Clinton on gay civil rights issues. Award winning journalist Kerry Eleveld will serve as editor of EqualityMatters.org, which will include news, opinion, and messaging about the ongoing fight for equality. Eleveld is currently Washington Correspondent for The Advocate and will begin her new duties on January 15, 2011.
Brock issued the following statement:
"Despite huge progress in gay rights in recent years, exemplified by the historic vote this weekend finally striking down the ban on gay men and women from serving in the military, we are now living through a period of ferocious fundamentalism in the Republican Party and the conservative movement. Traditional conservatives and the Tea Party movement are united only in their contempt for equal rights for all Americans and a desire to return America to a 19th century idyll. Equality Matters will not allow these latter-day ‘clerics’ to gain serious recognition by the media nor influence the policies that affect the lives of every American.
Despite our best efforts over the years to stiffen the spines of progressives in the face of unrelenting smears from the Republican attack machine, fearful progressives continue to cede the political field to right-wingers who are waging war against core American values. We need to do more. Our new communications war room for gay equality, Equality Matters, will expose right-wing bigotry and homophobia wherever we find it, show that the real political vulnerability on these issues belongs to the GOP, provide a desperately needed ballast in the media, and trigger progressive passion – so that our political leaders act on their convictions and fight for them."
