Chris Barron Steps Down At GOProud

After a week of relentlessly bad publicity for the organization he co-founded in 2009, Chris Barron is stepping down as chairman at GOProud. Here's the spin from their press release.

Today GOProud, an organization of gay and straight Americans seeking to promote freedom by supporting free markets, limited government, and a respect for individual rights, announced that they were restructuring their Board of Directors. “Given the tremendous growth and success of GOProud in our first two and a half years of operation, we are restructuring and expanding our Board to meet the needs of a bigger organization,” said Christopher R. Barron, co-founder and outgoing Chair of the GOProud Board. Barron’s term as Board Chairman expires on December 31, 2011.

“My role in the day to day management of GOProud will continue as the organization’s Chief Strategist and I will remain on the Board as Chairman Emeritus,” continued Barron. “It is with great excitement that I announce that conservative coalition builder and former CPAC Director Lisa De Pasquale has been elected interim Chairman of the GOProud Board of Directors. Lisa brings a lifetime of experience within the conservative movement and is the perfect person to oversee the expansion and restructuring of GOProud’s Board, as well as to help in refining GOProud’s mission and to aid in building a bigger, better and stronger organization.”

Is anybody buying this? Anybody? I'm betting that one of GOProud's backers forced this change after the Rick Perry scandal.

As noted above, Barron's replacement will be Lisa De Pasquale, whose Wikipedia entry describes her as an event planner and the director of CPAC from 2006-2011.

“I am truly honored to be elected interim chairman of the GOProud board,” said De Pasquale. “The next several months will be important for their growth. Along with the GOProud staff, the Board will help refine the organization’s mission, develop a strategy for making Obama a one-term president, do substantive activities across the country, and build coalitions with conservative organizations, lawmakers and activists.” “One of the first steps the new GOProud Board will be taking is to expand,” continued De Pasquale. “We will be inviting many of our Advisory Council members to join the Board of Directors. We need their support, their talents and their advice in a more formal capacity to continue to be able to build on the successes of the last two and a half years.”