Kors to step down as head of “Equality California”
Just received the news in an e-mail form the organization: ”Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors today announced that he will step down from his position on March 31, 2011, at the conclusion of his ninth year with the organization.”
This is good news indeed. Kors has been a relentless partisan while helming the advocacy organization, turning it into little more than a gay and lesbian auxiliary of the California Democratic Party. That said, given that the (once-)Golden State has effectively become a one-party state, his partisanship did serve a purpose.
While Kors has done a good job of building coalitions among the left-leaning interest groups who hold sway in Sacramento and in lobbying legislators on the left, he did a terrible job helping the opposition to Prop. 8. Should federal courts uphold that provision, those seeking to overturn it at the polls will need develop a different strategy for repeal than Kors et al implemented in opposition. With Kors departing, that becomes increasingly likely. His leadership team was reluctant to work with gay Republicans and consider their ideas. Even in the wake of the proposition’s passage, gay Republicans (as this blog has reported) were excluded from the various post-mortems, many of which EqCA spearheaded.
Let us hope Kors’ successor does a better job of reaching out to Republicans and showing respect for the diversity of views among gay and lesbian residents of this wonderful, but economically challenged, state. That way, we stand a better change of repealing Prop 8.
Joe Solmonese, your move.
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They’re relying on Reinhardt to throw ethics to the wind and defy the Supremes.
“Why yes, my wife worked on the case to have it overturned. Of course I won’t be biased…”
Comment by The_Livewire — December 3, 2010 @ 1:51 pm - December 3, 2010
Umm, depends on what his replacement will be like.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — December 3, 2010 @ 1:52 pm - December 3, 2010
good catch, ILC. And good point. Let’s hope they bring on someone less partisan than he, someone who doesn’t harbor Kors’ anti-Republican prejudices.
Comment by B. Daniel Blatt — December 3, 2010 @ 1:54 pm - December 3, 2010
BDB, maybe you would consider taking over for Kors?
Comment by rusty — December 3, 2010 @ 2:42 pm - December 3, 2010
I’ve been pissed at him ever since he sent out an email after Scott Brown’s victory that said that “the most unimaginable thing happened… in the bluest of blue states a ‘right-wing anti-equality’ candidate was elected to the …seat held by Edward Kennedy.”
If it’s “unimaginable” than he’s clearly clueless about the political landscape of the US right now AND it proves EQCA is merely a partisan organization and an auxillary wing of the Democrat party rather than an inclusive organization for all in the LGBT community.
Good riddance… maybe he can drop by and pick up that poster of the “anti-equality, anti-SSM” Obama in the WeHo Field Office on his way out.
Naw…THAT would be unimaginable!
Comment by Chris H — December 3, 2010 @ 2:52 pm - December 3, 2010
rusty, LOL!
Comment by B. Daniel Blatt — December 3, 2010 @ 2:56 pm - December 3, 2010
What have conservatives done for gays?
Comment by Dooms — December 3, 2010 @ 3:03 pm - December 3, 2010
Dooms,
Conservatives kept taxes down, which benefits gays as they tend to have higher incomes.
Limited government intervention in the lives of LGBT individuals and protected our freedom. They keep the left from telling us what we can drive, what we can eat, where/what type of housing we live in (urban/suburban), whether we can smoke or not, what kind of bags we shop with, what light bulbs we use, etc
You see, the left likes freedom only when it comes to sexuality, reproduction and drug use but wants to control almost everything else we do in our lives.
Comment by Chris H — December 3, 2010 @ 3:33 pm - December 3, 2010
Dooms, what does your comment have to do with the subject of the post to which it is attached?
Comment by B. Daniel Blatt — December 3, 2010 @ 3:47 pm - December 3, 2010
I’m responding to the liberal hate fest circle-jerk.
You guys need a little diversity…
Comment by Dooms — December 3, 2010 @ 4:11 pm - December 3, 2010
EQCA under Kors has shepherded one piece of gay rights legislation after another into law. California, with regard to gay rights, is better off than any other state. No republican or conservative has ever accomplished a damn thing for gays.
Comment by Auntie Dogma — December 3, 2010 @ 4:19 pm - December 3, 2010
Dooms, what you describe as “hate”, most people call criticism.
Comment by B. Daniel Blatt — December 3, 2010 @ 4:25 pm - December 3, 2010
And again Grannie Goodness is wrong.
But hey, since when have facts gotten in the way of a leftists screed.
Comment by The_Livewire — December 3, 2010 @ 9:48 pm - December 3, 2010
@TLW. Nice one. Thanks for sharing the link!
Comment by Vince in WeHo — December 8, 2010 @ 12:06 am - December 8, 2010