Stonewall Columbus looking for new leader

Saying the organization’s mission continues to change, the board of trustees for Stonewall Columbus is again looking for a new leader.

Former Executive Director AJ Casey, who stepped into the job 18 months ago, left in mid-May, board president Gerry Rodriguez said this week.

He called her departure “a joint decision,” and said the LGBTQ organization plans to appoint an interim director soon.

“The gist of it is that Stonewall as an organization was very different in January 2019,” Rodriguez said. “The needs of our community are changing, and the most marginalized are facing even worse issues.”

The coronavirus crisis has heightened those needs, he said, even as the organization’s new $4 million community center is unable to operate at capacity.

Casey, who is black and a lesbian, took over after Karla Rothan resigned in 2018 after 12 years as the head of Stonewall and Columbus Pride.

Rothan was embroiled in controversy and protest after four black, queer activists blocked the 2017 Columbus Pride parade in protest of police violence and violence against trans people of color. They were arrested.

In weeks and months that followed, Rothan resigned and an alternative Pride event, the Community Pride Festival, was held by the Black Queer & Intersectional Collective.

Rodriguez said Stonewall wasn’t pushed to replace Casey.

“Personally, I don’t feel that there was pressure,” he said. “Every social movement needs people who continue to push you forward. This is the community at work.”

What Stonewall needs now, Rodriguez said, “is a completely different role than what she stepped into.”

Also this week, Stonewall called for the resignation of Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan in the wake of ongoing protests in Columbus and cities across the nation over the death of a black man, George Floyd, in the custody of Minneapolis police.

Stonewall said Columbus needs both reform and new leadership. Rodriguez said Casey’s departure and the call for a new police chief are not related.

rprice@dispatch.com

@RitaPrice