MAYBE WE CAN HELP FILL THE VACANT CABINET SLOT WITH AN OPENLY GAY CANDIDATE

So far, even though there have been several openly gay appointments to Obama's adminstration, there have been no cabinet appointments. It's certainly not because there haven't been any qualified gay candidates. There have been several. But clearly, this is a step that President Obama has chosen not to take.

I'm sure that the reasoning has been that such an appointment would seriously rile the right-wingers that Obama is trying so hard to include in his coalition of support. And this is probably true - to a point.

With more and more polls showing that even some christians and die-hard republicans are beginning to warm to the idea of openly gay people serving in high government positions, including the presidency, maybe now would be the ideal time to take that step.

Well, we have one more chance to try and persuade President Obama to make good on his promise of building a truly inclusive government.

Queers United reported yesterday on a campaign by Equalrep.com to have Fred Hochberg appointed as Commerce Secretary.

Here is what Queers United/Equal Rep said about Hochberg:

Fred Hochberg is extremely qualified to be Commerce Secretary. Although he has been tapped to become Chair of the Export-Import Bank, he is only being vetted and he hasn't been confirmed yet. We believe that Mr. Hochberg would be better utilized as Commerce Secretary.

Hochberg has more than 25 years of experience in business, government, civil rights activities, and philanthropy. From 1998 through 2000, he served as deputy then acting administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), an agency elevated to cabinet rank by President Bill Clinton. He also served on President Clinton's Management Council.

Hochberg is also an Agency Review team leader on President-elect Obama's transition team. He has served on the boards of Playwrights Horizon, the Wolfsonian Art Museum, and on the Democratic National Committee. And he was appointed Dean of the Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy in 2003.

From 1994 to 1998, Fred Hochberg worked as founder and president of Heyday Company, a private investment firm managing real estate, stock market investments, and venture capital projects. Prior to that, he was president and chief operating officer of the Lillian Vernon Corporation, where he led the transformation of a small family mail order company into a publicly traded direct marketing corporation.

Fred Hochberg also brings a lot to the table in terms of diversity. He would be the first EVER openly gay Cabinet member in the entire history of the United States. Mr. Hochberg is also Jewish.

Queers United is suggesting the following 3-step action plan starting tomorrow (Wednesday):

STEP 1. Call Obama 202-456-1111
STEP 2. Email Obama: comments@whitehouse.gov
STEP 3: Repeat on Thursday and Friday.

We've seen how effective our phone and email campaigns have been in the past (getting offensive TV commercials pulled, canceling right-wing propaganda TV shows, forcing offensive software programs off the market, etc., etc.). Let's try and do the same thing here.