GetEqual Welcomes the president to Florida.

GetEqual activists launched a three-pronged attack on President Obama's refusal to issue an executive order halting Don't Ask, Don't Tell discharges in light of the Senate's failure to pass such legislation last month.

At a fundraiser this evening held in NBA star Alonzo Mourning's house, GetEqual made their presence known from the perimeter of the event.

As the Presidential motorcade drove into the private estate located in Coconut Grove, activists held four 10 ft. signs demanding President Obama "End the Discharges Now!"

... three boats of protesters and media are now 500 feet from the shore at Alonzo Mourning's home, and are shouting on bullhorns with an extra strong speaker system, and are also broadcasting the President's own words promising gay rights advances that he has refused to deliver.

A further attempt to make contact with the President was rebuffed:

Attempts were also made to purchase tickets for the event at $5,000 per person for local activist Itzel Diaz and Anthony Woods, a 30-year-old California resident and recent Congressional candidate who was honorably discharged under the DADT policy in 2008. The two had submitted their check to the DCCC on Friday and were informed Monday morning that they had been denied access to the event.

Woods said he believed he was turned away because he had been discharged.

The newspaper pool covering the event was 'informed' of the protests. From the White House pool report:

As he is speaking, air horns can be heard across the bay, and pool is told by a GetEQUAL spokesman that they are activists protesting the administration on Don't Ask Don't Tell. Appear to have several small boats, at one point pool can hear some yelling. Some members of the audience look over but noise is not loud enough to disrupt and POTUS continues uninterrupted...

Pool is told the Miami Dade police have circled the GetEQUAL activists' boats and sirens can be heard.

So this event may get some serious nationwide publicity.

GetEqual is an LGBT equal rights group committed to protests and civil disobedience. This past year they have staged or participated in events including Lt. Choi and others chaining themselves to the White House fence, holding sitins in various Senator's and Representative's offices, interrupting a Barbara Boxer fundraiser to protest DADT while Obama was speaking, and blocking one of the busiest intersections in Las Vegas to protest Harry Reid's inaction on DADT and ENDA.

The dream of LGBT equality has been deferred by the Obama administration indefinitely. And it will soon likely be frozen solid with the imminent takeover of the House of Representatives by Republicans. With a court system that will take years more to deliver on the 14th amendment's promises -- if, indeed, it does not squash them -- advocates like GetEqual's Robin McGehee may be the only people still able to keep the hope alive and in the public view. They are the few who are willing to put their lives on hold and to risk arrest for a vision of an America which judges a person not by whom they are attracted to, but by the person they are themselves.

“And finally, I want to say a word about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." As I said before -- I'll say it again -- I believe "DOn't Ask, Don't Tell" doesn't contribute to our national security. (Applause.) In fact, I believe preventing patriotic Americans from serving their country weakens our national security. I know that every day that passes without a resolution is a deep disappointment to those men and women who continue to be discharged under this policy -- patriots who often possess critical language skills and years of training and who've served this country well. But what I hope is that these cases underscore the urgency of reversing this policy not just because it's the right thing to do, but because it is essential for our national security."

-- President Obama, 2009

If only the actions matched the words there would be no bullhorns, no banners, no arrests, and last, and very least, this diary would not have had to be written.

==================

Donate to GetEqual if you like