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May-03-2013 15:22printcomments

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.

Bradley Manning

(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:

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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Tim King: Salem-News.com Editor and Writer

You can write to Tim at this address: tim@salem-news.com.

Visit Tim's Facebook page (facebook.com/TimKing.Reporter)

With almost 25 years of experience on the west coast and worldwide as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor, Tim King is Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. His background includes covering the war in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007, and reporting from the Iraq war in 2008. Tim is a former U.S. Marine who follows stories of Marines and Marine Veterans; he's covered British Royal Marines and in Iraq, Tim embedded with the same unit he served with in the 1980's.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing from traditional mainstream news agencies like The Associated Press and Electronic Media Association; he also holds awards from the National Coalition of Motorcyclists, the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs; and was presented with a 'Good Neighbor Award' for his reporting, by the The Red Cross.

Tim King reporting from the war in Iraq

Tim's years as a Human Rights reporter have taken on many dimensions; he has rallied for a long list of cultures and populations and continues to every day, with a strong and direct concentration on the 2009 Genocide of Tamil Hindus and Christians in Sri Lanka. As a result of his long list of reports exposing war crimes against Tamil people, Tim was invited to be the keynote speaker at the FeTNA (Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America) Conference in Baltimore, in July 2012. This is the largest annual gathering of North American Tamils; Tim addressed more than 3000 people and was presented with a traditional Sri Lanka ‘blessed garland’ and a shawl as per the tradition and custom of Tamil Nadu

In a personal capacity, Tim has written 2,026 articles as of March 2012 for Salem-News.com since the new format designed by Matt Lintz was launched in December, 2005. Serving readers with news from all over the globe, Tim's life is literally encircled by the endless news flow published by Salem-News.com, where more than 100 writers contribute stories from 23+ countries and regions.

Tim specializes in writing about political and military developments worldwide; and maintains that the label 'terrorist' is ill placed in many cases; specifically with the LTTE Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, where it was used as an excuse to slaughter people by the tens of thousands; and in Gaza, where a trapped population lives at the mercy of Israel's destructive military war crime grinder. At the center of all of this, Tim pays extremely close attention to the safety and welfare of journalists worldwide.

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Norman May 8, 2013 10:22 am (Pacific time)

He's a traitor-no American backs him unless they too are treacherous. He endangered THOUSANDS of American and Iraqi lives. May he rot in hell.


Anonymous May 8, 2013 10:21 am (Pacific time)

He's a traitor, dummy! He endangered thousands of American and Iraqi soldiers with his treachery! May he burn in hell. Duuuhh-just because he's gay doesn't mean he's a hero-what next? Honoring Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs??

You know nothing about this man or heroism as a concept.  His being gay is a sidenote.


Anonymous May 5, 2013 12:36 pm (Pacific time)

I'm Queer and I support Bradley Manning. He deserves an award, and he should be honored by PRIDE. Someday he will be accepted as a true American hero.


Anonymous May 4, 2013 9:26 am (Pacific time)

Maybe she dislikes Brad because he's a seditious traitor? I know many gays who have a real sense of priorities when it comes to seeing that our national security receives top billing in importance. This clown put active-duty military and intelligence personnel, as well as their civilian operatives in lethal danger. Many were killed, and as leaks come out of the court-martial that will become evident. You so-called peace lovers simply do not understand that it is those who protect you that are the real peace lovers who daily put themselves in harms way to save lives. Manning got many people killed, and they are still being killed because of him. Thus maybe the Gay community is concerned about this piece of seditious filth who should have been executed long ago. May he be taken out like Dahmer real soon, and those who support him, may they simply leave America post haste.

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