Jarrett Barrios, GLAAD President, Resigns After AT&T Controversy

The president of the national gay rights group GLAAD resigned from his position on Saturday night, according to reporter Michael Signorile.

Politico's Ben Smith reported earlier in the day that Jarrett Barrios was "under pressure to resign from within his own organization after aligning his group with AT&T's regulatory issues."

POLITICO's Eliza Krigman reported recently that GLAAD was among a number of progressive groups with no obvious institutional interest in telecom issues who received money from AT&T and subsequently issued public statements supporting AT&T's merger with T-Mobile. Another letter was sent from GLAAD to the FCC opposing possible net neutrality rules. GLAAD later rescinded the letter, claiming it was sent in error. The issue had created an uproar in the gay blogosphere.

Smith reported that Barrios was resisting efforts by the organization's board of directors to push him out, but according to Signorile, Barrios submitted a letter of resignation on Saturday evening.

The resignation capped a controversy that began with the startling news of GLAAD's backing of the AT&T/T-Mobile merger and then reports of a letter to the FCC written by GLAAD opposing net neutrality, which was later withdrawn. The circumstances around that letter had been covered up by GLAAD and Barrios, until he finally admitted he had sent the letter.

Comments

[volumexxvii]

12:33 PM on 06/20/2011

Ah well. That's exactly the problem with non-profits rolling in corporate donations. You can't p*ss off your corporate sponsors if you want to hang on to the organizational model you've built and all that delicious corporate money.

[rmurrayatlanta]

11:54 AM on 06/20/2011

This is a clear cut case of a man making a mistake. His history shows him as a man that has fought for what he beleived in. From passing Anti- bullying laws to pushing for low income housing and the list goes on. This was a unfortunate decision on his part and as I said before, he should be forgiven and allowed to stay in his position and work it out. We have all made mistakes before and this was a big one for him, but with his record and his concern for not only our community but his braoder outreach to other minoritys under his belt, he should be forgiven. He has proven himself to be a good fair man and if you say you have not ever written something to someone you regretted later then you are not telling the truth. He still has my respect and I still appriciate his vision for the future and honor his history of just getting involved in making this a better world for all and not just us gays. He is a true hero in my eyes that happens to have made a mistake.

[cemq]

08:21 AM on 06/20/2011

I'm very surprised about his support of the merger/takeover of T-Mobile by AT&T.

He was an excellent State Representative and Senator in Massachusetts. Very open minded and pro people.

[LintLass]

10:47 AM on 06/20/2011

Frankly, too much of what politicians hear is of corporate promises and spin to begin with: it's not like they don't claim there's some kind of *premise* that there's supposed to be something good about these decades of media consolidation, putting more and more of our communications and the news we rely upon in fewer and fewer and ever-more-intertwined corporate hands.

[cemq]

10:41 PM on 06/24/2011

LintLass,

Exactly, that is why it surprises me. Consolidation of press and communications entities is troublesome and tends to permit abuses and distortions. Just like in any other business field, it is not good for competition, value to the consumer and better products.

[bradenton]

08:07 AM on 06/20/2011

The problem with GLAAD and HRC leaders is they are tame, lame and partly to blame. Civil rights has never been won by popular vote or at cocktail parties. Our message needs to be loud and proud and constant until we are assured all the same rights as every other American citizen, taxpayer and veteran. It's time for leaders that give a damn.

[Ted Pierot]

10:05 AM on 06/20/2011

brandenton actually civil rights will only be achieved if we use all methods available to us and that includes civil disobedience, being loud and proud, demonstrations etc but it also needs to include the political wing such as hrc, lamda legal, the service defense fund, glaad and even the organization like the trevor project help to change peoples perceptions of who we are... so if you want civil rights you use every tool available to you just like the african americans and women have already done.....

[littlechanges]

06:05 PM on 06/20/2011

And this is why neither org really has much presence in bona fide Washington political circles, haven't for s-o-m-e time.

[rmurrayatlanta]

02:48 AM on 06/20/2011

We are gay/ Who are we to judge? We should practice forgiveness every chance we get. We get back what we put in ya know.

[pdxuser]

07:17 AM on 06/20/2011

I'm not opposed to forgiveness, but what does being gay have to do with forgiveness?

[SteveDenver]

08:42 AM on 06/20/2011

Favorite: and what does being gay have to do with rejecting sound judgment?
When I heard GLAAD issued a letter opposing net neutrality, that was it for me. The organization used to be useful and focused, but has become the PETA of sounding off about everything, muddying their mission.

[rmurrayatlanta]

11:38 AM on 06/20/2011

You are right, most gay people I know do not know the meaning of forgiveness. Why we have we are family as our theme song I do not know. We stab eachother every chance we get, we do not stand behind and support eachother and we certainly do not have it in us to forgive someone of making a mistake. Thank you for the correction, I almost forgot, I have been in a relationship for the last 3 years and not exposed to our loving community and forgot how they truly are.

[LintLass]

11:00 AM on 06/20/2011

Who said I was holding a grudge? 'Forgiveness' doesn't mean 'You stay in charge after going off-mission with great appearance of impropriety.'

[SalesmanForLife]

11:55 PM on 06/19/2011

Why is this a suprise that GLAAD has a corportate taste and appetite? GLAAD is a corporate thinking GLBT entity.....this simply fits with package.

[ElBruce]

11:48 PM on 06/19/2011

When thinking about this, ask yourself why the NRA opposes firearms regulations that would benefit its membership's rights, but would cut into firearms manfacturers' costs. Or why organizations that claim to promote families make it their primary mission to prevent people from forming family units.

Members of organizations don't dictate their policies; only deep-pocket donors do. This kind of org-whoring is incredibly widespread.

[Yeah whatever]

12:11 AM on 06/20/2011

I understand what you're saying but I think you make a fuzzy point on the NRA because almost no gun regulation I can think of benefits either the manufacturer or the gun owner/buyer, but then too the only organization I can think of that claims to promote families but prevents family units from being formed is Planned Parenthood [if you take the abortion aspect into account]. Though in fairness I suppose that is a naming issue because lets be honest Planned Parenthood sounds catchier than something like Contraceptive and Fetus killing service providers. Anyway I understand what you mean, though AARP might have been a better example of a organization selling out its benefactors in favor of profits.

[cemq]

08:24 AM on 06/20/2011

Yeah whatever

You don't know what you are talking about. Please keep that right wing bulls**t to yourself.

[SteveDenver]

08:48 AM on 06/20/2011

Wow, more Planned Parenthood misinformation.
If you take into account the Planned Parenthood abortion aspect, that is less than 2% of what Planned Parenthood does. Their responsibility for the healthy birth of babies and formation of families is a vast part of their mission and work: birth control and contraception until families are ready to start having babies, pregnancy screenings, prenatal care -- including checkups and vitamins.

Your anti-sex position has nothing to do with saving lives: being against contraceptives AND reproductive choice is all about controlling women.

[rmurrayatlanta]

02:37 AM on 06/20/2011

They are promoting a different kind of family for the most part, although through adoption we gays can even have kids. From the gay families I have seen that have kids, they are doing a wonderful job!

[demc7]

11:21 PM on 06/19/2011

now, if only worthless Joe Solmonese resigned...the gay community might get some leadership.

[rmurrayatlanta]

02:58 AM on 06/20/2011

Did you just call another human being worthless? Think about that for a moment.

[volumexxvii]

12:21 PM on 06/20/2011

Given the context, I think it was meant as "worthless or ineffectual at his job".

[ODixon]

10:12 PM on 06/19/2011

There is absolutely nothing that money can't buy, even someone's integrity. What an indictment of the state of our world.

[larus]

09:40 PM on 06/19/2011

EVERY organization such as Planned Parenthood, HRC, AIPAC, NAACP, etc takes corporate donations. Most of you guys all act as if GLAAD has completely sold out to corporate America. This is the way America works, like it or not, but corporations fund significant portions of these organizations' budgets.

Mr. Barrios did not keep his eyes on the ball and made an error of judgement in getting involved in matters that are not in the purview of GLAAD's mission. But was he corrupt as some of you say? Did he take the money for himself? NO. The corporate donations went to finance the fight for civil rights in America. None of this money went into Barrios' pocket, so take a chill pill and spend your energy on going after the really morally corrupt Michelle Bachmans, Palins or Newt Gingrich's of this world... Choose your battles.

[Larkin31]

10:49 PM on 06/19/2011

F and F

[LintLass]

10:54 AM on 06/20/2011

I kind of wonder why: That man is *not* GLAAD, as has been shown by his ouster. Why's GLAAD singled out for *being* principled about it when for so many other organizations, it's business as usual?

It's not about *where the money went,* ...(frankly, 50 grand wouldn't be restitution for *my personal* 'lost wages' the first two *years* homophobia discrimination ever cost me, and I've 'lost' a lot more than that, )

If you think of it that way, it doesn't seem worth 'selling out' over, and maybe that's not really what it was.

[RockyMissouri]

11:01 PM on 06/19/2011

Thank you...excellent comment..!

[DuxMom]

09:07 AM on 06/21/2011

I agree.

[Jim Sullivan]

08:41 PM on 06/19/2011

as a gay man i wince when i see our community selling out to corporations-- we can do better guys-- i am ashamed of the gay "leaders"--

[ODixon]

10:09 PM on 06/19/2011

Unfortunately, leadership is synonymous with selling out to the highest bidder. There seems to be no integrity left in those who aspire to be leaders.

[rmurrayatlanta]

02:44 AM on 06/20/2011

Jim, I to am a gay man and do not see what the big deal is. Most of us over 40 have denied more than once in our lifetime that we were even gay. We have taken so many strides to acceptance and normalcy that things like this are bound to happen. I mean look at the poor straight people and the ordeal with congressman Weiner. I am so thankful he wasn't gay. Anyway, this is a very very small story on our road to equality and I am not bothered by it.

[DannyGee]

08:41 PM on 06/19/2011

who will benefit from the AT&T takeover (it's clearly not a "merger")? AT&T who will immediately raise rates on T-Mobile customers. How do I know? On the first month after they bought BellSouth they began the annual process of arbitrarily raising rates for no additional services.

[BoFo]

09:00 PM on 06/19/2011

Exactly.

http://www.teletruth.com/indexold.htm

[bigbubba90210]

02:31 AM on 06/20/2011

AT&T would not have agreed to a $3billion penalty should the "merger" not go through if it didn't feel it could roll the FCC and any other parties who would stand in it's way. Existing T-Mo customers are already suffering from having to pay more to get less as a result of the yet to happen "merger.: This is taking place BEFORE the "merger" has even occurred. And yet, T-Mo still runs ads against AT&T.

Only AT&T and DT will benefit from this "merger" - and nobody else.

[Joey Watkins]

08:30 PM on 06/19/2011

One word. CORRUPTION

[valuelines]

08:25 PM on 06/19/2011

Amazing what Corporate Bucks will buy.

[ObamaSupporterPete]

08:23 PM on 06/19/2011

GLAAD not supporting net neutrality? Are they out of their freaking minds? I guess money talks. Unfortunately, it says too many of the wrong things.