Interrupts President Clinton's Keynote Speech At The 2009 Netroots Nation
On August 13, 2009, at the Netroots nation annual convention, Hudson interrupted a speech by former President Clinton to confront him about his administration's policy regarding gays serving in the military. (The Don't ask - Don't tell policy) The video of this confrontation was posted by the blog firedoglake on YouTube and Clinton's verbal take down of Lane has been circulated throughout the political blogosphere. In the January 5. 2010 edition of the daily beast, Tina Brown wrote in a column lamenting Obama's low key style, noting that she had been "Cruising on YouTube the other day, and caught a clip from Netroots Nation in August in which Bill Clinton was challenged about not doing enough in office for gays with his "don't ask, don't tell" cop-out. The way the former president engaged with his humbled heckler was the ultimate contrast: an astonishing, fact-crammed, passion-fuelled, eye-blazing defense of his own record that was especially startling (and, yes, invigorating) after a year of Obama's judiciously crafted stemwinders."
On 8/14/2009, Lane Hudson wrote a blogpost for Huffington Post about this incident, defending his interruption or the President's keynote speech. Hudson wrote: " So, at the point that he said, "We need an honest, principled debate", I knew I had to try to stimulate the discussion. So, I stood and said, "Mr. President, will you call for a repeal of DOMA and Don't Ask, Don't Tell? Right now?" The immediate response shocked me at the time and still does. Those surrounding me yelled at me, booed, and told me to sit down. One elderly lady even told me to leave. While I was among the supposed most progressive audience in the country, they sought to silence someone asking a former President to speak out on behalf of repealing two laws that TOOK AWAY RIGHTS OF A MINORITY. I was shocked."
Most of the comments to the blog were critical of Lane, many referring to his "rudeness" and ill mannered "heckling" of the former President.
On October 25. 2009, Advocate.com reported that Hudson told them that President Clinton had sent him a personal letter.
From the Advocate: "Hudson took some heat for shouting uninvited questions at a former president from the crowd and, accordingly, wrote an apology letter to Clinton that he published on The Huffington Post.
To Hudson’s surprise, he received a handwritten note from Clinton this week. Although he did not want to betray the confidence of the former president by publishing the entirety of its contents, Hudson did share several lines.
“I recently said I had changed my position on gay marriage and will look for more opportunities to advance the repeal of DOMA,” Clinton wrote, adding, “I will be there as you ask on these and other human rights issues.”
Read more about this topic: Lane Hudson
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