Geoff Kors

Equality California Hires New Leader, But Will John O'Connor Divide or Unify Gay Rights Activists?

It took one year and ten days to find a new, full-time executive director, but the gay rights group Equality California has hired a super-connected fellow named John O'Connor. "John is a bold leader with a history of leading nonprofits into the next phase of their journeys," said Clarissa Filgioun ... More >>

Will Gay Rights Powerhouse Equality California Ever Find a Full-Time Leader?

San Francisco blogger Michael Petrelis recently reminded us that Equality California, one of the state's largest gay rights groups, is still looking for a full-time executive director. "In the eight-months since [former executive director Roland] Palencia left EQCA," Petrelis opines, "no harm has c ... More >>

Roland Palencia, New Equality California Executive Director, Repeats Old Excuses for Proposition 8 Loss

Debra EvansEQCA Executive Director Roland Palencia​On Monday, Roland Palencia was named the new executive director of Equality California, the statewide gay rights group. He is replacing Geoff Kors, who built the organization into a political powerhouse while also playing a major role in the ... More >>

Will Gay Rights Powerhouse Equality California Finally Choose New Executive Director?

Patrick Range McDonaldWho will replace former EQCA honcho Geoff Kors (above)?​Frontiers News Editor Karen Ocamb predicts that Equality California, the major gay rights group, may announce the pick of a new executive director next week. She also describes some turmoil in the ranks over how tha ... More >>

Will Equality California Push For Pro-Gay Marriage Ballot Measure in 2012?

Patrick Range McDonaldGay marriage supporters in West Hollywood in October, 2008.​Equality California, the major gay rights organization, is looking into whether or not it will push for a pro-gay marriage ballot measure sometime very soon, probably 2012. "Legal experts advise that the case m ... More >>

Founding Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors Says Goodbye With 'One Last Email'

Patrick Range McDonaldOutgoing EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors​Founding Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors says goodbye with one of his trademark emails, which includes a pitch for a contribution. We wouldn't expect him to go out any other way. Kors, who's leaving EQCA, was ... More >>

Equality California Honchos Wanda Sykes, Stuart Milk & Others Won't Meet Public During Executive Director Search?

​The search for a new executive director for gay rights powerhouse Equality California (EQCA) is still underway, even though ordinary gay folks know very little about it. Blogger Michael Petrelis has been constantly demanding that EQCA hold town hall meetings so the public can give their inp ... More >>

Stuffy Federal Appeals Judges Won't Allow California Gay Marriages to Resume During Prop. 8 Hearing Downtime

​On the very day of Hollywood AIDS activist Elizabeth Taylor's death, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dealt another blow to the gays of the Golden State: Thou shalt not wed thine one true love during this frustrating court-system standstill in the overturning of the absurdly unconstitut ... More >>

Will Equality California Seek Public Feedback During Its 'National Search' To Replace Executive Director Geoff Kors?

Patrick Range McDonaldEQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors​Equality California, the gay rights lobbying group that was featured in a recent L.A. Weekly cover story, made it official yesterday -- a "national search" to find a replacement for outgoing executive director Geoff Kors is underway. K ... More >>

Mongols vs. Hells Angels

Mission Drift at Gay Inc.

Is the most powerful gay lobbying group in California becoming irrelevant?

Has Equality California Found In-House Replacement for Geoff Kors, Despite Promises For Nationwide Search & Public Input?

EQCA Managing Director Jim Carroll​Will officials at Equality California, the powerful gay rights lobbying group, follow through on their promises to conduct an extensive nationwide search and reach out to the gay community as they look for a new executive director? According to gay blogger ... More >>

Gay Rights Activist Geoff Kors Will Leave Equality California in 2011 After Nine Years at the Helm

EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors​Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors announced today that he will leave his position in March, 2011, after leading the major gay rights organization for nine years. Many observers credit EQCA for helping California become one of the most gay-fri ... More >>

Equality California Scares Gays Into Thinking Gerrymandering and Prop. 27 is Good for Them

EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors​Outside the West Hollywood Auditorium, a nice volunteer from Equality California, the powerful gay rights group, handed us a slate card. To our amazement, we saw that EQCA described Proposition 20 as a ballot measure that "eliminates LGBT-inclusive redistric ... More >>

Are 'No on 8' Leaders Geoff Kors and Kate Kendell Off the Hook?

EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors​With closing arguments for the Proposition 8 federal trial wrapped up, honchos at Equality California and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, who were major players in the disastrous "No on 8" campaign, are touting a so-called "groundbreaking" study on P ... More >>

Queer Town: Gavin Newsom Wins Big Gay Endorsement

Equality California, one of the most powerful and politically-connected gay rights groups in the state, has endorsed San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom for his run for lieutenant governor, which is no surprise to us. Patrick Range McDonaldS.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom works the crowd at L.A. Gay Pride Parad ... More >>

Queer Town: Equality California Pushes State to Collect Gay Data

With the 2010 U.S. Census soon underway, it's always been a sticking point with us that the gay community has been barely, if at all, counted. People are asked about their race on the short, census questionnaire, for example, but there's nothing about sexual orientation.EQCAEquality California Exec ... More >>

Queer Town: Gay Inc. Vets Facebook Exec at WeHo Nightclub

Gay Inc. (the mostly Southern California branch) is vetting Facebook executive and California Attorney General candidate Chris Kelly at the West Hollywood nightclub Eleven on Thursday night.CA Attorney General candidate Chris Kelly​We received our invitation via email on Saturday from West Hollywo ... More >>

Queer Town: Are Gay Pundits Hurting the Gay Marriage Movement?

Over the past few days, gay pundits such as blogger Michael Petrelis and Bay Area Reporter news editor Cynthia Laird have been hammering Courage Campaign's Rick Jacobs for refusing to publicly release polling data for a pro-gay marriage ballot measure, with popular blogger Andy Towle writing that su ... More >>

Queer Town: Did Equality California Pull a 2010 Switcheroo?

It's always interesting how things are never exactly what they seem when it comes to Equality California, one of the leading gay rights groups in the state and a major force behind the failed "No on 8" campaign.Equality CaliforniaEquality California Executive Director Geoff Kors​Whether it's cause ... More >>

Setting the (Gay) Wedding Table

Wiser, more diffuse, battle-savvy gay-rights groups craft a 2010 ballot measure for California

New Gay-Marriage War Coming to California

Many expect state Supreme Court to back Proposition 8

Queer Town: The Subtle Lessons of the Equality Summit

On Saturday, January 24, Equality California and other major gay organizations hosted an event called the Equality Summit at the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown L.A.. Since these groups, many of which were heavily involved in the "No on 8" campaign, never held a live, in-person town hall m ... More >>

Queer Town: "No on 8" Executive Committee Revealed

Late yesterday, gay rights activist and blogger Michael Petrelis accomplished the seemingly impossible--he found and published the 16 "principal officers" of the "No on 8" campaign's executive committee. If you think that kind of information would have been easily available, you are very, very wrong ... More >>

Proposition 8 Gives Rise to New Generation of Gay Leaders

Failure to prevent passage of same-sex-marriage ban shifts political landscape

Queer Town: "No on 8" Leadership on the Hot Seat

For weeks, activists and political observers in the gay community have been calling for a post-Prop. 8 town hall meeting, where "No on 8" staffers can take, and hopefully answer, tough questions about the Proposition 8 loss. Tonight at 6 p.m., the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center will host a "vi ... More >>

Dirty Laundry Over Prop. 8

Blame-game erupts over Latino and black support for the gay marriage ban

Riding the Cultural Divide with Proposition 8

What's at stake in California's gay-marriage ban

Queer Town: No Cash, No TV Ads, No Gay Marriage

The No on 8 campaign pressed the panic button yesterday and pleaded for more donations to pay for more TV ads in an effort to defeat Proposition 8, the November ballot measure that bans same sex marriage. "Our worst nightmares are coming true," wrote Geoff Kors, a member of the No on 8 executive c ... More >>

Taking on Anti-Gay America

Stonewall Democrats plot a 2006 strategy