EQCA, GLAAD Caught in 'Gayola' Scandal

Last week, progressive gay bloggers broke the story that led to the resignation of Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. GLAAD had allegedly been sending out letters in support of a major donor, AT&T.

Subsequent research revealed that other gay and lesbian organizations, including Equality California, had been sending out letters in support of AT&T and its position on Net Neutrality and/or their proposed merger with T-Mobile.

By all appearances, AT&T supported gay and lesbian groups and asked the groups to reciprocate the support—somehow in the name of advancing rights for gays and lesbians.

The link between merging AT&T and T-Mobile or opposing Net Neutrality and fighting defamation or winning the right to marry back in California is tenuous at best.

On the other hand, gay and lesbian groups scarecly come under criticism when making similarly-tenuous links to liberal causes, such as the labor movement. Gay rights activists continue to target Hyatt Hotels, not over Doug Manchester's bankrolling of Proposition 8, but because the labor unions want to avoid secret ballots for union certification and are targeting Hyatt through a "sleep with the right people" campaign.

When hired to replace Geoff Kors as head of Equality California, Roland Palencia declared that he was committed "to connecting the LGBT movement to the broader movement for socio-economic justice."

Clearly, there is alot of back-scratching going on with Gay Inc. However, the gay and lesbian community is being hypocritical to criticize the back-scratching when it helps our corporate patrons, but not when it is done at the behest of labor unions or other liberal causes.

The unfortunate consequence of such hypocrisy may be a chilling effect on corporations supporting gay rights, which is the last thing we need as the struggle for our freedom continues.