Glennda Testone To Head LGBT Center

The LGBT Center of New York, the 2nd largest LGBT community center in the world, announced today, Glennda Testone will be the Center’s new Executive Director. Testone will become the first woman appointed to the post succeeding out going Director, Richard Burns, who lead the center over the last 22 years. Testone joins the ranks of just a handful of women executives who have been at the helm of LGBT organizations.

Testone’s experience in leadership both in the LGBT and Women’s movements have spanned over a decade. For six years she was the Senior Director of Media Programs at the GLAAD, playing a pivotal role LGBT media activism. One notable initative in 2003 was convincing The New York Times to change its longstanding policy to include same sex couples on its wedding pages.

Testone leaves her most recent post as a Vice President at The Women’s Media Center where she headed up the Progressive Women’s Voices media training program. The Women’s Media Center was founded in 2005 by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem. The mission of WMC is to make women more visible and powerful in the media.  

Our LGBT orgs have been receiving criticism lately from us. We’ve tired of all the “finger wagging” press releases, that either applaud or condemn homophobes, our allies or government policy. While we’ve enjoyed the fancy fundraisers (if you can afford to attend), I ask what do all these celebrity parties amount to? And might I mention, if you are lesbian, consider yourself table décor at these mostly gay male affairs, unless of course you are being honored with an award of some kind.

If you look back at all of the activism in the last year, beginning with Prop 8, our movement has been defined by grass roots activist, rallied by bloggers, with gains being made by local org’s such as the LAMBDA lawyers who pushed through gay marriage in Iowa. The upcoming National Equality March, which is shaping up to be one of the largest gay marches on Washington, has been organized by individuals.

While the LGBT Community Center is really a multi-service organization, and not a targeted political one, I think we still have high expectations of how it’s new steward might bring us together. In an interview with EGDE Glennda Testone says of her new role at the LGBT Center: "The Center offers everyone an opportunity to be part of the LGBT movement in a really exciting and tangible way. The Center really belongs to everyone." We will be watching how Testone brings her feminism, activism, media savvy and community leadership into our community’s Center.