Last week, right-wing extremist James Dobson sent an e-mail to his supporters, urging them to speak out against pro-equality candidate (and HRC endorsee) Ed Perlmutter. Perlmutter is running for a U.S. House seat in Colorado. According to Dobson:
"Sen. Perlmutter has become a favorite of gay-rights organizations around the country. They have given him significant financial support and have even hired homosexual youth to work on his behalf."
The "homosexual youth" Dobson was talking about is HRC Youth College member Jose Rodriguez, a 22-year-old recent college graduate from North Carolina who's been working on Perlmutter's campaign on behalf of HRC since the summer.
Despite Dobson's efforts to portray Jose's work in a negative light, the Perlmutter campaign has stood firmly behind Jose. "I was just outraged," said campaign manager Danielle Radovich Piper of Dobson's e-mail. "I told Jose we won't stand for that, and he should not feel in any way bad or defensive for us." Read the full story.
During every election cycle, HRC's team of political experts trains a carefully selected group of young activists, called the HRC Youth College, in campaign strategy. Then, we send them out to work on targeted campaigns across the country. At this very moment, Jose and the other 22 members of the Youth College all are in a frenzy of activity as they work to support fair-minded candidates and defeat anti-gay ballot measures across the country.
Kudos to Jose and the rest of the HRC Youth College class of 2006! We couldn't have pulled this off without you. And don't let the Dobsons of the world get you down -- tonight, we may well have the last laugh.
