Follow the Rubles: HRC & LGBT Russian Groups 
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

Recently, gay researcher and writer Brian M. Heiss wrote to remind us that it's been just over a year since American LGBT activists and organizations got angry and in the streets to protest anti-gay laws in Russia, and to commence a number of fundraising efforts.

You may wonder what this and our recent posts about the Human Rights Campaign have to do with our District 8 Supervisor race, and the response is we're writing these posts on our campaign site to show how we deliver accountability at the national and international level.

We've excepted from Brian's email to bring you his key points and questions. All of the groups mentioned, along with Russian gay organizations, will be made aware of these questions and if we hear from them, we'll share their responses. Brian writes:

June 30, 2014 marked one year since the Russian Federation anti-gay legislation banning the "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations to minors" became enacted as law. However July 21, 2014 marks the first anniversary of Harvey Fierstein's NY Times Op-Ed titled "Russia's Anti-Gay Crackdown" (tinyurl.com/NYT-Fierstein-Gay-Russia).

With the one year anniversary of America's gaining awareness of Russia’s anti-gay law, I thought it might be appropriate to revisit the impact that the collective efforts here in the US had to help make a difference in the lives of our LGBT brothers and sisters in the Russian Federation. No one has been more effective and dedicated than you, Michael, in pushing for accountability and transparency by the US-based groups who solicited donations from our community with the promise that our donations would directly support Russian Federation-based LGBT organizations and individuals.

Aside from issuing press releases on the first anniversary of the enactment of the Russian Federation anti-gay law (tinyurl.com/HRC-One-Year-Gay-Russia); it seems that the organizations, so quick to solicit donations for the LGBT communities in the Russian Federation, have largely forgotten about the fight for equality in Russia since the closing ceremonies of the Sochi Olympics.

I prepared the material below in hopes that you might reach out to your contacts to hopefully gain answers to these important questions:

1) HRC and Arcus Foundation:
HRC and Arcus Foundation together formed the Russia Freedom Fund (www.russiafreedomfund.org).

Q: How were the groups able to circumvent the Russian Federation’s Foreign Agent Law and fulfill the promise to supporting local Russian Federation-based organizations that have been effective at combating discrimination and violence?

2) HRC:
HRC's December 19, 2013, press release states it was the “first contribution to the Russia Freedom Fund in the amount of $100,000” from the funds raised by the “Love Conquers Hate” campaign (tinyurl.com/HRC-100K-Gay-Russia).

Q: Has HRC and the Arcus Foundation made additional contributions to the Russia Freedom Fund? If so, in what amount(s) and when?
Q: What are the total net proceeds from the sale of the “Love Conquers Hate” t-shirt?
Q: How much money was raised by donations to the “Love Conquers Hate” campaign excluding net proceeds from the sales of the t-shirts?

3) Russia Freedom Fund:
In an email to Michael Petrelis on January 24, 2014, regarding transparency and accountability related to HRC’s $100,000 donation to the Russia Freedom Fund, Julie Dorf from The Council for Global Equality wrote: “The specifics of how money will be disseminated will not be made public for the safety of the recipients” (tinyurl.com/Dorf-Petrelis-HRC-100K).

Q: Without identifying specific Russian-based LGBT organizations that have received funds from the Russia Freedom Fund, might Dorf be so kind as to provide examples of how financial assistance from the Russia Freedom Fund has empowered or impacted Russian Federation-based LGBT organizations or helped move the needle toward equality in the Russian Federation?

4) Principle 6 Campaign: American Apparel, AllOut & Athlete Ally:
On December 2, 2013, AllOut and Athlete Ally announce that they have partnered with American Apparel on the "Principle 6 Campaign" (tinyurl.com/AthleteAlly-AllOut-AmApparel), a clothing line highlighting the non-discrimination clause of the Olympic Charter [and] “majority of the proceeds from the sale of clothing will go support the Principle 6 campaign and directly to lesbian, gay, bi and trans (LGBT) advocacy groups in Russia fighting discrimination and anti-gay laws.”

Regarding [the proceeds], in late January 2014, Wesley Adams of AllOut shared with Petrelis this info: “Closer to Sochi, we'll be making an announcement about how much money we'll be donating to LGBT groups in Russia from the sale of Principle 6 apparel" (tinyurl.com/AllOut-Petrelis-Accountability). No announcement was made prior to or during [Sochi and questions remain]:

Q: How much money was raised through the sale of Principle 6 apparel?
Q: If so, what LGBT groups in the Russian Federation received funds from the Principle 6 Campaign?
Q: If you do not wish to identify the specific groups, might you please share the amount of money to date that the Principle 6 Campaign has donated to LGBT groups in the Russian Federation?

HRC's Chad Griffin's Salary = $507,000
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis
(Cross-posted from our campaign site.)
 

In late August, we called attention to the fact that the Human Rights Campaign was violating federal law because they had filed their IRS 990 in early August and they were not releasing the report to us.

HRC has stopped playing b.s. games and their 2013 tax filings for the Human Rights Campaign Incorporated and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, which were filed with the Treasury Department on August 14th, which will bolster our complaint to the IRS for noncompliance, are now available for public inspection: http://www.hrc.org/the-hrc-story/annual-reports.

Here are the salaries of the executive leadership team at HRC that they were hiding, combined totals from both arms of the organization:

Chad Griffin, executive director:
$507,907

James Rinefierd, treasurer
$325,285

Cathy Nelson, vice president
$293,000

Suzanne Salkind, vice president
$286,623

Fred Sainz, vice president
$252,234

Robert Falk, secretary
$244,475

Marty Rouse, national field director
$207,163

Allison Herwitt, legislative director
$225,693

As best we know, Griffin's half-million-plus compensation makes him the highest paid executive director within the LGBT equality movement. Is he worth that salary and what exactly did he do in 2013 to warrant such pay?

With combined revenues of $52,318,163 last year, both arms of this nonprofit are clearly good at raking in the dough, but are they delivering tangible advances protecting the lives and civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans?

Speak up and let us hear your thoughts about the salaries and how you answer the question of HRC leaders worth this sort of compensation. Many thanks to Will Kohler of the terrific www.Back2Stonewall.com news site for creating this fantastic image for us.

HRC Board Member Makes Anti-Gay Argument in Lesbian Custody Case

My jaw hit the floor so loudly and hard this morning my boyfriend thought that I needed medical attention. What happened was I came across a story from the Gay People's Chronicle of Ohio that ran on May 4, all about a gay lawyer raising eyebrows over his homophobic arguments in a lesbian child custody lawsuit. But this story is not about just any average gay attorney. Nope, we're talking about one who is a member of the board of directors of America's largest homosexual political organization, the Human Rights Campaign.

From the Gay People's Chronicle article, written by Eric Resnick:

Cleveland--A gay lawyer and community leader is coming under fire for advancing an argument in a Juvenile Court case that would typically be made by anti-gay attorneys trying to deny LGBT rights.

Tim Downing, an openly gay partner at the Cleveland law firm of Ulmer and Berne, is also on the board of directors of the Human Rights Campaign and a statewide LGBT community leader and organizer.

He is representing a biological mother whose case has raised the ire of attorneys trying to advance the rights of LGBT families.

The case itself is unremarkable. Filed in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court in March, it involves the breakup of a lesbian couple with a three-year-old child. ...

The couple broke up in November. The child is living with the biological mother. She is denying visitation to the non-biological one, who is suing her for visitation rights.

Since the 2002 Ohio Supreme Court decision In re: Bonfield cleared the way for co-parenting agreements between same-sex couples, a network of family law attorneys, many of them lesbians, has grown up. They have advanced cases like this one throughout the state “to educate all of Ohio’s courts on our family issues” as one put it, and to ensure that good case law is created in order to protect LGBT families in the future.

These cases generally rest on the biological parent giving up exclusive custody in favor of a shared arrangement that honors the relationship between the child and the non-biological parent.

In this case, Downing and his associate, Joseph Simms, argue that the non-biological mother has no right to that claim, and that the suit should be dismissed because she is not related by blood or marriage. ...

They argue that, “because [the non-biological mother] cannot allege that she is related to [the child] either by affinity or consanguinity,” Ohio law gives her no standing to bring the suit.

Joan Burda, a lesbian attorney who represents the non-biological mother, said, “The arguments raised [by Downing and Simms] are expected. That’s what needs to be argued for their client to win, but this is the argument you usually see made by the David Langdons of the world.”

Langdon represents the anti-gay group Citizens for Community Values. He filed a brief opposing the Bonfield couple’s co-parenting agreement that raised an issue similar to Downing’s. ...

Downing said he did not become involved in the case until after the firm had already taken it.

He noted that that as a partner, he did not have to take the case.

“I’m doing my job as a lawyer,” said Downing. “Had I been the one originally contacted, I don’t know that I would have taken it.” ...

“I want to see that no arguments get made that are anti-gay or involve sexual orientation,” said Downing. “I got involved to protect our community.”

Asked if he believed that could be an issue, Downing said, “It could be.”

Downing called the parenting arguments advanced by the non-biological mother “a red herring.”

“This is a very simple matter,” said Downing. “It is purely statutory. The state legislature has not given the plaintiff in this case any rights.” ...

“If it takes a wild turn and it looks like it could be harmful to our community, then I will recommend we withdraw from the case,” said Downing. ...

Kudos to the journalists at the Gay People's Chronicle for covering this case. This story is a prime example of why, even though the mainstream media has greatly improved how it reports on LGBT issues and people, we still very much need gay newspapers.

What Exactly Are the Top Salaries at HRC?

I'm feeling at times like the name of this blog should change to "HRC Watch," what with so much posted here lately about the group, but that name is already taken by transgender activist Ethan St. Pierre.

Here's some new information to consider as we evaluate the accountability and effectiveness of HRC -- total compensation amounts of the top leaders.

Surely these totals are in line with what people in similar positions make at other nonprofit advocacy organizations with budgets of $38 million, so my point here is not that the salaries and contributions to benefits packages at HRC are necessarily outrageously high, but rather I want to simply sunshine the information because I see my role as the queer town crier.

Here's the list of names, positions and total compensation amounts:

Joe Solmonese, Executive Director
$226,678

Cathy Nelson, Development Director
$170,330

Cynthia Stachelberg, Legislative Director
$161,936

David M. Smith, Policy Director
$160,060

Cheryl Jacques, Former Executive Director
$159,916

Susanne Salkind, Management Director
$134,482

Andrea Green, Treasurer
$124,933

Kevin Layton, General Counsel
$118,916

Elizabeth Seaton, Legal Director
$111,089

Mary Breslauer, Board Member
$103,000

Timothy Bahr, Major Gifts
$79,456

Mark Shields, Coming Out Project
$77,269

Daryl Herrschaft, Workplace Project
$76,181

Matthew Bayer, Major Gifts
$72,770

This information was culled from the HRC and HRC Foundation IRS 990 reports, which are posted on the HRC site for all to read and I wish to applaud the group for providing this small degree of transparency to their constituency.

(President Bill Clinton signing the Lobbying Disclosure Act into law; December 19, 1995.)

Secretary of the United States Senate: HRC's Lobbying Disclosure Reports

This may come as a surprise to the folks at the Human Rights Campaign and their supporters, but I think, based on an examination of their lobbying disclosure reports filed with the Secretary of the Senate, that the group spends a decent amount on lobbying Congress, the White House and our federal agencies. Sure, they probably could allocate more for lobbying purposes, and let's they are doing exactly that this session of Congress.

Here's a financial summary of their annual amounts spent on lobbying:

1998 / $557,550
1999 / $1,187,648
2000 / $1,060,678
2001 / $1,160,000
2002 / $1,245,380
2003 / $1,303,980
2004 / $3,502,460
2005 / $1,300,000
2006 / $1,180,969

Click here to read the reports where these numbers come from.

And bear in mind that HRC also contracts with lobbying firms and individual lobbyists, figures that are not included in their mid-year and year-end lobbying reports filed with the Secretary of the Senate. Click here to see a semi-full list of lobbying reports for HRC and the firms and lobbyists it has hired since 1998.

Then there are also these separate lobbying reports filed by Potomac Counsel, for its client HRC, which don't turn up at the other links above.

In the interests of generating more transparency and accountability with HRC, it's my hope that more gays, including bloggers and journalists, look at the lobbying disclosure forms for the group.

I'll leave to others to decide if the gay lobbying dollars spent by HRC are bringing enough tangible benefits to the gay community nationwide.

No Time for SF Gay Town Hall; HRC Solmonese Holds Meeting at Chevron

Will wonders never cease? Even though HRC's Joe Solmonese couldn't be bothered to hold a town hall forum in San Francisco to inform the gay community about his group's work on our behalf and hear our concerns about the direction of HRC, he did hold two invitation-only meetings while in the Bay Area.

The first was last night when Solmonese appeared before members of HRC's SF Federal Club members, people who give $1,200 annually. And his second meeting was today, before executives and workers at Chevron.

Look, I can understand there may be reasons for HRC to deliver something extra only to folks who can cough up big bucks annually, and invitation-only forums are one way to make big donors feel special, and, I fully support Solmonese speaking before Corporate America to advance gay equality, but, these things should NOT prevent him and HRC from organizing free town hall meetings.

After all, Solmonese and his group claim they represent all of America's gays, so they should be much more accessible to average gays, especially those of us who don't/won't/can't donate to HRC.

Here are excerpts of a report on Solmonese's meeting at Chevron today:

Joe Solmonese (President of Human Rights Campaign www.hrc.org) was the keynote speaker at Chevron today. Chevron, Clorox, and the company that I work for (which cannot be named) hosted HRC to discuss LGBT equality in America. [...]

Joe’s message was clear. Here is what I took away: [...]

The corporate scorecard is being applied to the healthcare industry. Legislation is being addressed to be more inclusive of ‘any person’, as opposed to the terminology ‘spouse’. Hate crimes legislation is being addressed on a federal level. Bad politicians such as former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum are being ousted with HRC efforts. They fought Ann Coulter’s column when she used derogatory verbiage, which lead to her column being removed from nine papers. And the list goes on.

Joe spoke for about 45 minutes to a group of about 100 people. Afterwards, I took a moment to thank and meet Joe with the other people from my company. He is a short guy who appears to be in shape. He has a good handshake and a good smile. He’s been with HRC for a few years now; I’ve been with them longer and happy to see someone as charismatic as him on the front lines, fighting for us all.

Glad he's fighting for us all. Now, if only he would be amenable to meeting with us all through town halls, web-casting those forums, starting an interactive blog on HRC's site and answering the mounting questions from bloggers and gay journalists, he might have more of us feeling just like this blogger who was at the Chevron meeting today.

Bay Times, Rostow: If HRC Can't Handle Petrelis, Can They Handle 'Real Enemies'?

The always fabulous news commentator Ann Rostow see many sides and factors to the debate over criticism of the Human Rights Campaign in her column this week for SF Bay Times. She also poses a damn good question about the group's inability to deal with me and what it may mean about HRC's efforts to deal with real enemies of gays.

From Rostow's report in the current Bay Times:

[...] That's it for the defense, because I could also join in a lot of the condemnation. HRC should put much more pressure on Democratic candidates and avoid sucking up to Hillary Clinton at this early stage of the campaign. Their namby pamby press releases are worse than no response at all. They should take a lesson from Matt Foreman over at the Task Force. And why are they holding a closed door "invitation only" forum with Executive Director Joe Solmonese in San Francisco this week?

When HRC critic, activist Michael Petrelis, emailed HRC Vice President of Policy and Strategy, David Smith, to ask if he could bring a camera to the event, he got a surly note in response.

"Dear HRC," wrote Petrelis. "A friend of mine will be joining me for Joe Solmonese's meeting this Wednesday night at 7 pm here in SF, and he wants to tape the meeting with his camcorder. Will cameras and tape recorders be allowed at your meeting at the Olivia offices? Please advise. Best, Michael."

"Michael," Smith replied. "This event is invitation only and not open to the public. You will not be admitted."

Listen, if Joe Solmonese and HRC can't handle Michael Petrelis, how the hell are they going to handle the real enemies facing our community? And why wouldn't Solmonese want one of the most provocative activists on the blogosphere to participate in this meeting? Is this a pep rally or a serious attempt to hear what San Francisco has to say? Finally, assuming there's some good reason for the closed-door policy, would it hurt to be civil? Or grown up? [...]

Flashback: HRC Solmonese's Other Thin-Skinned Letter to Gay Press

From the superb and balanced Ethan Jacobs story in Bay Windows last week on blogger criticism of HRC:

Solmonese admitted that his letter to the Bay Times struck a sour note and said, “I think that that is a really good example of where it was the one and only time I let what I felt was a personal attack get under my skin.” He said he would never again “lose sight of who our real enemies are” in responding to criticism.

I guess Solmonese forgot about this letter of his, which, like his Bay Times letter, reveals he felt a Blade article was a personal attack on one of his staffers, and, he again attacks the gay press:

Nov 4, 2005
Washington Blade

I was disappointed, but not entirely surprised, by the Washington Blade’s story last week about a member of my staff. The Blade hit a new low in choosing to write about Brad Luna, our director of media relations, who formerly served as a spokesperson for Congressman Brad Carson, a U.S. Senate candidate who supported the Federal Marriage Amendment.

I’m not entirely clear on the point of the story. It was clear to me, though, that it had been a couple of weeks since the Blade had criticized the Human Rights Campaign. And so, with seemingly nothing better to report on, the Blade chose to go after a member of HRC’s staff.

But there was something better to report on. Last week, Brad Luna was in Maine doing press outreach and talking to national reporters about the importance of defeating a Nov. 8 anti-gay ballot measure. The Blade ignored that imminent vote and instead ran a story that seemed less like journalism and more like tabloid news.

Hey Joe, how about initiating town hall meetings and allowing HRC staffers to engage the community, and bloggers critical of your organization, with an HRC blog? And while I think it's great you occasionally blog on Huffington Post, it seems odd you don't also blog on HRC's site.

Blogging, a fabulous new way of communicating and something HRC should embrace.

HRC = HRC: Attack First, Answer Questions Never

This is so good I wish I had written it first:

Not that it matters to the HRC, who seem to be following the model of their patron saints, the Clintons: attack first, answer questions never.

Check out Christian Boone's gay contrarian blog from Atlanta for more of his political insight.

And to see how Slippery Hillary is thus far ignoring gay issues on her official exploratory committee's web site, click here to view the omission of any gay speeches, oh, like the one she recently made to the HRC leaders in Washington. Maybe both HRCs can't afford to get her speech transcribed and posted on their respective sites. And then go here to find gay matters missing from her press release archive.

You think our friends at HRC are asking HRC to include her speeches and positions on gays where lots of American voters will look -- her own site?

Appeal to NYT's Nagourney to Cover Gay Criticism of HRC; His Reply

Today I called Adam Nagourney and left him a message, a pitch that he write an article about the swirling, increasing and certainly valid questions being raised the past few weeks related to the Human Rights Campaign. Also sent him an email pitch, which he replied to, with a brief note.

It's worth my time, and yours, if you're so inclined to call reporters and editors, and pitch them this idea: Report on the rising gay voices, from the blogosphere to gay newspapers, over HRC.

I hope you'll also contact NYT staffers and push them to cover the controversies hitting HRC, its leadership and the group's agenda for 2007.

My email exchange with Adam:

hi adam,

hope you'll get interested in a story about the critical mass of concern being expressed by diverse parts of the gay community about the performance of HRC these days.

as we see the vote 2008 race unfolding, and queer issues like ann coulter calling edwards a faggot coming up, not to mention longstanding gay matters in congress and nationally, and HRC's inability to forcefully advocate for gays over the DNC, growing numbers of gays raise our voices, wondering why HRC is so lame.

i'll send you some link about recent criticism of HRC and ask that even if you aren't interested in such a story on them, maybe you can point me to someone else at the NYT bureau in DC to pitch this idea to.

thanks.

best,

michael

In a message dated 3/3/2007 3:31:09 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, adamnag@nytimes.com writes:

Hey michael. Got your message. I'm pretty busy now so don't have time to write about HRC but ill ask around. Thanks for thinking of us


-----Original Message-----
From: MPetrelis@aol.com
Date: Sat, 3 Mar 2007 16:34:55
To:anagourney@nytimes.com
Subject: Two great Chris Crain posts on HRC; Bay Times letter: HRC & dog show?

hi adam,

thanks for getting back to me and promising to ask around the NYT and see if there is someone else interested in reporting on the ever-mounting and valid criticism of HRC. i'm going to make a few calls and send emails to your colleagues sheryl gay stohlberg and jeff zeleny, and the new DC chief dean baquet. i gotta push more people at NYT to realize there's a story here.

best,

michael

[Update: Heard back from Adam this evening and sent him a reply.]

In a message dated 3/3/2007 5:29:39 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, adamnag@nytimes.com writes:

Michael:

There is no better way to make sure that I DON”T respond than a pressure campaign like this.

I told you I was going to find someone to see if they were interested in doing it. This was unnecessary.

Adam:

What kind of campaigner would I be if I _didn't_ blog about my interaction with you, and encourage readers to get better gay political coverage from the NYT?

Frankly, I don't know what kind of pressure you think I can muster, given that I'm a lone blogger, just trying to get some damn accountability from the mainstream press about the critical mass of questioning reached on HRC weeks ago.

You probably get more pressure from HRC, or all the presidential candidates and their campaigns, than from me.

Why the NYT has not ALREADY written on the widening schism and deepening questions over the Human Rights Campaign is of real concern to me and I wanted my readers to know what I was up to, in terms of trying to get your paper to write an article.

I consider this exchange with you very much a part of my commitment to transparent media activism.

Frankly, seeing how no mainstream reporter, either at the NYT or elsewhere, has seen fit to write about the mountain of concern over the nation's largest gay group, really reminds me how queer blogs and gay newspapers are a vital force necessary to keeping the gay community informed, not to mention holding HRC accountable.

Regards,

Michael

###






Gay and Lesbian Health

For information on gay and lesbian health, give our medical search engine a try. For more gay health services, Columbia University has a lot to offer.

HRC's Hilary Rosen Gave $1,000 to Homo-hater Harold Ford Before He Lost Senate Bid

Let's see if we can follow the bouncing logical ball of one Democratic Party lesbian leader as the 2008 presidential race for money heats up.

From the Bay Area Reporter's February 15 issue:

Clinton has the support of Hilary Rosen, another longtime Democratic activist and a member of the governing board of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Rosen said she's personally known the Clintons for many years – ever since she babysat for their daughter Chelsea.

"I think she is just practically the smartest, deepest candidate in the race and frankly one of the smartest leaders I've ever met," said Rosen, who for many years served as head of the Recording Industry Association of America [...] "I think she has – on gay issues in particular and as senator for New York– broadened her horizon on the political interests and needs of gays and lesbians. I think, frankly, she's a wonderful person. I know her. I've always liked her."

Rosen said gay issues are her number one criteria in evaluating candidates and that she trusts Clinton to get the United States out of Iraq. Rosen said she is helping raise gay money for Clinton and predicted she will "pay a lot of attention to gay issues."[Emphasis added.]

If Rosen indeed has gay equality at the top of her agenda when sizing up politicians, then why did she donate $1,000 to zealous homophobe, and failed Senatorial candidate, Rep. Harold Ford, Democrat, of Tennessee?

Ford's vile use of his opposition to gay marriage and his strong support for a Tennessee amendment banning marriage equality and state recognition of same-sex relationships has even forced another gay Democrat, David Mixner, to declare recently:

"No one should contribute to the DLC [Democratic Leadership Council] or support it if Ford becomes its new chairman. Ford campaigned saying he would be the first in line to vote for the Tennessee amendment. The LGBT community and it's allies should never forget his advocacy on behalf of these amendments. We also should not give a pass to straight friends who think these actions are no big deal."

To know how low Ford has sunk in his homo-hating ways, one need only look at his ratings from none other than Rosen's own group, HRC.

107th Congress: 100%
108th Congress : 44%
109th Congress : 25%

With an ever-declining pro-gay score from HRC, vocal support to deny gays and lesbians full civil rights, one would think Rosen, who says gay equality is vital to consider before backing a candidate, nevertheless contributed $1,000 to Ford on October 28, 2006, just weeks before he went down to defeat.

Rosen claims she seriously weighs a candidate's gay-related positions before backing someone, presumably because she wouldn't give a homo-hating politician an endorsement, or a check, so why did she give anything to Ford? Did he hold a pro-gay stance of real import that no one, except Rosen, knew about?

Click here to see the FEC file of Rosen's giving to Ford. And go here to read her full FEC donations file.