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GLAAD has issued a new statement about its support of the AT&T/T-Mobile merger



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Here's the link to GLAAD's new statement.  And here's what we wrote on this yesterday.  I don't really see anything new in GLAAD's new statement.  And while it's nice, and normal, for unions and chambers of commerce to weigh in on mergers, it's not at all normal for gay and trans rights organizations, especially one devoted to defamation in the media.  The Atlantic agrees.

[R]egardless of the varying views on the merger, it's just odd that GLAAD would weigh in on an issue so detached from the LGBT cause.
Sounds like GLAAD's got a problem on its hands.
Here's the crux of GLAAD's letter:
The reason that GLAAD signed on to this letter with [sic] the understanding that this merger will increase functionality and speed, thus growing engagement and improving the effectiveness of the online advocacy work that is advancing our movement.
Then it will also increase the effectiveness of the religious right's online advocacy work, so doesn't that make it a wash? The reasoning still sounds awfully forced.

GLAAD also notes in its statement that the notion that it doesn't hold corporate sponsors accountable is just hogwash. Then how to explain why GLAAD's name has mysteriously disappeared from a letter GLAAD sent to Orbitz six weeks ago regarding its campaign to get companies to stop advertising on Fox News?  Note the mention of GLAAD in an email sent by the campaign back in May.
For Immediate Release: May 16, 2011
Contacts: Trevor FitzGibbon, Blair Fitzgibbon

LBGT Groups Urge Orbitz to Pull Ads from Fox News Over Anti-Gay Rhetoric
Travel Agency is First Target in DropFox Campaign to Hold Network Accountable
Online Ads Apply Pressure to Orbitz and Promote DropFox Campaign
www.dropfox.com

Washington, DC – Media Matters kicked off its DropFox campaign today by urging Orbitz (OWW), an online travel site, to pull its ads from the anti-LBGT Fox News network. Three high-profile gay rights organizations—GLAAD, Courage Campaign and Equality Matters—signed the letter to Orbitz CEO Barney Harford asking that the company no longer support Fox News through ad revenue....
Take a look at the letter now - no GLAAD signature anymore:
Given the tenacity with which Fox is committed to this agenda as demonstrated by an enclosed compendium of its coverage, it is our sincere hope that you will rethink your decision to support them financially through ad revenue.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss this further.

Thank you,

Rick Jacobs, Courage Campaign

Ilyse Hogue, DropFox Campaign

Richard Socarides, Equality Matters
Speaking of disappearing GLAAD signatures, there's another disappearing signature, and as Dan Savage notes, it too is awfully convenient for AT&T, again.

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