By Melanie Nathan, May 02, 2014.

So says Michael Petrelis and I am re-posting his article here. Michael Petrelis, who is the only blogger activist I know keeping an eye on Gay Inc. and its money trail. The article speaks to GAY INC., Rea Carey from NGLTF and some LGBT issues languishing in obscurity!

Petrelis has a long history of extraordinary activism. A former ACT UP activist and blogger, he is willing to chart waters most fear.  He showcases important San Francisco LGBT related issues on his blog, and is currently running for supervisor in a San Franciso district. He also spearheads many important street demos here in San Francisco including organizing for IDAHO and is the force behind Gays Without Borders.

Here is the PETRELIS FILE  latest piece, navigating one of those realms that most steer clear from. The target of this article is Rea Carey from NGLTF, who was recently arrested in an act of civil disobedience protesting – no not any specific LGBTI issue- but immigration reform.

NGLTF Leader Rea Carey Joins Exclusive Club

There simply isn’t enough scrutiny of all Gay Inc groups, especially the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. They tend to fly under the radar and escape the attention lavished on the likes of the Human Rights Campaign and the leech-on-the-community known as GLAAD.

Other than organizing their annual Creating Change gathering and a large circuit party in Miami, Florida, and issuing statements on big LGBT news of the day, I don’t know what the task force does, what it has accomplished that benefits ordinary gays or why it’s needed.

A few days ago, I looked at NGLTF’s page for their annual reports and was pleased to see they posted three years’ worth of tax filings but they were current only until 2012. I emailed their chief financial officer Brian Johnson and he quickly posted their 2013 IRS 990.

Reading the latest compensation level for executive director Rea Carey, I saw she’s joined that exclusive club of Gay Inc leaders making more than a quarter million dollars. She was compensated $260,273 for her services.

I don’t consider this group to be genuinely community controlled or driven by grassroots concerns. Look at who pays the bills.

They received $875,000 in 2013 from the Haas Jr Foundation, where former NGLTF executive director Matt Foreman runs the gay program and big money is shoveled at them annually.

Then there’s the $800,000 from Ford Foundation in 2011 and 2012, and the Arcus Foundation coughed up $260,000 in 2013.

From the David Bohnett Foundation, the task force has raked in $440,000 since 1992, and the most recent annual report for the Gill Foundation for 2012 shows $210,000 was given to the group and in the previous year they received $200,000 from this foundation.

What average LGBT people get from all this money flowing into NGLTF coffers is the big question. Seems to me as with so many nonprofits, the real goal is to keep themselves in business and the top executives well compensated. READ THE PETRELIS FILES HERE

According to The Advocate:

Rea Carey, the out lesbian who heads the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, was arrested today during an act of civil disobedience aimed at pressuring the U.S. House of Representatives to act on comprehensive, compassionate immigration reform, reports the Task Force.

While immigration reform is not a per se LGBTI issue at this point, She noted that LGBT people are also impacted by the lack of reform as there are also undocumented LGBT people amongst the estimated 11 million. This is what she said:

“Immigration reform is not just good for women and their families — it’s good for our democracy, good for our economy, and good for America,” said Carey in an address at a press conference before the action. “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. The House must act now and do the right thing for the 11 million undocumented immigrants, over a quarter of a million of whom are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. These people need a real pathway to citizenship and the American Dream now — not the nightmare of gridlock.”

It would be nice to see the group more vocal on other issues impacting our community.

With so much money at their disposal i would like to see to push back against  the current ENDA and a way to propose a decent ENDA, perhaps re-worked, or re-branded and incorporated through some benchmark for FULL EQUALITY and some help for our family in Africa:

1) That ENDA’s religious exemptions are way too onerous – I wonder if NGLTF would consider opposing the current and quite disturbing lead BY HRC  on this. HRC is working hard to pass an ENDA with such onerous religious exemptions that it only serves to institutionalize more discrimination against the LGBT community.

and

2) Consider providing some support to Africa’s LGBTI community in dire straits as we speak – through assisting to secure some funding for shelter, food. SEE MY RESCUE FUND

and … well more later….

Melanie Nathan
[email protected]