Mar 07, 2008  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO J  | COMMENTS     

chair of the LGBT Policy Committee. Stern said Wolff has emerged as a key campaign advisor on gay issues and works with top campaign officials.

“He has been writing policy — putting together white papers on GLBT issues,” Stern said.

Matt Nosanchuk, a former official with a Washington think tank that advocates for progressive causes and a staffer for U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), serves as co-chair for the Obama LGBT Policy Committee.

Stampp Corbin, a former member of the Human Rights Campaign’s board of directors, and Donna Redwing, a lesbian activist from Colorado, serve as co-chairs for the Obama LGBT Leadership Council.

According to Stern, Steve Hildebrand, the Obama campaign’s openly gay deputy campaign manager, and Ben LaBolt, the campaign’s openly gay communications director, also coordinate campaign activities with the two LGBT committees.

Last year, the Clinton campaign, similar to the Obama campaign, released the names of more than two dozen prominent gay and lesbian activists who had agreed to serve on the two campaigns’ respective GLBT advisory committees. Clinton named Mark Wash as her chief LGBT advisor.

The Clinton and Obama camps competed aggressively in the Texas primary, with each side seeking to line up support among gay groups and gay leaders.

Clinton received endorsements from the Stonewall Democrats gay political clubs in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. Sue Lovell, the openly lesbian member of Houston City Council, and Annise Parker, the open lesbian who recently won election as Houston’s city auditor, endorsed Clinton.

Sen. trong>Barack Obama campaigning in Virginia last month. The Houston GLBT Political Caucus, the city’s largest and oldest gay political group, endorsed Obama, though he narrowly lost the state to opponent Sen. Hillary Clinton. (Photo by Rick Bowmer/AP)

But the Houston GLBT Political Caucus, the city’s largest and oldest gay political group, endorsed Obama. The endorsement came after both Obama and Clinton agreed to comply with the group’s stringent rules, which require all candidates seeking an endorsement to return a signed questionnaire answering gay rights questions and meet or speak directly with the organization’s board.

Jack Valinski, the Caucus’ director of operations, said the Caucus agreed to waive the requirement of an in-person meeting for Clinton and Obama, given their busy campaign schedules. Instead, it called on the two candidates to speak to the board through a telephone conference and both agre