The first person to lose their job at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee after anti-gay social media posts sent by staffer Tayhlor Coleman was its executive director Allison Jaslow, a gay combat veteran.
Jaslow announced her resignation on Monday after Congressional Hispanic Caucus members Vicente Gonzalez (D., Texas) and Filemon Vela (D., Texas) demanded a "person of color" be made executive director. The two lawmakers made the demand after learning that Rep. Cheri Bustos (D., Ill.) had lied to them about removing Coleman from a top minority outreach post after the Washington Free Beacon discovered anti-gay and racist tweets she had sent.
Jaslow, a longtime Bustos aide who was deployed in Iraq, said in a statement that "sometimes selfless service means having the courage to take a bow for the sake of a mission."
"When I was in eighth grade, I decided that my life would be dedicated to serving my country," Jaslow said. "I did that first in uniform, but since have tried to be a force of good in our politics."
Jaslow led political affairs for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America before joining the DCCC.
Coleman, who tagged one of her tweets about "giving a lesbian" her phone number with "#homophobia," appears to still have her job.
Bustos had just named Coleman, who is African-American, to a leadership post within the committee focused on minority outreach. Many Democratic lawmakers were "shocked" when Bustos told them of plans to promote Coleman after being made aware of her derogatory social media posts, according to a Politico report.
Bustos assured the congressmen that Coleman had been reassigned, but internal documents viewed by Politico showed she was still leading meetings on the committee's outreach strategy to minority communities.
Among the tweets that inflamed minority members of the Democratic caucus was one in which Coleman indicated she was afraid of Mexicans.
All of the tweets in question can be viewed here. Coleman eventually apologized for the "hurtful and insensitive" remarks.
The DCCC did not respond to a request for comment on Jaslow's resignation and Coleman's current employment status.
Late Monday night, it was reported that five other senior staffers at the committee were also losing their jobs. Coleman was not one of them.
Jerri Ann Henry, the first woman to lead the Log Cabin Republicans, had called out the DCCC for its failure to "acknowledge and address" the homophobia in the committee.
"It’s shocking to see such blatant homophobia and racism stem from Cheri Bustos and the DCCC, which claims to be in full support of LGBTQ+ and minority communities," Henry said. "It is a shame that Bustos and the DCCC have refused to acknowledge and address this problem."