Subject: GLAAD's response to Creating Change Events
From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 1995 13:56:57 -0500

The following is a response to a statement issued at the Creating Change
Conference in Detroit concerning the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation. GLAAD has requested that NGLTF send the following letter to all
the participants at Creating Change. 
  
We feel that a strong response is necessary, as the statement that was
distributed at Creating Change is misleading and inaccurate.  This is an
issue involving a personnel dispute and nothing more, and the earlier
statement was issued in an attempt to enhance the negotiating position of two
former employees in a public manner.

 
November 17, 1995  
 
Dear Creating Change Participant,
 
We have asked NGLTF to distribute this letter to you and all other
participants at the recent Creating Change Conference in Detroit. This is
being sent to you in response to the inaccurate and inflammatory statement
distributed to participants concerning the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation (GLAAD), and recent changes regarding personnel.

I want to first share that I am sorry that a personnel issue has been made
public in an effort to increase the negotiating power of one side. I will not
and cannot violate ethical standards in the workplace by discussing personnel
files and performance in public.  The former staffers who have issued these
statements have a right to privacy, and no matter how hard it is for me not
to respond with particular details, I must respect workplace dignity.

GLAAD absolutely feels a strong commitment to fostering diversity and
inclusiveness, as evidenced by the programs which have been and continue to
be sponsored by GLAAD, including, but not restricted to Lesbian Central, a
monthly lesbian cable access show and women's video training project, GLAAD's
outreach to the transgender and bisexual community through respective
caucuses, and GLAAD's campaign to educate the music industry and audiences
about homophobic lyrics in the music of Buju Banton and Shabba Ranks. GLAAD
recently assisted in reversing the blockage of gay and lesbian sites of the
Internet, which included resources for all segments of our community. 

Unfortunately, the publicity surrounding the recent personnel changes has
fostered misunderstandings through publication of inaccuracies and false
statements. GLAAD has indeed undergone a restructuring, after the merger of
its New York, Los Angeles, and Portland offices to form a new entity. Staff
positions in each location were designed to minimize the presence of three
separate, more traditionally-defined hierarchies, and to facilitate
cooperation and communication between each office. Of the "five" persons of
color who have supposedly left GLAAD, one is a person whose job was
restructured and another, who was to be hired for one of GLAAD's four senior
management positions, decided not to join the organization. Two other New
York staffers, Donald Suggs and Cathay Che, announced both internally and
publicly their intentions both to leave GLAAD, and thereafter their
resignations were accepted. Other people have been hired and GLAAD is
currently in a hiring posture. As GLAAD finds excellent new employees for its
various offices, GLAAD will proudly introduce them to the community.

Today, I am pleased to announce that Chiqui Cartagena has joined GLAAD as
interim News Media Director and will be responsible for supervising media
response for GLAAD's New York office, assisting field offices, and working
with other GLAAD projects. She is a well-known and vocal lesbian activist,
and I anticipate that her strong news background and years of activist
experience with the people of color communities will help make GLAAD
stronger.

The personnel statement that was distributed at Creating Change also
unfortunately implied inaccurately that a transgendered employee was
summarily dismissed.  No such event occurred, as the person in question was
an intern whose tenure at GLAAD was completed.  Another transgendered person
worked on an interim basis as a temporary employee and continues to be
supportive of GLAAD's work, appearing in a GLAAD "family" photograph.

There has been a good deal of miscommunication regarding the departure of Mr.
Suggs and Ms. Che.  Each made their desires to leave GLAAD known at the end
of September to various staff, board members, and even community leaders
outside of the organization. The former staffers requested a "compensation
package" that would insure their goodwill with the communities GLAAD
currently serves. It is not GLAAD's standard practice to provide severance
packages for resigning employees, nor does our not-for-profit budget allow
for such costs. Further, GLAAD felt these demands were manipulative and
inappropriate, and their resignations were therefore accepted without the
provision for any additional compensation beyond the standard sum to other
departing employees.  Since then, these former staffers have made numerous
attempts to gain support for additional compensation, in the form of lump sum
payment and other benefits.  Mr. Suggs and Ms. Che are not seeking
reinstatement, only additional compensation; in exchange, they would refrain
from attacking GLAAD. This is not a position to which GLAAD will allow itself
and its mission to be lowered.

Let there be no mistake about it; GLAAD is changing.  We have a stronger than
ever commitment to moving forward and sharing GLAAD resources with everyone.
 And just as we serve to defend our community's own reputation in the media,
we must forcefully challenge inaccurate and misleading statements against our
organization.  We will engage in a vigorous defense of our 10-year heritage.

Setting these personnel issues aside, I am pleased to present you with a
progress report of GLAAD.   We have exciting changes taking place, and I
would like to introduce you to new areas of responsibilities for some old
hands as well as help you recognize new faces at GLAAD.  As we have embarked
on an ambitious agenda to "nationalize" the organization, as well as solidify
and expand our support and influence through our grassroots endeavors, I
wanted you to be fully informed as to our accomplishments.

Many of you already know that GLAAD's field director, Donna Red Wing, was not
at Creating Change as she is still recovering from recent surgery, from which
we expect a full recovery.  Not only has she been dedicated to our movement,
Donna has repeatedly expressed her commitment to her field work and desires
to return to work quickly.  I am confident that after a brief convalescence
at home, we can anticipate her return to her full responsibilities at GLAAD.
 Knowing her enormous personal strength, I am sure she will be "on line"
again soon. Upon Donna' s return, she will have the additional role of
serving as GLAAD's national spokesperson.  This is a job clearly suited for
Donna, who has worked side-by-side with many of you across the country as an
organizer, speaker and activist.  In 1992, Advocate Magazine named her "Woman
of the Year"  for her work against the Radical Right. Red Wing's advocacy
roles prior to GLAAD include her serving as the executive director of the
Oregon Lesbian Community Project and as the executive director of the Child
Assault Prevention Project of Central Massachusetts.
 
I am pleased to report that we have hired as entertainment media director in
Los Angeles an individual with strong ties to the entertainment media and
industry, Tamra King.  She is the former assistant director of Hollywood
Supports, where she assisted in the creation, design and facilitation of
diversity training seminars. She was also responsible for the recruitment of
talent and moderation of the organization' s general monthly meetings.    

Tamra's extensive experience within the entertainment industry spans both
television and film, including development work for Wendy Finerman
Productions at Tri-Star Pictures, script writing for Vision Entertainment's
 SoHo pilot, work on three films and positions at three television stations.
She was honored as a 1989 recipient of a Peter Stark Motion Picture Producing
Program Grant.  You may have been fortunate enough to hear her presentations
at the recent Creating Change conference on behalf of GLAAD. Tamra has also
delivered lectures and presentations on sexual orientation issues in the
workplace.
 
 Another new face at GLAAD is our new development director, Gary Groth,
former associate director of development at AIDS Project Los Angeles.  Gary
will bring new professional skills to GLAAD, having managed a staff as large
as 12, and raised over 65% of APLA's $13 million budget. Gary also designed a
sophisticated direct marketing program for APLA, which integrated direct mail
with telemarketing. In addition, he managed a 300,000 member database, and
secured corporate, government and private foundation grants.

Before joining the AIDS Project Los Angeles staff, Gary spent four years at
the United Way of Los Angeles and served as Campaign Director. At the United
Way, he managed a 25 member staff, handled over 700 corporate accounts and
250 individual/leadership level goals. His year as campaign director was
marked by an 11% dollar increase in portfolios.  As a former independent
fundraising consultant, he has assisted with such events as the AIDS Cycle
Challenge '88, the Second Annual AIDS Cycle Challenge, and National Coming
Out Day, raising a total of over $500,000. We welcome his experience in
continuing our media awards ceremonies as very successful events.

Jason Heffner has joined GLAAD as director of organizational development.  He
was a policy analyst for four years on the National Commission on AIDS, and
his background in organizational development will help bring structure to
GLAAD's work.  As a liaison to community groups on organizational problems,
he has also served as a training specialist for four years for a wide array
of clients such as Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and GMHC.  Prior to the commission,
Jason was a Research Consultant for the Health Resources and Services
Administration's Division of HIV Services, and was twice elected an
Administrator for ACT UP/NY.  He has also delivered presentations and
lectures on issues ranging from   AIDS to Management Skills at such venues as
the City University of New York, the American Public Health Association,
among others.

Someone who is known to many of you is longtime New York staffer Morgan
Gwenwald, who has been promoted to a new position as director of GLAAD's
special projects.  Morgan has worked for many years on a variety of projects
in both the women's movement and the lesbian and gay movement. She has been a
coordinator at the Lesbian Herstory Archives in New York,  worked as the
social worker in charge of programs at Senior Action in a Gay Environment,
traveled on the road with the Lesbian Avengers, and worked as a volunteer for
the "world's first lesbian talk show," Lesbian Central.
 
Morgan's skills as a movement photographer for more than twenty years,
documenting events, actions, marches and compiling a portfolio of  portraits
and lesbian erotica, including recently completed photo work with Leslie
Feinberg on her forthcoming book, Transgender Warriors, will serve her well
as she attempts to bring GLAAD' s enormous archives on-line via the Internet.
Morgan' s work has appeared in many groundbreaking books such as Coming to
Power,  Dagger, the Femme Reader and the upcoming  No Thing But the Girl, as
well as in various community newspapers, newsletters and exhibits.  

Another recognizable face at GLAAD, but in a newly created position is Loren
Javier, as our new information systems manager.  Loren is well known among
the internet community as the voice of GLAAD, answering innumerable requests
for information and assistance.  Loren has already assisted many of the
chapters with their new computers and has brought GLAAD into the realm of
current technology by streamlining our entire computer system, creating an
organizational presence on the internet, starting on-line forums,
distributing email and serving as GLAAD's link to the cyberspace community.

Two longtime GLAAD staff members, Thom Kincheloe in Portland, and Robert
Nowland in Los Angeles, have been promoted to newly created positions as
program coordinators/development associates.  They are joined by Claudia
Manley, who serves in the same capacity in the New York office and who is new
to GLAAD.  All three will be able to deliver significant organizational
resources to insure that GLAAD's programs are productive and effective and
that volunteers'  endeavors are fully leveraged.

Finally, new administrative personnel include Heather Artemis in New York,
Kimberly Felipe in Portland and Craig Benson in Washington, D.C.
 
We continue to seek qualified individuals to serve in various GLAAD
positions, including  community affairs director and associate news media
director, as well as administrative and financial personnel.

These fundamental changes in the structure of GLAAD will make it much more
national in scope, retain its commitment to a strong grassroots presence,
plus make the organization more responsive to you.
  
We have responded to the Concerned Women of America's inflammatory ad
campaign against Lesbian and Gay History Month in the schools, opposed the
Motion Picture Association of America's unfair NC17 rating of a lesbian film,
and complimented ABC Television for its commitment to creating a long-term
openly gay character on its daytime drama series, All My Children. We have
also lodged strong protests against censorship on the internet of gay and
lesbian web sites by software manufacturers.

Some additional accomplishments that deserve special recognition include: 

x training the staff on media presence
x consolidation of financial information, management and record-keeping
x implementation of accounting policies and procedures
x implementation of personnel policies and procedures
x expansion of internet activities, especially the soon-to-be launched
GLAAD.ORG
x an organizational survey to determine direction and issues of importance to
members
x instituted a program for foundation grants management
x merger of membership lists by national and various chapters
x initiated a major donor renewal campaign
  
GLAAD remains committed to the goals established in 1985: working for fair,
accurate and inclusive representations of our community.
  
Sincerely, 

William Waybourn
Managing Director