WASHINGTON — Cheryl Jacques, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay advocacy group, resigned abruptly from her post on Nov. 30, just 11 months after she gave up a seat in the Massachusetts State Senate to take the job.

In a statement released Tuesday, HRC said Jacques resigned over “a difference in management philosophy” with the organization’s board of directors.

Her departure follows weeks of behind-the-scenes e-mail and telephone deliberations by board members over concerns about Jacques’ leadership style, which sometimes led to clashes with high-level members of the HRC staff, according to sources familiar with the organization.

HRC officials said Jacques’ departure was not related to the results of the 2004 election, in which 11 states voted to ban same-sex marriage. But the official statement released by the organization said the board would “prioritize the [HRC] agenda and organize the transition to new leadership” at the board’s regularly scheduled meeting this weekend in Las Vegas.

Interim replacements
The statement said Jacques would be replaced on an interim basis by Hilary Rosen, a former HRC board member who coordinated the group’s fight this year against a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, and board co-chair Michael Berman, the president of a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm.

Berman said Jacques’ resignation took effect immediately. He said she would remain on the HRC payroll for a period of time under the terms of a severance clause in her contract. He declined to disclose details of the severance package.

“There’s a staff of 120 people there,” Berman said. “There’s a very strong senior team that’s been there for a long time. We’re there to help out until the search is done.”

Berman said he has “absolutely no interest” in throwing his hat in the ring as a candidate for Jacques’ replacement and said he’s certain that Rosen also is not interested in the position. Rosen could not be reached by press time.

The two are seasoned Washington lobbyists. Berman is president of the Duberstein Group, a Washington lobbying and government affairs firm founded by Kenneth M. Duberstein, who was White House chief of staff for two years during the Reagan administration.

Berman, who handles lobbying activities for Democratic members of Congress, served as deputy chief of staff to Vice President Walter Mondale during the Carter administration.

Rosen is the former chief executive officer of the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the U.S. music recording industry as well as big name recording artists. She played a key role in the late 1990s in pushing the government to crack down on free online “exchanges” of CD recordings through Internet sites such as Napster, drawing praise from the industry and condemnation from some Internet enthusiasts.

Rosen is also the domestic partner of Elizabeth Birch, who served as HRC’s executive director for eight years before Jacques replaced her. Rosen was on the HRC board at the time Birch was first selected to run the organization.

Birch, who together with Rosen is raising two children, cited an interest in devoting more time to her family and children as her reason for leaving HRC. After her departure, Birch briefly joined the Howard Dean presidential campaign as a consultant. Birch, an attorney, served as a counsel to Apple Computer before joining HRC.

Internal disagreements
Jacques, 42, resigned her seat in the Massachusetts Senate in January 2003 to take her position at HRC. She held her Senate seat for six years and served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives before winning election to the state Senate.

She ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002, losing in the Democratic primary. Her departure came just days before the state legislature debated a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, which Jacques vowed to lead the effort in opposing. It passed by a narrow margin and will be considered again this year.

Although Jacques became known as a highly visible, openly gay legislator, she did not publicly disclose her sexual orientation until three years before joining HRC. This prompted some observers to question whether she had the breadth of experience in the gay civil rights movement needed to head a group like HRC.

Berman and HRC spokesperson Steve Fisher said neither HRC nor its directors would elaborate ...

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