So What Do Gay Organizations Do Anyway?

"So what does the Human Rights Campaign do? What does The Task Force do? The name doesn't tell us who it serves. And who knows what the professional glbt groups do. Do we know what the gay/lesbian journalists do? The gay physicians? And do we hear anything from the groups for sociology, psychology, anthropology, history, politics???"--Gay activist Billy Glover, on his blog, "Billy's Musings," March 31, 2009.

Those are good questions. What in deed do these groups do? I've never heard the executive directors of any of these groups interviewed in the major media. What is their agenda? Who are their constituents? What are their operating budgets? What progress have they made over the years?
This is why I've been advocating for a nationally syndicated GLBT terrestrial radio program so that questions like these can be answered. And so that GLBT people and others can have a fruitful dialogue with these leaders.
If such a program or programs existed, Billy Glover's questions could get an immediate response.
In the same blog post, Glover complains about the salaries of the leaders of these organizations. "I suggest that income for these leaders be ended and let's see how many of them are still willing to give some of their spare time--as they earn a living elsewhere as some of us did--to the cause."
First of all, I don't think it would be possible to run such complex organizations in anyone's spare time. It was comparatively easy to set up a group in Glover's heyday. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to fund-raise that way today. You didn't have to have a board of directors, a charter, or a fund-raising committee back then. Plus, times have changed. The world Glover and his friends operated in was a much simpler time. Gays and lesbians were much more on the fringe than is the case today and couldn't be so open.
I don't begrudge gay organizations paying their CEOs a salary. You need competent, knowledgeable, experienced people. And that comes with a price tag, whether we like it or not.
I'm all for organizations being upfront about their finances and their goals, but it takes dollars and expertise to run an organization and we shouldn't demonize or criticize them for that.