In recent days, I have received two seemingly unrelated e-mails that nevertheless got my brain a-thinkin’.Â
The first was from Youth First Texas, an admirable group that helps gay teens deal with coming out, provides support, etc. Great organization. The e-mail noted that, as a recipient of much-needed funds from the Human Rights Campaign’s Black Tie Dinner, YFT is required to pull its weight in support of the November event. That includes captain-ing at least four tables of 10 seats each (at $300 a plate), and selling at least 25 raffle tickets (at $100 apiece). By my calculations, that puts the burden on YFT to generate $14,500 at a minimum, just to qualify as a recipient of HRC funds.
That in itself doesn’t seem like such a bad deal — after all, Youth First Texas depends on the largesse of the HRC to stay afloat. Small price to pay.
But then there’s the other e-mail I received.
That’s the one that revealed the salaries of top executives on the Human Rights Campaign. At the head of the list is executive director Joe Solmonese, whose compensation is $259,096 — that’s more than a quarter of a million dollars. Indeed, if you add together the total salaries for the seven highest-paid officers, the number is $1,274,989 — a figure eerily close to the $1.27 million that last year’s Dallas Black Tie Dinner generated.Â
Is everybody cool with this?Â
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Point of clarification: It’s not HRC funds YFT must qualify for. Black Tie proceeds are divided 50/50, with half going to HRC and half going to local organizations. Thus it’s a separate piece of the pie YFT is after. Still, there is a connection here beyond just the timing of the e-mails. The amount HRC receives is determined by how successful the event is overall. HRC salaries and budget have been scrutinized by the gay press for some time, and rightly so. However, I think the more interesting aspect of the dinner this year will be the question of whether transgender people and their allies protest Black Tie over HRC’s decision to support a version of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act that included sexual orientation but not gender identity. In cities where HRC has a stand-alone fundraising dinner, there have been large-scale protests, and politicians have opted not to attend. In Dallas, transgender advocates have expressed a reluctance to protest because they fear it will hurt other beneficiaries. My guess is there will be something in between a full-fledged protest/boycott and what took place at last year’s Black Tie, a walkout by a handful of transgender attendees when Solmonese spoke.
Mr. Wright is correct in saying that HRC salaries have been scrutinized by the gay press for some time. In fact, Dallas Voice ran a June 27 Chris Crain column calling attention to this very issue: “Despite landmark gains in the courts and some select state capitals, the D.C. beltway remains the black hole of the [gay rights] movement, sucking up millions with nothing to show for it,” he wrote. “The bloated organization that sits at the head of our movement pays outrageous salaries to its top executives — more than a quarter-million dollars annually to its leader alone and six figures each to almost another dozen — even though their signature achievement is to have none.”
The point I was making is that Dallas’ Black Tie is probably HRC’s largest single fundraiser nationwide every year, and if they got EVERY penny of revenue it generates, it would barely cover seven HRC salaries. Considering how hard groups like YFT work to “earn” their funds, doesn’t it seem fairer that Solmonese “earn” his, too? Maybe he could take a pay cut (instead of a nearly 15 percent INCREASE from 2006 to 2007) and return some of that money to the locals who actually make the money. Aren’t they worried about a revolt? Have any of them every heard of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette?
We are in the planning and beginning to implement a full scale boycott and protest at the Dallas Black Tie.
We have debated and considered if protest at this Black Tie was in the best interests of our community.
When Joe Solmonese led the HRC into a policy that excludes the gender diverse and protects the interests of the rich and connected of the GLBT community he did knowing full well that the T girl walking the street because she can not find a job would be the victim. He knows full and well that the body he steps over is her. He does not care.
We will Protest HRC in every event at every function at every opportunity.
Transgender people are humans, not political fodder to be exploited for CASH by HRC.
HRC continues to put the desires of the most elite above the needs of the most oppressed. They continue to support weak legislation, and endorse candidates like Joe Lieberman, McCains biggest cheerleader. Join QueerToday.com and all the other organizations in boycotting HRC once and for all!