The just-departed General Manager of the OUTLine counselling service says he is leaving "with regret" but will not miss being "a professional gay." Leaving OUTLine: Neil Denney Neil Denney joined the OUTLine management team twenty months ago, taking over the running of what was then known as Auckland Gay and Lesbian Welfare and Gayline from long-time chief Neville Creighton. In that time he oversaw a physical expansion and upgrading of the organisation's premises, the name change to OUTLine and assisted a new board institute the changing role of the service. "Neil was bought in as an catalyst of change," says acting General Manager Richard Galloway, "and he fulfilled that role well." Denney himself says he enjoyed shepherding the organisation into a more national role. "I'm happy to see where I've taken it, but it's a shame I won't be there to see the development of OUTLine through to its conclusion." Although he is leaving to work for a not for profit community mental health organisation, "an offer that was just too good to refuse," Denney says he will continue to volunteer his time to OUTLine as a telephone counsellor. "I really believe in its work," he says. But he will not miss the blurring of the private and personal parts of his life which came with his job. "The downside was being a 'professional gay,'" he says. "It was difficult being in the public eye, and it was often difficult to know where work finished and my private life started." OUTLine chair Lesley Belcham says she is saddened by Denney's departure, "but it's a great career opportunity for Neil and we wish him all the best." Galloway, who is filling in until a new General Manager is appointed, says Denney has been a significant force behind the recently conducted Auckland City Council funded study into a possible glbt community centre for Auckland, the first report on which is due out in early June. Denney's last day with OUTLine was Friday. He is currently using up some annual leave before starting with his new employer "in a few weeks' time." GayNZ.com's Hall of Fame profile on Denney, published when he assumed the OutLINE GM role, can be accessed through the link below.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Monday, 26th May 2008 - 12:47pm