Earlier today, Equality California announced Roland Palencia would be its new executive director. Unless you follow the travails of LGBT politics, this might not seem like big news. But if you care about the battle for LGBT equality, and for the broader cause of social justice, this is cause for celebration.
When Proposition 8 passed in November 2008, California’s LGBT community was shell-shocked. The loss of our marriage rights prompted finger-pointing, caused plenty of soul searching, and widened divisions between grassroots activists and the California arm of “Gay Inc.”, the more established LGBT organizations.
Many people called for new leadership, saying California’s LGBT organizations were too insular, too corporate, too wedded to the status quo, and – to put it bluntly – too controlled by upper middle class white men from West Hollywood or San Francisco. They demanded leadership that was open, transparent, and concerned with forming a diverse and progressive coalition. They wanted leadership that came from and understood Oakland, Fresno, and East LA.
Roland, with whom I have worked on the Camp Courage program, is a brilliant leader. He is smart, sensitive, and creative. He is a consultative, warm, and remarkably humble. He is committed to the long, slow work of building coalitions, and he understands the need to make the battle for full LGBT equality part of a broader progressive movement. He has a quiet but fierce passion for justice.
As EQCA said of Roland in its press release:
“With more than two decades of activism and expertise with LGBT and healthcare issues, Palencia has long worked to provide resources to underserved communities, including LGBT communities, undocumented immigrants and the uninsured. From 1992 to 1998, Palencia was the Chief of Operations and Vice President of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, an international HIV/AIDS healthcare organization where he played a key role in building the much needed medical infrastructure and financial resources to support HIV/AIDS services. Subsequently, he served as the Executive Director at Clinica Monseñor Oscar A. Romero, which primarily serves Central American and Mexican immigrants. In 2003, Palencia was appointed as the Greater Los Angeles Area Regional Director for the California Endowment, a private foundation that annually grants more than $170 million to California-based entities in the area of health. Palencia directed a multi-county department and funded dozens of community-based organizations per year. . . Palencia was forced to leave his native Guatemala, which was ruled in the mid-1970s by a brutal military regime, after paramilitary forces assassinated his father, a small business owner and a revolutionary who fought for democratic change in Guatemala. Palencia came to California and attended UCLA where he earned a degree in history.”
Whether you approve of his tenure or not, Geoff Kors (the outgoing ED), caused EQCA to grow and flourish. Geoff built an organization. Over the past few years, many of us have realized that what we need is a movement – and Roland is just the person for the job.
The full EQCA release and a great interview with Roland can be read at Karen Ocamb’s LGBTPOV.com.
Mike Bonin, a Los Angeles resident and voter in the 36th District, is chief of staff to LA Councilmember Bill Rosendahl, a member of the DSCC from the 53rd Assembly District, and co-founder of Camp Courage, an acclaimed training program for activists working on issues of LGBT equality.