Petrelis Files

Did AT&T Give GLAAD
an Additional $58,000 for its Advocacy?

(AT&T lobbyist and former GLAAD board member Troup Coronado, left, presents ex-GLAAD chief Neil Giuliano with a check for $33,000. Courtesy photo.)

As far as I've been able to determine, the Politico site is the source for the info about AT&T giving the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation $50,000, a donation that played a role in GLAAD's soon-to-be departed executive director Jarrett Barrios shilling for the company at the FCC.

From Politico:

GLAAD — which has received $50,000 from AT&T — recently backed the deal as well, saying it had “the understanding that the merger will increase functionality and speed, thus growing engagement and improving the effectiveness of the online advocacy work that is advancing equality for all,” a GLAAD spokesman said. ...

If you know more details about the $50,000 grant - when it was given, was it in one lump sum, for what purpose - please let me know the additional facts.

The reason why I'm trying to nail down more details on the $50,000 donation is because I located two old announcements from GLAAD about gifts from AT&T that may be in addition to that amount.

This is from December 2007, when Neil Giuliano was still the chief at the corporate and media lapdog organization:

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) announced today that it was the recipient of a $25,000 grant from AT&T. The grant was awarded to the national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocacy organization to support its ongoing work to promote and ensure fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. ...

And here is what they had to say in February 2009 about another gift from the phone conglomerate:

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) announced today that it was the recipient of a $33,000 contribution from AT&T. The contribution was awarded to the national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization to support its Student Fellowship Program, which trains and prepares young adults for future professional success by providing hands-on experience working with GLAAD staff and other media professionals. ...

These two gifts total $58,000, so maybe the $50,000 figure Politico and others have been using comes from those grants and is slightly off. Or is the $50,000 figure on top of the combined $58,000 given in 2007 and 2009, bringing AT&T largess to $108,000?

I think it's important to have GLAAD provide full information about all the grant money it has received from AT&T - dates, amounts, purpose, favors expected - along with posting on their web site all agreements signed between the two entities. Full and comprehensive transparency now.