Truth Wins Out = $190,000
Wayne Besen for a number of years served as the spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, and since 2006 he's been executive director of the Truth Wins Out org and web site, full of blog entries, press releases, vids and opinion columns.
TWO, according to its IRS 990 filings, is a nonprofit dedicated to promoting positive public opinion regarding the treatment of gay people. I worked with him for a short while last spring on the boycott of Jamaica tourism and beer.
And when I recently checked out the latest IRS 990 for HRC, I also read the three most recent 990s for TWO, and was shocked to see its latest budget was a healthy six-figures. Here is what I learned from the tax filings.
In 2006 TWO's revenue was $74,403, and Besen earned $12,000. For 2007 the revenue was $76,961, and his salary was $32,500. Then in 2008 revenue went up to $190,759, while Besen's compensation was a robust $66,000.
While I'm not sure TWO's agenda requires $190,759, or that it's accomplishing much for the larger gay community, my opinion is of no import to those who fund Besen's work and org.
The 990s don't require any nonprofit to divulge who donated to them, but since I was familiar with the list of grantees from the Haas Jr Foundation, where former NGLTF honcho Matt Foreman is the program director for human rights, and the Arcus Foundation, where another former NGLTF leader, Urvashi Vaid, is the executive director, I knew that TWO gets significant funds from those foundations.
At the Arcus site, TWO is shown to have received $60,000 in 2008 and $40,000 in 2007. The Haas Jr site lists a grant of $35,000 in 2009 to the org.
I'm presenting this info simply to bring some transparency to TWO, which is receiving some nice chunks of change from gay friendly foundations. Also, seeing the interconnectedness of the key players here, formerly from NGLTF and HRC, to my eyes looks like more of Gay Inc folks taking care of each other, quite nicely too.
Do we really need TWO and all the other similar orgs, raking in robust six-figure budget, without a whole lotta achievements to show the community?
8 comments:
hi david,
sure, send the notes along and lemme see what you've got. i see a big part of wayne's agenda is still to promote HRC. at his national prayer event and his news conference over uganda, he made sure HRC had a speaking and endorsement role. he may no longer be at HRC getting a paycheck from them, but he's still part of the HRC problem.
michael
Hey Mike,
I would be very interested in seeing letters that David claims he has where Wayne uses his organization and position against gays.
Who else is in the LGBT community challenging the right wing nut jobs?
http://www.truthwinsout.org/pressreleases/2010/04/8329/
What other organization is slamming those religions who call for our deaths (at his own personal risk, perhaps.)
http://www.truthwinsout.org/pressreleases/2010/04/8353/
Who else is exposing ex-cons, their fake movements and their fake organizations?
http://www.truthwinsout.org/pressreleases/2010/04/8304/
Who is putting Ex-gays in college program to educate about ex-gay programs?
http://www.truthwinsout.org/pressreleases/2010/04/8032/
What other organization has a representative at protests on the streets?
http://www.truthwinsout.org/pressreleases/2010/03/7809/
Who else is pressuring the schools that support ex-gay programs?
http://www.truthwinsout.org/pressreleases/2010/03/7531/
Of all the organizations to go after? This is one of the few that does it on a low budget. Wayne is worth twice what he is paid.
Remember, David Alex Nahmod, I want to see those letters. Put em up.
Here it is in a nutshell:
For the past year,perhaps longer, Truth Wins Out has been running a blacklist campaign against me. The sourced information provided to them by LaBabs which he himself obtained from an anti-gay boylover. They also used that information to threaten and intimidate David into some form of complacency. When he refused, they started ostracizing him too.
David is the only person to have had the courage to tell me about this. There are other bloggers and activists who can confirm my mistreatment and ostracizing, but they won't because they fear reprisal.
They have too much too lose politically.
No matter what you may think of me and my past, the notion that an a gay activist would resort to gestapo like tactics and would attempt to define the movement based on their own narrowminded views and lifestyle is beyond reprehensible.
Especially when it involves people (ex-gays) who have proven to be the second most detrimental setback to the advancement of equality since the inclusion of NAMBLA back in the early 1970s.
Nelson:
You wrote about letters and blog posts and then said "Care to see these?"
Yes, I do care to. If you would rather not post them here, I understand. How about sending them to me personally? I am the blogger who outed Larry Craig and others and have never revealed a source in my work.
So yes, Nelson, I do "care to see them."
Thanks!
Mike
mrogers@p1nm.com
You have no idea how corrupt Wayne Besen and Truth Wins Out are. I have emails & blog posts on file in which Besen freely admits to using his position with Truth Wins Out to discredit gay people whom he dislikes.
Care to see these?
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