Hilary
Rosen,
one
of
two
people
named
to
run
the
Human
Rights
Campaign
on
an
interim
basis
until
a
replacement
for
former
executive
director
Cheryl
Jacques
is
hired,
spoke
to
the
Blade
this
week
about
the
future
of
the
organization.
Rosen
is
the
former
director
of
the
Recording
Industry
Association
of
America
and
the
partner
of
former
HRC
Executive
Director
Elizabeth
Birch.
Michael
Berman,
who
is
a
heterosexual
longtime
Democratic
political
consultant,
will
serve
as
HRC's
temporary
co-chair
with
Rosen.
:
What
can
you
and
Mike
Berman
accomplish
in
this
interim
period
in
what
many
consider
a
hostile
environment
of
a
Republican-controlled
White
House
and
Congress?
:
There's
a
very
deep
bench
here
at
this
organization,
and
I
assume
that
people
know
that.
There's
already
a
lot
of
work
going
on.
HRC's
staff
has
been
up
on
the
Hill
in
the
last
few
weeks
talking
with
Republicans
and
Democrats
about
things
to
go
forward
with.
Same
within
the
states,
talking
to
state
legislators
and
governors
and
the
state
groups
about
opportunities
there.
I'm
pretty
confident
and
excited
that
people
are
going
to
see
some
cool
things
out
of
this
place.
:
What
lessons
has
HRC
learned
from
the
2004
election?
:
Winning
is
better.
Two
things
stuck
out
for
me.
One
is
that,
the
Democratic
Party
in
particular,
spent
hundreds
of
millions
of
dollars
on
messaging
and
ads
and
things
like
that
where
we
had
lots
of
allies
and
common
ground
but
none
of
that
institutional
money
or
allied
money
was
spent
on
any
messaging
or
communication
on
our
issues.
And
I
think
we
cannot
go
into
another
election
cycle
where
there
is
not
more
attention
paid
to
both
our
supportive
Republicans
and
supportive
Democrats
—
even
people
who
may
not
support
our
whole
agenda,
but
just
people
who
want
to
make
sure
that
when
they
do
support
us,
they
are
reinforced
positively
for
it.
That
they
participate
with
us
in
the
strategy
and
discussion,
and
I
think
in
many
respects
the
party
got
off
the
hook
by
saying,
"If
we
don't
talk
about
gay
issues,
we
won't
have
to
think
about
it."
:
Did
some
gay
leaders
…
handle
the
Democrats
with
kid
gloves
because
this
was
a
year
where
many
said,
"anybody
but
Bush,"
and
they
were
willing
to
cut
the
Democrats
some
slack?
:
Yes.
:
Some
critics
are
saying
HRC
personalized
its
opposition
to
President
Bush's
re-election
through
its
campaign
slogan,
"You're
fired."
Do
you
think
this
effort
backfired
since
the
same
amount
of
gays
voted
for
Bush
in
2004
as
did
in
2000?
:
I
don't
think
it
backfired
at
all.
And
first
of
all,
that's
a
silly
notion.
President
Bush
personalized
the
issue
when
he
created
a
constitutional
amendment
to
write
us
out
of
the
Constitution.
I
don't
think
anyone
should
apologize
for
hitting
back
on
him
hard.
He
deserved
it.
:
What
kind
of
person
do
you
think
would
be
best
suited
to
become
the
next
HRC
president
and
executive
director?
:
[Laugher]
I
think
someone
with
a
passion
and
energy
and
some
sizzle.
I've
said
several
times,
there's
a
lot
of
steak
in
this
movement
and
not
enough
sizzle.
:
Should
the
board
give
extra
consideration
to
hiring
a
Republican
as
the
next
executive
director?
:
I
have
a
long
view
of
these
kinds
of
jobs,
and
I
think
you've
got
to
hire
the
best
person
for
the
job.
That
best
person
will
get
along
with
Democrats
and
Republicans
and
be
tough
on
them
both
when
warranted.
:
Cheryl
Jacques'
resignation
came
less
than
a
year
after
the
HRC
board
hired
her.
Why
did
she
leave
so
soon,
and
does
the
board
now
feel
it
made
a
mistake
in
hiring
her?
:
You
know,
no
one
is
looking
back.
I
think
Cheryl
came
in
at
a
tough
time
and
did
a
good
job
under
tough
circumstances,
and
I
think
mostly
people
are
just
ready
to
move
on.
:
Sources
familiar
with
HRC
have
said
the
board
became
concerned
about
Jacques'
job
performance
after
it
learned
that
a
significant
number
of
high-level
staff
people
had,
or
were
planning
to,
resign
because
of
disagreements
with
her.
How
many
staff
members
resigned
over
disagreements
with
Jacques?
:
I
don't
know
of
any
actually
that
did.
Look,
it
didn't
work
out.
I
know
people
are
tempted
to
think
that
people
in
this
building
should
gossip
some
more
and
talk
about
it;
…
go
into
more
detail.
But
Cheryl
is
a
great
person.
She
deserves
everybody's
respect.
She
delivered
this
year.
and
I
think
we
just
agree
to
disagree.
:
Did
HRC
board
member
and
contributor
Bruce
Bastian
of
Utah
threaten
to
withhold
a
contribution
of
more
than
$1
million
unless
the
board
fired
Jacques
and
did
Bastian's
call
for
her
firing
play
a
role
in
the
board's
decision?
:
No.
:
HRC
has
said
that
Jacques'
departure
had
no
relationship
to
the
election
results.
Does
that
mean
that
she
would
not
have
stayed
even
if
her
fellow
Massachusetts
Democrat
had
been
elected
president?
:
Oh,
I
don't
think
so.
My
guess
is
that
if
John
Kerry
were
elected,
she'd
be
in
the
Kerry
administration
by
now.
Remember,
she
was
a
[state]
senator
from
Massachusetts.
:
Does
it
mean
HRC
sees
absolutely
no
failures
in
its
strategy
in
the
2004
election
fight?
:
I
think
there
are
...
