Recently, I received a letter from Bill Clinton – Democratic Headquarters

The URL is: http://www.dscc.org/

And there was a blue Business Reply Mail envelope.  More on that, after the jump…

The letter from “Bill” begins, “Dear Friend”, and goes on to list all the nasty Republican lies they need my money to fight — “Pandering to extremists,” “Trying to destroy our president,” “Manipulating the public,” “Blocking progress at every step”…

Well, that's nice and all, but what about stuff that will make a difference to my trans-brothers and -sisters (trans-inclusion in ENDA), and to all Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender (pass inclusive ENDA, eliminate DOMA, DADT, and include same-sex couples in full Marriage Equality)?

The Hate Crimes act is great, but first you have to get injured or killed for it to do you personally any good.  It doesn't stop the on-the-job harassment or firing because others are weirded out by what they choose to categorize as a man-in-a-dress (I pass okay, but while I'm not in-your-face out, it's an open secret I'm trans, and some insist on 'telling the truth' about me.)

Now, on to that Blue return-postage-guranteed envelope, and what I propose to do with it, and any others I receive after it.It's not enough to say that the gAyTM is closed.  If the LGBT community stops giving money, then the Democratic party as a whole will feel less obligation to advocate and champion the issues that matter to us.

The politicians don't see the absence of money if we don't donate.  They just go looking elsewhere.

But that blue business reply envelope presents an opportunity to show how much money they missed.

I'd like to donate $100 dollars — $20 to Transgender Law Center, $20 to National Center for Transgender Equality, $20 to National Center for Lesbian Rights, $20 to EQuality CAlifornia (for their liveblogging of Perry vs. Schwarzenegger,) and $20 to Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

Copies of the receipts for the donations go into the Business Reply envelope, along with a letter explaining that until I can count on the Democratic Party to be an effective champion for the LGBT issues which concern me, I prefer to donate directly to organizations of proven effectiveness.

Who would you like the Democratic party to know they lost a donation to?