Why Does SF Gay Pride Board Pres. Lisa Williams Hate Gay Whisetleblower Manning?

Bradley Manning is gay, his bravery unprecedented, his participation in the SF gay rights parade, denied.

(SAN FRANCISCO) - Bradley Manning was asked to be one of the Grand Marshals of the annual San Francisco gay pride parade, but the group has little consistency.

Williams

Their leader has openly and profoundly denied the opportunity to the national whistleblower who is a Nobel Prize Nominee; a man whose decisions absolutely reduced the number of dead innocents, and gave some voice to those already gone.

It seems that in celebrating gay pride, the group is turning its back on the one gay individual who is one of the world's great heroes in the minds of millions. At the same time, Williams is giving legitimacy to the mad mad world of George W. Bush who launched a terrible war over false flag information, everyone knows the west had no business invading Iraq, What gives?

LBGT Weekly writes that the announcement that Manning would be a grand marshal, caused "outrage".

Lisa L. Williams, SF Pride board president issued the following statement:

Bradley Manning will not be a grand marshal in this year’s San Francisco Pride celebration. His nomination was a mistake and should never have been allowed to happen. A staff person at SF Pride, acting under his own initiative, prematurely contacted Bradley Manning based on internal conversations within the SF Pride organization. That was an error and that person has been disciplined. He does not now, nor did he at that time, speak for SF Pride.

Bradley Manning is facing the military justice system of this country. We all await the decision of that system. However, until that time, even the hint of support for actions which placed in harms way the lives of our men and women in uniform — and countless others, military and civilian alike — will not be tolerated by the leadership of San Francisco Pride. It is, and would be, an insult to every one, gay and straight, who has ever served in the military of this country. There are many, gay and straight, military and non-military, who believe Bradley Manning to be innocent. There are many who feel differently. Under the US Constitution, they have a first amendment right to show up, participate and voice their opinions at Pride this year.

Specifically, what these events have revealed is a system whereby a less-than-handful of people may decide who represents the LGBT community’s highest aspirations as grand marshals for SF Pride. This is a systemic failure that now has become apparent and will be rectified. In point of fact, less than 15 people actually cast votes for Bradley Manning. These 15 people are part of what is called the SF Pride Electoral College, comprised of former SF Pride Grand Marshals. However, as an organization with a responsibility to serve the broader community, SF Pride repudiates this vote. The Board of Directors for SF Pride never voted to support this nomination. Bradley Manning will have his day in court, but will not serve as an official participant in the SF Pride Parade.

She's really something isn't she? I'd like to send Williams to Iraq to live among the populace, she would not like it one bit. But that suffering is obviously meaningless to this politician.

Even the Guardian UK's Glenn Greenwald in London got into this one, saying Williams' actions were both "cowardly" and "imperious". Who in their right mind would disagree? Greenwald wrote:

First, while even a hint of support for Manning will not be tolerated, there is a long roster of large corporations serving as the event's sponsors who are welcomed with open arms. The list is here. It includes AT&T and Verizon, the telecom giants that enabled the illegal warrantless eavesdropping on US citizens by the Bush administration and its NSA, only to get retroactively immunized from Congress and thus shielded from all criminal and civil liability (including a lawsuit brought in San Francisco against those corporations by their customers who were illegally spied on). Last month, AT&T was fined by OSHA for failing to protect one of its employees who was attacked, was found by the FCC last year to have overcharged customers by secretly switching them to plans they didn't want, and is now being sued by the US government for "allegedly bill[ing] the government improperly for services designed for the deaf and hard-of-hearing who place calls by typing messages over the web."

Many "breeders" like myself, have wholeheartedly supported the gay community for years and will continue to, even though it has nothing to do with our personal lifestyle. The lives of those children and journalists that were blown to pieces by a U.S. Army Apache helicopter crew had nothing to do with mine either, well maybe the journalists, but either way, I support them because they were human beings and they were gunned down mercilessly. And their story is only a small part of the abuse of humanity that the Iraq war represents. Trust me, I was there as a reporter and saw with my own eyes, terrible abuse of prisoners of war, called 'detainees' by the U.S. government and press to further dehumanize them, purely for the sake of convenience. Fuck the Iraq war.

It looks like the soul of the San Francisco gay rights community has been hijacked and the sentiments expressed by Williams are more than disturbing; they mark a point in time where special interest groups are acting like the people they were formed to counter. I am totally disgusted; Williams and those of her mindset are intolerant and have no place advocating for anyone's rights.

Bradley Manning is off limits at SF Gay Pride parade, but corporate sleaze is embraced - Glenn Greenwald Guardian UK

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