Greg in the Afternoon: NYC Mayor Bloomberg supports gay marriage; a look at what LGBT leaders earn

I’m writing to you from a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in Woodland Hills. What the hell am I doing here you ask? Met my buddy John Miller, city editor of the LA Daily News, for lunch at Jerry’s Deli next door. John and I sat by each other (before my unexpected departure a month ago) and it sure was good to joke around with the guy who was my best work buddy at the paper.

Okay, so catching up with the day’s headlines, it sure is good to see New York Mayor Bloomberg is urging his state to pass a bill that allows gay marriage. We need all the straight allies that we can get – especially the ones in power. The New York Daily News reports him saying at the annual dinner of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center: “We see that the tide is turning, that support is mounting. Make no mistake, the time will come … and we will pass this bill.”

**********The New Hampshire House has voted to make their the third state allowing gays to marry two years after they granted them the right to enter into civil unions, the Associated Press reports.

The House voted 186-179 to send the bill to the Senate. The first attempt to pass the bill fell one vote short, but opponents were unable to kill it. The House then reconsidered and passed the measure.

Two years ago, the Legislature approved civil unions for gays, but some proponents of joining Connecticut and Massachusetts in allowing marriage said the time isn’t right in New Hampshire.

If passed by the senate, then all eyes will be on the governor who could veto as Gov. Jim Douglas of Vermont said he plans to and California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger did twice.

********** Washington Blade has put together a story that includes a round-up of what the leaders of such LGBT organizations as Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD earn. The top salary belongs to Craig Shniderman, executive director of Food & Friends, which provides meals and nutritional services for homebound people with HIV/AIDS in the Washington, D.C. area.

A survey of the compensation paid to heads of 30 LGBT and AIDS organizations, conducted by the Washington Blade, shows that Shniderman had a total salary and benefits package of $382,200 in 2008, the latest period for which the organizations’ salary and annual revenue data could be obtained for a completed fiscal year.

Shniderman’s earnings placed him ahead of Joe Solmonese (pictured), executivedirector of the HRC, the nation’s largest LGBT political advocacy group. Solmonese ranked second in the salary survey, received a total compensation package of $338,400 in 2008.

Other salaries: Geoff Kors, Equality California’s executive director, had a 2008 compensation of $171,000; GLAAD Executive Director Neil Giuliano $270,000 in 2008; The Victory Fund’s Chuck Wolfe $220,000.

**********