joan garry

I had the pleasure of dining with Rosie O’Donnell and her partner Kelli a few years back.  We were talking about the gay rights movement and being the good little executive director I was at the time, I asked her to make a financial commitment to GLAAD.  She asked great questions, not just about GLAAD but about the many organizations in the gay rights movement that approach her for time, appearances, financial support or all of the above.  Rosie and Kelli are fierce advocates.  They are generous.  And really smart.

So of course it was Rosie that asked the big question:  “Why can’t I just write one big  check to one big organization – to like GAY USA?”

There are many reasons that is appealing and equally as many reasons that it just can’t work that way.  I consider any movement to be an orchestra of organizations, each focusing on a different element or institution (media, schools, the courts,  Capitol Hill, etc) and each requiring different kinds of expertise and skill sets.

This does not mean there is not opportunity for consolidation and re-inventing.  And as we are in the thick of the worst economic crisis since the beginning of the modern day gay rights movement, we have an obligaion to look inward – at how our organizations are structured.

I take this on in the gay press this morning with a piece called “Time To Look Inward.”  It might also be titled:  Change: Defined BY us rather than FOR us.