L.A. Gay Rights Leader Resigns National Post

Torie Osborn, who left Los Angeles earlier this year to head the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, is resigning after six months as the organization’s executive director.

The former director of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center, Osborn was a high-profile figure in the local gay community before moving to Washington, D.C., in March to take the task force job.

Osborn said the position was not what she expected. “It just isn’t working,” Osborn said. “This job requires internal management in far greater measure than I am prepared to give at this time. The movement leadership role is one I have great passion for, but the internal management demands I just don’t.”

One of the leading gay political organizations in the country, the task force has grown significantly in the past year, expanding its national membership to 32,000 and its budget to $3.2 million.

“The demands on the internal system at the task force have increased about fourfold in the last year,” said Elizabeth Birch, co-chairwoman of the organization’s board.

More an advocate than an administrator, Osborn has a fondness for the limelight and a knack for getting quoted by the press. “She sort of became the media darling” during the April gay rights march on Washington, said board co-chairman Curt Shepard of Los Angeles.

Osborn said she will remain in Washington and is interested in writing, lecturing and consulting. Shepard and Birch said they hope Osborn will continue an affiliation with the task force after she leaves her post Nov. 1.