Petrelis Files

Bloggers Never Heard from GLAAD
on $80K Grant to Help Bloggers

(Queer bloggers and friends staged a vigil for assassinated gay Honduran human rights advocate Walter Trochez, at the country's S.F. consulate, Jan. 2010.)

I have more questions on top of what I posted yesterday about GLAAD's ex-chair speaking out against the group. While checking for funding sources that prop up the useless Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, I stumbled up this info from the very well-endowed, financially speaking, gay Arcus Foundation:

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
Los Angeles CA

$80,000 for support of the Digital and Online Media Program to strengthen the ability of LGBT blogs to mobilize readers to take action, amplify their messages in the mainstream media and become more financially sustainable.

I surely never heard from them and they might have good advice about attracting more gays to my global organizing, get attention for actions at foreign consulates in San Francisco like the one above I staged earlier this, oh, and maybe how to get funding to sustain my blogging and activism.

Off went a query to other gay bloggers, asking what they knew about GLAAD's program to help us with their expertise. Here are the replies:

Will Kohler, Back2stonewall.com:

Never heard a damn thing from GLAAD and of course never recieved one red cent. They probably used it for the Chocolate Fountain at the Media Awards.

Andy Towle, Towleroad.com:

GLAAD is in frequent contact with me regarding their action alerts and events, but I have not heard about any such grant, and they have not mentioned it.

Bil Browning, Bilerico.com:

GLAAD has been a good partner for actions around homophobic/transphobic media, but they've not offered any money to assist with our work.

John Aravosis, Americablog.com:

That's news to me. This is the first I've heard of this.

From Pam Spaulding, Pamshouseblend.com:

Nope. Never heard about the project. Given GLAAD has not been on the cutting edge of new media or handling its own mission, I don't see how it could legitimately nail a grant like that. I'd love to know that back story.

Like Pam, the back story was of keen interest to me, so I fired off ten easy questions to both GLAAD leaders and a half-dozen leaders at the Arcus Foundation. I wanted to know which bloggers were assisted by the program, who ran it at GLAAD, the grant monitor at Arcus, the outcomes, why money from Arcus is not just given directly to bloggers such as myself to do _exactly_ what the $80,000 grant was supposed to go for, etc.

Here is the combined response:

"_______________________," said the loud silence from GLAAD and the Arcus Foundation.

For a organization dedicated to communication and dialog about gay issues, GLAAD might get around to doing exactly that with me. They should also explain precisely what went down with that grant.