Compensation paid to leaders of the LGBT rights movement

I found this on Southern Voice who has the same owner as the Washington Blade and this is appalling. Perhaps we as a community should only vote to volunteer organizations. Should you be paid to fight for your own rights? And, if you are paid, should you be paid hundreds of thousands of dollars?

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Craig Shniderman, executive director of Food & Friends, which provides meals and nutritional services for homebound people with HIV/AIDS in the Washington, D.C. area, had the highest salary among the heads of the nation’s most prominent LGBT advocacy groups and groups that provide AIDS-related services in Los Angeles, New York and D.C.

A survey of the compensation paid to heads of 30 LGBT and AIDS organizations, conducted by the Washington Blade, shows that Shniderman had a total salary and benefits package of $382,200 in 2008, the latest period for which the organizations’ salary and annual revenue data could be obtained for a completed fiscal year.

Shniderman’s earnings placed him ahead of Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign. Solmonese, who ranked second in the salary survey, received a total compensation package of $338,400 in 2008.

Shniderman’s salary also topped that of Lorri Jean, executive director of the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, which had revenue of $48.5 million in 2008 and had nearly 300 employees compared to Food & Friends’ annual revenue of $7.9 million and 50 employees.

The L.A. Center’s $48.5 million was the highest among all the LGBT and AIDS groups in the survey. HRC had the second highest annual revenue among the 30 groups: $41.4 million. Equality California, the statewide group that coordinated the unsuccessful effort to oppose an anti-gay marriage amendment, came in third, with a 2008 figure of $24.5 million.

Geoff Kors, Equality California’s executive director, had a 2008 compensation of $171,000.

The 30 national LGBT and AIDS groups are among the thousands of nonprofit organizations in the United States that must file annual reports with the IRS disclosing financial information, including the salaries of their chief operating officers.

In conducting the survey, the Blade asked the 30 organizations to disclose the salaries for their CEOs or executive directors for 2008 — the most recently completed fiscal year — as well as for the current fiscal year of 2009. The IRS 990 financial disclosure forms for nonprofit organizations do not become publicly available for two years, with the 2007 IRS forms being the latest year that the disclosure forms can be obtained by the press or public.

According to information compiled by two watchdog organizations that monitor salaries and other finance-related data of nonprofit organizations — Guidestar and Charity Navigator — some of the salaries of the leaders of the 30 LGBT and AIDS groups surveyed by the Blade, on average, were comparable to salaries of non-LGBT civil rights and “social action” groups with a similar revenue figure.

However, a number of the groups surveyed by the Blade offered higher salaries for their CEO or executive director than similar non-LGBT groups tracked by Guidestar and Charity Navigator.

In the report, organizations with an annual budget greater than $5 million pay CEOs on average $196,531, with CEOs who make $320,212 landing near the top in the 90th percentile for compensation.

HRC’s Solmonese took a voluntary pay cut of 10 percent, lowering his total compensation from $338,400 to $302,200, according to HRC.

The Louisville Fairness Campaign is likely paying Chris Hartman the new director of the organization between $50,000.00 - $75,000.00 per year.

Kentucky Fairness Alliance had a paid staff until they failed to raise money during their social hours. Now they have no one and from what I understand they are close to bankrupt [the part about them being bankrupt may not be true it is only a rumor].

Kentucky Equality Federation and Lexington Fairness have no paid staff.

The complete report is below and I have highlighted with a pink arrow gay rights organizations that Kentuckians may currently be donating to. You need to know what your money is really being spent on.

Tell me you do not think this salaries are OUTRAGEOUS:

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Recap [Senate Bill 68, Family Foundation of Kentucky, Kentucky Equality Federation, and the Louisville Fairness Campaign

I have not felt well enough to post recently but a recap is below.

Senator Gary Tapp, R-Shelbyville admits that Senate Bill 68, a controversial bill to ban unmarried couples from becoming foster or adoptive parents (secretly an attack on the gay community) is dead. [view]

Family Foundation of Kentucky attacks Kentucky Equality Federation [view] and claims to have received no notice from the Senate Committee about the rushed meeting to pass [view] Senate Bill 68.

A Kentucky conservative blog outlines other disappointments they all faced in the 2009 General Assembly. [view]

Protests outside the California Supreme Court:

Kentucky Senate Bill 68 the Gay Adoption Ban (call it what it really is) advances

The Senate Judiciary Committee gave unanimous approval this afternoon to a bill that would ban unmarried couples from adopting children or becoming foster parents in Kentucky and it now goes to the full Senate.

This is nothing short of an attack against the gay community of Kentucky regardless of what they attempt to disguise it as.

Responses from our gay rights organizations:
"SB 68 is moving forward. The Senate Judiciary Committee Chairperson, Sen. Stivers, called a surprise meeting just moments ago to hear two bills. One of those was Senate Bill 68 ("Divisive Child Welfare Act"). Sadly, the Committee passed the bill favorably after hearing testimony only from the bill's sponsor, Sen. Tapp, and a representative of the Family Foundation of Kentucky." - Kentucky Fairness Alliance (by email)

- The Family Foundation of Kentucky? Give me a BREAK! I must point to a statement recently made by Kentucky Equality Federation last month: With national divorce rates rising because of layoffs, increases in daycare, and an economy in the tank, one would think a 'family oriented organization' would be focused on economic solutions to help take the stress off couples (such as using their money to provide free daycare instead of lobbying Frankfort against domestic partner benefits, and using children as political pawns). But, instead, they continue to focus on keeping a minority group of families from having the same civil liberties and protections as the majority.

"It is a disgrace that members of Kentucky's Senate are using children as political pawns against the gay and lesbian population of Kentucky," stated Kentucky Equality Federation's Managing Director, Laura Reed. "Kentucky Equality Federation believes the legislation will die in the House of Representatives should it pass the full Senate." (website)

The Fairness Campaign and others call the bill a thinly veiled attack on gay people, which Tapp denies [well of course he does].

Senate Bill 68 would actually apply to anyone cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of marriage.

Lexington Fairness has yet to issue a statement as has Equality Northern Kentucky (I am beginning to think they are just a website, nothing has been updated on the Equality Northern Kentucky site since December 2008). Lexington Fairness does have a nice letter on their homepage: "There are those among us that love attention and drama. When they have neither, they tend to throw immature fits to get what they want. You know someone like this … or you are that person."

Just what Kentucky needs - to punish children because Republican legislatures don't like gay people. How do these people get elected to office? Does anyone vote anymore? I am beginning to feel like I live in Alabama, Mississippi, or Florida (Dixie Country, the Deep South)!

Is There a Rift in the Gay Community Based on Race?

This is the question asked by a Louisville website: http://www.fleurdelez.com/2009/03/hot-topic-is-there-a-rift-in-the-gay-community-based-on-race