GLAAD Loses Six Board Members in Wake of Barrios Resignation

With Jarrett Barrios out as president, six members of the board have resigned from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Politico reports today.

The reasons for their departure aren’t clear. But Barrios (pictured) resigned under criticism for writing a letter to the Federal Communications Commission in support of a merger between AT&T and T-Mobile, claiming it was in the interest of gay people. AT&T had donated $50,000 to GLAAD.

Politico reports that the six GLAAD board members are:
- Gary Bitner, head of a public relations firm
- Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers
- Jocelyn Bramble, associate at the law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf
- Kelly Dermody, partner at the law firm of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein
- Humberto Mata, founder of nonprofit Fundación VIHDA
- James Walker, commercial real estate executive

The board is now left with 23 members, and Troup Coronado is still one of them despite his ties to AT&T, where he was once a vice president. Gay bloggers have questioned Coronado’s role in submitting the letter to the FCC, according to the Advocate.

GLAAD’s board is scheduled to meet today to discuss its plans going forward.