Long post: Drama in The Harvey Milk Club’s election

TL;DR: The oldiest gay political club in the country is morning trans or black enough. Everything here is stolen from Reddit

The most dramatic thing I've seen online in circles near me.

It's even pulling in major San Francisco political figures like ex-city supervisor David Campos (5th image).

Summary: There's a power struggle going on in San Francisco's Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club. It's one of America's oldest LGBT political organizations, it was founded by Harvey Milk back in the 70s as a far left LGBT political action/activism organization.

A contingent of newer (largely trans, female, people of color) members is effectively attempting a hostile takeover of the club. They view white people, cis people, and men (including gay men) as enemies of progress and part of the patriarchy. The club has traditionally been mostly gay men, as most LGBT groups have been.

The political alignment of the club is democratic socialist and very gay, and pretty into idpol, so the existing cis/gay male leadership has struggled to combat this takeover since they drink a lot of the same kool aid. But as the disputes have grown more personal and radical, even they are getting sick of the shite.

The contingent of trans, female, POC largely views all white people as a problem, and gay men as a problem... all a part of white supremacy and the patriarchy that holds back progress.

This whole thing is an absolute dramatic (really gay) shitshow.

I'm also a gay SF leftist and I find both of these groups totally nuts. The less crazy members made their own bed by (mostly) buying into the crazy idpol of this new contingent.

(I've anonymized to the best of my ability, using some browser plugins and some manual pixelization.)

Some dramatic highlights:

So many vvhite people on here pushing back and trying to use credentials and experience as if that is not inherently racist, classist or transphobic.

Context: The trans/POC contingent is largely new and inexperienced.

Lots of sentiment like this:

We don’t need vvhite progressives anymore, we need POC radicals

Lots of personal back and forth between main trans POC leader and other leadership

Please, [trans leader]. You treated me like a piece of shite at that DCCC holiday party. And the way you "emceed" the Milk Holigay Party was disasterous. You only want POC who feed your power, trans or otherwise. And where was your trans solidarity when you could have voted for Mia Satya for School Board on the DCCC?

The new blood doesn't like mayos challenging their version of events, or engaging in discussion, or talking

there is the white man rewriting history. Now a black person having boundaries is pushing out. I think a white guy putting two black women against each other in person and online is quite oppressive.

Yeah

WHITE PEOPLE NEED TO STOP, BE QUIET, DONT DO ANYTHING. Literally your leadership looks like moving away. It is 2019. Find a new calling. Leading us is not the way!

Mmhmm

White people wanting power is oppressive. Period. You don’t need it. It doesn’t matter if ur poor or gay.

[white cis leader]

"I will not “step aside”- if the most powerful progressive club in San Francisco is nothing else- it is democratic. I will gladly lose in a democratic process before I “step aside” and allow the process to become anything other than democratic. Also, I will not defend my queerness or my right to exist in this community or belong to this club. This post is exclusive, and exclusivity is the bane of our community’s future. I do not claim to be “superior” to anyone running for this position. Or anyone, EVER. I only hoped to provide an option to the members invested in the future of the club. I would be honored to serve the Milk Club in any capacity, but I will not engage in petty political tactics.

Some sanity

no one is being "removed" from leadership. This is not a coronation. There is a democratic election being held on Tuesday. It's sad that it's being framed as white supremacy to actually have a democratic competition for seats based on people's track record of work in progressive politics and in the Milk Club.

Not as much sanity

so....much....white....privilege here. You do not know what it is like to be a person of color and/or a woman. If you really want to be an ally, you will show deference to what [....] is saying, else you are just upholding white supremacy.

From the trans-POC leader, to a filthy white cis gay male leader:

I did everything I could to include you in our slate. Instead of working with me with good intention and honor, you organized behind my back and spread lies through facebook messenger and text. You fed misinformation, misrepresented facts, and continue to undermine the leadership of the club. Furthermore, you are running against a woman. You're clearly not hearing us, and I'm so disappointed that you couldn't put your own ego and agenda aside to support the leadership of trans people of color. This entire experience has opened my eyes to how deep white supremacy and toxic masculinity runs in progressive circles. Please re think what you are doing, how you are behaving, and take a step back.

Response

wow child. You are the one who is discrediting a woman of color who has organized in this city for the past 16 years. You are the one manipulating and fabricating stories to get people on your side. Sit down and stop.

In support of cis leader:

I echo []'s comments. The emotional manipulation that Honey and Carolina have engaged in to discredit, gaslight, and devalue the work of people who have put in so much work in the last several years to help grow the Milk Club is shameful. Instead of actually listening to constructive feedback, they have treated the Club as a dictatorship in which anyone disagreeing with them is told they are not supporting queer and trans POC leadership. These tactics are shameful and totally antithetical to a democratic club. The purpose of the club is not to consolidate power for a small handful of people, but that is how the club has been used the last two years. ... Many of the people on []'s slate have no history with the Milk Club and yet they are supposed to ushered onto the board without any questioning? This was also true of Honey, who joined the Milk Club merely months before being thrust into the presidency. It's highly disrespectful to the many members of the Milk Club who have put in years of work to nurture it that any democratic competition of ideas or board seats is an attack on Honey's leadership. It's a cynical weaponizing of identity instead of actually listening to people's concerns or operating with a collaborative approach. I and so many others will not be silent while a few try to consolidate personal power.