The Harvey Milk Club Endorsement Fiasco Explained
The Harvey Milk Club, an important progressive political club which began in 1976 as the radical San Francisco Gay Democratic Club, has lost its leader and potentially some credibility in the last week. On Saturday, August 31 at 8am, the organization notified members of two things:
- There were discrepancies in seven specific and seemingly random recent endorsement votes and
- The current president, Jeffrey Kwong, fell on the sword and has stepped down while the organization unpacks what the hell happened. We’re paraphrasing here.
We spoke with Gary McCoy, who is the VP of Communications for the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club. He describes what happened: “A couple of members of our board were doing a cursory audit of the most recent endorsement vote and noticed some inconsistencies with some of the voting. So they looked back a little bit further and saw that this was something that had been ongoing. As a result, it impacted the legitimate outcome of a number of races.”
This, along with Kwong’s sudden departure, means that there will be a special meeting on Saturday, September 7. McCoy expects a large turnout: “Lots of folks would like more information on what happened; lots of folks unfortunately are inconvenienced in having to re-vote on measures and candidates that they’ve already voted on.”
The club had previously been in the spotlight in January for rescinding their endorsement of President Biden, who was at the time seeking re-election. The resolution to cancel their endorsement of Biden passed, reigniting conversations about the United States’ role in the Palestinian genocide and politicians’ responsibilities in representing the people’s wishes.
During the January endorsement discussion, members also voted on whether to rescind their endorsement of State Senator Scott Wiener for similar reasons. It has not been rescinded; it is one of the seven affected races that will need to be recast this Saturday. According to the bylaws, “To rescind an endorsement, a two thirds affirmative vote shall be required.”
Members Agitated
Members we spoke to shared frustrations with the club. One former member (who asked that their identity be withheld as they are not out in all areas in their life yet) speculates about the January decision to keep the Wiener endorsement: “That was rigged. Everyone knew it.”
Seven re-votes and an interim presidential election to replace Kwong will take place September 7; one former member says they may return to the club if leadership shows things have changed. The Club made a Facebook post detailing the mess and the plan for Saturday. On that post, the Stonewall San Francisco page commented, “This is why voting should always be backed up by paper balloting. What is to prevent the vote on Saturday from being manipulated again?”
McCoy was unable to provide specifics on how many current or former members there are but he confirms that the club is “a larger club.”
Since Covid especially, McCoy says, “Folks have started relying on technology more, for sure.” Currently voting takes place in a hybrid format, with virtual members filling out a ballot via a Google Form. McCoy was unable to provide further details about whether each individual receives a unique link or whether they remain anonymous upon voting. Google Forms can be relatively secure, depending on the steps form creators take at the onset as they set one up.
However, the Club also noted, “Overnight on Friday, most of our operational accounts for a number of committees had been deleted.” Candidates’ surveys are hosted on Google Drive. So are all the organization’s media statements, which are almost all owned by president@milkclub.org except for the most recent statement. Members who vote online on Saturday will be required to keep their cameras on for the duration of the meeting.
As McCoy noted, these discrepancies have been on-going. Trouble’s been brewing among former and current members for several months, too.
In January, some members were upset enough about the outcome of the Wiener vote to stop paying dues when they were due in February. It bubbled over onto social media. That’s when former member Dimitry Y felt silenced by former president Jeffrey Kwong. In a screenshot, Kwong appears to state, “it’s crucial to engage in constructive conversations within the club” (emphasis added).
“When Jeffrey [Kwong] told me to keep it within the club I felt exasperated and even more mistrustful. I think the best discourse is done in public,” shares Dimitry, who also provided screenshots where he describes the club as turning into a “moderate cis gay frat.”
Dimitry says some of these comments have since been deleted. Some have been labeled “hidden by Instagram” as of Thursday, September 5.
What The Bylaws Say:
In addition to revisiting the endorsement of Sen. Wiener, the club will also revisit decisions to endorse Adam Schiff for US Senate and David Chiu for City Attorney. According to the club’s bylaws, “If no candidate receives a sum equivalent to or greater than 50% + 1 of the maximum ballot score, then no candidate will be endorsed.”
There’s also several Board of Education and City College Board endorsements to redo. This falls under Article VIII: Multi-Seat, Multi-Choice races; at one point the club used score voting; now their website link explaining it is dead but the Wayback Machine shows what it looked like in late 2023.
And the club will re-examine its decision to take no position on Measure K (concerning converting a portion of the Great Highway into an oceanfront park promenade) and Measure F (concerning police staffing and deferred retirement). Both got “No Position” status on the initial, potentially fraudulent round of voting; in addition, there is a “No Recommendation” status that may be reached if “no position [Sidebar: Yes, it’s hella confusing] receives the sufficient number of votes for an endorsement.”
On Saturday, the seven endorsements will be revisited. All individuals we spoke to for the piece agree that it’s been a bit of a mess. McCoy says it’s unfortunate that this is happening “in the middle of election season, (but we’re) trying to get the work done for our endorsed candidates.” Hopefully things become more clear before the official San Francisco Voter Information Pamphlet comes out in early October.
Save Some Paper
If you want the digital version of the Voter Information Pamphlet instead of the massive paper one, it comes out in early October. You only have until September 16 to go to your voter registration page and opt for the online version (but you can still request a postcard reminder).
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