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 organization's cash shortfall on last summer's weirdness, which led to the departure of GLAAD's president Jarrett T. Barrios:
"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."
UPDATE: This article originally conflated several different letters sent (or, in one case, apparently not sent) by Jarrett Barrios. References to the letters have been removed for simplicity's sake, but you can read all about them here.
