Eric Stern is leaving as executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats
Gay Democratic activist Eric Stern is stepping down as executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats effective April 1 after having served in the post for 13 months, the group announced March 13. Stern cited health-related reasons for his decision to leave the group, which describes itself as the national voice for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Democrats.
Eric Stern is leaving as executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats after only 13 months, but says recent friction with the DNC is not the reason.
Stern began his tenure as head of NSD in February 2005 after serving as director of the Democratic National Committee’s Gay & Lesbian Outreach Desk. During his tenure with the DNC, Stern was credited with helping to coordinate Democratic Party outreach to gay voters in the 2004 presidential election. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry captured more than 70 percent of the gay vote, according exit polls conducted by a consortium of television news networks."As a cancer survivor, my health has always been of paramount importance to me," Stern said in a statement. "While I have not had any health-related complications, the last five years of constant campaign-related work have taken their toll on me and I need to take a break from politics before I completely burn out and risk damage to my health and well-being."NSD Deputy Director Jo Wyrick will serve as interim executive director until the group's board completes a search for Stern's permanent replacement, said John Marble, the group's communications director.Stern is the second executive director in a row to resign from NSD after serving for a short period. Dave Noble left NSD to take a job with the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force after serving just two years as executive director.The statement announcing Stern's resignation said fundraising under his leadership "dramatically increased," and the organization expanded its programs and outreach from Washington to "local organizing efforts."Stern said his departure was not related to recent disagreements that some gay Democrats have had with DNC chair Howard Dean. Dean last year abolished the DNC outreach desks, including the GLBT outreach desk, saying he wanted to reorganize the DNC to incorporate minority outreach efforts throughout all of the DNC's programs and offices. Dean insisted overall outreach to gay voters would be expanded under a new organizationwide, integrated system.While Stern did not directly criticize Dean’s decision to eliminate the outreach desks, he released a statement criticizing the DNC for not providing enough support staff for gay outreach efforts associated with the 2006 elections."Our relationship with the DNC has only grown stronger," Stern said. "While we were sort of critical to what we saw as a lack of staff infrastructure, we are in the process of getting ready to announce a couple of projects that we will be coordinating with the DNC."
Eric Stern is leaving as executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats after only 13 months, but says recent friction with the DNC is not the reason.
Stern began his tenure as head of NSD in February 2005 after serving as director of the Democratic National Committee’s Gay & Lesbian Outreach Desk. During his tenure with the DNC, Stern was credited with helping to coordinate Democratic Party outreach to gay voters in the 2004 presidential election. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry captured more than 70 percent of the gay vote, according exit polls conducted by a consortium of television news networks."As a cancer survivor, my health has always been of paramount importance to me," Stern said in a statement. "While I have not had any health-related complications, the last five years of constant campaign-related work have taken their toll on me and I need to take a break from politics before I completely burn out and risk damage to my health and well-being."NSD Deputy Director Jo Wyrick will serve as interim executive director until the group's board completes a search for Stern's permanent replacement, said John Marble, the group's communications director.Stern is the second executive director in a row to resign from NSD after serving for a short period. Dave Noble left NSD to take a job with the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force after serving just two years as executive director.The statement announcing Stern's resignation said fundraising under his leadership "dramatically increased," and the organization expanded its programs and outreach from Washington to "local organizing efforts."Stern said his departure was not related to recent disagreements that some gay Democrats have had with DNC chair Howard Dean. Dean last year abolished the DNC outreach desks, including the GLBT outreach desk, saying he wanted to reorganize the DNC to incorporate minority outreach efforts throughout all of the DNC's programs and offices. Dean insisted overall outreach to gay voters would be expanded under a new organizationwide, integrated system.While Stern did not directly criticize Dean’s decision to eliminate the outreach desks, he released a statement criticizing the DNC for not providing enough support staff for gay outreach efforts associated with the 2006 elections."Our relationship with the DNC has only grown stronger," Stern said. "While we were sort of critical to what we saw as a lack of staff infrastructure, we are in the process of getting ready to announce a couple of projects that we will be coordinating with the DNC."
