The President of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Joe Solmonese, will resign in an official announcement next Tuesday, and serve through the end of the year, according to an exclusive report from well-known blogger Pam Spaulding of Pam’s House Blend. Spaulding’s report, based on “a trusted source in a position to know the details,” adds that Solmonese’s “departure also signals, according to our source, the beginning of a larger staff shake-up in the HRC. The Blend can also report that a replacement executive director has been identified — it will be someone who is not currently on the HRC’s staff, but is currently a paid consultant that has worked with the civil rights group for some time.”
Spaulding notes five serious issues some in the LGBT community have voiced in recent years, including HRC’s relationship with the trans community, its lack of diversity on many fronts, and the “tense and guarded relationship” Solmonese and HRC in general has had with grassroots organizations and with the media, especially LGBT bloggers.
Since 2005, Solmonese has served as President of HRC, America’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization whose website states it “represents a force of more than one million members and supporters nationwide.”
The 46-year old Massachusetts native was Chief Executive Officer of EMILY’s List, before coming to HRC.
While the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is nearly complete, the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes bill was signed into law, and the Obama administration has decided to end its defense of DOMA, the federal, unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act, in court, these successes are not always pinned to Solmonese’s lapels. ENDA has seen little progress, and under Solmonese’s watch, more states have added marriage equality protection bans than have removed them. Additionally, Solmonese has been accused of being out of touch and of ignoring grassroots organizations, like GetEQUAL, which operates effectively and with a far lower endowment.
“Under Joe Solmonese’s leadership, the Human Rights Campaign has been an effective, strategic and creative force in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights advocacy,” states Solmonese’s bio at HRC. “Solmonese knows that to promote a better life for all of America’s LGBT people and their families, HRC must make inroads not only in legislatures, but in workplaces, communities, religious congregations, schools, universities and media outlets. HRC’s work reflects this vision: Solmonese has overseen electoral and legislative victories and successful outreach to new audiences. A dynamic speaker with a powerful message, Solmonese is one of the most sought-after political voices in progressive politics today. He appears frequently in the national media as a voice for equality.”
To gauge how the LGBT community feels about Solmonese’s departure, one merely needs to check out this Twitter search feed.
More on this as it develops. For now, a great opportunity to think about the needs of our community, and the resources we, as a community, are putting toward them.