Mandy Carter named Obama LGBT steering committee co-chair

by: Pam Spaulding

Wed Aug 27, 2008 at 13:36:44 PM EDT

Mandy Carter has been organizing North Carolina African Americans and LGBT people for years, and has served as a member of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). She co-founded Southerners On New Ground (SONG) in 1993 and was a leader in Harvey Gantt's two campaigns for U.S. Senate. She has done the hard work of organizing LGBT grassroots networks, especially of people of color, throughout the South. She was a member of Hillary Clinton's North Carolina LGBT Steering Committee.

Marsha Botzer has served as co-chair of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Board of Directors during 2005-6. She is a Founding Member of Equal Rights Washington, and founded Seattle's Ingersoll Gender Center, an organization that has assisted transgender people for decades. She co-chairs the Safe Schools Coalition, works with Seattle's Pride Foundation on national issues, and serves on an Advisory Committee for Antioch University. She is a member of Obama Pride Seattle.

...Jesse Garcia is a gay Latino activist from Dallas, Texas, who has been involved in the Democratic Party since 1994. Garcia has been twice elected to serve on the National Stonewall Democrats board of directors, guiding strategy for the 90 Stonewall chapters and affiliates across the nation. He is the President of the Dallas Stonewall Democrats, and served on Hillary Clinton's National LGBT Steering Committee.

Campbell Spencer has been fighting for LGBT equality since she campaigned against the marriage ban in Hawaii in 1998. She was a field organizer at the Human Rights Campaign, led LGBT outreach for Vice President Gore's campaign in 2000, and was Base Vote Director at the DNC. She worked on John Kerry's Presidential campaign organizing six vital primary states, and was an active supporter of Hillary Clinton's campaign this year. Now President of Boost Strategies in Washington DC, she serves as the senior strategist for One Iowa.

Eric Stern has led Obama grassroots organizing efforts since February of this year. He was the Director of LGBT Outreach at the DNC in the 2004 election, and then served as Executive Director of the National Stonewall Democrats. He was a lead organizer of LGBT support for John Edwards during the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, and has served in a leadership role in Obama's LGBT organizing efforts since February of this year.

Joan Garry, former executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and Kevin Jennings, founder and executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, continue to lead the Finance Committee.