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1 Voice board hears from the community

1 Voice board hears from the community on political advocacy controversy

By Glenn Gullickson

The leaders of the 1 Voice LGBT Community Center are working on a statement of values after community members expressed concern that a board vote may indicate that the organization might not involve itself in LGBT political advocacy.

The latest controversy involving the community center issue grew out of the board's regular October meeting when 1 Voice chair Jimmy Gruender asked the board to sponsor next summer's fifth annual Right to Marry: Arizona walk, an event that promotes marriage equality. The community center has sponsored the walk in previous years.

Since he's involved with the Right to Marry event, Gruender did not participate as the board voted 4 to 1 against the sponsorship. During discussion, board members talked about whether the center should involve itself in political action.

As word of the decision got out, there was an outcry on Facebook and several local LGBT organizations wrote to the 1 Voice board to protest. Gruender said that the controversy threatened the success of the organization's upcoming benefit gala as supporters asked for ticket refunds.

"Things have really gotten out of control," Gruender told a special meeting of the board on Oct. 26 with about 50 people filling the center's largest room. He said the meeting was necessary to address the community's perception of what had happened at the meeting two weeks earlier.

Gruender said the controversy was the result of failing to have the organization's policies and procedures in place. "Until we address those issues, all the secondary issues are going to come up," he said.

"We've been operating in crisis mode," Gruender said, referring to the organization's loss of grant funding, then the necessity to relocate the center, all while the board has undergone a changing membership.

About 20 people addressed the board about what they saw as the community center maintaining a neutral stance on LGBT issues. Speakers represented several groups with ties to the community center, including Arizona Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Human and Equal Rights Organizers (H.E.R.O.), Phoenix Pride, This is H.O.W., the Grand Canyon Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and No Longer Silent: Clergy for Justice.

Many of the comments were aimed at Angela Harvey, who was named to the board in September. Harvey said that comments during the board's Right to Marry sponsorship discussion had been taken out of context.

Harvey said that she's "100 percent for equal rights," but she said she sees a difference between equality and marriage, an issue that she called "politically charged right now."

"My comment was, ‘I don't see the big deal with gay marriage,'" Harvey said. "No one's stopping me from getting married." She said she had married her partner in a church ceremony.

But Harvey said that as long as the benefits are the same she doesn't care if gay unions are defined as marriages, civil unions or domestic partnerships.

Concerned that a board that remained neutral on political issues could open the center to groups opposing gay rights, many of those attending the meeting encouraged the board to keep the center as a place for the LGBT community.

But Harvey said no one on the board had "said anything about hosting anti-gay agendas."

In creating a statement of values for the center, board members said they would include things like maintaining a safe space for LGBT individuals and organizations free from hate speech. Board members said the center would also seek to foster LGBT and allied non-profits and support LGBT and allied businesses.

Discussion of including political advocacy in the value statement was postponed until a board retreat. Gruender said that his study of 32 other LGBT community centers had shown that they were all involved in political advocacy. He noted that 1 Voice has a political advocacy committee, but it has not been active.

Gruender said that in the brouhaha following the original vote he had been asked in emails to resign from the board. Harvey said the controversy had caused her to consider quitting.

The board announced the resignation of Lisa Aragon, who had joined the organization in June and had been working on 1 Voice communications.

In other business:

The board approved a plan to create a community center membership, which will allow members to vote for the 1 Voice board of directors. Yearly memberships will be available for $25 or 25 hours of volunteer service. The membership application is online at HYPERLINK "http://1vcc.org" http://1vcc.org.
A meeting of the membership on Dec. 19 will elect board members. Up to 11 board positions will be elected, including six positions held by board members appointed this year. Candidates applying for the board will be reviewed by a board development committee.
The board is reviewing a policy to charge $35 a hour for the use of rooms at the center. Groups that can't pay could file a statement of financial hardship. In the past, organizations meeting at the center have passed the hat to collect donations.

The next regular board meeting will be Nov. 21.