Tensions have been brewing in the gay-rights movement ever since activist Dan Choi chained himself to the White House fence in March.

His action launched a new group, GetEqual , as well as a national debate over whether the gay and lesbian community should be headed in a different direction.

"The constituency I believe we represent are those that no longer want to wait," said Robin McGehee, founder of GetEqual.

McGehee is just one of many activists frustrated by the slow progress on getting equal rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender – or LGBT – community. Another group plans to launch a social networking site that seeks to bring straight people into the movement as a way to strengthen the base.

Where Friendfactor , which launches this fall, aims to expand the movement's grassroots base, McGehee wants to mobilize the existing base in a stronger way.

"We could get further with non-violent civil disobedience," she argued.

The community-college teacher and mother of two has long been an activist, but it was this spring that she decided the movement needs fresh leadership. McGehee said she has been disappointed by President Obama's slow action on issues like Don't Ask Don't Tell and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

The Senate is expected to vote on repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell next month, but no changes will come until the Pentagon completes a review of the law later this year.

Activists like Choi, who was discharged under Don't Ask last week, say they can't afford to wait that long.

Congress has yet to bring up ENDA, the other big issue GetEqual is working on, arguing that they should take the bills one at a time. Some activists believe the real reason is that lawmakers fear a public backlash over passing a non-discriminatory employment policy that includes protections for the transgendered.

"There's been a lot of failed promises on some big-ticket issues," McGehee said.

Protests spark debate
In that vein, GetEqual has had dozens of people arrested for shouting at lawmakers, staging sit-ins inside the Capitol, and for chaining themselves to fences in protest.

Their public protests have embarrassed some D.C.-based activists, who believe that progress can only come by sitting down at the table and negotiating with Democrats.

But McGehee insists that the mood outside the Beltway is different.

"The reaction we got after the White House protest from the community was, 'Thank God we have someone to stand up to these people,'" she said.

The group has been developing a network of activists in every state that can be tapped to stage civil disobedience acts at a moment's notice. Many times that entails risking arrest.

"We don't care about the consequences as long as they are nonviolent," she said.

She blames D.C.-based groups like the Human Rights Campaign for giving Democrats too much leeway and not making enough demands.

"If I was [HRC President] Joe Solmonese, not one politician would speak at our event until we had action," she said. "All we're doing is letting them fundraise off of our base with no real change happening."

HRC sees itself differently. The group builds relationships with politicians and focuses on national-level advocacy work while relying on partner groups to work at the state and local level.

"You can never have too many friends and there are not enough ways to pursue the ultimate goal of equality," Fred Sainz, a vice president with the organization, said. "Our model is to work in deep collaboration with all those equality organizations."

Despite their disagreements, the two groups see themselves as complementing one another. GetEqual's public actions put pressure on lawmakers over Don't Ask Don't Tell, but it was HRC that the politicians ultimately met with to reach a compromise.

"We should be making their jobs easier by helping them with political capital," McGehee said. "They can say, 'Work with us because these people are pissed.'"

Expanding the movement
Brian Elliot, founder of Friendfactor, believes the way to build more political capital is to make the gay-rights agenda a higher priority for straight Americans.

His advocacy site, which uses Facebook to organize activists through their friend networks, aims to bring a whole new set of citizens into the movement.

"The idea that friends help friends is one that we're all familiar with," he said. "For LGBT Americans, we're going to need help changing laws at a faster rate of change and we're going to need our friends to help us out."

Elliot cited studies that say the current pace of change on gay-rights issues means it will be more than a decade before gay people have the same rights as straight Americans.

Like McGehee, Elliot wants to focus on people who already believe in their cause and mobilize them in a new way.

Elliot expects the site's users to write letters to editors, meet with legislators, raise money, and vote for lawmakers who back gay issues. He said most Americans have at least one gay friend but don't realize that their friend could face discrimination at work or from landlords.

"Gay rights don't matter that much to most people relative to the issues that are highly pertinent in their lives," Elliot said, "but gay friends, friends in general, are highly important in our lives."

He and the other handful of staff members behind Friendfactor plan to work with other policy groups to determine what issues require the most attention.

Elliot has had discussions with McGehee and other leaders about collaborations. He said his site may eventually have meet-up functionality that would allow people to organize protests.

Friendfactor isn't designed to replace any existing advocacy work but to enhance it, Elliot noted. While GetEqual mobilizes the grassroots and HRC analyzes what policy issues require public support, Friendfactor seeks to find new activists to join.

"We're trying to create a paradigm shift that is using technology," he said. "We're going to make this personal."

Ambreen Ali writes for Congress.org.

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