Wayne Besen of the
Human Rights Campaign is Stepping Down
Compiled by GayToday
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Washington, D.C.--Wayne Besen, a spokesperson for The Human Rights Campaign announced
yesterday that he is leaving HRC today to promote his upcoming book,
Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay
Myth and to pursue broadcasting opportunities in New York City.
"My five year journey at HRC has been tremendously rewarding and
I will greatly miss serving the GLBT community with such hard working,
dedicated activists," said Besen, who has served as HRC's Deputy Director of
Communications. "It has been a privilege and an honor to learn and grow
under the leadership of David M. Smith and Elizabeth Birch and I am
thankful for the rare opportunity I had to fight for equality and to try
make a difference in peoples' lives."
Besen's provocative book is scheduled to hit bookstores this
summer and the contents can be previewed at www.Anythingbutstraight.com.
The release of Anything But Straight will be accompanied by a 33 city
national book tour. The cities included on this tour will be announced
in the coming weeks. |
 Wayne Besen, will be leaving the Human Rights Campaign to promote his upcoming book, Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay
Myth |
"The book tour should be incredibly exciting and it will help in
the effort to further debunk the ex-gay myth," said Besen. "It is
crucial that light is shed on these harmful programs so families can
avoid the pain often caused by misguided ministries and repressive
reparative therapists."
Besen made international news when he photographed "ex-gay"
poster boy John Paulk in a Washington gay bar after Paulk was spotted by
Besen's HRC colleague Daryl Herrschaft. Through Besen's extensive work
on the "ex-gay" issue, he has emerged as one of the nation's premier
experts on this controversial topic. Anything But Straight (Haworth
Press) is his first book.
While serving at HRC, Besen was a frequent guest on leading news
and political talk shows including: the NBC Nightly News, The Roseanne
Show, CNN's Talk Back Live and The Point, Fox's O'Reilly Factor and
Hannity and Colmes, Fox News and MSNBC News. He has also been quoted in
a number of national publications such as The Washington Post, USA
Today, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle, Rolling Stone
and the Advocate magazine.
 Wayne Besen's book Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay
Myth |
"I think this is the right move at the right time for me and I
am incredibly optimistic about the future," said Besen. "While I will
always cherish my HRC memories, I look forward to new challenges and
opportunities waiting just over the horizon."
Besen graduated in 1993 from the University of Florida and
founded Sons & Daughters of America (SDA), a gay and lesbian public
awareness campaign based in South Florida. Following his tenure with
SDA, Besen worked in television broadcasting at NBC and CBS affiliates
in Fort Myers, Fla., and Bangor, Maine. In 1996, Besen served as the
press secretary for democratic Maine State Senator Sean Faircloth's bid
for the U.S. Senate.
Following the campaign, Besen moved to Washington and worked for
Edelman Public Relations Worldwide where he specialized in media
relations. In 1998 he was hired as Associate Director of Communications
with HRC.
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