Big Gay/LGBT Groups Ignore Rural Gays
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzgR1JvSgNw

Too Many Gay/LGBTI Groups Doing Same Thing?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U-JwkHdI6k

I ended my call by telling them that if they attempted to call again I would report them to the police.

Some of these salaries are obscene, particularly those doled out by organizations with comparatively small budgets. Obviously people can’t work for nothing, but a quarter of a million dollars for the head of GLAAD? For someone who was previously the mayor of a small town in AZ and was not a media bigwig?

Shows at the Center bring in revenue, one of the most sure-fire ways to raise money. Very often, the stars in the shows reduce their cut to help provide more money for the Center, most of which feeds and houses the kids in the homeless facilities.

No disagreement or offense was intended. :-)

I was just making a general comment about how I have come to feel about most of these top-down organizations who seem not to have any connection with those who support them.

I’m done with all these porkers! They can fend for themselves without my hard-earned duckets.

Its also important to consider for some of these groups particularly the ones the operate in large cities of nationally its important to sell the idea to your high level donors that the organization is doing well and part of that is making sure your top officers look good – in short success breeds success though politics is mostly about appearances anyway and fundraising particularly high level fund raising involves a lot of politiking (its a common colloquial expression).

This is actually an incorrect description of the role EQCA played during the campaign. They were an equal member of a committee.

Fuck em.

At least, get the strawman’s name correctly.

$7350/week x 52 weeks, if you’d have taken the time to do the math, would come to $382,200., the annual salary Craig Schniderman pulls down, not Lori Jean.

That’s almost 4% of the annual budget of $7.9 million.

Even as the sole owner and President of a highly successful business in New York City who pays his employees well above the average wage, even I would have extreme difficulty justifying that kind of an annual salary.

“And tying any movement leader’s compensation to AIG thinking is so offensive.”

That was exactly my point, had you read my remark the way it was intended.

$382,200 per year, to do gay community work, is extremely offensive, to my way of thinking…and just as offensive, if not more so that the salary of the AIG asshole.

Wow. Strawman arguments abound on here. Again, whether or not a particular leader is effective is not the issue. And tying any movement leader’s compensation to AIG thinking is so offensive, I can’t even go there.

Using your argument, here’s a comparison:

Lorri Jean’s salary = $7,350/week

Head of risk management, AIG = $153,846/week.

So, to your thinking, someone who, while not perfect by any stretch runs an organization that provides vital services for our community and earns $146,496 LESS than one of the people who brought us the current economic disaster, is an appropriate comparison.

BTW, I earn $1,312 per week after taxes, or less than 1% of what the AIG asshole makes.

I disagree with ATDLEFT who complained about Lorri Jean’s salary. She is running the largest LGBT organization in THE WORLD, the LA Gay and Lesbian Center. Yes, that is a lot of government grants to provide services (HIV/AIDS, legal, youth, community education) but relative to its size, I think her salary is not excessive.

The comments about whether the Center should allow grassroots organizations to use their meeting spaces for free is a good one.
On the one hand it costs a lot to maintain, clean and protect the meeting spaces they have but I do agree they should have a mechanism by which brand new groups can meet for low-cost or free.
I do know that during the Prop 8 campaign lots of groups met at the Center’s Village complex almost weekly and there was no charge.

“I at least expect to paid a reasonable wage.”

And $7350 (per week) is NOT an acceptable wage???

Sounds like AIG thinking.

“I’m entitled”.

As I said, I’m not speaking to whether or not I think a particular leader earns their keep, though I think that’s important. Many organizations, particularly national ones, are located in major metropolitan areas where the cost of living would be prohibitive for someone who makes less than I do. In fact, my hardly fabulous lifestyle (e.g. no big vacations, no car, no fancy dinners or theater) is even only possible because I have a live-in boyfriend and a rent stabilized apartment. A colleague of mine who only makes slightly less than I do (mid-$50Ks), and also does not spend crazy money on frivolous things, is constantly running out of money, and he lives in a studio apartment, brings his lunch to work most days, and buys his clothes at thrift stores. And that’s with a 45 minute commute every day.

Maybe we should worry about why Bill Gates has $40 billion while tens of thousands of Americans are having their homes foreclosed on and being laid off, and stop worrying about those of us who are making a living wage.

But what I DO criticize is the fact that they generally turn a cold shoulder to any program they don’t start, or have a hand in running. We’re talking about an organization that has four buildings across central LA, and they don’t, for the most part, allow anyone to use them except their own programs. They have no interest in working with the grassroots organizations that have sprung up since Proposition 8, either via money or resources. It’s absurd. This is an organization that has made it’s money, and provided salaries, off the name of LGBT people everywhere. But an LGBT group can’t even use a conference room without paying HUNDREDS of dollars? They won’t even allow us to use copiers, or paper-cutters?! It’s insulting and near criminal.

Moreover, there’s no democratic representation in their leadership, and no “appeals” for any of their absurd policies. It’s a crowd of little Napoleons running the show around there.

And Alec, for the record, I’m incredibly careful about evaluating their efficacy. I’ve been on the ground working for equality here in CA, and all I know is that they’re doing nothing of value regarding Proposition 8 beyond the limited scope of VFE. And don’t even get me started on them…

1. You don’t go into the non-profit sector to be the next Bill Gates. People who enter the non-profit job world know that they’re accepting peanuts to do live-altering, personally satisfying work with a community of like-minded people.

2. We expect people who make such good money to actually DO GOOD. What have these folks done? Routinely been the flag-wavers for the Society of Meek and Gentle Gays and generally avoided any actual work. Maybe if the LA G&L Center didn’t want to charge, say, $500+ to rent a room to a fellow GLBT group for FOUR HOURS of use, and maybe if they didn’t spend every waking hour promoting Leslie Jordan comedy-hour and Margaret Cho socials, I’d be a little more willing to cut them slack. But for being the most money-rich organization in our community, I don’t see them doing much more than providing a few HIV/AIDS and youth services and otherwise just creating a machine for power-hungry queers to get a paycheck.

But, hard to say without knowing more. You haven’t provided any information about their backgrounds, what their boards have required in terms of experience and education for the positions in question, what comparable leaders of other nonprofits are being paid and cost of living considerations. Nor their work hours, compensation policies for travel expenses, etc.

Anyone who owns or runs a business as large as HRC or the LA Center, I can assure you is receiving much more compensation than Solmonese or Jean.

As I said, I work in the movement and am very good at what I do. Putting aside the current economic downturn, I am certain I could earn FAR more at either a larger nonprofit or in the private sector. Simply put, while I am happy to earn less to do what I love and what helps my community, if we want to win and protect our rights, I at least expect to paid a reasonable wage.