Glenn Sims Gay Auckland Business Association President Glenn Sims has decided to step down from the role, after ten months of leading the organization from Jakarta. While he loves New Zealand, the TV producer says he has recently accepted a contract to stay in Jakarta for another year. “When the world’s biggest TV company comes knocking together with the opportunity to produce some of the world’s biggest TV shows including Masterchef, X-Factor and Idol, it’s very difficult to say no,” he explains in his valedictory speech. Michael Richardson will now take over as GABA President. Sims has paid tribute to GABA Charitable Trust Chair Gresham Bradley, who has been steering the ship while he was away. “Not an easy task considering that we’d discovered just a couple of months previously that the ship was rapidly sinking,” Sims says. “Shortly after taking up presidency of GABA, the Executive and I discovered that our organization was facing a set of very serious challenges – falling membership, lack of community engagement and charges of irrelevance. “We could have viewed these challenges as obstacles, ignored them and turned our backs on 25 years of history. Instead, we viewed them as stepping stones – opportunities so that we could learn, develop and grow as an organization. I pay tribute to the dedication of the past and current executive, and the trustees of The GABA Charitable Trust that joined me on a somewhat difficult journey – a journey that has seen GABA refocus and turn a new corner.” Sims points out GABA’s fundraising arm, The GABA Charitable Trust is still New Zealand’s only charitable organization dedicated to raising funds for lgbt people. “Indeed, as many of you know, success of The Trust is the reason I fought so hard for GABA’s survival. The loss of GABA would have severely curtailed the Trust’s capacity to fund-raise and that prospect was unpalatable,” he says. “While lgbt in New Zealand largely have political equality our community does not have financial equality and LGBT specific services and organizations are usually the first to suffer in times of economic hardship.” Sims has thanked members of the executive and trustees of the GABA Charitable Trust and all of the members and supporters of GABA that continue to help the organization to flourish.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 2nd February 2012 - 3:09pm