GLAAD Lays Off Almost A Quarter Of Employees

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The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation laid off 11 of its 45 employees last week. From The Advocate:

The cuts come against the backdrop of an economy that still has not fully recovered, and nonprofits everywhere continue to face fund-raising challenges. But employees said they didn't see the changes coming.

GLAAD cut 11 people from its staff of 45, and a statement from the group assured that "core programs" remain intact, including National and Local News; Religion, Faith & Values; Entertainment Media; and Spanish-Language Media.

Mike Thompson, GLAAD's interim leader, blames the layoffs on previous president Jarrett T. Barrios's weird experiment with corporate lobbying on behalf of AT&T, in which Barrios seemed to use his position to stump for a proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile, and then said he hadn't, and then resigned his position. From The Advocate:

"It's no secret that GLAAD experienced some real challenges in 2011," Thompson said in a statement to The Advocate. "While the changes that took place subsequent to last summer's tumult were in many ways healthy for the organization, the reality is that the experience had financial impacts for the organization. Our restructuring is reflective of that."

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