Empire State Pride Agenda, New York's
largest gay rights advocate, has fired Ross Levi as its executive
director, gay weekly Gay
City News reported.
The move comes less than eight months
after New York legalized gay marriage.
The group's board fired Levi during a
conference call held on Monday.
Levi “will be stepping down”
effective April 6, said Marla Hassner, a board member of the Empire
State Pride Agenda Foundation, the group's educational arm.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the
group said “Ross D. Levi is no longer serving as the executive
director of Pride Agenda. Lynn Faria, our current deputy executive
director, will serve as interim executive director, effective
immediately.”
Levi was named executive director in
March 2010, following the December 2009 departure of Alan Van
Capelle, who left the organization soon after the New York Senate
voted against a gay marriage bill.
Board members were reportedly unhappy
with Levi's willingness to let other groups take the helm on the
marriage fight last year, as well as his future plans for group.
Levi wanted to place greater emphasis on Washington issues, while
board members disagreed, saying there was ample work to be done in
the state.