GLAAD picked the right person when they chose Herndon Graddick to lead the organization last week. What I like about him is that he actually gets the harm caused by the extreme right. I don’t have to take him through “ex-gay 101” and explain to him that such groups still exist. He grew up in Alabama and knows the fight our community faces for equality.

Second,  Graddick has a real media background and isn’t simply a politician. Why it took GLAAD so long to hire a person with a media background is a mystery, but I think it helps that he actually knows what it is like to be on the receiving end of press releases. Here is his bio and it is exactly like a bio should look like running this group:

Prior to his work at GLAAD, Herndon served as the Executive Producer of the Global Observatory, a media and communications effort which aimed to bring public awareness to the climate change crisis. He also served as Supervising Producer at E! Networks and the day-of-air news division director at CURRENT TV, the youth-oriented news and entertainment network created by former Vice President Al Gore. As a producer at CNN, Herndon also contributed to the creation of daily primetime programming such as “Paula Zahn Now,” “Anderson Cooper 360,” and “Live from the Headlines.”

Third, Graddick isn’t stuffy and insincere. He actually says what is on his mind:

“This isn’t just a party,” he told the crowd at the Los Angeles dinner, according to Gay Star News. “This is a fundraiser that funds our organization 365 days a year. We’re changing America bit by bit, story by story.”







I was at the LA dinner, my first ever, and was genuinely impressed with  GLAAD’s new president. And it says a lot that I even noticed his speech, considering Betty White, Ellen, and Cher were in the house. I know that some of our readers have had differences with GLAAD. I urge those people to give the group a second look because it seems they are headed in the right direction and ready to have a major cultural impact with the new leadership.