[S!N] STRENGTH !N NUMBERS: Pride Houston, We STILL Have A Problem

Pride Houston, We Have A Problem

Previously on June 29, 2016 I wrote that "An anonymous source presented me with this information and I am now presenting it to you. Today Teresa Carpenter, one of four board members (Frankie Quijano - Pres., Paul Pettie & Jeremy Fain) of Pride Houston sent in her resignation letter (you can read the PDF below) citing issues within the organization as her reason for leaving. It should be noted that the source would not reveal why they sent this story to me and that I hope Teresa finds peace after being subjected to the experience she had. She stated that "There are issues that need to be addressed within this organization that can no longer be swept under the rug as they have been in the past."

The Response

Between 6/29 and 7/1 these were the responses floating on social media from Frankie Quijano:

The official response:

"Message from Pride Houston®
July 1, 2016

This year’s Houston LGBT Pride Celebration® was an incredible celebration of love, acceptance and celebration among nearly 700,000 attendees from around the world. The LGBT community united in solidarity despite the loss of 49 lives in Orlando, Florida and showed up in full force to show that we would no longer live in fear and rise up.

While we are still reveling in the excitement from another exciting Pride Celebration, the organization wanted to address a few concerns/questions from the community and shed light into the organization:

Financials:

Our financial information, consisting of the 990 form from the IRS, can be viewed on our website here. We are awaiting a response from our tax firm in regards to our most recent documents and will post those as soon as they are received. Due to the holiday weekend, this is currently delayed. We have also hired an external auditor to ensure everything is properly organized before moving into the next fiscal year, which begins September 1, 2016.

Organizational Governance:

We’ve outlined how our organization is governed and you can find it on our website here. There you will find items like our by-laws and board minutes, amongst other information. The organization is committed to keeping this site updated on a monthly basis.

It is within our bylaws to have a three (3) year board term with no, currently stated, limits on the number of terms. We are always anxious for dedicated, passionate volunteers to work with us to make a difference within the community and help us move closer towards our mission to “bring lesbians, gay-men, bisexuals, transgendered individuals and allies together to educate the world on issues important to the LGBT community, commemorate our heritage, celebrate our culture and strive for equality.”

Applications to become a Board of Director for the next board term are available starting today, July 1, through July 31 and open to the public. We strongly encourage volunteers interested in helping to take Pride Houston® to the next level, to apply. You can submit your application here.

Pride Houston® is comprised of a passionate group of volunteers and we welcome anyone who would like to be a part of our mission. The organization will be hosting the first Board meeting of the new fiscal year on Wednesday, Septemeber 13, 2016 which is open to the public.

Pride Houston® is always looking for dedicated volunteers to serve on annual Production Team Committees to help organize, plan and coordinate our events. If you’re interested in serving on an annual committee please email volunteer@pridehouston.org."

On the condition of anonymity I received this:

"He has hand picked certain people, 20 in particular, to invite to this meeting. He is hand picking not to validate, but to remain in control of Pride Houston. THE EVENT is marked private so you will not be able to see it (https://www.facebook.com/events/561555650714946/?ti=cl) << that is the event link and you will not be able to open it. IT SHOULD be an open meeting which the community should and could attend but again, Frankie made it invitation only and set it as a private event that no one can see. It is what it is but I do know that 13 years as president is enough!"

"So now you have the entire list:"

"Do you see any diversity? Any African American? maybe one, lol BS!!! These are handpicked people!"

Frankie's FIFTH VOTE:

Did you notice Joey Guerra on the list of invites? According to my source, "he is on the Pride BOD, but he never shows up to the meetings and Frankie has proxy for him."

I even asked if Joey was even interested in remaining on the BOD or if Frankie was using him as a crutch...here was their answer:

"Joey works for the Houston Press, so they get free advertising and he promotes pride idol and will do pride idol...in exchange he is not required like the rest of the BOD to show up to meetings...We all had to be at meetings except Joey Guerra, but as long as Frankie had his proxy he didn't care and this is why Frankie can never be out voted!"