Ellen Sturtz gets a column in WaPo: "Why I confronted the first lady"

[ucrdem]

Last edited Sat Jun 8, 2013, 05:54 PM - Edit history (1)

WaPo is going full monty anti-Obama lately but this takes the cake. 10 paragraphs:

"Why I confronted the first lady" By Ellen Sturtz, Published: June 7

Ellen Sturtz is a retired public servant and an advocate for LGBT equality.

When Barack Obama was running for President in 2008, I thought he was serious about protecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from workplace discrimination. He made two key promises — that he would sign an executive order providing workplace protections by federal contractors, and that he would help pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), ending workplace discrimination by all employers. I contributed to the campaign, expecting that if elected, he would keep his word to fight for our community.

Five years later, I’m still waiting. Despite having this executive order sitting on his desk, the president has yet to pick up his pen. While many employers have added nondiscrimination policies on their own, prominent holdouts such as Exxon Mobil set a damaging, dangerous precedent. Millions of LGBT Americans continue to experience the enormous pain of living and working in the closet, not allowed to acknowledge who we are and who we love.

As a gray-haired, 56-year-old lesbian, I don’t have time to wait another generation for equality — it’s been almost 40 years since similar legislation to ENDA was first introduced in Congress. And being polite hasn’t gotten us any closer to it becoming a reality.

When I attended a Democratic National Committee (DNC) fundraiser a few days ago, I brought this sense of urgency. When I blurted out my comments during the first lady’s speech, it was a spontaneous reaction to her saying, “Right now, today, we have an obligation to stand up for those kids.” I needed to speak up for LGBT youth . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/michelle-obamas-heckler-why-i-confronted-the-first-lady/2013/06/07/5dc68c1c-cf98-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html?tid=ts_carousel

Retired at 56, that's nice. And a week later we learn that she was spontaneously speaking up for "LGBT youth" even though ENDA addresses employment discrimination. Hmm. Thanks WaPo for giving this heckler an entire column to CYA, no doubt with help. She mentions Exxon-Mobil and I have to wonder if she wasn't a plant like pink lady. Speaking of whom I expect "Stand for Sturtz" to get an enthusiastic response any day now.

[ZRT2209]

1. barf

[yellowcanine]

2. Still doesn't explain why she took it up with Michelle and not Barack?

Michelle ain't the President and can't sign an executive order.

[davidpdx]

7. Didn't you know that Michelle Obama has superpowers to force him to sign something?

[Proud Liberal Dem]

3. I can't help but feel that she is heckling the wrong people over LGBT equality

Heckling John Boehner or Mitch McConnell and other Republicans about not pushing ENDA and/or getting a long-term filibuster-prood Democratic majority together would probably be a more productive effort. Democrats and President Obama are on board with LGBT equality but executive orders are not always the best vehicle for long term change IMHO

[awoke_in_2003]

4. She should heckle the milqetoast Harry Reid, too...

he could have changed the filibuster rules were he an effective leader.

[davidpdx]

6. Yep

Some here want to put the bulls-eye on President Obama, when the real problem is Congress.

I supported filibuster reform and one of my senators sponsored it.

When filibuster reform was killed so too were many important issues. Blame Reid, the spineless 7 Democrats, and the obstructionist Republicans.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

9. To the Blame Obama First crowd, your good, well-reasoned advice would fall on deaf ears.

[Jamaal510]

10. I noticed that's how it is

with a lot of people on our side. Some supposed progressives seem to think the President is a king who can just do whatever, and they totally forget about Congress. Last time I checked, we do have a checks-and-balances system in this country. Like you said, they're too busy going after the wrong people. It isn't Obama's fault or the fault of Democrats, moderates, Blue Dogs, etc.; it's the GOP. The Congress Republicans are the reason why we can't get anything done or any sensible legislation passed. They've done nothing but block things like jobs bills, gun laws, and the public option while attempting a bunch of futile votes to repeal Obamacare that are a waste of both taxpayer dollars and time.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

11. It seems like being "anti-Obama" for whatever real or imagined slight is considered "street cred"

for some people. For Republicans, they practically have to be to keep the teabaggers and Rush Limbaugh from going crazy ON them. Some progressives seem to oppose President Obama just so that they can tell themselves (and others) that they've not "sold out" their principles or that they are not being cheerleading "Obamabots". I fail to see what this person who heckled Michelle Obama thought that she might get out it. Well, I guess that she DID get some publicity and a newspaper column out of it but it's not going to really change anything in regards to advancing LGBT equality. Getting people out to the polls and getting a bunch of pro-LGBT equality candidates elected OTOH will and we DO have an election coming up next year that she could be working on. Going after people whom are already on your side just seems like a dumb strategy. Going after and getting rid of opponents is a much much better one IMHO.

[dbackjon]

15. Obama and the DNC are NOT 100% on board for equality

Why does Obama still think it is a state's rights issue?


Executive Order can be a bridge until legislation is passed.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

20. Executive Orders are a band-aid IMHO

It can be effective in some areas (i.e. regulations) but what can be done with a stroke of a pen can quickly be undone as well. Building Congressional support for a long-term legislative change for an issue like employment non-discrimination is a far more effective strategy IMHO (see: DADT).

Obama will sign ENDA if it comes up for his signature. I think that it was introduced in the Congress after President Obama was first elected but it hit an unresolved snag over protections for transgender individuals if I remember correctly. Now, we just need to clear out the teabagger infested House and get a few more LGBT-friendly Senators and re-introduce it. I will say that a lot of corporations and state/local governments have been pretty progressive on the non-discrimination front and a lot of them have already voluntarily adopted non-discrimination policies that cover LGBTs, even in states that have no official non-discrimination laws. Still, having a national law would be preferable but I also believe that it is inevitable, just like full 50-state recognition of marriage equality.

[dbackjon]

23. Wrong

Obama could protect hundreds, if not millions of thousands of workers with a stroke of a pen.
Yes, it could be undone, but as we have seen with many things, once done, much harder to undo.

Obama has not pushed ENDA. If he was truly committed to equality, it would have happened already.

You have a lot of ifs. Typical BS - we are ALWAYS being told we have to wait until the perfect time to work on our equality.

I am fucking sick of waiting.

Any American that truly valued equality would be as well.

[Doctor_J]

40. he is either the weakest and least resolute president in history

or simply doesn't want to get any of these things done (I. E. a republican). He's abandoned environment folks, gays, pro-choicers, sp healthcare believers, antiwar, anti-torture, pro-public school, labor, ... unless the media decides to canonize him like they have done to Bush, his legacy will be one of accomplishing nothing.

[Doctor_J]

37. he's been in office for more than four years now

That's four years that a group that voted overwhelmingly for him have been waiting for their rights. Not only has he not signed an eo for them, he has refused to use the bully pulpit to get congress moving on it.

iow,cut the crap.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

38. President Obama has thousands of issues on his plate every day

I voted for him too but I don't blame him for not being perfect about getting around to every single issue I care about (because something is ultimately more important to somebody at any given time) the instant that I want him to.

[JoePhilly]

5. I saw that article. I skipped reading it.

[dbackjon]

24. But yet you feel compelled to post on it.

Shame on you.

[JoePhilly]

25. Yet not enough to add anything else in the body.

[RudynJack]

8. Ellen Sturtz

should shove something up her whatever. She's an asshole, and she's proven herself, publicly, to be so.

[dbackjon]

14. She supports equality for all Americans

She is a hero. She has done more for this country in that one night than I am sure you have ever done.

[RudynJack]

16. I've been out and proud

for 30 years. Don't tell me what I have or haven't done.

[dbackjon]

17. Then you should know the importance of what she is doing.

[RudynJack]

18. she hurt her cause.

[dbackjon]

19. Only to those that are not true allies

[RudynJack]

36. BS

It's possible to disagree with her actions and not be a traitor to gay rights. Again, don't dare to tell me about my commitment to the cause. You're an arrogant fool.

[dsc]

12. I just wanted to address one issue here

the notion that support of ENDA isn't about gay youth. One of the biggest helps to gay youth have been GSA's which usually need school personel as sponsors. I had to think long and hard before agreeing to sponsor the GSA at my school because I knew that if I did, I would likely have to come out, and I wasn't sure I was ready to do that, in part because I have no employment protections. I did it anyway but I bet more than a few don't. It should also be noted the apparently not obvious point that gay youth do eventually become gay adults who generally become employed.

[dbackjon]

13. Ellen Sturtz is a HERO

So what if she is retired? Jealous??

She has been an activist on many fronts for the LGBT community.

[Evergreen Emerald]

21. How is she a hero? It looks to me as if she hurt her cause.

She sabotaged a beloved American who was speaking about protecting children.

She looked foolish. Spontaneous? Bull. It was planned--poorly.

[dbackjon]

22. Wanting equality is foolish? SHAME ON YOU

And you really, really need to understand what Michelle was doing - children were a brief mention in A FUNDRAISING SPEECH.


Learn the facts.

[Summer Hathaway]

26. Are you deliberately misreading what was just said?

"She sabotaged a beloved American who was speaking about protecting children. She looked foolish."

No one said that wanting equality is foolish.

Those of us who found Sturtz' behavior to be objectionable would feel the same way if she'd interrupted Michelle to make demands about environmental concerns, social security, the war in Afghanistan - or anything else. It was her behavior that was out of line, NOT the issue she was demanding to have addressed.

As for schooling people about their need to 'really, really understand what Michelle was doing', I don't think it's news to anyone that she would be fundraising at a fundraiser. That was the point of the event, and Michelle was invited to speak because she's a big draw.

People paid to attend in order to hear Michelle speak, not to hear what Ms. Sturtz had to say, whether it was on GLBT issues, or any other issue.

[dbackjon]

27. So why is half of DU hyperventalating that it was all about the children?

When it was clearly not.

It was a way to get more money, to elect more DNC types, who have shown time and time again they don't give a shit about inner-city children.

[Summer Hathaway]

28. I haven't seen

"half of DU hyperventilating that it was all about the children".

What I have seen is people expressing their opinion of Sturtz's actions.

If you want to believe that "It was a way to get more money, to elect more DNC types, who have shown time and time again they don't give a shit about inner-city children," that's your prerogative.

It doesn't change the fact that Sturtz's behavior was extremely rude, and entirely inappropriate, given that this was a private event and Michelle was an invited speaker. Ms. Sturtz was not.

[dbackjon]

29. Good thing you have not advised civil rights activists over the years

I know, we are just supposed to sit, be quiet, and wait for those in power to grant us magical wishes

[Summer Hathaway]

30. Again, you seem to want

to deliberately misinterpret the issue at hand.

If you have any examples of civil rights activists interrupting a FLOTUS' speech at a private fundraiser, I'd be interested in hearing about them.

"we are just supposed to sit, be quiet, and wait for those in power to grant us magical wishes"

If that's the way you want to interpret the fact that one woman was cited for being rude and disruptive at a private event, go to it. And apparently, that's exactly how you want to see things.

[dbackjon]

32. What is rude and disruptive

Is not being equal.

So sorry that the GLBT wanting fucking equality offends your delicate sensibilities, and that the hoity-toity had to have their tea interrupted by reality.


Tell you what - YOU GIVE UP YOUR RIGHTS, then come talk to me.

[Summer Hathaway]

33. Obviously you don't want to discuss anything

"So sorry that the GLBT wanting fucking equality offends your delicate sensibilities."

You just want to put words in my mouth, and then get your knickers in a twist about what I didn't say.

[dbackjon]

34. What is obvious is that you have your mind made up

Sturtz is a bad person, and GLBT equality is a bother.

[Summer Hathaway]

35. Just can't help yourself, can you?

I don't know Sturtz personally, and I certainly never said she was a "bad person". I said her behavior in this particular situation was rude and uncalled for.

I also never said anything even CLOSE to GLBT equality being a 'bother'.

Look, let's end this here. You are determined to keep insisting that I said things I didn't say. So being that you're not the least bit interested in what I have actually said, why don't we just cut out the middle-man (me) and you can continue this conversation that you are obviously having between yourself and the statements you want to pretend I'm making.

[1StrongBlackMan]

39. Interesting exchange …

Welcome to the new and frustrating DU.

[Summer Hathaway]

41. OY!

Frustrating isn't the word!

I'm more than happy to debate anyone on a topic - but when someone keeps responding to what I didn't say, it's beyond my patience.

The REALLY frustrating thing is that it happens more and more frequently. I sometimes wonder if someone has me on ignore, can't see my posts, but is responding to me anyway.

This site is rapidly becoming an insane asylum - and the inmates are running the joint.

[1StrongBlackMan]

42. I hear ya ...

I frequently wonder a couple of things:

The age of some of many of the posters here ... many seem to be in highschool, at best (or just argue that way);

The life experiences of many of the posters here ... People have the ability to abandon their everyday life experience in order to sustain an argument;

Whether many of the posters here are serious about what they express ... if you attempt to follow their arguments, there are major gaps in logic, as if they are not following their own arguments: and,

Whether the posters here argue just to "win" the argument ... this would explain all the above.

[Summer Hathaway]

43. And I hear ya right back ...

It seems apparent to me that there are a lot of posters here who aren't who they claim to be, or what they claim to be. But they sure know how to stir the shit.

I wonder how many Democrats are left on DemocraticUnderground.

[1StrongBlackMan]

46. You can absolutely ...

count me in that number!

My being a democrat ranks right up there with me being a proud and strong Black man.

[Doctor_J]

31. So she retired at 56, and that makes her unqualified to speak on gender issues?

Thanks for the commentary, Billo. BTW pro-gay rights is not the same as "full monty anti-Obama". The president needs to show a little support for the people who voted for him once in awhile.

[Number23]

44. "Right now, today, we have an obligation to stand up for those kids."

I think Michelle was talking about all disadvantaged kids. Not just some.

[boilerbabe]

45. right on Ellen Kurtz

it was a political fundraiser and VERY appropirate no matter what the star struck atendees say otherwise. I guess it's time to write you a letter of appreciation!. i am sure the 1% elites got over it!