Three members of the OutServe/SLDN
board have resigned over the sudden firing of the group's executive
director, Allyson Robinson.
LGBT
blog Bilerico.com was first to report on the firing. Robinson
was hired to the post in October, making her the first out
transgender leader of a national LGBT rights organization not devoted
to transgender issues.
(Related: Allyson
Robinson, transgender woman, to head military group.)
Robinson has declined to comment on the
situation other than to confirm her termination on Saturday during a
regularly scheduled board meeting.
According
to BuzzFeed, three board members and several staffers resigned in
protest, including board members Sue Fulton, Matthew Phelps and Beth
Schissel. Prior to the resignation, there were 18 board members,
including Robinson.
“Although no one would speak on the
record about the reasons for the board's decision to seek Robinson's
resignation, sources familiar with the board's decision expressed
widely divergent views on factors that figured into the move – from
fundraising and leadership abilities to personality conflicts to
anti-transgender bias,” BuzzFeed wrote.
OutServe and SLDN merged soon after the
repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” pledging to continue the fight
for greater rights for LGBT service members.