A statement released by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has revealed future plans for their Advertising Media Program—once known as the Commercial Closet Association (CCA).
“As part of the Advertising Media Program, we are planning an event that will recognize corporations and businesses that are inclusive of the LGBT community,” said Richard Ferraro, GLAAD’s director of public relations. “We will be announcing details of the event in coming months. We are planning to hold the event in the fall of 2009 and a reception for the launch of our Advertising Media Program this spring.”
When the CCA announced its merger with GLAAD in November 2008, the advertising program ground to a temporary standstill as the association prepared for the transition. As a result of the integration, Mike Wilke, the executive founder of the CCA, left the organization due to internal conflict with the board of directors.
Since, Wilke has been carefully watching the efforts that the CCA and GLAAD have taken to reinvent the media program he originally began back in 2001.
“I am worried for the efforts over the last 12 years of my work, which includes the time prior to officially starting Commercial Closet,” said Wilke. “The association was built out of five years of my work leading up to that—independently.”
GLAAD has now officially added its name to the Web site and has replaced the CCA logo with its own. The URL address and much of the information provided on the site has not been changed.
As new details emerge on the Advertising Media Program, Windy City Times will continue to update.