Audrey Haberman
Building pride on a solid foundation
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 BETTY UDESEN / THE SEATTLE TIMES Audrey Haberman, below, in red shirt, became executive director of the Pride Foundation when she was 33. Eight years later, she has 3-year-old twins and a 6-year-old. The Pride Foundation has more than doubled in size, and last year gave a million dollars in grants to organizations and scholarships to students. |
Audrey Haberman, below, in red shirt, became executive director of the Pride Foundation when she was 33. Eight years later, she has 3-year-old twins and a 6-year-old. The Pride Foundation has more than doubled in size, and last year gave a million dollars in grants to organizations and scholarships to students.
Q: How do you manage motherhood and a high-profile career?
A: We're outnumbered by children! My partner, Marge, is an attorney and has been able to cut back on work to spend more time with the kids.
Q: What does the Pride Foundation do besides give grants and scholarships?
A: We work to develop strong leaders. We don't do the parade.
Q: What is the annual Gay Pride Week in June about, besides the parades?
A: It's to acknowledge the gains in our community, like sexual orientation being added to statewide anti-discrimination policies this year. It's not just the LGBT community that turns out; the numbers of people who celebrate is a testament to cultural change.
Q: What does LGBT mean?
A: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender.
Q: LGBT is kind of a clunky term.
A. The younger population uses the word queer. That's an all-encompassing word.
Q: Is it OK for straight people to say queer?
A: Queer is not yet quite neutral. It's still in the process of being reclaimed.
Q: Why is gay marriage important?
A: There are 300 benefits you get as a married couple that don't come with a civil union. Like health insurance and filing joint tax returns. A huge thing is hospital visitation; partners aren't considered next of kin. That's just not right; it's inhumane.
Q: What brought you to this job?
A: I worked at Seattle Rape Relief for 10 years and came to realize that fund-raising is an important part of social-justice work. The best part of my job is that I get to have meaningful conversations with people about their values.
Q: Who donates to the Pride Foundation?
A: Everyone; 40 percent of our donors are straight.
Q: Do you have any straight employees?
A: Several. You people are everywhere!
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