Advocacy group abruptly closes, dismisses director
Commercial Closet prepares to merge with GLAAD
By JOSHUA LYNSEN | Nov 11, 5:32 PM

Mike Wilke, the man behind an association that promotes positive images of gays in advertising, is out of work after being dismissed and his organization abruptly shut down.

Wilke, founder and former executive director of the Commercial Closet Association, said the organization's board voted two weeks ago to close and merge with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

The vote to merge, which Wilke said was long expected, came suddenly while he was traveling in Russia and included unplanned moves to dismiss Wilke and close shop before a Dec. 4 fundraiser.

"There never was a plan to shut down prior to the merger," he said. "I wouldn't have agreed to shutting down prior to Jan. 1, when the merger was to have taken effect."

Wilke, who started the Commercial Closet Association in 2001, said the shutdown left him unemployed and the organization's other full-time employee to work part time.

Wilke said as part of the planned merger with GLAAD, he was formally offered and had accepted a program director position.

But he said amidst the Commercial Closet Association shutdown, he's been unable after a week of attempts to confirm with GLAAD President Neil Giuliano that the employment offer stands.

"I don't know if I'm welcome at this point," Wilke said. "I never got an actual answer from Neil Giuliano about what their view is on anything."

Giuliano did not immediately respond Tuesday to the Blade's request for comment.

The Commercial Closet Association announced in a Tuesday press release that it would integrate its programs and operations with GLAAD, which promotes positive images of gays in media.

Anthony Cirone, president of the Commercial Closet Association's board of directors, said in the release that the move would "enhance the work of both organizations, create a truly integrated approach to our media advocacy work and use community resources to their greatest advantage."

Wilke said he was initially "very hesitant" to merge the two groups because he preferred for the Commercial Closet Association to remain an "independent organization," but warmed to the idea "over time" and eventually supported it.

He said merger discussions began in earnest in June and the move was slated to be completed Jan. 1.

Wilke said the board's approach to the merger changed abruptly during his 10-day trip overseas, though, and it acted without his consent to finalize plans before he returned to the U.S. on Nov. 3.

"We definitely had a lot of tension going on for a variety of reasons around the merger," he said, "so they decided to act on their own, knowing that I wouldn't support a shutdown."

Wilke said he was told the board decided to close the Commercial Closet Association to "conserve funds" and so that the organization could "end the year in the black."

He said the decision to close shop before the Dec. 4 fundraiser, though, baffled him.

"We have never had a money-losing fundraiser," he said. "It didn't make sense that they would cancel it."

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