Equality Arizona

The statewide LGBT civil rights organization has a sudden change of leadership.

By Glenn Gullickson

Tom Mann

Equality Arizona gets new chair as it struggles with policy about politicians on board

After the sudden resignation of Tom Mann as Equality Arizona's chair, the leaders of the state's LGBT political advocacy group are struggling with whether politicians should be members of its board.

Mann, who had earlier indicated that he intended to remain with the board through the 2012 election, resigned on Jan. 12. Rebecca Wininger was named to replace him.

Neither Mann nor Wininger would comment directly on the circumstances of Mann's departure.

The change in leadership comes as the non-profit organization that is funded by donations from the community lobbies the Legislature and begins a campaign election year.

At the same time, the organization is dealing with whether officeholders and political candidates should be members of the board, which endorses candidates and lobbies state government.

It's an issue that apparently came to a head after state Rep. Katie Hobbs appeared to be interested in joining the board when she was approached several months ago. Board member Bill MacDonald said that the idea of having Hobbs join the board has been dropped.

Hobbs, a straight ally to the LGBT community, has been a sponsor of Equality Arizona-backed legislation that would extend anti-bullying protections to LGBT students. The bill is being pushed in the current session after failing in 2011.

Hobbs, a Democrat who was elected to the House from Legislative District 15 in 2010, has set her sights on the state Senate. But to secure the nomination, she would be running against Ken Cheuvront, who has announced his campaign to return to the Senate after being termed out in 2010.

Cheuvront was the first openly gay man elected to the Legislature. During his 16 years at the Capitol he was known for his work in overturning the state's sodomy laws, adding same-sex relations to statues and supporting domestic partnership benefits.

Such a primary election contest could present a dilemma for Equality Arizona's endorsement process, although in the past the organization has endorsed multiple candidates for the same office.

MacDonald, who is credited with founding the Arizona Human Rights Fund, which became Equality Arizona, said that Hobbs had been "so supportive" and had been asked to join the board for "all the right reasons."

MacDonald said that the organization benefits by having people who are politically aware. "You want connectivity to policy," he said. He noted that out state Sen. Robert Meza was on the board in 2009. But he acknowledged that having a candidate on the board is "poor policy."

The issue caught the attention of at least one supporter of the organization. Keith Susman, a former board member, said that when he learned that Equality Arizona was considering Hobbs as a board member, he expressed his concern to Mann.

Upon Mann's resignation, Susman said he canceled his membership as a sustaining donor and resigned from the group's Public Policy Committee.

Mann's tenure

Mann joined the board in 2010, became co-chair in August 2010 and was named chair a month later. He took the helm after a troubled time for the organization, which had laid off its paid staff members in late 2009 due to a budget crisis.

"Tom pretty much picked up the pieces and said ‘let's keep it going,'" said Joseph Gesullo, a former board member. "He really was kind of the glue that kept that organization together."

During Mann's tenure, Equality Arizona repaired its finances enough to hire a paid staffer and in mid-2011 named Nick Ray as executive director weeks after he had left the executive director's job at the 1n10 youth services agency.

Mann also led the organization as it sponsored a forum for Phoenix mayoral candidates before last year's primary election and backed Greg Stanton, the successful candidate for mayor. While he was chair, the group also launched the Capitol Club for sustaining donors, created a new logo and redesigned its website.

In a statement to Echo Magazine, Mann said, "I have been and always will be deeply honored to serve within the community." He said it was important that the community have an effective statewide LGBT lobbying organization.

Mann would not say what caused his resignation, which he said he delivered in the form of a letter. He said he did not attend the Jan. 12 meeting.

At that meeting, Wininger said she was elected chair in an executive session of the board. She would not comment on what caused Mann's departure. "The reasons Tom resigned are Tom's reasons," she said during an interview days after her election.

Wininger's work

Wininger was named to the board in March 2011 and when she was selected vice chair in October, Mann said she would become chair in November 2012.

Before joining the board, Wininger said her previous participation with Equality Arizona was working as "sideline voluneteer." She said when the organization had financial problems in 2009, she was vocal in encouraging the board to be forthcoming with the community.

Wininger said Equality Arizona wants to build its political action committee and strengthen its relationship with the Human Rights Campaign. She said the group would like to re-engage the northern and southern parts of the state. She said the board will work on updating and simplifying its bylaws.

Wininger said that Equality Arizona's public policy work is different than when the group started 20 years ago and enjoyed multiple rapid policy successes.

"We don't have a whole lot of quick-win victories to do," she said. She said the effort to extend bullying protections to LGBT students could take a couple of years to get legislative approval.

Emily's List posting

The organization also has been the subject of some controversy for a posting on its Facebook page that promoted the national organization Emily's List in its efforts to recruit pro-choice Democratic women to run for office.

Wininger said that Ray made the posting, but that it was removed in a matter of hours after board members saw it.

"It inadvertently went out," Wininger said. "It was not Equality Arizona looking for these people. It should have been worded differently."

Wininger said that reproductive rights are not part of Equality Arizona's mission statement and that the group does not have a pro-choice policy. "That is something that is not part of our mission," she said.

But in the past, including the 2010 legislative election cycle, the organization has asked candidates seeking endorsement their stand on reproductive rights. "I would not see it being a question going forward," Wininger said.

MacDonald said a candidate's stand on abortion rights has never been a factor in an Equality Arizona endorsement.

The Equality Arizona board meets at 6 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of the month at the Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix. Wininger said that meetings are open to the public. -E

Equality Arizona works to rebuild board

Equality Arizona is working to rebuild its board after a series of recent departures.

In January, the board had dwindled to five members, which chair Rebecca Wininger said was enough to be a functioning board in the interim.

Three members of the board who attended a meeting on Jan. 26 elected two new board members — Nathan Rhoton and Catherine Alonzo. Board members said they expect to act on another application soon.

Besides Wininger, continuing board members are Kirk Baxter and Lawrence Robinson, who were named in June 2010, and Bill MacDonald.

Wininger said Deanne Jordan, who has been on the board since 2004, indicated that she would leave the board when new members were selected.

As recently as last summer the board had nine members. Debrorah Green, a board member since 2004, left the board at the end of 2011. Bobby Barnes left the board last fall after serving for about two years. Jonathan Thatcher, Katherine Mabrey and Joseph Gesullo also left the board in the past year. -E